On the road to Bergama

After a few weeks without travelling much, we decided to go to Bergama during the Turkish holiday of Bayram since there are no classes whatsoever. I really felt the need to do a bit of traveling, being in the same place weeks for a row without meeting new places can be really boring when you are on Erasmus! Our last big trip was to Pamukkale and that seemed ages ago.

I did a bit of searching and found out a really nice place near Izmir: Bergama, also called Pergamon in the ancient times.

So we caught the dolmuş to Izmir's bus terminal, and then we went to Bergama in a small Metro bus. The price is quite reasonable - 10 TL (less than 5 €uros) por a hour and a half trip. After the small travel, we arrived to the center of a modest city that once was the capital of an entire kingdom.

The center of Bergama

Bergama is relatively small for a person that is used to Izmir, although it doesn't have tall buildings its quite spread out, ranging 7 km from beginning to end  - but its size can't compare to its historical value. The Metro bus left us in the center of the town, at a walking distance to the Archaeological Museum and the Asklepion, but there are some companies that leave the passengers at the entrance of the town - you'll need to catch a Taxi or hitchhike to get to the touristic places.

Galen's statue on the main square

Pergamon was an important kingdom during the second century BC, having grown from a city-state captured by Alexander the Great. Later it became the capital of the Pergamon Empire, rulled by the Attalid dynasty. The city was beautified by the building of the 'Altar of Zeus', by constructing numerous buildings in the "middle city" on the slope of the Acropolis, and by expanding and beautifying the Asclepion medical center.  When Pergamum's power declined, the Kingdom of Pergamum was willed to Rome and became its Province of Asia Minor.

Roman Pergamum was still a rich, important city. Some of its most important monuments, such as the Temple of Trajan, date from Roman times.

To see in Pergamon

For a one-day trip such as mine, you can see at least 4 main points of Pergamon - the Asclepion, the Acropolis, the Red Basilica and the Museum.

The Acropolis as seen from the Asclepion

The Asclepion was the world's most famous ancient medical center, and is the second-most important site in Bergama. It's located west of the city center, 1.6 km north of the main street, 6 km of the Otogar and 1 km west of the city center.

To get there, we first walked from the city inner bus terminal to the main square (where there is a cool statue of Galen as you can see in the picture above) and went up the road, passing through a large Turkish army base. At the entrance of the Asclepion you'll find a very dodgy and bad smelling neighborhood. We didn't have any problems whatsoever, but be carefull.

The entrance fee is 15 TL (unless you have a Museum Card like me and then it's free =D). Once you enter, you'll walk along a monumental marble street bordered by columns - the Via Teta. This was once an active market street, with shops lining both sides of the street.

One of the nice things here is the view - the Acropolis  is clearly visible on its hilltop to the east (see the picture above).

The center square

The Asclepion of Pergamum became famous under Galen (131-210 AD), a local physician who pursued his medical studies in Greece and Alexandria (Egypt) before settling here as doctor to Pergamum's gladiators. This was not your average medical clinic, but a complete health spa with state-of-the-art (for the day) treatment methods. Patients exercised or took the honey cure. They could walk among the trees and be calmed by the scent of pine. Their dreams were analyzed for diagnostic purposes, their diets were closely supervised, they were given mud baths and massages, they were treated with herbal medicines, they had access to a library and a 3,500-seat theater to help them relax and deal with stress, and they drank from a sacred spring (below Diogo drinking of it) and bathed in its waters.

Diogo drinking of the sacred spring

Coming into the main precinct of the Asclepion, notice the large marble column fragment bearing the Asclepion's symbol: two snakes facing each other across a wheel. As snakes shed their skins are are "reborn," so patients at the Asclepion were to shed their illnesses and regain health.

You'll have some nice things to see, such as the theater and lots of well preserved Greek columns.

Asclepion's theater

Once we finish out visit, we decided to go to the Acropolis. The question was: how? It's a 5,5 km walk until there. Since we are Erasmus and we should try to experiment new things, we went by the side of the road and hitchhiked. Almost immediately two guys in a old car stopped and took us to the cable car that goes to the Acropolis. Of course none of them spoke English and the doors hadn't any doorknobs, but even so we arrived safely!

To get to the Acropolis you have 2 options - walk the entire hill or take the cable car for 5 TL (one way) or 10 TL (round trip). We decided to go on the cable car, and go walking in the return trip. Once you arrive on the top of the hill you'll see lots of people selling the usual touristic stuff. I made a good deal buying 12 postcards for 1,5 TL. To enter the Acropolis you pay 20 TL (again, free with the museum card). There you have lots of places to see, the area is quite big and full of ruins.

Proposed reconstruction of the Acropolis

Fantastic view of Bergama from the Acropolis

The great temples and theater are visible from anywhere in the city, as they were meant to be. On the reverse side, once you're there, you have a fantastic view to the city of Bergama and all the surrounding mountains.

The most prominent building here is the Traianeum, or Temple of Trajan, a huge marble temple that has been partially reconstructed from ruins found on the site. Beside it is the Temple of Athena, also partially reconstructed. Between the Traianeum and Athena temple was Pergamum's famous library of 200,000 volumes, who were offered to Cleopatra by Marc Anthony as a wedding present. In a note, the Portuguese word "pergaminho" (meaning parchment in English) may had it's origin here.

The library that had 200,000 volumes, who were offered to Cleopatra

Temple of Trajan

A closer look of the fine sculptures

Behind these to the east are the ruins of numerous dark stone palaces but not much to look at, you'll basically see broken columns. My favorite spot, carved into the steep hillside, was the dramatic Hellenistic theater. Like most Hellenic and Hellenistic theaters, it offered a scenic panorama just in case the play was boring, and quite a view it was! We stopped there to have a nice lunch, bread with Nutella. On the base of the theater there are some more ruins, from the Dyonisus temple - I don't know why but I really liked that place in particular and felt really good when I went down there. But keep in mind that you'll have to go up across the theater again, with a few hundred of steps... truly breath taking!

The Dramatic Theater

As seen from the base up

Just down the hill from the summit was the site of the Altar of Zeus, now in Berlin. After visiting the place it was time to go down the hill walking. Buuuut... since no one was checking the tickets we just caught the cable car again for free!

After the Acropolis we went down the street and visited the Kızıl Avlu - the Red Basilica. This place was built was built for worship of the Egyptian gods Serapis, Isis and Harpocrates at a time in the 2nd century AD when Egyptian religion was reaching into the Roman Empire (I was surprised by this, didn't know that the Egyptian religion had left Egypt and reached this place so far away!). It was later converted into a church dedicated to St. John.

The Red Basilica viewed from the street

Closer look of the main building

This building is made of red bricks (hence the name), consisting in a main site with two towers - one of which was converted to a mosque. The entrance is 5 TL although no one was there to check if you bought the ticket or not so you could go for free. This place hasn't much to see, even though it's a good place to visit since it appears on the bible - Book of Revelation 2:12 "And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges; 2:13 I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth". It was once thought the phrase "where Satan's seat is" is referred to the Altar of Zeus on the Acropolis. But most biblical scholars now believe John was denouncing the emperor-worship cult, for which the city was an official center.

Our last place to see was the Bergama Museum- but again, it was a long way to go by walking. So we hitchhiked again! At our first attempt a turkish man appeard and took us to the entrance of the museum! We decided to visit this towards the end because it's close to the main road and the other sites were our priority.

The museum has a front garden dotted with sculpture, and clean and tidy interior galleries holding artifacts from the excavations of Acropolis and Asclepion. It's quite small so you can see it in less than an hour. You can see the  model of the stupendous Altar of Zeus from the acropolis, the original of which is now in Berlin and marble sculpture and statues in the museum are of the Pergamon's school, which followed that of Aphrodisias.

Tombs on the museum's gardens

After this, we tried to hitchhike back to Izmir (which is about 150 km). After several frustrated attempts, a group of three Turkish man gave us a ride. We thought we were heading back to Izmir, but they just left us at a gas station on the entrance of the highway to Izmir. We again tried several times to get a ride, but after several honks and laughs from the drivers, we just went to the bus terminal at the entrance of the city and got home safely and comfortably... for less than 5 €uros!

Credits to Turkey Travel Planner and Welcome To Hosanna for parts of the text.

Studying at EGE University as an Erasmus

There's much to say about EGE Üniversitesi - to start, it has roughly 47.500 students and the campus is one of the biggest I've ever seen. From the Students Village (the dormitory) where I live, inside the campus, takes about 15 minutes walking to reach the Dentistry Faculty. And that's only about a third of the campus! - it has about 370 hectares (3,45 square kilometers, with is bigger than Monaco!) and includes several facilities such has culture, sport and social services. There are huge empty spaces and free terrain throughout the campus, some with grass and trees, others just with dirt.

One of the many gardens at the campus - all credits to Sara Silva

The campus fountain

Ege University has eleven faculties (administrative and social sciences; agriculture; communication; dentistry; education; engineering; letters; medicine; natural sciences; pharmacology; and water products), a conservatory of Turkish music, eight vocational schools, and seven research institutes - but it keeps growing. In the dentistry faculty they are in the middle of constructing a building and started to build another one from scratch just last week - due on November 2014, seems like I won't be there to see it! It seems like everywhere I go there is a new building in construction, coffee-shops and sport fields, it's a place bubbling with life.

The rectorate building

And abandoned gas station in the campus, used as a parking space!

Unfortunately things don't work as they should - for Erasmus students of course. Several persons are complaining about classes that were said to be taught in English, but turns out they are in Turkish... because the teachers say the other students don't have enough preparation (in the Psychology and Chemical Engineering courses). In my faculty, since we are 4 erasmus, we have private lessons in English - no complaints about that, on the contrary, just has I said in my previous post. The problem is, the Erasmus students came to this faculty thinking that they had classes in a language they could understand, and that isn't happening with the vast majority of students I have spoken with. And you might understand how frustrating that can be if you came here with a purpose. Of course we are all here for different reasons, but one of them is to learn, nobody wants to go home with a list of failed subjects, having to repeat the year.

The dentistry faculty

Several situations occur, from not having classes in English, subjects present on the Learning Agreement not opening (in the Business Administration Faculty), persons that came to an Erasmus Placement, a kind of an internship, in August and only begun to work (and not much) in October (in the Agriculture Faculty), etc, etc. The teachers simply don't demand much from you, and it seems like they don't care much too.

Talking about the Diş Hekimliği Fakültesi, where I study - I can only classify the organization as mediocre. We are really well received by the professors and I'm delighted to see new procedures that I never saw before. But the problems lies here - see procedures - not doing much. This because they don't ever attribute a workstation to us - which is essential if you are studying dentistry. When we asked the Erasmus coordinator about this situation we got the response - "You cannot work! You're not a student from this faculty, there are laws that have to be followed! Besides there aren't enough dentist chairs for everyone, we're full!". Hello? Of course I have to work, and legally I AM a student of the faculty for this semester! What amazed me the most was her shocked face while saying this, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Well, I don't mean to offend sensibilities but if they can't handle the newcomers why receive Erasmus in the first place? In my faculty we don't accept students if we don't have the conditions - as simple as that.

Of course we work anyways - but we have to be hovering all the day around the teachers to remind them that we are there, and constantly asking for some work. And I hate having to "beg" for something that should have been given to me without asking. To get around the faculty is kind of funny, since every two weeks we have new subjects, we have to go to each department and introduce ourselves to the staff, and it's dramatically delightful to see their confused faces clearly thinking "what are we going to do with them?"

Of course I don't know if things go this way in all the faculties, I've written only about those that I know. Besides, you can always count on the lady from the international office - Şule Begüm - to help you when you need, she's really nice and a lifesaver.

To conclude, if you want to have a really good time in a good place with excellent people come to Ege, but if you want to work and actually learn something think better, because you won't be satisfied here.

One month in Turkey

It's been one month since I arrived to Turkey, it's our cotton anniversary as I like to call it. I hardly can believe it's been only a month - everything seems so familiar, seems that I always knew Küçükpark, I've spend my days in EGE Kampus, I've studied in the Diş Hekimliği faculty... Looking back I still don't believe it has only been a month!

One of the many monuments to Atatürk - EGE University Rectorate

The longing begins to tighten - my family, my friends and my house are starting to be missed. But when my mind wanders to that place, I remind myself that this is a unique experience that I will miss even more when I leave. It's true that in professional terms this hasn't yet been the most rewarding experience yet, but I can't deny that I've seen plenty of stuff that I wouldn't see if I were back at home. One of the things I like the most is having private lessons in the teachers offices. We are only 4 Erasmus at the faculty, and we are really well pampered! Where else could I eat chocolate and cookies while drinking tea during a private lesson? Yes... yes... mhuahuahua! (Sorry about this, I really do enjoy being offered snacks, what can I do against it?)

Another very positive point around here are the people, like our new friends - we even were kindly invited to a new friend's house, where her mother cooked fish for us (because I'm always complaining that there is no fish to be seen here), other friend even offered us a new phone to use, and one teacher invited us to spend a day to show the town around.

Awesome dinner at Gülçin's house

After all, when I'm well aware that when I leave the main memories that will stay are about the friends I made. And in that department I'm very happy. Being from a relatively small community, I truly appreciate the opportunity of meeting so many people from so many different countries and with different ways of thinking. I even got to know that in almost all of Europe people eat salty popcorn while we eat then with sugar, and in Finland they eat them plain! Or seeing the Turkish eating yogurt with everything (on salad, on soup, on pasta, everything) - I can even eat plain yogurt now, like a diabetic. Yeah, most of my impressions of the past few month are about food now that I think of it... x)

Our 1 month commemorative dinner - Pasta with tuna... and french fries!

Finding a bit of home back here -
José Saramago depicted in a newspaper cover.

Becoming more independent and having to do house chores such has cooking, shopping and washing has been a funny experience. I found out that I really like cooking, hate washing and ironing and get nervous when I have to shop, because I hate spending money. But turns out I'm really good at savings and I can buy a week worth of groceries for a nice price, after spending some time searching for the best promotion at the hypermarket! Indirim is my favorite Turkish word.

 The parties are a must-do in Erasmus, and this month has showed it quite well. Personally, I don't like being in a dark and crowded club, surrounded by people who desperate need to drink to have fun. I still don't understand the need to drink all the time, at every possible occasion, since I'm perfectly capable of having a great time without being drunk. So, I'd rather pass most of the club parties, changing them for a great night at a coffe or bar playing Tavla or Damas among friends. Of course that once in a while it's always good to go and socialize a bit =) But for that, nothing better than a flat party, where you can drink, smoke and chat with your favorite gang.

Going to a party once in a while is always nice to be with friends... especially when it's a gypsy party!

One thing that I'm not particularly happy about is our room at the students village. It's quite small for two persons and that makes appreciate my bedroom back at home even more. Besides, I'm always finding bugs everywhere around here - last night it was a very good looking cockroach that was taking a walk in our secretary. But hey... it's an adventure and that's the Erasmus spirit after all. Talking about adventure, I'm starting to understand the traffic here, and I've managed to stay a whole month without being hit by a car. Needless to say that I'm ecstatic about that since I thought I would be runed over in a matter of days.

The Students Village could benefit from larger rooms.... and lower prices!

Traveling to new places has to be one of the best experiences of this Erasmus so far - visiting so many places and different monuments - and knowing that probably I wouldn't go to those places if it wasn't for my stay here - is indescribable. Ruins, beaches, villages, cities, Turkey is a rich country this matter. I hope I will visit even more. But I'm not going to describe this here because I always make a separate post for my travels.

The busy Alsancak, Izmir

In a nutshell, this has been a very positive adventure so far. Being by myself has been a curious experience and every day I discover something new about me and my surroundings. I realize that the things that I miss the most are the most simple ones, like going to my own bedroom and sleeping when I want, having the room in complete darkness, sitting on the sofa and watching TV, or even have a hot bath in my bathtub. Even though I'm starting to miss 'my world' I wouldn't change a thing, and I'm sure the months to come will bring new experiences!

Clinics - blowing off some steam

On the beginning of our third week of classes, things aren't turning up the way I expected. In our second day here, we were  told that we would only be watching the procedures - if I wanted just to watch I'd use YouTube, it´s free and I don´t need to go to  another country to use it. Right after this splash of cold water, we immediately called our home faculty´s department to  inform them about this situation. Because you know, Erasmus students back in Porto actually have to work and do things like  any other student. If I was on third year or in any other course, I might even appreciate the break, but this is my last  year of dentistry and I need to practice, a lot, and that´s why I came.

We were later told, in a private meeting, that each  department chief would 'try' to give us some patients for us to work. After two weeks in Orthodonty, in which of those I didn't do much - it was expected since regular students can´t do much in  that field - I was expecting to do real work in Pedodontics (dentistry for children). The fact of me being sited on the  library's computer making this post on 9:40 in a workday can really tell you how much work I´m really doing. The professors  are really nice, don´t get me wrong, but I´m tired of watching and having to ask to do something most of the time - we don´t  even have a dentist chair to work with, they didn't attributed one to us. And to make things even more lovely, I haven´t found a single student who speaks English in this department, so me and my mate feel like aliens wondering around.
To sum things up - loving the country and the teachers, our schoolmates (the ones we can understand) but not loving the faculty´s work-system at all, and I´m starting to question why I´m here if I can't work.

The three-week summary

Tomorrow it'll be three weeks since I arrived into Turkey. I talk about three busy weeks - it seems like I've been here for two months at least. Everything was completely new to me and just now I'm entering into the local routine and learning the ropes.

The first stop for me was Istanbul - an amazing city who was the very first impression. I stayed in a cheap but cozy hotel that was located in an actual neighborhood and not in a very tourist area - as the owner said, the ideal hotel to watch the daily life of the Turkish. After two very busy days I left Istanbul with the feeling that I was in a very historical and interesting country.

Second (and final destination) - Izmir. As the third city of Turkey, it's crowded, really crowded. I was lucky enough to study in a very calm and nice region of Izmir - Bornova. Since I don't really like noise and confusion, I instantly liked EGE University Student Village, or the Ege Üniversitesi Öğrenci Köyü as they say, which is really like a small city with all the students, erasmus, a social building, a dinner, a mini-market and even a hairdresser. We had the help of a very good Turkish friend who studied in my faculty last semester, so she knew exactly how it is to be in a foreign country, she picked me up at the airport and drove to the Student Village and then the hypermarket - thanks again Merve! Since I arrived on Thursday, the following days were calm, some paperwork to sign and sightseeing in the center city center.

One of the many buildings of the Students Village

Ephesus, one of the many historical places in Turkey.

The following week was the truly peak of these three weeks so far - the integration week. This was when we met literally all the EGE Erasmus crowd, our mentors, and the entire (and gigantic) campus. I literally knew more people in one week than in an entire year back at home - that's Erasmus for you. I had an instant connection with the Spanish and Italian erasmus - maybe because they are our neighbors and think like us? The language? I dunno, but they are truly great =) In fact, pretty much all of the erasmus people are great. As a southern European, I thought we were more joyful and extroverted than the northern countries - talk about a wrong preconception! These guys are pretty much crazy and always ready to party all week long.  I'm not really the kind of person who likes to party hard every week. I'd rather have dinner and going onto a bar and drink a beer and talk, so I'm pretty much the 1%, but even so it's been easy to find someone to do so. I met dozens of persons in a daily basis, and the good thing, all from different countries which is really good to open up your mind.

The EGE Erasmus in the first semester 2012/2013

What surprised me the most was the Turkish people - you obviously can find persons with all sorts of intentions, but in general they are VERY welcoming. I didn't have the slightest problem finding someone willing to help me in all sorts of occasions in an unselfish way - we do have lots to learn from them. They'll go all the way and beyond to make you feel at home. Thanks for that, it's truly great feeling like this when you're 4500 km away from your real home.

And of course we had the sight seeings. Being such a rich country in terms of history and natural resources, Turkey is one of the most beautiful countries I've ever been into. I'll speak about every place I went separately, but it's really one of those things that makes the Erasmus worthwhile, you get to know so many wonderful places that you wouldn't otherwise. Thanks a lot for all the guys from ESN (Erasmus Student Network) that organize these trips.

Even if you don't feel at home, you'll feel you're in paradise in Ilıca, Çeşme.

Of course, I've had classes too. At first I was told that I couldn't perform treatments - and as a senior in dentistry you can image that I NEED to practice, a lot. This was a major setback which almost drove to the end of this Erasmus - but it wasn't entirely true. Turns up this faculty works by departments, and each department has the autonomy to decide what you can and can't do as an Erasmus student. And after a meeting with the chiefs of each department, we were pleased to know that with some insistence and showing some interest you can in fact manage to treat several patients, and with different kinds of problems, much of those I wouldn't be able to see in Porto. Our schoolmates are really helpful too, and when you find someone who speaks English (which unfortunately is rare) you'll feel really integrated. The teachers are very nice and interested in us (maybe because we are from a foreign university?), it's been interesting have chats in the teacher's private office and having private lessons - another advantage of erasmus, you get to know a different way of being taught.

Our buddies at Orthodonty in the dentistry faculty.

To add up, these were three amazing weeks, and there are many more to come, so stay tuned =)