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!

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 =) 

About Turkey

There are some preconceptions about Turkey that are completely wrong. Due to it's geographical position and main religion, many (or most) people think it's a country with many instability, conflicts and that pet hate towards the people from the west. It couldn't be farther away from the truth. But lets go the data first.

Turkey within the European Union

Area: 783,562 km2	Language: Turkish
Religion: 97% Muslim, 1% Atheist, 0,6% Christians	Population: 75 million
Largest cities: Istanbul, Ankara (capital), Izmir	Ethic groups: 70–75% Turks, 18% Kurds
Currency: Turkish Lira (1€ = 2,30 TL) as of 09/2012	Human Development Index: Hight (92nd of 187) as of  2011

Turkish Provinces

Turkey is located both in Europe (3%, that left part from Istanbul) and Asia - what means you're doing Erasmus in another continent x)

Weather

The coastal areas of Turkey bordering the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean Sea have a temperate Mediterranean climate, with hot, dry summers and mild to cool, wet winters. I came to Izmir in the middle of September and had temperatures around 33ºC during the day and 20ºC during the night - if you come from a northern country prepare yourself for some very hot weeks. In the interior, in Ankara for example, the temperatures are more extreme, with even high values during the day and negative temperatures during the night.

Feeling too hot? What about a trip to Çesme?

Economy and Prices

Judging by the countries around Turkey, I wasn't expecting such a thriving economy as I've seen. Turkey is one of the most powerful word economies being part of the G-20, and one of the few that it's actually growing and not contracting. It seems like every Turkish has the new iPhone or Samsung Galaxy - even though they are more expensive here than in other parts of Europe!

The food is really cheap and you can eat for 5/6 TL in some places. The supermarkets can have really nice promotions (like a bag of chocolate cookies for 1 TL). The main hypermarket here is Kipa (kind of like Tesco in the UK or Continente in Portugal). 

The prices are generally cheaper than in the western part of Europe, except for the milk (and if it's soy milk, oh boy, you'll pay big bucks for that), cereals and alcoholic drinks. Yeah, you read it right! The prices here are stupidly high and if you're a heavy drinker you'll have to bring that extra cash.

Apart from that, everything seems to be cheaper - the bus rides, the domestic flights, the food, the transport, the clothes, etc, etc. One thing you'll have to do is bargain. If you never did that before, you will master the art! 20 TL for a hat? No way, you can have it for 10, just bargain with the salesman. If you just accept the normal price without bargain I think the sellers will think you're not normal!

The people

The Türk are reaaaally nice to foreigners. They will try to help you in what they can, even though they can't understand you and vice-versa. They're very welcoming and will invite you for a cup of tea - a very hot Çay. One sentence that will be very helpfull is "Türkce bilmiyorum" - I don't speak Turkish - it's by far the most useful sentence I've ever learn! Some people will still speak turkish to you even with you saying you can't speak it. When that happens just say yes (evet) to everything, smile and go away x)

They have a great deal of admiration towards Atatürk - literally the father of the Turkish - with pictures and statues of him in every public building, squares and at their houses. But I'll do another post about it.

The Turkish are also very tolerant, specially the ones from big cities - so it's natural so see girls in short skirts or with a cleavage, people from other religions or even transgenders as in many other western countries. 

A very conservative country? Here's transgender in a boat party!

The food

The first thing you should know is that you won't definitely find pork here. Even if you can find, it will be a salami-type of meat, so forget about that amazing beef you like so much. The Turkish cuisine is heavily influenced by the the heritage of Ottoman cuisine - luckily olive oil is the major type of oil used for cooking, which I appreciate since I'm Portuguese.

Simit is a special type of circular bread with sesame seeds you'll see everywhere, generelally for breakfast or lunch. It's quite good actually, the first time I ate it was in a private class and it was offered by the professor (how about that Turkish hospitality!).

Selling Simit on the street

Çay - the Turkish black tea - is consumed in every part of the day, breakfast, after lunch, in the afternoon, evening, after dinner, etc, being traditionally offered to guest. The çay is traditionally offered in small tulip-shaped glasses which are usually held by the rim, in order to save the drinker's fingertips from being burned, as the tea is served boiling hot. Çay is drunken in the same way that the Portuguese and Italians drink their Espressos. The Turkish Coffe (Türk Kahve) is also very popular, consisting in a strong non-filtered cup of coffe. and you'll find people who can read your future in the coffe grounds - your future in the cup and your family's in the saucer.

Çay served in a very distinctive cup - half drunk of course!

Turkish coffe with turkish delights

Wanna know your future?

For the actual meal, you can easily find the tradicional köfte, döner or kebabs anywhere. Rice (pilav) or Bulgur (kind of a special rice) are key ingredients, and you'll find that eating chicken (tavuk) twice a day almost everyday is quite normal. Fish is nowhere to be seen, at least where I'm living (Bornova, Izmir). The eggplant (aubergine) is normally present in every meal, cooked in several kinds of ways. Biber (a kind of peper) is also heavily used. For the salad, cucumber is the key ingredient.

A dish like this costs no more thant 2,5 €. You won't miss chicken since it's everywhere.

Bulgur with beans in a low-cost restaurant

Kumru - traditional sandwich of Çesme.

Yoghurt is also a very important element in Turkish cuisine (the word yoghurt derives from the Turkish word yoğur). Yoghurt can accompany almost all meat dishes (kebabs, köfte), vegetable dishes (especially fried eggplant). In villages, yoghurt is regularly eaten with rice or bread. They eat their yoghurt in the natural way here, which means no sugar and no added flavors. Tough luck! One interesting thing is that they made a special beberage made of yoghurt called Ayran, wich is a cold beverage of yogurt mixed with cold water and sometimes salt, pouring from a fountain-like machine. I haven't tasted it yet, so I won't speak much about it =)

Although it's not a food an more of a cultural habit, the Turkish love to smoke the waterpipe, known as Nargile. It's very normal to go out and see lots of people, old and young, smoking and socializing.

The nargile - whaterpipe

The traffic

It's just crazy. I feared for my life, but it deserves a whole post dedicated to it!