Erzurum

One day soon I will hike these mountains!




To my friends and family

I could not get any sleep last night! Partly because of jetlag and partly because i was drinking with the people on our program from Georgia. Wine and toasts seem to be a big part of the Georgian culture. Before we drank it was customary for one person to give a toast. After many toasts from many people we ran out of the wine, which by the way was some of the best wine I have ever had.

I woke up to the sounds coming from the university's mosque and went downstairs to eat breakfast, buy bottled water, and take a tour of Erzurum.

We all packed onto our bus and went into the city where we visited a citadel which was built during the byzantine era (however many renovations have been made and no one really knows the full history of the citadel because there were no markings on the walls). unfortunately we were not allowed to go inside due to safety concerns (whatever that means). here is a pic of the lookout tower with the Turkish flag above it. We will have a chance to tour the city on our own time and i hope to climb it.



We also went to and old Mosque/school/burial ground. There is a garden, class rooms, and a mosque inside. Here take a video look.



We also visited the oldest mosque in Erzurum. It was the first time i have stepped into (without shoes) a mosque and saw what it was all about. carpeted floors and beautiful decorations everywhere! It was very quiet and peaceful. However many of the Taiwanese students were taking pictures and holding up the peace sign. Apparently this is not appropriate to do in mosque and they were told not to do it again. I am still not sure why it was inapropriate. There was also a summer school taking place while we were there. I took a picture (check out the power point!)



For the next part of the tour we visited a barracks located 3000 meters on one of the mountains. The barracks were used by the ottomans to defend against the Russians in the late 19th century. Knives and forks and plates were some of the weapons used to keep out the invading Russians. The Ottomans were successful. One striking story is that of a woman named Nenahatun who lost her brothers and husband in the war. She decided to leave her only child (who died) and fight the Russians. She survived the war and died in the 1950's. She was named "Mother of Mothers" on Mothers day in 1955. There are many statues and monuments dedicated to her.



We then visited Ataturks home. Ataturk is the founder of Turkey and the republics first president. He brought secularism to Turkey. For more info about Ataturk visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ataturk Most of the house was pretty average and everything was written in turkish so i didn't quite understand everything. Ataturk is a very big deal for Turks. Everywhere i go, be it the markets, faculty offices, classrooms, etc..., there is a picture of Ataturk. He is so important that one can not speak negatively about him in public (it is a crime!). Here is a pic of him.
I am now on break and will be having a party for the international students. I will write about it tomorrow.

Take care

Benjie