LaLa Land

I have been enjoying a wonderful visit with my friend Evrim Karaçetin and her family in Ankara. I first met Evrim almost two years ago at Oregon State University when I was the statistical consultant for her PhD research on cinnabar moths. Since then, we have become friends and she has helped me with Turkish and music. This is her first trip back to visit her family in 2 years so I am happy that she made time for me to come visit her and her family.




















The Karaçetins are wonderful and have adopted me, giving me the name Lale (Tulip) Karaçetin! Evrim’s mother, Yasemin, is an excellent cook. She makes jellies from foods she grows in her garden, such as apricots and rose hips. The first night, she made a delicious soup with chicken, broad beans, garbanzo beans, and mint. The next morning, she made an amazing bread. Last night, Evrim’s father Habib grilled chicken that was fabulous. Today, Yasemin made mantı, a ravioli-type dish filled with meat, onions, and parsley. I helped with the stuffing of the dough but, as usual, mine were the ugly ones. The mantı is boiled then served with yoğurt and pepper paste -- YUM!









Yesterday Evrim’s brother, Altuğ, drove Evrim, Yasemin, and me to two museums. First we visited the Anatolian Cultural Museum, which was amazing! It begins with the 9,000-year old Çatal Höyük, which is the largest known Neolithic settlement in the world. We saw rock art and goddess figurines from a culture that obviously appreciated a voluptuous figure. There was also amazing art from the Hittites, Selçuks, and Romans. I have just too many photos! It was a great museum. Habib is a retired archaeologist. He used to work at this museum and also at many excavations of Roman ruins in Turkey during his career.


Next we visited the Atatürk Museum where Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the first president of the Republic of Turkey, is buried. The complex is very large and holds many of his belongings, such as his personal library, cars, and wardrobe. There are exhibits outlining the role of Turkey in World War I and the War of Independence. We were not allowed to take photographs inside the museum but I have a few from the outside.




That evening we stopped at a restaurant for food. Altuğ suggested kokoreç, a dish made from --- you guessed it – intestines! I said that I would stick with the lamb. However, Evrim gave me a piece of her kokoreç and it was GREAT! The spice was wonderful and it was chopped up so that the source of the meat was hardly discernable. I stand corrected! Later Evrim and Habib taught me how to play backgammon (tavla). It is very fun and they showed me some strategies. I’m sure I will need much more tea and practice!




Today Evrim and I met one of our other Turkish Corvallis friends, Kahraman, and his partner Emir, who lives here in Ankara. Kahraman is working on his PhD at Oregon State and works with hazelnuts, of which Turkey is the largest producer on this side of the globe. We enjoyed some lahmacun, sweets, coffee, and good conversation. Emir may be moving to West Virginia for work and school this spring (he’s a mechanical engineer), so hopefully we’ll be seeing him soon in the US.

Tonight Altuğ and his wife, Serap, had us over for sweets and tea. They have a lovely apartment that they have completely remodeled. Had I not been so gluttonous, I would have remembered to take some photographs. Serap gave me a lovely necklace, earrings, and nazar (blue eye to ward off the evil eye) as a gift – so sweet!

It has been a great trip to Ankara! I plan to go back to İstanbul on Monday. The time is ticking by and there’s still so much to see and do!!!