Mutlu Bayramları!

GUYS I AM SUCH A DUMMY. It turns out that Ramaz(d)an ended tonight (I think? I'm still not positive if it was tonight or tomorrow...). I had somehow gotten it in my head that it ends on the 10th, and so had planned my visit to Ankara to precede it in the hopes of being able to meet with more people; instead, I've arrived at the exact wrong time, when everyone is celebrating with their families. *Facepalm*. I guess this is why you doublecheck these things? It also explains why it was so hard to find seats on a bus––everyone was going home for the end of Ramadan! It's a very big deal, naturally. I'm so embarrassed! Talk about fitting the ignorant American stereotype, good God. I'll have to apologize profusely to A, the grad student researcher I'm meeting with tomorrow, for so rudely interrupting his celebrations. And buy some baklava as a "sorry I can't keep my dates straight" present.

One of the many very big-lipped fish at our hotel

The bus ride from Istanbul to Ankara was a bit of an adventure. It took us about 7 hours, as a number of accidents along the road slowed us down considerably, and it was more than 4 hours before our first (and only) bathroom stop, by which point I was about ready to explode. We managed to take public transportation from the Ankara otogar to our hotel with minimal issues, mostly because it we took the subway and it was therefore quite easy to navigate. We waited until awhile after sundown to venture out (during which time I realized my gaffe with the dates), deciding to travel down to Kızılay, a more hip/happening place, from our hotel in Ulus, which involved walking the half mile back to the metro station. Between us and the station is Gençlik Parkı, where there was the most awesome of awesome light/water shows set to music going on.

It involved color- and direction-changing fountains and lasers

And mist screens upon which images were screened

Including a waving Turkish flag and Atatürk

We stayed until the end, because I thought it was super awesome (have I mentioned how awesome??), then took the subway down to Kızılay. There was a bazaar/street fair on the street by the metro, so we checked that out while looking for food. In the process, we came across a man with bunnies that could, supposedly, tell your fortune. I just played with one of the bunnies, because BUNNIES! and then he gave me and Marcos safety pins with little evil eyes attached, and a bracelet of the same for me, just because. Maybe it's a Ramazan thing? Regardless, it was a pretty great interaction.

"OH MY GOD AM I REALLY
HOLDING A BUNNY?!"

"Aren't you just the cutest bunny? Yes you are."

We ended up deciding to eat at a place that had a number of customers already, but made the mistake of getting pizza––we ordered sooner than we were ready, really, but I was hungry and didn't want to wait. I got the margherita, which was not at all a margherita pizza as we know and love it, but rather had corn and green and red peppers and no basil or mozzarella.

Margherita?

Marcos' was basically the same, but with weird sausage. They were both very underwhelmingly mediocre, but at least they were food!

We probably should have just gotten the
McTurco, eh?

Now we're quite tired and both have headaches––turns out riding on a bus doesn't lead to the greatest of feelings––and will be heading to bed shortly. I'm meeting with A tomorrow at noon on the METU campus, and Marcos may be trying to find something to footage, though as it's the first day of the Ramazan Bayramı, or post-Ramadan sugar-infused celebration and museums are therefore closed, so he may have to resort to more street/park/people shots. We head back to Istanbul on the 4:00 bus and will hopefully be back in the city by 10:00. Then it's 4 full days of crazy action before flying out on Tuesday! So hard to believe the trip is almost over...