Day 14 and 15 were adventures

We left the university yesterday to move to the capital city of Ankara. The bus ride would have been long enough except we kept stoping every hour! No joke. It was ridiculous. We did get a little break at an old Turkish village that is still inhabited. This was cool because we could see people still living in old Turkish dwellings. The old street bazaars were still there and in use. The houses were still the same except with some newer additions like plumbing and electricity. Take those away and it could have been 15th century Turkey. It was amazing.

We got to the capital late on Sunday night and our bus driver, Ufuk, had a hard time finding our hotel. That’s his name, no joke, except its pronounced ooo-fook. That’s the kind of Turkish name that gets you in a lot of trouble in and American school. I can see his parents naming him now. “What name could we give our son that will get his butt kicked every day in school? Hmm…I know! Ufuk!” Wow.

Our first day in Ankara wasn’t even in the city. We drove three hours out to go to the Hittite ruins and their old capital. It was great to see such old ruins. 3,000 years old and to walk among them! Fantastic. I’m going to upload the pictures ASAP.

The most interesting facts about the Hittites were that they were so closely connected to the Egyptians. I mean, I learned more about Egyptian than the Hittites. Although the Hittites used cuneiform instead of hieroglyphics like the Egyptians, their art was almost identical and their places of worship, gods and idols were almost in complete unison. The first political treaty in the world, in human history, was recorded between the Hittites and the Egyptians. It would be very superficial to think that the Hittites got everything from the Egyptians, because when groups of people are so close together there is bound to be an exchange in cultures. However, the Egyptians have always said it, and it would be rude to turn my back on my ancestors. The Egyptians are recorded as being around longer than the Hittites, by almost a thousand years. So the saying it true. Egypt is the mother of the world!

It was exhausting to walk through those ruins though. There was no shade. We had to wear heavy clothing because ticks are a common problem in that area so we had to protect our skin. That meant jeans and running shoes and even a long sleeve shirt in 90 degree weather. Tough stuff, but I’m African, its cool. The hardest part was going from the heat to a hot bus and back and forth, back and forth, up the mountain, in the bus, down the mountain then into the bus. It was tiring in.

Quote of the Day:
“As long as he learns to fill our mouths more than our heads, we’ll be ok.” – Kristin, when we learned that we’d have a new tour guide for the day.