Back to the States!

Posted on August 17, 2013 Updated on January 2, 2014

Wow! I can’t believe I am currently sitting in an easy-chair back at home in MN. It was quite an adventure to get here! 

That last Tuesday of work in Gazipasa started a little later than normal; we got to sleep in before going to the site to dig where we picked up litter, removed all stakes and lines, and organized all the equipment and tools in the school house that we use as a dig house. 

Then, we headed down to the Pirate’s Cove for the last time. Since we didn’t have lunch on site we brought food to the cove with us. After swimming for a little bit, we picnic-ed on one of large stones overlooking the water and I feasted on a simit and nectarine that we’d bought the night before. 

As we ate, we saw a large group of Turkish people walking down to the cove. Once they settled in one of the men came over to talk to us; it turns out that he, his family, and some of his extended family who were from Istanbul were vacationing in the area and had the same idea as us. He was extremely friendly, and we had a great conversation with him about his and our own work. It was also beautiful to see how much he glowed as he talked about his family and two sons. He was so proud! 

It was also a great experience, because the night before one of the Turkish workers, though very drunk, complained to a couple of us Americans that there was so much more to Turkey than we had seen, and that we should have gotten to know more Turkish and talked to more Turkish people. Looking back, I do wish I had spent more time learning the language and getting to know the Turkish workers and students better; however, talking to this man and playing with his two-year old son at the Cove helped allay any fears I had that I hadn’t experienced Turkey or really gotten to know many Turks. We had a great time at the cove, and ended up talking to him and playing with his kids almost the entire time we were there. He also had some great words of wisdom that he very casually and comfortably expressed: “everyone has a past, some good, some bad, but I pray to God that you have a good future.” He also said he would pray for us that we would start families of our own, just like his. I can only hope that if I do, I will radiate as much joy about my spouse and kids as he did! 

On Wednesday, we got up early (though we’d stayed up late the night before, hanging out at Conrad’s for the last time, and finding delicious baklava at a local cafe). We drove the two and a half hours to Antalya, and had to rush through the airport in only half an hour to get on our flight to Istanbul. It was kind of stressful, because I had the extra bag fully of RTI gear that I had to check in addition to my own suitcase. In order to get reimbursed by the school, I needed to have a receipt, but I had to go to a separate desk to get it. Kelly and Lillian were kind enough to help me out by waiting with me in case I encountered problems. Then, we rushed through the airport, found our gate, got our own private bus ride directly to our plane, and were the last to board right before they closed the plane’s door to leave. Uff-da! Thankfully we made it though! 

Once we arrived in Turkey we checked into the same hotel that we stayed in at the beginning of our trip- The Admiral Palace. Then we had the rest of the day free. We got a donna kebab at the same place we got one previously in Istanbul with the fries and pickles. Then, a group of us walked to the grand-bizaar to do some souvenir shopping. I ended up getting pulled into a scarf shop, where I haggeled with the shopkeeper over the price of the scarf. He was pulling out all his “lines” and originally said the price of the silk scarf was 120TL, but he said he’d give it to me for 70TL. I said my highest I would go was 45TL. Then he put the scarf on me, and asked if I’d go any higher; I said 48TL. Then, he kept trying to get me to take it for 50TL but I held my ground. He tried to get a handshake on it from me, and started packaging it for me before I said I would buy it. Finally, when I refused to budge from 48TL, and started leaving he finally caved and said he’d give it to my for 48TL as long as I took his business card and told all my friends about his shop! 

Then, after the long walk back to the hotel; we had a nice dinner at the hotel, complimentary of the bus-service that had been late picking us up from Antalya when we first flew South. That night, I ended up staying in and going to bed a little earlier just to relax, and because I knew I’d want to spend the whole next day out in the city. 

Thursday, our last full day in Istanbul, and our last full day in Turkey, went by really quickly. We slept in a little, had breakfast at the hotel, then got ready before the day before heading out to lunch at a nice kebab restaurant; I was trying to keep my spending to a minimum and get by with the Lyra that I still had left, so I only got some lentil soup. It was really good, and it filled me up. Then, Kaitlan, Kelly, Lillian and I went in search of Turkish delight. We walked to the spice market; we went to a shop that Kaitlan had been to before and that we knew was good because they keep offering you samples of the Turkish Delight. After trying a variety of kinds, I bought half a kilo of a green mint kind, my favorite, and half a kilo of pomegranate with pistachios. Both are really tasty, and I bought them to bring home to the family (see Michelle, I promised I’d bring you some!!). We then found a little coffee shop and had drinks before heading to the grand bazaar in search of more souvenirs. It was really nice just walking around, without stressing about having to be anywhere or buy anything in particular. Mostly we just wandered and found souvenirs for people along the way. The one thing we did have to buy was a gift for Professor Howe since his birthday was that day. We bought him a small wooden box with tortoise shell inlay, reminiscent of the decorations in palace that we toured on our second day in Istanbul. After walking around the grand bazaar, Kelly and I continued to look at the shops near our hotel. We ended up running into a young Turkish student, Bahadir, who had studied for two years at Marquette. We talked for a while about America, and said we might meet up with him later. After shopping for a little longer, we hurried to get back to the hotel in time to meet up with the group for dinner (we tried to take a short-cut up a steep hill, but of course ended up getting a little turned around which made us later than we would have been had we taken the normal route). We did make it back in time to meet with the group, and we all walked to a nearby restaurant for dinner; we gave professor Howe his gift. Then we returned to the shop, and hung out with Bahadir for a while. Once we split-off from him, we stopped to watch a whirling dervish dance. which was really cool. He moved so gracefully, it seemed like he was floating! Then we headed back to the hotel to hang out with the rest of the group at the tables on the roof of the hotel. 

It was kind of surreal, sitting on the rooftop of the hotel. It was kind of a surreal moment. People reclined in chairs, puffing on their newly bought pipes. The entire city of Istanbul seemed lit up just for us; the Mosques stood tall and confident next to nearby shops, fully of colorfully lit lanterns. The call to prayer was sounded, and could be heard to echo throughout the city. As a cool breeze swept up off of the Bosporus, I couldn’t help but think how surreal it was to think about where my life had taken me, that I’d spent the last five weeks excavating trenches and doing archaeology in Turkey. It is amazing where life takes you. 

That night we finished packing because we were leaving the hotel at 7:15am the next morning. After a quick breakfast at the hotel, a bunch of us left in a van for the airport. Our flight didn’t leave until about 3:00pm, so Kelly, Ian, Brad and I slept off and on for a bit in the airport. Then, we got through customs and passport control just fine, and got onto our plane.

Then, we started encountering problems. Because passengers were late boarding our flight, we ended up just sitting on the plane for about 45mins before we started moving. The flight itself went well, though Kelly and I stayed awake the entire time, except for a half hour nap, because we wanted to begin transitioning back to Minneapolis time. 

Once we landed, we knew we were in trouble; because of our delay in take-off, we had less than an hour to get through the airport, specifically American customs, onto our flight from Toronto to Minneapolis. We hurried quickly through everything until we got to American customs. There, we had to passively stand and wait, while staring at a screen until our name came up on the screen, indicating that our baggage had gone through. Only then could we get into the already huge line waiting to go through customs. We could tell we would be waiting a while, because a huge group of people was already standing, watching the screens for their names. We started to really worry especially since our plane had almost finished boarding by the time we finally saw our names on the screen and could move toward customs. Sadly, once we were in line for customs, we asked a staff member if they could hold our plane for us to Minneapolis, but they instead pulled everyone out of the line who was going to Columbus and Minneapolis. They then told us that the reason we were pulled from the line was because we would not be flying that night because our plane had already left. 

At this point, Brad, Kelly and I were really worried because we didn’t want to have to pay for a new ticket, and we were so close to home that we didn’t want to wait. In addition, we had been traveling for almost 20hrs at this point, and our bodies were still on Istanbul time so we physically felt like it was 3am. 

Fortunately, after a lot of confusion and stressing, we were able to talk to some Air Canada agents who ended up booking us into a hotel for the night, got a ticket for us to leave the next morning, as well as a meal voucher for dinner and breakfast the next morning; all paid for by the airline. At this point, we were glad we didn’t have to pay for a new flight, but we were still really tired, and had to find our luggage and get to our hotel. We finally got our luggage which was delayed coming to the baggage claim area, and then we waited outside for a shuttle to our hotel which the airline said would be coming to pick us up to bring us to our hotel. First we waited for fifteen minutes outside, then half an hour, then forty-five minutes. Finally, another lady off of our same flight who was in the same situation as us called the hotel, only to find out that our airline didn’t call for a shuttle all the time we’d been waiting! Finally, our shuttle arrived, we checked in, were told we would be getting a 5:30am wake-up call and 6am shuttle back to the airport, and then went to the restaurant to eat. After a quick dinner, I showered and went to bed exhausted, but also comforted and thankful that I’d be home tomorrow, and wouldn’t have to pay for the hotel or flight expenses. 

Unfortunately, in the morning the hotel never rang my room for the 5:30am wake-up call. Instead, the only reason I made the shuttle in time was because Kelly woke me up with ten minutes to spare before getting on the shuttle. I’d thankfully organized and packed everything the night before, and made it onto the shuttle.

Once we got to the airport, it was only a little confusing trying to explain to the airline workers why I had one, but not my second checked bag (we’d left the RTI bag at the airport because the man at baggage claim that I’d talked to said that they would forward the bag to me if I left it). Then, once we had got through the check in, everything went without a hitch. We got breakfast, and arrived at our gate early; I even had a window seat for the flight home! 

I still absolutely loved the sensatin of flying; being above the clouds, looking over the countryside, and viewing Minneapolis and St. Paul as tiny lego-like toy cities when my entire life I’d viewed them from an ant’s perspective. Once off the plane, we headed to baggage claim. As we stood on the escalator and saw the entrance to baggage claim I saw my parents and the twins waiting for me on the other side. I immediately broke into tears and ran to hug them. It felt so good to see them again, and I knew that I was finally home. I had made it!

Though I do wish I would have gotten to know some of the Turkish people better, and I wish I would have learned more Turkish, I have learned so much from this experience; about friendship, trying new things, working hard, standing up for one’s self, and living with and within whatever life hands you. I’ll never forget the sweat, the heat, the spicy food, the low-power toilets, the 5L water bottles or the amazement of flying into and through the clouds to emerge on the other side. I am extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to go to Turkey, explore Istanbul, dig in the trenches of an Archaeological excavation, capture so many amazing images with RTI, and encounter so many new things, people, and situations on this trip. 

From the platform tent of a camp in Nebraska, to a seat on a plane above the clouds, to a trench in rural Turkey, I have experienced the world in a variety of new and unexpected ways. Now, I look forward to the many adventures this summer is sure to bring with those most dear to me: my family. 

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my blog, and vicariously experience this summer with me. 

I would like to conclude by repeating the blessing the Turkish man bestowed on us this past Tuesday: “Everyone has a past, some good, some bad, but I pray to God that you have a good future”

Tesekkurler,

Nicole