Touchdown in Turkey, the capital of Ankara

My name is Liz Friedman and this is my travel blog for the time I spent in Turkey and Cyprus with the Robert E. Cook's Honors College.

When our plane finally arrived in Ankara, I definately had that, "Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore," feeling. I suppose that's normal for my first experience outside the country and even though there was no yellow brick road to follow, the experiencew will be unforgetable.

Turkey assaulted my senses with all that was new, and I loved everysecond of it. The buildings had a style all their own, a practical design of concrete to keep the buildings resistant to earthquakes. For all that was different, Ankara bore a cosmopolitan flair that was reminiscent of many western cities.

We spent out first afternoon wandering the city, a bit of free time to get to know Turkey. What struck me was how family friendly Ankara was. There was a park in the middle of the new district, complete with playground and a pond to watch swans glide gracefully through the water. Not to mention pigeons, pigeons, and more pigeons. My friends and I watched one little girl feed the pirgeons with too big chunks of bread. I was not used to how safe it was just to play in a city that size. I suppose I was not used to cities taking measures to cater to children and not just adults like in America.

Ankara was also a city filled with art. There was a giant statue of three stags in one part of the city that turned out to be a giant reproduction counterpart of the small, bronze age version. There seemed to be at lease a close affinity with the art of the previous cultures of Turkey.

Between jet lag and culture shock, I realized how invaluable this trip would be and I was not dissapointed in my prediction. Tomorrow I'll hopefully have the chance to write about the boat road we had around the Lykian Peninsula.