part of the family

The rest of my visit in Turkey was spent with various parts of the Oztabak-Avci family. I took the train from Istanbul to Ankara early one morning, getting to take in the Northern Turkish countryside in all it's glory. Green hills, orchards, farms- beautiful. Elif, a family friend who formerly lived with us in Shorewood, picked me up at the train station. Elif's husband, Ozgur, moved back in with my family for the past year as he finished his PhD at UWM while Elif and their daughter, Elfin, returned to Turkey. So for a short period his family hosted me in Ankara and then Fethiye while my family hosted him in Milwaukee. Darling.
 So, Ankara. I was with Elif, Elfin and Elif's mother, Meral. Here's a photo of them, plus Elif's grandmother, Bedia who joined us on the last night. That makes four generations of women on one couch. I was dying because it was so wonderful.

Meral (mom), Elif (daughter), Elfin (granddaughter), Bedia (grandmother)

Ankara is the new capital of Turkey since the 1920s when it became a republic and moved the capital from Istanbul. Elif and Elfin speak English in addition to Turkish, but Meral and Bedia know very little English and of course, I know no Turkish at all. I spent some time with just Meral and Bedia, and the funniest thing was that the communication barrier between us did not stop them from talking. In Turkish. They just chatted on and sure enough, although I didn't know any of the words, I often understood to a pretty high degree what they were saying. Elfin was born in Milwaukee 5 years ago when both Elif and Ozgur were at UWM doing their PhD's. She and I went to the same preschool (UWM daycare, holler). So while at first she was very shy about it, her English came back quickly and we had a grand time. 

Meral prepared us delicious meals (think olives, tomatos, yogurt, garlic, phyllo dough, grape leaves) in addition to some top notch restaurant experiences (kebap, meatballs, baklava, mmmmm) around the city.  Some photos to illustrate the other things I did:

Elfin being super cute. Although I ruin it a bit.  

Atatürk's mausoleum, which contains Atatürk's tomb and a museum of his leadership and of the Turkish War of Independence. Having led the war and then becoming the first president, Atatürk is the father of the Turkish Republic and is generally well-love in Turkey.  

My shoulder at the mausoleum. 

Meral brought me around the mausoleum and other parts of Ankara that morning. 

Elif at the Middle Eastern Technical University soccer field. Elif is a professor of English literature in the department of  English Instruction there. Devrim ('revolutiom) in the background was painted by students in forty years ago and the university could not manage to remove it. Apparently there were some very bright chemistry students involved in the maneuver.     

Me and Elif on campus. METU is a huge university with a huge campus that functions like it's own little city: banks and grocery stores and a pharmacy. It would be terribly fun to be a student there. 

A campus building where we saw a classical guitar concert.

A painting from an art show at the University. 

Yesterday after our Memorial Day cookout, I showed Ozgur (Elif and Elfin's husband and dad, respectively) all of my photos from my time in Turkey. A few weeks ago he completed his PhD, so will be returning to Ankara on Thursday. He is greatly anticipating the reunion with his family and country. "That will be, yes, a really great day," he said, beaming, after describing seeing Elif and Elfin after his long journey. Couldn't be happier for them.