Week 2

This weekend, all the FEBA groups in Ankara met up to visit the Ataturk Mausoleum. Everyone in Turkey has a deep reverence for Ataturk as the hero that freed them from the Ottoman Empire. Coming to to Turkey with very little background knowledge, I felt that this museum has given me the most information about Turkey. Afterwards we went to a park to walk around and have dinner. Unfortunately, the riots occurring in Ankara stopped us from exploring more of the city that day.

On Wednesday, we went with a research assistant to the Estergon Kalesi Turk Kultur Merkezi Etnografya Muzesi Castle. It had beautiful blue tiles and designs throughout the building. On the upper level, there was an ethnography museum of Turkey.  IT showed the living situations and ceremonies common to the Turkish culture. We were able to climb the turrets of the castle, giving us a breathtaking view of Ankara.

To introduce us to Turkish tradition, the girls in our medical group were invited to a henna party. This celebration is for a bride before her wedding. There is tons of food, and dancing. At the end of the party, the bride to be sits in the middle of the circle with a red scarf draped over there head. The girls attending hold candles and dance and sing in a circle around the bride. Then the mother in law is suppose to give the bride a piece of gold so she will open her hand so they would be able to give her a henna dot in the middle of her hand.

On the last day of our internship, we went to the Turk Ozal Medical School for the last time. We a special lecturer from a different university in Ankara came to give us a biochemistry lecture on free radicals. Later, our group of students, the professors, doctors and dean sat down to have dinner together. Following, we had a small graduation ceremony to celebrate the completion of the internship.  

On Saturday, we had a free day. Our medical group met up with some of the medical students of Turgut Ozal. We went to one of the largest parks in Ankara. We all split up, going to do paddle boating, go-carting or just playing basketball or volleyball. Unfortunately, the weather turned foul fast and we all had to make a mad dash for the bus stop.

Ankara Week 1

The first thing that struck me on entering Turkey was 1. How packed the houses are. 2. How nice the people are 3. How different the culture is and 4. The toilets! Living in an all girl’s dorm, we are separated from all the guys in our group, mostly doing our own thing except for the internship and the outings. With our dorms curfew, at first the girls had to be back by 8 pm and the boys didn’t have a curfew, it now has been extended to 10 pm. Everyone dresses in a very modest fashion, while I packed for this, the clothes I brought seem quite garish in front of the dress of all the girls in the internship and at the hospital.

When everyone first showed up to the internship, the hospital seemed to be shocked, not really knowing what to do with us. They have done their best to come up with a curriculum for us to follow. However expectations versus reality, I thought that we would be sitting in on surgeries and shadowing doctors so to find we sat most of the day listening to lectures seemed to be quite disappointing. However, the enthusiasm of our mentors is unrelenting, making us engaged in the lectures.  I have not had too much time to explore, working from 9 to 5 and having a curfew at 10. Last night, we were invited to a Turkish woman’s apartment for a traditional Turkish meal. We had a yogurt soup, followed by a meat and vegetable stew cooked in a special vessel, yogurt milk, grape leaves stuffed with rice, and finally baklava and Turkish tea. Filled to the brim with food and the kindness our host provided, it so far has been the best experience here.

The next day was another long day of biochemistry lectures. Afterwards we were taken to my room-mates family’s house. Yet again we were welcome with open arms. After many rounds a food, one of her aunts offered to do a special healing. Two of the girls went, and the aunt focused her energy on them, taking any negative energy from the aura around them. After much talking and laughing, we left the house and explored the area around. We found ourselves by a carnival and a vendor did tricks with ice cream as he handed them out to the girls.

Today we toured a laboratory including rat/mouse surgery, microbiology and genomic test. After lunch we went to the International Anatolian Health Federation. There an OBGYN doctor gave us a lecture on patient-doctor communication. He was very passionate and funny with a definite affinity towards cats (seeing as half the lecture focused on cat analogies). Right after that we were sent to one of the woman researcher at the Turgut Ozal University’s friend house for dinner. We ate and played with the little kids and then came back to the dorms.

Today we did DNA isolation at the university. Afterwards we went to haji a mosque and tomb honor of a famous prophet. We toured the town and had dinner there. The next day we went to Ankara Castle and visit the back to haji for some of the students to pray. Then we went to visit the home of a famous poet and a prophets tomb.

On Saturday we went to the Ankara zoo. And then went to shop at Tsyckli. There we saw protestors in the street. While it started peaceful, while we were inside eating, police began throwing tear gas into the crowd. Things quickly began to escalate and as soon as there was a break in the gas, we made a run for the subway station. Everyone made it back safely, thankfully but we all seemed a little shaken up by it. That night we went to the Turkish Olympics. There are no tickets for the program so everyone had to be there early to fight a mob for seats. On a hot day in Turkey, nothing feels worse than having hundreds of people pushing against each other sweating and yelling for an hour. However, when the program began it was worth it. The sense of national pride and camaraderie was over welcome. All the dancing and singing was amazing and all the people sang along with them. It was amazing being able to take part in a huge celebration of Turkey.

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Hi, I'm Madalyn I go to U of M and I will be going to Albania this summer!