The one where the Turkish hospitality was almost too much
Azure Route in Ankara, 28/05 - 30/05
Merhaba from Kadi, Alina and Phaedon, the Azure ambassadors!
And off we went. The Azure route started a bit rough: a 14-hour overnight train from İzmir to Ankara without couchettes… Sending us off were locals from AEGEE-İzmir, Mine and Defne, who brought the city’s energy right to the platform, seeing us off by dance and laughter. Then the train pulled away, and suddenly it was just the three of us.
Looking back, Ankara was the perfect first stop because of one simple reason: the locals. We’d been warned about the hospitality of AEGEE-Ankara by our trainer Julian and some previous ambassadors. But there was nothing like experiencing it ourselves.
The moment we stepped out of Ankara’s old train station, we were greeted by Emre, one of the local AEGEE members, who picked us up and took us to our accommodation. And what an introduction it was! After barely sleeping on the train, we found ourselves sitting on a balcony overlooking the city, enjoying a homemade Turkish breakfast prepared by the locals. The apartment turned out to be one of the hosting local’s grandma’s house, who had generously opened her home to us. The phrase “can we help?” escaped our lips countless times during the stay but the locals were adamant of treating us like royalty and not letting us move a finger. A situation that took us a while to get used to.
During this first morning we were also introduced to an important figure in Turkish culture: Fedon. This happened, of course, because of our very own Phaedon, whose name immediately reminded everyone of the famous singer. As a result, the soundtrack of our stay included a healthy amount of Fedon.
By coincidence, we had arrived during Eid, a week-long holiday when many residents leave Ankara to visit family, so many shops were closed and the city was quieter than usual. However, in my opinion, we quite enjoyed the calmer side of it and the smooth car rides, even though we were warned it wasn’t the most authentic Ankara experience.
Indeed, the almost sleepless train ride had taken a lot from us, but the hospitality and warmth of the locals gave us the energy to face the day ahead on and make the most out of it. They had prepared a full programme for us, including a visit to AEGEE-Ankara’s history filled office, a visit to Anıtkabir, the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of modern Turkey. We also explored Ankara Castle and, perhaps most importantly, discovered a local soda shop (Hangimiz Sevmedik Cafe) that quickly became one of the highlights of the trip, at least for me.
One of the best parts of travelling is discovering the little details that never make it into guidebooks. For us that happened while sharing meals with the locals. During dinner on the balcony, accompanied by some delicious pasta prepared by the locals, the conversations often drifted between serious topics and hilarious cultural observations. During that time we had a conversation with the locals about the protests against the government taking place there. About the usage of pepper spray in water cannons, the violence, the deaths and the coexistence of fear and fearlessness met there. How the same people get arrested by the same police day after day. “That’s the spirit of the city- fighting against the people in power” one of them said.
The two days we stayed there were punctuated by the constant calls to prayer echoing across the city. We found out the locals hear them so often that they can recognise individual muezzins by their voices. One story in particular stayed with us. “My guy went on vacation once,” a local explained. “There was a new muezzin singing, and honestly, he wasn’t as good.” Whether it was the sleep deprivation or the cultural contrast, we found this incredibly funny. Another surprising fact from that night was that moustaches can carry political meaning. Different shapes and styles are often associated with different political ideologies, and people rarely deviate from the style connected to their views. We had never imagined facial hair could be such a political statement, but observed the moustaches surrounding us much more carefully the following day.
The next day brought us our first workshops and we were in for a challenge… 3 workshops in a row with 15 minute breaks. Feeling the nerves and trying to anticipate the pitfalls while sitting on a corridor carpet, desperately trying to finalize our ice breakers and energisers. However, it was all made easier as we started the day with a Turkish breakfast cooked by the dear locals, giving us the much needed energy for the upcoming workshops. Arriving at the venue. Going through our checklist. Checking out the room. Testing the speakers. A half moon room setup. Putting out needed materials. And we were off. We had 24 participants in total, mostly AEGEE-Ankara members, taking part in all 3 workshops.
We started with the workshop titled Climate Emotions 101. The Turkish spirit became very apparent during that workshop, foreshadowed by the locals the night before. Angriness and disappointment. Feeling like you’re not in control of your life, the footprint you leave etc etc. “Fear is when you don’t know what’s going to happen. But when I know what’s going to happen I can’t feel fear, I feel anger or hope.” Said a participant known to be an avid protester. During the workshop, the participants were encouraged to come up with their own plans of action for the future. The ideas included: using less AI (once exam period is over, of course), using less plastics and even trying to quit meat in the next year. Something we realized after we’d delivered our workshops was, we never asked the participants for their names, somehow we totally forgot that. Oopsie.
The second workshop was Storytelling: From fear to collective imagination. This workshop was designed with the purpose of participants learning to use artistic expressions and storytelling to channel and express their climate emotions. To our excitement, the groups of participants chose lots of different ways to tell their climate stories. Amongst others we got to see a picture collection where Europe on Track and education saved the day, a comic about AI usage, and even a theatre piece where the corrupt wrong doers were arrested.
The final workshop was How to talk about climate without preaching. In this workshop participants learn how to talk about climate with understanding and compassion. But you could see the fatigue both in ambassadors and participants eyes. But even through the tiredness, participants continued to approach the topic with curiosity and challenged each other’s perspectives. “If you have the power, you don’t need reasons or logic” mentioned a participant after role-playing as a climate-indifferent company representative during an experiment. A fitting quote to sum up the day, reflecting the mix of pessimism, frustration, and critical reflection that emerged throughout many of the discussions in and out of workshops.
After the workshops, we had our final baklavas, car rides, evening talks and goodbyes with the locals. Instead of one hug that we’re accustomed to, the Turks usually embrace two or three times whilst switching sides. “We just have too much love for one hug. But four is too much” they said.
That being said, we gave a lot of double hugs that night, because with the next morning came the departure. And our stay there ended just like it started, with Emre picking us up. This time, he was taking us to the bus station. We heard there was a protest planned for the day of our departure and that some of the locals we met were planning on going. We give them all our love, hope and of course, öptüm bye bye (kisses bye bye).
Written by: Kadi Värnik
(and the Azure team)
1 comment for “Azure Team – Ankara”