Ankara Dreamin'

So I haven't updated in a while.  But in my defense, nothing interesting has happened in a while.  That is- until this past week, which was my spring break.  I kicked the week off with a trip to Ankara, Turkey's capital, to play in a frisbee tournament.  It took place over the Childrens' Day Holiday, which this year was April 23.  I played with a Turkish "team" that I had been playing with every Sunday- Türk Kası; two other teams played in the Ankara tournament: Bilkent University (which hosted) and Caddebostan Olympics (another Istanbul "team").  By "team", I mean that they play pickup once a week or so.  The quality of play was not super-high or competative, but it was tons of fun and great to get out of Istanbul, and spend some time away from the BU scene.

Most Turks say, "The best view of Ankara is on the way back to Istanbul," and while I didn't spend a ton of time in town, it seemed like an accurate saying.  The city was big, sprawling, and unattractive.  I spent most of my time on Bilkent's campus, which is about 20/30 mins from the city center.  After an all-night train from Istanbul, we arrived in Ankara about 2 hrs late (due to a delay on the tracks).  We were picked up at the station, driven to Bilkent, fed breakfast, and checked in to our dorm rooms.  Then, to the field!  I was sore and tired after spending all night sitting on a train, but the frisbee was fun.

After the team tournament (we went 4-1), we had a hat tournament (on Sat), which was fun, though most of us were broken by that time.  At the end of play on Sat, I got a ride to the Ankara airport, to catch a flight back to Istanbul.  I had a 7am flight to take to Trabizon the next morning with the Duke program, so I didn't have enough time to take the train again.

Highlights of the Ankara tournament:

• Hanging out with Turks and non-Bogazici students for a weekend
• Making good friends on the Türk Kası team
• Playing lots of frisbee
• Watching the Turkish equivalent of a disc race (fail)
• Getting to spend some time by myself (without my Duke compatriots) just for a bit
• Getting to see the view of Ankara as I leave for Istanbul.