We were fortunate to stay temporarily at a guest house when we first arrived. Even more fortunate was the presence of a former Fulbrighter, Lee, who had been in Ankara in 2006 and is back for a shorter stint working on his specialty, Hittite archaelogy. After looking at a few apartments near work and near the main university campus, we ended up renting Lee's former apartment. I like to describe it as a perfectly nice apartment with a million dollar view.
The building highlighted by the sun through the clouds is Kojetepe Mosque which is the largest in Ankara. The Russian Embassy is in the block below us. We were so taken with the view that we overlooked several drawbacks, but nothing that several hours of scrubbing, a new mattress, and furniture rearranging (including moving one old sofa to the sidewalk, which the owner did not resist at all) couldn't fix.
Armed with a small but indespensible dictionary, we managed to purchase extension cords, light bulbs, coat hangers, etc. and of course a few house plants: African violet, airplane plant hanging basket, and some unfamiliar herb which I've already managed to kill. I'm trying to root a few sprigs of ivy liberated on one of our walks and another vine that looks suspiciously like honeysuckle.
We're still looking for a mattress pad (mattresses here look more like box springs to me, and firm means FIRM) and a fitted sheet. Duvets are d'rigeur bedding which simplifies morning chores.
The apartment is quiet but exciting during thunder storms. There's a kapıcı (translates as doorman, but doesn't man the door) who will get fresh morning bread for us if we can figure out how to ask.
All in all, a fine home away from home.
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