Getting out the Vote

For a few more days, it's election season here. This Saturday Turks will return to their hometowns to cast their ballot (Am I the only one who finds this reminiscent of Mark and Joseph dragging themselves to Bethlehem 2000 years ago for the census? Quaint perhaps, but inconvenient as hell.)

Unlike the stuffy American political scene, Turkish politics is big, colorful and above all else, local. Party flags and banners hang strung across almost every major street. Candidates sit juxtaposed to shampoo models at the bus stop advertisements. Most neighborhoods seem to have party headquarters of sorts, complete with flashing party signs, and of course, more flags. Normal people stand on corners handing out party pamphlets to their neighbors, passersby and the occasional motorcyclist who bothers to pause at the stop sign.

Party flags in front of the Galata Tower

And then there are the party "minibuses", vans equipped with incredibly powerful speakers that project party songs and propaganda and have a tendency to park in front of crowded buildings. Don't try talking over the minibus. In Ankara, our hotel room faced the street... between city buses and minibuses, it was impossible to sleep between the hours of 8:00 am and 11:30 pm. What I can't figure out is who changes her vote for a minibus?

On our way back from Ankara (which involved altogether far too many hours in motor vehicles) we drove -- correction, crawled -- through a political demonstration for the Saadet Party. Honestly I know little about the Turkish political scene but judging by the number of women covered head to toe in black, the party is somewhere right of center. There must have been thousands of people carrying party flags in the street or packed into party buses, all involved in the political process.

All things considered, maybe there is something to be said for flags and minibuses? It certainly makes things more interesting.

You say you want a revolution...

For about a week my mental dialogue has been running in Turkish and I fear it has had a deleterious effect on my English. Among these new linguistic idiosyncrasies is a tendency to speak in a strange combination of languages and start all emails and blog entries in Turkish. For your sake, I backspace and start over.

Virginia is still in the hospital. After ruling out meningitis (which, by the way, required a lumbar puncture) the doctor concluded salmonella poisoning before changing his mind again. The source of her infection remains a mystery and perhaps is less important now that she is getting better. In Turkish we say "Inshaallah" when we hope something will happen. Therefore, inshaallah, she will be home tomorrow.

Combine the stress of Virginia's condition with Thursday's looming mid-term exam and you begin to understand what kind of a week it is. After the exam, I intend to resume my adventures in Istanbul, and, perhaps more exciting, begin new adventures in Ankara. Virginia and I both have bus tickets to the capital city. Assuming she is well enough to travel, we will be on a bus headed six hours east after our exam this Thursday. Many students are heading for resorts over our three-day weekend.... but it's election season and Ankara is the place to be to see the real madness unfold. After all, the possibility of a coup-d'etat doesn't happen here as often here as it used to.