Tuesday

The first official project day began with breakfast together in the hotel. We were then warmly greeted by four old friends; the Turkish children who went to Finland were waiting outside to escort us on our incredible journey, as the day turned out to be.

A short walk from the hotel, along the tree-lined streets sometimes loud with the sound of traffic, we found ourselves outside Gaziantep museum. More exciting though for our young guides was the presence of the football stadium opposite!

The museum contained many artefacts from different eras, ranging from the prehistoric up to the early Islamic period. Most spectacular were the many Roman mosaics on display.

Much more could be written about the museum visit but it would take a week to write it all up – so we will move on.

Lunch was very special this day as we were invited to a restaurant by the Chief Education Officer for the whole of Gaziantep (1.5 million population). The food was very good but the innocent-looking roasted green pepper should have come with a warning label. They were not the sweet variety that we Europeans are used to! More water please!!!

After lunch we walked further along until we came to the ruined castle which stands on a small hill in the centre of Gaziantep.

Unfortunately much of the castle was closed due to the ongoing restoration work. However, we did manage to visit one side of it and we were able to enter its stone corridors, bedecked with exhibits and video screens depicting the struggle for Turkish independence and the end of the Ottoman era. The walk up to the entrance was full of modern cast statues, also depicting the struggle for independence. The British occupation after the end of the First World War and the ensuing French forces in the city will never be forgotten here. The Armenian question remains unanswered, except to say “This is Turkey and we are proud to be Turkish!”

Those who lost their lives at the hands of the foreign troops are spoken of as martyrs. They are venerated and they certainly will live on forever in the hearts of the people.

The streets around the castle were alive to the sounds of hammering. Artisans were on the street outside their workshops applying intricate designs to copper and pewter vessels of all shapes and sizes.

People were pushing carts laden with fruit and vegetables, an old tractor puttered past pulling a trailer laden with water melons, several small shops had spices and selections of dried produce such as nuts, seeds, lentils, dried fruit and dried vegetables.

We were shown into another small museum with displays covering the subject of Turkish and local cuisine. Despite being full from lunch it was not difficult to start to feel hungry again. It was like being inside one of the best cookery books in the world! Time to move on.

Just before we were shown onto a coach for the next part of the day the females of the party were shown into some old public baths near the foot of the castle. Today was “ladies day” at the baths so the men had to stay outside and admire the small patch of green grass which was kept alive by the application of water at regular intervals. Needless to say it was frowned upon to walk on the grass.

The coach took us some distance away in the city to our goal – our host school. The school is in a rundown part of the town which is inhabited by some of the poorest people. The short walk from the coach stop past about 100 m of residential housing was one of the most culturally surprising aspects of the visit so far. The local population, mainly female and infants dressed in headscarves and wearing gypsy-style dresses, crowded the doorways or stepped out onto the street. As the walls of the school came into view a loud rhythmic banging started up, along with a deafening noise of human cheering and shouting. What was happening? The answer was waiting round the corner as the high wall ended in the school gates and we walked in. Hundreds of small children were crowded together in front of the school building jumping up and down to the rhythm of a big bass drum. A piper was playing a scream pipe but we couldn’t hear it above the noise. Every small child wanted to shake our hands and to say something in English. After about 500 handshakes it became apparent that some of the children were coming several times over. Their enthusiasm overwhelmed us.

Eventually we, and the contents of the school yard, entered the building. Local pupils went to their classrooms and we were shown into the staffroom where the local teachers had prepared drinks and sweet treats for their guests.
Some classrooms were visited and the reception class were engaged in one of their favourite games of “stand up, sit down”.

The walk back to the bus was met with just as much curiosity as had been our arrival, maybe not as noisy though.

Some notable remarks of the day:

For much of the day our group was accompanied by a civil police officer who had been hired to deal with any possible problems which we might have had with the local population. It is now apparent that we must be the only European visitors ever to have visited Gaziantep and we have been given the status of celebrities. The guard at the school gates had to close them quickly behind us to prevent the curious local inhabitants from following us inside the school compound. We were often having English spoken to us as we walked past people, although it appears that very little is spoken in the town. Everywhere the people have been very warm and friendly and very willing to use whatever English they have.