Is Turkey Safe? Part 1...

Hello friends!  Once again I must apologize for neglecting to keep up with my stories...I was chastized by my father for not keeping him up to date - and you know it's bad when HE notices (as he claims not to be interested in this blog!).

Life has been hectic recently...I was host to not one but two friends from Canada in the last 3 weeks - my bestie C and the younger sister of another high school friend.  Both came here for different reasons, and both were surprised at what they found here.  One was expecting to ride around in old minibuses with chicken and sheep as travelling companions while the other was expecting terrorism and instability within the country.  Needless to say, both expectations weren't met!

I have been living in Ankara for almost a year now.  I have never felt insecure or that my life was in danger.  I have travelled around a lot of the country (by train, plane, bus and car) and have always felt safe.  I have rented cars and driven around the countryside and felt safe.  I have ridden the city bus, the minibus, taxis and trains in numerous cities, both big and small, as a woman alone and have never had a moment of fear.  Maybe I've been really lucky...or maybe everything you think you know about a country has a colored perspective.

When I first arrived here, I turned to my fellow female colleagues for advice about travelling as a woman alone.  All of them (Americans in case you're interested) said that they always felt uncomfortable and unsafe walking at night and travelling on the subway system.  I took this with a grain of salt because these women were some what naive and unseasoned travellers.  It is my belief that if you use common sense, you won't get yourself embroiled into unwanted situations.  And if you do become embroiled into an unwanted situation - know how to get out of it!

Let me tell you about a day in my life...for the last 11 months I have been using the city bus system and the subway system to get back and forth from work.  I leave from my home at about 1 or 2 in the afternoon - either walking down to the subway (about a 15 minute walk) or by bus if it's too hot or too cold to walk.  Then I take the subway to a very industrial part of the city that has a high population of male workers.  The language centre that I work at is located here and it is this population that makes up the majority of our student base (90% male).  At the end of my work day, 9:30pm, I walk the 200m to the subway stop and wait with all the men going home.  At my stop, I get off the subway and again either take the bus or walk (in the dark!) to home.  In all the months I have been doing this, I have never once been made to feel uncomfortable by a male student or passenger although my American colleagues say that when they would come out to this industrial area they were constantly harrassed and ogled by these same men.  I don't know if this was a result of miscommunication (or a relationship gone wrong in at least one instance) or what, but perhaps my insight and experience with the Turkish culture makes it easier for me to interpret what Turkish men are on about. 

In general, women are very respected by Turkish men unless they receive a signal that the woman is open to other things - sound familiar??  Yup - Turkish men think the same as North American men - shocking!...only they do it in a different language! 

There is a conception here that foreign women are "easy" - and if you fit this bill, then by all means, you can feast at the "tall dark and handsome" buffet that will be spread before you!  But if this isn't you - then maintain an air of self-confidence, keep your conversations friendly but not suggestive, and be sensitive to the culture in terms of what you wear (ie - keep the ladies covered!).  Now - I wear tanks, shorts, tube tops and all the rest of the traditional Western summer uniform so don't get the wrong idea that everyone keeps everything covered all the time!  Just be cautious about what kind of skin you're showing! 

Another thing to keep in mind is to be smart!  Don't walk alone in the dangerous parts of town - don't get into a stranger's car - don't accept invitations from strange men even if they're super cute - keep a cell phone on you that is charged and on - memorize the emergency numbers - don't wave around money and expensive things (iPad, camera, etc) at night or when you're walking alone - in short, don't put yourself in a situation that could potentially go wrong!  Do these rules sound familiar?  They should!  These are commen sense things to remember no matter where you live!  Keep your wits about you and you will never have a problem.

In my humble opinion, doing all these will help you feel more secure about being in a foreign country as a woman alone.  If you still feel insecure - well, then there's always the buddy system!