Celebrating the 25th University Olympics in Erzurum

Brrr. last week I went to Erzurum for the 25 Winter Olympics Universiade. The Universiade is the university olympic version of the real olympics. It is held every four years and this year more then 100 athletes from the US and over 55 countries were represented.  I was supposed to accompany the Ambassador on the visit to Erzurum but at the last minute he couldn't attend because he had not officially presented his credentials to the President of Turkey and therefore could not attend such a big official event.  So off we went, me and colleague to be the face of the US Embassy. 


Erzurum is known for it's harsh winters and it was definetly cold. Now for a little bit of history:Excavations in and around the city indicate that the area has been inhabited since 4000 BC. After the Byzantines lost the city, it became the capital of eastern Anatolia under the Seljuks in the 12^th century.   Among its most famous historical sites are the Double Minaret Medrese (or Cifte Minare Medrese) dating back to the 13^th century and the Yakutiye Medrese, which was built in the 14^th century and served as a theological school in the Ottoman period.  There is also a castle, built in the 5^th century by the Byzantines.  The city’s present-day population is approximately 775,000.  It’s a popular tourist destination for skiing, which is possible until mid-April on Palandoken Mountain, on the edge of the city.  The mountain has one of the longest natural ski slopes in the world. And just in case you missed it, Erzurum was listed in the NY times as #17 in the top 20 places to go around the world this year.


I kept calling this the on again off again trip because we seriously must have changed our flight schedule a dozen times.  What is quite amazing to me is the fact that no matter how cold or icy, Turkish airlines can land in just about everything.  When we arrived on Wednesday night... 30 minutes later we were met by our rented driver who turned out to be not the sharpest tool in the shed.  His car smelled of smoke and for someone living in Erzurum he had aboslutely no idea where he was going.


Case in point.. thursday morning when we asked him to take us to the Ice Arena he couldn't even find it. So much for knowing where you live especially during one of the most important weeks in your city.  Despite all of the decorations for the olympics, I found Erzurum to be quite bland and it definetly had that "wow I really am a city in the middle of no where."


We started out the day by going to see the US Women's Hockey Team play against Slovakia.  It was great to meet the parents of the athletes and we took two of our English Teaching Assistants along to the event.  Unfortunately the women lost..but it was still fun to see.


Then we went to lunch with the English Teaching Assistants to Erzurum Evleri one of the oldest and most probably the nicest looking restaurants in Erzurum.  It was set up like a caravansaray and you ate on the floor.  We got there at 12pm and there was a menu on the table but everytime we went to order something the waiter would say "no we don't have that".  Seriosuly people with thousands of tourists you can't actually put out a menu that actually had things on it you could make?
But in the end we ended up having really good soup  (kesme asi ersite) and an amazing dessert (kadayif dolmasi) specially made in Erzurum. Later in the afternoon we went to see our American Corner at the University and then got ready for the opening ceremony.
Even though we asked our driver what time we should leave to make it to the opening ceremony he couldnt get us there in time and dropped us off far away. We were supposed to greet the entire American Delegation before they entered the arena but it was a mess. We were told to go to the hockey rink but then they said to go to opening ceremony arena and then back again to the hockey rink.  Talk about poor organization.  We were running around in snow and cold and i really thought my butt was going to fall off it was so frozen (but I guess that wouldn't have necessarily been a bad thing!).
We got to the opening ceremony just as people were entering the stadium by country... luckily we had special passes for the VIP area but by the time we got there someone took our seats... would you believe that average turks were able to "buy" protocol seats?!!!
So we ended up sitting next to the minister of education and first lady of turkey's bodyguards.  It wasn't until the President and Prime Minister got up to speak that I realized they were three rows in front of us... duh that explains the big man in the black coat with ear piece and big bag standing next to us.
Finally the best part of the opening started. The show produced by a famous choreagrapher here in turkey.  It was amazing and even included horses racing on ice and shotting fire into a huge torch in the middle with hundreds of dancers.  It was a sight to be seen.

Right before the show ended we got our way over to the American athletes and wished them luck.  It was a fun and adventurous time!

 Outside the ski slopes with my team USA gear compliments of the US Delegation.