Two Worlds

The last couple of mornings we’ve driven past a herd of sheep just off the road leading into the University. One morning the sheep dogs were chasing the vehicles as the turned into the campus. Someone remarked that they were trying to herd us – I think they just wanted a good chase. When I pointed out the sheep, the young Turkish teacher sitting next to me said almost apologetically: it’s very traditional Turkey. I told her that it made me feel peaceful to look at them. The first morning there was also a herd of goats back down the road. And occasionally you see a cart pulled by a donkey. I’ve been told they are gypsies – Roma, as they prefer to be called. Then you go to the mall and see Burger King, MacDonalds and Sbarro's right next to each other.

The Zirve campus itself will be very modern – tastefully so. Yesterday I walked down to the Presentation Center (I’d call it a Visitor Center) to look at the architect’s model of the finished campus. It will probably be a few years before it’s complete. They are taking great care with the landscaping. They’ve planted hundreds of trees surrounding the campus; yesterday they did a lot of planning in front of our building. One deep breath transported me to riding past the dairy farms on the back roads of Madison Country – that’s a positive statement. No chemical fertilizers.

If you go to http://gaziantepcity.info/site.php?page=universities you can find four pictures of the architects’ conception of the university. The second picture is a photo of the model. In the middle there is a kind of large, concrete plaza. The building to the left is our building – the only completed one. The building to the right is finished on the exterior but there’s lots of interior work to be done. The landscaping is much nicer than the model you lead you to believe. In fact, yesterday I saw a flock of birds pecking around in some of the newly planted areas. It looks to me like they may be creating some nice new habitat for our feathered friends.