Studying Abroad: The Value of Money

Americans are always saving their money so they can get a newer car, often some kind of bigger gas-eating monster, or to buy a bigger house or add onto the current one. Perhaps, you save to go back to school or pay for your kid’s college. In Switzerland, you usually own zero or one small car per family so you don’t need to save money for another. Land is extremely expensive so you don’t save to buy a bigger house. As for paying for the university, if you’re smart enough to get in and stay in for the full time (lot more prestigious than the American universities), you only pay for books. Taxes pay for everyone’s tuition and university fees, but only if you attend in your own canton’s. So what do the Swiss save their money for?? One word: vacation.

Vacation is very important. It’s unlikely to find a European who has only been in their own country. It’s not like the states where it’s unsurprising if someone doesn’t have a passport, let alone visited more than 10 states in their lifetime. Here, you save money to go on vacation. Whether it Greece, Turkey, Egypt, islands in the Mediterranean Sea, etc. Somewhere the sun shines bright, the landscape is beautiful, you can relax on the beach, and the young people can party. Well, my friend Isabella and her mom had a rough year and were in much need of a vacation. Isabella’s brother has already started high school so he was unable to go. We went to several travel agencies for these deals called “last minute.” It’s really neat. What it is is a vacation package that you can get at the last minute (like a few days or a week before you leave) for you to go to a beach resort for a week or two for a low price. If you get it farther in advance, the prices are higher. Hotels have lots of space and plenty of time so they keep the prices high. People buy these so they can give their jobs plenty of time in advance to know when they are going on vacation and whatnot. But, if nothing is tying you down, last minute is the way to go. Prices are up to 500 CHF cheaper than the original. Hotels want it all filled so they will lower their prices. So, for a package deal you pay for a beach resort hotel, all the food you can eat, free drinks until midnight, and all transportation needed to reach destination and back. Isabella, Barbara and I decided to go to Turkey. We choose a resort RIGHT on the beach in the tourist destination, Okujalar, for one week. (Yes! I can say I’ve been too Asia now!)

I can’t tell you much about the culture of Turkey because I was in a tourist area surrounded by all sorts of tourists. The hotel resort we went to was full of Russians and Polish mainly with some Germans and a couple of French. All the workers were Turkish of course. They usually knew at least one other language, generally Russian, German or English so they may communicate with their wide variety of guests. Signs were always posted in a couple different languages. We were served breakfast, late breakfast, lunch, snacks, dinner, and midnight soup every day. All the foods prepared were of Turkish cuisine except at lunch there was two lunch areas and the casual one near the pool offered French fries and hamburgers every day. I tried TONS of foods! Textures and seasonings were quite different then what I am used too. But it was fascinating none the least. The first two or three days we all filled our plates of small amounts of food of EVERYTHING offered on the buffet. After awhile, I could identify the foods I knew I would like though so I stopped doing it. I even ate liver for the first time in my life! Breakfast was the only meal I would play it safe, I ate cereals. Isabella and I also tried a Turkish booze called Raki. It’s 45% alcohol content…very strong. It’s a clear liquid and it is typically drunk with water and ice. When water is added to it, it turns into this cloudy color. I couldn’t drink it, too strong of a taste. We did try taking shots of it though because our waiter said it would be good for our throats when we both caught colds. A lick of salts, a huge gulp of raki and sucking on a lemon….my oh my! Dangerous stuff. Ugh, thinking of it just sends shivers down my spine. Isa’s eyes even watered after the shot!!! Anyways, so we tried all these different types of foods and eventually we became known for always being seen “eating and drinking.” What a reputation huh? But hey, we were on vacation in Turkey!

The typical day was spent sleeping on the beach, swimming in the ocean, eating a lot, going down the slides into the pool, chatting with other tourists or the animators, playing volleyball, participating in water games, drinking lots of water or this flavorful sweet drinks (like kool-aid), going to the show every night and then dancing at the disco afterwards. Every evening the resort put on some kind of entertainment for the guests each night, a few of which Isa and I participated in. The first night we were there, it was karaoke. Isa and I sang a duet of “Summer Nights” and then she sang on her own “Livin la vida loca.” Another night Isa was a model for leather. And then there was another night where the animators asked us to fill in on stage for the animators who left their contract early. Every night the resort had a disco. I only went two nights that I was there. And then another night, the resort arranged to go to a club in town so we took a bus with other guests from our hotel and the one next door to go to Summer Gardens. It was really neat. The whole club had an open roof to the sky except for the dance floor had these cool hangover things. There were two bars, lots of security, waterfalls, neat landscaping details, lots of sitting areas, and loud music with lots of lighting effects. We left about 3:30 in the morning, I was exhausted! And had a huge headache because the DJ wasn't very good....same beat the whole time.

One day we went to a town nearby called Side with an arrangement made by the tour company we booked with. A bus took us into town and the tour guide explained (in German) different things about the culture and history of the area. Isa translated what she could for me. First we stopped at a jewelry store. Very pretty, but we weren’t really interested in it so we breezed through it fast. Then they took us into the shopping area. Very, very fast we quickly grew tired of hearing “Hello, where are you from?” and “Let me ask you a question…” and “What is your name?” Despite my wanting to strangle all the Turkish salesmen with their same old questions and pushiness, you can’t help but to be impressed how easily they adapt all their languages. They know Turkish, English, German, Russian, Polish, maybe French and probably more. They do everything they can to keep their sales up. Our tour guide explained to us that to rent a shop in Side it costs 15,000 Euros for only 3 months (half of the tourist season). That is a lot of money. And since all the shops are selling close to the same things, it explains why they are so in your face. We didn’t buy anything there because the tour guide also explained that the prices will be higher in this area than in bigger cities like Alayna (which we were going to visit the next day). It was very, very hot though and I can honestly say that I think I’ve never sweat so much in my life as that morning we were in Side. Side is also well known for all the Roman ruins left over from the days the Roman Empire occupied the area. This was really neat at how many were there and parts of it was in pretty good condition so I took many pictures of these ruins.

Another day, we went to the big city of Alayna. The three of us went with a group of people from various hotels that were also part of our travel agency so we could go to the hammam for a Turkish bath. We get there early in the morning and are put in a women’s locker room to change into our bikinis and our given these strange rug looking towels. First thing we did was sit in a sauna. Then, a cold shower to rinse ourselves and then hop into the jazucci tub of semi-cold water. Then it was the steam room followed by what I want to call “the medicine room.” It was full of this strong hot smell that filled your lungs and it reminded me of cough drops. After that, you are placed on these marble uprising things for your peeling. I had a girl for my peeling, Isa had an older man, and Barbara had a young man. It’s just these body scrub things the workers put on their hands and rub all over your body with cold water. Afterwards, all your old nasty skin is gone and you’re left feeling as smooth as a baby’s bottom. Then, you go to another large marble table thing and you lie on the edge. I had a young man this time for this part. They dip these silky towel looking things into a basin of soapy bubbly water and then they shake it a bit and it expands into what looks a pillow covered in bubbles. It was really neat. They rub it all over your body, both sides of course, and then they like to spin you on the table a 360 degree turn! Then you take another rinse shower and are sent to wait in the lobby area for the next part. While waiting, we were served this delicious hot apple tea. It tasted like sweet apple juice heated. Yum yum! Then we were called to go into gender separated rooms for our body massages (this part only women are allowed to massage women and men for men) and then face mask. We drank more tea while our face mask dried and then we rinsed it off and we were done! It was a very neat, unique experience!

Afterwards, we went shopping in the bazaar in downtown Alayna. Now, for those of you who don’t know much about shopping in countries like this, all the brand named products the shops offer are fakes and your barter with the shopkeeper (you try to settle prices with him or her, usually him). So, it was my first experience with bartering….oh, and on the side note, whether you barter or not, prices are way cheaper than what you find in the states or Europe anyways. The shops all take TL (Turkish Lire), US dollar, or the European Euro. Actually, some of the shopkeepers said they would take any kind of currency but it is usually the Euro, $ or TL that is dealt with. They usually always want bills not coins because you cannot exchange coins at the bank. The first place I go to I wanted postcards. It’s posted 15 postcards for 1 Euro. Damn, that cheap! Can you believe that! So a bought a few postcards. And I bought a few other small knick-knacks/presents for my family while I was there that could fit in my suitcase. For those of you who like purses, shoes, shirts, jackets, etc. with labels like Gucci, Prada, Adidas, Bench, D&G and so forth and don’t mind the lack of minor details offered by the real brand names, then this place is your paradise! Cheap prices that you can barter to make even cheaper! The shop keepers are friendly and pushy and more than likely can speak your language, so flirt, play hard to get and they will give you “free” gifts and lower their prices even more for you!!!