Friday

Today was an exciting day. We visited a local cheese factory, rode the ski lifts at a ski resort, and took part in a local Turkish wedding.

Visiting the ski resort was one of my favorite activities of the trip so far. I really enjoyed riding the ski lift with my kankas. On the ride up we sang and listened to music on Safa's iPhone.

The Turkish wedding was also very exciting. When we arrived we took part in a traditional Turkish dance with the bride, the groom, and their family. It was interesting to see Turkish wedding traditions first hand. I also really enjoyed speaking to the children at the wedding. Many of them knew English and were excited to meet people from America.

Thursday

Thursday was all about the natural beauty surrounding Kars. We visited Cidir Lake, Aktas Lake, the Susuz waterfall, and enjoyed a picnic overlooking Georgia. I honestly couldn't say which site I liked best. Each one was absolutely beautiful.

After dinner, our Turkish friend, Ekrem performed ney for us. It was beautiful.

Happy Fourth of July!

Wednesday was a great day to be in Turkey! The weather was absolutely beautiful.

We saw Mt. Arat and visited the Ishak Pasa Palace. Mt. Arat is known as the mountain where Noah's ark is said to have landed after the great flood. It was the biggest mountain I have ever seen. The way the clouds clung to the peak was really neat to see.

When we arrived back at the hotel, we were greeted with a fourth of July dinner celebration. We had hamburgers, french fries, cotton candy, and some Turkish & Armenian favorites.

At dinner the Armenian fellows broke out some Armenian cognac, which has to be the strongest alcohol I have ever tried. Yesterday I was not feeling very well. I woke up with swollen glands, a cough, and a very sore throat. After one small glass of cognac and a few hours of sleep I woke up this morning feeling ten times better. I had another small glass tonight at dinner, I am hoping to wake up tomorrow feeling 100 percent! Thank you so much to the Armenian fellows for sharing your "wonder drink" with us!

Tuesday- Day 2

Today we  visited the Kars Castle. The castle is located on top of a large plateau. It looks down on the entire city of Kars. Halfway through the tour, we sat down and enjoyed Turkish Tea. The view was absolutely beautiful!

We then had a wonderful American inspired lunch at the hotel. The cooks made us chicken with french fries. It was delicious. After lunch, we had baklava for dessert.

After lunch we saw a few more sights. We were lucky to interact with a young Turkish boy who lives near the castle. He was quite comical. He let one of the Turkish fellows ride his bike and even convinced one of the American fellows to eat a plant growing on the side of the road. We joked with the boy for a few minutes, but then we had to continue with our tour.

Monday- Day 1

On Monday, we visited Ani. The ancient city is located near the Armenian-Turkish border. I felt very lucky to be sharing the experience with my new Turkish and Armenian friends.

While visiting an ancient church, the Armenian fellows sang us a song. The theme of the song was "now that I have seen Ani, I can die".  It was beautiful, we all really enjoyed it! 

We made it!

After 25 hours of flights, we have finally arrived in Kars! It is so good to be here with our new Armenian and Turkish friends. After everyone arrived and got settled we met for a beautiful dinner here at the Grand Ani Restaurant. We dined on salad, fresh bread, rice, and something similar to an American beef stew. My favorite part of dinner was dessert. We were served a Turkish rice pudding that was very creamy and sweet.

After dinner, we met in the conference hall where some of our new friends sang and played the guitar. They are all so talented! We traded a few stories and got to know each other a little better. Tomorrow we have a big day ahead of us! We are headed to Ani. I can't wait!
-Gabi

T-48 hours!

Hello, my name is Gabi O'Grady and I am the administrator of this Blog. I am a Senior at the University of Florida studying Recreation, Parks, and Tourism. I am involved in the Hospitality Honor Society as well as Vice President of LEAPS (Leisure Education And Park Students).

We are headed to Kars in less than 48 hours! Words cannot express how excited I am to be representing the University of Florida as part of the ATA Fellows. As part of the trip curriculum, I will be posting on this blog each day we are overseas. I will be uploading pictures and writing about our daily adventures! Please feel free to leave comments or ask any questions you may have!

Introduction: What is ATA Fellows?

This tourism project, funded by the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, Turkey, aims at collaboration between tourism academia and practitioners in both countries along with a U.S. institutional partner to research, educate, build and strengthen capacity within the context of sustainable regional tourism development. To that end, a Multilateral University Consortium to Strengthen Tourism Education, Research and Industry Outreach was formulated and branded as the American, Turkish, and Armenian Fellows (ATA Fellows). ATA Fellows are energized with Eleanor Roosevelt's philosophy:

"It isn't enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. 
And it isn't enough to believe in it. One must work at it."

The prospect of promoting cultural understanding, mutual respect and peace via travel and tourism is an extraordinary opportunity to strengthen cross-border relations in regions such as the Caucasus, particularly between Turkey and Armenia whose relations have been strained by a number of historical and political issues. Tourism projects and partnerships between Turkey and Armenia can facilitate the normalization of relations between the two nations. 

Summer 2012: Feildtrip to Ani, Turkey

In the summer of 2012, the ATA fellows, in collaboration with industry stakeholders (particularly in Kars province of Turkey where Ani is located) will organize a 10-day field trip to Ani for U.S., Turkish, and Armenian students. 10 students from each country will visit the cultural site and view the heritage that is shared by both Turkish and Armenian cultures. 

ATA Fellows: Objectives

• To enable higher education in the United States, Turkey, and Armenia.

• To develop and broaden U.S., Turkish, and Armenian institutional cooperation through exchanges of students, faculty members and administrators for the purposes of study, teaching, research and outreach.
  
• To increase understanding between the U.S., Turkey and Armenia through cooperation.
  
• To reinforce the impact of other Department of State programs, including Fulbright.
  
• To support the current foreign policy priorities of the Department of State, especially efforts to promote the normalization of relations between Turkey and Armenia, and to improve educational outreach to non-elite populations.