Day one in Ankara! Today was a huge rush of Turkish culture - it was Atatürk Youth and Sports Day. We went to a soccer stadium where we saw everything from marching bands to volleyball players. For about three hours, tons of little kids and teenagers danced and played sports on the field. There was also a card-holding section that put Block I to shame, frankly. I found it interesting that Atatürk created this holiday not to commemorate his start of the war for independence, but rather the future of the country. All over the city there were pictures of Atatürk and Turkish flags - it was like a more intense 4th of July.
Speaking of Atatürk, we went to visit his Mausoleum after the celebrations - it's very apparent that he is extremely important to the people of Turkey. Since it was Youth and Sports Day, there were tons of people there, as well as a really cool display of flowers in the form of a Turkish flag.
For lunch, we went to a little shop on the street that sold Döner Tavuk, and it was dirt cheap, so we were happy. After a quick catnap, we went to dinner at a place called Vitamin, and then walked around a little more. At night, we went back to the same bar as the night before to celebrate Brock's birthday at midnight, which was really fun. We got home before it got too late, though, because we knew we had a very big day ahead of us.
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