EPISODE 3: MERHABA, NASILSIN?

You know those moments when you can’t wait for something to happen, but the conditions are out of your hands, so you just sit around hoping things get back to normal? That was exactly how it felt knowing that I had received the scholarship but there was no way to travel due to COVID-19. Which meant that at that moment, until a solution was found for COVID-19 there was no assurance of how we would study. Universities were closed as well anyway but it just felt different not being able to do anything but wait.

I received emails a few days later detailing the plan for learning throughout COVID-19. We were supposed to start our language preparatory course online. Now you might be wondering; how do you learn a language online well enough to study with it? I asked myself the same question. But it was better than sitting at home doing nothing.

So, NEDEN TÜRİIYE? (WHY TÜRİKIYE)

That is what everyone keeps asking me whenever they learn I am studying in Türkiye. Aside from generically wanting to know how Constantinople is and how a place that was once the ottoman empire now looks like, I guess the quest to find something better than what I was used to led me here. At a point, one could even call me desperate to move out of Ghana and I wouldn’t complain. I wouldn’t tolerate it, but it wouldn’t be far from the truth. So when I received that email, not even my dad’s whining about the Turkish Lira being of lower economic value was going to hold me back. This was something I had worked so hard towards achieving and it was finally in my hands. I was never going to let it go.

I was also fascinated by the country because my aunt, while I was on exchange in the US hosted another exchange student who was from Türkiye. So apart from ‘desperation’, I had very good reasons to accept the offer.

So I spent a year waking up at 5AM for TÖMER. Yes, you guessed it. I was sleepy throughout most of it. Who wouldn’t be when you must wake up early and if you have ever experienced the true Ghanaian experience like I have, you know MTN doesn’t really care about you at 5AM. So here I was fighting for my life to hold on to a scholarship while being tempted by sleep and the network service provider wasn’t helping the issue. Anyway, I managed to pass all my language exams up until B2. Thankfully, this experience happened during the COVID lockdown, so I was at home.

While taking the language course I was still pursuing my full-time degree at the University of Ghana, at the insistence of my father. And if you have ever stayed in ‘diaspora’, you know very well that the internet connection is horrible. The WIFI connection will have you wishing WIFI had not been invented. Yes, it was that terrible. I mean, if the service is available, why have it be subpar? Why not just discontinue it so we don’t break our fragile hearts relying on it? Worst off, getting normal network service was also atrocious. I honestly don’t even under the hype around those hostels when it is so difficult to access the internet there. Yes, I am hating on the hostels after moving. I know, ironic. Anyway, I would never advise anyone to double time the University of Ghana. That was one of the most stressful experiences of my life.

So, at 5AM every single day, I would try my very best to not wake up my roommate (who might I add, had her boyfriend staying with us in the room – story for another day, I tell you!) and her boyfriend. Sometimes, I’d even go to the extent of requesting my teachers to not ask me any questions or request that I speak because my roommate was sleeping, and I didn’t want to wake her. Thankfully, they were all very understanding and granted my requests.

That was how I spent my days. Studying Turkish from 5AM to 11AM, then going for my lectures for the rest of the day. Once again, I do not advise this. It worked for me but whew, it was stressful!

to be continued...

GLOSSARY

TÖMER: Turkish preparatory language classes.

Diaspora: a set of student hostels at the university of Ghana known for their exorbitant prices and bougie lifestyle.

PLAYLIST:

Duduke - Simi