Trabzon #3: Students and the Building (05/01/2026)

"Here, price price." Baba pointed to a number in the tag. 500 Turkish Lira.

I froze. I smiled politely instead of screaming. But my head was almost exploded! Five hundred lira for a laundry? It felt like a personal attack! It hit my poor soul. And my poor financial management.

So, today, I was out of an ammo (clothes), and now I was standing in front of a laundry desk, with Baba handing me a paper. I put only 8-9 pieces of clothes, and I paid money I could have used to buy 2 new clothes. That was sick.

I told myself this was not the hill I was willing to die on today. But I realized this is the only place I could get my clothes cleaned. So, I nod. Good bye my money! No lunch and dinner for me today.

I blamed myself for not doing the laundry when I was still in the hostel. It might be much cheaper. I guess. Damn!

Becoming a new student again

My next stop for today is KTU Trabzon. It stands for Karadeniz Teknik University. It sounded like Karadenan at first, a place 15 minutes from Bojong, my hometown.

It is the biggest university located in this city, a place where Mas Fauzi and Ananta spend their hours every day.

I received several basic instructions from him to find an exact minibus. It was stated, under the bridge, above a mosque we visited before. It did not feel confusing until you took your step and did not find anything similar to the instructions. After asking several bus drivers;

"Fizik Bolumu? University? Bus bus bus." I kept saying that

They pointed it out somewhere, and when it came the third time, I got the right bus.

"Bro, is it a bus for university?" A cool bro sitting beside the slide door nod.

"Damn, yeah!" I pull myself in.

I was quite proud of my survival skills here. No language, just sign and two sentences needed, I got the bus. Hopefully the right bus.

A beautiful girl sat beside me.

"Hey, how much does it cost the university?" I asked.

"Hmm, two hundred lira." She replied calmly. Still with her beauty.

For the second time today, my heart dropped.

I silently thought there, doing quick mental calculations, wondering if I should walk instead, across cities, perhaps countries.

Two hundred lira is like 80k rupiah in my country. I could use that for the 5 hours trip with bus there, instead. Why has all become so expensive today?

And then I saw the price tag on the top of the car.

"Hey, did you say two hundred or twenty lira?" I asked politely. Very calm. I did not want to be seen so poor that I could not afford a minibus ticket.

"Hmm, oh yeah, twenty, sorry." She laughed. Still with her beauty. Her long hair flowed beautifully

I laughed too. Loudly. Out of relief. And holding my hand so as not to pull her beautiful hair.

Girls! Come on!

KARADENİZ TEKNİK ÜNİVERSİTESİ

I arrived, with only 20 lira poorer. Not 200.

"Appreciate bro." I gave a bump to a cool dude, suggesting several places to be visited here.

I walked slowly, looking around. I had no idea why all the girls here looked so stunning. They really have an actress's face. It would be nice, you know, to have, yeah, you know, hahaha.

I met Mas Fauzi and Alta, a master's student in the Architecture department here.

We talked casually about studies, life, being away from home, and how architecture and geography often see the same world from different angles. It was with a local food that we ordered in a small store there. It's like a fancy form of a pancake, but I forget its name.

Later, I visited the Geomatics Department.

Walking through the corridors felt oddly familiar. Maps, measurements, and spatial thinking reminded me of why I chose this path in the first place, and realized I would have so many competitors in this business.

However, I know some places don’t feel foreign. They feel somehow parallel.

Ackabaat: Beach, Hills, and Cai

In the afternoon, Alta and I went to Ackabaat. We used the bus from university, and it would take 1.5 hours from there.

I did not expect traffic would be so bad, and many elderly commute with our bus, making the space more narrow. We were a sarden in a bus box, and I need to hold myself once I felt something on my shoulder.

A grandpa just wiped his nose with my damn shoulder! Dude, the place we're heading should be so much beautiful, or it won't be worth.

We arrived, and this place is interesting because it has hills and beaches in the same spot. I know it would be a nice place, but I also knew this place would have a crazy slope of terrain.

"It's only 20 minutes climbing." He said. With a smile.

"I will do it even for 20 hours. Let's go!" I declared war.

And then, we must realize that people living in this area are extraordinary. How can they live with an almost 80-degree slope? It does not make sense at all.

But we kept going, and the air felt different and lighter. The view started to make a promise. Cute kittens came and gave supports to us. I smiled, enjoying this challenge.

We talked a lot. I was fascinated by how grateful students are here. I mean, they received only less than 3 million rupiah, but they can still make many things from there.

He asked for several info related to my study in the Netherlands. Continued to Saudi Arabia, and when we started to talk the Japan's part, we arrived in a cute cafe at the peak of the hills.

"Wanna do the cai?" I offered a time break.

"Yeah, why not?" He gave an agreement.

So we spent the whole evening there.

Just tea, wind, and silence. No rush. No plan. No checklist.

In moments like this, traveling stops being about movement and starts becoming about stillness.

In moments like this, my plan, my intentions, my schedules, all vanished (I did not make schedules, btw. It's just to make it more poetic), replaced by the car's observations, viewing people's walk, and watching the birds fly.

Peace is given to anyone chasing it.