My Mission: 16 Countries in 6 Months

Dragon Boat Festival

2009-06-02T19:33:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday (May 28), I was lucky enough to be in Taiwan during one of their major holidays. The Dragon Boat Festival, better known in these parts as Duanwu Jie, incorporates three main activities: eating zong zi, drinking rice wine, and racing dragon boats. As far as the history, I'm not entirely sure. I asked a few people about the festival, and everyone's response was the same: you have to eat zong zi and watch dragon boat races. Where is the history? I'm inclined to believe that the holiday has probably become more of our Easter/Thanksgiving holidays in the United States. Some people do not even think of the significance of the holidays, other than dying Easter eggs and eating Turkey. Dragon boat racing is a popular event, and requires training far in advance. Here are a few snap shots of dragon boat racing!

The race has begin, and Boat 1 seems to be ahead. Notice the flag-grabbers at the front of the boat, and the awesome drum that keeps the rowers together.

Close-up of one of the stragglers.

The rowers and their equipment.
The terrifying, dangerous dragon boats!
The boats with us

Nightlife Eats

2009-05-31T08:34:00.000-07:00

Nightlife in Taiwan has it's similarities and differences when compared to the States. While there are 'pubs' and clubs, nightlife truly exists in their night markets. What are they? you ask. Essentially, they are streets packed full of people, food carts, and clothes. Night markets spring to life around 5 P.M. and do not shut down until 2 A.M. With this sort of eating habit, how is everyone SO skinny? It's something that has been boggling my mind ever since the first night I saw my roommates go out and buy fried chicken at 10P.M. Here are only a few of the things I ate at one of my night market outings.

Fresh squid soup

MMM...a little rubbery

Coffin sandwich with beef and pork. Named after it's coffin-like purpose: container of the deceased.

Prep work

I never knew that fish eggs could become ONE. These fish eggs have been smashed into a thick, salty substance. Quite expensive!

Served on a toothpick with a piece of green onion.

Large intestine wrapping a small intestine. It sounds gross, but it's actually delicious. The large intestine is actually filled with rice, so similar to the skin of a hot dog. The small intestine is actually sausage. Not too disgusting, eh?

She couldn't get her eyes off of it
Now, this probably takes the cake!
Chicken comb: delicious, but I couldn't quite get past the image in my head

My New Taiwanese Hair Cut

2009-05-31T07:56:00.000-07:00

Similar to my adventures in Turkey resulting in a haircut, I have also decided to be trendy in Taiwan. Every one kept telling me that my hair was long, and had no style. Taipei is a city of fashion, mainly taking after the Japanese. There are also influences from America and Korea, but I keep seeing and hearing from others the strong Japanese influence. Here are some random photos of my new haircut.

The first day of my new, integrated Taiwanese look

Tarot Cards... Nearly everyone I meet here asks me what zodiac sign I am. When I was first asked this question, I thought they meant the Asian zodiac sign. Well, to my surprise, they actually meant my celestial sign (Virgo). I would have never guessed that this would be important. They actually read into the signs and tell me my sign's characteristics and who I should be with.

Favorite pastime in Taiwan: stuffing my face (this particular occasion it was 'coffin bread')

This time it's a' small pig intestine wrapped inside of a large one' (explanations in future posts)

Dragon Boat Festival

Helping a student with English translations

My desk. Notice the hair along the neck...yes, it is slanted. One side is shorter than the other.

Well, my hair in Taiwan has taken a turn...for better or worse, I have yet to decide. At least, I don't stick out anymore. Not entirely true, since I still am a GIANT. But one of the cultural differences here in regards to hair is the amount of time men spend on their hair. Nearly every guy will blow dry his hair (for fear of catching colds--EVEN in the dead heat of summer). Many also 'pull' their hair. It's similar to picking, except with your fingers. I'll have to show some of you sometime. Enough about the hair.

Not By the Hair of My Chinny Chin Chin

2009-05-24T08:21:00.000-07:00

The eating NEVER stops in Taiwan! Immediately following lunch, after a few steps the most important issue at hand is the location for dinner. Now, I've always been one who savors the last meal, unable to even think of what I want for dinner. Yet, the TINY Taiwanese males and females are able to eat an abnormally large meal and ask, "What's for dinner?" within SECONDS of paying the cashier. How do they remain so skinny? I've yet to get to the root of this mystery. For now, let's just investigate some of the more bizarre dishes I've come across.Let's just start simple: cake. Cake here is DELICIOUS. Not only is it colorful, it is actually semi-healthy. The icing has a hint of sweetness, unlike the pounds of sugar shoved into American cakes. The cakes also have pudding in between the layers, in lieu of icing--mmm, quite tasty. If you know me, you know that I don't like icing (really sweet things), so this definitely made a 10 on my scale!

Next, we have raw oysters. These have their occasional appearances in the States, but this was the first time I actually ate one. The mushy, cold meat was paired with a semi-sweet and spicy sauce. I could only eat one. If the oyster's meat had been smaller, I might have been able to eat a few more, but one of this size was enough!

Bon appetit!

This is definitely something that we rarely see in America, except for the few ethnic marketplaces. Each morning, around 3-4, pigs are shipped out to the street vendors to be butchered. The swine are killed hours before arrival, and turn into this:

You are in for a SHOCK! What is pictured below? If you had to guess, what would it be? Liver? Kidney beans? Misshapen tofu? Small babies? Haha, of course it's none of these. Each one of the kidney-bean-shaped items are actually delicacies in Taiwan. What makes your skin beautiful by controlling your hormones? If you answered chicken testicles you are a winner! Yes, pictured below are chicken testicles...
Below is the testicle I consumed (I spared you the grotesque picture of my actual consumption). Imagine tofu and you pretty much understand the texture and taste. Chicken testicles are extremely expensive in Taiwan, and are considered to have healing powers--they contain a lot of hormones so they can also influence/balance the consumer's hormones. As they say in Taiwan, "Women must eat more, it's good for the skin."
Below is an image of several things. Let us start with escargo (upper left). Moving counter-clockwise we have eel. Finally, we have the king of all things: fish chin! Yes, that's right, fish chin is considered to be the most delectable part of the fish. When I sat down, my host told me that I was going to be captured for eating fish chin. Everyone laughed at the table--except me. I came to find out that back in the day, the fish was divided into parts and served based on each part's tastiness. Apparently, fish chin is the most delicious part of the fish! Thus, when people came to a household to ask for money (debts/ransom) they usually went directly to the consumer of the fish chin. I won't be taken--not by the hair of my chinny chin chin!
This is only the beginning. Next time we'll have snake blood and something special! :) Stay tuned

The Culture

2009-05-18T05:20:00.000-07:00

Taiwan has been full of new things, most of which have been bizarre foods. I've decided that even if I were to live here my entire life AND eat a different dish everyday, I would NEVER eat everything there was to eat here. It's absolutely INCREDIBLE how much of a role food has in Taiwanese (perhaps, Asian) culture! Almost every other topic begins with, "Ni you mei you chi guo___?" Have you tried____? Well, I hope to capture more of my eats while I'm here to show everyone. So far the bizarre things I've had include: baby snails (a package about the size of 2 fists for roughly $1.25--escargo anyone?), fried duck tongue, gelatinous pig's blood, intestines of all kinds, cow stomach, and a hamburger! I have yet to have any crazy bowel movements, which I'm incredibly surprised by since I expected to have a very adverse reaction to the food. Here's a picture of a dessert that I had (ice with random Asian edibles):

$3 steak with eggs!

Aside from food, I've learned a lot of other things. The difficulty of their education is completely reversed compared to the United States. Whereas, our elementary, middle, and highschool education can be fairly easy compared to college, Taiwan's education starts rough and ends with ease. Starting when they enter elementary school, students are disciplined by teachers to learn and memorize. In middle school they are given an exam that determines their placement into a high school, and from high school they remain in school from 8-5 (public) 8-10 (private)!!! For college, high school students take a year to prepare for the entrance exam--the SOLE, DETERMINING factor in selecting their college. However, once they enter college, without the constant surveillance and pressure from parents and teachers, students slack off. Instead of exams and essays, many of the times they give presentations. Classes are a joke! They text, chat, and completely ignore the professors. (This may just pertain to the college I attend, as it is an O.K. college--according to everyone I've heard from).

The most difficult part has been adjusting to the CURFEW at 11PM! At 11PM we are expected to be in our rooms waiting for our R.A. to come by and take attendance. This has taken some getting used to, as this has made many of the students into gamers... Warcraft, World of Warcraft, Diablo, etc. Here are a couple of pictures of my room and balcony's view.

Karaoke!!!

2009-05-13T08:03:00.000-07:00

In Taiwan, Karaoke is one of the most popular activities for all ages. They have as many karaoke places as they have bars. I arrived just in time for Aletheia University's karaoke/singing competition. Today was the last day of three days. Each day featured around 50 singers! Their school is fairly small, probably a few thousand students but SO many showed up for this competition. Well, it was a great time, even though each night was about 4-5 hours long! After a while I got fairly bored. I've included some videos and pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Taiwan's William Hung?

Another character

Numero Tres

Nice moves!

And the ACTUAL artist he was imitating

First Few Days in Taipei

2009-05-11T05:10:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of the NUMEROUS face masks that everyone likes to wear to avoid swine flu from people like me.

Finally, internet! I'm sitting in my new dorm room with my 3 roommates, and finally have internet after 3 days without. I have to catch everyone up! One of the first things we did was celebrate Mother's Day. Here's a picture of my host mom (left with highlighted hair), her sister-in-law, and her mother-in-law.

After the vegetarian lunch (mother-in-law is vegetarian because of her Buddhist beliefs), we went to Taipei 101. For those of you who don't know, Taipei 101 is the world's tallest or 2nd tallest building in the world. There are 101 floors!

Here's a picture from up top, on the 89th floor.

Here's a picture with one of Taipei 101's mascots...I didn't understand it either.

The next day we did more tourist things. First, we went to Chang Kai Shek's memorial hall. In 1949, Chang Kai Shek came to Taiwan and started Taiwan as we know it. On mainland China, this begins Mao Zhedong's reign.

Next, we went to one of Taiwan's most famous Buddhist temples. People would light 5-6 incense sticks and carry them around praying to various gods and goddesses. Each one represented something different. One goddess helped you bear children and look after them. Another one helped you during exams, so on and so forth. You would also toss your incense into certain 'cauldrons' in some kind of order that I didn't understand. There was a path that you followed in the temple, something else that I couldn't quite grasp.

My impression of Taiwan has been really positive. My Chinese has improved a lot, at least the speech has--not so much the reading or writing. I've eaten all sorts of cheap and delicious foods (even an attempt at an American hamburger). I've been told that I'm unusually tall, dark and handsome--I've been compared to their most famous singer. Apparently, Wang Li Hong is an artist that is also an ABC (American Born Chinese) that went to Taiwan and started a singing career. It's weird to think of tan as a negative, but in Taiwan and most of Asia the darker the skin the uglier! As for me, I'm definitely tan. We'll see how that plays out. I look forward to meeting with the Dean tomorrow to discuss the rest of my stay in Taiwan!

Keep up to date!

Quarantined in Tokyo!

2009-05-08T01:21:00.000-07:00

Upon arriving at the Tokyo airport, we were quarantined. Everyone on the flight was notified of this upon boarding at JFK; however, we had no idea how long it would take. 3 people on the plane were escorted off to be tested for swine flu. People within a certain proximity were 'marked' and had to remain for further investigation. I took a few photos of the hazard suits that the doctors wore. It was amazing to see the number of face masks that passengers were wearing!

New Leg

2009-05-03T10:38:00.001-07:00

Now that finals are finished and I am officially a junior at UNC, I have to prepare to leave the country for 6 months. I'm not sure what to expect, but I know this will be an EPIC trip! Keep up if you can (hopefully I will be able to as well)!

Last Post IN Turkey

2008-07-07T02:00:00.001-07:00

So today is our last full day in Turkey and I wanted to post a small, unscripted reflection.

Wow, is it already over? My journey to Turkey was definitely an adventurous one, but the stay here was more than I could have ever expected. To be honest, I was extremely hesitant about this whole trip. Was it going to be fun? Were the people going to be enjoyable? Was Turkey going to be interesting? Was it going to be a lot of work? Was the professor going to be strict and leave us with no exploration time? All of these concerns turned out to be my antsy mind portending the worst possible situations. Turkey, a place I never thought about visiting, will forever be a place of amazing adventures and a culture far richer than our meager attempt at being an American culture. The experiences with Kapali Carsa, call to prayer, mystic encounters at Taksim, and all of the other memorable times have forever left an imprint on my mind. The culture here is all about accepting with random people inviting you for tea and a pleasant conversation no matter what the level of understanding may be. I haven't even mentioned the layers and layers of history! Wow. Everyone you step, there is some edifice that is dated at least hundreds of years old. It's to see a bustling city with its skyscrapers and apartment buildings surrounded by huge magnificent mosques blanketing the landscape. When I grow and manage to find a wife and produce some kids, insallah (God willing), I expect that Turkey will be one of our first vacation spots (insallah). Thanks Turkey for all of the crazy, ridiculous, yet educational memories you have given me. Hope to see you soon.

Mission #7988

2008-07-07T01:29:00.000-07:00

I have encountered some new developments in the past few days that have deterred me from posting as fervently as I have been for the duration of my stay in Turkey. Aside from the hustle and bustle of papers, e-mails, and blog updating our nation's independence day happened to fall into this already overloaded mixture. Being social chair of the group, I along with my co-chair have had a lot on our plates in terms of organizing the celebrations for our nation's independence day...in a foreign country. Even these issues became minor with my most recent development: stolen items!
Somehow during our festivities on the 4th, a mystic Turk managed to stumble into our room in search of a friend. One of us happened to come downstairs for a potty break and noticed said man. After a few questions she determined he was aloof and intoxicated, so there was no action that needed to be taken. We continued with our amazing festivities without giving the mystic encounter a second thought. This is where we went wrong.
The following day as I was updating my blog, a common practice of mine, I remembered that I needed to upload a few pictures onto my computer. I looked for my camera in its usual places: under the piles of clothes, on my bed, on the bureau, in Amanda's purse, and in my pants' pockets. After the usual places I began to worry and searched both flats to no avail. Then, I noticed that my Ipod was also missing. This is when I remembered the mystic trespasser from the night before. Ah! After a few more rounds of extensive searching, I concluded that my camera had been stolen. Luckily, I had uploaded the majority of my photos. After a few calls, I decided to file a police report. Now this is where the fun begins.
Yekta, as a kind friend, agreed to accompany me to the Police Station to translate my sad story. As we stepped up to the entrance of the police station we were accosted by an officer questioning us of our motives and reasons for seeking their assistance. Yekta proceeded to tell him that I had lost my camera and Ipod and we were wanting to file a police report. The man did not believe me! The nerve of this guy. After asking me when I was leaving for the States he concluded that this was all a ploy to cash in on my insurance policy. His experience as an officer had apparently triggered his truth radar and he told us that this was a common story. However, we continued to press but he would not budge. He told me that I had to provide him with the invoices of my camera and Ipod, and after that they would come to our flat and fingerprint search the entire room! I think that the man was only trying to scare me so that I would stop my lies and never return. Boy, was he wrong.
With my cunning skills, great memory, and organization I managed to scavenge copies of the receipts to both my camera and Ipod. One receipt was packed away in a box in a friend's attic, and the other was hidden in Apple's website--a customer support representative couldn't even retrieve this little piece of my proof of purchase. Apple needs to get a more knowledgeable customer support crew. The following day, Yekta, William and I went to the police report. We left......................................................with our mission #7988 completed--we left with a police report! Now it's up to my mother, my insurance agent, to remedy the situation. My part in this is over, it's up to Allstate--You're in Good Hands.

Consulate

2008-07-05T05:31:00.001-07:00

Today we visited the U.S. Consulate, located right outside in Istiniye. Wow, this opportunity to speak to the Foreign Service Officer chairing the Department of Public Affairs offered some very important information and answers to our questions. The stories these people had to share were amazing. It made me consider taking a job in foreign services. I had no idea the adventure and opportunities that were available as an FSO (Foreign Service Officer). Traveling around the world in 2-3 stints and being held in high esteem as the U.S. representative everyone you step definitely sounds like an amazing career! It made me consider interning next summer or the summer after to test the waters. However, there was one thing that was surprising: 4th of July (Independence Day) was celebrated on the 2nd of July! I understand that it was security reasons but I still found it amusing.
After the consulate a few of us headed to Ortakoy to indulge ourselves in Kumpir and Turkish waffles. Here's a picture of me eating kumpir. Looks good, eh?

Ankara, the capital of Turkey

2008-07-02T08:25:00.000-07:00

Leaving Kapadokya behind we headed to Ankara. The journey to Ankara was quite eventful. Our bus driver missed our exit and adamantly refused to turn back. While we were supposed to be in Ankara by midnight, we did not end up in Ankara until 1:30 after having to stop on the side of the expressway and catch 4 taxis to Bilkent University. After settling in and taking a 'short sleep' we headed to Gordeon where Midas's tomb is located. King Midas, many of you may remember, is one carved into history for his famous Golden Touch. We didn't get to see his actual coffin, but we did get to see where he was buried.

Here is the man-made mound fit for a king.

Why isn't his burial site made of gold? This is the wooden structure the King was buried within.

Here's an interesting fact that only recently was discovered: the tomb of King Midas has been dated to be earlier than his time! There aren't even academic papers discussing this potentially controversial issue. Instead, Professor Kent Sams argues that the tomb was constructed for King Midas's father, King Gordeas. After Gordeon we headed downtown. While we were having dinner we became engaged in conversations with random Turks. One of the conversations was incredibly fruitful as it led us to Ankara's famous mosque, Kocatepe (ko-jah-teh-pay). Built and finished in the 80s and in the center of a secular nation and capital, I expected an incredibly modern mosque without the extravagance visible in the edifices of most mosques. However, I was quite surprised when I saw Kocatepe become visible on top of a hill. It was enormous, larger than any other mosque we had visited, and just as beautiful.

Modeled after the Blue Mosque or Sultanahmet

After Kocatepe we strolled through the streets looking for a bar to watch the Eurocup finals where I hoped Germany would take the championship. To quench our thirst and in honor of our viewing of the Eurocup in Europe, David and I decided to purchase this:

Impressive eh? Well, to my disappointment Germany did not win the championship but it was a good game. The next day we visited Ataturk's Mausoleum and the Museum of Anatolian Civilization. The picture above could be mistaken for Lincoln Memorial, instead it is where Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey, is buried. The entirety of his mausoleum includes every aspect of his reign from his alphabet reform to his impact on the forestry industry. I was definitely impressed with how thorough the exhibits were. Next stop was the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations where an enthusiastic professor from Bilkent University led us through the exhibits at an information-overloading pace. The exhibit included items from millenia ago. Yet again we are faced with artifacts and excavations without much knowledge reaped from these findings. Why were there so many figurines of supernatural humans? Why was there such an overwhelming amount of bull-like figures decorating homes?
The museum was interesting...to a certain extent, especially after learning of the earliest discovered depiction of intercourse. Ha. It was very interesting to hear and see how the government had set up the museum to include so much artifacts as "Turkish." After breaking from so much in the past 70 years it seems a little ironic that the museum would embody so much. To end on a lighter note I came across some school boys while I was exploring. They wanted me to take dozens of pictures, but here is the best one of them.
That night we took a sleeper train to Istanbul where some of us did not go to bed until 4:30 AM. We decided to partake in festivities rather than sleep. We're only in Turkey once!

Kapadokya

2008-06-27T10:00:00.000-07:00

After hot-air ballooning and after a 2-hour nap we had a full day of exploration ahead of us. Our first item on the itinerary was to visit the surrounding landscape. We had to get a feel for our surroundings.

These were some of the caves we went into.

A contemporary cave-house (by contemporary I mean 400 years old!)
The entirety of the floor was covered by kilims.

After our exploration of the surroundings we finally headed off for Goreme (Gore-em-ay). This is where many backpackers station themselves, and this is where we later came to watch the Semifinals of the Eurocup. After arriving in Goreme we had lunch and headed to the Open Air Museum. The Open Air Museum featured numerous Byzantine churches dug into the tuft material that the mountains are made of. There were numerous paintings within each of these churches, and it was interesting to note that there were discrepancies between the facts presented in the guidebooks and the history we (and by we I mean Clayton) knew. One church in particular, the Dark Church, featured only 1 small window. This meant that the paintings were kept from the sun's damaging effects. The following painting is of Mary. How do I know? Well, you may be able to notice the Greek script to the left and rigth of Mary's head. The letters are Mu, Ro, Theta, and Gamma. These letters are the first and last letters to MotheR of GoD. Intersting eh?

After all of the exploring and awe-strucken looks, we headed back to our amazing cave-dwelling of-a-hostel where we had a delicious dinner followed by a return to Goreme to watch the Eurocup. Even though we may have lost the game, the Turks were definitely celebrating as if we had won!The partying finally came to an end and we returned to Uchisar (ooch-hiss-ar) to our beds where we had peaceful dreams about the numerous layers of Turkish identity.

My bed within the cave where I dreamt of Turkey's landscape, history, and people...zzz...

The next day we visited the largest excavated underground city in the world! Some say that it housed between 20,000-25,000 residents for a period of 2 or 3 weeks while the city above ground was under siege. However, Professor Shields brought to our attention that within the academic world there is much debate over the role of the underground city and the number of residents it housed. In other words, no one has a concrete idea of what the underground city was for, and everything one is told from the tour guides are fictional stories. Pictured below is Clayton crawling through one of the tunnels of the underground city.

This underground city must have catered to people of short stature

After an exhilarating time in the underground city we picked up our cameras and headed to Ihlara Valley. We hiked through numerous environments including, but not limited to, rain forests, deserts, meadows, caves, streams, and thistle-laden paths. Seeing all of these numerous caves, we could not resist from entering them! This particular cave, pictured below, had a few rooms. Oh, and it was PITCH BLACK! We resorted to flashes of our cameras and echolocation to determine where we stood in the cave.

After near-death experiences in the cave and dehydration we ended our day with a nice dip in a crater lake. Here's some context to our experience at the lake. Me, being a Kansan, and hardly ever experiencing large bodies of water such as lakes or oceans, I got pressured into swimming across the length of this lake! It was the longest distance I had ever swam without being able to touch the bottom. Good thing both of my legs cramped up half way, eh? Luckily, I made it to the other side without drowning. I've included a picture of Clayton and me standing in front of the lake.

I swam approximately 1 km!

Another amazing end to another amazing day. The next day entailed the ever-popular search for the fairy chimneys. Fairy chimneys are what Kapadokya are known for. They are a geological phenomenon that occurs when erosion takes sculpts a former large mass of tuft into a pillar-shaped mass topped off with a denser material on top that erodes slower than the rest of the tuft. The result is a fairy chimney, but they more closely resemble something else. :) See for yourself. The pictures I have of the fairy chimneys are not from our quest for them, as we hiked through hills and caves without ever seeing a single fairy chimney. The picture shown below is from my hot-air balloon experience.

Here's a close-up for those of you with vision impairments.

While the excursion may not have reaped what we had imagined, we did find one enormous church in a cave with an interesting ceiling. The ceiling had these columns for purely aesthetic reasons. This is a motif none of us have ever seen.

After some hillside exploration we left Uchisar for Goreme one last time. This time we were leaving Kapadokya and heading towards Ankara. But before we left Kapadokya, we had to fill up our stomachs with a unique, local cuisine: pottery kebabs. Imagine a slow-cooked lamb stew inside a clay pot, cooking for 1 hour in the morning and 30 minutes right before you eat it--this is the succulent meal we had.

Up, Up and Away!

2008-06-26T09:59:00.001-07:00

Today I went up in a hot-air balloon for the first time. It was an awesome experience, definitely worth the huge hole in my wallet and the lack of sleep due to a 4:50 AM pick-up time. The trip we took lasted for about 1 1/2 hours and flew across Kapadokya, the 2nd most beautiful place to go hot-air ballooning! However, according to our veteran pilot, David, who has flown hot-air balloons for 25 years all over the world, Kapadokya is the BEST place! I couldn't imagine a better place to go up, up and away.

The beginning of a beautiful day

Lindstrand, our balloon

What kept us in the air

A beautiful view from up high

We got close enough to the tree that I could pick apricots!

Looks like it was photoshopped, eh?

Shadow of our balloon

Around the World in 80 Days?

Dr. Seuss anyone?

The landscape was beautiful

Man Cherries?

2008-06-26T09:51:00.000-07:00

MMM! In Turkey we have had fruit out the wazzoo, and one particular category of fruit that has been particularly delicious is the cherry. In Turkey there are 3 types of cherries. You have your visne (vish-nay) which are sour, beyaz kiraz (bay-az keer-az) which mean white cherry and are semi-sweet, and then kiraz (keer-az) which are the cherries we are all accustomed to. While in Istanbul I had tasted the visne and kiraz, however only upon reaching Esenlar did I have the opportunity to try the beyaz kiraz. Apparently, the beyaz kiraz are the Man Cherries and help the growth/birth of the other two women cherry trees. Bizarre eh? If I were to rank the cherries in order of best tasting, I would have to rank the beyaz kiraz as numero 1, then the kiraz, and last, but not least, the visne. Hopefully I will be able to find some of the beyaz kiraz back in the States.

We'll Be Coming Around the Mountain When We Come

2008-06-24T09:10:00.000-07:00

The past 2 days I have been in the mountains in a village called Esinlar (esh-in-ler). The village was incredibly peaceful. I had never experienced anything like it before. Being in Turkey for approximately 5 weeks, we have been consumed with activities. My life has been one activity after another, even before Istanbul--can you imagine? Ha. Well, being up in the mountains without having to worry about wasting a minute of my life by sitting around 'doing nothing' gave me a sense of inner bliss. This was something I do not remember experiencing... The family we (Clayton and I) stayed with barely spoke any English so it was up to our Turkish skills to get us through the 2 days. Here are some photos of our experience in Esinlar.

The family minus dad in their general store.

Cherry-picking with Alper.

We slept on these one night. Gazing up at the stars without light pollution was amazing!

Who knew this place existed in the mountains?

You can figure out what's going on.

Splish, Splash We're Having a Blast

2008-06-20T14:12:00.000-07:00

Egirdir, a small city located on Lake Egirdir, at first glance seems to be a town full of pensions and hostels but at a closer look has numerous hidden treasures. Our first dayin Egirdir consisted of visiting a Selcuk mosque and medrese. Closed and turned into a bazaar, respectively, we did not get to see much. However, the next day was awesome.
William was right when he decided we had to stop in Egirdir if only to visit the national park. The national park was void of a single human being except us! It was amazing to see such a beautiful place without the commotion one would see in the States or at any other national park. Here's a few photos out of hundreds.

The Higher, The Better

Is that Snow?

2008-06-19T13:56:00.000-07:00

90-100 degrees weather, a city void of life, and 10 Burch Fellows Summer Research Seminar students equals a load of fun. Today we arrived in Pamukkale known for their white mountains. What seems to be snow in 100-degree temperature turns out to be calcium deposits. This is where the fun really begins!

Well, the fun really began when we had to change on the side of the 'road' because we did not have our bathing suits on. Here's a G-rated snapshot of David changing in public in the middle of the afternoon. Real classy David.

Looks like snow, eh?

After reaching the top of the mountain we chose to swim with the ruins. In the middle of this pool there were ancient columns and ruins right under our feet. It was exhilarating to be able to swim over, under, and around these ancient ruins. Here's a picture of the pool:

After swimming for a while, we decided to visit the rest of the ruins that were not immersed under water. The light was beautiful and the view was stupendous. Check out the link, David's Fledgling, underneath "BIRDS OF A FEATHER, FLOCK TOGETHER" to see an awesome picture of me with the landscape.

Here's a mediocre picture of Superman in the amphitheater:

Tomorrow we head off to Egirdir. Who knows what new and exciting things await? Stay tuned for the next episode of The Amazing Journeys of Edward!

Free Day!

2008-06-18T13:11:00.000-07:00

Today Professor Shields decided to give us a free day. However, with all of the sites and point of interest Ephesus had to offer we had to create a schedule that only the gods could finish in one day. We decided to visit the Virgin Mary's house, Ephesus--the ancient city/ruins, an archaeological museum, lunch with a friend, swimming in the Aegean Sea, and a small Grecian village up in the mountains. Our first stop was the house of Virgin Mary, the home where she took in her last breath. Peace be with her. Here's a photo of her peaceful residence.

After the Virgin Mary's house we went to see the remains of Ephesus. The city was spectacular! At the time of its peak, Ephesus was housing 250,000 people. The ruins were also in great condition, especially when compared to Troy. There were homes, brothels, libraries, theaters, baths, and various other remnants of a booming city. Here is a photo of the facade of the library.

Quite a large library, eh?

Our next stop, for me, was underwhelming compared to all of the other museums we have visited. It had a small collection of items; however, it did have one particularly interesting exhibit. The exhibit consisted of numerous diagrams, identical to the one shown below, of the numerous ways people were killed in battle. In this particular case, a trident pierces the victim's skull causing instantaneous death--quite morbid.

P.S. the skull displayed is one they uncovered. They used bottom-up processes to recreate the diagrams: find wounded bone, find causal weapon, and draw diagram of death.

After the museum we had lunch with one of Emily's, rather wealthy, family friends. Lunch was delightful. After lunch we eagerly changed and drove to the Aegean Sea. This would be our first time in a body of water, except for the hamam and various other methods of bathing, since our arrival in Turkey.

You may notice that I'm in an awkward stance. That's due to my lack of sandals and the abundant amount of thistles under my feet. After this picture was taken I ended up with 20+ thistles per foot. I definitely took one for the team.

After a refreshing dip in the Aegean, we headed off to the mountains for the evening. Sirince (she-reen-jay), supposedly a Greek city with 600 inhabitants, rests in the valley. This peaceful village is known for its assortment of wines, peaches and olive oil. During lunch one of the ladies told us that the residents of Sirince have been traced to be the last descendants of the Ephesians. The validity of this statement is still questioned. After buying a couple bottles of wine, an assortment of bed spreads and table settings we finally found a place to wine and dine just like the Greeks.

Beautiful sunset + beautiful city + beautiful wine = marvelous end to a beautiful day

Carry On My Wayward Son

2008-06-17T08:35:00.000-07:00

So after 4 adventure-filled weeks in Istanbul, our group is now on a 2-week excursion hoping to figure what Turkish identity is. We expect to be able to piece together this puzzle by the end of the trip :) At the very least, we hope to leave with some amazing photos of these historic sites sprawled throughout Turkey.

Here's a map , taken straight out of the Fez Travel guidebook of the locations we will be visiting in Turkey for the next two weeks.
So we started on our two-week excursion this past Sunday, being that there was no wireless internet I have not been able to post since then. The first day included an extensive tour of Gallipoli, the famous battle where Mustafa Kemal Ataturk had an outstanding victory giving him the fame he needed to rise to the top. Essentially, the ANZAC (Australia New Zealand Army Corps) landed on the wrong cove.

On the road again...with David and Kelly taking a short sleep.

A mural of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk's victory at Gallipoli.

Our group with Turkey's landscape in the background.

So that was the end of the first day on the road, and we stayed in Canakkale that night. The next day was a full day. We visited the historic Troy, Pergamum/Pergamom/Bergama depending upon which language you use, and ended in Ephesus. Troy was rather anticlimactic as it was only composed of old walls and a horse. The tour guide provided us with all this minutiae that Troy became a city that went through 9 stages, with a number of changing walls and nothing more.

Here's the famous Trojan horse with the famous UNC Burch Fellows' students peeping out, waiting for night to defeat Troy. (The horse is a modified, slightly newer model built in the 20th century)

Our next stop was a lot more interesting. Pergamum, in its heyday, was a city of great prosperity. It was a city where the military was trained, so there was a constant change of residents within the city's boundaries. An interesting fact: Pergamum was known for its infallible hospital and because of this no one was allowed entrance into the city if they were, as our tour guide said, "sick of death." In other words, if you were ill or on the verge of death, you were not allowed to enter Pergamum. (No wonder the hospital always had a great reputation!)

Here's a photo of Yekta, Clayton and David posing in front of a beautiful set of Pergamum's columns.

Here's a snapshot of the beautiful theater, which still holds concerts to this day.

Tomorrow we plan on touring Ephesus, a Grecian village, Virgin Mary's home, and a museum. We are surely going to have calves of steel by the end of this trip.

Meyhane : Turkey :: Dim Sum : China

2008-06-13T23:58:00.000-07:00

Tonight was a tasteful occasion. I convinced Hande, our Turkish teacher, to have Turkish lesson at a meyhane instead of at our flat. After painstaking hours of burdens of proof, cases, cross examinations, and rebuttals she final conceded that it was comparatively more advantageous to have Turkish lessons at a meyhane than at our flat. Debate surely paid off this time. A meyhane can be described, for those cultural connoisseurs, as a variant of the well-known Asian dim sum experience. Instead of push-carts loaded with various selections of foods, soups, deserts, and other unique items the meyhane servers bring around a large platter that is shown to the customer at the beginning of the meal. The guests then choose the mezes (may-zays) from the platter; however, the mezes on the platter are not the ones the guests eat. The ones on the platter are for display only. Here's a picture of us at the meyhane.How could I forget to mention the raki? At the meyhane it is customary to have raki with your meal, and usually your main course is fish. At this particular meyhane, I ordered 'fish on tile' which was some of the BEST fish I have ever had. I have yet to get accustomed to the taste of black liquorice (raki), but hopefully by the end of the trip I will have acquired the taste for this Turkish drink.

Call To Prayer

2008-06-10T07:08:00.000-07:00

This is what I hear 5 times a day, everyday ringing throughout the city. This is one of the things I will miss when I go back to the States. The Call to Prayer is sung by a trained religious man. In Turkey, secularism is defined differently than it is in the United States. In the U.S., we all see secularism as separation of church and state, but in Turkey secularism means governmental control of religion. In other words, the government has a hold upon all of the mosques and religious figures. In order to become a religious figure such as an Imam, one must undergo governmental training before one is able to serve in a mosque or sing the Call to Prayer. Turkey has many practices that are incomprehensible to our Western minds. Perhaps someday this nation will actually see its faults and become great. Until then, here's the government-trained Kalendarhane Mosque mu'adhdhin (muzzein) singing the Call to Prayer.

Mufti, anyone?

2008-06-09T12:50:00.000-07:00

We started the day at the medrese (school) finishing our Turkish history time line. Finally, I scavenged the intelligence and courage to engage in our discussions in class. I think that I definitely added to our dialogue of the reasons for the consistent turmoil Turkey continually found itself in. After this we went to Suliyemaniye to meet with Istanbul's mufti (head of the department of religious affairs in Istanbul).

The mufti had previously met with the Pope two years before! Our meeting with him was met with a barrage of less-than-intelligent questions from the two other groups we were with. The questions were extremely antagonistic, attacking the mufti and the Turkish government. Our group agreed that our representation was hurt by the unintelligent inquiries. Luckily, the last question was uttered from a member of our group and had some semblance of intelligence. And good thing that person was me. :) After the mufti we headed over to Yildiz University, our third institution of higher education during our 4th week in Istanbul.
We met with Professor Gulalp, current dean of the Political Science department, as well as former professor of sociology and political science. Our time with Professor Gulalp was quite interesting as he allayed our prognostications of civil unrest if the AKP party were overthrown by the Supreme Court. He also helped us understand the Turkish bureaucracy by placing it within the context of Rousseau's Social Contract. Rousseau made a distinction between the General Will (good of the people) and the Will of the People (what the people wanted). In application, a government is to act for the General Will even though it may be contrary to the popular will. In Turkey, the military represents the General Will, stepping in when the elected governments (Will of the People) stray too far from Kemalism (the paradigmatic ideology of Ataturk Kemal). This interpretation of Rousseau was extremely interesting--it put Turkey into a context that I could understand. Then the question arose, "If the military determines the General Will, what prevents it from decreeing an incorrect General Will?" Professor Gulalp said there was no way of ensuring the General Will be carried out. Questions continued and came to an end with another one of my questions. After Professor Gulalp, we had dinner at Professor Shields's house--an amazing event in and of itself.
After dinner we stumbled across Prostitute Lane, 1 lira Efes (Turkish beer), and a bowling alley. A great end to a great day!

Information Overload

2008-06-06T10:02:00.000-07:00

A day full of interesting facts about Sultanahmet (Blue Mosque) and the Hagia Sofia. Here are some pictures throughout the day. To show his superiority to Suliyemaniye (Ahmet's idol), Ahmet included 6 minarets in the design of his mosque (I couldn't capture all 6 minarets in the photograph). Among other things, the Blue Mosque is still a mosque Muslims go to for prayer, especially during large holidays such as Ramadan. Throughout history, people have created myths surrounding this mosque believing it has healing powers. With such grandeur and majesty who wouldn't believe that?

Sultanahmet

Inside

Our next stop was the Hagia Sofia, famous for the sheer amount of mosaics inside. A former church, Hagia Sofia was converted to a mosque during the conquering of Istanbul. You will notice the numerous Christian mosaics that remained inside Hagia Sofia when it was converted, but also the 'tacked on' Arabic/Islamic symbols. Built in the 6th century, it is amazing that so many of these mosaics are still in tact. Built with architecture and sophisticated calculations that went into the building of Hagia Sofia makes it able to withstand a 7.5-Richter earthquake!

One of the Many Mosaics

Something Look Odd?

Look Familiar?

The Mihrab (placed in the direction of Mecca)
An interesting fact about this Mihrab was that since it the mosque was converted from a church, the mihrab is actually 30 degrees North of the actual direction of Mecca in order to face the congregation and accommodate times of prayer.The Slab was Cut In 1/2 for Symmetry -- Genius!
It took 120 hours between 2 men to cut through the marble! This was one of DOZENS!

After 1600 Years, Hagia Sofia has Shifted A Little...

Work Your Magic, We'll Meet You By The Tiles

2008-06-03T12:25:00.000-07:00

Sufism. The majority of our morning was spent on this ambiguous noun. We had the pleasure of speaking to the head of an NGO (names of which I do not recall) and her thoughts about women in Islam, scarves, Sufism, and a variety of other questions. Most, if not all, of her answers had the word love and Mashallah (the most similar to the word: wonderful). To my ears, she sounded like a modern day hippie. Peace and love would solve all of the issues in the world. Her simplified view of the world did not help her clarity in her responses to our questions, in particular What is Sufism? After a few hours of questioning the women served us lunch, and we were off to Sirkeci Train station.
Today was the first on-site presentation of the class. Kristina and Emily led numerous intellectual discussions of the significance of this grand monument and the impact of the Orient Express. One thing that struck me was the color of the ceilings. All of the beams were pink. Now what interior designer or person would decide to use pink as the color to express grandeur, luxury, and sophistication? This remains a perplexing question... After the Sirkeci stop we had a couple of hours before our Sufi zikr (worship service/meeting).
In the 2 hours, we decided to go to the Grand Bazaar and purchase my long-awaited puse (pronounced poo-shee). There's a picture of me and my newly-acquired puse. Yekta, our native Turk, Amanda and I engaged in covert operations. I would send Yekta to a store and have her pretend she was buying a puse. "Work your magic, We'll meet you by the tiles." This is a sample of some of the dialogue that occurred during our purchasing adventure. Whenever she found one, Amanda and I would pretend to look at other scarves and talk to Yekta through each other. I would call Amanda Yekta and tell her which puse I wanted and the price I wanted to pay. In the end, it was another successful mission!

The zikr was an experience! Here are a few pictures attempting to show glimpses of the scene:

Whirling Dervish (religious practice)

Again

...and the party afterwards!

Mission Impossible

2008-06-02T13:02:00.000-07:00

For class today we were able to return to the golden ages of 5 and 6 and play pretend! The Theodosian Walls, or what I like think of them as, The Great Wall of Turkey, extend for 6 kilometers throughout Istanbul. Construction began in 408 and upon finishing the walls were only penetrated twice within the long history of the Theodosian Walls’ active use. Since the practicality of the Walls, they have become somewhat decrepit adding a sense of age, genuineness, and uniqueness to the landscape that few other places that I have visited embody. From 10 to 5, I was able to climb up and down walls, towers, and dungeons pretending to be Superman, Spiderman, a knight in shining armor, Agent Hsyeh on a mission, and anything else my imagination and situation led me. The hands-on approach let me experience the city and see the beauty of this magnificent city. There is truly no place like Istanbul as you scan city and pinpoint Aya Sofia, Sultanahmet, Galata Tower, the Bosphorous, and the array of diversity that paints such an eclectic, yet complete painting.

Agent Hsyeh--Mission 1246ZI: Save Istanbul

Being Caught and Locked Up

Different Angle

Being Held at Gunpoint to Jump

Victorious Smile After Pushing the Gunmen Down the Wall

After Saving Istanbul

After Finishing My Mission

Another day...Another successful mission

--Agent Hsyeh

Weekend, Take 1

2008-06-01T08:19:00.000-07:00

After class on Friday, which consisted of a short discussion about Ataturk and Turkish history AND another amazing Turkish lesson (during which I was experiencing excruciating bowel problems), we headed off to Bursa! This is when the adventure truly began. Getting to Bursa was analogous to entering the twilight zone (cue the eerie music).
The journey begins as we head towards Taksim via Istiklal Caddessi (pronounced JAH-DEH-SEE, means Street). The street is packed as we trek towards the Nilufer station (bus company we are using) with our backpacks and duffels stuffed full. Before I move on here is a little background to the trip. Professor Shields had been planning a trip to Bursa for a while, and Murat, our Turkish friend, happens to be from Bursa. Well, I took the opportunity to invite myself to his home since he happened to have planned a trip home the same weekend we were going to be in Bursa. The planning spanned over the course of 3 days as we were trying to communicate plans to Professor Shields, the rest of the gang, Murat, and Murat's friends. The night before the big day, we sat down on the terrace with Murat and ironed out some, well all, of the details. In the course of 2 hours, the Americans gleaned numerous different interpretations as to how Friday was going down. I cannot explain the pains all of us experienced, Turks and Americans, as we tried to communicate the plans for Friday. Luckily, that night I had chosen to try a new beer, the Marmara-- it proved to be our saving grace. The Marmara just happened to be the hotel next to the street that our bus company was located. Using this beer, Murat finally got across where the bus station was supposed to be. We were set for anything that was to come! After this long-winded dialogue/cacophony, we decided to go try some nargile (hookah/water pipe). Little did we know that the restaurant serving nargile was going to be on the 8th floor overlooking the entire city. It was a sight to see! After a few puffs of elma (apple) and mint nargile we finished Thursday's adventures and retreated home. Then Friday rolled on over--a test of our sanity.
After finally finding the bus station, only to watch our bus drive off without us, we found out we had to wait an hour and a half before catching another service bus that would take us to the action bus station. By the way, Friday also happened to be the start to a long and strenuous venture in my bowels :) Oh yeah, I forgot to mention this, but Murat, a few minutes before we left to smoke nargile, decided to tell us that there was a change of plans: he wasn't going to meet us in Kavacik, instead he was going to be arriving in Bursa in the wee hours of the morning. Moving right along, we get on the bus and arrive around 6:30 realizing that we must have missed our 6:15 Bursa bus. However, we come to find that the 6 o'clock Bursa bus just rolled up and left, so we patiently waited for our turn. Buses continually pulled up and left, the workers continually shouted in Turkish, and everyone at the station continually stared at us--a walking UN conference comprised of representatives from Germany, Albania, China, Ecuador, England, and whatever else they perceived ALL speaking English. Our bus finally showed up around 7 and with the help of a couple of Turks we ended up getting on without too many complications. Here comes the fun part! Traveling with seven people and sitting on a bus with paired seats, one of us was going to be the odd man out. I volunteered to be the odd man out because I was sick and developing a fever--what a great start to a weekend trip. The bus ride, one that was supposed to last 3-4 hours, ended up taking 6+ hours!
The situations we experienced on the bus made the trip to Bursa semi-creepy and foreboding. A little into the trip, the bus stopped at a second pick-up point where the rest of the seats were filled. Instead of leaving me the odd man out, somehow, with our strategic maneuvering, I ended up sitting next to Clayton, leaving Amanda with, who she called, a 'mystic' Turk. What an intriguing, curious, but odd man he proved to be. The bus ride was going swell, with most of the other students being ebullient and full of giggles, me and my doubled-over position, and the rest of the bus mumbling Turkish obscenities at every noise uttered from the Americans' mouths. Then, the bus started descending towards a large body of water, where all of us thought was going to lead to a small road. Oh, were we in for a surprise. The small road turned out to be a large parking lot guarded by uniformed militia. In reality, what looked like a large parking lot actually was an organized system to load us onto the ferries that would take us across the Sea of Marmara (Marmara played a significant role in my life this weekend). To Be Continued…

Ferry

Weekend, Take 2

2008-05-31T07:57:00.000-07:00

Friday night's festivities (wine and Turkish sprite)

Wow! I can't believe I'm in Bursa!

Here's the an aerial view of Bursa

Entrance to Yesil Camii (Green mosque)

Now you know why it's the Green mosqueMe and the Green mosque
Entrance to Ulu Camii
Hamam! Rub-a-dub-dub
What is this Hamam about?
The girl's penitentiary :(

The hamam was quite an experience. Upon entering, you and your company are allotted a room to change into the sarong (different than the one pictured). You put on your sarong, and underwear, if you choose, and head into the bathing area. The first room of this particular hamam included showers and a lounging area. The room was warmer than room temperature and had two rooms off to the side for the infamous Turkish massage. We went straight to the best part of the hamam: the bathing room! After finding a nook, the Turks sat us down, ascertained a sand-paper mitt and began the rub down. Ouch. They rubbed off skin worms (I believe I came out of the hamam 2 shades lighter). In the center of the room was a large pool that was the temperature of a hot tub, perhaps hotter.
Then there was the lion's mouth! David and I built up enough courage to first sit in the small pool, then get under the lion's mouth! There was an actual lion head plastered to the wall spewing water from it's mouth, hence the name. The water coming out, however, was from a natural spring underneath the hamam. The water was HOT! Imagine turning on the hot water without any cold water. I sat under it for a minute or so and when I got up to stand I could have seen myself fainting from the heat. My heart was beating 100 miles per hour. Then Taner, our Turkish friend, took us into the steam room.
Upon entering, you immediately stopped breathing from your nose and noticed the strength it took to continue in the thick patch of steam. The steam was incredibly hot--hot enough that it stung your nostrils! There was a sign in Turkish that read 83 degrees, and if that sign was right then the room was around 180 degrees Fahrenheit! We were warned that we could only stay in the room for 1 or 2 minutes before fainting from the heat. The room was so hot that my hair felt like a ball of fire on my head. It was definitely intense, and walking out of the room took an incredible amount of effort. After about an hour and a half we figured we had to meet up with the girls, so we left the bathing areas. And this is what we looked like afterwards:

Wow! Were we a good-looking bunch.

Sabanci University

2008-05-29T12:49:00.000-07:00

Welcome class. Today you will learn how to do Crank Dat Soulja Boy! (The Americans made me get up in front of Turkish university students and Crank Dat--pictures to come). Today we went to Sabanci University and listened to students present in English along with a guided tour of the campus.
I learned a lot of interesting things. In Turkey, to qualify for higher education one has to take a national exam (OSS). Depending upon the score, one is placed into a university and, potentially, an occupational track. Sabanci University, a private school, costs approximately $22,000 an academic year, whereas public schools are free! What a difference the costs of education are between Turkey and America. We are supposed to meet with them sometime to hang out. They're supposed to show us a good time.

Here's a photo of us in their bleachers:

The Little Engine that Could

2008-05-27T07:20:00.001-07:00

Today's class centered around railroad history and Istanbul's industrialization. However, before we get into the academic stuff, I should tell you of the small trip Amanda and I had to see two hamams.
On our previous trip to visit hamams we saw 3 out of 4 hamams that we wanted to inspect. Today we decided to wake up early, before class started, and walk over to Istaklal and find the Galatasaray hamami. We had read somewhere that the Galatasaray hamami was only $6-$12; however, to our surprise, it was actually $36. There were some odd prices that listed $6, but that did not gain you access into the hamam. Dismayed, we walked back to a hamam right down the street from our flat. The hamam by our flat was incredibly small. We found out that it only cost 10 ytl, however it only serviced men and only had 1 room (compared to the other hamams with at least 3 different-temperature rooms). Amanda and I decided that we would probably take the class to the Gedikapasi hamami when we actually do our presentation. Now, back to class.
We watched a video by our guest speaker about railroads, but there was a big catch: the whole video was in Turkish. This proved to be a hassle, as Yekta (our Turkish liaison) had to pause the video every other sentence and translate. The 30 minute video turned out to be over an hour! I did not find the video particularly interesting or pertinent to the class, as it only discussed Ottoman railroads/industrialization for the last 5 minutes. The rest of the film touched upon the entire history of railroads--keep in mind it was all in Turkish. Then we went up to the terrace to continue class and discuss industrialization.
The rest of class was much more interesting as we learned of the impact railroads had in Istanbul, whether it be political, social, or economic. Then we segued into the industrialization of Istanbul. We were asked to read two articles the night before dealing with Istanbul's city planning, or attempts to change the city. I found the articles to be intriguing. Istanbul, during a period, was going to be Turkey's Paris! Instead of the charming city with numerous monuments placed in all different areas, it was going to be a city with a distinguishable center with radiating arms. The articles discussed the impossibilities of these dreams and fantasies of the sultans. We also discussed the obstacles and hurdles that would have prevented Istanbul from becoming a copy of Paris. Instead of Istanbul becoming the Paris the elite class yearned for, Ankara took its Parisian title when it became Turkey's capital. Now, I'm about to go to the Prof's house for some delicious (and FREE) dinner! And afterwards? The terrace, where else?

Cats : Turkey : : Squirrels : Chapel Hill

2008-05-26T05:54:00.000-07:00

Here in Istanbul there is no rodent infestation, hordes of flying insects waiting to sting you as you stand still, or anything most of us can imagine. Instead, Turkey has a cat infestation! Every nook and cranny you find I can guarantee that you will spot a cat. At this point you might be asking yourself, "How can that be so bad? The kitten-wittens are so cutteeee!" Well, these felines scale the walls of Istanbul and wreak havoc on the city. No one is safe from the paws of these killer cats. I recently watched two cats participate in an all-out, WWE brawl that had to be broken up by a restaurant employee. Domesticated cats are one thing, but wild, rabies-infested felines are not in my book of must-haves. Every time I venture onto the streets of Istanbul, walk around Topkapi palace, or sit down to take in the scene a cat lurks nearby. These felines are up all hours of the day instilling fears into the hearts and minds of many. They are the squirrels of Istanbul...help

The Pointlessness of It All!

2008-05-26T05:53:00.000-07:00

On Sunday our group followed William to the Redbull flugtag. Many of you have probably seen the Redbull commercials advertising these events around the world. Well, based off of the events of the day, I pretty much understood that flugtag was a showcase of courage, creativity, and craze! People from Kuwait, New York, and numerous other parts of the world joined together in Istanbul to show their gliding/flying skills. Here are a few samples of the contraptions people created--ENJOY!

Stealth

çay (pronounced chai, means tea)

çay fell over

Florence Nightingale

paperplane

**It landed!!!***

record player

Afroman struggling to stay on

pirates

Aladdin was able to land his Magic Carpet

Some sort of plane?

Another successful landing!

Colgate 360

Dragonfly

Didn't pay attention

And......... Forgot

Cheese with the Fur

2008-05-24T05:52:00.000-07:00

Hopefully, you were able to understand the allusion to "Apple Bottom Jeans, Boots with the Fur" that I was trying to draw with this title. If not, don't worry, I have something interesting to tell you. On one my first days here, after the whole quasi-deportation episode which abandoned me in London, I came across something quite peculiar. Imagine seeing a midget It (from Adam's Family) sitting on top of a wheel barrel outside of a market. You ask yourself, "What could this hideous object be? Some sort of animal, or perhaps a monster?" Well, as we were sitting in Adnan and Hasan's (carpet store from previous post) we were handed a book of carpet/rug work. As Emily was randomly flipping through the pages, she cracked our first Turkish mystery!

The mysterious ball of hair was actually cheese wrapped in a goat skin! Hence, Cheese with the Fur, was born. *drumroll, please* Here is what you have been waiting for!

Magic Carpet Ride

2008-05-23T09:34:00.000-07:00

We began our day at the Grand Bazaar in a carpet store. Hasan, a veteran in the carpet industry, explained to us the significance of carpets in Turkish history. His experiences with the carpet industry were very intriguing. He told us the numerous variations in carpets and rugs, including colors, patterns, and even knotting. The textiles industry is such a large part of Turkey that it was very interesting to hear, first hand, how the whole process works. It was also nice to know the humanity Hasan had. When we asked him how much the actual producers of these beautiful pieces of art pocketed he answered, in a very sincere manner, that they made very little compared to the middle men and carpet vendors.

One needs more than one life to learn the art of calligraphy. Before this very informative calligraphy session, I had no idea that calligraphy was such an esteemed art. Being Chinese, I understood that it was extremely important to have beautiful handwriting; however, the extent of practice and dedication to Turkish calligraphy is amazing! Perhaps, a Chinese calligrapher is also as diligent as a Turkish calligrapher, but that is of no consequence. The beauty that is produced from simple tools made out of reeds and bamboo is jaw-dropping. I even got my name (Wen-How) transcribed for me:

Later that night we met up with up with our friend, Marat and Suhrat to go experience Turkish night life. Wow! What an experience. We started off at a local bar, Darkness, where I had 70 cl of Efes (name of a beer), a shot of findik vodka (hazelnut vodka--which turned out to taste like hazelnut water) and the one and only, Darkness (a mix of bizarre liquors). My tab turned out to be 22 ytl (lyras)--WHAT ?!?! It was extremely expensive. Then we decided to go to a techno club, of which I do not remember seeing a name. The club was not very exciting so we left and went to another club.
This is where the fun began! This club had no name and only appeared to be a black garage door. However, to my surprise, behind the door was an underground club with strobe lights, LED lights on the ceiling, and numerous alternative Turks. We had hit the jackpot as far as alternative nightlife goes. Watching the Turks dance was a spectacle. The Turks we saw, whatever representation they may have been, danced without much rhythm and with a lot of arm motions. They also did not grind, but that may have been due more to the music than the dance culture. After dancing to ear-bursting music for a couple of hours, a gay couple entered. We were all completely thrown off as they began to passionately kiss each other at a public place. Being in a predominately Muslim country, I did not expect such overt acts of homosexuality to be displayed. After more dancing, we decided to return to our flat. The night ended around 3:30 AM. The whole night was an experience that I will not forget!

First Official Class

2008-05-22T14:37:00.000-07:00

Today was, yet again, another fast-paced day filled with marble-paper demonstrations, tours of a medresi (school) built by the famous architect Sinan, class in one of the rooms, and a delicious lahmajuhn (Turkish pizza/burrito). I also boldly decided to try the drink, Ayran (a Turkish yogurt drink) without having sipped or tasted one before. I imagined a sweet drink, perhaps with some sort of fruit flavor. Little did I know that the drink was going to be salty, reminding me of curdled milk. Here is a picture of Ayran:

After that we returned to the room and lounged around for a few hours. Kristina and I both noticed the lack of overt exercise in the city. We were used to being at Chapel Hill and seeing runners every 5 minutes, and scores of people heading in and out of the gym. This reminded me of our discussion in class about what Turkey has to do in order to Westernize. Now that they have Starbucks and McDonald's encroaching upon their lands, I think they will realize that they have fully Westernized when they build corporate gyms and fitness facilities. However, this may be a very American thing, and not necessarily Western ideal. The conversation was short, and it reminded us of the large role exercise had in our lives. But complaining is not our motto, so we quickly segued into another conversation. After a few hours we decided to go eat on Istaklul Street. I had a simit (bread with sesame seeds) sandwich. It was filled with cheese and 'spicy sausage,' otherwise known as sucuk. The food here is something that I am going to miss greatly when I return to the States.
After dinner we decided to return to our daily routine and visit our companions on the terrace. Ugur and Ugel were not present, but Marat, the resident, was as usual--cigarette in one hand and an Efes (beer) in another. Clayton and I realized that because we did not have a translator, we learned the language much quicker. We had to learn Turkish quick in order to continue communication between the Americans and Turks. Some of my favorite moments are when we spend time on the terrace overlooking the blue mosque, Hagia Sofia, along with all of the other awe-striking monuments while having stimulating conversations with our Turkish friends. Tomorrow we are planning on going to a nearby club where they play Turkish music. I cannot wait to move my feet to the Turkish beats!

Here's a night view from our terrace:

And here we are with our new Turkish friends:

Scavenge!

2008-05-21T08:43:00.000-07:00

Today was an interesting day. We spent approximately 6-7 hours scavenging around Turkey. We were asked to find items from strawberries and apples to fountains and Asian ice cream. The scavenger hunt was a great idea to get us acclimated to our surroundings in a fun and safe manner. As we were lost in a park looking for the entrance to an enormous palace, we noticed the numerous couples engaging in overt affection. I was surprised at the shameless displays of affection in such a public area. But perhaps we were entering the land of lust and love without knowing it. :) The amount of su (water) we ended up consuming equated to 4 bottles a person. We drank water like it was our job! The sun's rays were pounding upon our skin as we trekked through Europe and Asia (Istanbul happens to span across both continents) in our quest for numerous items. After the scavenger hunt we had dinner at Professor Shield's house. The dinner was delicious with salad, pasta, cake, fruit, and juice. I am very impressed with the Shields' cooking :)
On Tuesday night, while we were up on the terrace, we agreed to meet with our new Turkish friends at 7. This conversation took the form of a 45 minute discussion where every member of the discussion had a different idea of when the celebrations were going to take place. It was finally decided to meet at 7 on Wednesday. However, we, being stupid Americans, forgot that we already had dinner plans at Professor Shields'. We did our best to write a note to tell Marat, our friend, that we were going to be late due to former dinner plans. However, while we were walking down Istaklul towards Professor's house we ran into Ugur and Ugel (the other two Turkish friends we met on the terrace). It was fate that brought us to them to inform them of our tardiness tonight. Everything went well during dinner and off we went back home and up onto the terrace. Time for raki (Turkish liquor)!
My first experience with raki was not as I had imagined. I had heard of raki quite a while before I left the States. The logical thing was to build up this liquor in my mind and place it upon a pedestal above all other types of alcohol. However, raki (which must be mixed 50/50 with water) turned out to smell and taste like black licorice! I could not believe that this was the liquor of choice in Turkey! How could a people enjoy the taste of black licorice so much that they would create a liquor that smelled and tasted like it! I was very disappointed with the drink, but perhaps the in the next 6 weeks I shall acquire a taste for this fine delicacy :) Drum roll, please. Here is what you have all been waiting for: a picture of raki!

First day in Turkey!

2008-05-20T08:02:00.000-07:00

Hey,
So my first day in Istanbul, Turkey consisted of going across on a ferry to Asia. We stopped at Kadikoy, where there was a farmer's and clothing bazaar. I had a very intimate encounter with one of the vendors. He insisted on touching my gages, asking if I was married, and asking if I was going to join the army (because I was wearing a green shirt). He also shoved a berry into my mouth, which convinced me to buy 2 baskets of them (8 lyras). Then, out of nowhere, some man came up to me and grabbed my arm and face and pushed our cheeks together (some sign of greeting). All of this occurred while they were speaking Turkish. Luckily, we had Yekta to translate for us. Now, we're about to cook a pasta dinner after our nice beer in Asia!
baybay (bye bye)

First Weekend Out of the States

2008-05-19T14:59:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,
So here is my first post. My weekend was definitely an adventure. I got stopped at the UK immigration and warned about my passport's tattered/mutilated state. They told me of the repercussions that could occur if I were to go to Turkey and deported. However, they also gave me hope that I had a 50/50 chance of making it past immigration at Turkey because of the US andUK allowing me to pass through. Professor Shields, being the risk taker she is, also advised me to keep on trekking.
A while later, I received a phone call from Professor Shields urging me to stay in London. She managed to get in contact with someone associated with Turkish immigration control and found out that the deportation involves a 24-hour minimum detention. Furthermore, these detention centers cannot be penetrated by US officials! After hearing this news I was devastated at having to stay in London. :)
We arranged housing and I scheduled an appointment with the US embassy on Monday (note that it was a Saturday when this occurred). After saying goodbyes to Kristina and Clayton, as they continued on their journey to Turkey, I left the airport only to be stopped by immigration a second time. How many times would I get laughed at for my mutilated passport? The officials told me that they had to deal with British Airways and fine them 'loads of money' for allowing me passage into the UK with my 'mutilated passport.' After waiting a while, I was finally released into London and caught the tube to my living quarters.
Finding the place was wicked hard. It was raining, the streets went around in circles, and the directions I had involved turning at unknown lights and finding similar trees to point out that I had reached my destination. At this point I did not think that matters could get any worse, until I tried making a call to Kevin, the housing hook-up. Surprise, surprise! My credit cards had been shut off due to unusual activity (which I have yet to resolve). So I finally found my housing after another hour or two of searching. Then I find out that my outlet converter did not work in the UK, the ONE country that it did not work for in Europe!!! I was stuck in a room with no electricity, no credit cards, unable to make a collect call to Turkey, no food, no contacts, and a phone that only made calls to 2 numbers: emergency and the housing department.
Well, Sunday was much better. I ended up finding piecing together all of the application parts for a passport, while I was touring London.

Big Ben:

Buckingham Palace:

House of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, you name it I went to it. After a long day of touring I went to bed and along came Monday.

Monday was a lot of business transactions at the US Embassy and the airport. British Airways nearly left me at the Gate B43 due to a ticketing error! Luckily, with minutes to spare, I made it onto the plane. Off to Turkey! Now I'm sitting in my Turkish flat awaiting more adventure. That's all for now.
And here is an inexplicable picture I took while searching for passport photos:

*I believe this may have been a picture of a cult or religious group masquerading around the streets with a lion in stylish garb riding a bicycle*