What are the differences?

Things I’ve learned about the world, or had confirmed, because I went to Turkey:

Everywhere is walking distance if you give yourself the time (paraphrasing a Steven Wright joke).

A little rain won’t melt you (there is a saying in Turkey that some Turkish people are made of sugar and will melt in the rain).

Fresh produce is better when it’s fresh from the area, not fresh from California, Brazil or Florida (unless you live in those places).

When you get married, the families are joined, not just the couples.

You don’t need to buy a lot of stuff (DVDs, videogames, etc.) if you’re spending good time with friends. A coffee or beer/drink will do.

A lira/dollar is really not that much to give someone on the street.

I miss the stray dogs and cats.

We need to be more hospitable and outgoing in our country. America is great and it’s time we acted like we enjoyed the place and were proud of where it is and where it’s going and put the petty crapthat divides us aside.

Friends across an ocean can be great friends and looking forward to meeting them again is sustaining.

Ouch

It actually saddens me a little to look at the old photos of Turkey, especially of the “normal” places I’d go – Küçük Park, Bornova pazar, Kadifekale, the gulf, etc. Someone send me back, NOW. I miss Turkey. This time I’ll learn the language! Which I’ll do anyway when the semester finishes because I figured out the keyboard thingy so I can type Turkish words with my laptop! Thanks, Cihat!

I’ll have an update soon on how life has changed for me since coming back, because of my having gone to Turkey.

See you tomorrow

Well, some of you. Others, maybe Saturday. Others, next week, and others, well, hopefully very soon. I leave for the States at 7:45am Turkey time (12:45am EST) and arrive at 7:15pm EST (12:15pm Turkey time) in DC-Reagan airport.

Saying goodbye sucks. I just spent the afternoon parting with the faculty here. They are wonderful, welcoming, warm people and I’m going to miss being in their faculty and spending time with them. I’ll miss hanging out outside of work hours, too. Oy. I think the only thing that’s gonna mitigate that sucky feeling is saying hello again to old friends and family back in the States, keeping in touch my friends and faculty here, and the hope that I’ll return to Turkey soon.

Finished!

I gave my last presentation today and now my classes are finished! Woohoo! So I get to spend the next week soaking up what more of Turkey I can (the people, the food, the sites, a football/soccer match, and today’s rain), get my thesis a bit more ready and then I go home to Greensboro.

Families, Friends and Food. Oh, and a short discussion on class.

So, a busy few weeks here. The semester is winding down, a had a paper and presentation due in one class and I am working on my project for the other, due Tuesday. In the mean time I am preparing Ph.D applications to 9 schools (better safe than sorry) and finding a little time to enjoy people before I head home, two weeks from today. So, check out the photos in Picasa, at the link on the right, and I’ll explain some things.

Gaza

Turkish women sell baked goods across from the Bornova metro station to fundraise for Palestinian efforts (I don't know, relief or otherwise) during the current war in Gaza.

This war is completely sad, just like the one in Iraq. It’s so incredibly lopsided and there’s so much collateral damage – “Palestinian medical sources said at least 800 people have been killed in Gaza since the Israeli offensive began two weeks ago.

The dead include 235 children, 90 women and 12 medics, the sources said. Another 3,225 people have been wounded, they said. Thirteen Israelis, including 10 soldiers, have died in the fighting.”

We need a more concerted international effort toward promoting the Just War Theory (which pretty much renders all wars in the modern age as being unjust) and toward a peaceful two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine mess.

An Ode to Waffle’Cı Akın

Oh, Waffle’Cı,
How I crave ya!
There for me, morning and night,
I wish I could take you on my flight!
Back to the States I’ll go
Never to see ya no mo’
But there I’ll buy a waffle maker
And then I’ll be the waffle baker
Who slathers the frosting, so sweet and savory
And the men and women will thank me for my bravery!
In mixing a banana frosting with slices of kiwi fruit
And, maybe if they’re lucky, some strawberries, to boot!

Waffle’Cı Akın is

Yeni yıl kutlu olsun!

Happy New Year!

Didn’t try to do too much last night. I had dinner with some friends at Manisali Kebab in Alsancak, and then had drinks with other friends for the rest of the evening. Everything seemed low-key here, despite hearing how huge New Year’s is. That could be because, from what I heard, a lot of celebrations were being canceled because Israel is bombing the life out of Palestinians (Hamas and innocents, with the photos to prove it).

Anyway, I hope everybody got home safely last night, had a good time, and may 2009 be the year we finally see peace in the world.

Mutlu Noeller!

Happy Christmas/Merry Christmas/etc!

Mary came to visit me in Turkey, and then I went to Bulgaria

So, Mary came to visit me in Turkey. AWESOME!!! What a great first vacation together. Not without its hiccups (she got ill, then I got ill, we both never slept on any of the buses, the last night I spent awake worrying about my thesis and what to write and then we were both awakened at 6am by the prayer-call contest between the Blue Mosque, outside our window, and the Fatih Mosque, elsewhere on the Golden Horn peninsula), but overall great!!! I got to introduce her to friends I’ve made here, to the food and to…taking it easy in Turkey, since life here moves at a different pace than in America (thankfully). She even got to celebrate her birthday here!