The bustling border crossing at Hopa was nothing like the sleepy, rural, countryside post I had crossed to enter Georgia two days earlier. Tractor trailers, vacationing Russians, and a much more official (border-ish) mood filled the air, and made it rather unpleasant. To the left, handsome tall green Turkish mountains rose up to towering heights. To the right, the Black Sea stretched out coldly under an ominous, cloudy, late evening sky. We were routed between barbed wire and chain-link fencing, as the crossing is under heavy construction. Presumably, this means trade between Turkey and the Caucasus countries - 2 outta 3, [View Full Entry]

---

---

I left off between countries - a strange place indeed to be waiting around... Time zones, languages, climates, cultures, and dogs were are swirling together there in between Anatolia and the Caucasus, Europe and Asia (or perhaps Asia and Europe?), the former Ottoman Empire and the former Soviet Union, the day and the night, the Lira and the Lari, and a bunch of relaxed guards who were almost as confused about the fact that we were there as we were confused about where "there" actually was... or something like that. If eastern Turkey is at times a strange place, Georgia is [View Full Entry]

---

---

The weekend started as all weekends should, on a Wednesday. Çocuklar Bayramı (Children's Holiday) meant no classes - wooohoooo! I found a dirt cheap plane ticket and landed around noon in Kars, setting of Orhan Pamuk's novel, Kar (Snow), which I still haven't read (the English-translation of it that I found in İstanbul - in paperback! - cost more than the plane ticket to Kars!). Anyway, my guidebook was correct in noting that the city is full of Russian buildings, appropriately grey and run-down. Still, Kars did prove to have more to offer than I originally expected. I shared a cab [View Full Entry]

---

---

So thaaaaaaaaaat's what all the hype is about. Just 3 hours north of Ankara is the lovely town of Safranbolu, filled with cobblestone alleyways, well-preserved Ottoman-era houses, and more charm than, well, than you could ever find in Ankara. Jen came in from İstanbul, showing up late in the afternoon Friday to check out the town before my arrival later that evening. After I showed up and dropped of my bags, it was time for a walk. I asked her if she would know how to get us back in the dark and she said "you pretty much just keep walking [View Full Entry]

---

---

It was the begining of the semester and I showed up for my Turkish class. The professor had not arrived yet and there were only two other students waiting in the room: a young woman from Baghdad, and a young man from Basra. Never before have I felt so ashamed to admit that I am an American. It was a brand new experience for me, a very unexpected and emotional surprise. What exactly does one say in this situation?... Thankfully, the teacher showed up before too much time had passed, coming to my rescue, sort of. I learned that the young [View Full Entry]

---

---

"How do you say 'Afiyet olsun' in English?" somebody on campus recently asked me. "We don't" I replied, "but perhaps we can start using 'Afiyet olsun.'" (For you native English speakers, that's "Ah-fee-yet ol-sun." Say this to people you are eating with or preparing food for. It means something like "Bon apetit.") Last weekend, I heard "Afiyet olsun" so much that my ears were ringing, during two short days of gastrointestinal bliss in İstanbul. Why, so soon, you ask, did I return again to İstanbul? I received an e-mail from Erman, a passionate, energetic, and unquestionably one-of-a-kind human, saying that his [View Full Entry]

---

---

"Do you want to come with us to Bursa this weekend?" Klajdi, a friend in a few of my classes, was inviting me to crash an all-Albanian excursion to the former Ottoman capital. The plan was to drive through the night Friday, ski Saturday at Uludağ, thaw out in the evening at a hamam (Turkish bath), and then drive back to Ankara through the night Saturday. 30 YTL (about 25 USD) would include all transportation, three solid meals, and entrance to the hamam. Skiing was extra, but it proved to be dirt cheap - 5 YTL for equipment rental. It's not [View Full Entry]

---

---

Construction, construction, construction... We bounced up and down what must've been the bumpiest, most torn-up road in Ankara (be sure to keep that it mind as you read on - bump, bump, bump). It was about a month or so ago. I had squeezed into an already-full minibus and was standing in the doorway, which was about halfway back on the right side of the vehicle. I had a perfect view of the driver from where I stood. He seemed to be having some trouble with his cigarette lighter. The darn thing just wouldn't light, so, gripping the steering wheel with [View Full Entry]

---

---

First of all, let me sort of apologize to Çağdaş Yavru. I say "sort of" because I did not mean to cause you any offense by saying that your name is funny to me, but at the same time, I still think it's funny. Translated into English, your name means "Modern Little Animal" - come on now, that's just plain funny. You are living with Sercan now, so I am sure that you can take a joke... My three day weekend in İstanbul stretched from Friday night to Wednesday morning. More on that in a moment... Two nights ago in the [View Full Entry]

---

---

It is "Darlink's Day" here in Turkey, a capitalistic holiday during which people, motivated by love and guilt, spend lots of their hard-earned lira on their special someones. Large red heart-shaped decorations have popped up all over the place. What a change from Valentine's Day in the States it... isn't! Why would I venture all the way to Kızılay on this of all days? I was on what I consider to be sort of a Robin Hood mission. I once paid $130 (USD) for an awful textbook for an awful class, only to find at the semester's end that the bookstore [View Full Entry]

---

---