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]

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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]

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Picking up where I left off a few entries ago, there are a few more things I should add about the headscarf. Başörtüsü, I am told, refers to the headscarf worn (often by older women) which allows the hair to be visible around the top of the forehead, by the neck, etc. The türban, which is at the heart of this debate, is something different. The word turban makes me think of hairy Sikh men wearing UFO-shaped lengths of fabric twisted on top of their heads. Here in Turkey, türban has come to mean a başörtüsü worn over something-like-a-swimming-cap, which completely [View Full Entry]

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The importance of the Boğaziçi (Bosphorus) cannot be overstated. The strait divides the European and Asian sides of İstanbul. It allow passage between the Karadeniz (Black Sea) and the Akdeniz (Mediterranean Sea). Wars, goods, and passengers - like me - have floated up, down and across it for thousands of years. The Boğaziçi connects with the Haliç (Golden Horn), which cuts westward into the European side, and the Marmara Denizi (Maramara Sea) to the south, giving İstanbul its distinct shape and character. Until the metro is expanded to go under the Boğaziçi - th [View Full Entry]

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Controversy... So much fuss over a little piece of fabric: the başörtüsü (headscarf) issue has been making the headlines again in Turkey. When President Gül came to power last summer, the press did not quietly ignore the fact that his wife wears one in public. The Turkish government this week removed the ban on women wearing headscarves in its universities. How do I feel about this? After consulting many friends and newspapers, I think I am more confused than ever. The arguments for and against the başörtüsü seem to fly in every direction. Here are some thoughts as I try to [View Full Entry]

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Here are a few glimpses of some of the tasty things İstanbul has to offer. Unfortunately, I've usually been too distracted to grab my camera when I find a table full of fantastic food in front of me. The video is of Rezan reading my coffee grounds. The sludgy residue left behind after a cup of Turkish coffee can tell things about one's future. Nearly everybody approaches this as fun nonsense, but supposedly some people actually pay ridiculous amounts of money to have their grounds read. Apparently, I should expect zombies to play some part in my future... [View Full Entry]

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From Taksim Square we walked about halfway down istiklal Caddesi, took a left, walked down a dimly-lit hallway and then up an antique stairway rounded down by the centuries. The restaurant we entered was obviously a fine rooftop terrace in the summer, but it had been sealed up against the wintry cold. It was not a clear afternoon, and what must have been a dramatic view of the Bosphorus was barely visible as we sat down at our table. Jale appologized that the view was obscured "because of the frog." Hahahahahaha! - what a great image! This of course inspired some [View Full Entry]

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Merhaba. Where has the time gone!?! First off, I would like to revise my thoughts on the Kocatepe Camii from my last entry. I complained that the massive new mosque rests on top of a soulless shiny shopping mall - which it does. During a conversation with Doro (a dear friend and gracious host) last night, I was reminded that "that's the way it's always been" with mosques. Commerce and trade have been ever present near mosques in order to pay for their construction and maintenance. Widespread trade, stretching from Spain to Indonesia, is fundamental in Islam's history. Without it, the [View Full Entry]

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Here are a few pictures from Ankara. The Kocatepe Camii is certainly impressive, though it is not breathtaking the way İstanbul's massive mosques are. It's a big new mosque in a big new city. Anıtkabir, is a much more powerful place to visit. Anyone who has traveled to Turkey will no doubt remember seeing images of Atatürk everywhere, all day, everyday. An article in today's NY Times mentions Anıtkabir and concisely sums up Mustafa Kemal's legacy: "In these confusing times, Ataturk is apple pie, Washington and Jefferson all in one. A brilliant military strategist, he led [View Full Entry]

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I've been ın Ankara for a lıttle over a week now. Despıte assurances from Özgür (my gracıous and wonderful host) that Ankara ıs a small cıty where 'everybody knows everybody,' to me ıt ıs stıll a bıt overwhelmıng. Sınce the foundıng of the modern Turkısh Republıc ın 1923, the cıty has swelled from about the sıze of Geneseo (my small college town) to about the sıze of Chıcago (the cıty I was born ın... well, nearby). So, compared to İstanbul, whıch really started to take of [View Full Entry]

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