Blogs from Ankara, Central Anatolia, Turkey, Middle East - page 5

2008 was a memorable year for me. Some of the highlights: struggling to become bilingual, plenty of interesting travel (including a complete crossing of Turkey with my mom), lots of friends getting married and having babies, the election, and - last but certainly not least - falling in love. It was also the first year of my life that I've spent completely outside of the USA. It was also a dramatic year back home to watch from abroad. New York State's first black and blind governor came to power after a sleazy scandal ended Spitzer's reign. Americans finally started to appreciate the serious implications of their dependence on fossil fuels… to some extent. An incredible presidential election ended in a victory for a candidate unlike any other I've ever known: someone who many people actually feel ... read more

Yesterday was a great day in history. After eight shameful years, my country has made a significant choice to depart from the policies of the George W. Bush regime. If only it could be a completely fresh start. As stated in President Obama's (oooh, I like that way that sounds!) acceptance speech, there is a very difficult road ahead. It will take years, if not decades to recover from the damage: financial, environmental, domestic, foreign, and so on. We can only hope for and work toward our collective success in emerging from the darkness and creating a better future. The weather today in Ankara was appropriately warm and sunny. Many Turks seemed slightly concerned that Obama does not have enough animosity towards Armenia, but generally, most people on campus seem relieved to see the end of ... read more

I'm back at Hacettepe Üniversitesi. We had our first week of classes, followed by a full week off for the end Ramazan celebration. Nobody has done any work yet and most of us are still arranging our schedules, waiting for add/drop to start. Campus was bomboş (very empty) all week long and I embraced the peace and quiet, venturing into the woods next to campus when it wasn't too cold or rainy. These pictures deviate from the images that typically come to my mind when I think of Ankara: ugly buildings, construction, and traffic spread across a fairly barren landscape. I took all of the pictures at Beytepe, the campus that I live on, which is - for the time being - still sort of the outskirts of the city.... read more

Ankara - Hattusa... read more

Well we only had minor damage today. Joe landed pretty hard and bucked the fuslage a bit. Everyone is trying to fix yesterdays damage as I try to properly pace my self as the Jack Daniel van just opened and are serving. It's quite something how passionate these guys are in their planes. My goal is to stay out of their way and not step on the wingtips AGAIN. We are currently in 24th place. Good thing there are only 25 teams or we would feel really bad. our goal is to stay ahead of the Romanians. Speaking of Romanians, there is a band of Romanian Gypsies which camp along one of the rivers on our way from the field to the hotel. barebones living, really something to see. I have asked our driver to stop ... read more