Blogs from Middle East - page 1195

During my short stint in Jerusalem, one of the most memorable experiences was being able to spend a few hours over in the West Bank town of Ramallah. The trip started with a bus ride to the Israeli side of the security fence (read concrete wall). From there, a short walk to the Palestinian side and another bus to get to Ramallah. We arrived at around rush hour, and the traffic was fairly intense considering the limited space available for the buses to load. It took about 25 minutes to get to the center. I was surprised to see that the city seemed to be better off than many other parts of the Arab world. The explanation I was given was that the majority of NGO's and wealthy Palestinians live in the big cities, and that ... read more

Having had a sweet taste of Rome, I was drawn by the ancient spirits to that other ancient Roman capital, Constantinople. The ancients apparently like to dramatize their power on even the feeblest among mankind. As with Rome, I was made to wait at the airport for hours, as if to say these holy places cannot be reached without first learning a lesson in patience and humility. The ancients, though, have underestimated the ability of the ultra-modern Americans to blame all travesties on the lack of good service in Europe. And if you have spent any amount of time in Europe, you painfully know just how this stereotype is true. I went to Istanbul with two of the other exchange students at the Rotterdam School of Management. Carolina is doing her MBA at the Darden School ... read more

Last Sunday the campus at University of Haifa changed drastically from being nearly empty and occupied only by overseas students to being filled from wall to wall by 15,000 students in total. The hallways, elevators, and even outdoor grassy areas are crowded all the time. It's unbelievable. All of the sudden there is noise and activity. It's nice to finally feel a part of a university atmosphere. I am going to be a part of a dialogue group made up of 10 overseas students and 10 Israelis. We'll meet once a week, speak half in Hebrew and half in English, and talk about who knows what. It should be interesting. I'm also looking into joining club swimming--we'll see if that works out. Sunday, I visited Jerusalem with the rest of the Carmel group. We visited the ... read more

First time I went to Bursa - 2 hours and a half from my city - it was in October..somewhere in the middle of the first religious holiday. Together with 3 other Romanian girls we decided to travel and meet another Romanian..a boy, an old friend who was with AIESEC there. What I knew before about this city: lots of mosques, history and a mountain. That definitely draw my attention. In my short visit I could see the "Green Tomb" where is burried Osman Gazi ("Ottoman Empire" was named after him...he was the mighty force that created that), Ulu Camii (=mosque), Yeşil Camii (Green Mosque) and Yeşil Türbe (Green Tomb)..and Zafer Plaza (zafer=victory) center where I heard people meet. On top of one of Ulu mosque was a funny figure..I heard it's called "Karagöz" and ... read more

İstanbul - The Crossroads Where Europe meets Asia, East meets West, Islam meets Christianity, the Black Sea meets the Mediterannean, and cliche meets cliche. At once this place is beautıful and ugly, peaceful and noisy and just about everythıng else you can think of. It is more European than most would ımagıne - includıng myself. Shops are full of western goods at western prıces agaın whıch ıs a bıt starnge after so long ın central Europe. This place is huge. İstanbul the biggest city I have ever been in and everyday the numbers of people here grow. Istanbul is beautıful though, once you get over the hectic nature fo the place. Everywhere there are market stalls selling cheap tee shirts and shoes, carpets and kebabs galore. After a week or so of relaxıng and recuperatıng from ... read more