Blogs from Middle East - page 1196

After a loooooong sleep, which we woke from at 4am, wide awake...(damn body clock) we then ventured out in the morning to the mall across the road (called ,city centre, even though it isnt in the city centre (logic). Jules bought a pair of Gucci sunglasses which she had her eye on, I just wandered around aimlessly looking at all the amazing food places that were shut....that ramadan thing again...and got sprayed with after shaves all morning around the mall. They have this big promo thing on, every different part of the mall had a different flavoured purfume, so I left smelling like a cheap NY pimp. We then got into a gypsy cab and went out to Wild Wadi Fun Park! This was the whole reson for us stopping in Dubai, and it was soooo ... read more

My trip to Turkey couldn’t have come at a better time. For the two weeks prior to Fall Break, the usually cheerful academic center became a miserable place full of grumpy, stressed out people. The day of our flight to Istanbul, I had a test, a paper, a presentation, and no clean underwear or socks. Following a crazed hour of packing, Jess, Gina, Mike, Ben, and I caught the metro to the airport. Our vacation officially began when we got to the airport and Jess pulled out the US Weekly and In Touch that her mom had sent her from home. Our excitement could not be contained. After weeks without access to American celebrity news, we were first finding out about Nick and Jessica break up, Jennifer Aniston’s jealousy of Angelina, and Renee Zellweger and Kenny ... read more

I am still on vacation from classes due to all the holidays, but the start of the regular school year is nearing. Last week, I spent Yom Kippur at the local progressive synagogue, Ohel Avraham. We ate our last meal before the fast there around 4pm and then went to Kol Nidre services. We slept overnight at the syngagogue, or actually, on the grass outside, because there was no way for us to commute back to the University--during the holiday there were no transportation services available. I spent most of Yom Kippur in services and finally broke the fast at the synagogue around 6 in the evening. The day before Sukkot, we built a sukkah on campus. We got permission to take wood from a nearby construction site and a university contractor lent us a couple ... read more

Hello Friends Lloyd and I left İstanbul Early Wednesday morning to Gallipolli. A battle ground where Australia and New Zealand fought the Turks in WWI. It was a touching story of how the Australians and the Turks realized they were equals and became friends and stopped fıghting after 250.000 people died...WOW We then headed to Troy for an hour and took a tour of the town. Nıne dıfferent Troys exısted wıthın a 3000 year tıme span. Thıs is supposedly the site of where the famous battle took place. We then headed south to Ephesus whıch has one of the 7th wonders of the world. Unfortunately it isnt there anymore. But None the less it was stıll cool to llok at the rocks and what not. Mother Marry Supposedly spent her last years in Ephesus as well ... read more

We finally arrived in Istanbul after a 24 hour whirlwind tour of the SFO, JFK, and Heathrow airports. Apparently our bags had a different itinerary since they arrived several days later. Thank you American Airlines for lightening our load! It's a good thing we didn't need water filters and mosquito nets to enjoy Istanbul. In the only city that spans two continents, the collusion of cultures ıs everywhere: headscarves and Converse, tea houses playing hip hop, mosques hosting book fairs. The train from the airport took us through run-down neighborhoods wıth crumbling walls and kids throwing stones at the train. But those same high-rise apartment buildings had clusters of white sattelite dishes sprouting like mushrooms from every balcony and stable rooftop. We spent our two and a half days in Istanbul exploring everything within walking distance, ... read more