Blogs from Middle East - page 912

Today was very hot! It was the warmest day since i have been here, luckily it is nice out right now but then again it is 11:15pm while it is 4:pm EST. We began our day like usual discussing the readings and talking about what would happen over the course of the day. We were going to the gold and spice markets to see them and to apply them to what we had to read for the day before. A group of 4 of us, found our way to the markets and after we went to an ancient Roman theater where they had a museum of folk art and modern history. It was amazing to see the theater. It was almost is perfect conditions despite the fallen poles. Afterward, we were so hot and tired that ... read more

The weather is terrible. There is a light sandstorm the wind is voracious and the sand is in everything. My uniform is buttoned up all the way. I have a boonie cap, sun glasses, and bandana tied over my face. Picture a soldier robbing a bank. There is pallets of bottled water in front of every tent. I think that the water has sand in it - all I taste is grit and dirt. Maybe it will whiten my teeth. We stay in large tents made of plastic. The floor is plywood which is nice as my feet don't get to dirty when I get up to go to the bathroom (the bathroom is a little walk from the tent). We had our first experience with 220 voltage. The ourlets here have a funny shape. They ... read more

Today we went back to the market and was able to walk around for a few hours. Then we went to a restaurant that served Jordanian food, it was very good and there was alot of food! It was a very nice touristy restaurant, so the service was better than any I have ever had in the states. Then we came back, it was exceptionally hot today, but it didn't feel that bad. We were put into groups this time so the cab drivers wouldn't over charge us, that was a plus! From there nothing too exciting I pretty much stayed in the building and just talked with a couple people with all intentions of doing my reading for tomorrow! Tomorrow we are going to family's home and having linner (lunch/dinner, this is not an arabic ... read more

A few really busy weeks, nice weather, and a headful of thoughts too personal to blog about are collectively responsible for postponing this entry. Life is full of all types of surprises. Three weekends ago, Bahar Şenlikleri, Hacettepe Üniversitesi's annual Spring Festival, took place. It was also my first visit to our large, handsome stone amphitheater - probably the nicest thing ever built on this campus. It seems to be halfway between a modern amphitheater and some of the ancient ones that are on many tourist itineraries in this country. There are even two rows of columns lining the road on the walk in, as if they supported an imposing structure during ancient times... but they didn't. It was a weekend of live music, festival food and other festivities. The türkü (one type of traditional Turkish ... read more

Ederine Day 2: 5/14/08 I met the father of my host family, Ismet Acikoz, first thing this morning. He was held up in customs last night when coming home from Greece. I met the wives of the Rotarians in the newer part of town. Much to my surprise my host mother didn’t join us for breakfast. (This was very different from my first host family because they were with me all day every day ) My day started with breakfast in the woods at a small café. We had the norm… cheese, cucumber, tomatoes, salami, a boiled egg, and tea. From there we leisurely worked our way over to the Selimiye Mosque to have coffee. After we finished drinking coffee, we went inside the Mosque. Before entering the Mosque you must take your shoes off and ... read more