Merry Christmas and Mutlu Yillar

The Christmas celebrating faculty at the school got an early Christmas gift.  Our 4-day Christmas holiday got started a day early due to a rare snow day.  It was sure a nice way to start the Holiday, my first Christmas away from home, with an extra day off and a transformed white covered Istanbul.

It has been a busy first semester.  As mentioned before, the teaching thing is a little easier.  It still takes up most of my life and attention here, but I am finding more ways to get away than last year.  I went to Santorini for the Kurban Bayram (Islam Slaughter Holiday, when Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son).  A few weeks later, I flew to Athens to run the marathon for Elise's birthday.  We had a terrific time, minus about 5 hours of excruciating pain.  Pain aside, it was amazing running the ancient route, from Marathon to Athens.  I then flew back to Chicago for Thanksgiving (which happened to fall over the school's fall break) and had a wonderful time with my new nephew Blake and now 1.5 year old Emma.  In the end of January, my Aunt Mary will fly out for a Turkey adventure.

The school here does a good job helping us celebrate our American Holiday.  For Halloween, the school had a big party in the Great Hall.  Since some of our furniture in the Great Hall is rumored to be from Lizzie Borden's house (her aunt was a benefactor of the school), our theme was Lizzie Borden's Halloween.  For Christmas, there was a nice celebration for the families.  Every year, one of the faculty members is asked to be Santa, who then hands out gifts to the kids.  There is spiced wine, caroling, and a big feast for all of us.  For Christmas this year, I am trying to find ways to busy myself to not think about being away from home for the first time.  Christmas Eve I will skype with my family and open presents together, thousands of miles away (if that makes sense).  Christmas morning, I am going with my friend Janelle to a hotel for breakfast.  The hotel will be decorated for the Holiday and allow us the most American of breakfasts we can get here.  Christmas evening, I have been invited over to the Tutors, my colleagues family's Christmas dinner.

I came here on a two year contract, which will end at the end of this school year.  Therefore, a big decision has come my way, due in the next week or two.  I have wavered heavily this last month, but right now I am pretty sure I am going to extend it one more year.  These negotiations, though, still have not been made so nothing is final.  Positives and negatives of this new home have been flying through my head all month.  On the positive side, I believe there is much more for me to learn from this school about my profession, that there are many places in this very city still unexplored, that there are many trips I still want to take, and finally some people I have met I am not yet ready to leave.  On the negatives side, there are the daily frustrations I have from work, many from the culture of how things are run, similarly there are frustrations and difficulties to living in a foreign land with a foreign language, and finally there is a stress of this job.  I know stress is a part of all teaching professions, but I do think this is even more so due to the high emphasis Turks put on mathematics and grades here.  Every test both my students and I are stressed out about how they will perform.  Yet despite these frustrations, I know that I am not ready to leave.  Even in my most fed-up moments, when I was ready to leave, I did not actually take that next  step in looking and seeing what can be next.  Things feel unfinished here.  I don't like leaving without that feeling of accomplishment or finish.  I still have so much to learn and do here.  I still don't know if teaching math is my thing, but I'm not willing to give it up either.  I don't like leaving due to being overwhelmed or too novice at it.  I do think I need at least one more year of learning about Istanbul, this job, myself, before I will be ready to move on to the next thing, whatever it is.

Year Two

I arrived here a little over a year ago.  A year, month, and 20 days in fact.  I started this blog while I was still in the States a little before I arrived here.  This puts me in the interesting situation.  I can read my thoughts a year ago...when I was living in the same place, working at the same job, in the same foreign land.  And so I read.  And I was shocked.  And I was shocked at this surprise.  I knew that my outlook would be much different a year later, but I did not expect to see such a change in what I was seeing and hearing.  The same things are here.  I hear the call to prayer every day.  It wakes me up before 6am just as it did a year ago.  But it doesn't register the same way that it did a year ago.  It's so normal so I think nothing of it.  And that is how I felt about everything I read.  Little has changed, but so much now goes unnoticed by me. 

I don't know how I feel about this discovered ignorance of my world.  I was so excited to move here.  There is something that is always energizing about throwing yourself into a new life.  Your body is so alive, absorbing all the new sounds, sights, and smells around you.  That is the feeling I arrived with.  But the reason you lose that sense of aliveness is that it is so hard to keep it up.  It's exhausting and stressful.  My first year was a roller coaster of emotions.  The highs were terrific, but the lows were not.  In fact, this summer, visiting Seattle, then having my family visit me here, was such a needed break from all these overstimulation.  It was so nice to be able to relax.  A year later, I feel much more stable.  Now things feel normal.  My stress level is so far down that I find I can enjoy this "normal" world around me.  I do not mind it.  But reading my past posts, I realize how much I am not registering as amazing anymore.  It's crazy that life in the insane city of Constantinople can feel normal, but it sure does.

Of course, now that I look back, this life did not seem so normal not too long ago.  I was itching to get back at the beginning of this summer, which I did do after two weeks trekking across Western Turkey.  I visited Chicago and Seattle, having such a splendid a time at each. Best part by far was seeing my family and friends.  Next were the comforts around me: the language I knew, the orderly lines, good beer, stores stocked with any and everything you could imagine.

I returned back to Istanbul in August only to have some of my best friends followed by close family come visit.  I was a great way to break back into life here and realize my pride in my new home as I showed it off.  School started right after their feet left this ancient land.  Now I have had a chance to enjoy the little changes from last to this year.  I have changed locations.  My new apartment looks out onto the Bosporus.  It's a view that most Istanbulites would pay top dollar for.  I can watch the ferries crisscross the strait, taking passengers back and forth between Asia and Europe.  Huge barges steam up and down, scattering the little fishing vessels and water taxis away towards the shore, saving them from the big wake.  It's a beautiful view and fascinating television screen that could keep me occupied for hours.  Fortunately or unfortunately, other items call my attention.

One thing that is significantly reducing my stress level this year is having a notch on the teaching belt.  One year of experience and I have still a ways to go, but it is SO much easier.  I am also coaching the girls' basketball team.  This is my first year as head coach of a team.  I love it.  There have been many things I have to adjust to.  The level is much lower.  Girl's athletics are far below athletics back home.  Of the 25 girls who have tried-out, I would guess that under a quarter have played basketball before high school.  We have to start from the basics.  So let's start.  Imagine directing kids to partner up, one partner stand under the hoop, the other on the free throw line.  It might take some pointing, but eventually most American kids, no matter how young and inexperienced, can figure this out fast.  Come back to my life.  These are Turks I am teaching.  Although some of them can speak English fairly well, they understand little of what those directions were.  Partnering they can do, they do that in class.  Interpreting "under" is iffy.  Turks have few prepositions (which under is) and have trouble distinguishing the difference between at, on, under, etc.  Then free throw line and basket are completely foreign.  I have found myself placing the girls where they need to go.  I need to point to their angle, knee, wrist when I talk about them.  Last practice I handed them a sheet of paper with all the parts of the court labeled.  Their homework was to learn where the elbow, baseline, paint, and free throw line were.  Tomorrow I will see how well they learned.  Most likely it's pretty good.  These kids, to get into this school, have to do exceptionally well on an exam.  To do well on this exam, you have to be able to memorize. 


Other than that, life is moving too quickly to keep up.  I am training for the Athens Marathon in November, which I will run with our good neighbor friends the Trauscht's.  I am trying to continue to explore the city.  This past weekend I went to the Belgrade Forest with my friend Joe, a beautiful park on the outskirts of the city.  This area was the ancient city's prime source of water.  Remains of the old aqueducts are still visible in the park.  A large dam built in the 1800s remains.  It was a beautiful and relaxing break from the hustle and bustle of this city that never sleeps. 

To end, I will leave off on the lists of indispensables I am starting to form from each home I know have.  This will be a fluid list, I am sure, over my time that I am here.  Therefore, as of October 1, 2012, this is what I state:

From my US home:
Extra sharp cheddar cheese
already-made hummus
chips and salsa
brown sugar
good bacon and prosciutto (that is not an arm and a leg to get like it is in Turkey)
Mexican food
Indian Pale Ale
microbreweries



From my Turkey home:
delivery service: for no extra fee, I can order online or by phone from grocery stores and local restaurants...revolutionizes life here
fresh produce, particularly tomatoes, eggplant, and sweet red peppers
Ayran: their unsweetened yogurt drink
Turkish olives

Tour of Anatolia

On June 8, a group of family and friends flew in to put to end my peaceful, recouping few weeks of summer and start an adventure.  Among the line-up of newcomers were my mom and dad, my dad's sister Judy, and mom's sister Judy and husband Ted, and neighbors Bob and Linda.  They flew in for a two-week trek around Turkey with Grand European Tours.  Among the group, only my mom had been to Turkey before.  As we were whisked around the country, we did the best to absorb all the information our tour guide had to give us, but really couldn't.  Turkey has so much history and amazing sights, as much as we tried, by the end we were having trouble keeping all the facts straight.  Anyone who sticks up their nose at a visit to Turkey, I hope you see some of the many reasons visitors fall in love with this country.  Every tourist I know that has ventured over here has left so happy that they made that decision to come. 

The following is a more detailed summary of the trek.

July 8-10 - Istanbul
My parents arrived late July 8, after a grueling trip here.  Flight time direct Chicago to Istanbul: 10.5 hours.  Not quite a short jump in the plane.  Add a missed lay-over like they did, then lost luggage, not exactly a dream trip, but they arrived with smiling faces and tried to make the most of it.  Linda was the one with the missing luggage and little did we know she would not be getting it for another ten days.

On July 9, we set out for some of the big sights of Istanbul.  We started at Topkapı Palace, the home of the Sultans for about 400 years.  Before getting into the history of Topkapı, it helps to know the history of Istanbul and Anatolia (Turkey).  The earliest people lived in this part of the world.  They were nomads.  When nomads decided to settle down and call one land their home, they first did that in Turkey, making Turkey home to the oldest settlement.  Eventually different nationalities and empires starting forming and tried calling Turkey or parts of Turkey theirs.  Greeks came over and created settlements starting thousands of years BC (you know Homer's Troy...that is in Turkey).  Then the Romans came in and spread their influence, establishing a capital along the important Bosporus which connected the Black Sea to the Mediterranean Sea.  This capital, which they called Byzantium, is current day Istanbul, my home for now.  The Romans (or Byzantines as they were called in this area) ruled for a long time.  In the mid-1400s, their empire strength was waning and another group came in.  These people had migrated from Central Asia as nomads.  They brought a new culture and language with them (interestingly, the language most similar to Turkish is Japanese).  In the 1450s, these nomads, the Turks, took over Byzantium, renaming it Constantinople, and the Ottoman Empire was born.  This empire would rule Turkey and its surrounding neighbors until its collapse at the end of World War I.  The Republic of Turkey rose out of this demise, under the leadership of World War I War General Mustafa Kemal, nicknamed Ataturk, the father of the Turks.

So back to Topkapı, this palace was built by the new Turkish victors starting in 1459.  It housed the Sultan and his family, the Harem (which included many ladies from around the empire who were taught the refined ways of being a lady and serving men), janissaries (the brightest boys from captured land brought in to be taught and trained by the Ottoman Turks), and the many other workers at the palace complex.  The complex is built with the model of the Forbidden City in mind, with each gate allowing you access to a more intimate place within the palace. Only certain people were allowed into each layer.  The palace treasury is there, housing ludicrously huge diamonds, jade, and rubies.  The famous Topkapi dagger, the object of focus in the movie “Topkapi” is one of the many treasures there.

We then headed to the famous Basilica Cistern, built by the Romans in the 6th Century AD with columns taken from Greek pagan temples.  It can hold up to 2.8 million cubic feet of water.  We then walked over to the Grand Bazaar (also called the Covered Bazaar) and walked through the maze of shops.  By this point, the group seemed to be in sensory overload so we just wandered without stopping, looking from afar at the silk and imitation scarves, pottery, rugs, and jewelry, avoiding the aggressive sellers. 

After this long half day, I convinced the group to venture over to the Asian side with me for a quieter set of surroundings compared to the bustling Old City.  We took the ferry over to Kadıkoy and walked through this quaint area of the city.  Here, the feeling of Istanbul is still there, but the pace is down a few notches.  We walked by the olive, fish, and nut sellers and settled in for the local beer, Efes (not my beer of choice, but the visitors drank like fish, sucking up this local specialty the whole trip) at an outdoor fish restaurant. 

The next day, we hit the remaining two biggies, the Aya Sofia (or Hagia Sofia) and Blue Mosque.  The Aya Sofia is a magnificent structure.  Built in the first century AD as a Christian church, it remained the largest cathedral in the world for nearly a thousand years.  When the Turks conquered Istanbul, it was converted to a mosque.  Today, it stands as a museum.  Christian icons that had been covered up by the Muslim Turk (human images are not allowed in mosques, hence the intricate tile work that mosques are known for) have been rediscovered and now both sides of the place of worship are visible.  We then ventured just next door to the famous Sultan Ahmed Mosque.  The mosque, known more familiarly as the Blue Mosque due to its beautiful blue Iznık tiles, was built in the 1600s.  Although this mosque is recognized for its amazing architecture, the architect met his end shortly after the completion due to the fact that the neighboring Hagia Sofia still towered over it.

After this tour, the group and I went up to Robert College for a quick tour of my home.  They saw the beautiful Bosporus view our location on the hill offers, and a chance to experience both the traffic and insane yet remarkable taxi maneuvering through it.

July 11 - Canakkale
We left this morning from Istanbul and headed down the Gallipoli Peninsula.  Here, the geography of the terrain made this area very important, and deadly.  When Turkey entered World War I, it cut off the only warm water port the Russians had to connect them to their Allies.  This entry was the Bosporus, which then further south turned into the Dardanelles Straits.  The Allies tried to fight and win this from the Turks, but failed.  In some places, opposing trenches were just several yards from each other.  Today, there are beautiful war tributes to those who have fought and died here on both sides of the war.

We next ventured over to the ancient city of Troy.  Most well-known from this area is the Homer's Trojan Horse.  Shockingly, this horse most likely never did exist seeing that there is no other source that cites it.  What is true from Homer's Troy is that it was a strongly fortified ancient civilization located on the sea.  The Trojans made their money by charging high taxes to traders coming in from sea.  When the nearby river silted up the land, making their city no longer on the sea, the city’s power was lost.

That evening, we stayed in the city of Canakkale, located on the entrance of the Dardanelles not far from ancient Troy.  My parents and I met up with one of my students İpek and her family.  We walked down the main street where the Trojan Horse from the Hollywood movie Troy is located.

July 12 - İzmir
We left Canakkale and our first stop was Pergamon, another ancient city of Anatolia.  This city was located high on the hill, overlooking the surrounding countryside, for security purposes.  A gondola took us to it.  We walked around the ancient temples and theater (theaters are built into the hill; amphitheaters are built up, like the Parthenon).  We then went down to the first mental hospital in the world.  That night we stayed at the beautiful seaside city of İzmir.

July 13 - Pamukkale 
We left early from İzmir for famous Ephesus.  This old city is in amazing condition.  Trade was a significant part of its livelihood which was visible by its two large agoras (markets).  Clay pipes ran underground creating a working sewage system.  Even a public toilet stood in the center of town; the toilet seats sitting one next to the other still look inviting to sit on, especially after some of the toilets we ran to along the trip.  The most impressive structure in the city was the library, which housed an extensive collection of books until Alexander the Great moved these books to Alexandria to please his sweetheart Cleopatra.

Not far from the city is the supposed house of Mary, place where John took her after Jesus' death.  We stopped by the now chapel and headed to lunch.  Lunch here was kebap and gozleme, a savory pancake/crepe.  Most Turkish food is grown and raised in Turkey so there is very little food import.  Fresh fruits and vegetables are common.  Breakfast and dinner buffets display an array of these olives, tomatoes, eggplant, cucumbers, peppers, melons, cherries, little bananas, and peaches.  Meat, though, is usually the central dish.  There is much lamb, beef, and chicken.  Kebap is very common and it really is just a spiced meat.  You can then get more specific.  Şiş (shish) kebap will be meat on a stick with sometimes some vegetables (just like what we know).  Döner kebap is like gyro meat, that stuff that you see spinning around on a big stick that they shave off.  Adana kebap gets its name from the region and is a spicy spiced meat that comes as a long hot dog shape.  On the side are usually a hot pepper, bulgur, and yogurt.  Notice that one meat that is non-existent here is pork.  With a country that is 99% Muslim, pork is rarely seen at restaurants and very hard to find and expensive in a big city like Istanbul.

July 14-16 - Antalya
We started the day touring Hierapolis, the ancient city of Pamukkale.  One may have seen the pictures of these beautiful cascading white natural baths.  These cascading baths were created by the natural springs which contain plenty of calcium carbonate, hence creating these beautiful white pools.  The ancient people realized the importance of these springs, created a city around the natural springs for drinking water, and the luxurious and healing spa you see today.  It is said that Cleopatra came here to seek out the healing qualities of these waters.

We then continued on past the sunflowers, groves of olives, gypsum mines (one or two in our travel group were on the look-out for these), oranges, lemons, apricots, little bananas, and melons to Perge, located just outside of the Mediterranean resort city of Antalya.  Perge was another ancient city.  We took a look around at the race track/gladiator stadium, market (even saw a store sign showing the stand was a butcher!), and Roman bath.

We stayed for the next three nights in Antalya, at a hotel right on the Mediterranean.  The soaring heat kept us in the air conditioning often, but we made it out some to see the sights and get thirsty enough to climb to the top for daily Happy Hour.  I played it easy these days, lounging at the pool and seaside as the group visited sights I had already seen such as the Sunken City of Kekova, Saint Nicholas’ Church (yes, he’s from here too!), the beautiful seaside ancient city of Phaselis, and the world-renowned Antalya Archeological Museum.

July 17 - Konya
We left Antalya this morning and headed to the nearby ancient city of Aspendos.  Aspendos has a beautifully preserved theater which is still in use for concerts and dance performances.  The magnificent structure has such great acoustics that you could stand at the top level (which was quite high), and here someone simply talking on the stage clearly.

We then headed to Konya, which is a modern day city known for its conservatism and being the home of the Sufis or Whirling Dervishes.  We stopped at two madrasahs, religious schools, which were beautifully painted and designed.  We then headed to the Seljuk Mevlana Monastery, where wannabe whirling dervishes go to train and live and hopefully enter the religious practice of the Whirling Dervish.

July 18-20 - Cappadocia
We left Konya and headed to the area of Cappadocia along the famous Silk Road.  During the Silk Road’s prime, government officials in towns like Konya built structures called Caravan Sarays to encourage traders to come along the route.  Caravan Sarays were modern day inns for the traveling packs, places where travelling tradesmen could sleep for the night, feed themselves and their camels (which were the double humped species, now quite rare, the only camel that could have made such a trek), and provide protection from thieves lurking along the path.  We visited one such Saray, which had high walls to keep out unwanted guests, large enclosures for the important guests (camels, not traders), and mosque.  

We continued down the route, keeping a lookout for Turks still keeping the nomad lifestyles, living with their herds in the cooler elevation.  We headed into the entirely new landscape of Cappadocia, shaped by earth and man to be like no place else.  An ancient giant volcano at spewed lava over this area.  It spewed hard lava over some areas, but also a porous, breathable, soft rock called tufa over others.  There it lay for a while, being carved out by the natural elements for quite some time.  Some locals found that this tufa rock could easily be carved out to create caves.  Early Christians, during times of persecution in Anatolia, found that these rocks created the perfect hide-out for them.  They created intricate underground cities to run to when needed, with kitchens, store-rooms, and rock doors to slide over if a certain area is infiltrated.  We explored one such city, walking within the little rooms and through the hallways that were carved out over a thousand years ago.  Upon exiting, we were met by local women who were eager to sell us their unique handmade dolls, which I found myself a sucker to and bought four...of which I have no idea what I will do with!

The next morning, I with my dad, Bob, Linda, and Aunt Judy woke up at 4AM for a balloon ride over the area, something a have been told is a must-do.  And it is.  Words cannot describe it; pictures can only kind of start.  It was an unforgettable experience.  We watched the sun come up over the moon-like landscape.  We practically touched caves that are still being used as houses today. We soared over the pointed rocks, carved caves, and many vineyards of the area.  Eventually we came down to a somewhat hard thud and celebrated with a mimosa the fine journey.

The rest of the day we spent stopping at various photo stops of the area and the outdoor museum of Goreme where 6th Century Christians carved out chapels into the rock, the rich murals still visible.
The next morning we stopped at a rug-making cooperative before heading out of Cappadocia for Ankara.  I bought my first Turkish carpet, my parents funny enough bought one quite similar to me, after shopping completely separately from each other.  Guess you sometimes just can’t fight family genes.  Both carpets are beautiful.  We then headed to Ankara, where we stopped at the famous Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, which unfortunately was under construction.  Despite that, it had some amazing early Madonna statues and Hittite friezes.  We then headed to the Mausoleum of Ataturk, a stunning memorial for their revered Turkish founder.  Among Ataturk’s accomplishments was the almost astonishing victory of Gallipoli, putting him in the national spotlight; creation of the non-secular Republic of Turkey, first President of the Republic, and switch from the Arabic to Latin script (script we use) for the Turkish language.  He is a man held to an almost God-like status among the Turks; his bust and image found everywhere in Turkey.

Conclusion:

We finished our journey back to Istanbul.  It was a terrific trip, but only the start of adventure for me.  I followed my family back to the States to spend about three weeks visiting various past homes.  I must say, it is sure nice to be back.  At the airport, I was immediately struck by the order of the place, something I miss dearly.  Lines that people obeyed.  No growing frustration as I saw Turk after Turk cut in front, helpless of what to say, like it would actually help.  I happily spent my lay-over in Newark at the airport bar, drinking long missed beer (pilsner is about all you can get in Turkey, nothing close to my preferred pale ale).  I struck up a conversation with someone next to me, and realized how much I have missed this.  In Turkey, when I am traveling alone, I am really alone.  There rarely is someone next to me who can speak my language.  You don’t realize how much this means to you until you no longer have it.  I also found such lightness on my shoulders just being here.  Everything is just so easy.  Getting around in Istanbul, knowing very little of the language, there is always an extra element that things can go wrong and it won’t be easy to solve. If I hop on the wrong bus in Turkey, there is the huge problem of what do I do now, and often time no one to talk to except with my broken Turkish.

That being said, I am so happy that Istanbul is my home right now.  I know after three weeks I’ll be ready to return to the madness of the place.  One of the many pieces that I have taken from my life abroad is how proud I am of where I come from.  The United States does have its problems, as any place does.  Overall, there are many things we as Americans take for granted that really does not exist everywhere.  Rights for women, gays, foreigners (yes, definitely not everywhere in the US, but there do exist large pockets with a great amount of acceptance).  As a whole, we are an open, accepting group of people, eager to learn about different cultures, foods, and people.  There are many environmentally-conscious forward-looking Americans as well as huge numbers of generous people willing to give to the numerous charities.  I am proud to tell others that I am American and really have found that most people are happy to hear I am.  One thing that is important to remember is that when we meet foreigners, we are ambassadors of our country.  Just as I learn about Turks from each Turk I meet, foreigners are looking at you to see what Americans are like.  That, coupled with the fact that I have an additional sympathy for the difficulties of being in a foreign land, makes me much more willing to reach out and help a foreigner.  Think about that next time you run into one, and try to have some patience with language barriers because trust me, it is much more frustrating not being able to express yourself than being on the other side and not understanding.

Summer here at last

Slowly, this school year has trickled to an end.  Finals here, while stressful for the students, is fairly easy for the teaching staff as we wait to grade our final exam.  Then comes some meetings and many farewell events.  Working at an international school, the turnover rate is quite high meaning there are always plenty of good-bye dinner and teas.  Finally, graduation Monday brought this first year officially to the end.

During this time, I have found a couple opportunities to sneak away and do some traveling.  I went with a friend to Amsterdam for a weekend get-away.  After living in Turkey for now ten months, it's funny how home Western Europe feels.  Although this is only my second time to Amsterdam, it felt so familiar.  There were restaurants with cuisine other than Turkish.  Everyone seemed to speak and understand English.  I was not labelled immediately as a foreigner.  There was no call to prayer five times a day.  I am not meaning to imply that prostitutes and the constant aroma of weed equates to home for me, but the atmosphere of the place felt much more familiar to me and made for a relaxing get-away.

A few weekends later, I traveled to Southern Turkey for a beach vacation along the Mediterranean.  I went with the group of foreigners I started with, celebrating a successful first year.  The trip was beautiful.  Sandy beaches along the beautiful aqua sea.  The picturesque Alanya castle overlooked that beach.  We ripped ourselves away from the beach long enough to check out the terrific ruins in the area, including ancient Side (pronounced See-day) just down the road from Alanya known for its Roman theater which is still in use.

I am realizing what a global world I am living in. When I see chips on the menu, I need to ask if I would be ordering French fries or potato chips.  Depending on context, if someone says shorts, I would interpret what the person just said as either shorts as we say in America or men's underwear.  I see both English and American ways of spelling things so often that I had to contemplate how I spell gray/grey the other day.  If an American says football, I have to either ask or listen closely to see which sport they are talking about.  Most Americans here, including me, use football for soccer and then always specify American football just as everyone else here does.  I'm also getting used to the life of contrasts here.  A fully covered lady will go for a dip as a topless European sunbathes a few meters away (and I'm getting used to using the metric system).

Soon, my summer will get very busy.  My parents, Aunt Judy (mom's sister) and Uncle Ted, Aunt Judy (dad's sister), and family friends Bob and Linda, are flying out July 8.  We will travel through Turkey for two weeks, checking out more ancient sights, natural wonders, and Mediterranean beaches (so that big blog will be coming soon!).  I will then go back to the States with them, spending one week in Chicago, one in Seattle, and one in Portland for Professional Development.  I will then return, meet close friends Verti and Evan in Barcelona, and then meet my Uncle John, Aunt Susan, and Jenna in Istanbul and show them around my fascinating city.  Then it's time to start school year #2.

Counting down the days...

Today is the Ataturk created national holiday of Youth and Sports Day.  As is the case with all national holidays, the streets have Turkish flags waving over them.  Huge banners with Ataturk's image cover the facades of businesses.  Since it is Saturday, our school celebrated the holiday yesterday.  It started with a "marathon" in the morning (could not have been longer than 3 kilometers, but included some brutal hills which are campus is built on), then track events, and different sports competitions.  It ended in the afternoon with an assembly recognizing all the athletic groups on campus.

It was a fun day, with all the student body and faculty up on the track.  While the various track events went on, students cheered, threw a football around, formed volleyball circles, and played the Turkish game of Long Donkey.  Now Long Donkey is just as ridiculous as the name makes it seem.  Students (only saw boys playing this) divide into two teams.  The one team lines up in a line and fold into each other (look at pictures).  The other team one by one jumps on them and stays there until the whole team is on top.  They then have a three second count to wriggle and hop trying to get the base group to collapse.  If the team on the bottom collapses, they have lost and are in the same position for the next series.  If they can hold the boys up, the teams change place and they are now the ones trying to knock the others down.  It was very entertaining and shocking to watch, and even more shocking no one had to be carried off the field with a broken back.

Overall, female athletics lag far behind those in America.  The girls' soccer team was started up this year.  Most girls had never played soccer in their life.  They competed somewhat evenly against some of the other Turkish schools, but received a bit of a butt-kicking from some of the international schools which had ex-pat children.  Overall, they looked like a rec league youth soccer team from the States.  But this only makes me prouder of these girls who played and drastically improved through this and kept their heads held high.  In a society where sportsmanship is rarely exemplified and too lowly valued, these girls showed the male dominated sporting field how true athletes should act.  Other RC girls' sports like basketball and volleyball are further ahead, but still not at the level of many American high schools.  This is not necessarily a bad thing, since the emphasis for these kids is definitely academics which is positive, but the difference in the amount of male and female athletes I hope will diminish as time goes on. 

Due to this disparity, I am making a name for myself in the athletic field by competing against the boys, something quite unusual in this country.  Last weekend, the teachers took on the flag football boys and I of course was the sole female out there.  On Youth and Sports Day I was the only female teaming up with the Turkish faculty to take on the boys soccer team.  This has created a little bit of a buzz among my students which is fun, but really what I hope this creates is a less intimidating sporting environment for the girls to start joining.

I mentioned the lack of sportsmanship in this country.  Last weekend, there was a huge championship soccer game between the two big Istanbul teams, Galatasaray and Fenerbahce (think Green Bay v Chicago in the Super Bowl if that was possible).  People were expecting the worst from the beginning, and for good reason.  Fans seriously do not know how to act.  The game was played at Fenerbahce and there were no Galatasaray fans allowed in, although I don't know why any Galatasaray fan would want in seeing that they could face serious injury or even death if their team were to win.  I even heard a rumor that they were going to helicopter Galatasaray out if they won for their own safety, but don't think it actually happened.  Our dormitory students were given a 7pm curfew instead of the 10pm one because we wanted to keep them out of the possible violence after the game.  Emails were sent out to the foreign faculty in case we were planning on being off campus, warning us of the possible danger.  The game ended with a Galatasaray victory.  Galatasaray was rushed off as security tried to shield them from the barrage of items Fenerbahce fans threw at them.  The fans later stormed the field and trashed it.  Overall, celebrations were relatively calm, with only a few angry fans going after police, turning over a police car or two.  But no injuries that I know of and definitely no deaths.

As much as I try to stop comparing Turkish culture to the American culture I know, I find myself constantly doing this.  Culture, it's something you would never think of if you never left your own, but it really does have an effect on the way you do things, approach things, and see things.  There are plenty of cultural habits that we can look down on and complain about in American culture, but there are also many great things.  One such positive aspect is our education on sportsmanship from an early age.  Of course, Americans do have their fans who can lose control, but overall this behavior is seen as unacceptable and outlier behavior.  Here I am seeing what happens when a culture does not create this kind of education and expectation from its fans and players. 

Spring break-Turkey style: Off to the Turquoise Coast

Half the semester has passed.  I am three fourths of the way through my first year of teaching.  Does it sound like I'm counting down?  Very possibly.  It's been an exhausting few months without one day off.  I was ready to leave my grading, colleagues, students, RC, and the hustle and bustle of Istanbul for five days on the Mediterranean.  My good friend Randy came in from Seattle (although really he came from 5 months of working in Antarctica "on the ice" as they say, very fascinating guy).  This was my first trip in Turkey outside this busy city and I followed the advice of my many wise colleagues and headed to Antalya.

The trip was spectacular.  We started in the Mediterranean city of Antalya, located around the middle southern coast of Turkey, and hopped our way west between the mountains and coast to Dalaman where we caught our plane back.  We rented a car which gave us the freedom to stop whenever and wherever we wanted, which is exactly what we did.

We are not the first people to be enjoying this area.  An ancient civilization called Lycia, a federation of 19 independent cities dotted this landscape between Antalya and Dalaman.  Although I'm not sure exactly when this federation started, some cities date back to the 5th century BC.  (To all you Americans, I'm just going to say ancient.  Really does 8000BC or 5000BC make any difference to you, it's all OLD?)  Later, the Romans came, took over these cities, and built their own structures on top of the previous ones.  They also built those baths and theaters which seem to be the structures that withstand age the best.  Finally, the Byzantines came in to add their own touches.  Thanks to the fact they used solid building materials (rocks), these ancient structures are still visible for us to see.

So Randy and I spent our time jumping around to the various ancient cities, then stopping to relax along the breath-taking coast.  The places we stayed were terrific, down-to-earth, and very affordable.  If you are interested in reading more of the trip, I have included a day by day summary below.

It was so good to get out of Istanbul.  I would have said before coming here that I am a city girl, but this city which is so overcrowded, dirty, polluted, can get to the best of me.  I can get fed up with the traffic, crowds, and garbage everywhere.  It's good to get away from it all and see all the good the Turkey and Turks have to offer, because there is a lot.  I ran into a lady on our trip who advised me to not be too quick to put a label on this country.  It's too true.  In my eyes, there are many contradictions of this country, pieces that don't go together.  I'm learning it's not them.  It's me who is judging them from the culture I grew up with.  I think to be a successful foreigner living abroad, you have to be able to adjust to a new way of thinking about things.  Otherwise, things that would appear rude or selfish will always be that way to you, even though in this new culture it's just the acceptable way of things.  For example, Turks honk the car horn BEFORE the light changes.  They will watch the pedestrian walk and know when the time is about to come.  It can annoy the hell out of me.  For them, they just think they're letting the people in the front of the line know it's almost time to hit the gas.  Just a heads up.  But if I allow myself get bogged down in these details, I will miss the delights of Turkey.  The restaurant owners who never seem to be worried about those final numbers.  They are open all day and night.  At slow times, will be sitting out front, sipping tea, greeting any passer-by, chatting with their local friends.  Work seems so much more social and enjoyable for all.  Whenever we put labels on things, we are comparing it to something we already know.  I am in unchartered territory right now.  Turkish culture does have many similarities to American culture, and more and more are arising as they get more cosmopolitan.  But there are still many things that are purely unique to themselves and I need to start looking at it as it is.



Trip Summary
Day 1 (March 31, 2012):
We arrived in Antalya early afternoon after a quick hour flight from Istanbul.  I was immediately disappointed leaving the airport to see busy streets criss-crossing every which way and traffic.  We sat in traffic and immediately got lost due to the lack of organization in the street lay-out and lack of street signs.  We did finally stop for some help and were directed to the Antalya Museum.  Although it had an unimpressive entrance, we were quickly blown away at the museum's rich collection of ancient artifacts, statues, and sarcaphogi.  If the sun wasn't beckoning us from outside, I could have stayed many more hours inside.  We then took some more wrong turns and finally found old town and our pansiyon.  Immediately upon entering old town, any remaining disappointment with Antalya disappeared.  The old cobble streets, buildings, winding footpaths, had been preserved in this area.  It was a very picturesque place.  Shops, hotels, and pansiyons lined the narrow streets and led to the picturesque old harbor.

Day 2:
Although beautiful, I was anxious to leave Antalya, another busy city in my mind, and head for the country.  After our Turkish breakfast of bread with honey and jam, fresh tomato and cucumbers, hard boiled egg, olives, and cheese, with of course tea, we headed out.  Our first destination was Termessos, ruins of the second highest ancient civilization (after Machu Picchu).  The weather was foggy up there and added to the mystique of the place.  The civilization they had built up there was amazing.  They had a huge theater with a backdrop that appeared to drop off the face of the earth, because it literally was built on a cliff.  The ancient people up here must have been quite climbers because it wasn't exactly easy getting to this place nor between the bath, cisterns, and theater.  Definitely no wheelchair accessibility.  We then took off for another ancient civilization of Phaselis.  Compared to the Termessosans, this was much more my style.  It was right on the water.  They had an aqueduct bringing in water from Mount Olympos.  They had a huge bath complex, houses, three different harbors, and of course a theater.  We then headed to the town of Olympos.  We decided we were burnt out from seeing ancient civilizations, but stopped in the cool, hippie village for two cups of chai.  The area had a great young vibe, with many tree house pansiyons with large open cafes and rock climbing nearby.  After our chai, we headed to Cirali which too had a great vibe, now more friendly family.  The little town was located right on the water between mountains. Affordable pansiyons and eateries made up the village.  Within walking distance was the flames of Chimera.  We walked there that evening.  It was surreal.  We got there right at dusk and because it was such low tourist season, were the only ones.  It really was a magical place.  They are not exactly sure what causes these flames, but know methane is in some of the escaping gas.  As soon as it hits the atmosphere, it turns to flame.  Although the Greeks will never admit this, some researchers say this is where the idea of the eternal Olympic flame comes from.  The ancient Turks even had their own Olympics in honor of the legend they had with these flames.  Walking up to them, you feel like you are approaching someone's camp.  Except then you see it's just a flame, not burning wood.  The flames dance around with the wind, but never are blown out.  We both could have sat up there and watched those dancing flames for hours.

Day 3:
We stayed at a little pansiyon on the beach in Cirali.  We spent the morning taking advantage of the location.  The beach was spectacular.  It was situated between the mountains.  The blues of the Mediterranean are certainly a sight to behold.  They change, each layer as you go further out to sea getting darker.  After getting our fill of this (still did not go in, not quite warm enough yet, although the water is warmer the Lake Michigan is in the summer), we packed up the car and headed on.  On the way, we stopped at some more breathtaking places along the road.  The town of Finike situated on the water was worth a stop for some pictures and chai.  We then headed on to the ancient civilization of Myra which currently is located in Demre.  We saw another theater, in terrific condition, and our first Lycian tombs.  As we would soon find out, the Lycians took great care in burying their dead.  Their grand sarcaphogi and rock hewn tombs in some pretty tall cliffs are some remarkable remains of this detail.  Saint Nicholas was the bishop of this old town in the 4th Century.  His church lies too in the city, but we took a wrong turn on our way and our hungry appetites got to the better of us and we decided not to turn back.  We headed to another coastal town of Kas where we enjoyed another beautiful Mediterranean sunset while eating a remarkable fish feast.

Day 4:
We woke early and headed out with a kayaking group to tour Ucagiz (our take-off point), Simena, and Kekova Island.  At one time, this was a bustling area with a much different geography.  In 530AD, a massive earthquake caused this land, which at one time was all connected, to move.  Kekova split off from the other two settlements.  Part of the settlement dropped to the bottom of the water.  No swimming or diving is allowed in this area, so kayaking is the best way to see it up close and personal.  On the edge of now Kekova Island, we could see house walls.  The other sides of them were visible under probably about 3 meters of water.  We hiked around the island, kayaked over the ruins, and then had a lunch at Simena before hiking to the top.  At the top lay a 14th Century castle with a magnificent view of the island, peninsula, and sea.  We then headed back to Kas for another great meal and much needed sleep.

Day 5:
We slowly packed up after another relaxing Turkish breakfast.  Kas was a beautiful place.  Although very touristy, it still had a great local feel to it.  Like all the places we had been so far, there was a very down-to-earth pulse to it.  We then took off for another ancient civilization of Pinara.  Pinara, which means round,  got it's name from the round circular plug of rock which it encircles.  Into this rock, they had created a hundreds of tombs into the face.  The Pinarans must have been quite the climbers as well as rock chippers.  Below the honeycomb of tombs was another theater with a beautiful backdrop of the nearby mountains.  While tourists explored the ruins, locals brought their goats through to graze on the land in front of the theater.  I wonder how many civilizations have brought their goats to graze there?  We then headed off to the Saklikent Gorge which was well worth the stop.  The deep gorge had been carved out by a river.  In many places, the water just bubbled out from the ground.  We headed on to Fethiye meaning to stop for the night but nothing seemed too luring so we continued on to Olu Deniz. Olu Deniz is a popular beach get-away, but we were too early in the season for the crowds.  Unfortunately, it also meant many of the tourist activities and places were closed.  We found an open hotel to stay and enjoyed the atmosphere of the place, although to a much smaller scale I'm sure.

Day 6:
We woke up unfortunately to an overcast day, our first one of the trip.  It didn't allow us to take as spectacular of pictures of Olu Deniz, but we had already seen more than our share of spectacular beaches.  Sadly, boat rides to Butterfly Valley had not yet started, so we packed up and headed to Kayakoy, an Greek ghost town.  In 1923 there was an exchange of Greek and Turk populations.  Since their were more Greeks living in Turkey than Turks in Greece, some of the Greek settlements remained empty.  Kayakoy is one such settlement.  Today, it sits as an eerie ghost town.  Two old churches and a school and about 400 white concrete houses, most roofless, sit there to remind people of a piece of Turkish and Greek history.  We then headed to one last ancient civilization, Tlos.  Like several we had already visited, this was built high in the hills.  A theater, bath complex, and ancient tombs, stadium race track, and castle remain.  This acropolis was used until the 19th century as a stronghold for a pirate known as Bloody Ali.  We then wound our way to our last stop of Dalaman, where we flew from the next morning.

Evidence I'm adjusting to life in Constantinople...

Well evidence that I've been here in Istanbul for six months now and starting to adjust to life, for starters, is the fact that I am having more and more trouble writing this blog.  No longer can I look around my life and see the eccentricities of this journey.  It just seems normal now.  Boring almost.  I woke up this morning, went for a run, graded some papers, watched House (online on dizimag which shows American TV shows with Turkish subtitles...love it!), walked down the hill for some groceries, and made cookies with my neighbor Ambrose.  I yawn just reading this.  But there is more, of course, that is going on.  Baking cookies is not just like baking cookies in the States.  Google Turkey is a needed cooking tool.  We are constantly referring to it for ingredient substitutions for items we can't find here and temperature and measurement conversions.  And using the computer is another adjustment.  Navigating around the Turkish google page has become second nature.  Don't ask me what the word for google images or maps is, but I can click it when I see it.  In fact, I don't know if this second language immersion thing has improved my language acquisition, but my spatial skills have been really honed.  My work laptop has a Turkish keyboard.  I have it turned to English.  This means I must remember where letters and symbols are since they aren't as they are labeled on the keyboard.  Letters have long been imprinted into my finger memory, but symbols, which I use often in classroom lessons and worksheets, took some additional training.  Now though, the +, -, #, = , <, >, even ^, (, and ) are typed with as little thought is "this" was.

Speaking of spatial skills, let's talk about getting around this city.  First off, traffic is insane.  It keeps me in way too often, but I just hate going into it.  Especially when it means just sitting in a taksi as the meter climbs up.  Istanbul, city of 16 million plus, has major transportation problems.  And I've seen Seattle and Chicago.  Nothing in comparison to this city.  These ancient narrow streets were not built to accommodate traffic like this, but nonetheless it must.  Because people are packed into those ancient houses right next to those ancient roads.  And if these old, narrow, winding streets weren't hard enough to get around, Istanbul-ites are even worse at giving directions.  They know absolutely no roads.  Instead they go by landmarks. Just hope one of those landmarks does not include a mosque...it's like telling a Seattle tourist to turn at the coffee shop. In Istanbul-ites defense, I know absolutely no streets in Istanbul, but can navigate any taksi driver to Robert College by...you know it...landmarks.

All in all, I must say life here is getting easier.  Easier.  That is definitely not what I wanted when I was living in Seattle.  But now that is what I am striving for.  I think anyone who has lived abroad understands this.   Adjusting to a new job, culture, and language can be so overwhelming.  Nothing seems to be easy.  If I wanted to go get some duct tape, I would have to think and search hard on where to get it.  There aren't big Walmarts or Targets or even big grocery stores and drug stores.  Grocery stores have just groceries.  Drug stores have just medicine.  And it's not like I can just go and ask anyone.  But there is the benefit and charm to having these small mom and pop places.  And it takes some adjustment to start enjoying those benefits. 

Off to Africa!

It's been half-completed.  That year which I'm supposed to survive.  Semester one as a school teacher in now behind me.  It has not been an easy five months.  If I were to have an option, I would not do it over though.  Mainly because I would never want to redo my first semester as a new teacher.  I think any teacher would agree.  There are some great moments, but also lots of stress, unknowing, and mistakes to learn from.  One thing that could not have come at a more needed time was the two week semester break.  My mom flew in to Istanbul, to tour my new home for the first time, then take off for our Egyptian adventure.

The first full day in Constantinople, my mom was thrown right into the crazy life of the city.  We went to the Covered and Spice Bazaar with the headmaster's wife Tania.  Now, the Covered and Spice Bazaar is a stop for anyone who visits Istanbul, but I have no idea how tourists can enjoy the experience being new to this city.  Even for me now, it is an extremely overwhelming experience, and I've been here for five months.  Exotic spices, Turkish towels, copper goods, silver jewelry, hand-painted ceramics, colorful scarves, leather jackets, Turkish rugs, and many tourist knicknacks made in China.  I have started finding my own shops which I go to for particular goods and therefore know I won't get ripped off.  For the many one-time tourists, I can only imagine the experience they get of constantly being hassled and incessantly followed.  These storekeepers don't believe in casual browsing.  They're there at every step.  That is, until you build that relationship for them.  Then, to me, the Bazaar becomes manageable. 

Anyways, we brought my mom to this place. First day waking up 8 hours earlier than her bodily clock expects.  She did an amazing job browsing through.  We came away mainly empty handed which is another feat on her part.  We then crossed over to the Asian side for some excellent Tuskish cuisine at a place called Chiya.  She met several of my friends there.  The second day was a much more mellow day as she went into my work and met several more coworkers, walked into Arnavutkoy and the nearby town of Bebek, and then returned back to my place for a glass of wine to celebrate my official end of the semester.


We took off the next morning for Cairo.  Once at our hotel, we dropped off our stuff and the two of us decided to take a walk out in Cairo.  That's when it hit us.  We're in Africa.  People stared as we walked by.  Little children pointed.  And understandably.  We were uncovered, white skinned, light hair, light eyes.  We looked very different to the surrounding population and obviously not in an area they are used to seeing many foreigners.  Although nothing actually happened to us, the whole experience was a bit unsettling.  It made me realize how happy I am that I am living in Istanbul and not in a place such as here.  Although Istanbul has a very different culture and at times, I do feel like I stick out, it is nothing at all in comparison to this. 

As far as Cairo and unrest, we saw or heard nothing of it.  In fact, we heard from more people that it was just blown out of proportion.  Of course, those people were  all in the tourism business, but I do think that they had some truth to what they were saying.  Except for that extra attention, there was nothing that made me feel uncomfortable and definitely ever unsafe.  We did see a little demonstration on the street which we guessed was part of the upcoming election, but it was just as peaceful as a demonstration you would see on the street at home.

Day 1 in Egypt

The next day, our first full day in Cairo, we were picked up by our tour guide Susan and headed to the Pyramids.  We unfortunately were hit by a rare sandstorm which made walking around the magnificent structures painful and chilly, but still, we were looking at the Pyramids...something I have wanted to do my whole life, nothing could take away from that!!!  We went into the Great Pyramid.  It involved some uncomfortable huddled crawling at times, but was worth it to just be inside that thing!  We ascended the Pyramid through some wooden rail like pegs using an entrance cut in 820 AD and climbing through the Pyramid's Great Gallery believed to have been used as a slipway for the blocks covering the entrance.  The route took us to the sarcophogus of the Pharoah himself, a dimly lit and medium sized room.  Nothing else but the sarcaphogus remained. 

Some facts: Giza and Cairo are separated by the Nile.  Giza is located on the west bank and hence the Pyramids and burial grounds were here since the ancient Egyptians buried their dead with the setting sun.  The three pyramids are Khufu's (Great Pyramid), his son Khafre's, and his successor Menkaure's tombs dating around 2500 BCE.  To give some perspective on timing, we are closer now to the birth of Jesus than he was to the building of these monuments.  Although Khafre's pyramid looks bigger due to being built on higher ground and today being more intact, Khufu's is the tallest and was the tallest building in the world up until the 19th century.  It is estimated that there are over 2 million blocks of limestone in Khufu's Pyramid, with each weighing up to 15 tons.

We then visited the Sphinx which was built in Khafre's time in the same area.  I shared some kisses with the lion man which I think he enjoyed as much as I did.  As I was taking these pictures, I was approached by a man who wanted me to take a picture with his fully covered wife in front of the Sphinx (no, no kissing involved).  We posed, Western culture meeting Muslim culture in the front, animal meeting man behind.

We then took off a trip about 45 minutes outside of town to check out the ancient capital of Memphis, and impressive granite statue of Ramses II and the graveyard of ancient Egyptian graveyard of Saqqara.  The step pyramid there of Djoser is credited as the first pyramid of the ancient culture.  Walking around the ancient structures was amazing, but equally fascinating was our insight into the lives of the Egyptians now.  Cairo is dirty, crowded, and smelly.  Looking around, it felt like I was taking a step back in time, even compared to my new home in Istanbul.  Old, dusty Coca-Cola machines seemed to sit outside every convenience store.  Carts behind donkeys rode alongside the dilapidated cars on the crowded streets.  Every once in a while there was a jolt back to the times.  A boy sitting on the donkey cart with the day's yield texting away.  It is evident that Egypt is in hard times economically, those working in the tourist industry particularly affected.  Everywhere we went, we were flocked by boys and men pushing their goods or services.  Although our hearts broke for them, we had to learn to ignore them because we found any kind of conversation opened ourselves more to further pushing and annoyance.  In fact, by the end of the five days, I was ready to leave this beautiful land just because of this constant harassment.  

Day 2

Early in the morning, we caught our plane to Aswan and spent the morning there at the large market.  Shops of alabaster, glass perfume bottles, silver, scarves, fruits, spices, Nile perch stretched for probably a kilometer.  Aswan is a beautiful city on the Nile and seemed to move at a slow pace and we enjoyed the more relaxed ways.  We went to the Temple of Philae (around 4th Century BCE) which is no longer accurately named.  The Temple of Philae, dedicated to the goddess Isis, was originally built on the Island of Philae which now is completely submerged due to the building of the 1902 Aswan Dam and later 1971 High Dam.  Before the building of the High Dam, each stone in the temple was removed and labeled and put back together on a new island recreated to look like Philae.  Due to this tedious project, the temple is completely restored and in beautiful shape. 

Day 3

We spent the night on our Nile cruiser anchored to Aswan.  At 7am, the boat detached and we were set cruising north and downriver (little fact, the Upper Nile is actually to the south since the river flows north).  The day was spent with stops at the Temple of Kom Ombo and Temple of Horace in Edfu (both built around the 2nd Century BCE by the new Graeco-Roman rulers wanting to ensure loyalty from the Upper Egyptians), ending the evening in Luxor.  The views from the cruiser were fascinating, with glimpses of the average farmer on the Nile.  Mud huts as well as more elaborate painted stone dwellings dotted the shore.  Men tended the fields and livestock.  We passed small boats of fishermen and local commuters.  Palms and sand covered the untended land directly beside the great river, with endless sandy hills stretching behind it.  Sugar cane is a huge crop in this area.  We went to bed still moving, reaching our destination of Luxor sometime around 3am.

Day 4

Today was the first anniversary of the overthrow of Mubarak.  Except for more armed forces and a celebration in the square,  in Luxor there was nothing out of the ordinary.  We visited the Valley of the Kings first which was my favorite place on the trip.  Unfortunately, due to the fact that they are all tombs, no photos were allowed.  The Valley of the Kings is in a natural limestone valley.  Due to the natural pyramid-looking structure on the top of the rocks (reminiscent of the famous pyramids which by this time were about 1000 years old!) and more hidden natural surroundings (pharaohs knew at the time their graves were being robbed and plundered) about 30 pharaohs dug their tombs into the ground here.  One such tomb is King Tut's, famous because it was discovered relatively untouched by the ancient thieves.  We ventured into three of these underground tombs, all of which were empty except for the sarcophagus.  Some were more elaborate, with a long entryway, rooms for holding all the pharaoh's luxurious items for the afterlife, and false doors and turns to fool the robbers.  What made these so amazing to me was the great state of the walls.  In the temples we had seen so far, you could see the elaborate hieroglyphs and scenes, but little paint remained.  In the protected caves, though, the paint and detail were still there, preserved to almost the same state of when they were drawn.  It really was stunning.  Few places had any kind of covering in front of it, so you could actually reach out and touch these ancient pieces of artwork.

We stopped nearby to an alabaster "factory" where old men were working on making their alabaster pots and plates the same way they had done long ago.  We then headed our way to Hatshepsut's Temple, a stunning three tiered worship place hewn into the limestone cliff.  From the structure, we got a fantastic view of the banana, sugar cane, cabbage, and mango fields. 

Day 5

We rounded up our tour of Egypt with two more stops in Luxor.  The first was the impressive complex of Karnak Temple.  Layers of building were evident because many pharaohs added pieces to the complex during their time of rule.  The final stop was Luxor Temple which was sitting opposite our moored boat.  Like Karnak and many other temples before it, the temple had been changed or added to by its rulers.  Some hieroglyphics had been painted over in a Christian theme during the Roman period when the temple was converted to a church. Then, in the 1000's AD, when about 20 feet of the temple had been buried under sand and mud leaving only the top 10 feet visible, the Muslim rulers built a mosque into it.  When the temple was later unburied, the mosque was left with another entrance made so that both could be visited.  The first door of the mosque is now visible high on top the wall of the temple.

The trip has been amazing.  A Nile cruise is the way to see this place.  The hassle from the vendors got very aggravating, but seeing the poverty sheds some understanding.  Walking down any Egyptian street you know you're coming to a hotel or any other destination for tourists from the drastic change.  The simple, dusty, mud apartment building stands in such stark contrast to the modern, clean hotel.  But understanding can only go so far and the constant barrage of vendors passed me into a state of irritation.  Whenever we were without our guide going to or leaving a sight, the vendors descended.  Escaping it felt like you had survived the gauntlet, until the next one.  At one stop, a small boy was along my side the whole way.  I hushed him and told him to stop and just enjoy the sight.  He paused with me as I enjoyed the view and snapped some photos.  As soon as I turned to leave, he expected money for listening to me.  Ah!  Vendors would give us gifts, then follow us around asking for money for it.  We would have to sometimes rip off their "gifts" they had put on us to get them away.  I also attracted a little more attention being "young" and blonde.  My mom felt like she had to take a role of being my protector at times, even though I guaranteed her I was perfectly capable.  Twenty-seven now and still her little girl...wonder when or if that will ever change.  One young man offered 3000 camels for my hand in marriage.  I declined, but told my mom if they ever ran into financial problems, I know how I can help them out.  Not sure what they would do with 3000 camels though...  Overall, though, those Egyptians that were not hassling us for money were absolutely terrific. I really hope these elections this summer get them on the right track, whatever it is, to making this country a better place for them to live.