Today is Republic Day, the Turkish equivalent of the Fourth of July. Ninety years ago from today, Turkey officially became a Republic under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk). Boats filled with celebrating Turks have been going up and down the Bosporus all day. Everyone is currently waiting for the fireworks show later this evening. Republic Day is not only important for Turks, but also important to all of us working here since it gives us a much needed day off from school to catch up on things.
I am into my third year of teaching. Year three of teaching is not even comparable to year one, but I will try my best to compare them by looking at the tangibles. At this point in the end of October, during my first year I had probably cried about 20 times, compared to 0 times this year (hoping to keep this streak going). Time spent on lesson planning has been drastically reduced, although that time has been replaced quickly. I am coaching the girls' basketball team, meeting twice a week, as well as coaching a running group that is going to run the 15k race, part of the Istanbul Marathon, also meeting twice a week. To add to that, our school is going through its reaccreditation so I have meetings for that, department meetings, and finally evening duties. An evening with nothing after school is much rarer than an evening with multiple obligations after the final bell.
Much thanks to the government, the protest movement that swept Turkey last spring has been largely stifled. At the beginning of this school year, the government made sure that all college students knew any government aid or scholarship would be pulled if the student was thought to be involved with any protest movement. Soccer fans, known to get political, had to promise this year to abstain from any political talk at matches or else lose their season tickets. Schools such as ours were put under the microscope. Two days after a conservative paper implicated our school for protest involvement, the Ministry of Education showed up at our doorstep. They started interviewing teachers and students, beginning with those specifically called out in the article. They have since left, but definitely left us behind in fear and confusion, something any good witchhunt will do. I am sure this is their intent.
I took off for a quick trip at the beginning of the school year. We had a three-day holiday and Joe and I took off for Hatay, Turkey (more commonly known by Christians as ancient Antioch). The timing was not ideal. We arrived shortly after chemical weapons had been released in Syria. Therefore, we headed to Hatay, located less than an hour from the Syrian border, while the United States positioned warships nearby. Despite this, we had a wonderful time. We visited the famous Archeological Museum and Saint Paul's Church, explored the countryside, and ate the renown food which has much more Middle East influence than other areas of Turkey.
Then, it was back to school and work until October 9 when my parents came out for two weeks, most of this time overlapping my one week Bayram (Muslim religious Holiday). They came with their bags loaded with goodies: lots of cheddar cheese, Halloween candy, Trader Joe chocolate, cans of pumpkin, tapatio, and black beans.
On October 12, they headed back to Ataturk Airport (this time with me) and flew to the largest Greek island for a five day adventure. After a one-hour flight to Athens, then another one-hour flight to Heraklion, we were on the island of Crete.
We spent our first two nights in Iraklio, the largest city and capital of the island. We wandered around the city, exploring the Venetian harbor, a remnant of its Venetian past. In 1204, the Republic of Venice bought this city and ruled it for over 400 years (up until those nasty Ottomans). A Venetian loggia (men's club?), fortress, and shipyards still stand.
The second day we took a short day trip from Iraklio to famous Knossos. Knossos is an ancient Minoan civilization from the Bronze Age believed to be Europe's oldest city (most of it was built between 1700 and 1400 BC!). It is sometimes referred to as a labyrinth for good reason. Over 1300 rooms are connected by corridors of varying width and direction and at times, are over 5 stories high. Tile pipes were used to pipe usable water in while different pipes were used to take sewage out.
Controversially, this city was excavated and restored by Arthur Evans in the early 1900s. He rebuilt walls and painted the exteriors as he believed they had looked. I must admit it did help envisioning what the city once looked like with these reconstructions, but unfortunately they are causing many problems. The built up walls are causing the ancient walls below to sink and crumble. Parts now have to be reinforced or cordoned off to protect them.
The third day, October 14, we packed up our rented car and headed into the wine country south and east of Iraklio. The scenery was spectacular. Vineyards covered rolling, rocky hills while mountains soared to the sky in the background. We had set out with the goal of hitting a few wineries while checking out some of the small villages. In the end, we managed to make it to one winery while getting to know some villages more intimately than desired. We quickly found that one wrong turn in a village can get us winding down a narrow road, car mirrors scraping the buildings on both sides of us. We took a few of these wrong turns, and soon found that we had to scrap our winery search to get to our villa.
Our villa was located in Prines, just outside the bigger college town of Rethymno. We arrived there that evening, wandered (this time on foot, thankfully) through the narrow wandering street, to our villa, a beautifully renovated house (Ottoman in origin, although the owner was not proud to admit that) with a gorgeous patio and upstairs porch where we were going to spend many hours eating and drinking local wine.
The next day, we left our villa after a late start and headed south (Rethymno and Iraklio are both located on the north side of the island). We went to the Odigritias Monastery, where the Greeks fought off the Turks and the Germans at different points in their history. The monastery was so picturesque and monks so hospitable, with the offering of some "Greek coffee" which tasted suspiciously like Turkish coffee... We then headed to the nearby Agio Farago Gorge where we hiked into a beautiful, quiet beach accessible only by foot. The day was warm and the Libyan Sea looked to tempting so my dad and I quickly changed into our swimsuits and jumped into the water. Once in the water, we looked back at the shore and saw that we had more clothes on than over half the beachgoers there. A good number of them were completely nude. Even more shocking, so was my mom! Just kidding, no she wasn't, but just curious if she is reading this...
We enjoyed the water, then bathed in the sun to dry off (keeping on our clothes, we're family for goodness sake!) before heading out to check out the famous small town of Matala. Nearby Matala was made famous by hippies, who in the 1960s-80s discovered this small town with a beautiful sandy beach and [rent-free] caves with a view carved out by Neolithic folk. Jonie Mitchell added to the popularity in her album "Blue" where she talks about her own Matala cave-living experience.
Our last full day there, our fifth day, we headed to Hania, the second biggest city of Crete, also located on the northern coast. Like Iraklio, Hania had a significant period which it was ruled under the Venetians. Heavy fortifications, a harbor, and shipyards are still visible, left over from the Venetian time. The fortifications did not keep the Ottomans out, though, and this city too fell to them in the 1400s.
We then headed to Rethymno, our last chance to see our neighboring city where we enjoyed a final meal in Crete. After seeing it on countless menus, I finally ordered the snails which we actually all enjoyed. You really would not believe how much "meat" was inside of each snail. They fill that shell up!
We were very sad to leave Crete, but excited about the prospect of spending some time in Istanbul before I headed back to school. I took my parents to my new favorite shop in the Spice Bazaar for a "spice tasting." We then headed to Suleymaniye Mosque, built on the order of Suleymaniye the Magnificent in 1550 by famed architect Sinan. The mosque's architecture combined both Islamic and Byzantine (many elements were similar to the Byzantine Hagia Sofia) elements. The inside was stunning and much different than the more famous Blue Mosque built 60 years later. The tiles were simple, with more pinks,reds, and golds. Together, they had a stunning effect.
We all headed off to Joe's house to grill-out and watch Bears football Sunday evening. Except for the fact that it was 8pm and we were watching the first game, you would have thought we were in the States. It was very sad to say good-bye to my parents. My house seemed immediately empty. It is funny, though, how quickly your own life takes over and before you know it, you are right back into it with your previous memories seeming like a distant, but special past. As I say this, I am looking at my calendar and realizing they only left a week ago!
I am into my third year of teaching. Year three of teaching is not even comparable to year one, but I will try my best to compare them by looking at the tangibles. At this point in the end of October, during my first year I had probably cried about 20 times, compared to 0 times this year (hoping to keep this streak going). Time spent on lesson planning has been drastically reduced, although that time has been replaced quickly. I am coaching the girls' basketball team, meeting twice a week, as well as coaching a running group that is going to run the 15k race, part of the Istanbul Marathon, also meeting twice a week. To add to that, our school is going through its reaccreditation so I have meetings for that, department meetings, and finally evening duties. An evening with nothing after school is much rarer than an evening with multiple obligations after the final bell.
Much thanks to the government, the protest movement that swept Turkey last spring has been largely stifled. At the beginning of this school year, the government made sure that all college students knew any government aid or scholarship would be pulled if the student was thought to be involved with any protest movement. Soccer fans, known to get political, had to promise this year to abstain from any political talk at matches or else lose their season tickets. Schools such as ours were put under the microscope. Two days after a conservative paper implicated our school for protest involvement, the Ministry of Education showed up at our doorstep. They started interviewing teachers and students, beginning with those specifically called out in the article. They have since left, but definitely left us behind in fear and confusion, something any good witchhunt will do. I am sure this is their intent.
I took off for a quick trip at the beginning of the school year. We had a three-day holiday and Joe and I took off for Hatay, Turkey (more commonly known by Christians as ancient Antioch). The timing was not ideal. We arrived shortly after chemical weapons had been released in Syria. Therefore, we headed to Hatay, located less than an hour from the Syrian border, while the United States positioned warships nearby. Despite this, we had a wonderful time. We visited the famous Archeological Museum and Saint Paul's Church, explored the countryside, and ate the renown food which has much more Middle East influence than other areas of Turkey.
Then, it was back to school and work until October 9 when my parents came out for two weeks, most of this time overlapping my one week Bayram (Muslim religious Holiday). They came with their bags loaded with goodies: lots of cheddar cheese, Halloween candy, Trader Joe chocolate, cans of pumpkin, tapatio, and black beans.
On October 12, they headed back to Ataturk Airport (this time with me) and flew to the largest Greek island for a five day adventure. After a one-hour flight to Athens, then another one-hour flight to Heraklion, we were on the island of Crete.
We spent our first two nights in Iraklio, the largest city and capital of the island. We wandered around the city, exploring the Venetian harbor, a remnant of its Venetian past. In 1204, the Republic of Venice bought this city and ruled it for over 400 years (up until those nasty Ottomans). A Venetian loggia (men's club?), fortress, and shipyards still stand.
The second day we took a short day trip from Iraklio to famous Knossos. Knossos is an ancient Minoan civilization from the Bronze Age believed to be Europe's oldest city (most of it was built between 1700 and 1400 BC!). It is sometimes referred to as a labyrinth for good reason. Over 1300 rooms are connected by corridors of varying width and direction and at times, are over 5 stories high. Tile pipes were used to pipe usable water in while different pipes were used to take sewage out.
Controversially, this city was excavated and restored by Arthur Evans in the early 1900s. He rebuilt walls and painted the exteriors as he believed they had looked. I must admit it did help envisioning what the city once looked like with these reconstructions, but unfortunately they are causing many problems. The built up walls are causing the ancient walls below to sink and crumble. Parts now have to be reinforced or cordoned off to protect them.
The third day, October 14, we packed up our rented car and headed into the wine country south and east of Iraklio. The scenery was spectacular. Vineyards covered rolling, rocky hills while mountains soared to the sky in the background. We had set out with the goal of hitting a few wineries while checking out some of the small villages. In the end, we managed to make it to one winery while getting to know some villages more intimately than desired. We quickly found that one wrong turn in a village can get us winding down a narrow road, car mirrors scraping the buildings on both sides of us. We took a few of these wrong turns, and soon found that we had to scrap our winery search to get to our villa.
Our villa was located in Prines, just outside the bigger college town of Rethymno. We arrived there that evening, wandered (this time on foot, thankfully) through the narrow wandering street, to our villa, a beautifully renovated house (Ottoman in origin, although the owner was not proud to admit that) with a gorgeous patio and upstairs porch where we were going to spend many hours eating and drinking local wine.
The next day, we left our villa after a late start and headed south (Rethymno and Iraklio are both located on the north side of the island). We went to the Odigritias Monastery, where the Greeks fought off the Turks and the Germans at different points in their history. The monastery was so picturesque and monks so hospitable, with the offering of some "Greek coffee" which tasted suspiciously like Turkish coffee... We then headed to the nearby Agio Farago Gorge where we hiked into a beautiful, quiet beach accessible only by foot. The day was warm and the Libyan Sea looked to tempting so my dad and I quickly changed into our swimsuits and jumped into the water. Once in the water, we looked back at the shore and saw that we had more clothes on than over half the beachgoers there. A good number of them were completely nude. Even more shocking, so was my mom! Just kidding, no she wasn't, but just curious if she is reading this...
We enjoyed the water, then bathed in the sun to dry off (keeping on our clothes, we're family for goodness sake!) before heading out to check out the famous small town of Matala. Nearby Matala was made famous by hippies, who in the 1960s-80s discovered this small town with a beautiful sandy beach and [rent-free] caves with a view carved out by Neolithic folk. Jonie Mitchell added to the popularity in her album "Blue" where she talks about her own Matala cave-living experience.
Our last full day there, our fifth day, we headed to Hania, the second biggest city of Crete, also located on the northern coast. Like Iraklio, Hania had a significant period which it was ruled under the Venetians. Heavy fortifications, a harbor, and shipyards are still visible, left over from the Venetian time. The fortifications did not keep the Ottomans out, though, and this city too fell to them in the 1400s.
We then headed to Rethymno, our last chance to see our neighboring city where we enjoyed a final meal in Crete. After seeing it on countless menus, I finally ordered the snails which we actually all enjoyed. You really would not believe how much "meat" was inside of each snail. They fill that shell up!
We were very sad to leave Crete, but excited about the prospect of spending some time in Istanbul before I headed back to school. I took my parents to my new favorite shop in the Spice Bazaar for a "spice tasting." We then headed to Suleymaniye Mosque, built on the order of Suleymaniye the Magnificent in 1550 by famed architect Sinan. The mosque's architecture combined both Islamic and Byzantine (many elements were similar to the Byzantine Hagia Sofia) elements. The inside was stunning and much different than the more famous Blue Mosque built 60 years later. The tiles were simple, with more pinks,reds, and golds. Together, they had a stunning effect.
We all headed off to Joe's house to grill-out and watch Bears football Sunday evening. Except for the fact that it was 8pm and we were watching the first game, you would have thought we were in the States. It was very sad to say good-bye to my parents. My house seemed immediately empty. It is funny, though, how quickly your own life takes over and before you know it, you are right back into it with your previous memories seeming like a distant, but special past. As I say this, I am looking at my calendar and realizing they only left a week ago!
