since I haven't had internet connection in a few days, here are a few posts that i've saved up:
June 23, 2009
I just arrived in Mykonos and we’re waiting in the hotel lobby for our room to be ready. We left Athens via the port or Rafina on a hydrofoil this morning at 7:45. Luckily, the water was relatively smooth except for a few rough moments when I thought my stomach was going to fly up my esophagus and out of my mouth. Didn’t happen though. Alhamdullilah
The coach bus ride to the resort/hotel was also rather interesting, as the roads are about 1.3-1.5 lanes and up, down and around hills, mountains and cliffs. There was one point in which the tour bus was going up a 45-degree incline, no exaggeration. The 20 minute ride felt like a slow motion rollercoaster.
Since I arrived back in Athens from Turkey, Georgia and I took a few days to go to Thessaloniki, a few days to explore Athens nightlife, and a few days to sit around the apartment.
Thessaloniki is a city about 4.5 hours by train north of Athens. It has a lot of history, as it was a stop along the ancient road from Constantinople to Rome. There are two great museums –the Byzantine Museum and Archeological Museum—in Thessaloniki which display the city’s history beginning with prehistoric homes all through the Byzantine era, the Schism and the changes in Greek art. The city center is located right on the sea, and for that reason I liked it a little more than Athens-aesthetically speaking at least. Otherwise it’s pretty similar to Athens.
Georgia and I stayed in a hotel, but met with her family friend, Dino. He is a really nice guy who used to coach Greek pro basketball, but now has is own sports clothing business. We spent one afternoon swimming in the pool at his house on a hillside a little ways outside the city center. Another too-good-to-be-true experience, as we sat at Dino’s private inground pool, sipping freddos (a popular coffee drink which is basically sweetened espresso added to whipped milk over ice), looking over Thessaloniki and the gulf of Thermoaikos with the outline of Mount Olympus in the background.
---
June 25, 2009
I wish there were other, stronger descriptors for “gorgeous,” “beautiful,” “stunning,” and “amazing” since I’ve used those words so many times. I feel like I’m at the point where these words have totally lost their meanings. I’ve said them so many times at so many different locations that I don’t even believe myself anymore. But really, what other words are there to describe the Foro Romano in Rome, the Nile in Upper Egypt and the clash of the blue sea and eggshell white buildings on the rocky sand-colored slopes? Let me know if you have any ideas for me.
I suppose I could take a picture or movie, but even still its hard understand the beauty from a picture or a movie because you’re not physically in the environment—you’re not feeling the sun and the sea breeze and seeing the colors of the clouds against the rocky mountains against the beach against the blue-green of the sea.
There are so many picture perfect moments on this island, as you’ll hopefully be able to understand from my pictures. I am not a cat person normally. In fact, normally I think cats are either too fat or too skinny and disgustingly furry. But here on Mykonos, there is something about the street cats that make them cute and make their black fur or sky blue eyes picture perfect against the whitewashed buildings and bright blue doors. I may have just lost about 15 coolness points for saying that, but its true!!
Otherwise, I don’t really have a lot to say about my time here in Mykonos. All we are doing is sitting by the beach and pool, alternatively, and heading into town for dinner each night. Our hotel the “Royal Myconian” is about 30 minutes by bus away from the city center. It’s a five star hotel, but we get a deal on the normal room rate because Georgia’s dad has a environmental engineering conference here. Its very well the nicest hotel I’ve ever stayed in. Continental breakfast is included in the room rate and has everything type of breakfast food you could imagine, including any made-to-order coffee drink and even non-breakfast foods like champagne. If you know me, you would guess that I would stash food to last me the whole day so that I don’t have to buy the 14 Euro pizzas or 11 Euro smoothies from the poolside hotel restaurant. When I was at breakfast this morning, I approached the table to sit down and one of the cute young Serbian servers swooped over to pull out my chair for me. This is great!
Today we are leaving the five star resort to stay in a hostel in Mykonos Town-the main port city on the island. It will be quite the change from this luxury paradise hotel, but it will be fun to go out on the town tonight. Apparently, Mykonos has great nightlife.
June 26, 2009
Sadly, the only African people that you see in Greece are men selling fake bags or ripped DVDs on the street and women cleaning bathrooms and sweeping floors. On Mykonos, I saw a group of 3 African (I’m guessing Nigerian) women and in Athens I saw a handful of African-American tourists. But that’s about it. Anyway, back to my main train of thought—if the African men selling fake bags on the street (on top of a blanket rigged to make a sac to pull over their shoulder should the police come) can afford to make it all the way from Nigeria (the country from which many of them come) to the island of Mykonos and acquire the plethora of faux Gucci handbags, why would they not just take all that money and do something a little more productive with it? I don’t know the economic situation of Nigeria (and that’s something I’ll need to look into) but it must be a pretty crappy if thousands of men and women come all this way to sell bags and clean bathrooms.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Monday, June 15, 2009
back in Greece
I've been back in Greece since Wednesday and it really feels like "summer." Georgia and my travel plans to Sparta fell through due to a family emergency so we spent the last few days in Athens rather than Sparta. We've basically seen all the tourist places in Athens so now I really feel like I'm living here: especially because Georgia's family has moved into the apartment building for the summer. The door is always open and aunts, uncles and cousins are always walking in and out. And at the same time, I'm meeting tons of new people (friends of Georgia and then their friends), and I honestly feel like I'm in the show "Sex and the City." In Madison, I'm used to going to house parties or a bar here and there. But here in Athens, the night life (as far as I've experienced) is very classy and there are beautiful people everywhere. I suppose they aren't more beautiful in the US or in any other country, but they do dress and carry themselves nicer. We go out and the bar tenders are 20-something Abercrombie and Fitch model-looking fellows wearing V-necks, and the crowd ranges from young Greek women having margaritas with their friends to older businessmen in suits having whiskey at the bar. The larger clubs have a stage for the male and female go-go dancers and open out to the beach and the Aegean Sea. Anyone who is anyone gets their own table with their own bottles of 100 Euro vodka or drink of choice. The party really starts at 1 or 2 am and "bar time" is announced by the sunrise. Rather different from the basement parties and beer kegs of Madison, WI.
I could say I'm living like a true European young person. That is, summer means no school, no work and living off parents money. The only thing is that I'm not living off my parents money. In the United States, I thought it was relatively common to be financially independent from one's parents by age 21, but meeting all these people abroad, I see its not as common as I thought for both Americans and non-Americans alike. The downside is that I have to be annoyingly frugal when out to eat with friends and I don't have an unlimited cash flow. But on the upside, I can do whatever the heck I want (no one withholding allowance if I do or don't do this or that) and I can be proud that I worked for everything that I am experiencing. It makes it kind of a double whammy that I have worked for all this money on my own (or earned it from scholarships) and then I'm using it to be able to travel the world on my own. One side of me feels guilty for not having a "productive" summer by American standards. But while I'm not working in a prestigious office building or doing an internship this semester, I still believe I'm gaining invaluable skills in accounting, decision making, leadership, problem solving, etc. (Even the clubbing and going out experiences help, I swear!). I have said this a billion times, but I truly believe that the things I'm learning in my travels are priceless lessons and vital facts that I could never learn from a book, course, conference, or lecture even at the highest regarded university.
For example, you may take a course about society in the Middle East that teaches you that some people in Islam believe that homosexuality is a mental disease and that any gays or lesbians need to seek immediate psychological help. But that's kind of hard to believe until you're sitting at a restaurant with a young Egyptian man who tells you that he feels uncomfortable around gay people because they're not normal and that they should see a psychologist in order to be "cured."
Or you read about the problems between Greece and Turkey and it doesnt seem like it should be such a big deal since it was so long ago in history. But then you go to Greece and hear daily about the bitterness towards Turks for kicking out over a million Greeks from Asia Minor over 50 years ago.
Or you learn about Turkey's desire to become part of the European Union but think it's silly because Turkey just isn't part of Europe--it's a different continent, different history, different culture. But then you go to Istanbul and feel like you haven't set a foot out of Athens if it weren't for the call to prayer being broadcast 5 times a day.
Some stuff just gets the wheels a-turnin.
I could say I'm living like a true European young person. That is, summer means no school, no work and living off parents money. The only thing is that I'm not living off my parents money. In the United States, I thought it was relatively common to be financially independent from one's parents by age 21, but meeting all these people abroad, I see its not as common as I thought for both Americans and non-Americans alike. The downside is that I have to be annoyingly frugal when out to eat with friends and I don't have an unlimited cash flow. But on the upside, I can do whatever the heck I want (no one withholding allowance if I do or don't do this or that) and I can be proud that I worked for everything that I am experiencing. It makes it kind of a double whammy that I have worked for all this money on my own (or earned it from scholarships) and then I'm using it to be able to travel the world on my own. One side of me feels guilty for not having a "productive" summer by American standards. But while I'm not working in a prestigious office building or doing an internship this semester, I still believe I'm gaining invaluable skills in accounting, decision making, leadership, problem solving, etc. (Even the clubbing and going out experiences help, I swear!). I have said this a billion times, but I truly believe that the things I'm learning in my travels are priceless lessons and vital facts that I could never learn from a book, course, conference, or lecture even at the highest regarded university.
For example, you may take a course about society in the Middle East that teaches you that some people in Islam believe that homosexuality is a mental disease and that any gays or lesbians need to seek immediate psychological help. But that's kind of hard to believe until you're sitting at a restaurant with a young Egyptian man who tells you that he feels uncomfortable around gay people because they're not normal and that they should see a psychologist in order to be "cured."
Or you read about the problems between Greece and Turkey and it doesnt seem like it should be such a big deal since it was so long ago in history. But then you go to Greece and hear daily about the bitterness towards Turks for kicking out over a million Greeks from Asia Minor over 50 years ago.
Or you learn about Turkey's desire to become part of the European Union but think it's silly because Turkey just isn't part of Europe--it's a different continent, different history, different culture. But then you go to Istanbul and feel like you haven't set a foot out of Athens if it weren't for the call to prayer being broadcast 5 times a day.
Some stuff just gets the wheels a-turnin.
Friday, June 12, 2009
reflecting on turkey
For the last week or so, Tolga has been getting really frustrated because nothing here in Turkey really shocks me. He remembers his time in the US and thinks that I would have thought this city/country is polluted, chaotic, conservative, etc. But coming from Egypt, the shock factor for any of these things is totally gone.
The other day, we went to a place in Istanbul to buy ripped DVDs and computer programs for about $2 each. We started in some little shop off the main road where men sat around drinking tea and trying to lure each passerby into their respective shops, then followed the shop owner down some more hidden streets to another place to buy the DVDs.
Tolga commented "Pretty creepy, huh? Does this freak you out?"
"Not really, I replied. I’ve been to places like this in Egypt."
He was disappointed that he couldn't shock me.
When we were in a minibus on the way to the beach, we saw a man on a motorcycle with his young son in front of him, neither of them wearing helmets.
"Check that out!" Tolga said. " Can you believe they're riding like that?
I replied “Ha, I’ve seen worse,” referring to the time in Egypt when I saw a whole family (Dad, 2 small children and an infant in the Mom’s arms) on a motorcycle.
Again, Tolga was mad that I wasn’t surprised.
That’s not to say I wasn’t pleasantly surprised by Istanbul. Other people who had been there had painted a rather negative picture for me—a place where women are called at, where the streets are over crowded, where people are restricted because of Islam. Some of these things are true in some areas of Istanbul, but I don’t see them as a factor that will overcome all the positives. There are negatives when traveling to any place and you just have to take them with a grain of salt. In Egypt a 15 year old offered camels, cows and chickens for my friend and in Istanbul someone grabbed my butt. I will never forget these things, but when someone asks me about Egypt and Turkey, these are surely not the first things that will come to mind.
I believe that is the fault of many Westerners when the come back from countries like Egypt and Turkey. Many Americans that I have previously talked to are disgusted by similar situations that have occurred to them. Rather than sharing the positive things they know about the country they or someone they know has visited when I tell them of my travel destinations, they put on a face of panic and proclaim “Oh, but when I/my daughter/my friend was there, this or that happened to her! Can you believe it? You’ll never feel safe over there”
The sad thing is that Westerners can’t get past the idea that many men in Muslim countries are sexually suppressed and don’t know how to deal with those feelings in a socially acceptable way. They judge those poor (financially and intellectually), uneducated men by our American standards. This is the biggest mistake. It’s not like all men in Egypt and Turkey find it acceptable to degrade women in these ways. In fact, if you ask any educated man—young or old—they will tell you its an embarrassment to their country and many times apologize to you for something that isn’t their fault.
On that same note, I don’t mean to make direct comparisons between Egypt and Turkey. From my experiences in those countries, I gathered that Islam is viewed in a different light in each of these places. In Egypt it is what people would think of as a stereotypically Muslim country—alcohol is harder to come by, women fit in better the more conservatively they are dressed, men and women belong to separate social circles. Turkey, however, treats Islam and the United States treats Christianity. Some people take religion as the only guide for living, some people believe in God and pick and choose what rules they want to follow, while others just laugh at some of the silly doctrines the religion dictates and ignore them altogether. You can get a beer at any restaurant, there is great night life, women wear shorts and tank-tops but you still see a woman covering her head here and there and the call to prayer still sounds 5 times a day. But there are many Turks who really look down upon women who cover their head. Like I mentioned in a previous blog, it’s a strange mix between traditional and the West’s view of modern.
I think that’s why I enjoyed the city so much. Additionally, I’ve realized that it’s not just about the sights and the food that make the experience (although Istanbul gets an A+ in both of those areas), it’s the people! In Egypt I went to visit one friend, but he had an opportunity to go to the Gaza strip with his university, so I had at the end a week where I stayed with someone who I just met and chilled with a whole new group of people that I had met through my American friends. In Turkey, I was lucky enough to have two Turkish hosts who introduced me to a lot of their friends. And that’s not even including all the people who I met randomly at clubs, bars, museums, at the beach, on the street. In the US, I am very skeptical meeting people at these kind of places, but when traveling, you have to be very open minded (but at the same time very cautious) about the people you meet. Many times, you find people in the same situation as you—traveling, looking to learn from others and their experiences. I have met some very interesting people just by saying hi or by not being weirded out by random people who say hi to me. Additionally, I have learned so much by listening and asking questions rather than blabbing about myself. I have been surprised at how much people will share if you ask the right questions, and if you ask the right questions, people will let you in on some very important insights about life and people in general.
Break time.
The other day, we went to a place in Istanbul to buy ripped DVDs and computer programs for about $2 each. We started in some little shop off the main road where men sat around drinking tea and trying to lure each passerby into their respective shops, then followed the shop owner down some more hidden streets to another place to buy the DVDs.
Tolga commented "Pretty creepy, huh? Does this freak you out?"
"Not really, I replied. I’ve been to places like this in Egypt."
He was disappointed that he couldn't shock me.
When we were in a minibus on the way to the beach, we saw a man on a motorcycle with his young son in front of him, neither of them wearing helmets.
"Check that out!" Tolga said. " Can you believe they're riding like that?
I replied “Ha, I’ve seen worse,” referring to the time in Egypt when I saw a whole family (Dad, 2 small children and an infant in the Mom’s arms) on a motorcycle.
Again, Tolga was mad that I wasn’t surprised.
That’s not to say I wasn’t pleasantly surprised by Istanbul. Other people who had been there had painted a rather negative picture for me—a place where women are called at, where the streets are over crowded, where people are restricted because of Islam. Some of these things are true in some areas of Istanbul, but I don’t see them as a factor that will overcome all the positives. There are negatives when traveling to any place and you just have to take them with a grain of salt. In Egypt a 15 year old offered camels, cows and chickens for my friend and in Istanbul someone grabbed my butt. I will never forget these things, but when someone asks me about Egypt and Turkey, these are surely not the first things that will come to mind.
I believe that is the fault of many Westerners when the come back from countries like Egypt and Turkey. Many Americans that I have previously talked to are disgusted by similar situations that have occurred to them. Rather than sharing the positive things they know about the country they or someone they know has visited when I tell them of my travel destinations, they put on a face of panic and proclaim “Oh, but when I/my daughter/my friend was there, this or that happened to her! Can you believe it? You’ll never feel safe over there”
The sad thing is that Westerners can’t get past the idea that many men in Muslim countries are sexually suppressed and don’t know how to deal with those feelings in a socially acceptable way. They judge those poor (financially and intellectually), uneducated men by our American standards. This is the biggest mistake. It’s not like all men in Egypt and Turkey find it acceptable to degrade women in these ways. In fact, if you ask any educated man—young or old—they will tell you its an embarrassment to their country and many times apologize to you for something that isn’t their fault.
On that same note, I don’t mean to make direct comparisons between Egypt and Turkey. From my experiences in those countries, I gathered that Islam is viewed in a different light in each of these places. In Egypt it is what people would think of as a stereotypically Muslim country—alcohol is harder to come by, women fit in better the more conservatively they are dressed, men and women belong to separate social circles. Turkey, however, treats Islam and the United States treats Christianity. Some people take religion as the only guide for living, some people believe in God and pick and choose what rules they want to follow, while others just laugh at some of the silly doctrines the religion dictates and ignore them altogether. You can get a beer at any restaurant, there is great night life, women wear shorts and tank-tops but you still see a woman covering her head here and there and the call to prayer still sounds 5 times a day. But there are many Turks who really look down upon women who cover their head. Like I mentioned in a previous blog, it’s a strange mix between traditional and the West’s view of modern.
I think that’s why I enjoyed the city so much. Additionally, I’ve realized that it’s not just about the sights and the food that make the experience (although Istanbul gets an A+ in both of those areas), it’s the people! In Egypt I went to visit one friend, but he had an opportunity to go to the Gaza strip with his university, so I had at the end a week where I stayed with someone who I just met and chilled with a whole new group of people that I had met through my American friends. In Turkey, I was lucky enough to have two Turkish hosts who introduced me to a lot of their friends. And that’s not even including all the people who I met randomly at clubs, bars, museums, at the beach, on the street. In the US, I am very skeptical meeting people at these kind of places, but when traveling, you have to be very open minded (but at the same time very cautious) about the people you meet. Many times, you find people in the same situation as you—traveling, looking to learn from others and their experiences. I have met some very interesting people just by saying hi or by not being weirded out by random people who say hi to me. Additionally, I have learned so much by listening and asking questions rather than blabbing about myself. I have been surprised at how much people will share if you ask the right questions, and if you ask the right questions, people will let you in on some very important insights about life and people in general.
Break time.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Yet another beautıful day ın turkey.
Today Tolga and I rented a car and drove about an hour north of Didim to see the ancient city of Ephesus, the house of Mother Mary, and a small town called Sirince (pronounced SHIR-in-je) where they produce wine.
We forced ourselves to get out of bed at 9am after a late night out in Didim and started the day with a traditional Turkish breakfast in a nearby village called Akkoy. SO DELICIOUS. Everything was fresh from the farm: eggs literally taken from the chicken coop, tomatoes and cucumbers plucked from the garden, olives taken from local trees, olive oil squeezed fresh at the house, not to mention the homemade bread, butter, and honey. This is the way food is supposed to be enjoyed.
Ephesus is one of the largest intact of all world's ancient cities. At many historical sights you see one building: the Colosseum, Temple of Zeus, a monastery. But Ephesus is actually a whole dang city where at its high point 200,000 people lived over the last five thousand years. People like Cleopatra, Marc Antony and other Greek and Roman leaders made visits. If you look at it, its just a bunch of heaps of rocks and stone carvings thrown together—some buildings are mostly intact but others just consists of walls and pillars here and there. But learning about each building individually allows you to put the picture together.
In the US, our history classes teach us about events mostly in the last 200 years as being the most important in terms of issues that impact us as Americans. A lot of times we put Western society in high regard and forget “the east.” But looking at these sites really makes you think beyond what you have learned in textbooks . Also you are able to tie together everything you have learned from movies or in world history classes and visualize it in the place where it actually took place. For example, Ephesus has a huge meeting hall where the leaders came together to discuss government and democracy. There are huge bathhouses where people came together to wash and socialize and then waterworks that brought water to different parts of the city. There are even rows of port-o-potty style toilets at the bathhouse that let the waste drop into a deep pit where it was then washed away by the water system.
Kind of makes you think twice about what constitutes modernity and who we can thank for who we are today. How much have we really changed over time? How is it that 5,000 later we are still using similar structures and enjoying similar past times?
Additionally, visiting these kind of sites in various countries over the past few months allows me to make a lot of global connections. Sure, today these isolated sites are in different countries and accessing them requires different currencies, methods of travel and knowledge of different languages, but then you realize that in the time that these cities were thriving and the buildings were in business, the world was organized in a wholeee different manner. You realized that they weren't so isolated as they seem today.
For example, I was in Rome over Spring Break. In a few different places around the city, there are obelisks which were gifted to the Roman empire by the ancient Egyptians. In Egypt, I saw the places where those obelisks were made and the tombs of the people who commissioned them and sent them abroad. In Istanbul, there is another obelisk and in Ephesus, statues and tablets with Greek gods and inscriptions are scattered around. In Greece, I visited the archeological museum where some of the most well known statues in the same styles are displayed. No matter how much you read about this stuff or how many multiple choice questions you answer correctly about ancient Mediterranean relations, it doesn't really soak in until you see it.
Turkey is a really beautiful country. The drive to Epehsus was beautiful with many views of the Aegean sea and the nearby Greek isles, as well as small towns buried among fields of olive trees, the donkeys and chickens that live there, and the mountains and rolling farmland that you see in between. From my limited time here, this country seems a strange mix of old and new, modern and traditional, east and west. Here in Didim its especially unique. For example, I can sit on the beach, next to the topless woman tanning a few chairs away, sipping a beer, hearing the call to prayer every so often, seeing a woman swimming in a full body swimsuit including head cover. Then on the way back to the apartment, you see the man on his porch reading the Qur'an out loud, pass the street cats and dogs that wander the street and have to remember to not talk or laugh to loud for fear of what the neighbors might think. Then at the clubs, people are absolutely schwasted, dirty dancing on the floor, having sex on the roof of the club (yes, I really saw this and consequently, am scarred for life). Its important to note here, though, that there are a lot of British tourist here. Still, there are plenty of Turkish people who take part in this debauchery is well.
As for Istanbul, it could be Europe (but no, I am not asserting here that Turkey as a whole should be part of the European Union). There is traffic, but people follow traffic lights. There is litter, but there are trash receptacles here and there. You see women who are wearing hijabs, but they are the minority and I have yet to see anyone wearing a full niqab. It even seems from the people that I've talked to that they are looked down upon. There are great bars and clubs, and you have no problem finding alcohol.
At the same time, I do feel limited at times in terms of what I can wear due to disgusting creepers who roams the streets. I even got my ass grabbed twice the other day when there was a celebration going on for a soccer team that won. Its so incredibly degrading because you can't do anything about it. A wise woman once told me that God punishes. Insha'allah that is true. If God is cruel enough to allow war, then he must be cruel enough to rip off these men's balls and grill them in front of their noses. Inshallah.
Well, I'm off to take homemade jello shots with Tolga.
Güle güle!
We forced ourselves to get out of bed at 9am after a late night out in Didim and started the day with a traditional Turkish breakfast in a nearby village called Akkoy. SO DELICIOUS. Everything was fresh from the farm: eggs literally taken from the chicken coop, tomatoes and cucumbers plucked from the garden, olives taken from local trees, olive oil squeezed fresh at the house, not to mention the homemade bread, butter, and honey. This is the way food is supposed to be enjoyed.
Ephesus is one of the largest intact of all world's ancient cities. At many historical sights you see one building: the Colosseum, Temple of Zeus, a monastery. But Ephesus is actually a whole dang city where at its high point 200,000 people lived over the last five thousand years. People like Cleopatra, Marc Antony and other Greek and Roman leaders made visits. If you look at it, its just a bunch of heaps of rocks and stone carvings thrown together—some buildings are mostly intact but others just consists of walls and pillars here and there. But learning about each building individually allows you to put the picture together.
In the US, our history classes teach us about events mostly in the last 200 years as being the most important in terms of issues that impact us as Americans. A lot of times we put Western society in high regard and forget “the east.” But looking at these sites really makes you think beyond what you have learned in textbooks . Also you are able to tie together everything you have learned from movies or in world history classes and visualize it in the place where it actually took place. For example, Ephesus has a huge meeting hall where the leaders came together to discuss government and democracy. There are huge bathhouses where people came together to wash and socialize and then waterworks that brought water to different parts of the city. There are even rows of port-o-potty style toilets at the bathhouse that let the waste drop into a deep pit where it was then washed away by the water system.
Kind of makes you think twice about what constitutes modernity and who we can thank for who we are today. How much have we really changed over time? How is it that 5,000 later we are still using similar structures and enjoying similar past times?
Additionally, visiting these kind of sites in various countries over the past few months allows me to make a lot of global connections. Sure, today these isolated sites are in different countries and accessing them requires different currencies, methods of travel and knowledge of different languages, but then you realize that in the time that these cities were thriving and the buildings were in business, the world was organized in a wholeee different manner. You realized that they weren't so isolated as they seem today.
For example, I was in Rome over Spring Break. In a few different places around the city, there are obelisks which were gifted to the Roman empire by the ancient Egyptians. In Egypt, I saw the places where those obelisks were made and the tombs of the people who commissioned them and sent them abroad. In Istanbul, there is another obelisk and in Ephesus, statues and tablets with Greek gods and inscriptions are scattered around. In Greece, I visited the archeological museum where some of the most well known statues in the same styles are displayed. No matter how much you read about this stuff or how many multiple choice questions you answer correctly about ancient Mediterranean relations, it doesn't really soak in until you see it.
Turkey is a really beautiful country. The drive to Epehsus was beautiful with many views of the Aegean sea and the nearby Greek isles, as well as small towns buried among fields of olive trees, the donkeys and chickens that live there, and the mountains and rolling farmland that you see in between. From my limited time here, this country seems a strange mix of old and new, modern and traditional, east and west. Here in Didim its especially unique. For example, I can sit on the beach, next to the topless woman tanning a few chairs away, sipping a beer, hearing the call to prayer every so often, seeing a woman swimming in a full body swimsuit including head cover. Then on the way back to the apartment, you see the man on his porch reading the Qur'an out loud, pass the street cats and dogs that wander the street and have to remember to not talk or laugh to loud for fear of what the neighbors might think. Then at the clubs, people are absolutely schwasted, dirty dancing on the floor, having sex on the roof of the club (yes, I really saw this and consequently, am scarred for life). Its important to note here, though, that there are a lot of British tourist here. Still, there are plenty of Turkish people who take part in this debauchery is well.
As for Istanbul, it could be Europe (but no, I am not asserting here that Turkey as a whole should be part of the European Union). There is traffic, but people follow traffic lights. There is litter, but there are trash receptacles here and there. You see women who are wearing hijabs, but they are the minority and I have yet to see anyone wearing a full niqab. It even seems from the people that I've talked to that they are looked down upon. There are great bars and clubs, and you have no problem finding alcohol.
At the same time, I do feel limited at times in terms of what I can wear due to disgusting creepers who roams the streets. I even got my ass grabbed twice the other day when there was a celebration going on for a soccer team that won. Its so incredibly degrading because you can't do anything about it. A wise woman once told me that God punishes. Insha'allah that is true. If God is cruel enough to allow war, then he must be cruel enough to rip off these men's balls and grill them in front of their noses. Inshallah.
Well, I'm off to take homemade jello shots with Tolga.
Güle güle!
Thursday, June 4, 2009
more musings on the Muslim world
While Turkey is a majority Muslim country, coming here from Cairo, these places are hardly even comparable. The only similarity that comes to mind is the call to prayer that you hear five times a day in all parts of the city. However, its even hard to compare the calls to prayer. In Cairo, its like an air raid attack with sounds coming at you from all directions... the mosques all have their different styles so that when you walk down the street, its a cocophany of voices. You've got the Allaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahu Akbar, the Allahhhhhhhuuuuuu Akbar and you can forget the Allaaahu Akbar Akbar Akbar. Everyone's got his own style. The athan goes, people turn down their car stereos or music in the shop and you see people wander into the nearest mosque.
Here in Istanbul, its the same idea, but the athan itself sounds a little cleaner and crisper, if that's possible. And the reaction to this sound is not the same as I experienced in Cairo. When I was with my friend the other day, she remarked on how loud and annoying it was. "Can't they turn that down?" she complained.
Last night when we were out at a Nargile cafe, the athan for fagr (first prayer of the day) sounded, the cafe cut the music, and everyone went on chatting and smoking thier nargile as usual.
I personally love hearing the call to prayer. It doesnt bother me or wake me up as it does some people. In fact, I think it gives my day consistency and also reminds me of the time. For example, after a night on the town or wherever I may have been, I always know its about time to head in when I hear the first athan at about 4:30 AM or so. While I highly doubt that is what the first call to prayer is meant for, it does come in handy for Muslims and non-Muslims alike.
Before setting off on this epic Mediteranean journey of mine, I thought it would be easy to jump from one country to the next. I never thought about the connections I would make and also things I would have to leave behind as I left the country. If you told me 5 years ago that at one point I would actually miss the polluted, chaotic Cairo, Egypt, I would probably never have believed you. Now I find myself wanting to go back despite everything. Every day I was there I felt so many ups and downs --hating standing out, loving the food, hating the pollution, loving the people I met, hating the heat, loving the Red Sea and Mediteranean coast, etc, but in the end the love won me over.
Cairo is just such an exciting place where so many WIERD and unexpected things happen on a daily basis that life never gets boring. Its a place where you are learning something every day-- it could be a historical fact or a street smart skill. Its a place where there are no rules, a place where its all about who you know. Its in a country where you can never worry about tomorrow because you know you have such little control over what does and doesn't happen around you. Cairo is a city where you don't think twice, because by the time you do, your chance to cross the street, to get the bargain, escape the creepy man who's following you, is gone.
Cairo is interesting because being a foreigner/westerner sucks but at the same time makes you a superstar. You walk down the street and people greet you left and right.
"Hello! Welcome in Cairo! Welcome in Egypt!"
"How are you? Where are you from?"
But at the same time you are called at and hussled at every street corner.
"You have a nice ass!"
"Hello, come into my shop!"
"Hello friend, I make you good deal!"
On one hand you can pass by any check point, enter any hotel, mall, store, musuem with the flash of your American passport, no questions asked. Or just by opening your mouth and showing that you suck at the Arabic langauge, you're in. Need to use the bathroom? Make a quick stop at the Nile Hilton or Four Seasons. Want to enter a Synagogue? Just pull out your passport and show the guard. That is, only if its American. If you're an Egyptian man in a galabaya off the street, sorry, no luck. In fact, this story epitomizes this point:
The friends that I stayed with in Cairo wanted to go to a David Guetta concert (popular European DJ). It got to be the last minute and they hadn't yet bought their tickets. So, they come up with a scheme to get into the concert sans tickets. It was 6 people total, 5 guys, 1 girl. They were to act like they were Virgin Record representatives flying in from New York to see the concert. Each person had an identity: the DJ, the manager, the producer, the hot babe just along for the ride and of course the body guard. It helped that one friend was a bıg black guy who just got off of work and was still in his suit and who drives a really nice Audi. He also added a black ipod earbud just for the affect. He of course was the body guard.
Here in Istanbul, its the same idea, but the athan itself sounds a little cleaner and crisper, if that's possible. And the reaction to this sound is not the same as I experienced in Cairo. When I was with my friend the other day, she remarked on how loud and annoying it was. "Can't they turn that down?" she complained.
Last night when we were out at a Nargile cafe, the athan for fagr (first prayer of the day) sounded, the cafe cut the music, and everyone went on chatting and smoking thier nargile as usual.
I personally love hearing the call to prayer. It doesnt bother me or wake me up as it does some people. In fact, I think it gives my day consistency and also reminds me of the time. For example, after a night on the town or wherever I may have been, I always know its about time to head in when I hear the first athan at about 4:30 AM or so. While I highly doubt that is what the first call to prayer is meant for, it does come in handy for Muslims and non-Muslims alike.
Before setting off on this epic Mediteranean journey of mine, I thought it would be easy to jump from one country to the next. I never thought about the connections I would make and also things I would have to leave behind as I left the country. If you told me 5 years ago that at one point I would actually miss the polluted, chaotic Cairo, Egypt, I would probably never have believed you. Now I find myself wanting to go back despite everything. Every day I was there I felt so many ups and downs --hating standing out, loving the food, hating the pollution, loving the people I met, hating the heat, loving the Red Sea and Mediteranean coast, etc, but in the end the love won me over.
Cairo is just such an exciting place where so many WIERD and unexpected things happen on a daily basis that life never gets boring. Its a place where you are learning something every day-- it could be a historical fact or a street smart skill. Its a place where there are no rules, a place where its all about who you know. Its in a country where you can never worry about tomorrow because you know you have such little control over what does and doesn't happen around you. Cairo is a city where you don't think twice, because by the time you do, your chance to cross the street, to get the bargain, escape the creepy man who's following you, is gone.
Cairo is interesting because being a foreigner/westerner sucks but at the same time makes you a superstar. You walk down the street and people greet you left and right.
"Hello! Welcome in Cairo! Welcome in Egypt!"
"How are you? Where are you from?"
But at the same time you are called at and hussled at every street corner.
"You have a nice ass!"
"Hello, come into my shop!"
"Hello friend, I make you good deal!"
On one hand you can pass by any check point, enter any hotel, mall, store, musuem with the flash of your American passport, no questions asked. Or just by opening your mouth and showing that you suck at the Arabic langauge, you're in. Need to use the bathroom? Make a quick stop at the Nile Hilton or Four Seasons. Want to enter a Synagogue? Just pull out your passport and show the guard. That is, only if its American. If you're an Egyptian man in a galabaya off the street, sorry, no luck. In fact, this story epitomizes this point:
The friends that I stayed with in Cairo wanted to go to a David Guetta concert (popular European DJ). It got to be the last minute and they hadn't yet bought their tickets. So, they come up with a scheme to get into the concert sans tickets. It was 6 people total, 5 guys, 1 girl. They were to act like they were Virgin Record representatives flying in from New York to see the concert. Each person had an identity: the DJ, the manager, the producer, the hot babe just along for the ride and of course the body guard. It helped that one friend was a bıg black guy who just got off of work and was still in his suit and who drives a really nice Audi. He also added a black ipod earbud just for the affect. He of course was the body guard.
So this group pulls up to the concerts, and demands to get in. At first the security was somewhat skeptical, but then as my American and British friends got increasingly heated and claimed that they they flew 9 hours from New York just for nothing, yelling that they were about to call some boss on their their Blackberry, the concert security let them in. And not just to the general concert which cost upward of 80 american dollars, mind you. They got into the VIP section, and then some got into the VVIP section later on. This was all while “normal” people outside were getting taisered by the concert security for being too pushy in line My friends didnt have to pull out their passports, but they did use “being Western” to their advantage.
One other similar story:
The first weekend in Egypt, a group of friends (British and American) went to the resort city of hurghada on the Red Sea Coast. Our friend Ali offered to drive. On the way down to Hurghada, driving through the Egyptian desert, Ali decided to pick up the pace since there weren't too many people on the road. We weren't aware that there was a speed limit until we got to a highway checkpoint and were stopped by the guards who said that we had been speeding. We were stopped by the guards, and Ali went out to talk to them. While I was starting to worry what these guys could do to us at 1 AM in the middle of the Egyptian desert, Ali came back in the car and declared everything was “sorted out,” as he likes to say. Due to Ali's job, he has a diplomatic license plate. An Egyptian guard popped his head in the window and apologized to us...for us speeding...
“I am sorry! Welcome in Egypt!” he said, and then let us on our way. Apparently, if we were not all Americans and if Ali didn't have a diplomatic license, then we would have been screwed. They could have ordered us out of the car and searched us for whatever they wanted. Its so strange to be so high above the law.
But on the other hand, you are treated like an American even when you don't want to. Egyptians see your light skin, light hair, uncovered body and automatically think you're a walking money bag. You try to pay a fair price for a taxi ride, but the cab driver gets out and shouts at you in Arabic, telling you that 10 pounds is not nearly enough (even though it really is MORE than enough). You ask how much a felafel sandwich is at a local, hole in the wall restuarant and they tell you that it is double the price that they normally charge Egyptians. Even though its a difference of 20 American cents, its really the concept behind it. At hotels in the tourist Red Sea cities and even in Cairo, someone bartering in Arabic with the hotel staff could get a hotel room for 20 American dollars, while some white kid in swim trunks and sneakers would only be able to get it down to 50 dollars or so. (That's why when we went to Hurghada, we sent in our British-Sudanese friend to do the bartering first and then once it agreed on a fair price, we would exit the car and lug in all of our crap, much to the surprise of the hotel staff)
Another downfall is not being able to speak the language fluently. I do speak some Arabic, and I can get by with what I know. However, its really hard to live a normal life if you cant understand the basics. For example—eating out. Since I was only in Cairo about three weeks, bouncing from city to city, apartment to apartment, I never really cooked for myself. I thought Cairo would be a really cheap city in terms of eating, but then I realized since I was choosing to eat at all the places with menus translated into English, it wasn't so cheap. Say that there are two eateries of some sort side by side on a street. One has an English and Arabic menu, the other just Arabic. If I couldnt read Arabic and understand the menu, I would be forced to eat at the more expensive restaurant with the English menu. And many times the price difference would be huge. You can eat at the all-Arabic menu place for under a dollar for a few felafel sandwiches, or you can eat at the English menu restaurant for 5 or more dollars. Even just being able to read “Sandawich felafel” and say “ I want this or that” in Arabic can make a world of difference when eating out.
It is annoying to think that you can never, ever fit into a society no matter how hard you try. Lucky for me I have darker skin and darker hair. If I dress the part (aka jeans, a turtleneck and heavy make-up in 100 degree weather) I can totally fit in. In fact many people would speak to me in Arabic thinking that I was Egyptian or Lebanese. I would would start speaking in a very basic, but grammatically correct Arabic and then the other person would go on, trying to make jokes or start a conversation with me. I was somewhat flattered, yet somewhat sad because it meant I had to let out the secret that I am in fact American, of no Arab descent.
But anyway, for fair skinned, light haired people, there's no hope. They are all doomed to a life of “Welcome in Cairo!” and “How are you, where are you from?” After experiencing that for just three weeks (since I didn't take the initiative to dress very Egyptian while I was there), I dont know some of the Western students put up with it for a semester or even a year.
Now, I must sleep, but more on Cairo coming soon...
O-BA-MA
WOW
I just watched Obama's speech from Cairo on CNN.
WOW
What a man.
The American president, speaking frankly about democracy in a clearly non-democratic country, sharing hard facts about the horrors Holocaust and flat out telling people that its wrong to deny it in a place where some people think its made-up, making references to the Holy Qu'ran, saying " Peace be upon him" after mentioning Prophet Mohamed, stating clearly that Israeli settlements must be stopped in the Palestinian terroritories...
I couldnt be more proud to be an American at this point. If only every American could open his or her eyes and ears to hear and understand what Obama is talking about. While this address was made towards the Muslim world, I am hoping the people of the United States also were listening intently.
Knowing a little more than average about the Middle East and especially Egypt, my eyes were GLUED to the TV for that hour (while Tolga snored beside me). Can you imagine being a Muslim in any part of the world and for the first time in who knows how long, hear positive things about your way of life and listen to speech that makes particular references to things that you are familiar with?
Everyone always says that Obama is such an eloquent speaker and the only problem is putting his words into action, but lets be honest. Just by saying the words that he did, Obama WAS and IS taking action. I am convinced that hearing such ideas from the American president will surely affect the opinions of at least some of the Muslim world. As Obama said: While it is our duty as Americans to not stereotype "the Muslim" as a terrorist or womanizer it is similarly the duty of the Muslim world not to pidgeonhole Americans as a hyper-sexualized people or soceity in degeneration. Insha'allah this is possible.
I just watched Obama's speech from Cairo on CNN.
WOW
What a man.
The American president, speaking frankly about democracy in a clearly non-democratic country, sharing hard facts about the horrors Holocaust and flat out telling people that its wrong to deny it in a place where some people think its made-up, making references to the Holy Qu'ran, saying " Peace be upon him" after mentioning Prophet Mohamed, stating clearly that Israeli settlements must be stopped in the Palestinian terroritories...
I couldnt be more proud to be an American at this point. If only every American could open his or her eyes and ears to hear and understand what Obama is talking about. While this address was made towards the Muslim world, I am hoping the people of the United States also were listening intently.
Knowing a little more than average about the Middle East and especially Egypt, my eyes were GLUED to the TV for that hour (while Tolga snored beside me). Can you imagine being a Muslim in any part of the world and for the first time in who knows how long, hear positive things about your way of life and listen to speech that makes particular references to things that you are familiar with?
Everyone always says that Obama is such an eloquent speaker and the only problem is putting his words into action, but lets be honest. Just by saying the words that he did, Obama WAS and IS taking action. I am convinced that hearing such ideas from the American president will surely affect the opinions of at least some of the Muslim world. As Obama said: While it is our duty as Americans to not stereotype "the Muslim" as a terrorist or womanizer it is similarly the duty of the Muslim world not to pidgeonhole Americans as a hyper-sexualized people or soceity in degeneration. Insha'allah this is possible.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
now in Istanbul
Hey all--
another quick post as I am in between touring by day and going out by night.
I arrived in Istanbul last Saturday and so far, I am loving it. I am staying with Tolga for a majority of the time, but I am also (currently) staying with Arin who is another AFS student who lived in Waukesha. Its wonderful to be able to have such great and familiar hosts because it means that I can really experience Istanbul not just in terms of the architecture and history, but also in terms of the culture, people and homelife.
In the last three days, I have done a lot of the tourist stuff (Hagia Sofia, Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace) but also just met Tolga and Arin's friends, gone to bars and nargile (hookah/sheesha) cafes and eaten some great home cooked meals. I haven't seen Tolga in 10 years and Arin in 3, but we've seemed to pick up right where we left off. With Tolga its fun because when he was in the US 10 years ago, I was 11 and he was 18 so there was a gap between us in terms of development. But now, I am 21 and he is 27, and though there is the same age gap, we can relate more and hang out as friends rather than annoying little sister/ too-cool-for-school older brother.
Tonight I will be going out with Arin's friends, tomorrow Tolga and I will be sailing the high sea to Prince's island in his AFS friend's boat, and Friday we will be road tripping to the south of Turkey to stay at Tolga's family's summer home.
I am hoping to be able to fully update yall on my intellecutal musings from the past 3 weeks when I arrive back in Athens and have a few days of downtime to upload pics and sit at the computer all day long.
Side note: My blog access has recently been limited because when I go to my blog page, the words in top are always in the language of the country that I'm in. Since I am not too skilled in reading Greek, Arabic or Turkish I always need assistance before I am find the button to push for "sign in." O, the troubles and hardships that I must go through.
another quick post as I am in between touring by day and going out by night.
I arrived in Istanbul last Saturday and so far, I am loving it. I am staying with Tolga for a majority of the time, but I am also (currently) staying with Arin who is another AFS student who lived in Waukesha. Its wonderful to be able to have such great and familiar hosts because it means that I can really experience Istanbul not just in terms of the architecture and history, but also in terms of the culture, people and homelife.
In the last three days, I have done a lot of the tourist stuff (Hagia Sofia, Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace) but also just met Tolga and Arin's friends, gone to bars and nargile (hookah/sheesha) cafes and eaten some great home cooked meals. I haven't seen Tolga in 10 years and Arin in 3, but we've seemed to pick up right where we left off. With Tolga its fun because when he was in the US 10 years ago, I was 11 and he was 18 so there was a gap between us in terms of development. But now, I am 21 and he is 27, and though there is the same age gap, we can relate more and hang out as friends rather than annoying little sister/ too-cool-for-school older brother.
Tonight I will be going out with Arin's friends, tomorrow Tolga and I will be sailing the high sea to Prince's island in his AFS friend's boat, and Friday we will be road tripping to the south of Turkey to stay at Tolga's family's summer home.
I am hoping to be able to fully update yall on my intellecutal musings from the past 3 weeks when I arrive back in Athens and have a few days of downtime to upload pics and sit at the computer all day long.
Side note: My blog access has recently been limited because when I go to my blog page, the words in top are always in the language of the country that I'm in. Since I am not too skilled in reading Greek, Arabic or Turkish I always need assistance before I am find the button to push for "sign in." O, the troubles and hardships that I must go through.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)