Chapel Hill, USA
I just thought I'd let anyone still reading know that I got home safely. The last couple of days in Turkey were a little bit crazy but still good. I went to a couple of sufi gatherings and did my christmas shopping. And then I left Monday morning, although at 1:30 in the afternoon, not at 9 in the morning as I had thought. So it was good that I got it mixed up that way instead of the other way around, but I still felt stupid. It was snowing on my way to the airport! There were no missed flights, and no lost bags and they didn't discover the honey that I was bringing back so I have to say it was more sucessfull than the last time I tried to enter the country. And no I did not get bird flu.
I think that I have a good amount of interview data, documents, and statistics and now I just need to wade through the documents and statistics and write it up. Easier said than done I guess. If you want to read the finished product you should let me know after April 21st.
I have no plans to leave the country again...although I recall thinking that in August and I was gone again less than 6 months later, so I probably won't be writing much this semester. Thanks for reading.
Monday, January 16, 2006
Friday, January 06, 2006
the rooftop adventures of Efdal and Katie - part II
İstanbul, Turkey
I had my last interview today. It was with some officials who work for government of the greater municipality of Istanbul. And since Istanbul has a population of maybe 15 million, they influence the lives of more people than the governments of some countries. Anyways, since the people I was interviewing didn't speak english Efdal kindly agreed to come with me to translate. Waiting in the 6th floor office with a great view for the guy to get back from lunch Efdal asked if they might let us go up to the roof to take pictures. I told him to ask, but only after the interview so they wouldn't get mad.
The interview went really well, Efdal is a really good translator and they talked to me for an hour and a half or so. And then, they did let us go up on the roof. No ottoman chimney's on this roof, but it had an amazing view, and the sun was setting which made it even better. After a couple of weeks spending hours a day on busses and getting frusterated with the city, all I needed was one look from the rooftop to remember that it is one of the most (or maybe the most) beautiful cities in the world.
On the way back to the asian side we visited on of Efdal's friends. The first time we visited him I whacked my head on his very short doorway. And he still remembers me by that it seems. Anyways, this time in addition to his workroom I got to see the room where he puts his finished artwork which was amazing and really peaceful.
The research is done. There offices are all closed this weekend and then I leave. Hopefully I have enough information.
I had my last interview today. It was with some officials who work for government of the greater municipality of Istanbul. And since Istanbul has a population of maybe 15 million, they influence the lives of more people than the governments of some countries. Anyways, since the people I was interviewing didn't speak english Efdal kindly agreed to come with me to translate. Waiting in the 6th floor office with a great view for the guy to get back from lunch Efdal asked if they might let us go up to the roof to take pictures. I told him to ask, but only after the interview so they wouldn't get mad.
The interview went really well, Efdal is a really good translator and they talked to me for an hour and a half or so. And then, they did let us go up on the roof. No ottoman chimney's on this roof, but it had an amazing view, and the sun was setting which made it even better. After a couple of weeks spending hours a day on busses and getting frusterated with the city, all I needed was one look from the rooftop to remember that it is one of the most (or maybe the most) beautiful cities in the world.
On the way back to the asian side we visited on of Efdal's friends. The first time we visited him I whacked my head on his very short doorway. And he still remembers me by that it seems. Anyways, this time in addition to his workroom I got to see the room where he puts his finished artwork which was amazing and really peaceful.
The research is done. There offices are all closed this weekend and then I leave. Hopefully I have enough information.
Monday, January 02, 2006
oh the library
İstanbul, Turkey
Today was one of those very frusterating days. It mostly has to do with my trip to the library, more specifically the Atatürk library in Taksim. I managed to find it easily which was exciting, and then after asking people found the small room with the İstanbul collection. So far, so good. The librarians didn't seem to speak any english, but the student of one of the librarians did and so they gave me the catalogue (or book listing the titles) and let me look through it. I found a bunch of things that looked interesting after going through the entire catalogue. But then they closed for lunch and made me leave for a while.
Upon returning from lunch I figured out their shelving system and found most of the things I wanted. After skimming all of them I had decided that 5 were really good. But at that point I had already spent 4 hours there, which had used up an attenion span or two, was feeling ucky and couldn't concentrate, and didn't really have time (since I now have four more research days) to really read them and take notes. So I asked if I could photocopy things. Simple request right, the books are all available to the public, nothing private. So the nice old man librarian went off to find the form and about half an hour later I got it. They wanted not only my name and university and project, but my place of birth, the names of my mother and father and my passport number. Since I haven't memorized my passport number and I didn't have it with me they made dissapoving sounds and told me that maybe if I brought my passport in tomorrow they might let me photocopy some things. So I may be able to get permission to photocopy, and even if I do they might not let me photocopy as many pages as I would like. Darn the beurocratic library! gahhh!
My mother tells me that this is unfortunatly normal for doing research in Turkey, and that I have now been initiated. I guess that makes me feel slightly better. And apparently without knowing it I visited one of the hardest libraries for foreigners to get into when I was here last year and Efdal took me to the library at the Sulimaniye.
And I've just had two people call me because they heard I had a frusterating experience and one knows someone at the Atatürk library and is going to go back with me, and another has a friend that worked for the municipality that I can talk to. I guess maybe I'm getting back on the up part of the research rollercoaster. This is crazy. I really need another week. I think that toward the end of the week I'll finally have contacts in the municipality and then I'll have to leave. Ah well
Today was one of those very frusterating days. It mostly has to do with my trip to the library, more specifically the Atatürk library in Taksim. I managed to find it easily which was exciting, and then after asking people found the small room with the İstanbul collection. So far, so good. The librarians didn't seem to speak any english, but the student of one of the librarians did and so they gave me the catalogue (or book listing the titles) and let me look through it. I found a bunch of things that looked interesting after going through the entire catalogue. But then they closed for lunch and made me leave for a while.
Upon returning from lunch I figured out their shelving system and found most of the things I wanted. After skimming all of them I had decided that 5 were really good. But at that point I had already spent 4 hours there, which had used up an attenion span or two, was feeling ucky and couldn't concentrate, and didn't really have time (since I now have four more research days) to really read them and take notes. So I asked if I could photocopy things. Simple request right, the books are all available to the public, nothing private. So the nice old man librarian went off to find the form and about half an hour later I got it. They wanted not only my name and university and project, but my place of birth, the names of my mother and father and my passport number. Since I haven't memorized my passport number and I didn't have it with me they made dissapoving sounds and told me that maybe if I brought my passport in tomorrow they might let me photocopy some things. So I may be able to get permission to photocopy, and even if I do they might not let me photocopy as many pages as I would like. Darn the beurocratic library! gahhh!
My mother tells me that this is unfortunatly normal for doing research in Turkey, and that I have now been initiated. I guess that makes me feel slightly better. And apparently without knowing it I visited one of the hardest libraries for foreigners to get into when I was here last year and Efdal took me to the library at the Sulimaniye.
And I've just had two people call me because they heard I had a frusterating experience and one knows someone at the Atatürk library and is going to go back with me, and another has a friend that worked for the municipality that I can talk to. I guess maybe I'm getting back on the up part of the research rollercoaster. This is crazy. I really need another week. I think that toward the end of the week I'll finally have contacts in the municipality and then I'll have to leave. Ah well
Sunday, January 01, 2006
Happy New Year!
Istanbul, Turkey
Happy New Year to one and all! I have a cold and so I haven't really done much at all in the past few days. For new years eve I was at Aylin's house and another family came over and we had dinner and watched a Turkish new years program and then they went to bed before midnight. So I stayed up and watched more tv (although this time in english) until about midnight when I switched back to the Turkish station to see the countdown. I'm not good enough with the Turkish numbers to count down in Turkish. There are some advantages to being in an appartment on the 14th floor of a building, one of which is that it gives you a great view of the city and the fireworks that people shoot off. For a while they were going off everywhere I looked. It was exciting since I love fireworks.
And now because it is a new year I feel the need to be political (something I've left out of my blog). Friday I met up with a guy that is an activist in Istanbul as well as a graduate student working two jobs on top of that. He and others have been working for five months to organize the European social forum, and then they hope to have the first Turkish social forum in November. They are talking to farmers and workers all over the country and getting them involved. But he told me that they can only do so much unless the US changes its policies. The words he's like to share with people in the US - "break it, smash it!" - *using nonviolent means*. Talking to him and hearing his energy and enthusiasm was really inspirational for me, because sometimes I forget that activism is more than sitting in meetings and talking about process without ever doing anything. And it gives me hope, that if we can all leave our egos in last year, that we could really make enough changes in the US to let the people in Turkey (and everywhere else in the world) make changes in their countries. Talking to him also reminded me that activists in the US are not the only ones. We often fault leaders in the US for putting us in places where we don't belong because we are supposed to right the wrongs of the world, remove the dictators, etc., but as sometimes I think that as activists we also forget that people are organizing in other countries too. We Americans are not the only ones trying to change the world, people across the world are trying to change the world and we can be more effective if we remember that.
And I know I said it once, but I think I'll say it again...Happy New Year!
Happy New Year to one and all! I have a cold and so I haven't really done much at all in the past few days. For new years eve I was at Aylin's house and another family came over and we had dinner and watched a Turkish new years program and then they went to bed before midnight. So I stayed up and watched more tv (although this time in english) until about midnight when I switched back to the Turkish station to see the countdown. I'm not good enough with the Turkish numbers to count down in Turkish. There are some advantages to being in an appartment on the 14th floor of a building, one of which is that it gives you a great view of the city and the fireworks that people shoot off. For a while they were going off everywhere I looked. It was exciting since I love fireworks.
And now because it is a new year I feel the need to be political (something I've left out of my blog). Friday I met up with a guy that is an activist in Istanbul as well as a graduate student working two jobs on top of that. He and others have been working for five months to organize the European social forum, and then they hope to have the first Turkish social forum in November. They are talking to farmers and workers all over the country and getting them involved. But he told me that they can only do so much unless the US changes its policies. The words he's like to share with people in the US - "break it, smash it!" - *using nonviolent means*. Talking to him and hearing his energy and enthusiasm was really inspirational for me, because sometimes I forget that activism is more than sitting in meetings and talking about process without ever doing anything. And it gives me hope, that if we can all leave our egos in last year, that we could really make enough changes in the US to let the people in Turkey (and everywhere else in the world) make changes in their countries. Talking to him also reminded me that activists in the US are not the only ones. We often fault leaders in the US for putting us in places where we don't belong because we are supposed to right the wrongs of the world, remove the dictators, etc., but as sometimes I think that as activists we also forget that people are organizing in other countries too. We Americans are not the only ones trying to change the world, people across the world are trying to change the world and we can be more effective if we remember that.
And I know I said it once, but I think I'll say it again...Happy New Year!
Thursday, December 29, 2005
the rain in spain...
İstanbul, Turkey
It's been raining all day and I left my umbrella at what I currently call home. So I got very wet which I'm sure didn't help my fight not to get this cold. But me and my flintstones vitamins will prevail! And tomorrow I shall bring my umbrella when I go out.
I had two interviews today at Boğaziçi university. One was with an old friend of my mom's and one was with the professor of one of my advisors. Yay for connections. I'm currently trying to get an interview (or maybe more than one!) with people in the municipal government. Keep your fingers crossed! I really need to actually talk to someone in the government here.
Yesterday I talked to a professor at Marmara Unıversity. They have lots of different campuses in İstanbul, and I thought I had found a bus that went to the right one, but it turns out it was the wrong one. Fortunatly I was going there from someplace else and so asked directions and some very nice women put me on the correct mini bus and I got to the correct campus. And the interview was really good.
Nothing really exciting going on though. I spend lots of time on busses going to interviews, waiting for interviews, and sleeping and that's about it. But I did find the english language books in the Boğaziçi bookstore today which was very exciting. And I would recommend Good Omens for anyone who hasn't read it. Stay dry
It's been raining all day and I left my umbrella at what I currently call home. So I got very wet which I'm sure didn't help my fight not to get this cold. But me and my flintstones vitamins will prevail! And tomorrow I shall bring my umbrella when I go out.
I had two interviews today at Boğaziçi university. One was with an old friend of my mom's and one was with the professor of one of my advisors. Yay for connections. I'm currently trying to get an interview (or maybe more than one!) with people in the municipal government. Keep your fingers crossed! I really need to actually talk to someone in the government here.
Yesterday I talked to a professor at Marmara Unıversity. They have lots of different campuses in İstanbul, and I thought I had found a bus that went to the right one, but it turns out it was the wrong one. Fortunatly I was going there from someplace else and so asked directions and some very nice women put me on the correct mini bus and I got to the correct campus. And the interview was really good.
Nothing really exciting going on though. I spend lots of time on busses going to interviews, waiting for interviews, and sleeping and that's about it. But I did find the english language books in the Boğaziçi bookstore today which was very exciting. And I would recommend Good Omens for anyone who hasn't read it. Stay dry
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
I didn't get lost!!
İstanbul, Turkey
I've returned to İstanbul, and it makes me really happy. I took the bus from Ankara on Monday. Since this wasn't the night bus, and I was awake I actually got to see what it looks like from here to Ankara. There was snow on the ground most of the way, and most of it is mountainous, or at least hilly. As the trees have no leaves the mountains/hills look like they had thinnıng hair that was standing straight up so you could see their very white scalps. Anyways, it was a pretty trip. And I've discovered that if they show action movies it isn't really necessary to understand Turkish.
On arriving at the bus station I had to take a taksi to Aylin's house. I had forgotten what it's like to ride in a turkish taksi. Almost as good as a roller coaster (although I've only ever been on one roller coaster). But they are crazy crazy drivers.
Alikan (Aylin's son) is now two and a half, and while still the cutest kid ever he has entered the terrible twos, which seems to be a little bit trying for his parents. The cat is still an attack cat, and seems to like feet, which reminds me of dillon. The bed I slept in before is gone and now they have a couch that pulls out into a bed. It's very comfy.
I went to the kapılıçarsı (grand bazaar) today to visit Hasan. I managed to find a bus stop, get on a bus that took me to Kadıköy so I could take the ferry to Eminönü as planned. No getting lost or getting on the wrong bus! I have also continued my tradition of buying the best cookies ever to get bus change. It was so exciting to be back on the ferry. I can't really think of any good words. Hasan is doing well, and sitting in his shop (he sells carpets) I felt like I'd never really left. I also visited Murat (he sells brass and copper stuff) and had a slightly one sided discussion about why americans move out of their family's houses at 18 or 22 and how that leads to people feeling more isolated.
And here's the real shock. I took the ferry back (yay!) and after getting on the wrong bus and then being sent to another where I realized I was being dyslexic I got what turned out to be the right bus. I got off at the right stop and found Aylin's building. I don't think I've ever gone some place for the first time in İstanbul and not gotten lost. Although now that I've said that I'm sure as soon as I walk out the door tomorrow I will be lost.
I've returned to İstanbul, and it makes me really happy. I took the bus from Ankara on Monday. Since this wasn't the night bus, and I was awake I actually got to see what it looks like from here to Ankara. There was snow on the ground most of the way, and most of it is mountainous, or at least hilly. As the trees have no leaves the mountains/hills look like they had thinnıng hair that was standing straight up so you could see their very white scalps. Anyways, it was a pretty trip. And I've discovered that if they show action movies it isn't really necessary to understand Turkish.
On arriving at the bus station I had to take a taksi to Aylin's house. I had forgotten what it's like to ride in a turkish taksi. Almost as good as a roller coaster (although I've only ever been on one roller coaster). But they are crazy crazy drivers.
Alikan (Aylin's son) is now two and a half, and while still the cutest kid ever he has entered the terrible twos, which seems to be a little bit trying for his parents. The cat is still an attack cat, and seems to like feet, which reminds me of dillon. The bed I slept in before is gone and now they have a couch that pulls out into a bed. It's very comfy.
I went to the kapılıçarsı (grand bazaar) today to visit Hasan. I managed to find a bus stop, get on a bus that took me to Kadıköy so I could take the ferry to Eminönü as planned. No getting lost or getting on the wrong bus! I have also continued my tradition of buying the best cookies ever to get bus change. It was so exciting to be back on the ferry. I can't really think of any good words. Hasan is doing well, and sitting in his shop (he sells carpets) I felt like I'd never really left. I also visited Murat (he sells brass and copper stuff) and had a slightly one sided discussion about why americans move out of their family's houses at 18 or 22 and how that leads to people feeling more isolated.
And here's the real shock. I took the ferry back (yay!) and after getting on the wrong bus and then being sent to another where I realized I was being dyslexic I got what turned out to be the right bus. I got off at the right stop and found Aylin's building. I don't think I've ever gone some place for the first time in İstanbul and not gotten lost. Although now that I've said that I'm sure as soon as I walk out the door tomorrow I will be lost.
Saturday, December 24, 2005
conferences and tea
Ankara, Turkey
I woke up this morning thinking that I had no plans, but as is often the case in Turkey that was not true for long. Standing in the hallway trying to wake up the mother (her name is Nesin) and older son walked past and told me that Belgin had been trying to calling all morning. Turns out she wanted me to go to a conference with her on Sufism and Women. So I put on some clothes and went. The conference was in this huge conference salon as they called it. There were four people speaking including Cemalnur, Dr. Gursoy, and an american guy. It started on standard turkish time (late) with the singing of the national march. I have to say that in terms of people singing along to there national anthem/marches Turkey defiantly beats America. It's in a range that most people can actually sing in with no bloody high notes. I felt a little bit awkward standing there though.
I'm sure that the conference was very interesting, but I only understood a fourth of it. When the american guy started talking it took me a minute to realize that he was actually speaking english. Aylin was translating for him which was very exciting. He went on about the women that had been close to the prophet, and took too long to make his point. He ended up making it as they were telling him he was out of time. When cemalnur spoke I could get the feeling of what she was saying, but none of the words. I think it helps that she talks with her hands.
Afterwards there was tea, because that's what's done and I got to see most of my sufi family. It was really nice to see them all again. And it was great to see the look on their faces because I hadn't told them that I was going to be there. Yay for my sufi family. I'm excited about going back to Istanbul and seeing all of them. In case you are wondering, I was adopted into a sufi group when I was in Istanbul in May and the teacher of the group is cemalnur.
They ordered pizza tonight for dinner. I think pizza here might be more exciting. They put corn on their pizza! And the um italian kind had secuk (turkish peperoni if you will) on it. And the mom (her name is made visne (sour cherry juice)! I guess I talk about food a lot, but I've decided that when I get back I'm going to figure out how to make some of the turkish food I really like.
It's Christmas eve, and although I'm going to have the whitest Christmas I've had in a long time it doesn't seem at all like Christmas eve. But I hope you all have been good this year and maybe santa will visit you. Because I still believe in santa; as my mother says santa is the people that love you. Happy christmas eve!
I woke up this morning thinking that I had no plans, but as is often the case in Turkey that was not true for long. Standing in the hallway trying to wake up the mother (her name is Nesin) and older son walked past and told me that Belgin had been trying to calling all morning. Turns out she wanted me to go to a conference with her on Sufism and Women. So I put on some clothes and went. The conference was in this huge conference salon as they called it. There were four people speaking including Cemalnur, Dr. Gursoy, and an american guy. It started on standard turkish time (late) with the singing of the national march. I have to say that in terms of people singing along to there national anthem/marches Turkey defiantly beats America. It's in a range that most people can actually sing in with no bloody high notes. I felt a little bit awkward standing there though.
I'm sure that the conference was very interesting, but I only understood a fourth of it. When the american guy started talking it took me a minute to realize that he was actually speaking english. Aylin was translating for him which was very exciting. He went on about the women that had been close to the prophet, and took too long to make his point. He ended up making it as they were telling him he was out of time. When cemalnur spoke I could get the feeling of what she was saying, but none of the words. I think it helps that she talks with her hands.
Afterwards there was tea, because that's what's done and I got to see most of my sufi family. It was really nice to see them all again. And it was great to see the look on their faces because I hadn't told them that I was going to be there. Yay for my sufi family. I'm excited about going back to Istanbul and seeing all of them. In case you are wondering, I was adopted into a sufi group when I was in Istanbul in May and the teacher of the group is cemalnur.
They ordered pizza tonight for dinner. I think pizza here might be more exciting. They put corn on their pizza! And the um italian kind had secuk (turkish peperoni if you will) on it. And the mom (her name is made visne (sour cherry juice)! I guess I talk about food a lot, but I've decided that when I get back I'm going to figure out how to make some of the turkish food I really like.
It's Christmas eve, and although I'm going to have the whitest Christmas I've had in a long time it doesn't seem at all like Christmas eve. But I hope you all have been good this year and maybe santa will visit you. Because I still believe in santa; as my mother says santa is the people that love you. Happy christmas eve!
Friday, December 23, 2005
interviews oh interviews
Ankara, Turkey
I had three interviews today and they all went really well. Yay! I kind of don't feel like I should be talking about what people said in my blog though, so if you want to find out about them you can read my thesis someday insallah.
I'm now staying with a family that is friends with Canguzel's family. However, I am very bad with names, and turkish names are once again proving to be worse than american ones and so I know the daughter is named Ozge but I can't remember the names of the rest of the family. But I have to say that the four year old is really cute and I feel bad because I can't talk to him.
Anyways, today Ozge was very nice and came with me to all the interviews. And I got to meet her friends at this chinese resturaunt that also had sushi. She goes to an international school, as does her brother (the 16 year old one, not the 4 year old) so they both speak fluent english which is really nice. Some day I really will learn turkish!
While I was at METU (middle east technical university) I got to see Claire and Oktay which was very exciting. Claire (who is brittish but now speaks fluent turkish) is in the process of starting up a dissabilities probgram at METU which seems to be a challenge, but also very rewarding. Apparently it's the first program like this at a Turkish university, but now there is another one that is starting up as well.
At the state planning office once again I talked to a woman I had already talked to and then the man I was going to interview was very late. Ozge left and eventully he showed up at about 5:30. Apparently there was some problem with the licensing of his car and something and he had to wait 3 hours. He gave me a ride home after I interviewed him which was really nice of him. It was kind of funny though. The neighborhood I'm staying in is confusing, and so he stopped somewhere and asked for directions, which turned out to be bad. So he went back to the same place to try again. We did find it eventually, but the directions he got the second time were exactly the same as the first time, and still wrong.
I was very late getting back and so missed dinner, but they saved some for me. And it was manti!!! Manti is my favorite turkish food, or perhaps food in general by the way. If you haven't it's turkish dumplings in a yougurt sort of sauce and well, it's really good. And it was homemade! Yay!
I had three interviews today and they all went really well. Yay! I kind of don't feel like I should be talking about what people said in my blog though, so if you want to find out about them you can read my thesis someday insallah.
I'm now staying with a family that is friends with Canguzel's family. However, I am very bad with names, and turkish names are once again proving to be worse than american ones and so I know the daughter is named Ozge but I can't remember the names of the rest of the family. But I have to say that the four year old is really cute and I feel bad because I can't talk to him.
Anyways, today Ozge was very nice and came with me to all the interviews. And I got to meet her friends at this chinese resturaunt that also had sushi. She goes to an international school, as does her brother (the 16 year old one, not the 4 year old) so they both speak fluent english which is really nice. Some day I really will learn turkish!
While I was at METU (middle east technical university) I got to see Claire and Oktay which was very exciting. Claire (who is brittish but now speaks fluent turkish) is in the process of starting up a dissabilities probgram at METU which seems to be a challenge, but also very rewarding. Apparently it's the first program like this at a Turkish university, but now there is another one that is starting up as well.
At the state planning office once again I talked to a woman I had already talked to and then the man I was going to interview was very late. Ozge left and eventully he showed up at about 5:30. Apparently there was some problem with the licensing of his car and something and he had to wait 3 hours. He gave me a ride home after I interviewed him which was really nice of him. It was kind of funny though. The neighborhood I'm staying in is confusing, and so he stopped somewhere and asked for directions, which turned out to be bad. So he went back to the same place to try again. We did find it eventually, but the directions he got the second time were exactly the same as the first time, and still wrong.
I was very late getting back and so missed dinner, but they saved some for me. And it was manti!!! Manti is my favorite turkish food, or perhaps food in general by the way. If you haven't it's turkish dumplings in a yougurt sort of sauce and well, it's really good. And it was homemade! Yay!
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
what a long strange trip it's been
Ankara, Turkey
The walkabout is over, so you'll just have to think of the title as My research trip: A most unplanned adventure. I don't seem to be doing well at staying in the country.
I don't know where to start. But I've just discovered how to put the keyboard on the english setting instead of the turkish setting, which seems to be a start. It's been a long crazy trip and I've already had my first interview, although have only had 6 hours of sleep in a bed since I left.
The flight to philidelphia was all nice and normal, but then my flight to munich was delayed by 2 hours. First the plane got there late, then the caterers (whose food wasn't good anyways) took too long and then they had to fix the navigation system, test it extensivly and do some paperwork. In short, by the time we had landed in Munich my plane for Istanbul had already departed. So the lovely people of Lufthansa rerouted me through Berlin and then I got to take a turkish airlines flight to Istanbul. I have to say that turkish airlines beates US airways on food, hands down. But then, is that really a surprise?
I got met at the airport (at 8:30 pm turkish time) and taken to the ulusoy bus station. The bus left at 11, and there was a bit of confusion as I tried to explain that Canguzel's mom, Inci, had my ticket, but would be getting on the bus in about half an hour. The guy was nice and decided that I could stay on the bus. Inci did get on the bus later and explained everything. It was really nice to see her. There was some falling asleep and then some snow. We stopped half way there (2:30 am) at a rest stop and had some yogurt soup. And then I remembered why I love turkey so much. The bus arrived at 5:30 and we got to Inci's appartment/house at 6 where I got my sleep in an actual bed.
Some sleep, food and a shower can do wonders for a person. And then I had my first interviews. I don't think I'm asking the right questions. And I was trying too hard to stay awake to think of some better ones. But they were really nice and told me I could come back Friday if I have any questions, and also found me someone else to intervew Friday. So it should come out okay.
I can't think of anything profound. The icicles at the rest stop last night were 1 meter long and it's been below 0 (in celcius) since I got here. It's kind of nice to see snow. I'm still a little confused on what time it is, and how I lost a day, but oh well. Another interview tomorrow, hopefully it will yield more information.
The walkabout is over, so you'll just have to think of the title as My research trip: A most unplanned adventure. I don't seem to be doing well at staying in the country.
I don't know where to start. But I've just discovered how to put the keyboard on the english setting instead of the turkish setting, which seems to be a start. It's been a long crazy trip and I've already had my first interview, although have only had 6 hours of sleep in a bed since I left.
The flight to philidelphia was all nice and normal, but then my flight to munich was delayed by 2 hours. First the plane got there late, then the caterers (whose food wasn't good anyways) took too long and then they had to fix the navigation system, test it extensivly and do some paperwork. In short, by the time we had landed in Munich my plane for Istanbul had already departed. So the lovely people of Lufthansa rerouted me through Berlin and then I got to take a turkish airlines flight to Istanbul. I have to say that turkish airlines beates US airways on food, hands down. But then, is that really a surprise?
I got met at the airport (at 8:30 pm turkish time) and taken to the ulusoy bus station. The bus left at 11, and there was a bit of confusion as I tried to explain that Canguzel's mom, Inci, had my ticket, but would be getting on the bus in about half an hour. The guy was nice and decided that I could stay on the bus. Inci did get on the bus later and explained everything. It was really nice to see her. There was some falling asleep and then some snow. We stopped half way there (2:30 am) at a rest stop and had some yogurt soup. And then I remembered why I love turkey so much. The bus arrived at 5:30 and we got to Inci's appartment/house at 6 where I got my sleep in an actual bed.
Some sleep, food and a shower can do wonders for a person. And then I had my first interviews. I don't think I'm asking the right questions. And I was trying too hard to stay awake to think of some better ones. But they were really nice and told me I could come back Friday if I have any questions, and also found me someone else to intervew Friday. So it should come out okay.
I can't think of anything profound. The icicles at the rest stop last night were 1 meter long and it's been below 0 (in celcius) since I got here. It's kind of nice to see snow. I'm still a little confused on what time it is, and how I lost a day, but oh well. Another interview tomorrow, hopefully it will yield more information.
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
more photos
Old town tallinn
Bryggen - cool wooden houses from the middle ages in Bergen
Somehow the bus got us from down there to up here
it's a fjord!!
sunset over the baltic sea
emily on the paddle boat in prague
old town warsaw
frank zappa memorial in vilnius
highest point on the oslo bergen line
The european bank of the bosforus - click on this one!
Saturday, August 06, 2005
photos from istanbul
the black sea...looks pretty blue to me
sultanahmet cami (the blue mosque)
galata tower and a ferry
looking back over the bosforus
the brunch my sufi family held
Marma and Patlican, my turkish cats. Shhh, don't tell Dillon
Aylin and Alikan, the cutest kid ever
the end
Chapel Hill, USA
My adventure has come to an end. I really don't believe it. When I left it seemed like I was going forever, and how can forever be over. But somehow it is. And I will start school again in a few weeks. So back to the real world or at least the student world I must go. And to all of you I met on my travels, if you're ever in the south east of the US you should visit me!
The saga of the journey home. I spent my last day in Berlin at a concentration camp. Possibly the most depressing experience ever. Words cannot really describe it, it has to be experience. And since all these amazing writers have tried to describe it and haven't been able to do it justice why would I be able to? After the hour and a half return to the main train station we discovered that the u-bahn line to our hostel was shut down so we had to take the substitute bus. Then upon returning to the hostel we realized that our station was the problem one. There were 10 police vans surrounding it and the whole area was blocked off. I still have no idea what happened there. There was no bus back to the train station so I had to take a taxi. Then took the s-bahn to the airport and had a nice uneventful flight to the london luton airport. When we got in I was in a hurry and immigration had taken a long time so I grabbed my bag and took the shuttle to the train station to discover they had cancelled the train. 5 of us took a taxi to kings cross, very squished in there it was. Walked to the LSE dorm so that I could stay with emily's friend there for a few hours. When I got there (it's 1:30 in the morning) I talked to him and then looked in my bag and realized it wasn't mine. Oh crap. The girl whose bag it was - Julie had her planner inside so I called her and she called me and somehow we managed to get in touch. By some freak coincidence she was flying out of heathrow the next day, so I'd be able to get my bag back to her. However, she had taken my bag and realized earlier and taken it back to the airport. My flight was too early in the morning to get back and forth to luton and pick up my bag. So the next morning I flew out of heathrow without it. The flight from toronto home was delayed 2 or so hours and I saw the remnants of the crashed plane on the way out.
My bag is currently residing in Eynsham with Margaret and will come to boston with her in a couple of weeks. And somehow it will get to me. What a mess. I feel so stupid.
On the weirdness of being home. Driving for the first time in 6 months - why are they letting me behind the wheel of this big machine? Mexican food - yay!! My cat - she actually remembered me and doesn't even seem too pissed. Milk from a glass bottle - so much better than milk from a box. Language - everyone here speaks english? I could talk to all of them? Really? But the weirdest thing is going to be after a bit when I'm still here. Then I think it might sink in that it's actually over. Because I don't really believe it yet
My adventure has come to an end. I really don't believe it. When I left it seemed like I was going forever, and how can forever be over. But somehow it is. And I will start school again in a few weeks. So back to the real world or at least the student world I must go. And to all of you I met on my travels, if you're ever in the south east of the US you should visit me!
The saga of the journey home. I spent my last day in Berlin at a concentration camp. Possibly the most depressing experience ever. Words cannot really describe it, it has to be experience. And since all these amazing writers have tried to describe it and haven't been able to do it justice why would I be able to? After the hour and a half return to the main train station we discovered that the u-bahn line to our hostel was shut down so we had to take the substitute bus. Then upon returning to the hostel we realized that our station was the problem one. There were 10 police vans surrounding it and the whole area was blocked off. I still have no idea what happened there. There was no bus back to the train station so I had to take a taxi. Then took the s-bahn to the airport and had a nice uneventful flight to the london luton airport. When we got in I was in a hurry and immigration had taken a long time so I grabbed my bag and took the shuttle to the train station to discover they had cancelled the train. 5 of us took a taxi to kings cross, very squished in there it was. Walked to the LSE dorm so that I could stay with emily's friend there for a few hours. When I got there (it's 1:30 in the morning) I talked to him and then looked in my bag and realized it wasn't mine. Oh crap. The girl whose bag it was - Julie had her planner inside so I called her and she called me and somehow we managed to get in touch. By some freak coincidence she was flying out of heathrow the next day, so I'd be able to get my bag back to her. However, she had taken my bag and realized earlier and taken it back to the airport. My flight was too early in the morning to get back and forth to luton and pick up my bag. So the next morning I flew out of heathrow without it. The flight from toronto home was delayed 2 or so hours and I saw the remnants of the crashed plane on the way out.
My bag is currently residing in Eynsham with Margaret and will come to boston with her in a couple of weeks. And somehow it will get to me. What a mess. I feel so stupid.
On the weirdness of being home. Driving for the first time in 6 months - why are they letting me behind the wheel of this big machine? Mexican food - yay!! My cat - she actually remembered me and doesn't even seem too pissed. Milk from a glass bottle - so much better than milk from a box. Language - everyone here speaks english? I could talk to all of them? Really? But the weirdest thing is going to be after a bit when I'm still here. Then I think it might sink in that it's actually over. Because I don't really believe it yet
Friday, July 29, 2005
Emily!
Prague, Czech Republic
I bumped into Emily on a street corner last night and we went to a hostel and decided to travel together. Okay, so that's not exactly how it went. She said she was getting in at 9:15 and I assumed for some reason she was getting in the train station. I was supposed to get in just before that so I emailed her and told her I'd meet her there. Then I realized there are 4 train stations. Then I found out she had actually taken a plane and so was not at any of the four train stations but I should meet her at the hostel. So getting directions from the loverly william I got to the right metro stop and as I was wandering around looking for the hostel I bumped into Emily who was also looking for our hostel. And now everything is all good, except it's a bit hot here.
Vilnius needs to do something about their hostel advertising. Getting in on a sunday evening with no place to stay (not so smart I know) the tourist office was closed and there were no signs for hostels in the bus and train stations. There are usually signs! I was about to give up and go on to poland but a nice woman at the news stand had seen a hostel on her way to school and took me there. And now I'm glad that I decided to stay. I went to the museam for genocide victims which I think might be the most disturbing museam I've ever visited. The building used to be the headquarters of the KGB and the Gestapo (but not at the same time) and part of the museam is the preserved prision in the bottom. So you can see the cells and where they tortured prisoners and even farther in basement is the execution chamber. They have lists of victims but what I found most disturbing was the photos of the guys that actually were involved in the KGB and executions. How could someone do that to other people? Oh, and most of them had no profession and only an elementary school education.
I met a nice italian guy who coaches kids in basketball on my way into the museam and later I ran into him again in the cathedral as he was starting this walking tour thing. So I went on the walking tour with him which was good, although his booklet had two copies of the map and was missing eight pages describing the things you were walking past. So it goes. Then I got on a bus and took a 9 hour trip to warsaw, spent 5 groggy hours there trying to see something and not seeing much and then another 9 hours to prague. And wow is it hot here. But the rain has gone and I'm going to have clean laundry soon!
I bumped into Emily on a street corner last night and we went to a hostel and decided to travel together. Okay, so that's not exactly how it went. She said she was getting in at 9:15 and I assumed for some reason she was getting in the train station. I was supposed to get in just before that so I emailed her and told her I'd meet her there. Then I realized there are 4 train stations. Then I found out she had actually taken a plane and so was not at any of the four train stations but I should meet her at the hostel. So getting directions from the loverly william I got to the right metro stop and as I was wandering around looking for the hostel I bumped into Emily who was also looking for our hostel. And now everything is all good, except it's a bit hot here.
Vilnius needs to do something about their hostel advertising. Getting in on a sunday evening with no place to stay (not so smart I know) the tourist office was closed and there were no signs for hostels in the bus and train stations. There are usually signs! I was about to give up and go on to poland but a nice woman at the news stand had seen a hostel on her way to school and took me there. And now I'm glad that I decided to stay. I went to the museam for genocide victims which I think might be the most disturbing museam I've ever visited. The building used to be the headquarters of the KGB and the Gestapo (but not at the same time) and part of the museam is the preserved prision in the bottom. So you can see the cells and where they tortured prisoners and even farther in basement is the execution chamber. They have lists of victims but what I found most disturbing was the photos of the guys that actually were involved in the KGB and executions. How could someone do that to other people? Oh, and most of them had no profession and only an elementary school education.
I met a nice italian guy who coaches kids in basketball on my way into the museam and later I ran into him again in the cathedral as he was starting this walking tour thing. So I went on the walking tour with him which was good, although his booklet had two copies of the map and was missing eight pages describing the things you were walking past. So it goes. Then I got on a bus and took a 9 hour trip to warsaw, spent 5 groggy hours there trying to see something and not seeing much and then another 9 hours to prague. And wow is it hot here. But the rain has gone and I'm going to have clean laundry soon!
Sunday, July 24, 2005
rain
Nida, Lithuania
The rain has been following me since I got to Tallinn. I think that it's rained, or usually poured at least once a day, sometimes it rains all day. It has been cooler which is nice and happy. Between Estonia and Lithuania there's latvia, so I went there too. Riga, the capital, is a good place. Like Tallinn it has a great old town, but this one feels a lot more real and lived in. They also have freedom mounument that has armed guards protecting it...hmmm. My hostel was painted all orange and was named fun friendly franks or something like that. One of the guys staying there is a computer science grad student at UNC...the world gets smaller all the time. His backpack got stolen somewhere, so now he has a russian man purse. There were also 4 finnish guys that I went out dancing with one night. I don't know about all guys from finland, but these ones could dance. I think european guys might in general dance more than american guys.
Last night I got into Palanga (a little bit north of where I am now) and got a room in this woman's house. She lives with her mother and father who are grandparent age. And they don't know any english, but they're really nice. When I was trying to ask how to say thank you the lady called her friend who spoke english because she thought I was trying to ask something important. They make it really hard to get to Nida (which is on the curonian spit) from Palanga. You have to take a bus to klaipeda, and then walk (or in this case take a taxi because it was pouring and we had no map) to the ferry dock. But that ferry place had moved so we had to go somewhere else. And then you have to walk into town (3km) and get a bus that goes down the island. Fortunatly I met some nice dutch guys making the taxi part easier and the rest more laughable.
So this spit is kind of barrier islandish, except much bigger and spanning two countries. And between the spit and the mainland is freshwater, not brackish water. You can take this hike up in the dunes so that you have a view of the lagoon and the balitic sea at the same time. It's pretty awesome. This should be longer but I need to go catch the bus so I can do that whole thing in reverse now. Oh, my hair is really short now.
The rain has been following me since I got to Tallinn. I think that it's rained, or usually poured at least once a day, sometimes it rains all day. It has been cooler which is nice and happy. Between Estonia and Lithuania there's latvia, so I went there too. Riga, the capital, is a good place. Like Tallinn it has a great old town, but this one feels a lot more real and lived in. They also have freedom mounument that has armed guards protecting it...hmmm. My hostel was painted all orange and was named fun friendly franks or something like that. One of the guys staying there is a computer science grad student at UNC...the world gets smaller all the time. His backpack got stolen somewhere, so now he has a russian man purse. There were also 4 finnish guys that I went out dancing with one night. I don't know about all guys from finland, but these ones could dance. I think european guys might in general dance more than american guys.
Last night I got into Palanga (a little bit north of where I am now) and got a room in this woman's house. She lives with her mother and father who are grandparent age. And they don't know any english, but they're really nice. When I was trying to ask how to say thank you the lady called her friend who spoke english because she thought I was trying to ask something important. They make it really hard to get to Nida (which is on the curonian spit) from Palanga. You have to take a bus to klaipeda, and then walk (or in this case take a taxi because it was pouring and we had no map) to the ferry dock. But that ferry place had moved so we had to go somewhere else. And then you have to walk into town (3km) and get a bus that goes down the island. Fortunatly I met some nice dutch guys making the taxi part easier and the rest more laughable.
So this spit is kind of barrier islandish, except much bigger and spanning two countries. And between the spit and the mainland is freshwater, not brackish water. You can take this hike up in the dunes so that you have a view of the lagoon and the balitic sea at the same time. It's pretty awesome. This should be longer but I need to go catch the bus so I can do that whole thing in reverse now. Oh, my hair is really short now.
Monday, July 18, 2005
and there was much rejoicing
Tallinn, Estonia
The new harry potter has arrived! And although I may have missed the potter parties at home, I found it in a bookstore here and umm finished it last night at about 2 in the morning. I was reading it in this bar/cafe that's kind of in the town hall and on the main square. I think I might have looked kind of funny with my beer and harry potter, but I had a great time. And there were a bunch of drunk britts singing. Why don't americans sing when they get drunk?
Tallinn is great. Or at least the old town is great because I haven't really seen much else. Although Sweden and Norway were beautiful, after having lived on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for 5 days, it's nice to be where the food is cheaper meaning I can eat more exciting things like estonian pancakes...mmmm. I went to a free concert thing yesterday which featured dances of the middle ages complete with people dancing in period costumes. The last dance was so modern for it's time that it was banned by the pope which is pretty funny when you see it 400 years later.
I took a boat here from Sweden but instead of getting a bed in a cabin I decided to get a seat in the seating lounge. It was really funny to see everyone trying to sleep there. They were sprawled across seats and on the floor which kind of made it hard not to step on anyone in the dark. There were some nice german guys on the boat and one of them looked like John Lennon. He didn't know who I was talking about when I told him. His name is ingmar which I remember because it was strange and seemed very viking like or something. We were the only ones on deck at two in the morning when you could still see the sunset.
The new harry potter has arrived! And although I may have missed the potter parties at home, I found it in a bookstore here and umm finished it last night at about 2 in the morning. I was reading it in this bar/cafe that's kind of in the town hall and on the main square. I think I might have looked kind of funny with my beer and harry potter, but I had a great time. And there were a bunch of drunk britts singing. Why don't americans sing when they get drunk?
Tallinn is great. Or at least the old town is great because I haven't really seen much else. Although Sweden and Norway were beautiful, after having lived on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for 5 days, it's nice to be where the food is cheaper meaning I can eat more exciting things like estonian pancakes...mmmm. I went to a free concert thing yesterday which featured dances of the middle ages complete with people dancing in period costumes. The last dance was so modern for it's time that it was banned by the pope which is pretty funny when you see it 400 years later.
I took a boat here from Sweden but instead of getting a bed in a cabin I decided to get a seat in the seating lounge. It was really funny to see everyone trying to sleep there. They were sprawled across seats and on the floor which kind of made it hard not to step on anyone in the dark. There were some nice german guys on the boat and one of them looked like John Lennon. He didn't know who I was talking about when I told him. His name is ingmar which I remember because it was strange and seemed very viking like or something. We were the only ones on deck at two in the morning when you could still see the sunset.
Thursday, July 14, 2005
fjords anyone?
Stockholm, Sweden
While it may look like I've been in Sweden since I last wrote I actually did go to Norway. For some reason, I guess because they are printed on flat paper I always think that a country is going to be flat until proven otherwise. Norway is definatly not flat. I stayed with a family friend in Oslo and got to see cool things like the Nobel Peace Prize museam and the Munch (he was a famous norwegian artist) museam. I had no idea that the nobel peace prize is awarded by a committe of Norwegians. The rest of the nobel prizes are decided on by Swedes, but Nobel decided since at the time of his death they were in some kind of alliance he shouldn't let Norway feel left out.
The train ride from Oslo to Bergen which is on the west coast was absolutely amazing. It goes through many mountains, litterally through with lots of tunnels as well as through in a not quite so litteral sense. The highest point was at this town called Finse, and there's a glacier up there. I took a detour and went on the Flåm railway which has the steepest grade of any railroad in the world. It manages to be even more spectacular than the normal rail route. And it goes by this huge waterfall. They even stop the train so everyone can pile out and get misted. They have fake ruins and a fake nymph up on the rocks though which is just kind of stupid. But there's more...a boat ride on pieces of two fjords and then a bus ride that went from the valley where the fjord was up the steepest mountain road I think a bus could possibly get up. And according to the package that this came as, that is norway in a nutshell.
Bergen is a super cute town. There's a fish market where if you look longingly at it they might give you free samples of salmon and smoked whale. Yes there is commercial whaling in Norway, but they tell me they only hunt two species and that it's very highly regulated. There's also a row of wooden houses from the middle ages that are very tilty and cool to walk around. The town or maybe city is surrounded by mountains and so I went hiking one day with this Aussie girl named Teresa. We kind of hiked longer than we meant to and we were at it for about seven and a half hours. So when we got around this big long ridge we had been hiking along we took the cable car down. Fortunatly the fog came up right then so I didn't have to see down the 642 meters.
While it may look like I've been in Sweden since I last wrote I actually did go to Norway. For some reason, I guess because they are printed on flat paper I always think that a country is going to be flat until proven otherwise. Norway is definatly not flat. I stayed with a family friend in Oslo and got to see cool things like the Nobel Peace Prize museam and the Munch (he was a famous norwegian artist) museam. I had no idea that the nobel peace prize is awarded by a committe of Norwegians. The rest of the nobel prizes are decided on by Swedes, but Nobel decided since at the time of his death they were in some kind of alliance he shouldn't let Norway feel left out.
The train ride from Oslo to Bergen which is on the west coast was absolutely amazing. It goes through many mountains, litterally through with lots of tunnels as well as through in a not quite so litteral sense. The highest point was at this town called Finse, and there's a glacier up there. I took a detour and went on the Flåm railway which has the steepest grade of any railroad in the world. It manages to be even more spectacular than the normal rail route. And it goes by this huge waterfall. They even stop the train so everyone can pile out and get misted. They have fake ruins and a fake nymph up on the rocks though which is just kind of stupid. But there's more...a boat ride on pieces of two fjords and then a bus ride that went from the valley where the fjord was up the steepest mountain road I think a bus could possibly get up. And according to the package that this came as, that is norway in a nutshell.
Bergen is a super cute town. There's a fish market where if you look longingly at it they might give you free samples of salmon and smoked whale. Yes there is commercial whaling in Norway, but they tell me they only hunt two species and that it's very highly regulated. There's also a row of wooden houses from the middle ages that are very tilty and cool to walk around. The town or maybe city is surrounded by mountains and so I went hiking one day with this Aussie girl named Teresa. We kind of hiked longer than we meant to and we were at it for about seven and a half hours. So when we got around this big long ridge we had been hiking along we took the cable car down. Fortunatly the fog came up right then so I didn't have to see down the 642 meters.
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
the library
Gothenburg, Sweden
I think my family is currently in a plane over the Atlantic ocean. Think good flying thoughts for them. The kidnapping of my brother was a lot of fun and he was very good natured about the whole thing. I'm not sure if he's had any vegetables for a week though, unless you count french fries. And according to the USDA they do count as vegetables...scary.
Berlin. Berlin was a good place to go, although if we had been there a few days later we could have gone to the live8 concert which would have been awesome. We stayed at David's cozy little backpacker's hostel which is a great place. Ian found one guy there to play magic with and another guy that he played a million games (okay, maybe not that many) of backgammon with. The guy working there is Greek and he yelled at me (and most of the people there) for not visiting greece. Maybe next time.
There are many amazing memorials in Berlin but one of them made me cry. I don't remember the exact name but it's something to the extent of a memorial to all the vicitims of tyrany and injustice. It's in a building that used to be used by the Prussian military and now it is just an open room with a statue of a mother holding her dead son. And below the statue are buried together the remains of an unknown concentration camp victim and an unknown nazi soldier. And over the statue is a hole in the ceiling so that if it snows outside it snows inside too.
Copenhagen. I love Tivoli!! And look at that name backwards now and see what it says. It's this amusment park built sometime in the 1800s by the king for the citizen of the city. And it has rides, but they are mostly cute and the most amazing gardens and fountains. At dusk when all the little lights go on it's like a fairy land or something. It's better than all those magical worlds I imagined. Words just really aren't describing this well enough. Just go see it. And wow do they have a lot of bikes there. The bike lanes are wider than roads in some other cities I think. And beware of confusing the sidewalk and bike lanes because that would be bad. I only confused them once. At the entrance to the harbor they have windmills!! Yay for windmills!
I'd just like to share that of the countries where I've been to the doctor I think Sweden is winning for cure achieved (and cute doctors). However Italy does have a strong point in it's favor as they have yet to make me pay anything. There were pigeons flying through their hospital though.
I'm not really sure what there is to see in Gothenburg. There is a really big super nice public library with free internet access. Guess where I am. This is my second day here, I've just kind of been hiding. Ocassionally I feel it's necessary to take a few days to hide. But don't worry I'll be back out again soon and I'm going to Norway to take a look at Slartybartfast's creations...the fjords!
I think my family is currently in a plane over the Atlantic ocean. Think good flying thoughts for them. The kidnapping of my brother was a lot of fun and he was very good natured about the whole thing. I'm not sure if he's had any vegetables for a week though, unless you count french fries. And according to the USDA they do count as vegetables...scary.
Berlin. Berlin was a good place to go, although if we had been there a few days later we could have gone to the live8 concert which would have been awesome. We stayed at David's cozy little backpacker's hostel which is a great place. Ian found one guy there to play magic with and another guy that he played a million games (okay, maybe not that many) of backgammon with. The guy working there is Greek and he yelled at me (and most of the people there) for not visiting greece. Maybe next time.
There are many amazing memorials in Berlin but one of them made me cry. I don't remember the exact name but it's something to the extent of a memorial to all the vicitims of tyrany and injustice. It's in a building that used to be used by the Prussian military and now it is just an open room with a statue of a mother holding her dead son. And below the statue are buried together the remains of an unknown concentration camp victim and an unknown nazi soldier. And over the statue is a hole in the ceiling so that if it snows outside it snows inside too.
Copenhagen. I love Tivoli!! And look at that name backwards now and see what it says. It's this amusment park built sometime in the 1800s by the king for the citizen of the city. And it has rides, but they are mostly cute and the most amazing gardens and fountains. At dusk when all the little lights go on it's like a fairy land or something. It's better than all those magical worlds I imagined. Words just really aren't describing this well enough. Just go see it. And wow do they have a lot of bikes there. The bike lanes are wider than roads in some other cities I think. And beware of confusing the sidewalk and bike lanes because that would be bad. I only confused them once. At the entrance to the harbor they have windmills!! Yay for windmills!
I'd just like to share that of the countries where I've been to the doctor I think Sweden is winning for cure achieved (and cute doctors). However Italy does have a strong point in it's favor as they have yet to make me pay anything. There were pigeons flying through their hospital though.
I'm not really sure what there is to see in Gothenburg. There is a really big super nice public library with free internet access. Guess where I am. This is my second day here, I've just kind of been hiding. Ocassionally I feel it's necessary to take a few days to hide. But don't worry I'll be back out again soon and I'm going to Norway to take a look at Slartybartfast's creations...the fjords!
Sunday, June 26, 2005
sliding down waterfalls
Vienna, Austria
So since I've written we were in Slovenia. The population of the entire country is only 2 million people, and the entire country is full of the julian alps. It is a very cute country though. So a couple of days ago we went white water rafting which was fun but not as exciting as it could have been because the water was low. So my crazy brother heard about canyoning and decided that he wanted to go and that I had to go with him.
Canyoning invloves hiking which is actually more like climbing up to the start on very steep river banks, sometimes pulling yourself up by ropes or holding on to cables so as not to fall. The outfit for canyoning is a full wet suit, including shoes and gloves, a helmet, and a diaper type thing to make it easier to slide without tearing the wet suit. At the start you go in the water and walk, slide and jump down to where you left your vehicle. The first slide involved sitting down and going butt first down a waterfall. In case I'm not describing very well this means that you can't see where you are going. Then there was the walk up onto the bank and jump into a pool...jumps of several meters or more. The crazyiest thing was the last waterfall - 10m tall. That's over 30 feet, or about a 3 story building. And I went down it. If you don't know I'm afraid of heights. I have no idea how I did it. No idea what made me do it. I can't even believe I really did it. There was time on the way down for a very long and loud "oh shit" which I finished with a few seconds to spare before I hit the water. Wow
Now we're in Viena. Last night we went to this big festival down by the Danube. As Ian said, "I can't believe I came all this way just to go to the state fair." I have to say that it was cooler than the state fair though. And of course it was in german and there were copious amounts of beer being drunk. And I didn't have any of the beer, but I have to say that it's probobly better than beer they would have at the north carolina state fair. And at night they had the most amazing fireworks. Yay fireworks.
So I'm actually supposed to be deciding if I'm going to work at the Edinburgh fringe theater festival but I'm writing to procrastinate. Some things never change. What to do, what to do?
So since I've written we were in Slovenia. The population of the entire country is only 2 million people, and the entire country is full of the julian alps. It is a very cute country though. So a couple of days ago we went white water rafting which was fun but not as exciting as it could have been because the water was low. So my crazy brother heard about canyoning and decided that he wanted to go and that I had to go with him.
Canyoning invloves hiking which is actually more like climbing up to the start on very steep river banks, sometimes pulling yourself up by ropes or holding on to cables so as not to fall. The outfit for canyoning is a full wet suit, including shoes and gloves, a helmet, and a diaper type thing to make it easier to slide without tearing the wet suit. At the start you go in the water and walk, slide and jump down to where you left your vehicle. The first slide involved sitting down and going butt first down a waterfall. In case I'm not describing very well this means that you can't see where you are going. Then there was the walk up onto the bank and jump into a pool...jumps of several meters or more. The crazyiest thing was the last waterfall - 10m tall. That's over 30 feet, or about a 3 story building. And I went down it. If you don't know I'm afraid of heights. I have no idea how I did it. No idea what made me do it. I can't even believe I really did it. There was time on the way down for a very long and loud "oh shit" which I finished with a few seconds to spare before I hit the water. Wow
Now we're in Viena. Last night we went to this big festival down by the Danube. As Ian said, "I can't believe I came all this way just to go to the state fair." I have to say that it was cooler than the state fair though. And of course it was in german and there were copious amounts of beer being drunk. And I didn't have any of the beer, but I have to say that it's probobly better than beer they would have at the north carolina state fair. And at night they had the most amazing fireworks. Yay fireworks.
So I'm actually supposed to be deciding if I'm going to work at the Edinburgh fringe theater festival but I'm writing to procrastinate. Some things never change. What to do, what to do?
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
I love looking out the window
Dubrovnik, Croatia
So poor william is sick and the rest of my family decided to stay with him in the adorable little island town of trogir. Which I want to say as trogdor. So this morning I got up before 6 (groan) and went to the bus station to catch a bus to debrovnik. It was supposed to be about four and a half hours but ended up being six. Which means that litterally half of my day today will be spent in transit. But that transit has been glorious so far when I could manage to stay awake. The coast of croatia is absolutely amazing!!! I don't think words could possibly do it justice. Mountains going straight down into clear blue water with few houses at all. And I even got to go through Bosnia and Hertzigovina (forgive my spelling if it's bad) for about half an hour.
Dubrovnik is possibly the most amazing city ever. It's completely walled and then it's surrounded by this amazing water. There are hordes of tourists on the main streets, but if you just turn down a little street it's like a different place. I love taking pictures of the streets and then the laundry hanging out to dry. Which means that later on you can look at a whole lot of pictures like that.
There are no cars in the old city which is great! That's probobly because the streets are too narrow and because there are stairs, so it's not necessarily because they don't want them, but it still makes me happy. I really must go find food now before I fall apart. Oh, they have tiramisu ice cream here!
So poor william is sick and the rest of my family decided to stay with him in the adorable little island town of trogir. Which I want to say as trogdor. So this morning I got up before 6 (groan) and went to the bus station to catch a bus to debrovnik. It was supposed to be about four and a half hours but ended up being six. Which means that litterally half of my day today will be spent in transit. But that transit has been glorious so far when I could manage to stay awake. The coast of croatia is absolutely amazing!!! I don't think words could possibly do it justice. Mountains going straight down into clear blue water with few houses at all. And I even got to go through Bosnia and Hertzigovina (forgive my spelling if it's bad) for about half an hour.
Dubrovnik is possibly the most amazing city ever. It's completely walled and then it's surrounded by this amazing water. There are hordes of tourists on the main streets, but if you just turn down a little street it's like a different place. I love taking pictures of the streets and then the laundry hanging out to dry. Which means that later on you can look at a whole lot of pictures like that.
There are no cars in the old city which is great! That's probobly because the streets are too narrow and because there are stairs, so it's not necessarily because they don't want them, but it still makes me happy. I really must go find food now before I fall apart. Oh, they have tiramisu ice cream here!
Sunday, June 19, 2005
driving down the road
Zagreb, Croatia
So we've rented a silver fiat "economy" station wagon for our travels. I'm not sure what would happen to me if I went a summer without a driving trip in a station wagon with my family. This one isn't red, but it's still a station wagon. It has a sun roof but we have yet to figure out how to make it open, so I don't suppose that really counts.
Saturday in Zagreb is market day and they have a huge market in one of the main squares with lots of fruits and vegetables, flowers, cheese, nuts, baskets, clothing, and probobly more things that we didn't see. I haven't seen so many people out in a city just walking around since maybe Istanbul. It seems much more alive than most of the places I've been to recently. It makes me happy. They also have lots of cafes which makes William happy. Coffee places do not serve food here. For breakfast they have coffee in the coffee bar and then go across the street to the bakery to get a pastry. Or you get the pastry first and bring it to eat with your coffee. But they have a very high per capita bakery number I think.
They have a church here called St. Catherine's Church. They spell it differently though, but it was still exciting being a Katherine and all. It's a very baroque church with pink walls with fancy white raised plaster designs over the pink and lots of paintings and decoration everywhere. There is also no crucifix in the church.
Speaking of decoration the Hungarians have taken ceiling decoration to a new level. Instead of just decorating the inside they decorate the outside too! There are lots of buildings in Budapest with designs in the tile and some of them are very impressive. They also have lots of animals or faces on the sides of their buildings.
So we've rented a silver fiat "economy" station wagon for our travels. I'm not sure what would happen to me if I went a summer without a driving trip in a station wagon with my family. This one isn't red, but it's still a station wagon. It has a sun roof but we have yet to figure out how to make it open, so I don't suppose that really counts.
Saturday in Zagreb is market day and they have a huge market in one of the main squares with lots of fruits and vegetables, flowers, cheese, nuts, baskets, clothing, and probobly more things that we didn't see. I haven't seen so many people out in a city just walking around since maybe Istanbul. It seems much more alive than most of the places I've been to recently. It makes me happy. They also have lots of cafes which makes William happy. Coffee places do not serve food here. For breakfast they have coffee in the coffee bar and then go across the street to the bakery to get a pastry. Or you get the pastry first and bring it to eat with your coffee. But they have a very high per capita bakery number I think.
They have a church here called St. Catherine's Church. They spell it differently though, but it was still exciting being a Katherine and all. It's a very baroque church with pink walls with fancy white raised plaster designs over the pink and lots of paintings and decoration everywhere. There is also no crucifix in the church.
Speaking of decoration the Hungarians have taken ceiling decoration to a new level. Instead of just decorating the inside they decorate the outside too! There are lots of buildings in Budapest with designs in the tile and some of them are very impressive. They also have lots of animals or faces on the sides of their buildings.
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