This Saturday was my first week-end staying up here at Koç. I went with my flatmate, Ayşe, to Anadolu Kavağı. We took the boat from Sarıyer to cross the Bosphorus- just about 10 minutes. We climbed steps, pass fish restaurants to the ruins of a Byzantine fortress. The view is superb- clear view of the Black sea and lots of large and small boats traversing the Bosphorus.
We had a delicious fish lunch at a restaurant on top of the hill. The wood-burning stove felt great. Ayşe insisted on buying me a very nice blue glass disk - a symbol to ward off the evil eye- which is in most Turkish homes. We wandered around the village, had 25 min to wait for the boat, so went to have more tea. When we returned to the ferry landing we were told the next ferry was in 2 hours! We missed the boat by 5 minutes. We had enough tea, but it was rather cold. I suggested we return to the store where we purchased the present and wait there.
The owner was happy to see us. He works as an engineer in Russia for 6 mos of the year. He thinks Putin is doing a great job. When I mentioned that I thought corrupt oligarchs control the country, he said after a year of getting the state companies, the rich have to pay 35% tax and this is distributed to the poor.
Then things got more interesting. This guy was happy with Obama. He then said Jews didn't vote for Obama because he was Black and they thought he was Muslim. I corrected him on that. Then Ayşe and him claimed that the US is supporting the PKK (the Kurdish separatist group.) I chimed in that I didn't think that was correct because Turkey is a strategic ally for the US. He said the US woke up to Turkey only after they were turning toward Russia. Then he asked why the US didn't get a peace deal in Palestine. I asked him to what period was he referring. I said things are complicated- the Palestinian Authority is fıghting Hamas. (little did I know that at that moment Israel was bombing Gaza.) Then the guy said- why is Hamas considered a terrorist organization and the PKK is not?
We moved on to 9/11. Ayşe, a post-doc in chemical engineering, said that perhaps the US was behind the bombing of the WTC. There were 4000 Jews in the building and they did not die. A plane crashed into the Pentagon, but that was planned because it didn't do so much damage. Needless to say I told her she was incorrect. She said it was reported in the news. Sightings from extraterrestrial beings are also reported in the paper was my response.
They then asked if I think there was an Armenian genocide. I felt uncomfortable even though I was asking this same question to Turks. I said yes. Ayşe said, "we lived with the Armenians for 600 years. Why didn't we massacre them during this period?" (I was thinking- the Serbs and Bosnians didn't massacre each other when they were under the iron fist of Tito.) Then she said- "They say 1.5M were massacred. But, I am from that region. There were not that many Armenians in the area." They both said it was war time. People naturally defend their homes and people. There were atrocities on both sides. Archives must be open and "objective" historians need to review the material. They insist that the Armenians are not open to reviewing the Turkish documents. They agreed that the Germans committed a genocide on the Jews. Then they said the Germans never admitted this and that they did these atrocities because of Hitler. I again corrected them on this score!
We touched on the American Indian massacres, killing Iraqi civilians and WWII. Of course we parted friends and again putting our hopes for a better world on Obama.
We caught the ferry this time. Back in Sarıyer for my last time, we went to the pudding shop where they serve a special cream pudding with rose water and sugar. Then on to the best borek shop where the man ceremoniously raises his cleaver to cut the cheese pastry.
As I write on Sunday, I have just returned from Kilyos, a small town on the Black Sea. It is a holiday resort for Turks- quite a few hotels and lots of restaurants with big lawns and picnic tables. I dipped my toe into the sea and then walked up to the point. Reminded me of the headlands north of San Francisco. Windy, quiet, abandoned - hearty plants clinging to the rock cliffs. Unfortunately Turks have a very undeveloped sense of the environment. There was litter everywhere. Lots of abandoned property on this beautiful coast and most of the structures standing were quite ugly.
I leave Koç now and head to the city center- Asian side. I am staying in Istanbul for my final week. I contemplated going to the Black Sea coast- east of here. But, it's raining here and that area is the rainiest in the country!
I hope you all are enjoying your time off. Hopefully I will do some final postings before I leave on Saturday. Tomorrow I am talking to some H.S. students in Üskadar- a little recruiting for Emory.
Saturday 27 December 2008
Final Party
December 26 was my last day at Koç. The library staff and I shared a mutual feeling- I felt like part of the staff, it was so natural to be there, it seemed impossible that my time was ending. The day before Didar (the library director) and I met with the provost. He is the man that made this adventure happen. He was at GA Tech for 9+ years so I gave him a painting of Hot Atlanta. He mentioned how he tried in the past to establish a relationship with Emory and nothing happended. I said I would report back on my positive experience and hopefully we could make things happen this time. He requested a short report from me.
I took Mithat, my office mate, up to the clock tower for tea. This is the jewel of the campus. Robin- you would love this room. It's like a large sun room, Ottoman style. Upholstered benches, marble fountain in the middle, delicate china in recessed shelves and 2 walls of windows looking out onto the Black Sea.
Due to the economıic crisis, the big faculty and staff party at the Koç museum was cancelled. Our party was in the staff area of the library- tables set up in horseshoe with a XMAS tree in the middle and presents underneath. The cleaning staff were given huge presents (I didn't see the contents) and then left. One cleaning woman stayed as the waitress and ate by herself. I thought this was reminiscent of the South in the 60s.
I lit the menorah before we sat down and briefly explained the origins of Chanukah. Figured this was a first of Koç library. Different people lit the 6 candles. Didar then mentioned how much they enjoyed and benefitted from my visit. She gave me a bag of presents.
The dinner was catered by a local restaurant and featured a whole turkey and wine.
We all bought a present for 20 lira. Each present was labeled with a number and then numbers were drawn from a hat. If my present was selected, I was next to draw a number. Everyone seemed to enjoy the process- scarves and various tea mugs were the prevalent presents. After taking a smoking break, people lingered and helped clean up. Everyone seemed to enjoy the evening.
I took Mithat, my office mate, up to the clock tower for tea. This is the jewel of the campus. Robin- you would love this room. It's like a large sun room, Ottoman style. Upholstered benches, marble fountain in the middle, delicate china in recessed shelves and 2 walls of windows looking out onto the Black Sea.
Due to the economıic crisis, the big faculty and staff party at the Koç museum was cancelled. Our party was in the staff area of the library- tables set up in horseshoe with a XMAS tree in the middle and presents underneath. The cleaning staff were given huge presents (I didn't see the contents) and then left. One cleaning woman stayed as the waitress and ate by herself. I thought this was reminiscent of the South in the 60s.
I lit the menorah before we sat down and briefly explained the origins of Chanukah. Figured this was a first of Koç library. Different people lit the 6 candles. Didar then mentioned how much they enjoyed and benefitted from my visit. She gave me a bag of presents.
The dinner was catered by a local restaurant and featured a whole turkey and wine.
We all bought a present for 20 lira. Each present was labeled with a number and then numbers were drawn from a hat. If my present was selected, I was next to draw a number. Everyone seemed to enjoy the process- scarves and various tea mugs were the prevalent presents. After taking a smoking break, people lingered and helped clean up. Everyone seemed to enjoy the evening.
Thursday 25 December 2008
Excursions to other libraries
İstanbul Ticaret Odası
December 3 Gurbet, Mithat (the 2 new Koç business librarians) and I were scheduled to visit ITO. We researched the ferry schedule in order to avoid the horrific traffic and settled on our meeting time. Then Gurbet informed us that the library director had arranged a driver for us. I said let's take the ferry anyway, but Gurbet said that wasn't an option now. (the driver then just waited all day for us to finish our meeting...so much for Turkish productivity)
It was very boring when the librarians started out by explaining their thesaurus terms. Gurbet had to translate because the librarian would not speak English. I was there to learn about ITO- what I thought was the Istanbul Trade Organization. I asked to speak with a researcher and when I proceeded to ask about how they support businesses who want to import to Turkey, I learned that we were at the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce, who just support local businesses! They produce a lot of sector reports on the major industries such as textiles, automobiles and agriculture. So if you want to know how many red apples are grown on the Black Sea coast - this is your address.
They invited us for lunch. Gurbet hesitated, thinking we needed to be back at work. I said I will take responsibility for the decision- we're staying for lunch! Most places of employment provide lunch. The food is basically the same, it just varies whether or not there are waiters and tablecloths.
Our host warmed up when we visited their publications department and started talking English. He was very generous and gave me a cd of traditional music, Istanbul guidebook and more. Then he proudly gave me a paperback book and explained to all that this was written by the first prime minister of the independent Armenian Republic. The intro states: "this is a full fledged documentary ...historical document..entire facts about the 1915 Armenian issue. It is a silent cry against the unfounded Armenian genocide claims made by Armenia and in particular the Armenian Diaspora with the purpose of embarrassing the Republic of Turkey..." This opinion is in sharp contrast to the 200 Turkish intellectuals that apologized on Dec. 15 for the Armenian ethnic cleansing.
Sabancı University
Mithat, Gurburt and I visited the rival university on 18.12.08. About 3 families control Turkey, Koç and Sabancı being 2 of them. Sabancı is located on the Asian side- quite remote from the center of activity. The campus is not as pretty as Koç, but it has some nice architecture. I felt like a visiting dignitary from the EU when we arrived! Librarians greeted us at the door and ushered us into the Director's office. He was a bit obnoxious saying how much better they were than Koç, listing all their firsts.
The librarians gave powerpoint presentations of all their services. Their mission: Access vs. Ownership." So they want other libraries to purchase the materials and they will just borrow!They have a proprietary database of Ottoman Culture images - some from the Topkapi Palace. Students are given free laptops so very few computers in the library. Library staff does more manual labor than us- clipping articles, etc.- we are more automated.
I was blown away by the MBA Director who came straight from the hospital to deliver his talk. His first child was born the previous night- talk about dedication to your work!! Sabancı,like Koç, is a new school so they are very proud of their accomplishments.
Freshmen are required to be involved in a civic project. This is not for credit, 40 hrs in the semester, work as a group, a significant percent continue with their project after fulfilling the requirement.
They were very proud to show the stats of how they attract the top students. Turkey has a very antiquated education system. High School graduates take an exam and depending on their grade, get placed in a university. Students must list 20 preferences- specific university and major- their scores determine their placement. University is free, but there are few good public schools. Koç and Sabancı are private, they provide scholarships for the top students. Some rich students attend Engish, German, Italian or French private hıgh schools where they acquire very good education. Most universities offer a year of preparatory English. Sabancı is unique in allowing students to choose their major in the 2nd yr.
CAFE- Center for Applied Finance Education has a simulated trading floor- real-time date from Istanbul stock exchange, Bloomberg and Reuters terminals- to support teaching and research. This is the only trading floor in the Middle East, except for the one in Israel. It started in June 2008- 25-50 M dollars to set up. Most interested in energy trading.
Turkey strives to be an international player, but now they are a regional actor in the Middle East and E. Europe. Turkish companies are now investing in Russia, E. Europe, Romania, Ukraine and Egypt. Challenge for companies in this region to find competent management. Sabancı wants to attract students from these countries.
It was great to learn that Sabancı has signed on the the UN Global Compact. They have committed to integrating principles of human rights, anti-corruption, labor and environmental issues into their curriculum. "By doing so, business, as a primary agent driving globalization, can help ensure that markets, commerce, technology and finance advance in ways that benefit economies and societies everywhere." Seems like more US companies need to get on this bandwagon.
SINAİ KALKINMA BANKASI
23.12.08 we visited the TKSB- the Industrial Development Bank of Turkey. It is a private investment and development bank whose mission is to grow investment in Turkey and the surrounding region. The researchers and economists create sector reports, mainly in the areas of textiles, banking, energy, automobiles, education, health, paint, metals, mining, scientific fibers, transportation, logistics, renewable energy, meat, poultry and tourism. The librarian reads 13 newspapers daily and scans relevant articles into a database. This is something we did 30 yrs ago, but Turkish newspapers are not in a database so users cannot easily conduct their own research. The World Bank helped create the library. They don't have databases, mostly purchase paper reports.
They are proud to be the first Turkish Bank to obtain an ISO 14001 environment certification. "TSKB has been involved in important environment related activities in Turkey through the loans extended for the projection of the enviroment as well as the loans provided for investmentsin renewable energy."
I asked to speak with a researcher and was pleased that an Economist came down. This man was very smart and knew well the global economic scene. They track US, China and then Europe. Of course he knew that Nouriel Roubini (a Turk) at Stern was most correct with his predictions on the economic crisis. He said Turkey is in recession now and they predict negative growth for '09. They are in the worst position since 2001, when they experienced a macroeconomic crisis. The World Bank took over and reformed the banking system. Turkey does not have a direct exposure to the mortgage crisis because they only started offering mortgages in 2004 and they have a 5-7 yr maturity. They'e waiting to see what kind of government intervention Obama will take. He thinks the entire financial architecture must be restructered. He noted how Hyman Minsky was right. He proceeded to give us a short history of the mortgage crisis. If there is going to be a short recession, we should see positive signs by April- watch commodities- oil should rise. If this doesn't happen world economy could recover in 2010.
Of course they took us to lunch and our driver joined us.
December 3 Gurbet, Mithat (the 2 new Koç business librarians) and I were scheduled to visit ITO. We researched the ferry schedule in order to avoid the horrific traffic and settled on our meeting time. Then Gurbet informed us that the library director had arranged a driver for us. I said let's take the ferry anyway, but Gurbet said that wasn't an option now. (the driver then just waited all day for us to finish our meeting...so much for Turkish productivity)
It was very boring when the librarians started out by explaining their thesaurus terms. Gurbet had to translate because the librarian would not speak English. I was there to learn about ITO- what I thought was the Istanbul Trade Organization. I asked to speak with a researcher and when I proceeded to ask about how they support businesses who want to import to Turkey, I learned that we were at the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce, who just support local businesses! They produce a lot of sector reports on the major industries such as textiles, automobiles and agriculture. So if you want to know how many red apples are grown on the Black Sea coast - this is your address.
They invited us for lunch. Gurbet hesitated, thinking we needed to be back at work. I said I will take responsibility for the decision- we're staying for lunch! Most places of employment provide lunch. The food is basically the same, it just varies whether or not there are waiters and tablecloths.
Our host warmed up when we visited their publications department and started talking English. He was very generous and gave me a cd of traditional music, Istanbul guidebook and more. Then he proudly gave me a paperback book and explained to all that this was written by the first prime minister of the independent Armenian Republic. The intro states: "this is a full fledged documentary ...historical document..entire facts about the 1915 Armenian issue. It is a silent cry against the unfounded Armenian genocide claims made by Armenia and in particular the Armenian Diaspora with the purpose of embarrassing the Republic of Turkey..." This opinion is in sharp contrast to the 200 Turkish intellectuals that apologized on Dec. 15 for the Armenian ethnic cleansing.
Sabancı University
Mithat, Gurburt and I visited the rival university on 18.12.08. About 3 families control Turkey, Koç and Sabancı being 2 of them. Sabancı is located on the Asian side- quite remote from the center of activity. The campus is not as pretty as Koç, but it has some nice architecture. I felt like a visiting dignitary from the EU when we arrived! Librarians greeted us at the door and ushered us into the Director's office. He was a bit obnoxious saying how much better they were than Koç, listing all their firsts.
The librarians gave powerpoint presentations of all their services. Their mission: Access vs. Ownership." So they want other libraries to purchase the materials and they will just borrow!They have a proprietary database of Ottoman Culture images - some from the Topkapi Palace. Students are given free laptops so very few computers in the library. Library staff does more manual labor than us- clipping articles, etc.- we are more automated.
I was blown away by the MBA Director who came straight from the hospital to deliver his talk. His first child was born the previous night- talk about dedication to your work!! Sabancı,like Koç, is a new school so they are very proud of their accomplishments.
Freshmen are required to be involved in a civic project. This is not for credit, 40 hrs in the semester, work as a group, a significant percent continue with their project after fulfilling the requirement.
They were very proud to show the stats of how they attract the top students. Turkey has a very antiquated education system. High School graduates take an exam and depending on their grade, get placed in a university. Students must list 20 preferences- specific university and major- their scores determine their placement. University is free, but there are few good public schools. Koç and Sabancı are private, they provide scholarships for the top students. Some rich students attend Engish, German, Italian or French private hıgh schools where they acquire very good education. Most universities offer a year of preparatory English. Sabancı is unique in allowing students to choose their major in the 2nd yr.
CAFE- Center for Applied Finance Education has a simulated trading floor- real-time date from Istanbul stock exchange, Bloomberg and Reuters terminals- to support teaching and research. This is the only trading floor in the Middle East, except for the one in Israel. It started in June 2008- 25-50 M dollars to set up. Most interested in energy trading.
Turkey strives to be an international player, but now they are a regional actor in the Middle East and E. Europe. Turkish companies are now investing in Russia, E. Europe, Romania, Ukraine and Egypt. Challenge for companies in this region to find competent management. Sabancı wants to attract students from these countries.
It was great to learn that Sabancı has signed on the the UN Global Compact. They have committed to integrating principles of human rights, anti-corruption, labor and environmental issues into their curriculum. "By doing so, business, as a primary agent driving globalization, can help ensure that markets, commerce, technology and finance advance in ways that benefit economies and societies everywhere." Seems like more US companies need to get on this bandwagon.
SINAİ KALKINMA BANKASI
23.12.08 we visited the TKSB- the Industrial Development Bank of Turkey. It is a private investment and development bank whose mission is to grow investment in Turkey and the surrounding region. The researchers and economists create sector reports, mainly in the areas of textiles, banking, energy, automobiles, education, health, paint, metals, mining, scientific fibers, transportation, logistics, renewable energy, meat, poultry and tourism. The librarian reads 13 newspapers daily and scans relevant articles into a database. This is something we did 30 yrs ago, but Turkish newspapers are not in a database so users cannot easily conduct their own research. The World Bank helped create the library. They don't have databases, mostly purchase paper reports.
They are proud to be the first Turkish Bank to obtain an ISO 14001 environment certification. "TSKB has been involved in important environment related activities in Turkey through the loans extended for the projection of the enviroment as well as the loans provided for investmentsin renewable energy."
I asked to speak with a researcher and was pleased that an Economist came down. This man was very smart and knew well the global economic scene. They track US, China and then Europe. Of course he knew that Nouriel Roubini (a Turk) at Stern was most correct with his predictions on the economic crisis. He said Turkey is in recession now and they predict negative growth for '09. They are in the worst position since 2001, when they experienced a macroeconomic crisis. The World Bank took over and reformed the banking system. Turkey does not have a direct exposure to the mortgage crisis because they only started offering mortgages in 2004 and they have a 5-7 yr maturity. They'e waiting to see what kind of government intervention Obama will take. He thinks the entire financial architecture must be restructered. He noted how Hyman Minsky was right. He proceeded to give us a short history of the mortgage crisis. If there is going to be a short recession, we should see positive signs by April- watch commodities- oil should rise. If this doesn't happen world economy could recover in 2010.
Of course they took us to lunch and our driver joined us.
December 25
I was interested in doing some recruiting for Emory, mainly to have an opportunity to meet another demographic- high school students. Scott Allen at Emory gave me the name of 4 schools he recruits from. I called Üsküdar Amerikan Lisesi and the college advisor knew Emory well and was happy to arrange a time for me to meet with the students. Before I knew it, Tara sent me an invitation to her Open House on XMAS eve. Last night I met a delightful group of people, mostly teachers at her school. One was close to retirement and looking for an adventure for 2 years. Another woman fell in love with Turkey and claims she wouldn't live anywhere else. I have a date with a friendly Australian woman for drinks New Year's eve. The neighbor upstairs invited us all to hear her daughter play piano, after serving us the best spinach boreks! A former water official from Idaho explained why you can't drink the tap water. (It is pumped from tanks on the roof that are unregulated and most likely filled with trash, cats, etc.) In Atlanta, I don't think I would travel 2 hours for an evening party, but I'm so glad I met Tara - a new friend and guide to Istanbul.
Woke up today to a dusting of snow. The sun was shining brilliantly, the roadways were a bit icy. I had my 30 min. walk to school and took some nice photos (see below.) Despite the Christmas decorations, it was a pretty normal day here. I finally met with the Provost - the man who made this all happen. He was very friendly, asked me to write up a report for him and hopes that Emory and Koç will have an ongoing relationship.
People are busy with year-end projects so my other meetings were cancelled. The Black Sea is down the street, but I had not been there yet. I hopped on a city bus and feasted on one of the most spectacular views of the Bosphorus - we were high on the cliff, passing a narrow strait and on the other side were ruins of a fortress. We rode through the Belgrade forest, thick with pine trees. Koç was built in this forest and the lawsuit, by environmentalists opposed to the construction, is still pending. We descended to the small village of Garıpçe and then climbed the hill again and headed straight down to Rumeli Feneri. Californians would be in shock to see the crumbling houses on this spectacular coast! Just your normal Turkish village with a few apartment houses in descent condition and many in a state of disrepair. There's a small marina and the ruins of a fortress. Casting your eyes to the north, you see many boats on the horizon. Big tankers make their way slowly down the Bosphorus. Large fishing boat are anchored right at the mouth of the strait. The women are conservatively dressed, all in headscarves. Not much happening in town, nevertheless there were 3 teahouses for the men to hang out in. I went to purchase some glue and only had a 50 lira bill. The proprieter replied, "sonra"- later. This man never saw me in his life, he knew I was a foreigner, yet he was telling me- just come back when you can. Then he went back to his tray of food that his wife brought him for lunch. I had time until the bus was coming so I wandered around and found change in the grocer. I think the guy was almost insulted when I returned with my one lira for the glue. He simply offered me a date from his tray.
Sunday 21 December 2008
rain and underground mosques
Saturday it was pouring rain. Luckily there was a short film festival and a festival of refugee films on Istiklal Cadessi. I met Ozge at 12 - she was an Exchange student at Emory, now studying in London. The shorts were pretty bad. Ozge partially translated a Bosnian refugee film for me. Then I saw a Palestinian film with English subtitles. It took place in Nazereth and was quite critical of the Palestinian Authority.
Sunday it was still raining. An Exchange student from Rutgers told me his Istanbul history class would be having a field trip. I asked if I could tag along - the professor agreed and they met right by my hotel. The professor is Austrian- she did her thesis on hamans (Turkish baths!) I was happy that she brought the students to the Jewish museum. Even those who grew up in Istanbul had never been there. The man who wrote the Jewish guide to Istanbul gave us an introduction. There are 4 groups of Jews in the city: 1. came after the destruction of the Temple in 70, 2. Eastern Jews - from N. Africa, 3. Russian Jews and 4. Sephardic Jews- came after expulsion from Spain in 1492.
All along the route we saw Genoese buildings. We visited churches. (Earlier in the day I entered a church and saw mostly Africans males and Asian women. It was pretty sad because you realize all these people are far from their families- ın the country just to earn a living. I talked with a Tanzinian who works on cargo boats.) The underground mosque- Yerali Cami- was the most amazing. I think it had been a Genoese prison. From here they put the chain across the Golden Horn to prevent unwanted ships from entering. Nearby was the Arap Cami- the Arab mosque- a former church of Dominican monks that was given to the Hispano Arabs. It is a miniature of the Aya Sophia.
A highlight of the field trip was lunch at Namli in Tophane - like Zabar's. Huge array of prepared foods, lots of Turkish and exported cheeseş candies and more. The professor was laid back- giving everyone enough time for a nice break.
When I returned I had a message from a Turkish man that invited me to a Chanukah celebration in Örtaköy. The consul was there. Unfortunately he only called yesterday- so I missed celebrating the first candle. Happy Chanukah to my family and friends.
Sunday it was still raining. An Exchange student from Rutgers told me his Istanbul history class would be having a field trip. I asked if I could tag along - the professor agreed and they met right by my hotel. The professor is Austrian- she did her thesis on hamans (Turkish baths!) I was happy that she brought the students to the Jewish museum. Even those who grew up in Istanbul had never been there. The man who wrote the Jewish guide to Istanbul gave us an introduction. There are 4 groups of Jews in the city: 1. came after the destruction of the Temple in 70, 2. Eastern Jews - from N. Africa, 3. Russian Jews and 4. Sephardic Jews- came after expulsion from Spain in 1492.
All along the route we saw Genoese buildings. We visited churches. (Earlier in the day I entered a church and saw mostly Africans males and Asian women. It was pretty sad because you realize all these people are far from their families- ın the country just to earn a living. I talked with a Tanzinian who works on cargo boats.) The underground mosque- Yerali Cami- was the most amazing. I think it had been a Genoese prison. From here they put the chain across the Golden Horn to prevent unwanted ships from entering. Nearby was the Arap Cami- the Arab mosque- a former church of Dominican monks that was given to the Hispano Arabs. It is a miniature of the Aya Sophia.
A highlight of the field trip was lunch at Namli in Tophane - like Zabar's. Huge array of prepared foods, lots of Turkish and exported cheeseş candies and more. The professor was laid back- giving everyone enough time for a nice break.
When I returned I had a message from a Turkish man that invited me to a Chanukah celebration in Örtaköy. The consul was there. Unfortunately he only called yesterday- so I missed celebrating the first candle. Happy Chanukah to my family and friends.
Meeting the Radical Left
Friday I had a mind-stretching day talking with some incredible individuals who are working to make Turkey a true democracy.
I took the boat from Sariyer (the town down the hill from Koç) to Besiktaş. I saw the sun rising over massive ships heading to the Black Sea. From Besiktaş I jumped on another boat to cross to the Asian side and disembarked at Üsküdar. Thanks to Professor An-Na'im at Emory Law School, I had a meeting with Recep Senturk who was a Human Rights fellow at Emory. Recep earned his PhD at Columbia in Sociology. He teaches at the Center for Islamic Studies (ISAM) and Fatih University. I could have talked with him for days, but he was preparing for a conference that evening- so I was lucky to have an hour of his time. He is an engaging man who I enjoyed speaking with from the moment I met him.
Recep is focused on the legal and moral issues of Islam and human rights. I had a crash course in Islam, learning that Islam has multiple truths. Imans in the same city can rule on issues differently. He said there is a convergence of religion and human rights. Now some minorities in Turkey are fighting for their rights, but Recep said they should be fighting with the Muslims who are advocating for human rights. The government will never give the minorities rights that the Muslim majority does not enjoy.
Recep defines a secularlist as one who is against religion. He defines himself as secular; he believes in God, but wants a separation of religion from the state. When the Turkish republic was founded, Islam was the religion of the state. In 1937, the state accepted secularism. However, secularism is not defined in Turkey. In America, we define it as a separation between church and state. In Turkey, there is some freedom of religion, some separation of religion from the state and some control over religion by the state.
Today thanks to the Internet and other media, Turks are aware of what is going on in the West. No longer can the state say - we are emulating the west in order to be progressive - and this means that religion plays no part in society. Turkey's concept of secularism does not exist anywhere in the west. 88% of Turks want freedom of religion. The EU is requiring Turkey to redefine their relationship with religion. Religion needs autonomy while the army needs less autonomy and should come under the control of the elected government.
Currently the elite in the country- those in control- the wealthy, the army, the highly educated such as university rectors, etc - do not want to enter the EU. Entrance into the EU will require them to obey the rules. Right now they are the ones who are writing the rules. They will lose their power with EU entry. I was confused because I know Koç is involved with an institute that is working on EU acceptance and supposedly I heard that the business community is pro-EU. Recep claimed that they are just playing the game, really they are not interested. The typical response I hear from many Turks is that they are receiving unfair treatment. Croatia and Romania are in worse condition than Turkey, yet they sailed through the process.
When I said to Recep - maybe Europe really doesn't want to admit 70M Muslims to their community - he responded by saying I do not expect them to love us. Protestants and Catholics do not get along - we need to be realistic and look at the broader picture. The extremists on both sides get the media attention, so those are the views that we hear.
My head was spinning as I left. Mats were being laid in the central atrium for the upcoming prayer. Recep gave me a lot to think about. Turkey is a young country undergoing many changes. I have been learning a lot of negative things about the country, but Recep gave me hope that things are moving in the right direction.
I took the boat over to the European side to meet with Surreya, the Fulbright director in Istanbul. He brought me to a Russian restaurant, but alas - this is Turkey - so the food was the same Turkish food (just the eggplant salad was yellow.) Surreya had just returned from NY so unfortunately he was telling me about the tough economic situation. He mentioned that the Fulbright program might be affected. Germany has the largest Fulbright program because the government gives 90% of the funds. Turkey is number 2, with the government providing 25% of the funds.I tried out my new ideas that I learned from Recep on Surreya. He didn't exactly agree; I think he may be a Kemalist!
Then I tried my luck with walking into a hotel to get a good rate and once again my luck held. I wanted to stay in Taksim/ Beyoğlu area. This is the center of the modern, European side. Istiklal Caddesi is a 1.5 km pedestrian shopping area. It is packed day and night. At first I thought I didn't need to be around Western shops, but the side streets are amazing and this is where all the action is.
At 5:00 I met Selma, thanks to David Montgomery at Emory. He organized the International Summer School on Religion and Public Life. Selma just started talking, as if we had been friends for years. As we waited for the bus to Bilgi University, I learned that she is finishing her masters. She is analyzing people's attitudes about being Turkish. She found her interviewees on Facebook and Yahoo Groups! Now she is really interested in making documentary films. She was in Teheran in October and would like to do a fim about everyday life in Iran, using the upcoming election as a focal point. Recently she did a bike ride for peace in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Palestine. I asked why no Israelis and she said Israelis would only be able to enter Jordan - not even Palestine. (I want to explore this more with her.)
Bilgi is like the Antioch of Istanbul- real free-thinkers. I only saw it in the dark, but it is amazing. We were on the new Santral campus. Bilgi started out in a poor neighborhood - the philosophy being that the university should be situated in needy neighborhoods and then students could work on projects to benefit the community. This new campus is situated where the Ottoman electric works were located. Now this building is an fascinating hands-on science museum. The library is just half of one floor, but the campus boasts 3 restaurants! We also visited the modern art museum which had an exhibit on 1968- photos from Germany.
Gülnaz joined us at 8- she was also at the International Summer School. She just graduated and is a dynamo of action. She is currently involved in a youth congress. I wish I had a tape recorder (and that I was 30 yrs younger!) These young women are very passionate and active about making Turkey a better place. They stated that there was an Armenian genocide, but they didn't think it was the US business to get involved in the issue. They did not think passing a resolution in the House would promote matters. They talked about Turks being complacent. Soldiers die in the East and no one - not the families, etc. ask why. We talked about the similarities between Israel and Turkey. I asked if they knew about any planned solidarity protests with Greece. Selma responded, "Turkish people are killed every month by police, but no one says anything."
Gulnaz would like to work with NGOs, but the money is not enough. She is Kurdish, first university graduate in her family. A beautiful, articulate young woman who will go far in life. As we parted I knew two new friendships had just begun to blossom.
I took the boat from Sariyer (the town down the hill from Koç) to Besiktaş. I saw the sun rising over massive ships heading to the Black Sea. From Besiktaş I jumped on another boat to cross to the Asian side and disembarked at Üsküdar. Thanks to Professor An-Na'im at Emory Law School, I had a meeting with Recep Senturk who was a Human Rights fellow at Emory. Recep earned his PhD at Columbia in Sociology. He teaches at the Center for Islamic Studies (ISAM) and Fatih University. I could have talked with him for days, but he was preparing for a conference that evening- so I was lucky to have an hour of his time. He is an engaging man who I enjoyed speaking with from the moment I met him.
Recep is focused on the legal and moral issues of Islam and human rights. I had a crash course in Islam, learning that Islam has multiple truths. Imans in the same city can rule on issues differently. He said there is a convergence of religion and human rights. Now some minorities in Turkey are fighting for their rights, but Recep said they should be fighting with the Muslims who are advocating for human rights. The government will never give the minorities rights that the Muslim majority does not enjoy.
Recep defines a secularlist as one who is against religion. He defines himself as secular; he believes in God, but wants a separation of religion from the state. When the Turkish republic was founded, Islam was the religion of the state. In 1937, the state accepted secularism. However, secularism is not defined in Turkey. In America, we define it as a separation between church and state. In Turkey, there is some freedom of religion, some separation of religion from the state and some control over religion by the state.
Today thanks to the Internet and other media, Turks are aware of what is going on in the West. No longer can the state say - we are emulating the west in order to be progressive - and this means that religion plays no part in society. Turkey's concept of secularism does not exist anywhere in the west. 88% of Turks want freedom of religion. The EU is requiring Turkey to redefine their relationship with religion. Religion needs autonomy while the army needs less autonomy and should come under the control of the elected government.
Currently the elite in the country- those in control- the wealthy, the army, the highly educated such as university rectors, etc - do not want to enter the EU. Entrance into the EU will require them to obey the rules. Right now they are the ones who are writing the rules. They will lose their power with EU entry. I was confused because I know Koç is involved with an institute that is working on EU acceptance and supposedly I heard that the business community is pro-EU. Recep claimed that they are just playing the game, really they are not interested. The typical response I hear from many Turks is that they are receiving unfair treatment. Croatia and Romania are in worse condition than Turkey, yet they sailed through the process.
When I said to Recep - maybe Europe really doesn't want to admit 70M Muslims to their community - he responded by saying I do not expect them to love us. Protestants and Catholics do not get along - we need to be realistic and look at the broader picture. The extremists on both sides get the media attention, so those are the views that we hear.
My head was spinning as I left. Mats were being laid in the central atrium for the upcoming prayer. Recep gave me a lot to think about. Turkey is a young country undergoing many changes. I have been learning a lot of negative things about the country, but Recep gave me hope that things are moving in the right direction.
I took the boat over to the European side to meet with Surreya, the Fulbright director in Istanbul. He brought me to a Russian restaurant, but alas - this is Turkey - so the food was the same Turkish food (just the eggplant salad was yellow.) Surreya had just returned from NY so unfortunately he was telling me about the tough economic situation. He mentioned that the Fulbright program might be affected. Germany has the largest Fulbright program because the government gives 90% of the funds. Turkey is number 2, with the government providing 25% of the funds.I tried out my new ideas that I learned from Recep on Surreya. He didn't exactly agree; I think he may be a Kemalist!
Then I tried my luck with walking into a hotel to get a good rate and once again my luck held. I wanted to stay in Taksim/ Beyoğlu area. This is the center of the modern, European side. Istiklal Caddesi is a 1.5 km pedestrian shopping area. It is packed day and night. At first I thought I didn't need to be around Western shops, but the side streets are amazing and this is where all the action is.
At 5:00 I met Selma, thanks to David Montgomery at Emory. He organized the International Summer School on Religion and Public Life. Selma just started talking, as if we had been friends for years. As we waited for the bus to Bilgi University, I learned that she is finishing her masters. She is analyzing people's attitudes about being Turkish. She found her interviewees on Facebook and Yahoo Groups! Now she is really interested in making documentary films. She was in Teheran in October and would like to do a fim about everyday life in Iran, using the upcoming election as a focal point. Recently she did a bike ride for peace in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Palestine. I asked why no Israelis and she said Israelis would only be able to enter Jordan - not even Palestine. (I want to explore this more with her.)
Bilgi is like the Antioch of Istanbul- real free-thinkers. I only saw it in the dark, but it is amazing. We were on the new Santral campus. Bilgi started out in a poor neighborhood - the philosophy being that the university should be situated in needy neighborhoods and then students could work on projects to benefit the community. This new campus is situated where the Ottoman electric works were located. Now this building is an fascinating hands-on science museum. The library is just half of one floor, but the campus boasts 3 restaurants! We also visited the modern art museum which had an exhibit on 1968- photos from Germany.
Gülnaz joined us at 8- she was also at the International Summer School. She just graduated and is a dynamo of action. She is currently involved in a youth congress. I wish I had a tape recorder (and that I was 30 yrs younger!) These young women are very passionate and active about making Turkey a better place. They stated that there was an Armenian genocide, but they didn't think it was the US business to get involved in the issue. They did not think passing a resolution in the House would promote matters. They talked about Turks being complacent. Soldiers die in the East and no one - not the families, etc. ask why. We talked about the similarities between Israel and Turkey. I asked if they knew about any planned solidarity protests with Greece. Selma responded, "Turkish people are killed every month by police, but no one says anything."
Gulnaz would like to work with NGOs, but the money is not enough. She is Kurdish, first university graduate in her family. A beautiful, articulate young woman who will go far in life. As we parted I knew two new friendships had just begun to blossom.
Friday 19 December 2008
Anıt Kabir
Ankara is a modern city- not a whole lot to do as a tourist. Atatürk made it the capital when he founded the republic so visiting his tomb is the main attraction in the city.
The main entrance is guarded by Hittite-style lions. Turkish history is chronicled differently, depending upon who you are talking to. Ataürk reached back to the Hittites as the direct ancestors to the Turkish people. A colonnade surrounds a massive courtyard with the mausoleum in a neoclassical temple at one end. Turks were proud to have their pictures taken at this site, some said a prayer by holding out their cupped their hands.
The museum had some battle scenes (replete with sound effects) of the Gallipoli campaign - similar to the Cyclorama in Atlanta. You get the sense of what life was like in the trenches. Further exhibits were of Atatürk's possessions- everything displayed except his underwear- including his stuffed dog.
Other exhibits documented the founding of the republic. Atatürk changed the alphabet from Arabic script to Western. He opened adult schools; officials were required to learn the new script within 3 months. Previously illiteracy was high partially due to the fact that the written language was different from the spoken language. He also changed the day off from Friday to Sunday and changed the calendar from lunar to Gregorian - all to accomodate the West. He wanted to push Turkey forward and he was emulating the West as the center of progress. I was thinking of how Israel did things quite differently - even though they were faced with similar challenges of quickly forming a state and unifying the populace. Israel revived an ancient language that no one else was speaking in the world and observed Saturday as the day of rest. (Certainly there were many differences between the founding of the State of Israel and the Republic of Turkey, but there are some interesting similarities- plenty of material for PhD theses.)
There were many oil paintings about the War of Independence, women were prominently featured. Scenes showed villagers donating linens to the war efforts and women making bullets. A scene of Greeks pillaging a town stated that they had documentary evidence that the clergy was involved- and in the background you see a priest holding up a cross.
Saturday night dined with Louise and Steve friends- a Fulbrighter from Baylor U. who is researching Atatürk's transition from military commander to politician. On the way home we passed "Abu-Ghraib Santa," as Steve pointed out- blown up Santas hung by their hands from a store's awning. (still waiting for Steve to post this video)
Sunday I visited Hasan and Elif who I had met in an Emory law class. Elif is a professor of Political Science at Ankara University and Hasan is completing his PhD. They have a cute 1 yr. old. As I discussed politics with them they told me they had voted for AKP- the current party in power, but are now disappointed with them. AKP was representing the masses, but now that they are in power, they act elitist. Hasan and Elif immediately recalled an incident where a party member had insulted the common folk- they took this as a great offense. When I asked about their "democracy" Hasan responded by saying- "what kind of democracy do you have with just 40% or so of the people voting?" I would have loved to talked with him longer and take notes as we talk...I'm struggling now to remember all he said. He is a thoughtful, introspective young man. I look forward to corresponding with him as more issues come up. Elif was interested in having the Fulbrighter scholar come talk to her class.
Sunday evening we dined with a couple (he's British and she works for the Italian embassy) and their French neighbors. Luckily a fresh shipment of Italian wine had just arrived from the embassy. Sebastian, the French neighbor, works for the United Nations Development Program on designing a new police program for Turkey, to comply with EU standards. I would have loved to hear more details- he just said they will have some successes- not all of their recommendations will be implemented. When I mentioned this to my flatmate, she was not as impressed as me. She said- didn't you hear the news....she thought the EU was close to dissolving because Ireland had vetoed something. Turks often bring up their unfair treatment compared to Croatia and Romania. They resent the fact that they are forced to jump through many hoops. They think they are in a better position than many E. European countries and the EU simply does not really want to admit Turkey.
Monday all planes were delayed for 3+ hours due to heavy fog. Didn't get to work at 2, as planned. Arrived home about 6.
The main entrance is guarded by Hittite-style lions. Turkish history is chronicled differently, depending upon who you are talking to. Ataürk reached back to the Hittites as the direct ancestors to the Turkish people. A colonnade surrounds a massive courtyard with the mausoleum in a neoclassical temple at one end. Turks were proud to have their pictures taken at this site, some said a prayer by holding out their cupped their hands.
The museum had some battle scenes (replete with sound effects) of the Gallipoli campaign - similar to the Cyclorama in Atlanta. You get the sense of what life was like in the trenches. Further exhibits were of Atatürk's possessions- everything displayed except his underwear- including his stuffed dog.
Other exhibits documented the founding of the republic. Atatürk changed the alphabet from Arabic script to Western. He opened adult schools; officials were required to learn the new script within 3 months. Previously illiteracy was high partially due to the fact that the written language was different from the spoken language. He also changed the day off from Friday to Sunday and changed the calendar from lunar to Gregorian - all to accomodate the West. He wanted to push Turkey forward and he was emulating the West as the center of progress. I was thinking of how Israel did things quite differently - even though they were faced with similar challenges of quickly forming a state and unifying the populace. Israel revived an ancient language that no one else was speaking in the world and observed Saturday as the day of rest. (Certainly there were many differences between the founding of the State of Israel and the Republic of Turkey, but there are some interesting similarities- plenty of material for PhD theses.)
There were many oil paintings about the War of Independence, women were prominently featured. Scenes showed villagers donating linens to the war efforts and women making bullets. A scene of Greeks pillaging a town stated that they had documentary evidence that the clergy was involved- and in the background you see a priest holding up a cross.
Saturday night dined with Louise and Steve friends- a Fulbrighter from Baylor U. who is researching Atatürk's transition from military commander to politician. On the way home we passed "Abu-Ghraib Santa," as Steve pointed out- blown up Santas hung by their hands from a store's awning. (still waiting for Steve to post this video)
Sunday I visited Hasan and Elif who I had met in an Emory law class. Elif is a professor of Political Science at Ankara University and Hasan is completing his PhD. They have a cute 1 yr. old. As I discussed politics with them they told me they had voted for AKP- the current party in power, but are now disappointed with them. AKP was representing the masses, but now that they are in power, they act elitist. Hasan and Elif immediately recalled an incident where a party member had insulted the common folk- they took this as a great offense. When I asked about their "democracy" Hasan responded by saying- "what kind of democracy do you have with just 40% or so of the people voting?" I would have loved to talked with him longer and take notes as we talk...I'm struggling now to remember all he said. He is a thoughtful, introspective young man. I look forward to corresponding with him as more issues come up. Elif was interested in having the Fulbrighter scholar come talk to her class.
Sunday evening we dined with a couple (he's British and she works for the Italian embassy) and their French neighbors. Luckily a fresh shipment of Italian wine had just arrived from the embassy. Sebastian, the French neighbor, works for the United Nations Development Program on designing a new police program for Turkey, to comply with EU standards. I would have loved to hear more details- he just said they will have some successes- not all of their recommendations will be implemented. When I mentioned this to my flatmate, she was not as impressed as me. She said- didn't you hear the news....she thought the EU was close to dissolving because Ireland had vetoed something. Turks often bring up their unfair treatment compared to Croatia and Romania. They resent the fact that they are forced to jump through many hoops. They think they are in a better position than many E. European countries and the EU simply does not really want to admit Turkey.
Monday all planes were delayed for 3+ hours due to heavy fog. Didn't get to work at 2, as planned. Arrived home about 6.
Tuesday 16 December 2008
On to Ankara
When I went to the bus company to purchase my ticket for Ankara, I attempted to ask for an early bus. The clerk nodded and wrote down 10. That was too late so I went to the next company and they had a bus leaving at 9, but the clerk was rather obnoxious, so I went back to the first place. I asked again; a customer in line also tried to help out with the transaction. Then the clerk called her colleague who got on the phone with me and explained that indeed there was a 9:00 bus and I was being assigned seat #10! I then realized what the other customer was doing- he was crouching down and bouncing - attempting to illustrate a seat! On the ticket your gender is indicated so unaccompanied men and women do not sit together.
I hit the jackpot on Thursday- in seat #9 was a young English teacher. Tuba answered all the stored up questions I had such as- why is that group of people in the bus station throwing that young man up in the air and why does he have 6 pacifiers around his neck? Turns out the extended family was giving their son a grand send-off to the army; the pacifiers were just a joke.
Before we got to the outskirts of town I asked Tuba about the scarf issue. She said that as a public school teacher she cannot wear a scarf. Women who wear scarves must take them off as they enter. When I asked why she did not wear a scarf, she took my dictionary and looked up the word tolerance. "We have a tolerant religion. I can pray and fast, but it is my decision to wear the scarf." She said people just accept the fact that the scarf can't be worn, they play by the rules. I mentioned to her that in Israel there are public religious and public secular schools. She was impressed. But when I mentioned then that the 2 communities lead very separate lives, she did not think that was good. She said her best friend wears a scarf, there is no separation between the groups.
Her school is applying for grants so they can have an exchange program with another school for a few weeks. She thinks it's ımportant that the children learn about another culture. School is compulsory until 8th grade. Students who can afford it pay for heating the school. Money is collected for students who cannot afford the uniforms.
Riding buses is really a trip. Smoking is prohibited, unless the driver is sticking his cigarette out the window. A young man first dispenses water, then your choice of a hot drink, then coffee cake, then handiwıpes, then hand sanitizer. What could be more fun! There's a rest break- really a smoking break.
Like many Turkish people, Tuba hadn't traveled much in her country. During her summer break, they go back to her father's village and help with the cherry harvest. He is there for 2 months, as she explained to me the key to delicious cherries is the timing of the watering.
At the Ankara bus station we exchanged emails and parted. She had come to visit her boyfriend. I was visiting Louise and Steve from Atlanta. Louise is on a Fulbright for 9 mos. at Ankara University hospital. She is a doctor working with the elderly.
They have a big apartment with a great view of the city and its notorious pollution. They could intercept communications from the mammoth 10 story+ green Russian embassy. And of course there is a huge skelton of a massive hotel that has been empty for 18 years. (Half built buildings is a common site all over Turkey.) Louise brought me to the old section of the city. Not much was happening in this sleepy backwater town until Atatürk decided to make it the capital. Now there are lots of government agencies and embassies in this city of 4 million. We climbed around the old Roman walls.
Friday we went with a group of Fulbrighters to Beypazari - just a 1 1/2 hour bus ride from the city. It is a delightful town with some restored Ottoman houses. The lower story is stone and the upper 2 stories are wood-framed filled with mud adobe. It sprawls across a number of hills. Lots of vendors plying their wares. They famous for carrots, weaving and even pasta! Lots of Turks come from Ankara to enjoy the village.
I wandered around up into the neighborhoods to see women roasting animal heads in small courtyard fires. They greet me with "welcome" and willingly consent to photos. Then for some reason they point to their fingers - ınquiring where my wedding ring is. One Ottoman restored mansion is a museum where you can try to art of marbelized painting. You drop paint into rose water- stir it around, like you are making a marble cake, place a sheet of paper on top of the water and then extract it by pulling it over the edge of the pan. My creation wasn't so great so I purchased a picture lying on the shelf. They were also demonstrating the shadow puppets. Louise had molten lead poured on top of her head to extract the evil spirits. When I inquired if anyone spoke English, a woman rushed over to the cupboard and pulled out a script that she read to me about the museum. Turns out she was reading phonectically- the first few sentences made sense. It was heart warming to witness her efforts.
In a linen shop, I asked the proprietor if she was the weaver. This plump woman then rushed over to her loom and demonstrated her craft. When I was ready to buy some pita in the street, the woman motioned me up the alley where I entered a dark hovel to see 2 women baking the pita in a wood oven. I bought fresh pasta and what I thought was tomato sauce for dinner (turns out it was paste.) The town has a lovely mosque with a wooden ceiling- quite unique. The women wear large patterned scarves as shawls. Next post- sights in Ankara.
I hit the jackpot on Thursday- in seat #9 was a young English teacher. Tuba answered all the stored up questions I had such as- why is that group of people in the bus station throwing that young man up in the air and why does he have 6 pacifiers around his neck? Turns out the extended family was giving their son a grand send-off to the army; the pacifiers were just a joke.
Before we got to the outskirts of town I asked Tuba about the scarf issue. She said that as a public school teacher she cannot wear a scarf. Women who wear scarves must take them off as they enter. When I asked why she did not wear a scarf, she took my dictionary and looked up the word tolerance. "We have a tolerant religion. I can pray and fast, but it is my decision to wear the scarf." She said people just accept the fact that the scarf can't be worn, they play by the rules. I mentioned to her that in Israel there are public religious and public secular schools. She was impressed. But when I mentioned then that the 2 communities lead very separate lives, she did not think that was good. She said her best friend wears a scarf, there is no separation between the groups.
Her school is applying for grants so they can have an exchange program with another school for a few weeks. She thinks it's ımportant that the children learn about another culture. School is compulsory until 8th grade. Students who can afford it pay for heating the school. Money is collected for students who cannot afford the uniforms.
Riding buses is really a trip. Smoking is prohibited, unless the driver is sticking his cigarette out the window. A young man first dispenses water, then your choice of a hot drink, then coffee cake, then handiwıpes, then hand sanitizer. What could be more fun! There's a rest break- really a smoking break.
Like many Turkish people, Tuba hadn't traveled much in her country. During her summer break, they go back to her father's village and help with the cherry harvest. He is there for 2 months, as she explained to me the key to delicious cherries is the timing of the watering.
At the Ankara bus station we exchanged emails and parted. She had come to visit her boyfriend. I was visiting Louise and Steve from Atlanta. Louise is on a Fulbright for 9 mos. at Ankara University hospital. She is a doctor working with the elderly.
They have a big apartment with a great view of the city and its notorious pollution. They could intercept communications from the mammoth 10 story+ green Russian embassy. And of course there is a huge skelton of a massive hotel that has been empty for 18 years. (Half built buildings is a common site all over Turkey.) Louise brought me to the old section of the city. Not much was happening in this sleepy backwater town until Atatürk decided to make it the capital. Now there are lots of government agencies and embassies in this city of 4 million. We climbed around the old Roman walls.
Friday we went with a group of Fulbrighters to Beypazari - just a 1 1/2 hour bus ride from the city. It is a delightful town with some restored Ottoman houses. The lower story is stone and the upper 2 stories are wood-framed filled with mud adobe. It sprawls across a number of hills. Lots of vendors plying their wares. They famous for carrots, weaving and even pasta! Lots of Turks come from Ankara to enjoy the village.
I wandered around up into the neighborhoods to see women roasting animal heads in small courtyard fires. They greet me with "welcome" and willingly consent to photos. Then for some reason they point to their fingers - ınquiring where my wedding ring is. One Ottoman restored mansion is a museum where you can try to art of marbelized painting. You drop paint into rose water- stir it around, like you are making a marble cake, place a sheet of paper on top of the water and then extract it by pulling it over the edge of the pan. My creation wasn't so great so I purchased a picture lying on the shelf. They were also demonstrating the shadow puppets. Louise had molten lead poured on top of her head to extract the evil spirits. When I inquired if anyone spoke English, a woman rushed over to the cupboard and pulled out a script that she read to me about the museum. Turns out she was reading phonectically- the first few sentences made sense. It was heart warming to witness her efforts.
In a linen shop, I asked the proprietor if she was the weaver. This plump woman then rushed over to her loom and demonstrated her craft. When I was ready to buy some pita in the street, the woman motioned me up the alley where I entered a dark hovel to see 2 women baking the pita in a wood oven. I bought fresh pasta and what I thought was tomato sauce for dinner (turns out it was paste.) The town has a lovely mosque with a wooden ceiling- quite unique. The women wear large patterned scarves as shawls. Next post- sights in Ankara.
Monday 15 December 2008
Konya - the land of Dervishes
On the bus to Konya I thought maybe I had made the right decision because it was alternating snow and rain. Lots of trucks piled high with sugar beets.
Decided to try out the advice of my Canadian friends. I ignored my reservation for 80 lira. (they said the hotels in the guidebook are double- just look for something nearby.) I walked around to 3 hotels to see what deal I could get. I got a room in a rather new hotel one block from the Mevlana Center for 40 lira. He showed me a room on the 2nd floor, but I preferred the room on the 4th floor. When I returned after 5 pm and noted there was no heat, he explained that there were no guests on the 4th floor so they turned the heat off. The technician was gone for the holiday so they could not turn it on now. It was about 30 degrees with just a dusting of snow. Why he didn't mention the no heat situation when I considered the 4th floor- I do not know.
Konya is the focus of Sufic mystical practice and teaching. It is a place of pilgrimage for the whole Muslim world. Konya is the adopted home of Celaleddin Rumi, better known as Mevlana (our master,) the Sufic mystic who founded the Whirling Dervish sect. Supposedly it is a very conservative city. December 10-17 is a big celebration because Mevlana died on 12/17. I thought the place would be real crowded.
There was not a lot to do in the city. I visited the Mevlana museum on Wednesday. It used to be a medrasha, but the government shut down Dervish lodges after the founding of the state. I would think this would be of concern to the more religious Muslims. The museum consists of quite a few tombs, cases of sacred texts and other artifacts of the Dervish life. I thought a lot of foreigners who were into this mystic cult would be hanging around, but no such luck.
As usual, I headed out to the market. A lot was closed because of Bayrum. I did find the section where they blow torch the heads of animals. Later I learned that if you add lemon and potato you have a delicious soup! There was a special section of the bazaar just for cell phones. They also sell loose tobacco and roll cigarettes.
In the evening the place to be was the Mevlana Cultural Center- a huge new complex. This week they were having the Whirling Dervishes dance performances every night. The place seats over a thousand in a round auditorium with a pitched roof- like a big circus tent. The guidebook said the dervishes weren't practicing - they were just paid performers - so I couldn't get into the solemnity that they tried to convey. The next night I went to a film at the center about the period of 1789 when the Sultan asked the French to set up an army. A Dervish was involved so it was interesting to see how life was depicted in the lodges during this period. The funniest part of the film was I thought I heard the call to prayer during the film, but alas it was just the ringtone of a woman's cell!
There were lots of vendors selling pictures, musical intruments and other Dervish-related materials.
I enjoyed just wandering around the city- most tourists seemed to be Turks enjoying Bayrum. Seemed natural that all the women wore scarves and long coats. I always felt comfortable walking around, even late in the evening. Wednesday morning walked around for 1/2 hr. looking for coffee. The place was so quiet- even at 8 am, these Turks know how to relax and enjoy their holidays! No luck, had to settle for the nescafe and powdered milk at the hotel.
Decided to try out the advice of my Canadian friends. I ignored my reservation for 80 lira. (they said the hotels in the guidebook are double- just look for something nearby.) I walked around to 3 hotels to see what deal I could get. I got a room in a rather new hotel one block from the Mevlana Center for 40 lira. He showed me a room on the 2nd floor, but I preferred the room on the 4th floor. When I returned after 5 pm and noted there was no heat, he explained that there were no guests on the 4th floor so they turned the heat off. The technician was gone for the holiday so they could not turn it on now. It was about 30 degrees with just a dusting of snow. Why he didn't mention the no heat situation when I considered the 4th floor- I do not know.
Konya is the focus of Sufic mystical practice and teaching. It is a place of pilgrimage for the whole Muslim world. Konya is the adopted home of Celaleddin Rumi, better known as Mevlana (our master,) the Sufic mystic who founded the Whirling Dervish sect. Supposedly it is a very conservative city. December 10-17 is a big celebration because Mevlana died on 12/17. I thought the place would be real crowded.
There was not a lot to do in the city. I visited the Mevlana museum on Wednesday. It used to be a medrasha, but the government shut down Dervish lodges after the founding of the state. I would think this would be of concern to the more religious Muslims. The museum consists of quite a few tombs, cases of sacred texts and other artifacts of the Dervish life. I thought a lot of foreigners who were into this mystic cult would be hanging around, but no such luck.
As usual, I headed out to the market. A lot was closed because of Bayrum. I did find the section where they blow torch the heads of animals. Later I learned that if you add lemon and potato you have a delicious soup! There was a special section of the bazaar just for cell phones. They also sell loose tobacco and roll cigarettes.
In the evening the place to be was the Mevlana Cultural Center- a huge new complex. This week they were having the Whirling Dervishes dance performances every night. The place seats over a thousand in a round auditorium with a pitched roof- like a big circus tent. The guidebook said the dervishes weren't practicing - they were just paid performers - so I couldn't get into the solemnity that they tried to convey. The next night I went to a film at the center about the period of 1789 when the Sultan asked the French to set up an army. A Dervish was involved so it was interesting to see how life was depicted in the lodges during this period. The funniest part of the film was I thought I heard the call to prayer during the film, but alas it was just the ringtone of a woman's cell!
There were lots of vendors selling pictures, musical intruments and other Dervish-related materials.
I enjoyed just wandering around the city- most tourists seemed to be Turks enjoying Bayrum. Seemed natural that all the women wore scarves and long coats. I always felt comfortable walking around, even late in the evening. Wednesday morning walked around for 1/2 hr. looking for coffee. The place was so quiet- even at 8 am, these Turks know how to relax and enjoy their holidays! No luck, had to settle for the nescafe and powdered milk at the hotel.
Saturday 13 December 2008
Guzelyurt in the fog
We arrived in Guzelyurt about 3:30. Halil continued to present options to me- he could bring me to Selime in the valley where he knows the pension owner or..... But, we checked out the pension where I had made a reservation. A family had added a few rooms to their home for guests. He said he felt comfortable leaving me with the family- so this is where I should stay.
Unlike the description in the guidebook, the room was OK- extra mattress stored behind the couch, broken TV and shower head just stuck in the bathroom wall did'nt add too much to the ambiance, but I had a beautiful view. The town features Monastery Valley - dotted with ancient churches. I left for a quick walk before dark.
Guzelyurt was far from the big city lights - a village untouched by modernity. Think of the big cliffs on the Palasaides Parkway - and then picture a window with a light inside and people living up there. Well, that's what I saw. It was fun to greet people with "Iyi Bayramlar" which means happy holidays. Of course I stuck out with my red wool hat - as opposed to a scarf- but smiles broke out in response to my greeting. A small boy took my hand and kissed it and raised it to his forehead. I was so touched (but, also pondered that he viewed me as his elder!)
The guidebook noted that I would be dining with the family. When the 10th grader knocked on my door to announce dinner at 6, I entered to see the table set for one! I ate as members of the family sat around and watched. They make bread on top of the stove - again a type of delicious thick pita. Water was served in a clay jug with a doily on top. The yogurt soup was good, the veggies too spicey.
I would have loved to have chatted with the family, but even the 10th grader's English was very limited, so I caught up on 5 days of "Democracy Now" on my iPod.
Up at 6:40- I had requested dinner at 7. The mother was waiting for me. I knew not to ask for coffee! The weather wasn't great, but I took off anyway for Monastary Valley again. The fog was extremely thick- you couldn't see 20 feet ahead. The path had some signs for the ancient churches. I found the first one, couldn't fınd the next two. Greeted one man on the path and he was incredulous as to what I was doing out in such weather. In the back of my mind I heard David saying, 'Lee, you should turn back.' So I headed back to the village. A tractor stopped to pick me off and I climbed on- just for Mike Froman- adding a tractor to my mode of transportation. He lowered his hitch and I held on carefully as we bumped along over the big cobblestones.
I then asked an elderly man about a bus and he pointed out the bus schedule. I decided to take the next bus out in 30 minutes. I felt bad leaving early, but I had no idea whether the weather would improve or not.
When I got to Aksaray I decided to head to Konya because I had no idea what the weather would be like in the Ihlara Valley. I was sorry to miss the opportunity to see the valley, but I had to make a decision.
Unlike the description in the guidebook, the room was OK- extra mattress stored behind the couch, broken TV and shower head just stuck in the bathroom wall did'nt add too much to the ambiance, but I had a beautiful view. The town features Monastery Valley - dotted with ancient churches. I left for a quick walk before dark.
Guzelyurt was far from the big city lights - a village untouched by modernity. Think of the big cliffs on the Palasaides Parkway - and then picture a window with a light inside and people living up there. Well, that's what I saw. It was fun to greet people with "Iyi Bayramlar" which means happy holidays. Of course I stuck out with my red wool hat - as opposed to a scarf- but smiles broke out in response to my greeting. A small boy took my hand and kissed it and raised it to his forehead. I was so touched (but, also pondered that he viewed me as his elder!)
The guidebook noted that I would be dining with the family. When the 10th grader knocked on my door to announce dinner at 6, I entered to see the table set for one! I ate as members of the family sat around and watched. They make bread on top of the stove - again a type of delicious thick pita. Water was served in a clay jug with a doily on top. The yogurt soup was good, the veggies too spicey.
I would have loved to have chatted with the family, but even the 10th grader's English was very limited, so I caught up on 5 days of "Democracy Now" on my iPod.
Up at 6:40- I had requested dinner at 7. The mother was waiting for me. I knew not to ask for coffee! The weather wasn't great, but I took off anyway for Monastary Valley again. The fog was extremely thick- you couldn't see 20 feet ahead. The path had some signs for the ancient churches. I found the first one, couldn't fınd the next two. Greeted one man on the path and he was incredulous as to what I was doing out in such weather. In the back of my mind I heard David saying, 'Lee, you should turn back.' So I headed back to the village. A tractor stopped to pick me off and I climbed on- just for Mike Froman- adding a tractor to my mode of transportation. He lowered his hitch and I held on carefully as we bumped along over the big cobblestones.
I then asked an elderly man about a bus and he pointed out the bus schedule. I decided to take the next bus out in 30 minutes. I felt bad leaving early, but I had no idea whether the weather would improve or not.
When I got to Aksaray I decided to head to Konya because I had no idea what the weather would be like in the Ihlara Valley. I was sorry to miss the opportunity to see the valley, but I had to make a decision.
The Sacrifice
Monday, December 8 was the first day of Bayram- the day of the sacrifice. I actually met a Fulbrighter at the Consul's home who is researching the sounds and smells of sacrifices during Roman times. I mentioned that they were perhaps similar to the sacrifices of the Jews. Her response, "Yes, they were similar to what the Jews were and are doing with sacrifices." I said - EXCUSE ME.... we are not sacrificing now. Oh, she said - you don't sacrifice the Pascal Lamb? Nope, I said - no temple - no sacrifice.
Hmmmm....seems like some "scholars" need to get out of their ivory towers sometimes and learn about something other than their narrow thesis!
I arrived at Halil's home at 10; the butcher was scheduled to arrive at 11. Some relatives arrived- the young kiss the elders' hand and then bring it up to touch their forehead. We were served raisins and nuts. I smiled and wished my Turkish was better.
The butcher arrived early, then the men went down below where the cow, donkey and sheep were stabled. I took pictures of them all pulling out the cow and tying its feet. I'll stop now with the description - I did not look. The grandmother was holding the little kids to the side. I wandered back into the yard - too much groaning of the cow and then a small red river flowed down the hill. The butcher and assistant were served a meal. It took about 2 hours for the family to cut up the meat- it then looked like a butcher shop. Up to 7 people can share a cow. Most people are sacrificing lambs. All over the country there were pens set up for people to select their animal. The US of A has XMAS tree stands on every corner, here they have tents with various livestock for your choosing.
The tradition is they donate a 1/3 of the meat to the poor. Later I learned that you can leave the skins by the curb for Turkish Airlines pick-up! They in turn sell the skins and donate the money to the poor. On TV the next day they showed various groups going to poor neighborhoods with coats for the kids and other donations. Children were also visiting nursing homes. My colleague said she was rather replused by the killing of animals so she asks her friends for donations and send the money to her cousin who is a teacher in the impoverhished east. He then purchased school supplies for the students.
While Halil and parents were cutting the meat, his friend and I walkd to town and saw the big rock. Now there are cute wine cafes in the caves. The town was pretty much shut down - as was much of the country. In the yard of Halil's home are caves that they use to store fruits, cheese and pickled veggies. His friend is in the cave storage business - lemons are stored in the caves and shipped all over the country. Halil would like to build a pension in the rock formations in his backyard, but he requires UNESCO approval.
They had gone to the mosque at 7:30 then had a festive breakfast. So at 12, he made just me lunch before we took off for the valley. His sister would come later and they would feast on the meat.
Halil picked up his friend for the ride which was just about an hour. On buses, I would have traveled 4 hours! My colleague Gurburt had lived in the region and had insisted that I spend a day in Guzelhurt and a day in the Ilhara Valley. So I was merely following instructions!
Hmmmm....seems like some "scholars" need to get out of their ivory towers sometimes and learn about something other than their narrow thesis!
I arrived at Halil's home at 10; the butcher was scheduled to arrive at 11. Some relatives arrived- the young kiss the elders' hand and then bring it up to touch their forehead. We were served raisins and nuts. I smiled and wished my Turkish was better.
The butcher arrived early, then the men went down below where the cow, donkey and sheep were stabled. I took pictures of them all pulling out the cow and tying its feet. I'll stop now with the description - I did not look. The grandmother was holding the little kids to the side. I wandered back into the yard - too much groaning of the cow and then a small red river flowed down the hill. The butcher and assistant were served a meal. It took about 2 hours for the family to cut up the meat- it then looked like a butcher shop. Up to 7 people can share a cow. Most people are sacrificing lambs. All over the country there were pens set up for people to select their animal. The US of A has XMAS tree stands on every corner, here they have tents with various livestock for your choosing.
The tradition is they donate a 1/3 of the meat to the poor. Later I learned that you can leave the skins by the curb for Turkish Airlines pick-up! They in turn sell the skins and donate the money to the poor. On TV the next day they showed various groups going to poor neighborhoods with coats for the kids and other donations. Children were also visiting nursing homes. My colleague said she was rather replused by the killing of animals so she asks her friends for donations and send the money to her cousin who is a teacher in the impoverhished east. He then purchased school supplies for the students.
While Halil and parents were cutting the meat, his friend and I walkd to town and saw the big rock. Now there are cute wine cafes in the caves. The town was pretty much shut down - as was much of the country. In the yard of Halil's home are caves that they use to store fruits, cheese and pickled veggies. His friend is in the cave storage business - lemons are stored in the caves and shipped all over the country. Halil would like to build a pension in the rock formations in his backyard, but he requires UNESCO approval.
They had gone to the mosque at 7:30 then had a festive breakfast. So at 12, he made just me lunch before we took off for the valley. His sister would come later and they would feast on the meat.
Halil picked up his friend for the ride which was just about an hour. On buses, I would have traveled 4 hours! My colleague Gurburt had lived in the region and had insisted that I spend a day in Guzelhurt and a day in the Ilhara Valley. So I was merely following instructions!
My Father's Sense of Direction
I'm in Ankara visiting Louise and Steve. They're from Atlanta' Louise is on a Fulbright for 9 mos. Now I'll tell you about my holiday adventures.
Kurban Bayram is a 4 day holiday- celebrating the sacrifice of Ismail. Because this year is Mon-Thurs- the whole country is pretty much taking off for 9 days!
I flew on Friday south to Kirsehir. The Turks beat the Israelis- they were taking their luggage from the overhead bins before the plane landed. Turkish Airlines is in better financial state than Delta- they serve great sandwiches on a 55 min. flight.
Had no idea where to go from the airport- so I just said Urgup- my destination and people tell me to follow them. Turns out there's an airport bus to Neveshir' the closest town. Then another person takes over my care from there- a nice young man who knew English walked me for many blocks to my bus stop.
Neveshir bombards me with new sights and smells. The woman are wearing baggy flowered pants and scarves edged with lace. Lots of new breads. Urgrup is a nice small town, my hotel was a 15 min. walk from the center. Pretty nice hotel thanks to a travel agent who works with Emory, but it caters to tour groups with their own buses.
Took off for the open air museum in Goreme. The entire region of Cappadocia is an UNESCO World Heritage site. It is a magical landscape formed by volcanoes. The ash and mud created the region's raw material- tuff. This soft stone, formed by compressed volcanic ash, has been worked on ever since by processes of erosion to form valleys and fairy chimney rock formations. Of course I thought it looked like a Disney set. What is amazing is that Christians fleeing the Romans lived in caves in this area. The Open Air Museum is a concentrated area of these cones where caves were carved out and the Christians created many churches. There are amazing frescos- some with dark reds still visible. Unfortunately many have been vandalized- lots of graffiti.
I then walked to Goreme and checked out the different hiking options listed in my guide book. Sort of felt confused and a little disoriented. The rather obnoxious tour guides didn't add to my sense of joy being in this much touted magical space. But little did I know what lay ahead...
Saturday hitched a ride back to Goreme with the hot air balloon company. He dropped me right at the trailhead to walk to Uchisar. Guidebook said it was a straight shot and the cafe owner just lifted his arm and pointed straight. Supposedly walk was 1 1/2 hrs. Saw one sign. Of course I came to junctions - chose one path until it ended in a locked gate. Retraced my steps and then took the other fork. Did this 3 times. Thought how Joe could have found the path through the valley, but I had no such luck. So after about an hour retraced my steps back to Goreme, determined to take the bus to Uchisar. As I was waiting for the bus, my ears are always tuned to hearing another language. I asked this couple if they spoke English and EUREKA - I hit the jackpot! Thanks to the fact that I inherited my father's sense of direction and not my mother's- I could not find my way to Uchisar, so I was fortunate to meet Becky and Scott- Canadians biking across the world!!! Not using airplanes. From them I learned about couchsurfing.com and warmshowers.org- a wonderful way to meet adventurous people.
They were heading to Derinkuyu, the underground city. The guy at the hotel on a tour said you couldn't go alone, you would get lost. The guidebook did not say you needed a tour, but with my sense of direction, I thought it best not to go alone (David- are you happy?!) So I asked if I could join them. We had a great time, I immediately felt very comfortable with them, the conversation flowed easily about our Turkish experiences and about their travels.
In Derinkuyu there was a great outdoor market- hard to break away from the many photo ops. The day is short- dark at 4:30, so we headed to the underground city.
Some of these underground settlements accomodated 30,000 people- a total of 40 settlements have been discovered. These date back to Hittite times, most recently used by Christian communities. 7 floors have been excavated, we could visit 5. Lots of tunnels and staircases. Luckily not too many tour groups so we didn't have to wait too much for groups to ascend before we descended. Just empty rooms to see- Scott and Becky wanted to explore every nook and crany- they had head lamps so we could see a lot.
Next took bus to Uchisar to climb the rock/castle, riddled with caves and tunnels which once housed the entire village. The guidebook says the caves are abandoned, but satellite dishes are perched in strategic positions! It's mesmerizing where people live. Some are in the caves, some use the rock as one wall of their abode and build out. I could clearly see the path through the valley that I was suppose to enjoy in the morning- Scott was really wanting to walk back in the dark, luckily Becky wasn't too enthusiastic about that idea.
Uchisar is frequented by French tourists so we went in search of a French restaurant. My luck- Becky shares one of my passions- checking out luxury hotels. We had a tour of Cappadocia Caves Hotel- standard room starts at 300 euro. Gorgeous rooms cascading down the hills. The spa has a snow and salt rooms. The restaurant features a sushi bar, so guess who pays the bills!
Buses stop about 5 pm. Scott wanted to walk the 6 km in the dark to Goreme. Luckily he agreed for 10 min. to try to hitch a ride. I had been having very good luck with hitching, so my luck held and we caught a ride. We had a delightful dinner with Cappadocia wine. Then they brought me to my junction and we tried again for a ride. They were going to call their hotel manager to arrange a ride for me, but I was confident I could find and ride....little did I know what awaited...
As they stood to the side, a car stopped and the yound man said he's bring me to the main road where I could catch a bus every 20 min. At first I hestitated, then jumped in. Halil is a tour guide in French. So I did my best to remember my H.S. French. When we got the the junction he said, "If you have time, you can come to my parents for dinner and then I will bring you to your hotel." Little did he know my entire night was free!
Halil lives in Ortahisar- a small village near Urgup- also has a fortress-like 86 metre high rock that once housed the entire village. His mother was in traditional dress- baggy flowered pants and headscarf. They quickly set the coffee table for dinner. The mother bakes the thick pita bread in an outdoor oven. We feasted on soup, salad, veggies and bread. Halil is a university graduate and a licensed tour guide in the region. There is no work during the five winter months. He plans to take a Spanish course to expand his tour options. Dinner was brief. Then the father put on his coat and left, probably heading to the local tea/backgammon joint.
Halil brought me to Urgup to check out options to get to the Ilhara valley to the west. He called his friend who runs tours - I could have just paid for the transportation, but they were headed to the underground city. Then as he drove me to the hotel, he kept giving me more options. (David should have been there to warn him- I have a hard time with too many options because I like to explore all of them before I decide.) During dinner he mentioned that they would be sacrificing their cow for Bayram tomorrow and I was invited. Of course that is what I really wanted so see so the plan was I'd come to his house and then he would drive me to the valley and I'd pay for gas.
Kurban Bayram is a 4 day holiday- celebrating the sacrifice of Ismail. Because this year is Mon-Thurs- the whole country is pretty much taking off for 9 days!
I flew on Friday south to Kirsehir. The Turks beat the Israelis- they were taking their luggage from the overhead bins before the plane landed. Turkish Airlines is in better financial state than Delta- they serve great sandwiches on a 55 min. flight.
Had no idea where to go from the airport- so I just said Urgup- my destination and people tell me to follow them. Turns out there's an airport bus to Neveshir' the closest town. Then another person takes over my care from there- a nice young man who knew English walked me for many blocks to my bus stop.
Neveshir bombards me with new sights and smells. The woman are wearing baggy flowered pants and scarves edged with lace. Lots of new breads. Urgrup is a nice small town, my hotel was a 15 min. walk from the center. Pretty nice hotel thanks to a travel agent who works with Emory, but it caters to tour groups with their own buses.
Took off for the open air museum in Goreme. The entire region of Cappadocia is an UNESCO World Heritage site. It is a magical landscape formed by volcanoes. The ash and mud created the region's raw material- tuff. This soft stone, formed by compressed volcanic ash, has been worked on ever since by processes of erosion to form valleys and fairy chimney rock formations. Of course I thought it looked like a Disney set. What is amazing is that Christians fleeing the Romans lived in caves in this area. The Open Air Museum is a concentrated area of these cones where caves were carved out and the Christians created many churches. There are amazing frescos- some with dark reds still visible. Unfortunately many have been vandalized- lots of graffiti.
I then walked to Goreme and checked out the different hiking options listed in my guide book. Sort of felt confused and a little disoriented. The rather obnoxious tour guides didn't add to my sense of joy being in this much touted magical space. But little did I know what lay ahead...
Saturday hitched a ride back to Goreme with the hot air balloon company. He dropped me right at the trailhead to walk to Uchisar. Guidebook said it was a straight shot and the cafe owner just lifted his arm and pointed straight. Supposedly walk was 1 1/2 hrs. Saw one sign. Of course I came to junctions - chose one path until it ended in a locked gate. Retraced my steps and then took the other fork. Did this 3 times. Thought how Joe could have found the path through the valley, but I had no such luck. So after about an hour retraced my steps back to Goreme, determined to take the bus to Uchisar. As I was waiting for the bus, my ears are always tuned to hearing another language. I asked this couple if they spoke English and EUREKA - I hit the jackpot! Thanks to the fact that I inherited my father's sense of direction and not my mother's- I could not find my way to Uchisar, so I was fortunate to meet Becky and Scott- Canadians biking across the world!!! Not using airplanes. From them I learned about couchsurfing.com and warmshowers.org- a wonderful way to meet adventurous people.
They were heading to Derinkuyu, the underground city. The guy at the hotel on a tour said you couldn't go alone, you would get lost. The guidebook did not say you needed a tour, but with my sense of direction, I thought it best not to go alone (David- are you happy?!) So I asked if I could join them. We had a great time, I immediately felt very comfortable with them, the conversation flowed easily about our Turkish experiences and about their travels.
In Derinkuyu there was a great outdoor market- hard to break away from the many photo ops. The day is short- dark at 4:30, so we headed to the underground city.
Some of these underground settlements accomodated 30,000 people- a total of 40 settlements have been discovered. These date back to Hittite times, most recently used by Christian communities. 7 floors have been excavated, we could visit 5. Lots of tunnels and staircases. Luckily not too many tour groups so we didn't have to wait too much for groups to ascend before we descended. Just empty rooms to see- Scott and Becky wanted to explore every nook and crany- they had head lamps so we could see a lot.
Next took bus to Uchisar to climb the rock/castle, riddled with caves and tunnels which once housed the entire village. The guidebook says the caves are abandoned, but satellite dishes are perched in strategic positions! It's mesmerizing where people live. Some are in the caves, some use the rock as one wall of their abode and build out. I could clearly see the path through the valley that I was suppose to enjoy in the morning- Scott was really wanting to walk back in the dark, luckily Becky wasn't too enthusiastic about that idea.
Uchisar is frequented by French tourists so we went in search of a French restaurant. My luck- Becky shares one of my passions- checking out luxury hotels. We had a tour of Cappadocia Caves Hotel- standard room starts at 300 euro. Gorgeous rooms cascading down the hills. The spa has a snow and salt rooms. The restaurant features a sushi bar, so guess who pays the bills!
Buses stop about 5 pm. Scott wanted to walk the 6 km in the dark to Goreme. Luckily he agreed for 10 min. to try to hitch a ride. I had been having very good luck with hitching, so my luck held and we caught a ride. We had a delightful dinner with Cappadocia wine. Then they brought me to my junction and we tried again for a ride. They were going to call their hotel manager to arrange a ride for me, but I was confident I could find and ride....little did I know what awaited...
As they stood to the side, a car stopped and the yound man said he's bring me to the main road where I could catch a bus every 20 min. At first I hestitated, then jumped in. Halil is a tour guide in French. So I did my best to remember my H.S. French. When we got the the junction he said, "If you have time, you can come to my parents for dinner and then I will bring you to your hotel." Little did he know my entire night was free!
Halil lives in Ortahisar- a small village near Urgup- also has a fortress-like 86 metre high rock that once housed the entire village. His mother was in traditional dress- baggy flowered pants and headscarf. They quickly set the coffee table for dinner. The mother bakes the thick pita bread in an outdoor oven. We feasted on soup, salad, veggies and bread. Halil is a university graduate and a licensed tour guide in the region. There is no work during the five winter months. He plans to take a Spanish course to expand his tour options. Dinner was brief. Then the father put on his coat and left, probably heading to the local tea/backgammon joint.
Halil brought me to Urgup to check out options to get to the Ilhara valley to the west. He called his friend who runs tours - I could have just paid for the transportation, but they were headed to the underground city. Then as he drove me to the hotel, he kept giving me more options. (David should have been there to warn him- I have a hard time with too many options because I like to explore all of them before I decide.) During dinner he mentioned that they would be sacrificing their cow for Bayram tomorrow and I was invited. Of course that is what I really wanted so see so the plan was I'd come to his house and then he would drive me to the valley and I'd pay for gas.
Tuesday 2 December 2008
brief encounters
Monday I met with the reference team without their supervisors. We were talking about marketing library programs. I mentioned often Americans do marketing events around holiday themes. The holiday next week, Kurban Bayram-The Feast of the Sacrifice, is a religious holiday that remembers the ram that Abraham sacrificed in place of his son Ismail (Isaac). During the four-day festival, lambs are slaughtered and the meat distributed to the poor. Some of the ritual slaughters take place in public places. So the librarians joked that they should slaughter a koç (ram) in the library reading room and that may attract some students to the library.
I started my formal presentation to the librarians by saying that Emory was founded by Methodists. The next day one librarian wanted to know what kind of influence the Methodists still had on the university. I showed her the religious life web page at Emory to illustrate that all religions were openly practiced. Turns out there is a woman who is the Muslim coordinator. The librarian asked if she wore a turban. I told her probably not, but it turns out she meant headscarf (the Turkish word is similar to turban.) I replied I didn't know, but explained that we had students wearing headscarves. Koç does not have a mosque- that would be taboo here.
It's easy to run into students here because it's such a small campus. I was chatting with a student who had lived in San Francisco. I said that I thought Istanbul and SF were similar in some aspects - like the hills, beautiful views and the water. This student said "and Istanbul has such a diverse population like SF." I said really- looks to me like most of the people are Turks. Oh, but he said many of the people are from eastern Turkey, so it is really quite diverse!
Mitas, my office mate, doesn't seem overly thrilled with being a business librarian. Turns out he makes films. I asked him today how he chose to be a libarian. All high school graduates take a national test. The results of that test determines where you will study in university. All state schools are free. So, he wanted to study film, but his grades were not good enough. His choices were librarianship and archaeology! He waits now until his friends from Ankara will join him in Istanbul and then they will make films- seems like this could be a long wait.
Today Mitas and I went up to the clock tower for coffee. You get a bird's eye view of the university and see the Bosphorus and Black Sea. It's very small and decorated in Ottoman style- a real jewel on campus.
I had lunch with some faculty members. They were quite surprised that I as a librarian was taking such interest in the business school. The lunch was short and we concluded by the professor writing down the best place to get pudding and desserts in Sariyer, the town by the sea, down the hill from school.
I started my formal presentation to the librarians by saying that Emory was founded by Methodists. The next day one librarian wanted to know what kind of influence the Methodists still had on the university. I showed her the religious life web page at Emory to illustrate that all religions were openly practiced. Turns out there is a woman who is the Muslim coordinator. The librarian asked if she wore a turban. I told her probably not, but it turns out she meant headscarf (the Turkish word is similar to turban.) I replied I didn't know, but explained that we had students wearing headscarves. Koç does not have a mosque- that would be taboo here.
It's easy to run into students here because it's such a small campus. I was chatting with a student who had lived in San Francisco. I said that I thought Istanbul and SF were similar in some aspects - like the hills, beautiful views and the water. This student said "and Istanbul has such a diverse population like SF." I said really- looks to me like most of the people are Turks. Oh, but he said many of the people are from eastern Turkey, so it is really quite diverse!
Mitas, my office mate, doesn't seem overly thrilled with being a business librarian. Turns out he makes films. I asked him today how he chose to be a libarian. All high school graduates take a national test. The results of that test determines where you will study in university. All state schools are free. So, he wanted to study film, but his grades were not good enough. His choices were librarianship and archaeology! He waits now until his friends from Ankara will join him in Istanbul and then they will make films- seems like this could be a long wait.
Today Mitas and I went up to the clock tower for coffee. You get a bird's eye view of the university and see the Bosphorus and Black Sea. It's very small and decorated in Ottoman style- a real jewel on campus.
I had lunch with some faculty members. They were quite surprised that I as a librarian was taking such interest in the business school. The lunch was short and we concluded by the professor writing down the best place to get pudding and desserts in Sariyer, the town by the sea, down the hill from school.
Thanksgiving & more
Thanks to Dave Goldsman at GA Tech I met Ole, a Danish man that lives in a small fishing village near me, on Thursday. We had planned to hike to the nearby fortress, but it was raining so I invited him for lunch. I really wanted to get his take on Turkish society and culture.
He's an artist. He fell in love with Turkey because he was teaching Turkish people in Denmark and then decided he needed to know more about his pupils, so he traveled to their villages in eastern Turkey. His take is that the Kemalists, adherents of Atatürk who were in power for 80 years, are corrupt and the current party is actually doing some good. (The situation is a little similar to Labor and Likud in Israel.) He says the government has vocational programs to get the unskilled working and they are helping the poor, something the previous government never did. As he was criticizing Atatürk, he actually said we needed to be careful because it is against the law to criticize the him. I invited Ole to the Thanksgiving dinner because he knows a lot of Koç folks.
The English Language Center organized the dinner in the Founders Hall. Turkey was provided and everyone brought the fixings. It was pleasant to see Turks and Anglos. Seems like English teachers who travel around are a special breed- everyone has a story. I chatted with the Turkish boyfriend of a teacher. Ole enjoyed telling this man his take on his society! This Turkish professional said that the ruling families (Koç, Sabançi and a few others) did have to clean up their act and improve their products when the government relaxed trade barriers.
Some of the teachers are going to Bulgaria during the Bayrum holiday to get cheap wine and ham.
Friday I attended "Innovations in Marketing," sponsored by the student marketing club. They said it was in English, but when the woman who I thought was just introducing the speaker started with powerpoint slides- I went to get headphones for similtaneous translation. It actually worked quite well. Rajesh Chandy was the keynote. He superbly entertained and enlightened us about the topic of innovation which is applicable to us all- not soley in the marketing arena. His theme was taking concepts across contexts. He gave the example of Goldcorp, a mining company in Canada that was going bankrupt. Normally mines keep all their maps confidential. Goldcorp posted their maps on the internet and offered money for advice on where they should dig. An Australian using a 3D computer mapping program won the prize and Goldcorp became profitable.
We had a break "cocktail" break at noon- no liquor- just small finger food- guess the students just liked the name.
He's an artist. He fell in love with Turkey because he was teaching Turkish people in Denmark and then decided he needed to know more about his pupils, so he traveled to their villages in eastern Turkey. His take is that the Kemalists, adherents of Atatürk who were in power for 80 years, are corrupt and the current party is actually doing some good. (The situation is a little similar to Labor and Likud in Israel.) He says the government has vocational programs to get the unskilled working and they are helping the poor, something the previous government never did. As he was criticizing Atatürk, he actually said we needed to be careful because it is against the law to criticize the him. I invited Ole to the Thanksgiving dinner because he knows a lot of Koç folks.
The English Language Center organized the dinner in the Founders Hall. Turkey was provided and everyone brought the fixings. It was pleasant to see Turks and Anglos. Seems like English teachers who travel around are a special breed- everyone has a story. I chatted with the Turkish boyfriend of a teacher. Ole enjoyed telling this man his take on his society! This Turkish professional said that the ruling families (Koç, Sabançi and a few others) did have to clean up their act and improve their products when the government relaxed trade barriers.
Some of the teachers are going to Bulgaria during the Bayrum holiday to get cheap wine and ham.
Friday I attended "Innovations in Marketing," sponsored by the student marketing club. They said it was in English, but when the woman who I thought was just introducing the speaker started with powerpoint slides- I went to get headphones for similtaneous translation. It actually worked quite well. Rajesh Chandy was the keynote. He superbly entertained and enlightened us about the topic of innovation which is applicable to us all- not soley in the marketing arena. His theme was taking concepts across contexts. He gave the example of Goldcorp, a mining company in Canada that was going bankrupt. Normally mines keep all their maps confidential. Goldcorp posted their maps on the internet and offered money for advice on where they should dig. An Australian using a 3D computer mapping program won the prize and Goldcorp became profitable.
We had a break "cocktail" break at noon- no liquor- just small finger food- guess the students just liked the name.
Monday 1 December 2008
P&G Factory Tour
I saw posters all over the business school announcing a P&G plant tour. There were no details, so I called around. Next day there was an email with details- lucky for me I have a student email account, not staff. So on Wednesday I went with 18 students from the Engineering Student Club to tour Procter & Gamble Gebze plant. We traveled 1 1/2 hours in a charted minibus to an industrial park on the Asian side. Strict security- we had to give our IDs and then receive an ID card. Pictures were only allowed in the visitors' room. Outside this room they had charts about their production, morale, etc. but I was not allowed to photograph.
The first woman asked if there were any foreign visitors. I raised my hand so consequently the students had to listen to the presentation in English! She was Ms. P&G, proudly proclaiming that they "make the life of each customer really better each year."
The presenters quickly engaged the students by asking how many brands they think P&G has, how many employees, etc. Guessing the correct answer for employees (450 in Gebze) I received a kilo of Ariel, their most expensive detergent. I saw on the poster that Olay is a P&G brand- would have been nice to win a bag of Olay products, but this plant only manufacturers detergent, diapers and feminine products!
This was a recruiting event. They said they were interested in all degrees, for all functions. The students check job availability online and take some tests. If they pass, they are invited for interviews. They were promoting the P&G Live Event in March. Our CMC should see if we could have such an event. BBAs- check this page.
Internships are a minimum 2 months in the summer. It was a real corporate pitch- I hadn't seen this in awhile; it was textbook corporate strategy. They talked about Power of People, Power of Agility and Power of Minds. They offer a challenging environment with young managers, lots of learning opportunities, international exposure and promotion from within (in the marketing seminar I attended on Friday at Koç- the professor mentioned that P&G's promotion from within was one of their downfalls and the current CEO changed this..more on this later.)
At Gebze they produce detergent, bleach, diapers and feminine pads. They export toRomania, Balkans, Nigeria, Russia, Kuwait, Iran, Afghanistan and the Caucases.
The following presenters spoke in Turkish so a few students translated for me. After we put on our safety shoes, we entered the factory floor. They made sure we took ear plugs from the dispenser and once we were on the noisy factory floor they started their explanations! The plant is highly automated, resulting in few employees on the floor. Posters are plastered everywhere - Safety, Quality and Delivery. Posters illustrate x savings by doing y. Machine operators have their photo on the machine that they are responsible for. We passed rooms of people starring at computer screens (quality control) and labs. 78% of detergent produced is for local consumption.
In response to the economic situation they are already producing more of the cheaper line of detergent. For China they make a cheaper diaper, per customer request. Process Engineers were are tour guides. They're responsible for increasing productivity and decreasing costs. Our guide received her MBA from the UK. Parts of the plant runs 24/day. They use hazardous enzymes in the detergent, but of course assured us that they only use an acceptable amount and this activity is isolated from the rest of the operation. After seeing the massive towers and huge operation, I thought about the Native Americans gathering plants and whopping their clothes against the rocks. Have we really progressed?
Entering the packaging facility I observed that it was Israel day- all packaging in Hebrew. Turns out they do this run in 2 hours and then switch to another language!
We concluded the day with lunch- Sodexho is the contractor here, as well as at Koç. I think Sodexho could radically increase their profits if they uniformally adopted the Turkish menu! The 2 engineer tour guides ate with us and answered more student questions. Students were impressed with the tour and most hoped to land a job with P&G.
The first woman asked if there were any foreign visitors. I raised my hand so consequently the students had to listen to the presentation in English! She was Ms. P&G, proudly proclaiming that they "make the life of each customer really better each year."
The presenters quickly engaged the students by asking how many brands they think P&G has, how many employees, etc. Guessing the correct answer for employees (450 in Gebze) I received a kilo of Ariel, their most expensive detergent. I saw on the poster that Olay is a P&G brand- would have been nice to win a bag of Olay products, but this plant only manufacturers detergent, diapers and feminine products!
This was a recruiting event. They said they were interested in all degrees, for all functions. The students check job availability online and take some tests. If they pass, they are invited for interviews. They were promoting the P&G Live Event in March. Our CMC should see if we could have such an event. BBAs- check this page.
Internships are a minimum 2 months in the summer. It was a real corporate pitch- I hadn't seen this in awhile; it was textbook corporate strategy. They talked about Power of People, Power of Agility and Power of Minds. They offer a challenging environment with young managers, lots of learning opportunities, international exposure and promotion from within (in the marketing seminar I attended on Friday at Koç- the professor mentioned that P&G's promotion from within was one of their downfalls and the current CEO changed this..more on this later.)
At Gebze they produce detergent, bleach, diapers and feminine pads. They export toRomania, Balkans, Nigeria, Russia, Kuwait, Iran, Afghanistan and the Caucases.
The following presenters spoke in Turkish so a few students translated for me. After we put on our safety shoes, we entered the factory floor. They made sure we took ear plugs from the dispenser and once we were on the noisy factory floor they started their explanations! The plant is highly automated, resulting in few employees on the floor. Posters are plastered everywhere - Safety, Quality and Delivery. Posters illustrate x savings by doing y. Machine operators have their photo on the machine that they are responsible for. We passed rooms of people starring at computer screens (quality control) and labs. 78% of detergent produced is for local consumption.
In response to the economic situation they are already producing more of the cheaper line of detergent. For China they make a cheaper diaper, per customer request. Process Engineers were are tour guides. They're responsible for increasing productivity and decreasing costs. Our guide received her MBA from the UK. Parts of the plant runs 24/day. They use hazardous enzymes in the detergent, but of course assured us that they only use an acceptable amount and this activity is isolated from the rest of the operation. After seeing the massive towers and huge operation, I thought about the Native Americans gathering plants and whopping their clothes against the rocks. Have we really progressed?
Entering the packaging facility I observed that it was Israel day- all packaging in Hebrew. Turns out they do this run in 2 hours and then switch to another language!
We concluded the day with lunch- Sodexho is the contractor here, as well as at Koç. I think Sodexho could radically increase their profits if they uniformally adopted the Turkish menu! The 2 engineer tour guides ate with us and answered more student questions. Students were impressed with the tour and most hoped to land a job with P&G.
Sunday 30 November 2008
Six is a charm
First of all I want to acknowledge the tragedy in Mumbai. I had BBC over the week-end so I could get more news. 185 people- so many families torn apart. Such a tragic situation in the Chabad house - amazing how the child was saved.
It's Sunday evening. I'll fill you in later on what happened during the week, now I'll tell you about the week-end. I left Friday afternoon for Istanbul. I was having a dinner with the Emory alumni in a neighborhood just north of Taksim - the center of the European side. We were meeting at 8:30 so I had time to wander around. I visited the nursing school library at the Koç hospital. This is a branch of our library. It's small; the librarian was so friendly.
This is a wealthy area with a lot of fancy shops and restaurants. The side streets were more interesting. They don't have a lot of trash cans on the sidewalks. When I finally found one near a grocery store, I tossed my banana peel. When I heard a plop I think I found the olive barrel instead.
Only 3 Goizueta alum showed and 1 Emory econ alum and a girlfriend. 2 of the alum work for family businesses - one with petrochemicals and the other manufactures steel boxes and tomato products. They travel to Syria, Jordan and the Caucasus- little different orientation than us!
The econ student is freelancing in Istanbul.
3 of us headed to the Asian side afterwards - this means crossing the Bosphorus. I took a bus to Mamara University. Seval, a friend of Kim Whalen, is a professor there. I stayed in the guest house. When I entered and saw rugs drying on the radiators, I thought maybe I made the wrong choice. My room was superb- I had a large living room area, double bed and best of all- BBC!
Saturday I met Seval and we wandered around Kadıköy and Moda. There are always a lot of transportation options - bus, train, tram, etc. I have an akbil- a little metal button that you keep adding money to- it's so convenient. They were passing out free tulip bulbs. ( you know the Ottomans sent the tulips to the Netherlands.)
I asked Seval if she had seen the movie "Mustafa," about the founder of the state. She had not and said some of her friends did not like the movie. I asked what was their criticism and she said that Atatürk was a great military commander with many victories. This movie depicts him as a womanizer and drinking a lot. Seval said- "why do we need to see such things about our leader?" Hmmm I was thinking- JFK, FDR, Clinton......
Seval is opposed to the current government. She thinks they give all the contracts to their buddies. She said her cousin was told she had to wear a headscarf in the grocery store where she was working. She quit instead of complying. There are very strong opinions about the government. I'm no political expert, but supposedly the current government represents the more traditional elements of society. The Kemalists - the founding party - are the elite secularists. They still control the army and the judiciary.
Late afternoon I took the boat across to the European side to a concert in the train station. The room was beautiful- sort of 1920s look. Easy to buy tickets at the last minute. I bought the cheapest. I was wondering if Turks move up to the better seats once the lights go out- when 2 guys near me whipped out of their seats as soon as the program started, I followed them quickly.
The pianist Tuluyhan Uğurlu was accompanied by 3 musicians on traditional Turkish instruments. Tuluyhan pounded way too much. The savings feature was the slide show during the music. I couldn't understand the captions so I was trying to figure out the theme, but after seeing scenes of the country followed by Jesus, Greeks, soccer stadiums and tea and cookies - I figured there was no theme! I think it was still rather nationalistic. The best part was when they came to the Atatürk slides near the end, the audience actually broke out into applause! Mind you, the country was founded 85 years ago by this guy. I had read somewhere that for Turks, Atatürk is a combination of George Washington, FDR and Jesus all in one.
Sunday morning I woke up early and thought I'd try to get the 7:10 boat to the Princess Islands. These are popular summer spots for people from the city escaping the summer heat. It's really unbearably crowded in the summer - today was just delightful. I witnessed the city unfold in the morning. Very few people on the 1 hr 25min boat ride that stops at the 4 islands. I was only on the island for 1 1/2 hours. The big island is like Mackinaw Island in MI. No cars allowed. There are horse and buggies around and everyone has a bike. A beautiful respite from the Istanbul traffic. I took lots of pictures of the old wooden houses that are nicely restored. The houses are on top of each other, but some have breath-taking views of the sea and the city. Only later did I realize I could have visited some churches and monasteries. On the return I chatted with 2 English women and learned a bit about the ex-pat community. I guess they are getting pensions and legally need to be living in the UK. So they go back every so often. One woman had lived on Crete - the other woman's son is a correspondent in St. Petersburg. They travel a lot, but hadn't been to the monastery on the next island!
I left the island quickly because I wanted to go to a carpet exhibit in the Galata area. The directions were - in the Crimean church, near the tünel, down from the German high school. Early on, someone told me to ask 3 people for directions because the first 2 will be too polite to tell you they don't know the address and will just point somewhere. Well, I decided that on Sunday, you need to ask 6 people.
I got to the tünel (the name for the tram that climbs the hill.) No church around - wandered up the street, heard some Brits, but they were only familiar with other churches. Then a German woman pointed me to the school, but the guards wouldn't let me pass the gate. I asked the police- he simply pulled out a map. The Brits had said that the churches are quite hidden. Then I stopped some Italians with a guidebook- but no entries under Crimea. I continued to wander around and saw a sign for a restaurant that a friend had recommended. I walked into the restaurant and finally the woman knew the church and gave me simple directions.
It was all totally worth it because this exhibit was indeed special- only takes place twice a year. A German couple started teaching some villagers about 30 years ago how to use natural dyes that their great-grandparents had used in their rugs. They had a great video about the whole process- "A piece of Carpet History," by Barbara Trottnow. Someone at Emory should purchase the video. Harald Böhmer is the German who researches old carpets at Mamara University in order to learn about the natural dyes. They have formed 2 cooperatives. Now the women in the villages are the main breadwinners. The film says that the men are proud to have their wives in the co-ops. The men work as dyers and some make the wooden tools used in the process and of course they herd the sheep. Now the people have employment and don't need to leave their villages which are located in western Turkey- near Troy and Bodrum. The video even showed the young kids collecting flowers for the dyes.
Some of the men were at the exhibit. I'm pleased to say I purchased a carpet. It was nice not to have to bargain and to know that you are paying a decent price. After watching the video and seeing all the work that goes into the carpet, I feel the price is well worth it. It's a great project- something our BBAs could think about - social entrepreneurship. Böhmer revived an ancient craft. Now 1/3 of Turkish carpets use natural dyes. I have the name of the carpet weaver and her village. The men even said that quite a few of their women went to a San Francisco museum to demonstrate carpet weaving!
An American was volunteering in the exhibit. Dee was very knowledgeable about the carpets and speaks Turkish so could ask my questions to the men from the village. Turns out she was here during the devastating earthquake in 1999. She was translating for NGOs. She was then hired by Mercy Corp and travels all around the world. She does logistics and said this is in great demand. Perhaps some of our BBAs would be interested in such work- Dee says NGOs really need business and finance people.
So she is off to Sudan in a few weeks. She offered me her apartment! So we'll see- all in all- it was a delightful afternoon. As I was leaving, we heard a lot of music outside and I was told that was a wedding procession. So I rushed out to take pictures. It was just a few women with 3 musicians. One young woman held flowers - maybe she was the bride? They were celebrating something and they didn't have much money. They danced a few minutes in the street. Then the small crowd dispersed and a woman brought new socks to the musicians- not sure if this was there full renumeration.
Mike Froman will be happy to know I took 7 forms of transportation from my guest room to home- bus, boat, subway, fernicular, tram, metro and dolmus (minibus.)
It's Sunday evening. I'll fill you in later on what happened during the week, now I'll tell you about the week-end. I left Friday afternoon for Istanbul. I was having a dinner with the Emory alumni in a neighborhood just north of Taksim - the center of the European side. We were meeting at 8:30 so I had time to wander around. I visited the nursing school library at the Koç hospital. This is a branch of our library. It's small; the librarian was so friendly.
This is a wealthy area with a lot of fancy shops and restaurants. The side streets were more interesting. They don't have a lot of trash cans on the sidewalks. When I finally found one near a grocery store, I tossed my banana peel. When I heard a plop I think I found the olive barrel instead.
Only 3 Goizueta alum showed and 1 Emory econ alum and a girlfriend. 2 of the alum work for family businesses - one with petrochemicals and the other manufactures steel boxes and tomato products. They travel to Syria, Jordan and the Caucasus- little different orientation than us!
The econ student is freelancing in Istanbul.
3 of us headed to the Asian side afterwards - this means crossing the Bosphorus. I took a bus to Mamara University. Seval, a friend of Kim Whalen, is a professor there. I stayed in the guest house. When I entered and saw rugs drying on the radiators, I thought maybe I made the wrong choice. My room was superb- I had a large living room area, double bed and best of all- BBC!
Saturday I met Seval and we wandered around Kadıköy and Moda. There are always a lot of transportation options - bus, train, tram, etc. I have an akbil- a little metal button that you keep adding money to- it's so convenient. They were passing out free tulip bulbs. ( you know the Ottomans sent the tulips to the Netherlands.)
I asked Seval if she had seen the movie "Mustafa," about the founder of the state. She had not and said some of her friends did not like the movie. I asked what was their criticism and she said that Atatürk was a great military commander with many victories. This movie depicts him as a womanizer and drinking a lot. Seval said- "why do we need to see such things about our leader?" Hmmm I was thinking- JFK, FDR, Clinton......
Seval is opposed to the current government. She thinks they give all the contracts to their buddies. She said her cousin was told she had to wear a headscarf in the grocery store where she was working. She quit instead of complying. There are very strong opinions about the government. I'm no political expert, but supposedly the current government represents the more traditional elements of society. The Kemalists - the founding party - are the elite secularists. They still control the army and the judiciary.
Late afternoon I took the boat across to the European side to a concert in the train station. The room was beautiful- sort of 1920s look. Easy to buy tickets at the last minute. I bought the cheapest. I was wondering if Turks move up to the better seats once the lights go out- when 2 guys near me whipped out of their seats as soon as the program started, I followed them quickly.
The pianist Tuluyhan Uğurlu was accompanied by 3 musicians on traditional Turkish instruments. Tuluyhan pounded way too much. The savings feature was the slide show during the music. I couldn't understand the captions so I was trying to figure out the theme, but after seeing scenes of the country followed by Jesus, Greeks, soccer stadiums and tea and cookies - I figured there was no theme! I think it was still rather nationalistic. The best part was when they came to the Atatürk slides near the end, the audience actually broke out into applause! Mind you, the country was founded 85 years ago by this guy. I had read somewhere that for Turks, Atatürk is a combination of George Washington, FDR and Jesus all in one.
Sunday morning I woke up early and thought I'd try to get the 7:10 boat to the Princess Islands. These are popular summer spots for people from the city escaping the summer heat. It's really unbearably crowded in the summer - today was just delightful. I witnessed the city unfold in the morning. Very few people on the 1 hr 25min boat ride that stops at the 4 islands. I was only on the island for 1 1/2 hours. The big island is like Mackinaw Island in MI. No cars allowed. There are horse and buggies around and everyone has a bike. A beautiful respite from the Istanbul traffic. I took lots of pictures of the old wooden houses that are nicely restored. The houses are on top of each other, but some have breath-taking views of the sea and the city. Only later did I realize I could have visited some churches and monasteries. On the return I chatted with 2 English women and learned a bit about the ex-pat community. I guess they are getting pensions and legally need to be living in the UK. So they go back every so often. One woman had lived on Crete - the other woman's son is a correspondent in St. Petersburg. They travel a lot, but hadn't been to the monastery on the next island!
I left the island quickly because I wanted to go to a carpet exhibit in the Galata area. The directions were - in the Crimean church, near the tünel, down from the German high school. Early on, someone told me to ask 3 people for directions because the first 2 will be too polite to tell you they don't know the address and will just point somewhere. Well, I decided that on Sunday, you need to ask 6 people.
I got to the tünel (the name for the tram that climbs the hill.) No church around - wandered up the street, heard some Brits, but they were only familiar with other churches. Then a German woman pointed me to the school, but the guards wouldn't let me pass the gate. I asked the police- he simply pulled out a map. The Brits had said that the churches are quite hidden. Then I stopped some Italians with a guidebook- but no entries under Crimea. I continued to wander around and saw a sign for a restaurant that a friend had recommended. I walked into the restaurant and finally the woman knew the church and gave me simple directions.
It was all totally worth it because this exhibit was indeed special- only takes place twice a year. A German couple started teaching some villagers about 30 years ago how to use natural dyes that their great-grandparents had used in their rugs. They had a great video about the whole process- "A piece of Carpet History," by Barbara Trottnow. Someone at Emory should purchase the video. Harald Böhmer is the German who researches old carpets at Mamara University in order to learn about the natural dyes. They have formed 2 cooperatives. Now the women in the villages are the main breadwinners. The film says that the men are proud to have their wives in the co-ops. The men work as dyers and some make the wooden tools used in the process and of course they herd the sheep. Now the people have employment and don't need to leave their villages which are located in western Turkey- near Troy and Bodrum. The video even showed the young kids collecting flowers for the dyes.
Some of the men were at the exhibit. I'm pleased to say I purchased a carpet. It was nice not to have to bargain and to know that you are paying a decent price. After watching the video and seeing all the work that goes into the carpet, I feel the price is well worth it. It's a great project- something our BBAs could think about - social entrepreneurship. Böhmer revived an ancient craft. Now 1/3 of Turkish carpets use natural dyes. I have the name of the carpet weaver and her village. The men even said that quite a few of their women went to a San Francisco museum to demonstrate carpet weaving!
An American was volunteering in the exhibit. Dee was very knowledgeable about the carpets and speaks Turkish so could ask my questions to the men from the village. Turns out she was here during the devastating earthquake in 1999. She was translating for NGOs. She was then hired by Mercy Corp and travels all around the world. She does logistics and said this is in great demand. Perhaps some of our BBAs would be interested in such work- Dee says NGOs really need business and finance people.
So she is off to Sudan in a few weeks. She offered me her apartment! So we'll see- all in all- it was a delightful afternoon. As I was leaving, we heard a lot of music outside and I was told that was a wedding procession. So I rushed out to take pictures. It was just a few women with 3 musicians. One young woman held flowers - maybe she was the bride? They were celebrating something and they didn't have much money. They danced a few minutes in the street. Then the small crowd dispersed and a woman brought new socks to the musicians- not sure if this was there full renumeration.
Mike Froman will be happy to know I took 7 forms of transportation from my guest room to home- bus, boat, subway, fernicular, tram, metro and dolmus (minibus.)
Monday 24 November 2008
Sunday - a city of contrasts
Starbucks opens at 7 and the coffee is ready at 7:45! I headed to the Jewish museum. I forgot what Mike and Carol had said about the directions. The guide book says it's near Galata Tower so I went there and walked in circles. Finally figured that if I went to the synagogue in the area, they would tell me. The guard again told me to go to the tower, then a woman on the 2nd floor of an apt. building started explaining to me and then came down to draw me a map!
Carol Froman said banks have great exhibits, so on my way I saw a poster about Turks in Paris. Sunday the bank was closed, but I knocked and of course there were 4 guards for each floor - even though it was closed for business. Despite the fact that there were 20 posters leading up to the exhibit, the guard took me to the basement to the permanent exhibit! Finally I got to the right place to see a terrific documentary about Turks who went to Paris in the early 1900s and how the Parisian intellectuals influenced them.
The Jewish museum is small, but very well done. When we were expelled from Spain, the Ottomans welcomed us. Each different millet or community in the Ottoman empire had their distinct dress. In the ethno section they had "long dress for long life." During a traditional gathering called Fashadura, still in use today, a fabric sprinkled over with candies is cut by a relative whose parents are still alive and a dress is made from this fabric for the newborn. I saw a simple white sheath - symbolizing wishes for a long life.
A small section was devoted to Turkish diplomats who saved Jews during WWII. Necdet Kent, who was posted as Consul General to Marseilles, France between 1941 and 1944, gave Turkish citizenship to dozens of Turkish Jews living in France who did not have proper identity papers to save them from deportation to the Nazi gas chambers. On one occasion, Kent boarded a train bound for Auschwitz after Nazi guards refused to let some 70 Jews with Turkish citizenship disembark. After more than an hour, the guards allowed Kent and the Jews to leave. Kent was recognized as a Righteous Gentile by Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. Muhtar Kent, his son, is the CEO of Coke.
I headed along the shore of the Bosphorus toward Istanbul Modern. 24 hours a day men are fishing. It's always a pleasure to sit on a bench and observe the intricacies of their art.
The new modern art museum is located between 2 mosques, so naturally I stepped in to view their splendor. Noticed an elaborate book holder on the wall, unfortunately my camera battery died.
The museum is right on the sea. The library entrance has a ceiling of books hanging from strings. I kept thinking Barbara and Ish would really enjoy this place - I think I enjoyed the architecture more than the art. They had lots of video installations.
Hannah- remember the owners of the hookah bar in Atlanta said Turks don't really use hookahs, that's just for the tourists. Well, on my way there was this slew of cafes with hookahs and people playing backgammon. The most sophisticated had monitors attached to the couches with the soccer game playing!
Sights and sounds of the city
Carol Froman said banks have great exhibits, so on my way I saw a poster about Turks in Paris. Sunday the bank was closed, but I knocked and of course there were 4 guards for each floor - even though it was closed for business. Despite the fact that there were 20 posters leading up to the exhibit, the guard took me to the basement to the permanent exhibit! Finally I got to the right place to see a terrific documentary about Turks who went to Paris in the early 1900s and how the Parisian intellectuals influenced them.
The Jewish museum is small, but very well done. When we were expelled from Spain, the Ottomans welcomed us. Each different millet or community in the Ottoman empire had their distinct dress. In the ethno section they had "long dress for long life." During a traditional gathering called Fashadura, still in use today, a fabric sprinkled over with candies is cut by a relative whose parents are still alive and a dress is made from this fabric for the newborn. I saw a simple white sheath - symbolizing wishes for a long life.
A small section was devoted to Turkish diplomats who saved Jews during WWII. Necdet Kent, who was posted as Consul General to Marseilles, France between 1941 and 1944, gave Turkish citizenship to dozens of Turkish Jews living in France who did not have proper identity papers to save them from deportation to the Nazi gas chambers. On one occasion, Kent boarded a train bound for Auschwitz after Nazi guards refused to let some 70 Jews with Turkish citizenship disembark. After more than an hour, the guards allowed Kent and the Jews to leave. Kent was recognized as a Righteous Gentile by Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. Muhtar Kent, his son, is the CEO of Coke.
I headed along the shore of the Bosphorus toward Istanbul Modern. 24 hours a day men are fishing. It's always a pleasure to sit on a bench and observe the intricacies of their art.
The new modern art museum is located between 2 mosques, so naturally I stepped in to view their splendor. Noticed an elaborate book holder on the wall, unfortunately my camera battery died.
The museum is right on the sea. The library entrance has a ceiling of books hanging from strings. I kept thinking Barbara and Ish would really enjoy this place - I think I enjoyed the architecture more than the art. They had lots of video installations.
Hannah- remember the owners of the hookah bar in Atlanta said Turks don't really use hookahs, that's just for the tourists. Well, on my way there was this slew of cafes with hookahs and people playing backgammon. The most sophisticated had monitors attached to the couches with the soccer game playing!
Sights and sounds of the city
- hole in the wall - man had rows of balloons tacked to the wall and offers passersby the chance to take a shot
- 5 yr old sits on the subway steps selling kleenex packs
- man stands on the sidewalk with a scale in front of him offering people a to weigh in
- 8 lira to go in and take a shower
- man stands in the subway trying to sell a toy train and spinning tops
- woman with black headscarf covering her face, with jeans underneath her coat and clinging to her boyfriend
- lots of young women in head scarves flirting with their boyfriends
- I tell the young clerk I'm American & he gives me a thumbs up and says "Obama!"
Sunday 23 November 2008
Luck was with me this week-end
I mentioned to Didar, the library director, that I was looking for a place to stay in Istanbul. She mentioned a teachers' hostel. We called (my colleagues called for me!) and they kept saying they were full- call back. I had luck with just walking into a hotel last week-end, so I thought I would try my luck again.
I walked into the hotel at 5:30, the clerk did not speak English. After my 2 Turkish words the security guy started translating. First the clerk said no room. Then he said there is a room, but it is cold and you have to share it. I asked if it was non-smoking- he said he would check. Then they said I could have a double room, but I must pay the full price. I then asked to see the room. It was very basic. I asked about the loud music playing. He said there would be a wedding on the roof, but by law, they would have to stop by 12! I tried to get the single rate, but he claimed they were a govt place- so no negotiations. Then when I went back to register, I realized I had forgotten my passport! I just had my Koç picture ID. Luckily they accepted that and of course brought me tea in the meantime.
My friend Louise gave me Turkish tapes to practice. There was this phrase- continuous hot water. I thought "these tapes are really dated, I won't' need this phrase"....'til I arrived at the teachers hostel! At 5, no hot water, but later in the evening there was.
I was in central Istanbul- Beyoğlu- near all the action. Istikial Caddesi is the Times Square of Istanbul. It is a pedestrian street with many fancy shops, 2 Starbucks, tons of restaurants as well as many consulates. People walk there at all hours of the night and day. Friday night I went to an animation film festival at a museum.
Saturday I was happy to go to Starbucks and get my muffin! I was off to Dolmabahçe Palace, built between the years 1843-1856 under the orders of Sultan Abdülmecid. Hannah and Noah- Turkey really respects their teachers- I got in free with my Koç ID. You must take a tour. As I entered I heard a group of Israelis. I started my tour, but the guide did not explain anything. So I waited for the Israelis to come in and asked if I could join them. The guide was superb! He was born in Turkey, but lived in Israel a long time. He spoke very fast Hebrew. It was fun being with them. The Sultan visited Versailles and wanted something similar. He added the eastern influences. The Israelis said- "we're from the east- the east has so much beauty- so this palace is more beautiful than Versailles!" Indeed, it is hard to describe. Check the web site. There was so many huge crystal chandeliers from Venice, larger than you can imagine. And crystal balustrades. The final reception room was half the size of a football field, it looked like the Vatican. The harem was the second part of the tour, which was actually quite shabby. There was some worn furniture around a small charcoal warmer and it made me realize these huge palaces were probably pretty cold and drafty!
Then I did one of my favorite activities (don't you agree, Martha?) I went to check out fancy hotels. The Four Seasons Bosphorus is a magnificent hotel. (Malisa - a place to seriously consider in March!!) The sister of one of our MBAs is the banquet manager. I called for her, but she was busy - so I headed to the spa. To my WPEC buddies - in the work-out room - each machine had a towel and water. The pool has an underwater music system! Of course they have a haman. They have a lovely dark room with chaise lounges to relax after your treatment.
All around the hotel there are flower displays - orchids that rival the Botanical Garden. Amazing artwork. And needless to say - when I asked to see a room, they said they were fully booked.
I then went next door to the original luxury hotel in Istanbul - Çirağan Palace. First they would not let me in the palace side so I went into the modern addition. As I was wonderiıng around I found a corridor with pictures about the history....and then just climbed the staircase and voila- I'm in the palace. Novartis was having a seminar. Again - 6 story chandeleirs - like a wedding cake. They had a lovely exhibit about Sultans who were poets.
Returned to the animation festival to see a Czech. Then I ended my lucky day by stumbling upon the veggie restaurant that my friend had brought me to 2 yrs ago. Then the rain came down.
I walked into the hotel at 5:30, the clerk did not speak English. After my 2 Turkish words the security guy started translating. First the clerk said no room. Then he said there is a room, but it is cold and you have to share it. I asked if it was non-smoking- he said he would check. Then they said I could have a double room, but I must pay the full price. I then asked to see the room. It was very basic. I asked about the loud music playing. He said there would be a wedding on the roof, but by law, they would have to stop by 12! I tried to get the single rate, but he claimed they were a govt place- so no negotiations. Then when I went back to register, I realized I had forgotten my passport! I just had my Koç picture ID. Luckily they accepted that and of course brought me tea in the meantime.
My friend Louise gave me Turkish tapes to practice. There was this phrase- continuous hot water. I thought "these tapes are really dated, I won't' need this phrase"....'til I arrived at the teachers hostel! At 5, no hot water, but later in the evening there was.
I was in central Istanbul- Beyoğlu- near all the action. Istikial Caddesi is the Times Square of Istanbul. It is a pedestrian street with many fancy shops, 2 Starbucks, tons of restaurants as well as many consulates. People walk there at all hours of the night and day. Friday night I went to an animation film festival at a museum.
Saturday I was happy to go to Starbucks and get my muffin! I was off to Dolmabahçe Palace, built between the years 1843-1856 under the orders of Sultan Abdülmecid. Hannah and Noah- Turkey really respects their teachers- I got in free with my Koç ID. You must take a tour. As I entered I heard a group of Israelis. I started my tour, but the guide did not explain anything. So I waited for the Israelis to come in and asked if I could join them. The guide was superb! He was born in Turkey, but lived in Israel a long time. He spoke very fast Hebrew. It was fun being with them. The Sultan visited Versailles and wanted something similar. He added the eastern influences. The Israelis said- "we're from the east- the east has so much beauty- so this palace is more beautiful than Versailles!" Indeed, it is hard to describe. Check the web site. There was so many huge crystal chandeliers from Venice, larger than you can imagine. And crystal balustrades. The final reception room was half the size of a football field, it looked like the Vatican. The harem was the second part of the tour, which was actually quite shabby. There was some worn furniture around a small charcoal warmer and it made me realize these huge palaces were probably pretty cold and drafty!
Then I did one of my favorite activities (don't you agree, Martha?) I went to check out fancy hotels. The Four Seasons Bosphorus is a magnificent hotel. (Malisa - a place to seriously consider in March!!) The sister of one of our MBAs is the banquet manager. I called for her, but she was busy - so I headed to the spa. To my WPEC buddies - in the work-out room - each machine had a towel and water. The pool has an underwater music system! Of course they have a haman. They have a lovely dark room with chaise lounges to relax after your treatment.
All around the hotel there are flower displays - orchids that rival the Botanical Garden. Amazing artwork. And needless to say - when I asked to see a room, they said they were fully booked.
I then went next door to the original luxury hotel in Istanbul - Çirağan Palace. First they would not let me in the palace side so I went into the modern addition. As I was wonderiıng around I found a corridor with pictures about the history....and then just climbed the staircase and voila- I'm in the palace. Novartis was having a seminar. Again - 6 story chandeleirs - like a wedding cake. They had a lovely exhibit about Sultans who were poets.
Returned to the animation festival to see a Czech. Then I ended my lucky day by stumbling upon the veggie restaurant that my friend had brought me to 2 yrs ago. Then the rain came down.
I meet the President
Tuesday night I met my 2nd roommate, Tuba. She is a post-doc studying human rights. She reviews school textbooks and looks at how the books have changed overtime. I think her topic is fascinating and would love to discuss it for hours and learn more from her, but she doesn't appear too interested in enlightening me.
I can take a staff shuttle to work at 8 or pay for a minibus at another time. I am determined to walk this week. It is not far, maybe it would take me 20 min- but there are no sidewalks. I saw an elderly couple walking the route, so I will try.
After work I go to the gym. They have very nice weight machines. Then I go to dinner. It's not so easy to meet people at dinner. I watch the news and try to figure out if Hillary is Sec. of State already. The other evening I saw this man pass my table, sort of looking for a place to sit- so I motioned to him to join me. I introduced myself and then asked who he was and he replied, 'I'm the president.' So we had a brief talk before he had to return and finish his report.
Wed. eve I went to a concert with the library director. Mercan Dede was the group- 6 musicians playing traditional instruments with some electronic music. A woman preformed the dervish dance- very untraditional. She was fabulous- she had electric lights on her gown! The audience is totally involved- clapping to the music.
Thursday I was suppose to observe on the reference desk, but not much was happening. A class came into the library and the professor was going to give them some database training. I went to observe and introduced myself. Turns out the professor is an Aussie- he was happy to have me do the intruction. It was nice to have some interaction with the students.
Friday I met the Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences (the business school is part of this school.) He told me about the programs Koç has with numerous foreign schools. He was surprised to hear about some of the things we do, so it's nice we can really learn from each other. He mentioned they have video conferencing equipment that they don't use - so that's something to explore.
I was taken to lunch by the coordinators of the MBA program in the faculty dining room. We had waiters and a view of the forest. (They tell me we can see the Black Sea from campus, but so far it has been too cloudy.) Özdil was an exchange student in Albany, GA!!! She remembers her roommate reading the bible to her every night. She is as friendly as can be. Her sister is in Atlanta. Her brother-in-law is high up in finance in Coke.
OK- enough about school- let's get to the week-end.
I can take a staff shuttle to work at 8 or pay for a minibus at another time. I am determined to walk this week. It is not far, maybe it would take me 20 min- but there are no sidewalks. I saw an elderly couple walking the route, so I will try.
After work I go to the gym. They have very nice weight machines. Then I go to dinner. It's not so easy to meet people at dinner. I watch the news and try to figure out if Hillary is Sec. of State already. The other evening I saw this man pass my table, sort of looking for a place to sit- so I motioned to him to join me. I introduced myself and then asked who he was and he replied, 'I'm the president.' So we had a brief talk before he had to return and finish his report.
Wed. eve I went to a concert with the library director. Mercan Dede was the group- 6 musicians playing traditional instruments with some electronic music. A woman preformed the dervish dance- very untraditional. She was fabulous- she had electric lights on her gown! The audience is totally involved- clapping to the music.
Thursday I was suppose to observe on the reference desk, but not much was happening. A class came into the library and the professor was going to give them some database training. I went to observe and introduced myself. Turns out the professor is an Aussie- he was happy to have me do the intruction. It was nice to have some interaction with the students.
Friday I met the Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences (the business school is part of this school.) He told me about the programs Koç has with numerous foreign schools. He was surprised to hear about some of the things we do, so it's nice we can really learn from each other. He mentioned they have video conferencing equipment that they don't use - so that's something to explore.
I was taken to lunch by the coordinators of the MBA program in the faculty dining room. We had waiters and a view of the forest. (They tell me we can see the Black Sea from campus, but so far it has been too cloudy.) Özdil was an exchange student in Albany, GA!!! She remembers her roommate reading the bible to her every night. She is as friendly as can be. Her sister is in Atlanta. Her brother-in-law is high up in finance in Coke.
OK- enough about school- let's get to the week-end.
It's time for a break
I was a little nervous arriving at Koç on my first day, Nov. 17. As soon as I met the library director, my fears vanished. Although she had not communicated with me during my year long application process, Didar is very friendly and makes every effort to make me feel comfortable.
We met in the conference room with one of two assistant directors. Koç was started in 1993, so everything is relatively new. The library has beautiful cherry wood furniture and woodwork throughout, making a very pleasant work environment.
The first question they asked me was why Turkey! So I proceeded to tell them about my aversion to XMAS. I am their first visiting librarian; they are pleased that I expressed an interest in their library.
They are thirsty for knowledge about how our library works. I'll save the details for my colleagues and just tell you that one of the first things they told me was about the breaks- at 10:30 and 3:30. They start at 8:30 (though all my meetings begin at 9:30.) So while we were meeting, the tea lady was serving us tea. Then we had a break and went down to the break room - and again tea was served!
At noon, we all went to the cafeteria for lunch. Koç was built in a forest. (They told me the law suit is still going on because not everyone liked the idea of building in a forest.) The nearest town, Sariyer, is about 15 min. down the hill. So everyone seems to eat on campus. Maybe meals are subsidized. (Transportation to the school is provided by multiple mini buses that come from all over.) I am provided tickets for 3 meals daily in the cafeteria. The food is delicious! Huge salad bar (no ranch dressing, jello or canned peaches.) There are 3 stations with a variety of entrees, soup, appetizer and desserts. The library team sits together. When they talk to me they use the term friend instead of colleague, but I think they are genuinely friends.
After lunch, they take me up to the alumni club. They like it because students are not allowed! It looks like Delta's Crown Room. Library staff are playing pool and they serve cappaccino!
This was the routine for the first week. Different team members were assigned to take me to lunch and then we went upstairs. I also quickly learned that they like to huddle ın the doorways of the terrace to smoke. Thank goodness no smoking is permitted in any building. About 90% smoke and they're all young. I told them my mission is to start a smoking cessation clinic!
I share an office with one of the 2 new business librarians. Derya, who has been the business librarian for 10 yrs, just moved to a new position. There kicked Gerbe out of her office to make room for me! I have a phone and computer. Of course it is a challenge to use a Turkish keyboard, but I'm managing. (amazing how many English language words have i's!)
English is the language of instruction, but they speak Turkish amongst themselves. When I was introduced to everyone during the library tour, I used my 3 Turkish expressions. They then made the comment that my Turkish will improve during my stay. In the afternon, one of the librarians brought me a book of Turkish grammer. I tried to express my appreciation by saying maybe I could check it out. She replied by telling me she had already checked it out for me!
I had a tour of the campus. Koç is one of the richest men in Turkey. Koç Industries is a conglomorate. The library sits on a plaza with the student center and the administration building. Nearby are about 3 classroom buildings. There is beautiful art work and sculpture thoughout. When I returned from the tour, Tuba told everyone I was impressed with the gym!
Differences from Emory - the male staff wear ties. The security guy wears a suit and makes sure the noise level is kept down. There is a cleaning man on duty all the time. Anyone can enter the building. They have 2 24 hour study rooms at the entrance to the library, so after 9 pm students can only enter these 2 rooms.
Everyone' English is quite good, but they use too instead of a lot and say every time instead of any time. My office mate struggles sometimes, but I am so lucky with their English fluency.
We met in the conference room with one of two assistant directors. Koç was started in 1993, so everything is relatively new. The library has beautiful cherry wood furniture and woodwork throughout, making a very pleasant work environment.
The first question they asked me was why Turkey! So I proceeded to tell them about my aversion to XMAS. I am their first visiting librarian; they are pleased that I expressed an interest in their library.
They are thirsty for knowledge about how our library works. I'll save the details for my colleagues and just tell you that one of the first things they told me was about the breaks- at 10:30 and 3:30. They start at 8:30 (though all my meetings begin at 9:30.) So while we were meeting, the tea lady was serving us tea. Then we had a break and went down to the break room - and again tea was served!
At noon, we all went to the cafeteria for lunch. Koç was built in a forest. (They told me the law suit is still going on because not everyone liked the idea of building in a forest.) The nearest town, Sariyer, is about 15 min. down the hill. So everyone seems to eat on campus. Maybe meals are subsidized. (Transportation to the school is provided by multiple mini buses that come from all over.) I am provided tickets for 3 meals daily in the cafeteria. The food is delicious! Huge salad bar (no ranch dressing, jello or canned peaches.) There are 3 stations with a variety of entrees, soup, appetizer and desserts. The library team sits together. When they talk to me they use the term friend instead of colleague, but I think they are genuinely friends.
After lunch, they take me up to the alumni club. They like it because students are not allowed! It looks like Delta's Crown Room. Library staff are playing pool and they serve cappaccino!
This was the routine for the first week. Different team members were assigned to take me to lunch and then we went upstairs. I also quickly learned that they like to huddle ın the doorways of the terrace to smoke. Thank goodness no smoking is permitted in any building. About 90% smoke and they're all young. I told them my mission is to start a smoking cessation clinic!
I share an office with one of the 2 new business librarians. Derya, who has been the business librarian for 10 yrs, just moved to a new position. There kicked Gerbe out of her office to make room for me! I have a phone and computer. Of course it is a challenge to use a Turkish keyboard, but I'm managing. (amazing how many English language words have i's!)
English is the language of instruction, but they speak Turkish amongst themselves. When I was introduced to everyone during the library tour, I used my 3 Turkish expressions. They then made the comment that my Turkish will improve during my stay. In the afternon, one of the librarians brought me a book of Turkish grammer. I tried to express my appreciation by saying maybe I could check it out. She replied by telling me she had already checked it out for me!
I had a tour of the campus. Koç is one of the richest men in Turkey. Koç Industries is a conglomorate. The library sits on a plaza with the student center and the administration building. Nearby are about 3 classroom buildings. There is beautiful art work and sculpture thoughout. When I returned from the tour, Tuba told everyone I was impressed with the gym!
Differences from Emory - the male staff wear ties. The security guy wears a suit and makes sure the noise level is kept down. There is a cleaning man on duty all the time. Anyone can enter the building. They have 2 24 hour study rooms at the entrance to the library, so after 9 pm students can only enter these 2 rooms.
Everyone' English is quite good, but they use too instead of a lot and say every time instead of any time. My office mate struggles sometimes, but I am so lucky with their English fluency.
Friday 21 November 2008
First Week-end
I woke up with the call to prayer today (5:50) and yesterday they gave me a laptop so finally I have time to write.
I arrived last Friday in Istanbul. On Saturday I took the boat to visit Eyüp, a religious area. The guidebook advises not to visit on Friday because so many go to the mosque. It has some sacred tombs. I went into the mosque and found a place with the women upstairs. The iman was giving a sermon. the place was packed and they kept coming!
The best part was seeing 2 young boys dressed up for their circumcision. I will post pictures. Muslims have these ceremonies up to the age of 12 or so. The little boys looked like miniature sultans- complete with daggers and swords!
I met my friend for dinner (he is the former hotel clerk- we stayed in touch for 2 yrs.) We had fish sandwiches by the Galata Bridge. Men and a few women fish on the Galata Bridge 24 hours. Erhan told me about his plans- sort of bleak. He is a college graduate, but makes very little working in a hotel. Like many Turks, he lives at home. He thinks about going abroad to work or marrying a Scandanavian- I nixed that idea for him.
Sunday I was invited, thanks to Michael Berger, to a baby naming at a synagogue. Security is tight because they had a bombing there. I approached a man nearby on the street to ask for the entrance because I knew it was on the side. He said no- the synagogue is closed. But, when I showed him the name of the host- he directed me to the side entrance. They have a scanning machine and a room that you enter first and then you are buzzed into the building. I did not have to show any id- the host informed them I was coming and that was sufficient.
The men had pink kippas! This was a naming for twins. The place was packed- 500+. Piped in music- people didn't even sing mazel tov. The cantor just sang. 3 video cameras and many photographers.
Then.....the reception! Many people in the world don't have such parties for weddings! There was a big room with candle-lit tables, then another room with couches. Many buffet tables with delicous food. In the back was a magician and assistant for the kids- and yes, Turkish kids are like American kids- they had special food for them! There were 3 musicians and yes- you guessed it- a cutting of the cake- which consisted of white blocks- like baby blocks.
People weren't that friendly- I found one woman who spoke a little English. But as she started getting stuck on words, she said- so you do speak some Turkish, right? and proceeded to talk in Turkish.
At 4 the driver from Koc came to pick me up. Sunday there was not much traffic and if you drive 80 mi/hr and disobey all traffic rules, you make it to Koç in about 40 min
From the campus they brought me to my apartment. The university has explosive growth, so they rent some apt nearby. I am just down the road- the area is quite ugly- just 8 story apartment buildings plopped down in barren lots.
My flatmate, Isha, was very welcoming. She is a post-doc in Chemical Engineering. She gave me dinner. She is from Erzurum- in the east- not too far from Armenia. She said her 'ancients' came from Azerbaijan. Of course I couldn't wait to talk politics with her. She is observant and prays when she can. Her mother wears a scarf and Isha thinks women should be able to wear the scarf in universities.
We have 3 bedrooms and a living room and kitchen- large and pleasant. One roommate has the master bedroom and bath- so just Isha and I share a bathroom. Then I discovered another bathroom in the hallway- great- 3 bathrooms. But, this one is Turkish- a porcelain hole in the ground, so I just use the sink!
Both flatmates have double tea kettles- they look like double boilers. Turks drink prodigious amounts of tea. Of course shoes are left in the hallway, even tho we have no Turkish carpets. And thanks to my Israeli experience, I'm adept at climbing stairs in the dark. Everyone but America knows how to conserve. When you enter the building, you press the hall light and then climb the stairs- there are switches on each landing, but invariably the light goes off when you're in the middle of the stairs.
now about work.....
I arrived last Friday in Istanbul. On Saturday I took the boat to visit Eyüp, a religious area. The guidebook advises not to visit on Friday because so many go to the mosque. It has some sacred tombs. I went into the mosque and found a place with the women upstairs. The iman was giving a sermon. the place was packed and they kept coming!
The best part was seeing 2 young boys dressed up for their circumcision. I will post pictures. Muslims have these ceremonies up to the age of 12 or so. The little boys looked like miniature sultans- complete with daggers and swords!
I met my friend for dinner (he is the former hotel clerk- we stayed in touch for 2 yrs.) We had fish sandwiches by the Galata Bridge. Men and a few women fish on the Galata Bridge 24 hours. Erhan told me about his plans- sort of bleak. He is a college graduate, but makes very little working in a hotel. Like many Turks, he lives at home. He thinks about going abroad to work or marrying a Scandanavian- I nixed that idea for him.
Sunday I was invited, thanks to Michael Berger, to a baby naming at a synagogue. Security is tight because they had a bombing there. I approached a man nearby on the street to ask for the entrance because I knew it was on the side. He said no- the synagogue is closed. But, when I showed him the name of the host- he directed me to the side entrance. They have a scanning machine and a room that you enter first and then you are buzzed into the building. I did not have to show any id- the host informed them I was coming and that was sufficient.
The men had pink kippas! This was a naming for twins. The place was packed- 500+. Piped in music- people didn't even sing mazel tov. The cantor just sang. 3 video cameras and many photographers.
Then.....the reception! Many people in the world don't have such parties for weddings! There was a big room with candle-lit tables, then another room with couches. Many buffet tables with delicous food. In the back was a magician and assistant for the kids- and yes, Turkish kids are like American kids- they had special food for them! There were 3 musicians and yes- you guessed it- a cutting of the cake- which consisted of white blocks- like baby blocks.
People weren't that friendly- I found one woman who spoke a little English. But as she started getting stuck on words, she said- so you do speak some Turkish, right? and proceeded to talk in Turkish.
At 4 the driver from Koc came to pick me up. Sunday there was not much traffic and if you drive 80 mi/hr and disobey all traffic rules, you make it to Koç in about 40 min
From the campus they brought me to my apartment. The university has explosive growth, so they rent some apt nearby. I am just down the road- the area is quite ugly- just 8 story apartment buildings plopped down in barren lots.
My flatmate, Isha, was very welcoming. She is a post-doc in Chemical Engineering. She gave me dinner. She is from Erzurum- in the east- not too far from Armenia. She said her 'ancients' came from Azerbaijan. Of course I couldn't wait to talk politics with her. She is observant and prays when she can. Her mother wears a scarf and Isha thinks women should be able to wear the scarf in universities.
We have 3 bedrooms and a living room and kitchen- large and pleasant. One roommate has the master bedroom and bath- so just Isha and I share a bathroom. Then I discovered another bathroom in the hallway- great- 3 bathrooms. But, this one is Turkish- a porcelain hole in the ground, so I just use the sink!
Both flatmates have double tea kettles- they look like double boilers. Turks drink prodigious amounts of tea. Of course shoes are left in the hallway, even tho we have no Turkish carpets. And thanks to my Israeli experience, I'm adept at climbing stairs in the dark. Everyone but America knows how to conserve. When you enter the building, you press the hall light and then climb the stairs- there are switches on each landing, but invariably the light goes off when you're in the middle of the stairs.
now about work.....
Sunday 9 November 2008
4 days to liftoff
Thanks to Delta, I'm limited with what I can bring. So my packing is done- hopefully I have enough warm sweaters and socks. I leave on Thursday and arrive in Paris Friday at 7 am. Supposedly I have a short time to catch my flight to Istanbul. I arrive about 2:30 and will take the metro to my hotel.
I am meeting my friend Erhan for dinner on Saturday. He worked in the hotel where I stayed in 2006. He has since completed his army service. On Sunday I am invited to a baby naming at the Neve Shalom synagogue, thanks to an introduction from Michael Berger.
I am bringing my Obama t-shirt, so hopefully that will serve as a good icebreaker.
I am meeting my friend Erhan for dinner on Saturday. He worked in the hotel where I stayed in 2006. He has since completed his army service. On Sunday I am invited to a baby naming at the Neve Shalom synagogue, thanks to an introduction from Michael Berger.
I am bringing my Obama t-shirt, so hopefully that will serve as a good icebreaker.
Sunday 26 October 2008
Why Turkey?
With over 190 countries to learn about, why did I select Turkey?
In December 2006 I was looking for a vacation spot to escape from Christmas. Down here in the south, stores are decorated BEFORE COLUMBUS DAY and all entertainment is XMAS related as of November. Separation of church and state has a long way to go in the USA.
I figured my options were KlezKamp, Israel, Morocco, Tunesia or Turkey. (I didn't want to visit a country that wouldn't let me in with my Israeli entry stamp in my passport.) I'd just been to Israel in 2005 and thought I should get to Turkey before prices rise with their EU admission. (little did I know then that they are not on the EU fast track.)
I went to Turkey for 2 weeks and had a fabulous time visiting Istanbul, Edirne and Bursa. The people were very friendly and I loved visiting the beautiful tiled mosques. I only saw a small part of this large country. The political debate on many issues such as head scarves, AKP party, EU process, etc. is lively and fascinating. I thought I saw parallels to some of the issues on the Israeli political scene, so I knew Turkey would provide a fertile ground for learning and exploration.
I figured a Fulbright application requesting Turkey had a better chance of acceptance than one requesting Paris. More to the point, I am hoping that my engagement with the Koc Graduate School of Business will initiate an ongoing relationship between Goizueta and Koc. Students and faculty have much to learn from a country that bridges Asia and Europe. I feel strongly that Americans must learn more about Muslim countries as we work, travel and participate in a global world.
In December 2006 I was looking for a vacation spot to escape from Christmas. Down here in the south, stores are decorated BEFORE COLUMBUS DAY and all entertainment is XMAS related as of November. Separation of church and state has a long way to go in the USA.
I figured my options were KlezKamp, Israel, Morocco, Tunesia or Turkey. (I didn't want to visit a country that wouldn't let me in with my Israeli entry stamp in my passport.) I'd just been to Israel in 2005 and thought I should get to Turkey before prices rise with their EU admission. (little did I know then that they are not on the EU fast track.)
I went to Turkey for 2 weeks and had a fabulous time visiting Istanbul, Edirne and Bursa. The people were very friendly and I loved visiting the beautiful tiled mosques. I only saw a small part of this large country. The political debate on many issues such as head scarves, AKP party, EU process, etc. is lively and fascinating. I thought I saw parallels to some of the issues on the Israeli political scene, so I knew Turkey would provide a fertile ground for learning and exploration.
I figured a Fulbright application requesting Turkey had a better chance of acceptance than one requesting Paris. More to the point, I am hoping that my engagement with the Koc Graduate School of Business will initiate an ongoing relationship between Goizueta and Koc. Students and faculty have much to learn from a country that bridges Asia and Europe. I feel strongly that Americans must learn more about Muslim countries as we work, travel and participate in a global world.
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