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.