Nothing Compares

Off to the Black Sea Region, otherwise known as the boarder of Georgia, Armenia, and Iran. Could not possibly be any more excited. Above is my itinerary. Can't wait to share this part of the world with all of you! Eeek!

Bear Witness

Adventure is a path. Real adventure – self-determined, self-motivated, often risky – forces you to have firsthand encounters with the world. The world the way it is, not the way you imagine it. Your body will collide with the earth and you will bear witness.  In this way you will be compelled to grapple with the limitless kindness and bottomless cruelty of humankind – and perhaps realize that you yourself are capable of both. This will change you. - Mark Jenkins 

White Fang

I keep finding dogs with two different colored eyes, I wonder what it all means...

Tabii

Today I learned that the direct translation for kahverengi, the Turkish word for brown, is 'the color of coffee'. Of course it is.

The other day I discovered that the school library is never open past 9 pm, or on Saturdays. Of course it's not.

When the clocks changed this spring, there was no set time to do so. At around 4 pm all of the city buses changed, but none of the trains changed until midnight. Every person had a different time, but every person was on time according to 'Turkish Time' (you get there when you get there, typically an hour or so past the time you agree upon). Of course they were.

My City

Istanbul Tulip Festival

Emerson via Debbie Bitran

Standing on the bare ground, my head bathed by the blithe air, and uplifted into infinite space, all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eyeball - I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me. I am part or particle of God. The name of the nearest friend sounds then foreign and accidental: to be brothers, to be acquaintances - master or servant, is then a trifle, and a disturbance. I am a lover of uncontained and immortal beauty. In the wilderness, I have something more connate and dear than in the streets or villages. In the tranquil landscape, and especially in the distant line of the horizon, man beholds somewhat as beautiful as his own nature. 

New Favorite

Back corridor of a Mosque in the Russian district.

'We are really lucky, I must say this'

The other night I participated in a roommate dinner that resulted in a paparazzi swarm. The evening started and ended normally, with discussions of Ataturk and Turkish swear words. But, during the middle bit, two Turkish movie stars (who, according to Ozgecan, are the equivalent of Brad Pitt and Ashton Kutcher) were eating at the same restaurant as us. When Oz flashed her eyebrows (the not-so-subtle signal for me to turn around) I caught a glimpse of them speed away in their Maserati with cameras on their trail close behind. Apparently, the paparazzi got a glimpse of us to, as we are tiny specs in the background of this picture.

Black Sea Region

When my mom, sister, and Tim visited we took a day trip to the Black Sea region. On my spring break excursion I'm going to be going further east along the Black Sea (basically into a freezing cold mountainous area, happy spring break to me), but I'm excited to explore more of this area. So, here are some slightly uninteresting photos that I love from my day there.

Ciao

Ode to Streetfood: Part II

Pistachio and raspberry dondurma (Turkish ice cream that you can cut with a knife) and Arden. Kadıköy. 

Antiques that I love: Bebek

One day, when it's not illegal to bring back to the U.S., I will buy this mirror for myself.

If it's the beaches

Illica beach, outside of Çeşme, Turkey. Completely deserted in March, which made it completely perfect.

Patriarchal Church of St. George (the mother ship, people)

Magic does exist

... In Türkiye.
After a wonderfully warm day in Efes, we took a two lira bus up the side of a mountain to Şirince, a small town famous for its fruit wines. We had a delicious Turkish meal while the sun set over the mountains. Catherine was oddly amazed by the black and white goats playing in a field on a nearby mountain (she's from New York City, I have no other explanation... also she supports interracial relationships). After dinner we frolicked about the tiny town and Melissa and I bought flower crowns from an adorable babushka weaving them on the street. Maybe the flowers went to our head (HA! Get it?), but when we discovered the town's backstreets lined with the most picturesque cottages, we somehow convinced ourselves that we were characters in a Turkish fairy tale. 

I'm still convinced.                   

Ode to Street Food: Part I

Kabob sandwich, Sultanahmet. Photo courtesy of Tim Simeone 

Efes (not the beer)

The most beautiful place I have ever seen. Your feet felt ancient just by walking on its soil. This wasn't a museum, it was alive and breathing. An ancient Greek city, which was second in size only to Rome itself during the Roman period. Originally home to the Celsus Library, whose front wall still stands, and the Temple of Artemis (completed in 550 B.C.), one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, before it was destroyed in 401 A.D. Ancient, ancient, ancient. I've never seen so many ancient things in my life.

“I have set eyes on the wall of lofty Babylon on which is a road for chariots, and the statue of Zeus by the Alpheus, and the hanging gardens, and the colossus of the Sun, and the huge labour of the high pyramids, and the vast tomb of Mausolus; but when I saw the house of Artemis that mounted to the clouds, those other marvels lost their brilliancy, and I said, “Lo, apart from Olympus, the Sun never looked on aught so grand.” - Antipater of Siden