Ski Vacation: Day One

We stopped for breakfast here.



From left to right, Elsa, Omral, and Jess



Driving up to the Ski Basin, would anyone care for some mountain spring water?

It's a quarter to two and I'm sitting in my room in the ski lodge watching the cloud banks below. This place is incredible! Here is a picture from out of my room's window. I'm heading out to ski now.



And I'm back from the slopes! After taking a long, long shower followed by a long, long soak in the tub I'm very relaxed heading into this new year. Now, I hadn't been skiing since I was twelve or so, and I fell down a lot at first. But after the first hour I was getting back into the motions and taking turns right. We went on one final run from the very top as the sun was setting. The setting sun turned the snow deep red and the mountains really looked like Santa Fe. I miss that city, maybe one day I will move back to it. It feels good to be in the mountains again.

We met with Omral's brother Omer and Omer's wife for dinner at the lodge where they are also staying. He asked me to put the following onto the blog. "I was in the mountain with my friend Omer, today we skied very good. I was almost afraid my legs would break." We have been invited to visit him in his house on the black sea, I would really like to visit there in the spring, the hills are supposed to be a lush green.

The ski lodge is very large, heck it even has a pool on the top floor in an atrium. We'll be heading up to the lounge to relax in a minute and have dinner later this evening. Elsa is a very good skier, she was an instructor in Vermont, Jess didn't go on the slopes today since she "has to get psyched up and then spend a whole day skiing" and Omral got some lessons since he had never been skiing, and by the end of them he was gliding along with a big grin on his face. Everyone's having a great time, I couldn't think of a more spectacular way to close out 2005 and move into 2006.

Wishing everyone the very best, have a safe and joyous new year.

-Alex

Correction

We are on the ferry right now about to go down the Bosphorous. Somehow I picked up a wireless network on this ferry for trucks. Turkey is full of surprises. The ferry is moving now, I'm going to post incase I lose connection.

Just a Quickie

We wrapped up the work week here on the eve of winter vacation, yep I went to work today, by doing a very thorough inventory while no one is around to buy anything. For me this meant doing very little in the way of speaking english. After a few hours of this all seven of us walked down to Beshitash and were all given huge gift baskets from our employer. When we got down to the street where his office was there were police barricades on the other side of the street and officers looking very serous patrolling everywhere. I found out this was because some big time Mafia boss was having his trial right over there.

The ski trip will not leave tonight as planned, but early tomorrow morning, this works fine since we wouldn't do anything but sleep out there tonight. For whatever reason I'm totally beat, I think I'll go to bed increadibly early again.

Jump Start the Weekend, Go to Bed Early!

The weather has been gradually warming as the winds shifted south, the rain has been light and brief, a welcome change. But this is bound to be temporary, it is December here after all.

Istanbul seems to be perpetually under construction, from the roads torn up for utility work in Taksim to the apartment building being built on my walk to work, there are even three high rises under construction across the little valley from my neighborhood. Last night was perfect, I went home with nothing to do, did some laundry, played some games, and was asleep before nine. For fans of Futurama I'm beginning to feel a bit like Slurms MacKenzie, the original party worm. "Infact, Slurms has to party all night, every night, or he doesn't get paid." Lots of the students want me to go to their parties and almost every evening some important social event is happening, so it felt good just to relax and sleep.

Today is the second day of exams at the school, and if I understand correctly, I don't even need to come to work tomorrow, my vacation starts. But it's only a quasi-vacation, since I will still be overseeing some improvement projects at the school. The ski trip is still on for this weekend it seems, I'll be taking the camera for that adventure, as well as the little single use heating pads I ordered from Japan last winter. I still have about five left.

Slow Day at Work, Perfect Time for Playing with Gadgets.

On my way up to the school several cats along the sidewalk ran up to me for petting, I think they're beginning to recognize me. Some fast plans have been made for this weekend, instead of laying around doing very little in my pajamas, I have been invited to go ski outside of Istanbul. So this will be my first trip outside the city, kinda funny to think I haven't left one metropolis area for a month. Though I suppose I might have done that in Davis a few times this last year. It looks like we're going to put in a real espresso machine at the cafe so we'll all be good and peppy when school comes back into session. Now for some pictures from work, Gokcha took these with her phone then we got the phone to sync up with my computer. That part was really cool, now I'm considering getting a fancy phone that will wirelessly sync with this computer... but I'm not sure what I would transfer between them.



This is me of corse.



And this is Gokcha, she's a sweety.

This evening, unless I get some unexpected phone calls I think I'll just lay around on the couch and do very little, play games, read a book. I've been so busy going out to dinners for the last week!

The students are taking exams today and tomorrow, the cafe has been pretty empty and from what I hear Turkish students skip class and don't pay attention until right before the exams, then try hard to pass them. This doesn't sound too different from the United States, so I guess some things never change. The teachers are lamenting this as the average grade at this school is well below passing.

Uh oh, I just heard there will be a reception at this school satrting in three hours. Will I get away, or be caught until the late hours? We can only hope.

Shave and a hair cut, Yirmi Yeni Turk Liras

Good morning, this week is zipping right along, and it's really great to have Makena and Eric in town and coherent so soon after their journey over. After work yesterday I decided to try hitting a coiffure parlor and getting a split end trim. Things turned out really nice, but there was a little adventure before hand. Right below Jess and Elsa's apartment there is a hair salon with some very nice people, it was recommended and I decided to give it a shot. I felt pretty thick-skulled when it finally dawned on me that the salon only did women's hair after a few minutes of explaining and fishing for words.

But no matter, I just decided to try out this hair shop along my walk to work. Walking in I was greeted and someone was just finishing their haircut so the wait wasn't long at all. And wow, this guy was pretty amazing. I got half an inch trimmed off, then some styling done, a straight blade razor shave, then the apprentice fellow took over and washed my hair, massaged some lotions into my face and gave me a massage. That was my idea of a trim, I walked out of there feeling godlike. Then I bought a bag of cat food to spread the love to the kitties. I met a really friendly cat yesterday and fed him my last cat treat slim-jim thing, he was leaking a bit of blood out of his nose though, and one of his eyes had closed. I think I might try spreading cat vitamins and feline medicine around, I don't want to see my favorites stiff on the sidewalk, or any of the other cats for that matter.

Last night we all went out for dinner then opened some presents over at Jess and Elsa's apartment. Thank you all back home, the gifts are lovely, and very useful! Evon, I really needed something warm to wear around my apartment, my pajamas just weren't cutting it, thank you. Makena made this really whacky pillow-cover for me that looks like a sea anemone. I'll put a picture of it up tonight.

Update on the cellphone, I use it to text like mad, but I hardly make a call because of the price. I've only made three voice calls since having it, but the number of texts I don't want to begin to count. Will I get one pack in the states? Probably, le sigh.

Archeology Museum, Round Two

I spent my Christmas morning in the Archeology Museum copying down the Sumerian tablets and then treating myself to a near-empty museum full of classical sculpture. It was heaven. Not having anyone along this time really helped, I swear it felt like half the statues I had never seen before.

So you like the classics? You like ancient times?



Do you like really old works of art?



Lemmehearyousayyeah,yeah!



He was a hunk.


A man playing a lyre, exquisite, and intact.



Cornelia Antonia, empress and definetly a hottie. This statue is amazing, since the dress seems to show through the shawl she has wrapped around her. Exquisite!



And a wonderful statue of Artemis, my favorite of the gods, that I had somehow missed of my last visit.



And of corse there are the kitties. This very effectionate one posed atop a pillar for me, but most of the time I was taking pictures outside he was jumping up and rubbing against my hands, or climbing on me when I kneeled for a shot.

Merry Christmas Eve, from Istanbul

We're having a white Christmas here. The snow was really coming down and sticking this morning, so I got a few pictures when I went to the bakery for bread. I spent the afternoon down in Taksim with a rug salesman I've really come to like, I bought some presents while I was there, so clear some display space back home, you'll like these!

After riding the metro back to my home neighborhood I ran into Apau and one of the cooks who were working on Saturday, bringing in a few things for the cafe. So I had a quick meal with them and we started a Tom Hanks movie that had been dubbed into Turkish. Then a quick walk home to find some cats hanging out on my window still.



I'm getting ready to go to a Christmas Eve gathering over at Jess and Elsa's apartment

The Students Have Already Checked out.

Break may start in a week, but it seemed there are half as many students around after lunch. Probably skipping out for lunch and not coming back. Too bad the attendance policy is unspeakably wicked... You continue through the class as normal, but when the final comes along they see if you've skipped too many, if you have, you don't get to take the final therefore ensuring a failing grade. At least that's how it was described to me, this education system is so weird.

So forget about it! It's Friday, here are some cat pictures.

Adventure all Around!

Every time I walk outside I have an adventure. I try to speak as much Turkish as possible, I don't want to be just some jerk tourist. I did my shopping at a small store on the way home in halting Turkish and then stopped and talked with an old man about cats, but he asked me a question I didn't understand and I told him I was sorry, but I was an English speaker. He just grinned and shook my hand. But it's amazing, people say 90% of communication is non-verbal. It seems exaggerated, sure. But go to a country where you desperately struggle to communicate verbally and you see how much communication is non-verbal, since that becomes your primary way of dealing with people.

Someone came into the cafe waving a Fenerbache flag today, (futbol team in Istanbul) meaning there was probably a match. Maybe I should have gone down to the pub and watched.

Tomorrow is Friday, and honestly, I'm ready for the weekend. I'll get to see the sun, also there is a bit of a Christmas-Eve dinner in the works that I will be attending. Sorry people back home! I'm getting you all presents, but I'll have to wait until I am able to send them back with someone.

Happy Winter Solstice!

Overlooking Fulya avenue right before dawn on the shortest day of the year.

Spread that Yuletide cheer!

Slow Tuesday

I saw my ill-tempered friend as I walked to work this morning. He hopped up a few levels and came through the bushes and fence for some petting. People are tired today, and it's really cold still, but the snow melted yesterday afternoon. Last night was spent with Jess and Elsa having dinner, relaxing and making light of everything that one could. There is this really great local bakery about half way between our flats, we can get these slabs of flat bread that are about a meter long and really tasty for 35 cents. If you want to live cheep in Istanbul, it's very feasible, though having my weekday meals free makes that squeeze not so hard.

Everyone's english is improving here, including mine. Having to insure the comprehensibility of everything I say is a task requiring constant attention. In the US I was very free to babble and most people would at least get the gist of what I was trying to get across to them. But in a foreign country where some of these students have only been studying English a few weeks, I really have to watch what I say, otherwise all I get in return are blank stares. Of corse this doesn't keep me from doing this when I really feel like it.

Tomorrow is the winter solstice, at least for out here. It makes me get all mushy and remember Ptolomey and want to build a bunch of instruments and start recording the hight of the sun and whatnot... Of corse I would have to be at the instrument at noon to measure the sun's hight... and the skies would have to be clear... So it's not a very practical thing, but it would be fun!

Snow!

That's right, it's snowing, and sticking on everything but the roads (thankfully). I hear that sometimes the snow becomes so treacherous on all these hills that whole neighborhoods close off for a day or two. And it's cold cold cold! COLD! A year and a half in california sissified me I guess. Though I suppose I could have dressed a bit better than I did for today. Not surprising the only cats I saw while walking here were ones peeking out at me from their shelters against the weather. Though I am really glad I got out to Hagia Sophia the day before the horrible weather started. The five-day forecast says there is hope for next weekend, so maybe I'll get inside some other places of interest. One I would like to see is called the mosaic museum. It's behind the blue mosque on the sight of the Byzantine Emperors' palace. Now he's the kicker, the museum is the intact pieces mosaic floor of the palace. You walk around and they are still there on the ground. (under glass of corse, and a few have been relocated to the walls)

Tomorrow I'm wearing a sweater!

Walking in the Rain

It was a slow Sunday morning, rain has been pretty coming in pretty steady since last night. After laying around the apartment until one in the afternoon I decided, rain or no, I should walk around the neighborhood at least for some exercise. So I bundled up and headed out the door.

I started out just walking the route my feet normally take me, towards the school. Rain was coming down pretty good and for the last bit of this leg of the walk the rain beat directly against me. So I passed the school and turned the corner beginning to head back down hill. I just wound around the back streets for a while, the rain wasn't so bad between the buildings and to my eyes the way the rain highlights all the greens and glasses over surface textures accentuating them, is very beautiful.



Running between the apartment buildings are many brick staircases, and occasionally I would emerge from the buildings to be on a small hillside looking out across the city. The rain makes Istanbul feel very lush, even though the trees are bare, the gardens are still green as snow hasn't come yet. Though I hear there is usually a few inches of snow on the ground by this time.

While I was walking on a staircase the mosque a block away began the call to prayer. It echoed just slightly among the buildings, but where I stood the sound came very clear and strong. I took a small movie clip of this, and I'll try to figure out if I can get it onto this website.



And of corse, the mandatory cat photo. She just watched me from her place under the shelter of a porch overhang.

Hagia Sophia (handover your bandwith)

Today was big, bigger than big, it was so big it had an interior dome 70 meters high involved in it. I can't begin to express how amazing this building is. The acoustics are incredible too, heck, they'd better be since the thing is made of marble. So enough jabber and let's get to the pictures.

As always, I have absurdly high resolution versions of these pictures (and others) available to anyone. Just let me know and I'll send them your way.



Here is the entrance, as you walk up to it it just feels bigger and bigger.



This is a picture through one of the two smaller interior doors flanking a larger central door. The main door I couldn't get in frame also right now there is restoration work being done and the center is filled with scaffolding on one side that reaches the dome. I really hope by the time I leave the scaffolding will be gone, but really it didn't detract from the amazing experience.



This is the Sultan's personal spot in the church (after it had been converted to a mosque of corse)







Okay, this is the best place to pray I have ever seen. I was on my knees to take some of these shots, but I don't think that really counted. Well maybe it did. Then it was up the ramp (which felt like walking uphill in a cave) to the second level where the really amazing photography took place.









One place in the upper gallery had such perfect lighting I wanted to cry, but I didn't! I just took pictures instead.







There was one aspect that was very disheartening to see... the defacing that had gone on. Besides the graffiti scratched into the walls in places all the crosses embosed on the bases of columns and just about anywhere except the ceiling had been broken off or otherwise defaced.



The mosaics were amazing, I have some others photographed but the beauty of these two stood out to me.





Some small windows were open and I snapped a few pictures of the outside world.





This railing was too cool not to get a picture of. This is stone and I have to say, "they don't make things like the used to"



And as the sun began to head towards setting, amazing things happened with the light inside.







The Emperor who commissioned Hagia Sophia to be constructed apparently said the equivalent of, "Solomon, take your temple and step, coz I've hit the scene like a freight train!" And I agree with him.

And what trip of mine would be complete without a cute kitty? Everyone meet the kitty of the holy wisdom.



Sorry for breaking your internet connections with the pictures, but you had to see them. Hope you enjoyed.

Because Cats Are Easy To Take Pictures Of

Walking home today I was very pleased to see my ill-tempered friend. Except today he actually walked up to me and seemed pleased to see me. Probably because of the cat treats I was holding, but I can pretend. I knelt down to pet him and he kept hoping up to put his paws on my knee.



Gokcha at work loves my cat photos and had me send some to her email while we were at work. How we communicate at work is amazing, from outside we just gibber at each-other in a Turkish/English hybrid mixed with lots of hand gestures and facial expressions. As I walked away from the kitty he started to follow me, it was really too adorable. He's no Oberon, but it's nice having a neat cat in my day again.



I'm heading to bed now, the plan is to wake up early and hit Sultanamet with camera in hand. I just wish there was a cheeper way of getting there than by Taxi.

Friday, planning for the Weekend and Beyond

So the students here are all hip and fashionable, that means right now many of their shirts have bits of english written on them. From strange things like "wHERE's the secret message" to things I really wouldn't expect, like a guy wearing a UCB sweatshirt and my favorite that I unsuccessfully tried to eplain to the girl wearing it. She was wearing a sweatshirt that read Yuba City, CA Physical Education Department. Of all the places to be a Gym teacher... Well, I suppose it beats Fresno. Maybe when her English improves she'll look at her cloths and throw them in the rubbish.

Well, today is Friday, I think I've finally recovered from Monday night's ordeal and I'm ready to go out touring a bit more this weekend. It's raining today, but if it has cleared up by morning I think I'll hit Sultanamet at dawn and get as much daylight photography as the approaching solstice will allow. Asli, one of her Co-Workers, and Murat want to take me out Saturday night. Murat is the student president at Bacheshire University and wants to intoduce me to the dean.

Makena and Eric will be in town in nine days, I'll still be working for that week, but the big vacation hits the thirtieth and then I'll be able to drag them around this city that's quickly becoming home. There are some vague ideas to go skiing in eastern Turkey in early January, but I might rather just stick around town, there is still so much I haven't seen.

Cell Phone Use: Calls: 1 Texts: 4 (I sent a couple texts Monday night, I keep forgetting to update this counter.)

Funny stories, muddy paws.

Hassan told me a hilarious story today about a former girlfriend of his. The two of them had gone touring around Turkey on vacation and to make their bags lighter they had brought only one of certain appliances to share. (One Iron, one hair drier, etc.) This story is about the iron. Hassan had just finished ironing some shirts when his girlfriend came in and asked to use the iron. He handed it to her handle first and she clasped it to her chest in a sign of cute affection. And unfortunately she had been wearing something akin to a spaghetti strap tank top. Hassan said it was like she had been branded and added, "She'll never forget me."

Now, I know it's very cruel and wrong to laugh at human misery, but his closing remark made me just start cracking up. It's a bad thing that happened sure, but probably not the worst thing at which I've laughed. Like that story Dave told me about the midget hooker he knew in Denver who ended up dead and stuffed in a trash can one morning.

Well, it's a slow morning, I'm finally waking up after being here for three hours. I started out a bit earlier this morning and played with more cats. I tried to take some pictures, but none of them would hold still enough. My favorite was asleep in the ivy and I woke him up with a treat to his nose. Most of the others seemed more interested in petting than food, so I guess not only are they not starving, they must be fed well and regularly. During my fifteen minute walk up the hill I see somewhere around half a dozen to a dozen cats, depending on the weather. Passers-by don't seen to understand why I sit and pet the cats and take their pictures.

None of the cat pictures from this morning came out very well, maybe I'll get some good poses during the walk home.

Chugging along through the Week.

Whew, first update this week. Work isn't exactly strenuous, the hours are just really long. (In fact I'm typing this up at work.) Monday night was crazy, there was a room full of the rich folks from around town who went to see some staggeringly talented pianist (I listened to it from outside the auditorium) then they rubbed elbows in the foyer afterwards. I was there presumably to be a waiter, but the event was catered and waiters were provided. Hassan was there helping to run the show, but since I can't give orders to the Turkish workers, I couldn't help out with that either. So I ended up standing around and looking pretty for four hours after a full day.

It wasn't entirely bad, I met some neat people who I'm going to go out with this weekend. Also I caught up with Mr. Omral and met someone of importance around Istanbul who is traveling to Washington DC in two days. He didn't speak any English and Mr. Omral joked that I should teach it to him. Another fellow wants to introduce me to the dean and see about moving me up a bit in dear ol' Istanbul.

It started sprinkling this morning as I walked to work when I ran into my usual ill-tempered friend. Here is a picture of him, sitting in his usual spot.



Here's another picture from the museum that I finished messing around with the levels to get the glare off the marble. (sorta) It's of me between two statues of Marcus Aurelius. I'll go back to the museum some day where there is a lot better light.



Internet at the apartment is pretty spotty, I can't wait until the DSL line is installed.

A Trip To the Archeology Museum

Lots of pictures today. I had to wait until I was at work with high speed internet. (which I should be getting at the apartment in the near future.) I was totally blown away by the visit to the museum, I don't really have much to say. So here are the pictures.

I have high resolution (4.0 mega pixel) versions of any of these and more if anyone wants them, just email me.

First we arrived in Sultenamet right between the two big big beautiful buildings.


Hagia Sophia


Blue Mosque

Then we went to the Archeology and Antiquity Museum.


A statue outside the Antiquity Museum


This is a tablet in Sumerian, it appears to be a dedication by the king of Lagash for a temple. This is old Sumerian, Third Millenium BC. Totally hot.


Here is a tablet, I think it's Phonecian.


Alexander the Great.


Alexander the Great's Tomb


A peice of a statue of Goddess Artemis


Here is the man himself, Marcus Aurelius. My heart went pitter-pat when I saw this one.


And here is Asli next to a statue of a women from Ancient Greece.

That Sunday was a seriously religious experiance for me I think I'm going to go back there many many times. Also, it's only about 1.50 USD to get inside the museum.

I hope you enjoyed the picutes as much as I enjoyed taking them