Turkey 2011: Another Fall

Sleep with the windows open/ The rain on the balcony/ Makes soft feet

I beg pardon from all for the four month gap between blog posts. In accordance with the hopes in the last post from July, life has indeed “flipped.”

Also, and if one was wondering why I’ve been inspired to write again, today I disabled my Facebook account until further notice, so I’m attempting to channel all that one-off sharing and Facebook-stalking energy into something almost-tangible: a new blog post.

The reason for disabling my account was a discussion I had with my Sociology students today about Facebook. This consisted of me asking them such critical-thinking questions as “have you ever blocked someone?” (all their exes, apparently) and “have you ever been de-friended?” (…. silence and then “I don’t know… I have to check”) and “how long does it take to make a real friend?” (at least a year) and “how long does it take to make a Facebook friend?” (as long as it takes for them to accept your request). And so on and so forth.

So here I am, hurtling thoughts out into the universe again.

Summer was a strange succession of work and play.

After working with the Soros Open Democracy program over at Sabanci University in July I headed back stateside for four weeks, where I resisted the urge to spread myself thin and instead planted myself firmly between Cincinnati and Louisville, with a long-weekend trip to Chicago to attend a very cool eLearning/Mobile Learning conference.

It had been two years and eight months since I left the United States. The president is the same, but it seems as though everything else has changed, and yet not changed. The American psyche has definitely taken a beating in those long years, and the deflated confidence in the traditional American resilience machine seems to show more clearly each time I return; roads are fixed more slowly, parks go to the weeds.

That said, the brave are still thinking outside the box. Now more than ever.

Those who are able to tighten their belts have, and have learned not only to embrace the new economy with a certain humor, if not optimism, but more than make do. I still have great hope for our cattywampus country.

Upon returning to Turkey, I spent a lovely week doing nothing (and I mean NOTHING) and then my friends Sarah and Aaron came in from Chicago for a few weeks. We dined on meze, traipsed around Istanbul full on falafel and made our way down south along the Mediterranean coast along the Lycian way in our “K” city tour (all the more hilarious since we went to Kalamazoo – i.e. “K” college).

As we moved our way through Kalkan, Kas, Karakoy and Kabak we took in views more lovely than lovely and ate enough gozleme (Turkish stuffed crepes) to kill a small Greek/Turkish village.

Now, a month and a half later (how time flies), work has started once again and I am in the full swing of classes. Still teaching English for Academic Purposes (writing, reading, research) for Business and Sociology, but have also taken on an International Legal English Certification exam course with masters-level Law students (oh, how I wished all you Legal friends had been there the other week when they were grilling me on the difference between “a summons” and “a subpoena.”) I know now, Ok!?

And so life trudges on. Again, the plan is to return state-side next year:-) But, with the economy being what it is, I am trying to plan a landing pattern that will continue life on this spectacular, challenging, sometimes-frightening but always interesting trajectory.

Peace be with you. And also with you. Word.

Turkey: Summer in the city

Sweat streams down hot skin

never-ending-month-of-june;

just praying for peace.

After the late-may visit from John and Taylor, things went back to “normal” in Istanbul, which is to say erratic. Due to myriad reasons, june was a personal roller coaster, and heading in to july I took a deep breath and braced for impact. July began with me feeling rather hollowed out, but summer vacation plans (heading home a week from Tuesday!) are keeping my spirits up.

Each day has been spent working like crazy (with a few beach trips on the weekends) to try and finish up my syllabi and course materials for fall semester, while summer hit with full force and slammed us across the face with her sunny fist. Next year I found out that I’ll be working with the Business, Sociology and Legal departments, so getting a head start seemed like a good idea.

This week is busy with teaching an orientation to U.S. Schools over at Sabanci University with the Soros Open Democracy program (a very cool social justice organization). It’s good to get away from Istanbul a bit, although we are really in the middle of nowhere, and the only place to hang out near our hotel in a brickyard or a truck stop.

I’m excited to meet my students tomorrow, though, as they are sophomores from all over Eastern Europe who are heading to the states to study social justice for a year.

While home I’ll be in Cincinnati and Louisville and will get to even head up to Chicago for a bit to catch up with old friends.

See you on the flip side, and let’s hope things have truly flipped.

Turkey: Summer coming

Crucible  Spring

May melts into June

Slow, as if two chemicals

Never quite merging

Three months after creating this new blog I am finally taking the time to write a second post. Sweetbabyjesus has it really been that long!? After 5 computerless months (coffee and Macs don’t mix… don’t want to talk about it…) I have my ex-ex-Mac back and I am in love all over again!

Early summer is slowly melting into the Istanbul psyche. The air has changed and the sun sets later each day; amid honking taxis and neighbor people playing Black Sea music in the valley below, the feral cats growl at one another’s amorous advances and the construction workers on the huge office building site across the way yell loud, unintelligible, manly things at one another to pass the time. Tourists clog each over-taxed artery of the main city centers and locals flock to city parks and green spaces each weekend.

Having just finished the school year and worked my way out from under a tremendous pile of grading, I happily pushed away my pensive thoughts of “what the hell am I doing next with my life?” (yes, the short-term answer is the same thing for another year, but the long-term answer is more perplexing) and welcomed my brother John and his girlfriend Taylor to Istanbul.

The first few days we stayed in Istanbul and did the main tourist must-do’s like the Hagia Sofia, Blue Mosque and Galata Tower, filled our baskets at local markets bursting with olives, strawberries and 10 different variations on two white cheeses, drank Efes, danced in rooftop bars, wandered around back alleys, ate Turkish omelets,  kebabs, baklava, meat balls and simits, and, just when we thought it was all too much, we saved ourselves and flew down to Capadoccia, the land of the ferry chimney rock formations, in the middle of the country.

After 2 taxi’s, 3 buses, one plane and one quick car ride we found ourselves settling in to the Shoestring Hostel in Goreme town in Capadoccia. First off we hiked over to the open air museum about a kilometer outside town, wandering through rock formations and caves where early Christians in the 9th to 11th centuries A.D. used to hide out and do thoughtful monk stuff like carve living spaces out of rock and paint amazing frescoes.

All this beauty made us very tired, so we got ourselves a bottle of the best local swill (Turkiye is not known for its wines) and headed back to the hotel where we were staying, IN A CAVE:-)

The next day we went on a tour of the countryside around Goreme. We went to the underground cities of Derinkuyu, where Christians used to live more than 8 stories under the ground in ancient caves carved into the earth by water and human hands. We also went to Ilhara Valley and hiked along a rushing mountain stream shouldered on each side by steep cliffs where thousands of years ago people had carved living spaces and homes for pidgeons. 

And now, a note about pigeons: according to our guide, Efe, Christians are very fond of pigeons. Pigeons are a symbol of peace along with the olive branch and that’s why the early christians in Capadoccia built so many houses for them in the rocks. Who knew!? Pigeons.

Before leaving Capadoccia, we wanted to go horseback riding, not only because I think all three of us have a deep-seated nagging suspicion that it’s what people from Kentucky are SUPPOSED to do when we go to a new rugged outback land, but also because Taylor found a blurb in the guidebook about a guy people called “The Horse Whisperer of Capadoccia.”

We hiked over to the place where the stables of the Horse Whisperer were fabled to be and low and behold, a tall, dark, long-haired man in a cowboy hat and boots sauntered over to us. We asked if he knew where we might be able to find someone called the Horse Whisperer and he replied, I shit you not: “I am the Horse Whisperer.” !? He went on, “actually, I was just whispering to those horses over there, I’m trying to get them to be friends.” Double !?

We made a plan to go riding with him the next day and left giddy with the knowledge that we were going to have the adventure of a lifetime with the Turkish Horse Whisperer… a darker version of Robert Redford, but with no less appeal. As we walked back over to the hotel John and Taylor teased me, saying “Jennie! You HAVE to date the Horse Whisperer!” I smiled to myself, thinking, well… his teeth were a bit wonky, but those boots were nice.

The next day, excited about our impending date with the Horse Whisperer, we hiked up into Pigeon Valley (oh birds of peace and love) and up to the highest point in Capadoccia, Uchisar (three castles).

 FINALLY, that evening the time had come for our ride! We skipped over to the horse stables, confident that this would be the experience of a lifetime. It was.

When we showed up, a small man muttering in unintelligible Turkish managed to express that the Horse Whisperer was out with another group, but that he would be our guide. WTF!? All our dreams of magical times with the Horse Whisperer were dashed. 

In fact, halfway into the ride when the obviously wild and not well-whispered horses continued to buck and nearly plunge us down steep cliffs of stone, I leaned forward and said “Pardon, sizin Turkce anlamiyorum” (I don’t understand your Turkish). The old Turkish man in the store across the street from us laughed his ass off and screamed out “I can’t understand him either! He’s not Turkish.” Well, at least it wasn’t me, I thought. 

Even though our hopes of fun times with the Horse Whisperer were dashed, we didn’t die and we did get to see a lovely sunset.

And then, just as we were about to return to Istanbul for another five days of epic fun, Cappadoccia gave us one last gift to remember her by.

These pictures speak for themselves. 

Where we thought we were going…

Ask what I’ve learned, I

reply:  “the more I know the

less I know for sure.”

Often people ask me what it was that I was searching for in my travels. I rarely have an answer. The next question is “so what have you learned?”

I was stumped on this one until, a few months ago, I came upon a phrase that resonated: “the more I know, the less I know for sure.” Most people say “yeah, Socrates wrote that.” OR, “that’s a poem I think.”

Dude, whatever.

And so, another school/work year approaches its close. Things move along: governments topple, allied forces drop new rounds of bombs, jobs change, friends get married, friends get divorced, meet a new guy, break it off, lose 10 pounds, then gain 5, learn a new song, make a new friend, watch one move away, let my hair get long, cut it off, then let it grow again.

Something remains the same though. We retain some major inkling of who we have been all these years. We love our family, our friends, we try to make them skype more, we try to remember all their birthdays, we fail.

I have switched to the royal “we,” not due to any imagined importance, but because too often people seem to assume that this life is a glamorous string of excitement. And yet, everything friends do at home, I also do. I go to work, I buy groceries, I cook, I workout, I go to choir practice, I read books, watch movies and even, sometimes, get bored.

But enough of these wanderings and on with the update.

Welcome to the new blog! I made this site complete with my vocal music, poems and pictures. I feel as though it’s rubyshoesroxanne meets world 2.0.

Last I wrote I was headed to New York and Ecuador. Despite a freak snow storm in New York, both were amazing. See “photography” link for slideshows.

In New York I applied for NYU’s graduate program for Educational Technology and Media. Good news is that I got in (as of a few weeks ago)! Bottomline news is that I realized that I don’t want to go $60,000 in debt for a second masters.

More good news is that I love my current job (Academic Skills Instructor for Business and Sociology students). My students are good, my curriculum is (finally) written and the vacation time is amazing. And the job situation back at home is not so great.

SO, I will be staying in Istanbul another year (yes, that’ll make 3 all told)! This brings with it the chance to travel and spend some time thinking about what I want to do in the future.

I stopped the other day when I was walking down from my house through the park to the gym. The smell of honeysuckle made me turn my head and I said to myself “well, Jennie, is this where we thought we were going?”

Then I kept walking on my way.