I am a bad blogger.....
I have many articles, stories, history lessons floating around in my head for you, some of which have made their way to paper, but haven't made their way to this blog.... I have been working, working, working... Have discovered some amazing places.... Spring is springing here, trees and flowers are blooming.... The city is coming alive. Everyone, myself included, is welcoming this change with open arms. I hope to write more soon.
Things I've Learned:
* As punishment for their choosing the wrong side in the conflict, the Ottoman Empire was divided up by the Allies after the First World War. A certain general, Ataturk, rose up against this separation to create what is now modern-day Turkey. He is responsible for uniting the post-WWI fragments, making Turkey a Democracy, as well as secularizing it (which was no small feat, considering that most people and governments in the region followed Islamic Sharia Law. I still don't understand how he managed this). If Turkish citizens have a superhero, Ataturk is it. Sides of buildings are plastered with him, always dapperly dressed, sometimes on horseback, sometimes with rainbow light shining on him from heaven. He is revered in the most serious of ways by schoolchildren to university students to grown men and women. He fought hard to keep Turkey secular. So it is interesting to note that the current Turkish government is trending the opposite direction.
* There is a group of gypsies who cart massive tyvek sacks on wheels around collecting recycling. Photos forthcoming.
* In Turkey, 'architectural preservation' = 'architectural redevelopment.' Rather than restore, they tear down the old historic buildings and rebuild them 'in the style of....'
* Homelessness: Problem Yok! (really???)
* Sufism vs. Islam
* My Turkish vocabulary is improving. I'm nowhere close to speaking in sentences, but I feel good about my vocab.
* Potentially some major changes on the horizon as we enter the Spring season... I am working out the details, but hope to have some news to report soon.
I miss you all much! Know that I carry you all around with me.
I have many articles, stories, history lessons floating around in my head for you, some of which have made their way to paper, but haven't made their way to this blog.... I have been working, working, working... Have discovered some amazing places.... Spring is springing here, trees and flowers are blooming.... The city is coming alive. Everyone, myself included, is welcoming this change with open arms. I hope to write more soon.
Things I've Learned:
* As punishment for their choosing the wrong side in the conflict, the Ottoman Empire was divided up by the Allies after the First World War. A certain general, Ataturk, rose up against this separation to create what is now modern-day Turkey. He is responsible for uniting the post-WWI fragments, making Turkey a Democracy, as well as secularizing it (which was no small feat, considering that most people and governments in the region followed Islamic Sharia Law. I still don't understand how he managed this). If Turkish citizens have a superhero, Ataturk is it. Sides of buildings are plastered with him, always dapperly dressed, sometimes on horseback, sometimes with rainbow light shining on him from heaven. He is revered in the most serious of ways by schoolchildren to university students to grown men and women. He fought hard to keep Turkey secular. So it is interesting to note that the current Turkish government is trending the opposite direction.
* There is a group of gypsies who cart massive tyvek sacks on wheels around collecting recycling. Photos forthcoming.
* In Turkey, 'architectural preservation' = 'architectural redevelopment.' Rather than restore, they tear down the old historic buildings and rebuild them 'in the style of....'
* Homelessness: Problem Yok! (really???)
* Sufism vs. Islam
* My Turkish vocabulary is improving. I'm nowhere close to speaking in sentences, but I feel good about my vocab.
* Potentially some major changes on the horizon as we enter the Spring season... I am working out the details, but hope to have some news to report soon.
I miss you all much! Know that I carry you all around with me.
