Greetings from Istanbul, Turkey!
I managed to get some time in a quaint little internet cafe today, where I am able to experience a brief reprive from the last few days. We arrived in this grand city of Turkey on November 1, and were immediately greeted by culture shock. Though Turkey is 99.9% Muslim, an interesting phenomenon centers on the unique secular government which Ataturk instituted about 80 years ago. Thus far, we have had amazing opportunities to talk with students, professors, locals, and even a religious editorial writer for a local newspaper about what creates this interesting mix called Turkey.
The highlight, by far, came on Friday, when we talked with a group of students from Koc University, widely considered by many the "Harvard" of Turkey. The meeting had been set up by members of their International Relations club, so it was academically stimulating to be able to talk with a group of people who were extremely knowledgable about both Turkish foreign and internal affairs. Many of them are disturbed by the current state of affairs here in Turkey, primarily concerning the issue of the Kurdish terroist group PKK, of which you may have heard about in the media recently. They spoke about their adoration for Turkey's founder and cult figure Ataturk, who in a land of growing Islamism, is still greatly admired by the population. One only need walk down the streets and see countless pictures of Ataturk, by himself or interposed on a Turkish flag. Speaking of flags, they run rampant here. Nationalism is out of hand!! Everywhere you turn, you'll find the lovely red and yellow... very nice, yes, but quite repetitive!
Anyways, you may have also heard of Rice's recent visit to Istanbul. Pretty neat, considering, ya know, I'm in the same city and all. As we took the bus trip to Koc university, we actually passed the hotel she was staying in. Needless to say, it was greatly fortified.
So much political and cultural intrigue here, but little time to share. I also must include a note on the just plain gorgeousness of this country. Comparatively, to Cairo with all its coughy air, Istanbul is a mecca of cleanliness. Situated on the Bosporous, Istanbul provides a great gateway to both Asia and Europe, as it serves as the dividing point (part of Istanbul lies in Asia, part in Europe). Our hotel provides a convenient outlet to all the great sites. We're a freaking 10 minute walk away from the Hagia Sophia, which was the largest cathedral in the world for nearly 1,000 years! Today, we also the palace which served as the administrative center of the Ottoman Empire. Quite the impressive place!
That's all for now. Have a great weekend!
Salaam,
Tony
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2 comments:
Hi Homey,
Glad to hear you're still alive. We mnade it back from Monterey OK, so now I'm at work, resting! Just kidding, of course, our vacation was really restful. I didn't get a chance to see Adrian Peterson break the NFL single game rushing mark with 296 yards rushing in the same game that Tomlinson was stuffed for 40 because Sunday was our travel day. If we only had a quarterback! Well, just thought you might want to hear some important news from home. Gotta go... take care of yourself.
Pops
hey tony
full time listener first time caller. Happy birthday first of all. Your trip just sounds amazing but I realize you have a full load of school responsibilities that probably keep you from enjoying it like a vacation but even still you have visited a lot of places most people only get to read about. I get the feeling that we have many misconceptions about their attitude towards us. Growing up during "the Cold War" we were always given the impression that the Russians always held some vague and unexplainable hatred towards Americans. after the fall of the wall and americans started to travel to Russia it turned out this wasn't true (and probably never was). They were much like us right down to their Levi jeans and their Billy Joel tapes. Governments wage war, people just want to put food on the table and spend time with their family and friends. Right? I guess you may be ableto answer that by the time you come back. On a different note, Tiffany wants to know if they have dishwashers over there and if so have you been practicing your dishwasher loading skills. She doesn't want you to be discouraged if it's not going well, she will gladly give you a few more lessons when you get back.
We could never ask for a better emissary than you to represent the kind of people Americans are.
Courtney said if I was nice to you, you would rip off a piece of a pyramid for my book shelf... ha ha just kidding...but could you?
hope your birthday was a good one....mark
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