Christmas Snow and Other Visitors in Istanbul

Well, it took until Christmas Eve, but Istanbul was finally graced with a small amount of snow this week, just in time for a white Christmas. It was gone almost as soon as the morning sun made it glisten, but it was beautiful while it lasted, and restored this Minnesota girl's faith in Christmas miracles,

however small they may be.

Earlier this week my friend Mark visited for a couple of days with his sister Karen; I wasn't much of a host, I'm afraid, as I had a cold turned strep throat blooming in my body, but they seemed to enjoy themselves and we had a nice pre-Christmas dinner at the school's alumni club.

Now they're off exploring Troy and Ephesus, and promise to report back on what they see and how they got there for any future visitors who might come my way.

Our big find together was in the Aya Sophia, which we searched from top to bottom and finally (purely by accident) found what my dad had read about, Viking runes carved, graffiti-style, into the stone of the church. The only word still visible mentions a guy named Halvdan, who apparently felt the need to leave his mark, during his 9th-century visit.

Home for a Holiday

Kurban Bayram, the Holiday of Sacrifice in Turkey (based on the story of Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his child), provided an unexpected opportunity for an impromptu trip home last week. The reason for my trip was unfortunate: my grandmother is in the hospital after a head injury, but is getting better every day; but the trip was a welcome chance to meet a couple of the babies that have been born since my departure (congratulations Stella, Seth, Jason and Erica!)and to see some of my family and friends just before Christmas.

I had planned on going to Virginia to see my best friend and my Goddaughter Chloe, but obviously family comes first and I'm glad I was able to go see my Grandma Page even if she doesn't remember me being there! I got my fill of Christmas cheer and literally brought home the bacon; it costs about $100 a kilo here!

Merry Christmas everyone. Sorry if I didn't get a chance to see you all, but I'm sure you understand that my visit was too brief to include every single person I wanted to see!

Amadeus at RC

Robert College, the school where I teach, is well known for its RC Theater Company's extravagant performances. Many would agree that none has been so grand in recent memory, however, as this week's much-celebrated performance of Amadeus, the tragicomedy about the lives of Mozart and his contemporary and rival, Antonio Salieri. Replete with sumptous costumes, copious makeup (applied in part by yours truly), and amazing live performances of several of Mozart's works (including a portion of "The Marriage of Figaro", sung in Italian), this play was truly epic. I am incredibly proud to be the teacher of such talented students (four of my current students were among the cast), and to have been asked to assist with the hair, makeup and costumes of the cast.

Turkey Day in Turkey

Happy Thanksgivng everyone! Many of you have expressed concern, so let me put your fears to rest: we do indeed celebrate American holidays in Turkey. I have the good fortune(?) of working for an American-owned school, so we were given the day of Thanksgiving off from school and held a grand feast in the main reception hall of the school for all the American teachers and staff, their families, and curious Turks and miscellaneous others seeking a good meal. We lit the fireplace in the staff lounge, ate turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie, and celebrated the holiday in traditional style. Not all of my Turkish colleagues knew the origin of the holiday; in fact I have been asked to explain it to the student body at the flag ceremony on Monday, so I was compelled to do some research to back up the apocryphal stories told to me by teachers and relatives since I was a child. Apparently, the earliest recorded Thanksgiving dinner was not at Plymouth Plantation in 1621 as most of us have been led to believe, but in 1565 in what is now St. Augustine, Florida. Dates and places aside, the Turks I know were most interested in the aspect of the holiday involving a harvest feast, something with which they could easily relate (especially those from the farther reaches of Anatolia, where the harvest is still a special time of year). In a way, Muslims have their own version of a Thanksgiving: the Sheep-Slaughtering Holiday(Festival of Sacrifice-my students call it the Sheep-Sacrificing Holiday). That is our next major holiday break, for which we will be given a week off from school, the second week in December. Interestingly, this holiday is based on the story of Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son at Yahweh's behest, so it ties together three of the world's religions in one! Ah, the holidays, a time to gather us all together...even if it means shedding a little blood! Happy Holidays All, whatever your beliefs may be.

History and Holidays

(photo courtesy of Ataturk.com)

Tomorrow is the date on which the Founder of the Turkish Republic died, and Istanbul is getting ready. Banners bearing Ataturk's image and Turkish flags are appearing eveywhere, and every school has been planning ceremonies for weeks now in honor of him. Ataturk succombed to his liver disease at 9:05 a.m. in Dolmabahce Palace, and at that time tomorrow the entire country will stop in its tracks, stand, and have a universal moment of silence in honor of the father of modern Turkey. It is kind of awe-inspiring to think of the entire population of a country doing anything at exactly the same time, but as we have been told that even if we are alone in our homes, classrooms, or anyplace else, we are to stop what we are doing as soon as the sirens begin, stand and be silent, it is clear that this concept is a reality here.

I am reading a biography of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk now, written by Andrew Mango, and it is becoming increasingly obvious to me the reasons for the reverence of the man on the part of Turkish citizens. As the Ottoman Empire fell, Ataturk gathered the Turkish people and led them to the development of a modern republic, including a new alphabet, secularism, and rights for all, including women. Women in Turkey actually had the right to vote before women in the United States!

I have also been learning about the history of the neighborhood/former village in which I live, Arnavutkoy. The current name means "Albanian Village," and came about during the population exchanges which took place in the early years of the Republic in which the Greek and Kurdish residents moved out and the Albanians moved in. The Turks then also moved to the area, which was known at the time for its fishermen and its strawberries.

The strawberries are long gone, but the concrete piers along the Bosphorus are still filled every night, all year round, with boats, fishermen...and fisherwomen. I discovered a website dedicated to the oral history of Arnavutkoy: http://www.megarevma.net/theoralhistory.htm.

God Bless America

It is amazing how much your perspective changes when you watch your country's greatest election from a foreign land. 70% of Istanbullus polled supported Obama, the remaining 30% did not for fear that he and Biden will call them to account for the Armenian tragedy. It seems, however, that the U.S. has finally moved beyond its greatest atrocity, and it may be time for the rest of the world to follow suit. My students, while nervous about the Armenian issue, were enthusiastic Obama supporters, and literally stood up and cheered as I entered my classroom yesterday wearing my red, white, and blue. With the exception of the Russian leaders (who are too mired in pettiness about blaming the U.S. for the economic crisis), the whole world is breathing a collective sigh of relief and optimism about the fate of America and her ability to make the world a better place to live. God Bless America. Today I am truly proud to be an American, for the first time in a very, very long time.

Random Thoughts and Pictures

Istanbul is quite simply one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. I live in one of the most picturesque parts of this vast city of 14+ million people, and I still find myself gazing around me in disbelief at my good fortune in being given the opportunity to come here. As anyone who knows me well can imagine, it took about five minutes for me to find new friends here. So far I've been limited to my colleagues and their spouses, but as it turns out, there are some pretty amazing people in that lot. Those who were already here welcomed me like family instantly, and the other new people and I have all had ample time to bond through the opening festivities and survival bonding sessions we've held since.

Have I mentioned that Istanbul is filled with cats? Somehow it just adds to my sense of well-being to be surrounded by felines. They are the source of some controversy around campus, but at the end of the day it's always nice to be greeted by random purring creatures on your walk home.

Republic Day

Iyi bayramlar! That's Turkish for Happy Holidays. Today is one of the more important Turkish holidays, Republic Day. Turkish flags fly from every building, boat, and balcony, fireworks are shot off the bridge as a prelude to the big fireworks that fill the night sky from the Golden Horn, and Ataturk smiles down on us all from everywhere you can imagine. At the mall, a marching band and traditional patriotic tunes deafen all shoppers and fill them with love of country, while a display of Ataturk pictures fills the hallways and plazas. It's a lot like the Fourth of July, except for the fact that it's autumn and there are no big picnics. We watched the fireworks from the plateau with the residential students; a good time was had by all and they let us eat cake.

Censorship Update

Apparently enough people were up in arms about the blogger website because it has been officially reinstated. I've heard two different versions of what happened, one involving a religious zealot and the other involving the major cable company here being angry about illegal streaming of soccer matches. Either way, the original decision has been overeturned and we're back on track.

WARNING! Censorship laws in effect!

Hello all, just thought I would warn you that it is entirely possible that I may be kept from my blog for awhile if the proxy servers fail me, since the Turkish government has apparently decided to block access to Blogspot.com. This is not the only site blocked by the government, but it has certainly received far less publicity than the first one publicly blocked, Youtube, which was blocked because of some videos posted that insulted the savior of Turkey, Ataturk. It is against the law here to do that, as he is highly revered as the man who single-handedly brought freedom and secularism to Turkey. I don't know what prompted the blocking of Blogger, but when I tried to log in today I was greeted with "Bu siteye erişim mahkeme kararıyla engellenmiştir," which I am told means roughly "This site has been frustrated by the court." Frustrated indeed am I!

Resident Life

One of the perks (or burdens, depending on how you look at it) of living on campus is that I am allowed to accompany the residential students (boarding students) to various activities around town. My first event was Iftar, the traditional breaking of the fast which takes place nightly in Sultanahmet during Ramazan. It was very much like a somewhat more religious version of the State Fair, complete with rides and cotton candy in addition to more traditional Turkish foods.

My second resident event was last night, when we went to the Sabanci Museum's Dali exhibit.

The art was both beautiful and disturbing, the students behaved well, and there was even a Dali animated short film showing! All in all a very fun evening that produced some very strange dreams.

Exploring Istanbul Old and New

Where the hell has Karla been? Well, exploring her new home, of course! I am finally on my feet more or less, and had last week off from school, so I have been able to make my way around town a bit at last. Last week one of the "old pro" folks, Melissa, took a small goup of us to Dolmabahce Palace, one of the two largest residences of the sultans that stand today in all their glory. Dolmabahce is also the place where Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the leader and savior of Turkey after World War II, died. He lived there for several, but not all, of the years of his presidency. The highlights of the tour were the crystal staircase and the 4.5 ton chandelier. That thing was bigger than my apartment! One evening last week I went with two of my fellow newcomers to explore Besiktas, famed for its soccer team and location next to the Bosphorus. I had the single worst hamburger I've ever attempted to eat in my life (no, I did not finish it), and we discovered a bootleg dvd store with one of the best collections of films I've ever seen. Every Alfred Hitchcock ever made, likewise for David Lynch, every Fred Astaire, Cary Grant, and Humphrey Bogart film ever shown on the silver screen, as well as a number of contemporary gems and a tribute collection of Paul Newman movies. After Besiktas it was off to Ortakoy for some guzleme, a culinary delight made by women in a row on the street who take cheese, spinach, and any of a number of other ingredients and cook them into a sandwich using a large pita. This more than made up for my sorry excuse for a burger. I also had my fortune told by a rabbit who had three babies that the guy let me hold while I had my future revealed to me via a small piece of paper written in broken English.

Also last week I took another trip to Taksim Square, during the day this time, to get some Christmas shopping out of the way (don't get impressed; I won't get around to sending the stuff until late December at the earliest). On the way I was noticing yet again how beautiful the murals are in the subway (Metro) stations here, so I attempted to capture a few.

No Joy in Mudville

As most of you know, I am a die-hard Twins fan. For the past week I have been setting my alarm, rising long before the dawn to catch a glimpse of my team's last-ditch efforts to obtain victory. Ah, at long last, the evil Sox who can't seem to refrain from open hostility towards one another within their own dugout have foiled our boys again to take the division series tiebreaker. I'm proud of what my team has accomplished this year, but a division win really would have been the icing on the cake. I feel cheated since we actually managed to sweep our division rivals when they were in the Metrodome last week, and now because they managed to eke one out against a second-rate team on a rain delay, we're out of the running. Unacceptable! I shall don my team's regalia with pride tomorrow, knowing that we managed to hang in there when no one thought we could, and take solace in the fact that the Yankees will not be the chosen ones this year, either. Go Cubs!

One Night in Taksim

Taksim Square, the largest pedestrian gathering spot in Istanbul, is the beating heart of the city.

With everything from corn sellers and beggars to Italian watches, cafes, heavy metal bars, and tattoo parlors, Taksim is a magnet for people from all walks of life at all hours of the day. Last night I went there for the first time with some of my colleague-friends from the school: four other English teachers and a physics teacher.

We walked along Istiklal Caddesi, the main drag (a pedestrian street that is constantly filled with people at night), running into current and former students everywhere who were delighted to see their teachers out having a good time, until we came to one of the hundreds of side streets that branches off Istiklal and made our way to an outdoor dining area in front of a cafe for dinner. After bawdy talk and beers, we continued on to a heavy metal bar (yes, they actually have such things in Turkey) where the walls and the people were all clad in black and murals of red demons surrounded us. There we continued to fill ourselves with good spirits and sang along to the blaring music (once they got around to the Guns 'n' Roses and ACDC), watching a giant television showing music videos in advance of the live entertainment, which didn't begin until one in the morning! We wussed out around 12:30 since we had to come in to work this morning for parent open house day, but a cab ride with five of us crammed into one cab singing ABBA tunes into a mostly consumed corn cob made a fitting ending to our evening of rowdiness. I think the cab driver will need therapy.