Monday, July 27, 2009
Öland, Sweden - Shelby
Greetings from Öland!
We arrived in Stockholm on the 23rd and were elated to be picked up by Fredrick Anders (Anders' namesake) and his wife Annika. They drove us to where we would be staying for the next 2 nights- the home of Brengt and Lotte, our hosts in Öland. They had already travelled down there, and we were staying at their home in Stockholm while waiting for Roy and Kathy to arrive the next day. It was a wonderful chic Swedish condo, stylized very much like Ikea, though with a much more personal touch of warmth and life. The buildings were made in the mid nineties to the courent day, and were made with green designs in mind. For instance, there is a food waste chute on the side of the building that goes to a processor to create heat to warm one of the complexes! Also, all the lights turn off with motion inactivity and the toilets have a low flush and a lower flush option (as have almost all toilets we´ve experienced on our trip! America is sooo behind the times!).
Roy and Kathy arrived and the next day we travelled the 5 hours to Öland, Anders and I on a bus and Kathy and Roy with Anders (the 1st) and Annika, and their son. At the end of the line, we hopped on a very slow ferry that took us to Öland. We got here yesterday and it is very beautiful - a lot like Vashon or Orcas island. Its very comfortable and casual - the main house being very old and there are three outbuildings, one is our cabin where the four of us are staying, another is a cabin where some other guests are staying, and another building that is used as a kitchen and dining area. Lotte is a caterer, and last night she cooked a delicious meal for everyone, including a vegan option for me! I am so grateful! and it was delicious!
Tomorrow night is the big party, with 150 in attendence, and the next day is my birthday! then on to amsterdam.
Love to all, Shelby
We arrived in Stockholm on the 23rd and were elated to be picked up by Fredrick Anders (Anders' namesake) and his wife Annika. They drove us to where we would be staying for the next 2 nights- the home of Brengt and Lotte, our hosts in Öland. They had already travelled down there, and we were staying at their home in Stockholm while waiting for Roy and Kathy to arrive the next day. It was a wonderful chic Swedish condo, stylized very much like Ikea, though with a much more personal touch of warmth and life. The buildings were made in the mid nineties to the courent day, and were made with green designs in mind. For instance, there is a food waste chute on the side of the building that goes to a processor to create heat to warm one of the complexes! Also, all the lights turn off with motion inactivity and the toilets have a low flush and a lower flush option (as have almost all toilets we´ve experienced on our trip! America is sooo behind the times!).
Roy and Kathy arrived and the next day we travelled the 5 hours to Öland, Anders and I on a bus and Kathy and Roy with Anders (the 1st) and Annika, and their son. At the end of the line, we hopped on a very slow ferry that took us to Öland. We got here yesterday and it is very beautiful - a lot like Vashon or Orcas island. Its very comfortable and casual - the main house being very old and there are three outbuildings, one is our cabin where the four of us are staying, another is a cabin where some other guests are staying, and another building that is used as a kitchen and dining area. Lotte is a caterer, and last night she cooked a delicious meal for everyone, including a vegan option for me! I am so grateful! and it was delicious!
Tomorrow night is the big party, with 150 in attendence, and the next day is my birthday! then on to amsterdam.
Love to all, Shelby
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
July 22nd- Anders
Florence, Firenze; a focus of Western culture 5 Centuries ago, now standing in remembrance, museums and tourist priced shops dominate this once pinnacle of human existence. Maybe I am mistaken in my observance of life here but a memory seems to drive an economy.
On a tuesday (now a wednesday) Shelby and I walked 4km out of the tourist town, waling past Ponte Vecchio (click here to see it), walking past two more bridges we are now off the map that has led our adventures for the past week. Prada shops no more, gellatarios dissapear, museums are not to be found, we walk by a compound, fenced in, barred off, decorated with red flags positioned like sentries, and a sign is posted with a hammer and sickle symbol, i can read only one word: Communisto, we walk past a "Blockbuster," an antique shop (if i were to buy real Florentine goods I would buy them here); quiet city apartment laden blocks, wider streets, faster cars, blazing bikers and finally after 45 minutes after our departure, our destination: an Italian Vegetarian restaurant.
There is no english menu, there are only Italian patrons (like the vegetarian jewish restaurant we visited the night before), no pizza is served, the prices are 7-18 euros a meal, just like most pizza/pasta shops except this food is cared for, prepared more lovingly, carefully, we have to wait for our waitress to decide on a dish, to translate the menu. One woman spoke enough of our language to help us (i am humbly grateful)- seitan with mushrooms, veggie skewed role baked and on rice- yes and yes, oh, and some wine; blanco, dry.
The restaurant is cared for, delicately decorated with old fashion magazines from the 50s and 60s hand pasted om the walls, collagé.
This is not a tourist restaurant, this is just a restaurant, in Italia, for Italians, for lovers. for foodies, unlike any others during our distant travels.
The food elates our mood, "i feel drunk" Shelby says afterwards. I ate with my eyes closed, we talked occasionally, sparingly, mainly about the taste, the sauce, the tender seitan, the salad dressong, sautéed mushrooms on a spongy wheat germ past (seitan, click here for what is seitan), perfection, zuchinni, aubergine (eggplant) and greens on oiled rice, sweetly nice.
We smile at each other between bites, while chewing, renewing our lust for wondrous foodie stuff, at the end it is not enough, tomorrow we dine here again.
On a tuesday (now a wednesday) Shelby and I walked 4km out of the tourist town, waling past Ponte Vecchio (click here to see it), walking past two more bridges we are now off the map that has led our adventures for the past week. Prada shops no more, gellatarios dissapear, museums are not to be found, we walk by a compound, fenced in, barred off, decorated with red flags positioned like sentries, and a sign is posted with a hammer and sickle symbol, i can read only one word: Communisto, we walk past a "Blockbuster," an antique shop (if i were to buy real Florentine goods I would buy them here); quiet city apartment laden blocks, wider streets, faster cars, blazing bikers and finally after 45 minutes after our departure, our destination: an Italian Vegetarian restaurant.
There is no english menu, there are only Italian patrons (like the vegetarian jewish restaurant we visited the night before), no pizza is served, the prices are 7-18 euros a meal, just like most pizza/pasta shops except this food is cared for, prepared more lovingly, carefully, we have to wait for our waitress to decide on a dish, to translate the menu. One woman spoke enough of our language to help us (i am humbly grateful)- seitan with mushrooms, veggie skewed role baked and on rice- yes and yes, oh, and some wine; blanco, dry.
The restaurant is cared for, delicately decorated with old fashion magazines from the 50s and 60s hand pasted om the walls, collagé.
This is not a tourist restaurant, this is just a restaurant, in Italia, for Italians, for lovers. for foodies, unlike any others during our distant travels.
The food elates our mood, "i feel drunk" Shelby says afterwards. I ate with my eyes closed, we talked occasionally, sparingly, mainly about the taste, the sauce, the tender seitan, the salad dressong, sautéed mushrooms on a spongy wheat germ past (seitan, click here for what is seitan), perfection, zuchinni, aubergine (eggplant) and greens on oiled rice, sweetly nice.
We smile at each other between bites, while chewing, renewing our lust for wondrous foodie stuff, at the end it is not enough, tomorrow we dine here again.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Florence - Shelby
Hello -
We've been having a great time in Firenze! Luckily, the heat of the first 3 days had died down and there is a warm breeze (and at times wind) that has been keeping us cool(er). We moved across town to our second hostel - this one we are staying at for 5 days. It's nice to experience another part of the city, as this is on the other, less populated, side of the river, though still close to museums and plazzas.
Since here we've attended many museums -
- The Plazza Pitti, which housed the Boboli Gardens (a huge network of formal Italian Renaissance gardens and sculptures) and the Costume Museum. The costume Museum was amazing - I loved every moment of it and it was so cool to see in real life all the costumes that I have studied and rendered in college! The beauty and exquisiteness of the embroidery was something I needed to see in person to be able to appreciate on a deeper level.
- The Uffizi Gallery, which contains the largest collection of Italian Renaissance art anywhere in the world. Masters such as Botticelli, DaVinci, and others. Paintings, sculpture, bronze and silver casting. We got to see some of the famous paintings like The Birth of Venus and Adam & Eve, as well as the largest collection of Medieval Art pretty much anywhere.
- Anthropology Museum, which was a collection of relics from Native cultures from all over the world. Oddly, it's the one museum in Florence that has nothing to do with florence, but it was very cool none the less.
- Science Museum, which displayed a huge collection of antique science, medical, and math instruments, as well as a huge telescope and microscope display. Plenty of astrolabes and instruments used to chart the stars and study Astrology.
- Galileo exhibit, was a special exhibit only on this summer, and it followed societies beliefs and studies of the heavens and Astrology from the Mesopotamians and the Egyptians until Galileo. Origins of Astrology and the Zodiac were explained in immense detail, and the crowning glory of the exhibit was Galielo's middle finger, enshrined in a glass egg. Weird.
- Borgello Museum, also known as the sculpture museum, it housed many great statuaries and fountains of marble, sandstone, and other unknown rocks, as well as bronze and iron castings, terra cotta, and wood and wax. Some beauties by Donatello, as well as early renderings and practice pieces by Davinci. Also, the museum housed a great collection of relics from the Italian Renaissance, such as jewelery, armor, home furnishings, worship related objects, and bobbles and trinkets. Very awesome.
Lots of love to all, and I hope you've had a good July so far!
Shelby
We've been having a great time in Firenze! Luckily, the heat of the first 3 days had died down and there is a warm breeze (and at times wind) that has been keeping us cool(er). We moved across town to our second hostel - this one we are staying at for 5 days. It's nice to experience another part of the city, as this is on the other, less populated, side of the river, though still close to museums and plazzas.
Since here we've attended many museums -
- The Plazza Pitti, which housed the Boboli Gardens (a huge network of formal Italian Renaissance gardens and sculptures) and the Costume Museum. The costume Museum was amazing - I loved every moment of it and it was so cool to see in real life all the costumes that I have studied and rendered in college! The beauty and exquisiteness of the embroidery was something I needed to see in person to be able to appreciate on a deeper level.
- The Uffizi Gallery, which contains the largest collection of Italian Renaissance art anywhere in the world. Masters such as Botticelli, DaVinci, and others. Paintings, sculpture, bronze and silver casting. We got to see some of the famous paintings like The Birth of Venus and Adam & Eve, as well as the largest collection of Medieval Art pretty much anywhere.
- Anthropology Museum, which was a collection of relics from Native cultures from all over the world. Oddly, it's the one museum in Florence that has nothing to do with florence, but it was very cool none the less.
- Science Museum, which displayed a huge collection of antique science, medical, and math instruments, as well as a huge telescope and microscope display. Plenty of astrolabes and instruments used to chart the stars and study Astrology.
- Galileo exhibit, was a special exhibit only on this summer, and it followed societies beliefs and studies of the heavens and Astrology from the Mesopotamians and the Egyptians until Galileo. Origins of Astrology and the Zodiac were explained in immense detail, and the crowning glory of the exhibit was Galielo's middle finger, enshrined in a glass egg. Weird.
- Borgello Museum, also known as the sculpture museum, it housed many great statuaries and fountains of marble, sandstone, and other unknown rocks, as well as bronze and iron castings, terra cotta, and wood and wax. Some beauties by Donatello, as well as early renderings and practice pieces by Davinci. Also, the museum housed a great collection of relics from the Italian Renaissance, such as jewelery, armor, home furnishings, worship related objects, and bobbles and trinkets. Very awesome.
Lots of love to all, and I hope you've had a good July so far!
Shelby
Saturday, July 18, 2009
july 18th- Anders
Florentine days, adjusting to this citys ways.
we came in on a train after waking up on a ship floating in from Croatia, a 2km walk from the ship to the stazzione and a 2 hour wait for our passenger train. it took two trains to get from Ancona to Firenze (Florence), the first train was crowded with narrow halls giving access to 6 seater rooms, we didnt read our tickets thoroughly enough so we tried to find seats as if in a melee, confusion and bag obtrusions, bumping and clumping down halls and through box car divider doors, we finally found two seats and throwing our bags above, left slumping, we sit, mistakingly, comfortably. for several stops we sat till 2 people speaking italian gibberish garbled at our room, we looked confused, shelby puppy-eyed, then someone translates for us, "look at your ticket, go find your seat number," we do more bumping and clumping till seats 43 and 44 are found, we sit, comfortably, unmistakingly.
i read for the rest of the 2 hour train ride, shelby reads too and then takes a nap, stiff necked, drooped lip, i watched as she kept waking up to close her mouth but her little pursed lip kept dropping and i kept watching: oh-so-cute.
our stop arrives, the trains is 15 minutes late to our 20 minute lay-over, down to the tunnel we run, find the electronic info board and rush to our train on platform one, the hustle of travel is fun. we board to find general seating and a sparse crowd, we take our place next to a window to watch the countryside, soon to be Tuscany.
The train travels through small towns, farms, hills, rivers, and the legacy of land logged for past societies, no building is new and all are well used, infrastructure built on old infrastructure. We get a view of it all, but just for moments, passing at moderate speeds catching glimpses of Italian rural life; quiet, slow, few cars and no bars.
Arriving in Firenze (Florence) the graffiti greets us, tags are present, but more art and specialty fonts are seen revealing a vibrant street art scene.
Firenze- Santa Maria Novella (SMN) is the last stop, we get off and walk with bags clasped to our soon sweating backs, taking a left at the McDonalds (Im resenting it) we trudge up Largo Fratelli Alinari which turns into Via Nazionale, past Piazza Independence and up Via di Santa Caterina d Alessandria, crossing Viala Spartacus Lavagini we find our hostel, first we tried to walk into the wrong hostel but an employee directed us across the street to an affiliated but different hostel, Emerald Palace not Emerald Fields.
After making this walk once it was simple to repeat, without gridded streets (which started with NY city) walking on a single course is a curvy affair and as i explained before this one path took 4 different streets all connected to one another. that first walk took place at 3pm, the heat of the day, oppressive and impressive, i didnt know italy could get this hot with such unreleaving wind.
After cheking into our 2nd story hostel and dropping off our backpacks we try to find food. "Try" is the focal word, nearby we try to walk into a chinese, japanese and italian restaurant, all closed, opening only for a late dinner. Pained and dehydrated, wet and overheated we walk back down the conglomeration of streets put together like crooked legos and finally find a cafe that is open, we humbly walk in, thankful, grateful, and i am wondering if they are serving food or just drinks, but a man comes over to take our order and without taking long we order a veggie salad, asparagus soup and plain tomato pasta, a minute later we got a big red beer to sip while we people watch. Italians have style, it pours from them like sweat and they wear their cloths like they were born with them.
It took us two days to adjust to the Florentine pace, but the adjustment was made: wake up early, sight see or get in a museum line before it gets too long, have lunch, return to the hostel to nap and relax till the sun the falls far enough away to not burn, get a late dinner and walk around town drinking on street corners and eating gelato, lots of gelato- mango, lemon, yogurt, rice, berries; ahhhh...my sweet cold, light and creamy friend: Gelato.
we came in on a train after waking up on a ship floating in from Croatia, a 2km walk from the ship to the stazzione and a 2 hour wait for our passenger train. it took two trains to get from Ancona to Firenze (Florence), the first train was crowded with narrow halls giving access to 6 seater rooms, we didnt read our tickets thoroughly enough so we tried to find seats as if in a melee, confusion and bag obtrusions, bumping and clumping down halls and through box car divider doors, we finally found two seats and throwing our bags above, left slumping, we sit, mistakingly, comfortably. for several stops we sat till 2 people speaking italian gibberish garbled at our room, we looked confused, shelby puppy-eyed, then someone translates for us, "look at your ticket, go find your seat number," we do more bumping and clumping till seats 43 and 44 are found, we sit, comfortably, unmistakingly.
i read for the rest of the 2 hour train ride, shelby reads too and then takes a nap, stiff necked, drooped lip, i watched as she kept waking up to close her mouth but her little pursed lip kept dropping and i kept watching: oh-so-cute.
our stop arrives, the trains is 15 minutes late to our 20 minute lay-over, down to the tunnel we run, find the electronic info board and rush to our train on platform one, the hustle of travel is fun. we board to find general seating and a sparse crowd, we take our place next to a window to watch the countryside, soon to be Tuscany.
The train travels through small towns, farms, hills, rivers, and the legacy of land logged for past societies, no building is new and all are well used, infrastructure built on old infrastructure. We get a view of it all, but just for moments, passing at moderate speeds catching glimpses of Italian rural life; quiet, slow, few cars and no bars.
Arriving in Firenze (Florence) the graffiti greets us, tags are present, but more art and specialty fonts are seen revealing a vibrant street art scene.
Firenze- Santa Maria Novella (SMN) is the last stop, we get off and walk with bags clasped to our soon sweating backs, taking a left at the McDonalds (Im resenting it) we trudge up Largo Fratelli Alinari which turns into Via Nazionale, past Piazza Independence and up Via di Santa Caterina d Alessandria, crossing Viala Spartacus Lavagini we find our hostel, first we tried to walk into the wrong hostel but an employee directed us across the street to an affiliated but different hostel, Emerald Palace not Emerald Fields.
After making this walk once it was simple to repeat, without gridded streets (which started with NY city) walking on a single course is a curvy affair and as i explained before this one path took 4 different streets all connected to one another. that first walk took place at 3pm, the heat of the day, oppressive and impressive, i didnt know italy could get this hot with such unreleaving wind.
After cheking into our 2nd story hostel and dropping off our backpacks we try to find food. "Try" is the focal word, nearby we try to walk into a chinese, japanese and italian restaurant, all closed, opening only for a late dinner. Pained and dehydrated, wet and overheated we walk back down the conglomeration of streets put together like crooked legos and finally find a cafe that is open, we humbly walk in, thankful, grateful, and i am wondering if they are serving food or just drinks, but a man comes over to take our order and without taking long we order a veggie salad, asparagus soup and plain tomato pasta, a minute later we got a big red beer to sip while we people watch. Italians have style, it pours from them like sweat and they wear their cloths like they were born with them.
It took us two days to adjust to the Florentine pace, but the adjustment was made: wake up early, sight see or get in a museum line before it gets too long, have lunch, return to the hostel to nap and relax till the sun the falls far enough away to not burn, get a late dinner and walk around town drinking on street corners and eating gelato, lots of gelato- mango, lemon, yogurt, rice, berries; ahhhh...my sweet cold, light and creamy friend: Gelato.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Florence - Shelby
Hello again!
So two days ago I had a stomach bug which forced me to stay in bed all day - too bad for our last day in Croatia (or so we thought... more on that in a moment), but luckily by the evening I had puked all there was to puke and by the morning I was feeling much better, though a little weak from the day of no food. Ah, the blessing of the 24 hour bug is that its gone in 24 hours. The next morning we had a Catamaran (fast ferry) reservation for 6am, and Mladan got us there just in time. We boarded the ship and got to Split, Croatia by 8:30am, which left us time to buy tickets for the 10am ferry to Ancona, Italy. Problem was, the time table that we were using was last years, and that ferry was no longer running... so the next available ferry was at 8:30pm. So we had to other option but to wait, and we had an unexpected extra day in Croatia. I watched the bags in a shady spot while Anders scouted out a restaurant other than cheap tourist food, and he found a lovely shaded cafe called the Black Cat with delicious food at inexpensive prices. We ended up staying there for about 4.5 hours! We then found another shady spot on a sidewalk and parked it there for a couple of hours, reading, playing cards, writing, people watching. We walked around a little bit to the old city, but it was soooo hot and we had to carry our bags, which was an added 25-30 pnds each, so we went back to the black cat for dinner (which was also delicious) and waited for our ferry.
It was a nice ferry, we got a sleeper cabin which was comfortable, and got to take showers! That was worth it alone!
This morning we woke up in Ancona at 7am, and took a train a couple of trains to get to Florence, where we arrived around 2. We found our hostel, which is nice, and we just got our first meal - which was more difficult that we thought since most restaurants close during the heat of the day for the siesta.
We'll explore more tonight once the sun goes down.
Love to all and hope everything is great at home -
Shelby
So two days ago I had a stomach bug which forced me to stay in bed all day - too bad for our last day in Croatia (or so we thought... more on that in a moment), but luckily by the evening I had puked all there was to puke and by the morning I was feeling much better, though a little weak from the day of no food. Ah, the blessing of the 24 hour bug is that its gone in 24 hours. The next morning we had a Catamaran (fast ferry) reservation for 6am, and Mladan got us there just in time. We boarded the ship and got to Split, Croatia by 8:30am, which left us time to buy tickets for the 10am ferry to Ancona, Italy. Problem was, the time table that we were using was last years, and that ferry was no longer running... so the next available ferry was at 8:30pm. So we had to other option but to wait, and we had an unexpected extra day in Croatia. I watched the bags in a shady spot while Anders scouted out a restaurant other than cheap tourist food, and he found a lovely shaded cafe called the Black Cat with delicious food at inexpensive prices. We ended up staying there for about 4.5 hours! We then found another shady spot on a sidewalk and parked it there for a couple of hours, reading, playing cards, writing, people watching. We walked around a little bit to the old city, but it was soooo hot and we had to carry our bags, which was an added 25-30 pnds each, so we went back to the black cat for dinner (which was also delicious) and waited for our ferry.
It was a nice ferry, we got a sleeper cabin which was comfortable, and got to take showers! That was worth it alone!
This morning we woke up in Ancona at 7am, and took a train a couple of trains to get to Florence, where we arrived around 2. We found our hostel, which is nice, and we just got our first meal - which was more difficult that we thought since most restaurants close during the heat of the day for the siesta.
We'll explore more tonight once the sun goes down.
Love to all and hope everything is great at home -
Shelby
Monday, July 13, 2009
July 13th- Anders
I have much to write about turkey, croatia has been more of an experience and relaxation than a story to write about. I have reflections and philosophy to write and am writing but that is for later, for this space is to give our experiences to you, not so much my thoughts (but some thoughts will be given).
Something about Turkey:
A Reflection
From speaking to Turkish people some history about its formation and government was made known to me. To begin, in Turkey free speech does not exist.
Ataturk was a general of the first world war that "brought independence" to Turkey after the fall of the Ottoman Empire in 1923. Upon creating Turkey Ataturk had a new language formed out of english, french and arabic; prior to this new language the people of this geographic region mainly spoke arabic, and kurdish. With this new language, that no commoner spoke, Ataturk drafted legislation and created the law of the Turkish land. I do not know when, but at some point a law was created that made it a serious crime to saying anything negative about Ataturk (trying to hide something are we Ataturk?).
The Kurdish people's land is divided between Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria and their people are spread even further. Under the order of Ataturk an entire kurdish town was exterminated; every mother, uncle, niece, infant and elder- many Kurds have never forgotten this, especially because it is recent history of the last two generations. There is a video on you tube (i do not know how it is found) of young women kurdish fighters battling in Eastern Turkey in this modern time, i was told they only live for an average of 3 years but they fight knowing they are giving their lives for the freedoms of another. A person raised with the pacifist domestic politics of the USA would think that violence is not the answer for domestic issues (and i would agree), but i was told that it is because of these Kurdish soldiers that it is no longer a criminal offense to speak Kurdish in Turkey, as it was only 10 years ago.
In Turkey breaking the law to "feed your family" is acceptable and an often used excuse to break the law or do something immoral to another, especially tourists. A turkish man we met said that this is mostly B.S., it is an agreed upon concept to hide behind. Almost all societies have these excuses i have come to know- in the US we call it "business" and as john steinbeck said in Grapes of Wrath 'business is the new word for lying, cheating and stealing' (an approximate quote).
(the percentages used here are approximations) 90% of Turkish citizens are officially muslim, about 20% of these are not actually muslim but claim to be so for the reason of drifting through society with more ease, of the remaining about 70% of the population few are fully practicing muslims (as is made clear by the few people that are moved by the call to worship made by the mosques five times a day). Turkey is a secular state and rightfully so as few turks are serious about their religion, and fewer still want Sharia Law.
Women's rights exist in Turkey, but according to a women's rights group, they are not enforced. It is only more recently that Turks are being given rights and freedoms. I read in a turkish newspaper that in the past if a citizen offense has anything to do with the military then a military prosecution will occur, giving no rights to the citizen and all the power to the prosecution; they are working, now, on laws that give citizens rights to a fair trial even if the offense involves the military.
There is no ethnic Turk; they are a hodge podge of everything around, and in the NE of Turkey there is even a form of Turk that is white and almost looks Russian (we met one such couple and their skin pigmentation was confusing).
Turkish people as a modern society have never built, discovered, or advanced anything i was told by one Turk- they ride off of the history of their land (this land is partly where agricultural societies began, the Romans and Greeks ruled here, the Christians ruled here, the Muslims and Ottomans ruled here) and their nation and people would go unnoticed if it was not for their location and ownership of Istanbul (once Constantinople) and the Bosforus (the Bosforus is under a treaty that allows all nation's ships to pass through it for free, there are always many dozens of very large ships sitting in the water in Istanbul waiting for their turn to pass through the Bosforus). I was told that since the Turks did not fight for their freedom they do not value it as they should- the same can be said of many Americans today, especially the rich ones (i myself struggle to comprehend and appreciate the freedoms that i have).
None of these claims are my own, if they are disproved it will cause me no pain. These are the words i heard and these are the words i write, every nation has its secrets and dark pasts, the USA (my own country) has a darker past than Turkey and i am willing to talk about that too, but here it is time to talk of Turkey's. The past is no pretty thing, to pretend that it is full of niceties is to do ourselves and others injustice.
It was lovely, amazing, scary, relaxing, beautiful, wonderous, nerve-racking, angering, elating, jaw-dropping, exciting and most of all awe-inspiring to visit Turkey. I am grateful for their reception of us and the opportunity to go.
Something about Turkey:
A Reflection
From speaking to Turkish people some history about its formation and government was made known to me. To begin, in Turkey free speech does not exist.
Ataturk was a general of the first world war that "brought independence" to Turkey after the fall of the Ottoman Empire in 1923. Upon creating Turkey Ataturk had a new language formed out of english, french and arabic; prior to this new language the people of this geographic region mainly spoke arabic, and kurdish. With this new language, that no commoner spoke, Ataturk drafted legislation and created the law of the Turkish land. I do not know when, but at some point a law was created that made it a serious crime to saying anything negative about Ataturk (trying to hide something are we Ataturk?).
The Kurdish people's land is divided between Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria and their people are spread even further. Under the order of Ataturk an entire kurdish town was exterminated; every mother, uncle, niece, infant and elder- many Kurds have never forgotten this, especially because it is recent history of the last two generations. There is a video on you tube (i do not know how it is found) of young women kurdish fighters battling in Eastern Turkey in this modern time, i was told they only live for an average of 3 years but they fight knowing they are giving their lives for the freedoms of another. A person raised with the pacifist domestic politics of the USA would think that violence is not the answer for domestic issues (and i would agree), but i was told that it is because of these Kurdish soldiers that it is no longer a criminal offense to speak Kurdish in Turkey, as it was only 10 years ago.
In Turkey breaking the law to "feed your family" is acceptable and an often used excuse to break the law or do something immoral to another, especially tourists. A turkish man we met said that this is mostly B.S., it is an agreed upon concept to hide behind. Almost all societies have these excuses i have come to know- in the US we call it "business" and as john steinbeck said in Grapes of Wrath 'business is the new word for lying, cheating and stealing' (an approximate quote).
(the percentages used here are approximations) 90% of Turkish citizens are officially muslim, about 20% of these are not actually muslim but claim to be so for the reason of drifting through society with more ease, of the remaining about 70% of the population few are fully practicing muslims (as is made clear by the few people that are moved by the call to worship made by the mosques five times a day). Turkey is a secular state and rightfully so as few turks are serious about their religion, and fewer still want Sharia Law.
Women's rights exist in Turkey, but according to a women's rights group, they are not enforced. It is only more recently that Turks are being given rights and freedoms. I read in a turkish newspaper that in the past if a citizen offense has anything to do with the military then a military prosecution will occur, giving no rights to the citizen and all the power to the prosecution; they are working, now, on laws that give citizens rights to a fair trial even if the offense involves the military.
There is no ethnic Turk; they are a hodge podge of everything around, and in the NE of Turkey there is even a form of Turk that is white and almost looks Russian (we met one such couple and their skin pigmentation was confusing).
Turkish people as a modern society have never built, discovered, or advanced anything i was told by one Turk- they ride off of the history of their land (this land is partly where agricultural societies began, the Romans and Greeks ruled here, the Christians ruled here, the Muslims and Ottomans ruled here) and their nation and people would go unnoticed if it was not for their location and ownership of Istanbul (once Constantinople) and the Bosforus (the Bosforus is under a treaty that allows all nation's ships to pass through it for free, there are always many dozens of very large ships sitting in the water in Istanbul waiting for their turn to pass through the Bosforus). I was told that since the Turks did not fight for their freedom they do not value it as they should- the same can be said of many Americans today, especially the rich ones (i myself struggle to comprehend and appreciate the freedoms that i have).
None of these claims are my own, if they are disproved it will cause me no pain. These are the words i heard and these are the words i write, every nation has its secrets and dark pasts, the USA (my own country) has a darker past than Turkey and i am willing to talk about that too, but here it is time to talk of Turkey's. The past is no pretty thing, to pretend that it is full of niceties is to do ourselves and others injustice.
It was lovely, amazing, scary, relaxing, beautiful, wonderous, nerve-racking, angering, elating, jaw-dropping, exciting and most of all awe-inspiring to visit Turkey. I am grateful for their reception of us and the opportunity to go.
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