I am up early this morning - I've got this thing, once I'm up, I'm up. I guess I should also give into the fact that this is a result of my lifestyle (being a mom) and with school starting next week, even the concept of becoming a morning exerciser is eminent.
Since we recently repainted a few walls, and I have a few frames to fill, I am up selecting which pictures I want to use. I am very excited about my corner that will have my water series. I have one frame to fill that will be all about Erin. He has a great sense of humor so many of his pictures are a lot of fun.
I came across this one that always makes me think. This was during a trip to Hong Kong in November 2010. We went to Disney Land there. Growing up, I always heard people in the US talk about taking their children or grandchildren to Disney Land or Disney World. There was always someone that said you have to wait until they are older so they will remember.
Having learned this, I kind of reacted the same way when my husband suggested we go to Hong Kong Disney. Really? But Erin was not even going to be three for a few months! Of course he thought, why not?
In retrospect, I am so glad we did it. I have no regrets. And believe it or not, Erin still remembers a lot about that trip and visit to Disney. I think his most vivid memory is the giant, dancing gingerbread man giving him a head butt during the Christmas parade. (Hong Kong, blondes stick out).
This is a picture of him playing the drums in the Jungle Book area. He seems so young compared to the boy he has become. However, when I see this picture, I am so very glad we took him to Disney Land. Even if he didn't remember, or doesn't remember everything, he had a great time. Nothing wrong with living in the moment. Carpe Diem!
A blog about life, photography, living and traveling abroad, and all the other stuff in between.
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
It All Started With A Peach
It all started with a Peach….
Well, okay, maybe not quite a peach, but it had a lot to do
with my early impression of living Turkey.
I met my husband while he was working in the US in the
mid-90’s. A couple of years later,
he received a job offer in Istanbul, his home “town” and politely asked if I
would join him. I figured better
to go than to wonder “what if”.
Needless to say, for many reasons, I am glad I moved.
When we first moved to Turkey in the summer of 1997, we took
a road trip from Istanbul along the coast, down the Aegean Sea to the Mediterranean
Sea. We had to end this two week
adventure in Kas (pronounced Kash), and head back up through the middle of the
country to get back to Istanbul to start our new life.
Although short, it was an amazing start. It was the first time I experienced
Turkey outside of Istanbul, and I fell in love with it for many reasons. Everywhere I looked, something significant
had happened on the same soil hundreds, if not thousands of years ago. As we continued south, it was during a
visit to the ancient city of Ephesus that the grandeur of it all began to sit
in – the history, culture and… the peaches.
Ephesus is probably best known as an ancient Greek and Roman
city, but it is much older than that. It is tangible proof that
ancient civilizations we grew up reading about really existed. It is larger than life. I read that even though it has been
consistently under excavation since the late 1800s, that only 10% of the area
has been excavated.
I have visited a few times, and it is always interesting to
see what has been uncovered. I will also forever be in awe of the Library of Celsus
and never tire of sitting in one of the theaters to imagine what it would be
like to have been there before.
In addition to this ancient city, another thing I am in awe
of are the peaches in the region. In general, the produce in Turkey is like no
other. But the peaches here, they
are amazing – the best, biggest juiciest peaches I have ever tasted. They are just too good for words. Perhaps it is the ancient soil that
fertilizes those trees.
Wanting to introduce my son to his Turkish
culture, we stopped at Ephesus this year. We parked at the back entrance this time and took a horse
and cart around to the main entrance.
(Which was not a bad idea with a small child to walk downhill through
the city.)
The ride took us around the peach orchards. It left me wondering why
there is no ecotourism here where people can do a farm stay to work on a peach farm in trade for a room and fresh farm breakfast. I would be happy to stay for several
days and just pick peaches!
Pictures of Ephesus to follow soon…
Sunday, August 26, 2012
All good things come to an end
Two sailboats making their way to the Dardanelles in Turkey |
The above picture isn't so great. Ya, its colorful, but there is a lot of camera shake. It was a very windy day in the Marmara region of Turkey. So windy that I was having a hard time standing still myself. However, I like the picture anyway.
It's not about the sharpness. This is about the signs of summer coming to an end - summer holidays and travel coming to an end. In retrospect, holidays often seem like a dream so it is only appropriate they are a little blurred.
The sunflowers have died, the sea is a deeper blue from the clouds in the sky that were not there the previous week. The air has that distinctive smell that triggers something. Autumn is just around the corner, and this means school will begin very soon.
I am back in Dubai where I am (technically) tied to my son's school system for my travels now. And so the next chapter begins...
Friday, August 17, 2012
The Turkish Law of Opposites
Its that time of year again where we make our annual summer
visit to Turkey. It feels like it
has been forever since we had a break.
This year we spent a few days in Bodrum. Instead of flying to Bodrum from
Istanbul, we drove. I figure it is
time for Erin to start learning more about Turkey, and quite frankly, I miss the amazing road trips through this country.
There are many reasons I appreciate a good road trip in
Turkey. One, the history is rich
and plentiful, and if you were to stop at every ancient ruin and historical
site on the way, you would never make your destination as planned. In addition to finding the most amazing
things, the interaction with the culture can sometimes be unpredictable and entertaining.
This time we stopped at Kus
Cennet, or Bird Heaven on the way. We have driven by this beautiful,
protected reserve several times but never stopped. The irony of it all is that as you turn off the main road to
enter Kus Cennet, there are fields
full of scarecrows. What kind of hidden
heaven is this place?
To further complicate it, as you leave and head further
south, there are nothing but chicken farms that line the road on both sides for
several kilometers. Welcome to heaven
- if you are lucky enough to not land in hell on your way.
My friend, Semih, tells me this is the Turkish Law of Opposites.
I agree there is some kind of yin and yang here that keeps everything in
balance, but it is not in that traditional Eastern sense. There is something more to it that I
cannot always explain.
A slightly different type of balance is required to walk
this rope. Yin and yang are like an
old married couple that constantly nags each other. They love each other, but they can also nag at each other a
lot.
The first night we arrived in Bodrum, we went to dinner at a
well-known restaurant. It is
small, with maybe eight tables and serves great Agean seafood with a homemade
twist.
Shortly after we placed our order, a woman proceeds to leave
from one the back tables and stops to reprimand a large group of 10 on her way. Out of nowhere at the highest, angriest
volume from her diaphragm, she informs the group as well as the rest of the
restaurant, and possibly all of Bodrum that they were too loud and ruined her
evening.
Her lecture went on for what seemed like several unnecessary
minutes. This group was only out having a nice dinner. They were laughing and enjoying
themselves at normal decibels. I
would hardly call it disturbing the peace.
To add fuel to her fire, a man in the back corner of the
restaurant then joined in. He
backs up the crazed woman as he shouts from his corner that the group was too
loud and disrespectful. Needless
to say, the group was taken aback.
Considering the situation, they were calm – much more than I would be.
After the exchange of a few words, the woman left. A foreign couple in the middle of the
restaurant looked concerned as if they were wondering when the brawl was going
to break loose. My husband and I
were sitting right next to them and practically in tears as we tried to conceal
our laughter. Perhaps we only
frightened them more.
Things seemed to go back to normal. Oh but wait, that would be too
predictable. The man in the back
didn’t have enough. He proceeded to
continue to shout at the group about how they were making everyone in the
restaurant uncomfortable.
At that point, my husband read my mind. He jumped in and in not so many words
told the guy to only speak for himself, and not speak for everyone else. The
tourists looked even more concerned, but the food was worth staying for.
A bit later, I suddenly began laughing so hard I could
barely explain why. The wife of
the man who was shouting at everyone for being so disrespectful and disturbing
the entire city was changing their son’s clothes at the table in the restaurant. This child was around 4 years old – not
a baby, but a child. There was
nothing discrete about it. I guess
rather than go home, they just thought it would be easier to put his pajamas on
at the table. The hypocrisy and irony
of it all is so funny I could barely believe it.
I never seem to experience such interesting incidents in the
US or anywhere else when travelling.
Well there was that one time a guy dropped his pants at a crowded New
York intersection to prove “he ain’t got nothin” as the police came after
him. My other 99% of unexplainable
social observations always seem to occur in Turkey.
While I would not call it a norm for Turkey, these public
confrontations do happen, and they are always entertaining. They are typically harmless and
although terribly annoying at times, people usually go on about their
business. Living here, I gained assertiveness
and street smarts very quickly.
Throughout the entire confrontation, the restaurant staff
said nothing. They just kept on
working as if nothing happened. I
could not help but wonder if this was the result of regular confrontations and
they were used to it, or they did not want to get involved. Either way, I found this lack of
reaction equally interesting as it seemed unusual. Perhaps this is why the manager wore an apron with RELAX written in big bold letters across
the front.
Since that night, the rest of the trip has been fairly
uneventful of social confrontation.
However, we are only halfway through. There is still plenty of time for the yin to nag the yang a
bit more.
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