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Hazzah!
Guess what! I slept through the night last night! I was soooo tired, not even the call to prayer woke me!
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OMG - I'm definitely in Jerusalem
La Maison d'Abraham also runs a dispensary for Palestinians who don't have access to proper health care. Siser Columbia (I still don't understand what her name is, but she's from Columbia) is a nurse who works there. Usually, she works only for 3 or 4 hours in the morning but today she was called out to do something else.
I'm sure you heard the ( Read more... ) -
Le choque des cultures
Ouch. I'm having some culture shock on two fronts: first, of course, I'm in a foreign country. I went to bed last night and was a little unnerved by the noises from outside. I wish I could speak Hebrew or Arabic cuz I'd like to know what the official sounding message was that we being broadcast over some mobile speaker outside my window. Also ( Read more... ) -
Je suis arrive!
Ok, I've arrived at La Maison d'Abraham. While the grounds themselves are exceptionally impressive, I'm not living here as I had expected, as per the website. I live about a half-hour walk away. And we are in the Arab quartier. Not the most ideal places I have ever been, lemme tell you. It seems no one has any concerns about security here. We ( Read more... ) -
Last but not CERTAINLY not least
Today, Onur played the host in the most excellent way. He took me (the Italians have left) to Ephesus. the Basillica of St. John and the House of Mary. Let's talk about an interreligious experience - Onur is Muslim so I spent a good amount of time explaining why so much of this is important for Christians. While to don't think he bought into ( Read more... ) -
Izmir
My friend Onur, whom I know from when we lived in Rez in undergrad, has taken care of me for the last few days. When I got here, he had 3 Italian friends also staying with him so when he was at work, I wandered the city with them. Here's what we saw ( Read more... ) -
Days 5 and 6-ish
I trıed to make a list of things I wanted to post. Here's what I got so far:
1. The buses. They are called dolmus which means 'full.' Why? Because they leave when they're full. And keep getting fuller along the road to where you are going. This is efficient in its own way but doesn't make things easy to plan. When leaving Assos, I had hoped ( Read more... ) -
Assos
So here I am ın Assos. Possıbly ın the top 5 most beautıful places I have ever vısıted. I just had a fresh bean olıve oıl and veggıe salad on the sıde of the water. ıts hot and I am lovıng ıt. Sorry I cant fınd some punctuatıon on thıs keyboard.
I wıll stay here for a nıght and then head to Pergamum tomorrow. Whıle thıs would be a great place ( Read more... ) -
Days 3 and 4
Ok, good days. Last night Local Dude took me around. It's nice having someone to hang with considering the couply nature of many activities in Istanbul. He took me to buy some tea glasses, walk around the city, play some games at a cafe and for a ride around the city. Great night. Got tot the hostel around 3am.
Got up at 6am for the tour which ( Read more... ) -
Day 3
So, things are going well. I've figured out the money, the transit system and seem to be getting along well. I'm working on arranging a tour out of the city tomorrow. I don't know if I'll get to post tomorrow since I'm not entirely sure of where I'm staying.
Last night Local Dude took me to the Asian side of Istanbul to a place that reminded me ( Read more... )