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I’m blank. It’s been a difficult month and I don’t feel like explaining. But I want a new post, so here are some pics from my last trip to Mersin, Aug 20-30 2009.

Breakfast at a little place up in the hills outside Mersin.  Sat Aug 22.  It was a really good typical turkish breakfast.  Total 30tl for two people.

Emrah looking over the scenery.  I forget the name of the place, outside Mersin.  Gözde maybe.

A big cavernous hole in the ground at Cennet Cehennem (Heaven and Hell).  I think this hole was hell.

These pics are a bit out of order.  This is from another cavernous hole in the ground at a place called Kanlidevani, which means something like “bloody crazy”.  Apparently people were sent down into the recesses as punishment.

Emrah eating keci boynuzu (carob bean) which is supposedly an energy/aphrodisiac source.  He’s got a wild look in his eye.

Climbing the ancient stonework over large pits in the ground.  First E,

Then me.  I walked up and down a bit more cautiously than he did.

He likes climbing around old ruins.

And then snacking afterwards.  Kavurma is one of his favorites, and I rather like it too.

Inside the Cennet (Heaven) hole in the ground was an old Christian church.  Behind the church the hole in the ground (green, with trees etc) becomes a real cavern.

We also spent a lot of time at the beach.  This was at a place where we rented a tent and slept overnight.

Between the last post and this one, besides this difficult month, I also spent a lovely six weeks at home with my family.  Hopefully things will look up again soon.

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bir gün

Ona benzeyen bir adam gördüğüm zaman kalbım yerınden fırladı.

Havuza girmeden önce çabuk ve sabunsuz duş aldığım için iki yaşlılar bana söylendiler.
Onlara sinirlendiğim için daha hızlı ve hareketli yüzdüm (ve havuzda dalgaları yaptım).

Eve giderken minibüs şoförü çok öfkeli davranıyordu. Diğer minibüs şoförlerine acı acı bağırdı, freni çok sert kullandı, ve İKİ DEFA bağırmak için minibüsten indi! Ikinci defa, evimini yakin varmadığımız halde, ben de indim çünkü o minibüs güvenli degildi. Keşke plaka numarasını almayı düşünseydim ama alsaydım ne yapacaktım?

Canım seni çok özledim. öptüm.

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Mersin, April 2009

Mersin’de çok güzel bir tatil yaptık…

Mersin
Emrah Kız Kalesin önünde. Mayolarımız götürmedik, düşündük ki hava yeter sıcak değildi ama yanlıştık.

Mersin
Pedal çevırerek Kız Kalesi etrafina gezdik.

Mersin
Kız Kalesinde.

Mersin
Merdivende en uygun grafiti.

Mersin
Kız Kalesinin kapısındayım.

Mersin
Kız Kalesinin dışardayım. Yüzmeye çok istedim.

Mersin
Kale içindeyim.

Mersin
Gezdikten sonra Adana kebab yedik.

Mersin
Mersin sahilde çok uzun yuruyabilirsin.  O gün çok ruzgarlıydı, dalgalar çok hareketlıydı.

Mersin
Outside the Mersin Archaeology Museum.

Mersin
Detail on an ancient column

Mersin
Playing along with the statues

Mersin
Lovely palm tree view from the upstairs window of the museum.

Mersin
Mersin marina, with floating fish restaurants

Mersin
We had to take our own picture since there were no papparazzi around!

Mersin
Rowing in the marina, with oars of two different lengths.  a bit tough!

Mersin
I’m getting the hang of it!

Mersin
And so is my sweetie.  xo!

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canım doğum günün kutlu olsun

Today Emrah turned 30.  He seemed relatively okay with it, though this morning he said “yarim yoldayim” which basically means he thinks he’ll die at 60.   Just one year ago I arrived back in Turkey to celebrate his 29th birthday after 3 months at home in the US, so today is a quasi-anniversary as well as a birthday.  While I’m missing my family more than usual these days, I’m also amazed at how quickly this year has passed.  And overall, it’s been really good.

Today was sunny and warm, something I never take for granted on the last day of November.  To celebrate both the birthday and the weather, we took the Banlio Tren out to the last stop (Gebze) and then hopped a quick dolmuş to the fishing village of Eskihisar (thanks RG for the idea).


On the train


The hisar in Eskihisar is not open to the public apparently. But here’s a closeup of a closed gate.


Another view of the eski hisar in Eskihisar.


I should have asked Emrah to open his mouth and pretend to eat the boat!


An old house. Emrah took this pic – he really likes old houses.


Hello – anybody home? Another old house.


Me with the fishermen. Notice the cats slinking nearby on the lookout for some fishy snacks.


There are a lot of fishermen in Eskihisar.


Seaside.


Together at the seaside. Thanks to the guy who took the picture.


Sunset.


In the evening, watching the boats.


Evening, a nice view of the marina with the hisar behind. Not sure what setting Emrah was using on the camera to get the nice graininess.


Another photo with nice graininess.

Comments (2)

ferryboat fun

It’s spring here, how about where you are?

People here in Istanbul like to ask me how their city compares to New York City, and in some ways they’re very similar: both the primary cultural center of their country, where the intellectuals, artists, and people with alternative lifestyles choose to live, both the most politically liberal and ethnographically diverse city in their country. In terms of geography, Istanbul is a huge sprawling city, which people might say is also true for NYC if you include the outer boroughs and the bedroom communities, but is definitely not true for the island-bound, vertically-growing borough of Manhattan. But the primary geographical feature of Istanbul is the Bosphorus, the strait that delineates the border between Europe and Asia, and splits the city in two. The Bosphorus is the reason for Istanbul’s existence, is a huge part of the beauty of this city, and is, transportationally speaking, a permanent challenge for Istanbullus needing to traverse from one side to the other. I personally choose to ride a ferry instead of a bus whenever possible. Here’s some pictures I took yesterday when Emrah and I went to Eminönü to buy an aquarium!

This pic is taken from a ferry that looks very much like the one in the picture. Seagulls follow the boats and passengers will throw scraps of bread in the air to them, watching the birds dive and swoop to catch the pieces. Yesterday was a windy day so there were some noticeable waves and I got a little damp sitting outside, but what’s the fun in sitting inside on a ferry?

Another pic from the ferry, showing the Asian side of the Bosphorus bridge in the distance with one of the typical ocean-transport ships that follow the Black Sea to Mediterranean route through the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles.

This picture shows part of the European side of Istanbul in the background and in the foreground is some massive equipment that is currently digging a tunnel across the Bosphorus. One year ago it was a lot closer to Europe, now it’s well on its way to Asia. I like this picture because it shows Istanbul as the industrious city that it truly is. Many photos of Istanbul show just the historical parts (which are of course magnificent and definitely deserving of photos) and the business/industrial side gets overlooked. This is the real Istanbul.

Before we got on the ferry, we had to cross through Kadıköy where many of the ferries to Europe leave from (they also go from Bostancı, which is closer to my house, but the Sunday schedule from there is much more limited). Yesterday, the traffic was horrible (on Sunday!) so we got off the minibus and walked. After a little distance, we realized why the traffic was so bad: a major street had been blocked off for a demonstration. There were police everywhere and people were taking advantage of the opportunity to walk in the streets rather than on the narrow sidewalks. Down by the flag you can see the rally was put on by the TKP (Türkiye Komünist Partisi) but the main theme was people protesting against the current ruling party (AKP) and their pro-Islamic leanings. According to this news article, the slogan of the gathering was “No to headscarves, no to the AKP!”

emrah eating tost

Before we went aquarium shopping, we paused for a typical outdoor snack: I’m having cheese toast and fresh-squeezed OJ (kaşarlı tost ve sıkma portakal suyu), Emrah is having cheese and spicy meat toast with tea (karaşık sucuklu tost ve çay), and, unfortunately, his ubiquitous cigarette. Emrah told me yesterday that he wanted his own web site, so I made him one. I have no idea why he wants it, but he seemed happy with the result. Go visit!

Finally, the newest residents of my apartment:

fish!

March 27, 2008 update: All the fish have died. I’m really sad about this and the living room feels empty when I walk in, but I don’t think I’ll get any more fish, I can’t figure out what killed them all (one by one) and it’s too hard to try to communicate about it with fish sellers.

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