rebecca soble

Entering NYC from NJ on the PATH train, you come to the World Trade Center site.  Finally, things are being built!

Dünya Tıcaret Merkezi yerinde nihayet yeni yapılıyor!

A typical downtown street scene – narrow streets, tall buildings, both modern and older.  Also some remnants from times past with shorter historical buildings (look to the very end of the street, low down.)

Tipik cadde manzarası – dar caddeler, uzun binalar, tarihsel ve çağdaş.

Into the subway!  The platforms are dirty and hot but I love them.  And then getting onto the cool and relatively clean train is so nice, especially traveling off-peak times so you get a seat easily.

Metro’ye bindim!  Tramvay sahanlığında her yerde kirli ve sıcak ama her şeye rağmen onu seviyorum.

Some nice SoHo buildings.

Güzel binalar, SoHo’de.  (SoHo bir mahalledir.)

A hazy view of the Statue of Liberty.

Özgürlük Heykeli, puslu bir manzara.

Chinatown.  I ate lunch here.

Çin Mahallesi.  Burada oğle yemeğı yedim.

And a couple blocks north, Little Italy, with the Empire State Building in the distance.

Ve Çin mahallesiınden az kavşak kuzey, küçük İtalya mahallesi.  Uzaklıkta Empire Eyalet Binası görebilirsin.

People take their noise pollution seriously in this city!

Bu şehirde, gürültü kirliliğı çok ciddi bir konu.  [KORNU ÖTTÜRMEYİN $350 CEZA]

Back at the WTC PATH station, heading home at the same time as many commuters.

İşten sonra, herkes trenle eve gidiyor.

A question lots of people are asking:  What possessed me to head off to Turkey on my own?

I felt like I was stagnating in my life, all my work was sort of at a dead end and I needed a change.  I would have been happy to come back to New York, but I couldn’t come up with any work there that I really felt like doing (that anyone would hire me to do).  I could have taken this class there, but it would have actually cost more money, especially with living expenses.  But one day I see myself moving back to New York.

Actually even though I am doing something completely new, I don’t know if it will be what I “end up” doing for the long-term (maybe nothing will be…)  I really want to study more languages so that I am fluent in them, even though I know this is a long and arduous task.  I had thought maybe Turkish if I want to stay here a while, but I also think if I could learn more Hebrew and also learn Arabic, that these could be very useful.  Of course I know how difficult Arabic is, so I might never manage to do it.  Even with Hebrew, I know I have a long way to go and right now I’m not studying at all.  By coming to Istanbul and getting certified to teach English, I have taken just one tiny step of a very vague path towards I don’t know where…

I heard an interview on the radio with a man in Washington who is Jewish and is now working for Al-Jazeera International.  I think he had a very good perspective on Jewish-Arab relations that made me hopeful for the future.  I am very naive sometimes but I’m thinking that in 10 years I would like to be doing some kind of work that helps all the troubles in the Middle East (although I should be doing it NOW, not waiting 10 years…).  I have no idea what it would be though.  I guess I do have faith that if I keep slowly moving in the right direction, something will come along and help me sooner or later.  Don’t know if that will get me back in New York or not, but more likely than anywhere else in the US….

Well tonight I was out drinking beer with some classmates so this is all rather stream-of-consciousness writing.   I’m off to sleep soon and hopefully out for a long wander tomorrow.  My leg is feeling better today and I predict by tomorrow it will be back to normal.

Neither of these images is what I would call a great picture in terms of photographic aesthetics, but I love them anyway. For me, they capture the essence of their setting perfectly and evoke a lot of positive feelings in me.

I like the crow picture because it makes me think about the wonderful quiet and peace you can find so easily in the country. Not by visiting and taking scenic pictures, but by living there and experiencing the open space and seasons and wildlife. It also reminds me how much I love the beauty of the small things in the country — wildflowers by the roadside, weathering fences, a single bird soaring in the sky.

I took the picture below while walking through Times Square at night. It had to be a quick picture, because standing still in the middle of the sidewalk was just not acceptable. I’ve taken lots of pictures in New York but none captures the energy of the city as this one does. I love the challenge of the city streets and the confidence that comes from just making it through. I love the incredible variety of people, and the crazy things they do and say. I love how you can still experience the centuries of history crammed into this little island. I love how there’s always new ideas coming, mental firings stimulated just by walking the streets and watching what’s happening around you.

I adore the peaceful minimalism of the country, I revel in the high-energy overstimulation of the city. I have not yet found anything to love about the suburbs.