a cabinet of thoughts

Thursday, April 22, 2010

field trip to the land of love...

I'm off tonight on a long overnight bus to Konya in the south. A professor is leading a tour there over the weekend, so myself with one of my classmates will be tagging along. While Konya is most famous for being the city where Rumi, the sufi love poet, lived and died....I think we'll actually be focusing on the Seljuk remains of the city. (The Seljuks were (one) of the major empires that had defeated the Byzantines in Southwestern Anatolia before the Mongols and Ottomans came along.) Also we'll be making a trip down to Çatal Höyük, a Neolithic excavation and a World Heritage Site.

I'll be sure to charge my camera and take lots of pictures to share...

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Land of the Ottomans...

So, the Ottomans were kind of a big deal. Not that I remember learning about them in high school history classes, ever. But they were definitely there while the French and British kings were ruling the Northwest, the Ottomans ruled the South and Southeast. Some basic historical dates which are important --> in 1453 the Ottomans finally took Constantinople (Istanbul) from the Byzantines and it wasn't until 1923 when Ataturk finally did away with the Ottoman empire and established the Republic of Turkey. I know very little at this point but we will be starting Ottoman history next week. But here in Turkey it is the most important history that they teach in elementary and high schools. I don't think anyone really learns Byzantine history in high school these days....maybe a few Greeks.

Over spring break I finally made a trip to the Topkapı Sarayı (Topkapi Palace) which is only one of the many beautiful, grandiose palaces of the sultans in Istanbul. I was too cheap though to pay for the extra tour of the Harems so I only have pictures of the nice views and some of the other buildings in the complex...

İstanbul'da Lale Zaman!

Tulip Time in Istanbul!! (At least it was about two weeks ago during my spring break.) And if I missed the actual Tulip festival then what more appropriate place to enjoy this tradition than in front of the palace of the Ottoman Sultans?! Topkapı!

mmm, springtime...just waiting for the leaves on the trees...any day now...

Sunday, February 21, 2010

one (more) week down...

weather: hit the 60's yesterday! but will probably get back to the low 50s and 40s the rest of the week but looking forward to the oncoming springtime.

books: read An Education by Lynn Barber on the flight back; her memoirs on growing up in England and becoming a rather cool and in some ways radical female journalist. (Only the second chapter lent itself to the current cinema version). Then I picked up the new English translation of Elif Shafak's book: The Forty Rules of Love (Aşk in Türkçe) last monday as a 'first-day of school' present to myself. I definitely enjoyed it, it was much more religious than I expected but in a very pleasant, all about love and being nice kind of way. I would recommend both books as interesting, easy, quick reads that are much more uplifting than any Orhan Pamuk book. Next on my list should be the history of the Ottoman and Byzantine history...but we will see if I can squeeze some Zorba the Greek or maybe even some Proust (??)...

movies: the movies of note that I have recently seen, besides the 3D IMAX of Avatar while at home, have been An Education in theaters, Julie &Julia and Nine. All of which have been delightful and inspiring; making me want to cook, live in paris and italy, be a creative genius like fellini, be as gorgeous as Penelope Cruz, and of course appreciate my advanced education in place of wanting a (fake/lying) rich, older man who wants to whisk me off to paris for the weekend....hah!

sports: with my new yoga mat spread out on my floor it serves as a constant reminder of what i should do every night before bed and every morning when i wake up, something to work towards I suppose. Also, the other day I signed up for Koc's new Curling team. Not sure if this team actually exists yet seeing as there is no space (even though there is a brand new ice rink currently housing the new hockey and figure skating teams), no money, no equipment and no one at the meeting actually has experience. also, did you know there are only four curling teams in Turkey? Not surprising, huh? hah! Well, by putting my name and email down on a piece of paper I figured I was at least one step closer to my Olympic dream of being on the Nicaraguan Olympic Curling team one day:)

school: ummm, first week down, lots of reading to be done, many greek words to learn, lots of history of Byzantium to understand. Oh, and I'm going to Berlin on a fieldtrip in March, how cool is that?!

thats it for now, must stop procrastinating my homework and also finish baking my first ever loaf of bread! hopefully it'll at least be edible, wish me luck...