Monday, December 28, 2009

Christmas Weekend


Christmas is not a holiday celebrated in Turkey. Their holiday that is similar to Christmas is New Years. They exchange gifts and spend time with their family and eat lots of food. Only recently have they begun to put trees up in their home and decorate them. So, school was in session and kids were in attendance. They did give us foreigners the day off though. On Christmas Eve we helped our friend Sarah decorate her flat and we enjoyed Matt's flaming figgy pudding. Gary also made a paper tree in our flat and put it up on the wall.  We spent Christmas day with 12 other Americans. We enjoyed brunch together, wore our pajamas, and watched Elf. We did a white elephant gift exchange and a book exchange. Everyone ended up with a small gift and some new books to read. It was a relaxing and fun day.




On Saturday, Gary spent the day playing with his new gift to himself, a guitar.  I went with a few girls for an afternoon at the Hamam. I was scrubbed, lathered, cracked and then they washed my hair. The walk home was tough as I felt like a wet noodle. The day continued as we once again got together with the other teachers and watched A Christmas Story (and a few episodes of Glee).


On Sunday we woke up early and headed to the bus station. From here we to a small bus to a village called Nazarcoy for a day of hiking. One of the Turkish high school librarians volunteered to take us. She is the lead for the hiking club and knows many great places to go. When we first arrived in the village we enjoyed tea and a yummy village food called gozlelme. It is like  a pancake/tortilla freshy made with spinach, mint, parsley and cheese rolled up and served piping hot. With our bellies full we headed into the woods. There really are not hiking trails and you are free to walk anywhere. We followed a road for awhile and then cut across a cherry orchard to follow a creek. The woods are similar to those around Washington with less ferns and is a bit more sparse. When we returned to the village we stopped by a glass workshop where they make Nazars (evil eyes). Five or six men sit inside a room with a wood burning glass kiln. They quickly make beads and other decorations that make this village famous. We shopped around a bit and bought some trinkets and then got back on a small bus to stop at a horse farm.









The horse farm is owned and operated by Kazakhstan immigrants. At the farm they have traditional horses (smaller than our horses) and yurt like buildings where they work to teach the public about their heritage and traditions. We spent some time in the yurt listening to how they build it and about their nomadic lifestyle. Part of the farm is a resturaunt that serves Kazakhstan food. It of course very similar to Turkish food but with a bit of an Asian flair. One of their specialties is serving horse milk with their meals. Of course we had to try it! It was very gross and not at all what we were expecting. It was sour tasting and didn't go down so easy. We do not recommend it anyone! But hey, we would be kicking ourselves if we didn't try it.





Stay tuned for out New Year's Post. We are heading to Karaburun, a small fishing village about an hour away!

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Shorts-Weekend-Izmir Art


Now that we have settled into our grove here in Izmir,  I'd like to share with you some of our weekend adventures.

Last weekend we took advantage of Ege University's  bi-annual exhibition of modern Turkish Art . I had gone the previous weekend, and visited only one of the galleries. I ran into a few colleges from Dokuz Elul University and found myself in a lecture hall for a few hrs.  Art speaks all languages, but lectures in Turkish.  It was fascinating to sit in a foreign lecture, thank fully with plenty of slides. Most importantly I learned there were at least a dozen galleries participating in the bi-annual all around the city so...


On the 12th of December Rena, Sarah and I went looking for the modern Art of Izmir. It was a beautiful fall day to be on searching for Art. We started at the Ege University museum and then to the Kültür center, right next door.
   These hosted invited artists from Istanbul and Ankara, and impressive display of  paintings, prints, sculpture, ceramic, and more.





We headed towards the clock tower for our next stop. The İş bank near Kermeralti's entrance gate has a gallery on the 2nd floor. This space hosted a fabric & textile show.





Then by bus we headed out to the train station in Alsancak. This beautiful station is under renovation and should be active again in Jan. 2011. (inshallah). The Artists had used the space for installation pieces.


Next we walked towards the football stadium to an art center. This use to be a factory and now has been renovated into an art center.  The campus includes large cafe, many out building to  host art and artist. A few outdoor stages to host performances and lager halls for large scale sculpture installation. The sterile post industrial brick grounds with giant chimney has a unnerving romantic eery feel. I  think it is a great place for art and I would like to organize a show for this space...someday!



And yes there was tea!
 If you're looking for Art in Izmir....try these Arts Galleries, and let me know what is showing.

(Sanat Galerisi) - Izmir:

1. T.C. Kültür ve Turüzm Bakanlığı
   mithatpaşa cd. No 94 Konak-Izmir

2. İş Bankası
   çobanoğlu zekibey cdç No. 2 Konak-Izmır

3. Konak Belediyesi Güzelyanı Kültür Merkezi
   32 sokak No.4 Güzelyanı Parkı yanı Güzelyanı-Izmır

4. Izmir Büyükşehir Belediyesi Tarihi Havagazı Fabrikası
   Alsancak Lıman Karşısı  Alsoncak-Izmır

Friday, December 11, 2009

Cappadocia


Over the last Byram (which just happen to fall on American Thanksgiving), we hopped on a plane and headed to the Southern central area of Turkey. The region that we visit is called Cappadocia which is made up of small villages and a very unique landscape. Cappadocia is a volcanic region which is covered with soft stone from some 30 million years ago. This soft stone, formed by compressed volcanic ash, has been worked on ever since, by processes of erosion, to form valleys and curious fairy chimneys. The region is very famous for these unique formations. The most fascinating aspect of the region is the impression of continuity: rock caves are still inhabited;the fields are still fertilized with guano collected in rock-cut pigeon houses;and the pottery is still made of the main river, the Kizimilirma. Wine is produced locally as it has since Hittite times.



We flew into Kayseri from Izmir, a mere one hour and fifteen minute fight. We were greeted at the airport by the driver from our hotel. He was holding a sign with our name on it (there is a first for everything). We then were shuttled the hour to the village of Goreme, where we were staying. We were staying at the Local Cave House, which is just that, a small hotel built into the caves. It was small with only nine rooms. There was five of us so we almost had the place to ourselves. For the first day we walked around the village, took many pictures, and ate. We ate at a wonderful restaurant where we seated on the floor around a wood burning stove. Our food was served on a very low and large metal tray. The food was very much like the food in Izmir but a bit more middle easter, Lots of garlic and eggplant.



The next day we were signed up for a tour of the region. Our tour was small with only 19 people with us. However when we went to some of the historic sights it was crowed with other tours and huge buses. But this didn't stop us from enjoying ourselves and taking a million pictures!One of our stops was to the Gerome Open-Air Museum. The Open- Air Museum is the most visited of all the monastic settlements of the Cappadoccia Region. It's also the largest of the religious complex, and its churches, of which there are over thirty, contain some of the most fascinating frescoes. Virtually all date from the period after the Iconoclastic controversy, and mainly from the second half of the ninth to the end of the eleventh century.






Next stop was the old city of Avanos. Avanos is known for its pottery making. We stopped at one pottery studio that has been in the same family for over two hundred years. Our tour guide was a 15th generation potter. The pottery was beautiful and highly decorative. While there, the master potter allows a member of the tour try their luck at their old kick wheel. Gary took a chance and demonstrated his own skills at the wheel.




After the tour we went back to Gerome and ate and drank and planned our nest day adventure. We decided rather than touring around it would be better if we just rented a car for the five of us. So the following day we hopped in a car and hit the road. Our first stop was to the underground settlements in Kaymakli. This underground settlement was large enough to accomm0dated 30 thousand people. The cities date back to Hittite times at least (1900-1200BC). It is thought that the underground rooms were used as shelters during the 1200BC attacks. 70 to 85 meters below the lowest floor level were large ventilation shafts and deep wells. It was really remarkable.



Cappadocia is a region that needs to be visited over and over. There was so much to do and see, we didn't even scratch the surface. We met some fellow teachers who are currently working in Istanbul, who took a hot air ballon ride over Cappadocia. After their rave reviews it is something we will definitely do upon our return as well as hiking and a visit to some of the local monasaries.



Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Cuz'n Comes to Town


Patty was our first guest in Turkey and she stayed 10 fun filled days. It was wonderful to see a familiar face, converse in English and show her around our town.
Rena was working during the days so she couldn't join the Cuz'n tour but each night we came to shared our adventures with an evening slide shows presentation. We were all a bit sad Rena couldn't join in on the daily adventures.

 Patty and I hit the town running. Walking the streets and back allies and always finding lots of cats to photo. Everyday was packed with adventure. We went all around Izmir, caught a bus to old Foca for the best calamari in Turkey and went to the ancient sites of Ephesus.

Our Ephesus adventure took seven small buses (5 dolmus, numerous towns, 2 taxis and one "greyhounde-esque" bus! What a great day seeing the back roads of Turkey and arriving in Ephesus just before sunset. Most of the tour groups had already left so we had Ephesus practically to ourselves, very rare opportunity at such a popular site!


Over the weekend we took an overnight trip to Selcuk and Sirince and we were very excited to show Patty some off our favorite places. In Selcuk we visited the Basilica of St. John, the Isa Mosque, and had lunch at this great lokanta. Patty purchased a most amazing old quilt in a carpet shop and

we headed up the hill to Sirence for some local wine, dinner and an evening in a "fantasy room". This was a 500 yr old room with pillows, carpets, fireplace where we spent the evening drinking Raki, dancing, and enjoying a fire with a few local Turks. What a night!

Unfortunately, the candle burned too hard on both ends for me and, the last few days of Patty's visit I was with Phenomena. So with Rena at work and me in bed Patty headed back to the crazy bazaar in Izmir and enjoyed some solo shopping. The shopping here is fantastic and she filled her bags with goodies for home, so much so we gave her an extra bag for her flight home! She had a blast,  lots of stories and some great shopping tips to share.

It was so wonderful to see her, spend time together and show her our new life. Thanks Patty! She had such a good time she's coming back in April, with husband Austin, brother Jimmie and Jimmies partner Topher! We can't wait more good  time cuz'n cuz'n'ry!