cheap ticket to paradise...

Sunday afternoon in the Fertile Crescent

A perfect gloomy day to traipse around the neighborhood and eat a superb Sunday brunch- incomplete, of course, because of the absence of mimosas. Of course, I'm all about finding solutions to problems these days... I'm resourceful. My day has morphed into a 'clean the apartment' afternoon. Whenever I get ready to go on an odyssey I like to start with a clean house upon return.

So I found myself a tailor! Tailor Mehmet downtown near the kale. Awesome man. Somehow we managed to communicate that I want a pencil skirt made from an exact pattern that I have.  We went to the fabric store yesterday afternoon (fabric PORN I swear!). What a wonderland fabric stores here in Turkey. It was pure ecstasy. I wanted to savor the experience. Nothing like touching every bolt of fabric of the right weight, color & texture.  AWESOME!!!

Can't describe anymore to you all without becoming obscene how much I enjoyed the experience.  Check that one off the list now- personal tailor in Turkey.  After the pencil skirt, I plan on taking a few more trousers to him as well... I can see this will become a new addiction for me. Surprisingly cheap as well.  Perhaps by next year I will have myself my own sewing machine so I can do it myself.  I miss my sewing machine.  I hope Katie-girl is having a good time with it.

It seems this post is going to be filled with the most mundane of things, but I figure that for all you guys reading back home, it might be terribly fascinating.  Honestly, just going to the grocery store still holds fascination for myself down here. Folding laundry even holds more intrigue for me than it did back in Amerika...

One thing that does not fascinate me with the mundane, though, is the state of my houseplants.  I've never had to deal with caring for (house)plants.  In Hawaii they just flourish, unless they are a rare breed of orchid that takes some more non-commital commitment. Seriously though, orchids are THE MOST tempramental of plants to attempt to shower with love.  You basically have to ignore them for them to flourish. All the sudden one day you look in the dark corner where you stuck the orchid plant to recover in ICU and BOOM it's blooming!!! When did that happen?  So yea, my houseplants are fussy right now.  Not enough sunlight? Too cold? Not enough water? Inside? Outside today? WTF DO YOU WANT FROM ME??? Arghhhhhhhh. But I persist in trying to diagnose their problems. I'm looking at them right now- all frumpy and giving me this passive-aggressive 'vibe'.

I was inspired yesterday to make Apple Cobbler- based on a recipe that I barely remember assisting with for New Year's... I had to put myself back in that state of mind I was in at the time to sort it all out... Turns out I was able to successfully achieve that state and reproduce a decent quality homemade munchies snack.. Drank the remainder of Malibu Rum in the process as well. 

Loads of laundry this weekend AND I'm even cold-water soaking all my wool and cashmere sweaters! I know, can't get more titillating than explaining this folks (*yawn*). There is a zen art that I have discovered when hanging clothes to dry on the clothes-horse thingy. I get absolute pleasure from this experience.  It really derives out of necessity: how to hang clothes to dry just so perfect that one doesn't have to iron them afterwards... This is end goal here.

In other news, I cleaned off my kitchen counter complete with anti-bacterial medicines... Even had to burn some Nag Champa incense to cover up the medicinal explosion. I suppose I won't discuss the loo cleaning this morning, but I did that too.

For entertainment talk-story I will divulge that I am currently absorbed in watching all the original "Pink Panther" series that Blake Edwards directed with such movie-star greats as David Niven, Elke Sommer, Peter Sellers, etc... I never thought anything about Robert Wagner before, but he sure was hot when he was young... Stupid funny stuff that seems enchanting while experiencing a mildly cold Southeastern Turkish winter.  I also watched the first episode of "Little Mosque on the Prairie"- which is hilarious and I highly suggest it to all friends back home.

I'm looking for some interesting books to buy in Portugal so if any of you have any titles of stuff you think I should read, let me know. As well, any apps I should know about.

Weather Ping Pong here this winter. Where is all the bloody snow? I have this increased fascination with winter clothing and enjoy amassing this type of garb. I can't figure it out- especially as I should be in a warmer place living... I can't help but think that in the back of my mind I'll need winter wear if I move to Cappadocia... Well, where to live next in Turkey is another consideration I'm considering. I mean, if I'm going to live in a cold area, I need to be snowboarding. This is ridiculous right now. So close, yet so far... And why is it so damn expensive to snowboard here? Okay, who reading this post knows someone with a ski resort here in Turkey. Hook a girl up... What about Kayseri? Must be some damn good skiing on Erciyes, no? What about cross-country skiing? Do peeps do that here? Where do you get the equipment? Snowshoes? Nothing like a good snowshoe expedition through the forest.

Okay I'm tiring of this. I'm thinking of doing a reconnaissance survey of my closet and check out all the luscious clothes of mine that I have here that I can't wear here. This includes shoes/boots as well.

looking for my own little paradise on this side of the planet...

testing 1, 2, 3. testing

With the recent first snowfall of the season, I’ve started to preoccupy myself with thoughts of snow. Logical. Now, I don’t have much experience in snow or living in places where it snows so I’m a bit of a neophyte. What I do enjoy about it is how the ordinary landscape scenery morphs into some kind of wonderland. I mean, even Gaziantep appears ‘mystical’ when viewed with snow-cover…

Gaziantep also appears ‘mystical’ to me when I think of its ancient history, but that is another matter entirely.  Gaziantep mostly just appears… ordinary to me. Ordinary in the sense that, let’s be honest, it’s not a really pretty area. It’s not the mountains and it’s not the beach. The landscape is just ordinary. What is extraordinary to me, when I’m in my office at work looking out the window to the south from the 5^th floor is the view- unimpeded rolling hills straight to Syria, which is involved in a shitstorm of human rights violations right now.

But I digress. This is supposed to be a happy blog post where I keep to the weather report, as well as my esoteria thoughts which some of you get and perhaps many of you can’t even begin to piece my abstract thoughts together into a logical puzzle.  Anyhow… uhm yea. The weather. So, all this snow has put me in the mood for 2 things: a semi-deserted beach (populated with my own storyville characters that I have exquisitely brewed up in my alternate reality world complete with names and even pet names) OR going snowboarding. I feel I should make use of all this snow that is surely to continue to fall, right? 

Even though I am a snow-neophyte, I have been able to spend quality time in some of the best snow resorts in the world.  Most precious on this list includes snowboarding in the Andes of both Argentina and Chile.  Vancouver also ranks on the list (a bit slushy, but what views from mountain to ocean. As does the Snowy Mountains in Australia (well, you can’t see the ocean from that vantage point, but it was still lovely). As does Alaska. What a great ego-booster mountain to snowboard Alyeska is!  As is various parts of Amerika. I will even include that silly little Hunter Mountain just outside of New York City a few hours.

I’d like to add Turkey to this list. This year seems like the likely year. It’s unfortunate that I have 2 sets of board gear in 2 separate states in a country far, far away… Anyway, if any of you phantom readers (that refuse to identify yourselves properly by officially following my blog…) are from Turkey and have knowledge of snow parks here, let me know your opinions.

 Erzerum is high on my list. I suppose just for the novelty.  The place (city?) seems enshourded in mystery.  It is like an ice-city perhaps in the wintertime as it seems the coldest temperatures come from there.  I know there is a quaint little ski resort there. Yes, this sounds sweet. Sweet meaning that you don’t have to wait 20 minutes in the chairlift line to get back up the mountain like you have to do in many places.

Kayseri holds some intrigue as well.  Perhaps mainly because it is so close to Göreme- which I love, and have spotted some seriously handsome men residing in… So there is that. I assume that there are a few ski areas there and nearby. 

What is odd, though, is that nobody talks about these places. They exist. Do locals go there? Do ex-pats go there? Who skis/snowboards in this country? I don’t recall anyone at work talking about going skiing. I don’t recall any of my Istanbul friends talking about going boarding. So, here lies the mystery of who is populating these mountains of fun. Speaking of fun, I do hope there are powder days at these places. Nothing better than wiping out in feather-light fluff!

So, I will conduct some investigations and create an action-research plan accordingly complete with a reconnaissance survey. Implementing a data recovery plan would be the icing on the cake… Perhaps in Cappadocia? 

Something that goes well with snow is apres snowboard session cocktails at the lodge.  Sitting amongst other ‘pleasantly exhausted from tearing up the slopes friends’ is just plain awesome. Everybody is exhausted, exhilirated, telling tall tales of epic adventures of snow-surfing down near-vertical faces of untracked mountains. In reality this means I successfully didn’t fall while warily traversing a ‘Blue Diamond’ labeled run…

People watching is always a thrill while partaking in adult libations at said lodge. Seriously, who can frown after a day on the mountain. Everybody looks shiny and beautiful and glowing from an inner knowledge that hanging out in nature and exercising ROCKS. Anyway, I’ll stop here before this becomes x-rated…

But of course, there is also the tales of the ‘infamous hottub party’ apres ski as well. You know, you see the picture all the time in rated R B-grade Hollywood movies that center around colleges and frathouses, etc. Well, it happens in the real world as well. With very similar results too- usually, or not… Again, I’m trying to keep this rated R so I stop here.

In conclusion,  the ‘big day’ is coming in a little over 48 hours.  Yes, I’m talking THE Mayan prophecy.  What does this mean, I ask myself. I’d like to think that the only thing erased from the face of this Planet Earth is my graduate student loan debt. Yea. I said it. I’m actually fantacizing about it.  Well, actually racists can disappear too. And gun-totting cray-crays. And shitty politicians. And shitty dictators. And all the fast food joints. And dis-ease. Blah blah blah. You get the picture.

Well, it’s not snowing at the moment.  All the rain has made for a slushy mush. Cold, wet slushy mush. You know what goes really well with cold, wet slushy mush? Peppermint Schnapps Hot Chocolate, that’s what.  Do I have any? No. You know what went well with snowfall last night? Tequila. That’s right folks, tequila. Just 1 shot mind you. Girlfriends, cats, tequila and snowfall. That was my quad-fecta last night. I just thought I’d mention that…

Twas the early morning twilight hours of... Thanksgiving

Bewitching Hour restlessness in the Fertile Crescent

It’s 5 A.M. and I’ve been up since 3:30 A.M. My mind can’t seem to stop working. Luckily it shut down for a good 5 hours earlier in the evening so tomorrow won’t be a total blur at work. I’m not sure what keeps me awake. Maybe it’s Thanksgiving tomorrow (today) and thoughts of being so far away from my favorite American holiday? I know not. Maybe it’s trying to sort through my life and my future plans? Prolly so.

It’s strange- being a world denizen. My connection to being grounded, and my past is most definitely Hawaii, but I make new connections as well. Every place I live and leave I have a connection with. Sometimes it gets confusing; Do I really miss living in Tunis, or do I just miss how strangely beautiful it was? Am I just being nostalgic about Istanbul, or is it really the most incredible city I have been to? Do I miss the wonders of the archaeological world, or am I just feeling blaise right now due to circumstances that are, obviously, out of my control at my current workplace?

..And now the 5:05 A.M. call to prayer… Funny, I have slept through it all week, and now I listen to the strangely hypnotic  melody. As I sit out on my lanai (terrace) and view Gaziantep in the darkness I look into myself. All these questions, but do I have answers? Do I need answers? Am I even seeking answers?

Back to the comfort of my bed, and my cozy Canadian Goose Down sleeping bag… My thoughts wander back to work; how can I feel satisfied that my students are merely satisfied with receiving a passing grade in class? How do I not let it bother me that they want to become English teachers, yet not fully understand modal verbs? How else can I convey to them that it will be their responsibility to explain modal verbs to their future students when they become teachers?

Since teaching in faculty I have realized that I like this style of teaching- lecturing on specific subject content. Do I want to return to grad school and complete a PhD? Am I experiencing PhD envy? Certainly living in Turkey and seeing the incredible events of some of the earliest beginnings of civilization has made my heart stir for archaeology again…

When I was in grad school in NYC I was  so happy to be going in a different direction w/TESOL, and I still am happy because of the anthropological connection that I feel to what I’m accomplishing in the present. But, something inside of me is stirring- rather quietly at the moment. It’s no secret that I miss the world of science.

This country is so amazing in that every step you take on this land, you can feel the history- even the prehistory if you are sensitive enough. What burnt me out with archaeology in Hawaii was the constant connect of the past to the needs of the present and future- developers. The mysteries unraveling from the earth were fantastic, but the constant pull of ethics weighed hard on me. As well, so did the extremely physical manual labor.

Now that I have stepped out of that arena, though, I look back into it. Those were my days of glory. The satisfaction of the physicalness of it was immense. More so than with the satisfaction of finishing a day of work at the university. But maybe I’m just romanticizing those moments with a, currently, selective memory…

Something happened to me in Cappadocia during the last Bayram. I saw this incredible landscape and along with this, I saw development. The connection is strong; when you see a beautiful place, you see tourism. With tourism you see development- increasing development. What I saw in Cappadocia, I experienced for over 20 years in Hawaii- development going out of control because of natural beauty and the inevitable ‘progress’ of civilization.

Last week while I was reading the local news from my Twitter feed, I saw 3 different articles on a major development issue in Cappadocia- Uçhisar to be exact. I don’t know enough about the community, but I know enough to know that it’s going to be a big, reoccurring problem for the community. The community is going to change- because it’s so beautiful of a natural wonder. It already has-drastically since my last visit 5 years ago. Even more so than my initial visit 11 years ago. If the community doesn’t rise up now and protest big development… well…I hope the community is up for an uphillbattle. They should have the power to change things if they unite.

From what I read, there are no archaeologists required on site during all aspects of construction- from the initial grubbing of the surface to mass sub-surface excavation with large machinery. It’s frightening to think what information is being lost. I would tell the local community there that they need to be citizen-policing the construction site. I would hope that at least the developer is a local person and/or entity so that the concerns of the community will weigh heavy in his/their hearts.

I haven’t a clue about historic preservation laws in Turkey, or the government’s desire and/or ability to keep large-scale development in check with the needs of the local population. I somehow have the idea that their stance is not as progressive as Hawaii’s though. I saw the same thing in Hawaii: corruption, finding loopholes in county, state and Federal laws and developers exploiting those loopholes, etc. I saw more than enough developments go through without the proper ‘chain of command’ being taken.

Anyway, this is on my mind at 6 A.M. I should be sleeping… My mind still wanders- to less complicated stuff though; Where should I go for my birthday? Am I going to Kabak for New Year’s? Should I buy a bread machine? Yes folks, this last one has been on my mind for a few weeks. So, Corporal Punishment has a bread machine, and she makes bread every week. Lately she hand-delivers to me freshly baked bread still warm from the oven… Not just any bread mind you, but hearty, healthy breads that are so delicious to eat that you don’t need to put anything on it. Anyway, I’m thinkng that a bread machine will improve my life! See, it really is the little things in life that matter…

I think I see the first light of dawn trying to crack through my silk curtains so I must end here and sleep for 1 more hour.

Happy Thanksgiving people! I’m eating turkey in Turkey tonight! Yes, my Turkish friends are having a Thanksgiving soiree for us vagabond expats. This is a wonderful thing that is what life is all about. Life is so precious- even when you are lost in confusion and thought. There is always something to be grateful about. I am so very grateful for my friends and family, and to know that I can feel at home wherever I am.

*kerplunk*

oh, Happy Thanksgiving today, or tomorrow- wherever you are!

some serious Jedi Mind Tricks going on down here in the Fertile Crescent tonight during the midnite hour...

Yea, subject line explains it pretty succinctly (haha).

It's the glorious end of a long, sometimes painful work week, but you know what, in the end it was great. I've come to some realizations. Most importantly that I'm not an army. Nor do I want to be an army- unless it's an army that only does battle with chocolate raspberry cake...

Anyhow... okay yes I continue on with this thought before I lose it once and for all. So, I think to myself, "just do it Holly. Just do it. Just re-adjust the kaleidoscope and let things fall into place as they tend to do if you just leave things alone and stay positive.  With this in mind, it was an awesome week and I learned a lot. To boot, the weather has been fabulous. I'm almost thinking I could get in some lanai sun-soaking tomorrow (this) morning. A morning that is fast descending upon me right now in fact.  I mustn't dawdle anymore. Let's get to the juice of this blog post- which wassssss....... I know I wanted to bring up Morocco- which came into my mind as I was ready to delve into my new research project. Shhhhh, but it's on a little-known (if any) archaeological site in the Cappadocia region. I'm not sure exactly as it might even be closer to Aksaray than Göreme. So this, of course, reminded me of Morocco 11 years ago...

I remember when I was on the ferry from Algeciras- at the tip of Spain and right next to Gibraltar. I had just started my journey a week before as I landed in Madrid. Hawaii to Madrid is a shock (although not as shocking as Hawaii to Antarctica I'm sure), and after a week I was freaking out and needed some open space- wanting to just have my mind blown. It was my first trip into Africa and it certainly set the pace for me- concerning the Maghreb countries anyway. The whole thing blew my mind.

My initial destination was Tangier- the main port city (I believe). I had no other plan beyond that. So on the ferry I decided I should meet up with some travelers. Immediately our motley crew was formed. Christian, the German med student/martial arts dude, was talking to ? from LA. She was moving to Fez to attend university and study Arabic language translation. Yo (real name) Kwan and I somehow drifted together and I believe we all met waiting for a taxi outside the port. So Yo Kwan's story: he was this Korean-American drag queen from.... Anyway somewhere in America. He was currently living in Paris studying to be a mime (I shit you not. S/he's prolly reading this right now in fact. I hope so!) We do correspond every once in a while. Prolly last time was finding each other on Facebook (haha what a cliche). Anyway, a fashion designer in London now I believe. Christian I sometimes Skype with. The last time must have been when I was living in Tunisia... I'm not sure. He is a (flying) doctor and was in east Africa for a few years out in the bush. He was headed back to Germany last I heard. Sometimes I see his Skype light on. I'm going to chat him up next light-up and see what he's been up to. LA girl I never heard from again. Never say never...

So we all made a plan (LA girl's plan actually so we all hitchhiked onto her plan): Hurrah, we're all going to Fez to see LA girl off to grad school. Since the port was far from the bus station we all shared the taxi and that is how HERstory is made...

The train was long and slow- just how I like it. There is so much to trip out on just sitting down and watching the scenery dance by. The different sounds, the passengers walking by. The weird scam artist dude that came into our little cabana thingy and was showing us pictures of da kine and asking us if we wanted to get off at Agadir instead and he could show us around.  He had the dark glasses on and everything- like a serious photo album.  Anyway, I immediately thought to myself undercover police trying to kidnap/ransom us. No, I didn't really think that, but it sounds good to read- doesn't it?

So, we avoided 'him' the rest of the journey. He must have found some other starry-eyed travelers to scam oregano on them.

We got to Fez and yep- my mind was blown. The central outside area of the Medina. The people walking, biking, crawling all over. The smoke from the meat cooking, the orange juice sellers. Oh my goodness- THE ORANGE JUICE SELLERS! Dream city.  We somehow managed to find our way through the haphazard kaos that was vibrant life teeming around us. It was so thick, the life, that it just dripped all over us.

We, I guess, were led into the Medina maze and found a hostel.

NOTE: break in story here. I really hope I'm not lazy and actually break from this typing and get my external hard drive and retreive the scans of those pictures and post them here.  Make sure to give me total hell if you don't see any pictures near the end of this- okay?

So this place was amazing (my budget was definitely NOT amazing). I remember in the taxi in Tangier we stopped at a bank on the road to get some cash from the ATM. Now I believe this was the first time that I relied on a bank card to get cash out of foreign countries (haha). I was thrilled that it actually worked. What liberation for a traveler let me tell you. MAJOR.

NOTE: Fireworks are going off right now. Typical Gaziantep evening. Random. (not sure why I said that)

So, We had a 3-bed dormroom. We relaxed. Showered. Oh, the shower. So this was the first, and only, time that I took a shower where the shower was also the place that you shit. So you make damn sure that both your feet have even displacement on the foot stands above the water line with the large hole in it below... Yoga came in REALLY handy for that one. Honestly, the only worse bathrooms that I have ever seen was in Marseilles- which is my favorite city in France. I just adore the grittiness of it.

But, as always, I digress. Back to Marrekesh. Oh wait, what happened to Fez. I didn't finish with Fez. We were there a few days and saw amazing shit, then went further south- down into the edge of the Sahara Desert. Christian had a hankering to get to Merzouga. I don't know what it's like now, but 11 years ago it blew my mind. Yes it's true. We did it up right. Saw a village wedding. Danced at a village wedding. Yo Kwan got to hang out with me in the girls area of the wedding. There was singing and dancing. No other foreigners. The medina was cool there. Going out at night and eating was mind-blowing. Going into the medina and buying kohl eyeliner with Yo Kwan was amazing. He bought this cool Tuareg Berber kaftan thing. It was royal blue with gold piping. It was regal.  We got hennaed. We got lost in the medina and had amazing adventures.

We went into the desert interior with the guys from the hostel we were staying at. There was this Lawrence of Arabia guy that was a flying doctor and was going into Algeria to do surgery for a few days. He took us around in his safari jeep and so was Lawrence. Everything from stopping at the wells at various areas in the road- which wasn't a road but open hardpan landscape. There was even a scorpion under a rock next to the ladel that was there always for weary travelers to wet their lips when they, inevitably, ran outta water... And then the 5 star hotel he took us to and we drank really expensive beers- that he bought. He was ready for an audience and we were captive listeners. He gladly bought our rounds. Then there was the trek into the desert for the moonrise. I'm talking camels and all. We walked and I remember bartering my Swatch Watch for some cool fabric from our new Berber friends.

So... after all the fun. One morning I woke up to screams. Ali came running to my door shouting that New York City was on fire. Yes folks, here is where this story takes a turn. I was on the Algerian/Moroccan border camping out underneath the stars at some Tuareg Berber stronghold at the edge of the desert when 911 happened.

Anyway, all surreal. I'm still here to type about it. Let's continue on to Marrekesh. Honestly, Marrekesh was last on my list of places that I liked in Morocco, but what does that really mean? I loved every minute of it.

NOTE: just had a balcony break. Gaziantep sleeps and I'm observing. The new age-y minarets in the distance that have their neon green lights banded around them- well the lights are off, but I always love it when the lights are on. It looks so space-agey.  But it was a good break because I remember the reason for this blog. There is this little shop deep in the Çarşı downtown G-tep, and they sell clove cigarettes- real clove cigarettes. Apparently, as the story goes, there is this little old man in an otherwise empty store. He is sitting on a stool. When my friend inquired about where this place is that sells the cloves, he said, "right here" and lifted up the fabric and underneath the stool was 1 box of cigarettes. You couldn't buy just a pack. You had to buy the entire 10-pack. So my friend did. Anyway, I don't really ever smoke cloves, but I remember I did when I was traveling through Morocco. So that is the mystery folks. Solved.

Back to Morocco... I think I'm done here actually.

I did check the hard drive, and couldn't find the pictures, BUT I will leave you with some random photos from a series that is 'ARCHAEOLOGY CHICKS THAT ROCK" (I just made that up actually). This also has a subcategory of our fans (actually just friends outside the profession that somehow enjoyed our company). I realize that is a stretch to think we were some kinda wild women (wink), but look at the facts people: we lived the man's world. We rocked the construction sites. It was like being inside a commnando game and we were the mistresses of corporal punishment. Total Swiss Family Robinson syndrome. This includes all ex-boyfriends and other highlights that are now family and have to love me even though I post weird stories about them, Simone... But anyway... enjoy

Me. One of the The 'Archaeology Chicks That Rock'--ed it a little bit too hard the previous evening- New Year's Eve- sometime about 5 years ago. Katie-girl (archaeology chick that rocks) and Lindsay (non-archaeologist chick that rocks it as a nurse) and I went backside Hana to Piero's place. We had so much fun (well I passed out at 11:45pm...) and woke up the next morning in sleeping bags outside of his house, nearly on the street (of course it is backside Maui so no traffic and total country...

Rochelle le Belle and Lil'D: both archaeology chicks that rock. We rocked it a lot at their south side pad up in Maui Meadows. Miss dem gargoyles long time.

going holoholo westside with katie-girl (same archaeology chick that rocks) and our 'hangers-on" (haha). We were headed to Honokohau Beach and somehow stopped at a house our friend was working construction on and totally scarfed up all their luscious mangoes! Heh heh. Resourceful we are.

Lady-Di, moi, and Katie-girl (all archaeology chicks that rock). Katie wasn't it that weird dude that all got us those baseball caps for Christmas? Lady-Di is since married and with child so congrats to you my dear! Katie-girl is soon on her way down that road. And then there's me...     Bye. Oh, apologize in advance for the absence of my senior editor-at-large. He is largely missing... Kolohe Kitty Kat RIP you sweet thing. Best kitty kat evah!

Cappadocia: one of my favorite jewels of Anatolia

Because I'm a fan of precious stones, when I travel to places I think about them in terms of a stone: How difficult is the place to get to (dark blue sapphire)? How popular is it (gold)? Is it overrun with tourists (diamond)? How hidden is this jewel (malachite)? (Is this a jewel in the rough (moss agate)? etc...

So I just traveled to Cappadocia

Now, let me begin.... But first, that's right- the coffee. Get the coffee (I'm typing to myself here, okay?) First you guys need a context:

It's Saturday morning 7:30 am. I woke up @ 4:30 am call to prayer and, apparently, only lightly fell back to sleep afterwards. So here I am. I did have the good sense to throw on some sweats and go outside to get my laundry going (a side bene(fit) for getting up early on weekends is getting to a washing machine 1st at the apartments). And then of course good sense continues with the french press. Coffee aromatherapy appreciation runs strong on morning weekends. Mehmet Effendi Espresso Blend is the demi-god to pay homage to. The proper goddess also received much needed adoration time as well.

A new friend in Göreme gave me a present from Cappadocia during my stay. Just a little token of the evening and the glory of Cappadocia region. Upon returning back home, I promptly forgot about it for the past 2 weeks. Makes the discovery all that much more sweet though, as I just found the present this morning so made use of it. It has inspired me to write about... Cappadocia.

Tra la la...   (intermission as I prepare da kine cuppa joe)

Cappadocia. My first experience of the place was back in 2001. This was back during a most epic odyssey consisting of hoofing it around Europe, North Africa and finally to Turkey. By the time I arrived in Istanbul to visit Fezzy WHO was living there, WHO I went to University of Hawaii Hilo with, WHO was also an archaeology student, WHO still lives there... You get the picture- part of the inner circle of cosmic beings that rates high as a Homo sapien for me in this little microcosm of a world that I inhabit. Okay guys, keep following me...Don't stray off the path. I still remember the subject matter here...


But I digress... so I took a side trip to Kapadokya. I was ragged. Had been traveling all summer. Cappadocia was ragged- rough around the edges. Cappadocia, I first discovered here, was a jewel in thr rough- my favorite kind. The impurities of thıs jewel are ıts brilliance- like amber from the Balkans- serious natural beauty. Amber is like a snapshot of the ancient world- what got trapped on that tree at the time that the resin started hardening is a clue to our origins- BUT you have to understand this. You have to want to dig deep and delve into the mysteries of the Earth to know amber. When I look at a piece of amber, I see the galaxy... Deep thoughts, I know...  So I saw this snapshot in the Kapadokya landscape to make a long, esoteric story less long...

(quick amber fun facts reference:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amber)

My 2nd trip to Cappadocia was in 2007. I was on a sabbatical from the archeology world back home on Maui. I was studying yoga in Istanbul, and back at Fezzy's HQs. I met a great cast of characters there who have helped me immensely and are like family to me. Family that NEVER comes and visits me here in Gaziantep mind you... ahem... work on it folks...

So Hillybilly came to visit me and then Sher-Bear followed her. The merry pranksters set off for a Kapadokyan adventure- surely.  Twas memorable indeed. Nuff said.

Fast-forward to 2012 Kurban Bayram. The new trio of princesses; the Turkish Princess (TP), the Azeri Princess (AP) and the Hawaiian Princess (HP) set out on a whirlwind 1500 kilometer journey by... rental car! Now, the AP doesn't drive so TP did the majority. I was her wing-chick and covered her ass when she needed to catch some shut-eye. I'm an awesome 'wing-chick- by the way...

Now one of the main thrills of this trip was that both the AP and the TP had never been to Cappadocia before, so I functioned as a tour guide (how gratifying can that be when the stranger gets to show the locals around their own turf... heh heh).

As any proper princess would do, she sought out the local Knights of the area. One night in shiny armor I had met back in 2007. He was kind enough to rent me his car for 2 days so my travel mates and I could go check out the underground cities to the south, etc. I never did forget him. I even had some updates on him since HillyBilly ended up staying in the region for a couple years- because of a Knight, of course...

Goreme is a village (albeit over-run with tourists a lot of the year now), so I knew it would be easy to find this Knight. The 2 people that I asked were in fact his relatives so, search was over. We all met up and planned some events for the next few days.

The history of the name Cappadocia, from what I researched, goes back to Persian times. The area was called Katpatukya and means 'land of beautiful horses'. The history dates back much further, of course, back to before the Hittites, but more on that later.I suspect there is more to this story though. I'll report back later on this.

The different types of erosional weathering is what has formed the landscape- just like any landscape, but it is quite unusual here and I am strangely attracted to it. This is strange because I am a water girl. I can't really be away from the beach for too long. Being land-locked is sometimes difficult to deal with honestly...The place is rough and rugged with no pretenses- just how I like my men. On that note, I met a Knight there (born and raised in that ethereal landscape no less) that had those qualities... *alas* Not to get carried away here, but I just have to say that... oh, forget it...

The Cappadocian geological region is located on a high plateau and experiences extreme temperature differences. It has a lot of water sources in the area. When water freezes, it expands. When this happens underground, things move. Same with rocks, right? So because of all this super cool natural science, we have Cappadocia's perhaps lunar-like surface? Whatever you think it looks like, it is just cool. I wanted to get lost hiking in those valleys. I really missed my 4X4 truck while I was here. You could just drive off in a direction and get lost in it. I imagined myself driving (with a Knight of course) into the lunar landscape and just stopping off somewhere and setting up camp. You would need all the luxuries of course: fishing poles, BBQ, tent, my favorite Canadian Goose Down sleeping bag (affectionately better known as 'my husband'. The AZ termed this for me)... mountain bikes, beer, good friends to share in the experience, and most importantly- a sense of adventure

Back to our reality trip though, and not my 'fantasy trip', having a car is the only way to really check out the region. There is so much unusual beauty- just like a Moss Agate stone. Because it is formed of volcanic rocks, this makes sense to me. These geologic formations have this shaping due to a denser lava from a later eruption covering a previous 'tuft' (consolidated volcanic ash) layer. The heaviness of the top layer cut through the mountains, in places of weakness,  and sliced them literally vertically. So, weak covalent bonding (geologically speaking) created conical-shaped phallic mountains! It is confirmed yet again, SCIENCE ROCKS!

I've traveled around Turkey fairly extensively, and off the beaten path often. This place is just pleasant- even with the increased amounts of tourism that I have noticed over the past 11 years. You can still be in Göreme, and off walking on a trail and be totally alone. It still feels ancient in the evenings when it's dark and the landscape is illuminated with lights shining out from fairy chimneys (the volcanic tuft cones that resemble one of the finer aspects of Homo sapiens of the male species).

So the intrepid traveler princesses had fun and days/nights were occupied with love, lust for nature, and laughter. We happened to bring along our Ottoman Era costumes as we knew they'd come in handy...  

Each time I have visited the place, I know I'll return. It's just like that. There is too much about the area. I want more. I have unfinished business there.


 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cappadocia

I'm going to stop typing and just put the pictures in so you all can kinda just 'arm-chair' travel as I like to call it.

some of Göreme's finest...

finally some decent wine that rivals Bozcaada...

some clay pot action

yum

heading to the wine cave

Naz hanging out

we didn't want to get lost returning from the wine cave so I had this brilliant idea to have Naz point the direction home

at the tractor head left

with Naz inside the wine cave

leaving the wine cave & wondering where our sleeping cave is

once we found the right path, we took a detour to look at a cave for sale- at midnight. It was spooky...

standard operating procedure

there it is...

yea, we brought costumes with us...

enjoying a Cappadocian morning

voila!

Naz

moi

Selin

lounge lizards...

3 witches holding court in Cappadocia

Naz looking coquettish

room with a view

hanging out at the museum. I wasn't feeling the crowds

captured

hanging out

good times

scary monsters

awesome landscape

our host supplied us with wine at the caravansarai

before

after...

digging on the view

dinner at a village house with Yaşar and Mustafa

the afterparty...

brilliant morning after

sweet Göreme

Well it's a perfectly beautiful gray day. I say this optimistically as it will soon morph into a sea of gray in the next few months... The sky, in fact, reminds me of the Pacific Ocean in northern Cal in winter... If you want to go in it and enjoy, you have to put on a wetsuit...

I might have just stopped mid-sentence in some of this. I can't be held responsible for lost/distracted thoughts. This is simply how I roll during these posts. I genuinely don't believe I'm so scattered in my thoughts in person.

I'm not also spellchecking...

All Hallow's Eve 2012, OR You Say 'Halfeti.' I think 'Rumkale.'

October 31st. All Hallow's Eve- more commonly known the world over as Halloween.

My favorite hollyday. It's originally thought to have pagan roots and celebrated as harvest festivals, as well as a festival of the dead (souls). If it is to be viewed as a Celtic Samhain, then it is seen as the time when this plane of existence (our world) opens the door wide enough for all the dead souls and other beings (faeries, maybe even unicorns, etc.) to enter into our existence (temporarily). Samhain marked the end of harvest season. A big feast ensues and the souls of the dead come back to their houses on this day for the feast. It is even thought that there is a place setting at the table for the deceased relative... Now, with all the good souls arriving into our world, some bad or evil souls 'get through' as well as the tale goes. So it is thought today that the modern Halloween of dressing up on costumes comes from this ancient ritual of dressing up so the bad spirits wouldn't recognize you.

All Hallow's Eve is also my favorite Hollyday because it is the day that my father was born on.  I am blessed with 2 great events on this day!

Being that I'm in what I consider to be a rural area in Turkey, there is no overt Halloween tradition present here. I did plan ahead though. A few weeks ago I was out with some girlfriends and we decided that we were going to have traditional Ottoman era outfits made for us. We each picked out a different color fabric and VOILA- 2 weeks later they were ready to be picked up.

It was a joyous occasion- picking up our costumes. We pranced around the bazaar with them on and celebrated with beer at Ekim 29- our favorite watering hole over here. As a side note, 'Ekim 29' is translated as October 29th- Turkey's Republic or Independence Day. It is a huge holiday throughout the country- as is our 4th of July.

We picked up our gorgeous costumes the day before we hit the road en route to Hatay and Cappadocia- which I intend to blog about this weekend... But I digress... back to the story...

So what did we do? We took our costumes with us of course. Da Girls gotta get mileage out of these splendid outfits- know what I mean? 

Don't worry, I'm getting to the main point of all this soon- I think...

Ahhhh yes. I remember now. Halfeti. How does All Hallow's Eve tie into my Halfeti story- which I haven't even got to yet...

Okay it's getting late so is time to just cut to the chase: tonight I'm thinking about my father, which makes me think about Halloween, which makes me think about my wicked cool Ottoman era costume, which makes me think about my Kurban Bayram trip to Hatay and Cappadocia where we all wore our costumes around the natural landscape in the most random of places on and off the road... So now I am blogging about Halfeti because my Halfeti trip happened  BEFORE Bayram- and I want to blog about that trip.

I realize this prolly doesn't make sense to you guys, and that's alright. It's not my problem if you can't follow along with where my mind is not only at, but where it's going... heh heh.

Enough folly. I'm getting serious now. That means no more typing so with no further ado, I will commence with the pictures of... Halfeti. Well, I first need to give you all a BRIEF history of the place:

So there's this castle, Rumkale, at this place- Halfeti. Halfeti is about 1.5 hours east from Gaziantep, near Şanliurfa. It is on the Euphrates River, which along with the Tigris River further east makes up the Fertile Crescent. So Halfeti is famous for being ancient. It is also famous in modern times for an entirely different reason: In the 1990s many dams were constructed throughout central/east/southeast Anatolia. These are part of the GAP project as part of the Turkish government's economic and agricultural incentive program.

As with any government endeavor, with pleasure comes pain- am I right?  The town of Halfeti was, unfortunately, going to be impacted so severely that the entire town would be underwater once the waters were damned by Birecik. Now Halfeti is partially submerged, and the town had to be moved away inland further.  What remains is an eerie ecene: clear waters on calm days where one can see beneath the surface to the remnants of the city. As well, there is a minaret  that remains partially above the surface of the water, yet the attached mosque is well beneath the surface. It is so beautiful in its staggering history. Here is this monument to a people's faith, a mosque- or cami- which is submerged due to something that is supposed to bring a better way of life (a dam to increase economic and agricultural endeavors) to the people, etc. I find the dichotomy interesting. The survival of the minaret is just magnificent in it's singular majesty almost appearing to be hovering just above the surface of the (now) reservoir.

In terms of the geology, the stark contrast between the deepest of blues water and the nakedness of the surrounding hillsides dotted with abandoned dwellings cut into the stone... it just transports you back into time. As you take a boat tour of the area, it is like your personal time machine where you see into the future and you think you have found the secrets to time travel. Yea I know, pretty cool trip right?

I forgot to mention Rumkale- the fortress high above the lake situated atop a rocky outcropping. It is Byzantine and Armenian in origin. Oh Zeugma is also in the vicinity. Zeugma is an ancient Greek & then Roman city that was 're-discovered' during excavation of the Birecik Dam.  Loads of mosaic fragments were discovered during the initial work. Along comes the archaeologists (YAY!) and then come the giant mosaics, some of which were re-constructed. As with any archeological project, the archaeologists are working just in front of the bulldozers.  This project being no different, the salvage work had to occur rapidly because the mosaics were in danger of becoming submerged by the dam. If this happened, and it surely partially did, major monuments to a previous civilization is lost. Disappears. Poof it's gone. Nothing to see over here folks. Move along... Aha modern civilization is indeed a bitch isn't it...

Okay I'm burnt out with my narrative. Pictures now!

L AND L and Brandon, our resident ancient historian/goofball all around good guy

Farahnaz- otherwise known as the Azari Princess

Selin- our hostess with the mostess

All smiles the 1st half hour of the ride- until your body realizes you are indeed on a mini-bus...

So... which way do we go?

our first sighting...

Yeni Halfeti (the new city)

rare bald Ibis birds only found here in Turkey and Egypt and 1 other place that I forgot. Anyone reading this remember???

groupies

zombies headed to the tea trough... heh heh

I want this ride... wicked car for sure

our ringleader and myself

trying to do cool tricks with my camera here...

Brandon telling us like it is- or how it was in terms of ancient Halfeti... history geeks rock

more photographic poe-tree... get it? Poetry...

Food! Most peeps got the local fish, but I still LOVE patrican kebap... Nom Nom Nom

Spency, D-bird & Thurston- posers...

caught my eye

I like pinwheels. I like Farahnaz. They are both in my picture for a reason.

Our captain and co-captain Selda (Selin's cool cousin who set it all up)

boat is approaching some abnormal activity. I can just feel it. Something is out there...

"Thar she blows"

Upon closer inspection it is in fact not a white whale, but a minaret sticking out of the (flood)waters of the Birecik Dam

cave life. I love cafe life. I want to live in a cave. A cave would be better than my current apartment honestly.

view from cave

cave stage

it's an awesome sight

stowaway on board ship. Kitty gave up its Halfeti citizenship to become a Gaziantep feline

another cami near the harbor.

heading into an amazing sunset after a ful-filled day spent exploring ancient ruins with friends here in the Cradle of Civilization.

Well... what did you think? No smart-ass grammatical comments/corrections either...

I always think my blog posts will only take an hour to produce… I'm never on time here.
 You all owe me a beer.