Turkey trotting: Hatay/Antakya (ancient Antioch)

kitty kat basking in sun

Antakya on brilliant display

St. Paul's veiled in secrecy

caretakers

a glimpse into antiquity

Mary M. hung out here

Rachael off roading

Sunday morning bizarre bazaar

Rachael on the go

attention to detail

something about it caught my eye

my what a tangled web we weave

not the most beautiful of waterways... but still made for a lovely Sunday afternoon stroll

Rachael & I on an odyssey to Hatay one weekend...

Fairy Far Out Tale. Part I

Just a little something I've been working on...

Fairy Far out Tale: Fairly AWESOME Tail...

Once upon a time there was a princess who had to travel to a far away land from her jungle castle that floated in the middle of a deep blue ocean haven. Her passion for the unknown brought her to this new land, and she was happy. One day the people of this land got mad at their ruler and rose up against him and his evil wife. He eventually fled the land, but not before causing much harm to his people, and to people the princess knew well. Things got so bad that the princess had to flee and return to her island princess home. She was sad, but she accepted this. 

The princess soon tired of her island paradise and started off agin on another journey that brought her to another strangely exotic & intoxicating land, not so very far away from the land of unrest. To a place she knew she would always return. Some time ago she ventured to this land that straddles Europe & Asia & knew she would one day find her way back to it. She temporarily found herself here on occasion, and even this land starred in her dreams from time to time. She was really happy in her new surroundings, and with her friends here. Something was missing though that she did not yet know herself. She is a clever girl mind you but sometimes one just overlooks the obvious. 

The princess, the daughter of her father, a wise sage king who would not be king except of his own household, and her mother, the rose of her fathers garden and center of his universe.  His universe weighed him down with the intimate knowledge of the inner workings of the universe for he was always trying to associate mathematical equations with said universal knowledge- something which has fairly religiously been set aside as a task for the gods & goddesses in the heavens above. 

In having access to this all, the princess grew up, amongst her kinfolk, as an inquisitive sort and alone with her thoughts. When a child, her days were filled with wonder with both the physical and metaphysical world. The daily grind seemed to just gloss over. Her sage father instilled her with the confidence to know she would be someone of virtue able to making her own path in life as she traipsed along in the way an intrepid traveler will wander into the unknown will unabated enthusiasm. Said sage father also instilled in her a fierce independence which effectively aided the princess from feeling that she needed to rely on someone else to achieve her happiness- for he was wise. He taught her to love herself first before any frog-prince entered the picture, vying for her affections. 

Many frog princes tried to have their say, as well as their way, with the princess, but she could not be bothered with mere mortals for  long periods of time, at the time. She experienced such sensual pleasures with each new experience, but some thing always kept a part of her private, and no false prince managed to truly escape through that door & into her wonderland that existed body & mind & soul. 

Bayram 2011 Part II: Turkish photo odyssey

Istanbul bloody beautiful sunrise

Osmaniye metro station, Istanbul

...And she's climbing a stairway to... 

Istiklal Caddesi charm

Eminonu

Cannakale stud

Cannakale by night

feline fine in the sunshine at kitty kat cafe. Hmmm wonder what's on the menu...

Aegean Island bound

my not-so-secret admirer for the afternoon

1st sighting of Bozcaada

downtown 

color-coded 

beautiful wasteland

perspective

Bozcaada street gang

blast off

antiquity with a modern flair

past life

nowhere in particular

hidden treasure

inlaid treasures

from higher ground

fading memoirs

couldn't resist: my favorite WMD

da bush needs a trim

nocturnal headquarters

nightmare

please have a seat & proceed to just relax & space out into the distance

sleepy harbor

solitaire

just another typical night we're settling into...

sassy puddy cat

Ceyda on her ride

Ar!

Ceyda merging into the artistic scenery at our #2 headquarters 

creationism

Ezine- famous for its delicious cheese

Ezine bus station- back on the bus heading outta here for next destination on my Bayram 2011 Odyssey: Izmir!

bEARTHday bleatings

Sun has risen casting a warm glow of fuscia & orange hues from my window onto my silk curtains into my bedroom creating a sort of surreal eerily beauty that I never tire of observing. This meaning I observe sunrise on a semi-frequent basis... fortunately it is always due to pleasurable experiences.

Another revolution around the sun yesterday is the pleasurable experience I reflect on, as I simultaneously ponder precious sleep that morphs into precarious sleep depravation. As a self-made gypsy, I tend to find myself living in various locales during times normally spent with family. My friends, of course, morph into my extended family so this poses no problem & certainly see this as 'normal' in this life. 

(My) birthdays I don't necessarily see as a time to formally celebrate & this year is no exception. I was originally anticipating a day off of work so I could travel further into the southeast provinces here in Turkey. What I ended up with is lasting memories of an unexpected, fantastical odyssey right here in Gaziantep. My co-workers set up a breakfast birthday party in our office. As it goes, today was not a teaching day since finals were earlier in the week, and we all had already finished grading finals so it was a day to catch up on busy work essentially with no deadlines to be met.

Now Turkish girls take birthdays seriously & they left me endeared to their traditions & generosity of spirit. The lovely Mihrican, who when I first came to the university was assigned to be my 'buddy' to help me out with all things Turkish, was the lead instigator in this extravaganza so organized the festivities. My other 2 office mates, Munevar & Neslihan were co-conspirators. 

As I walked into my office, everybody was waiting for the surprise attack. Very touched indeed I was: a birthday cake (1 of 2 I would find out later that evening), dancing, singing & merriment with the Turkish & foreign staff alike. Balloons & presents too. It was a scene straight out of an indie foreign art house film that took high honors at an obscure film festival gathering. The infectious spirit of the Turkish girls could not be denied & I gave in to the transcendental orientalist sounds blaring from their computers and got out on the transformed dancefloor (the interior of our office) & started busing the bellydance moves with the best of them! Sweet is an understatement, but it is succinct.

Morning became afternoon became evening and soon we were off on the service bus to begin the nocturnal festivities. I originally thought Mihrican & I were going out to dinner. It was the partybus express and we were dropped off at a private restaurant in Ibrahimli. This restaurant, Gokkusagi Cafe, is unique in that is is expressly for large parties to attend and all the food is homemade and all the money made goes to a charity. This restaurant's charity was for poor students attending university & to help offset the costs. 

So... the menu: the cucumber/tomatoe salads here are exquisite in their simplicity and wtf is it with salt in this country? Why is it like the BEST THING EVER! I never had an appreciation for salt until I moved to Turkey. Again, it's the simple pleasures in life, and I have Mihrican to repeatedly thank for my newly inspired love for all things salt... Next was the requisite yogurt soup. This stuff never gets boring, and you can always add SALT if it somehow does to spice things up... heh heh. A Maklube-like rice/chicken dish (modern sculpture) was served next, and followed by Patrican (eggplant) Kebap. 

A brief intermission from our epicurean odyssey came in the form of... MUSIC- more belly-dancing music. This round all the girls, except for a select few of the shy types, got down. More than a handful of the Turkish girls expressed they were surprised I knew how to belly-dance (thank you Fat Chance Bellydance Troupe for that). After a heated up session Semra carted me off into the kitchen to cut my piece of cake & eat it too! At the end of the evening the partybus re-appeared to cart us back home. That was the ending of part 1 of the evening...

One year ago I was living in Tunisia & recall going to the sweet beach community of La Goulette with Stephen & Kirsten on a crisp yet sunny fall day and experiencing the joys of drinking beer & walking on the nearly empty beach just enjoying the moving picture show. I fondly recall the countless "boot birthday parties" I used to have back home on Maui. So yes, all birthdays are special, regardless of who I'm with, or what continent I'm living on. 

Ok, it's now 7:20 am & I need to pass out... to be continued

HollyMissBerry reporting from her bedside- where the colorful hues streaming in through her curtains from a beaming Fertile Crescene sunrise, which once seemed spectacular now seem like a hinderance to her beauty rest... Ugh...

Time. Travel.

Travel. Time travel. When I travel I have time to think. Time Travel. S I'm reading Nabokov's "The Luzhin Defense".  It's my first Nabokov so I don't know to compare to other stories. My first impression is how much I am reminded of my brother David in young Luzhin. I'm not sure I can pen the reasons, but they exist. Words likely cannot help nor hinder the reasoning.

It's funny as growing up, long after David had departed this earthly existence at the tender age of 21, I often looked to Kerouac to help explain my remembrances of David. That is Kerouac's infamous characters infused with a magnificent sense of wanderlust, not the author himself & his tragic demise. Perhaps though they are more entwined that I realize- Kerouac & David.

I originally set off with 1 plan- Plan A. What resulted, through a series of Miss Interpretations, was Plan D. It's as much as my willingness to seek out adventure as to my sense of some type of unassuming obligation to David to take things as they come and remain flexible. I thought so much about him on my recent adventures. I recall one Bozcaada-wine infused evening recounting those fateful events of his life to Ar & Ceyda downstairs in their kitchen. I was thankful they were a receptive audience as I just felt a need to divulge. It was a festive evening after all.

I also thought a lot about my father. About his infamous witticisms that, for so many years went unnoticed until I was at an age where I could operate just underneath the radar enough to get the subtlety of them- on a monumental level of course. Strange as it is, most of my fathers teachings have to do with relationships I form with people.

His voice sounds off in the most unusual situations & certainly the ones where I allow myself to be placed in the most compromising of positions. It has always been this way, but it was only until recently that they have had a real effect on me where I feel I was able to absorb the teachings, or wanted to, or needed to.

Now I'm not one to ever really get myself in a pickle, especially on an emotional level but his unassuming teachings did not go unnoticed on this odyssey of mine. I was also inclined to reap the benefits of the so-called phenomenon of "retail therapy".  So as I await my flight here in the  Izmir Airport on Turkey's North Aegean coast, I find my backpack (yes I still travel w/my trusty Dana Designs mountaineering pack of nearly 15 years that was a loving present from an ex ex ex ex boyfriend who had a BAD case of wanderlust...) extraordinarily heavy.

So yes I have a new pair of blue suede booties with a likely-too-high heel, but fortunately it's a stacked heel. So this therapy session occurred on a stopover in Istanbul. So did the Lush Hotel, the massages, the saunas, the exquisite meals... Now, I really had been dreaming about those boots. For months whenever I would come to Istanbul to visit friends I would have boot-mania at the top of my list. My last visit, just the previous weekend before, L-Fezzy & I scoured Istiklal in search of "the most killer bootie".  I left empty-handed after trying on so many pairs.  Okay only 4 pairs, but that is only because I am quite the discriminating shopper. Each a vain attempt at some sort of mythical gratification left a temporarily widening hole where a small part of my heart is... That is the non-rational part, which honestly pales in comparison to the rational.

So phenomenal pair of boots #2 happened quite randomly as my odyssey was winding down. I found myself in Izmir w/2 days to spare. What a surprise when I walked into the joint. Sitting there on proud display was a brown shade boot with a chunky 2" heel that went over-the-knee (OTK)! They were a wet dream. Do you all know how difficult it is to find a pair of OTK boots that don't look like hooker shoes with precariously high heels? Or, much to my dismay, how many OTK boots there are with a flat heel.  Sooooo they we mine, and now they are jerry-rigged inside my back-pack in-between my loads of bikinis, stripy heels and slinky dresses I packed... Strangely enough I wore blue jeans nearly the entire time (okay yes,i did don my micro miniskirt a few times-mainly just for shock value).

The funny thing here is that not once did i hear my father warn me about those 2 impending purchases... He helps me to remain rational about relationships & career only- hence the need for retail therapy.  Hmmm I wonder what is in store for me for the requisite yearly birthday rapidly approaching early next month... A black Prada messenger bag? The brown Bottega Venetta valise I need/desire for work? Egad!

Tomorrow marks midterms at the university I work at. I'm visualizing a madhouse with my students frantic to sputter out at least 1 minute of spoken English on the spot. As well I'm not their grader- there will be 2 Turkish teachers grading them instead... Hee hee. I believe the last day of the term is my birthday... How befitting.  I'm thinking I will have to exit FAST to Istanbul.  

It's been a memorable odyssey. Wanderlust always fills your mind with the little details of travel so one cannot really find the time to dwell on the larger realities of life. Time Travel. Now it's time to travel back to Gaziantep. It's almost like traveling back in time. Were talking the Fertile Crescent here. There is no other Fertile Crescent. To be a Fertile Crescent one indeed needs to be hinged between the Euphrates & Tigris Rivers. This is the Cradle of Civilization & this is where I call home for the time being. What lies ahead? Well it likely isn't Izmir as I didn't find the city particularly beautiful. At least I know I can check it off the universities in this region... So for that it was well worth the unexpected 2 days spent here. Oh yea, there is that other reason as well...

Me signing off


Sent from my iPad

sleepless in Gaziantep

4am & the bewitching hour is firmly infiltrated my being. Outside on my balcony *freezing* listening to the night sounds drown out my thoughts so they become whispers carried off with the light winds. The stars are chattering. Perhaps they are the culprits that rob me of my beauty sleep. Perhaps not. My mind drifts to another continent. Many continents queue into the deep recesses of my psyche. Perhaps they shouldn't. I can feel Hawaii seeping into my soul, nourishing me.

Candlelight flickers & entertains me with shadows that illume images that beg to metamorphose into anthropomorphic images. I believe this signals the need for a glass of wine. I shall indulge in this offering and continue on with my ramblings...

Better. It's been some time since I've felt compelled to share my thoughts. Three months to be exact. Upon my return to Turkey I have become involved in settling in. FIrst in Istanbul where I took refuge this summer with good friends, and then to my new home here in the southeast in Gaziantep. New stimuli is soaked up with every inhalation and it has taken time to produce a literary work out of my exhalations. It feels right to do so in this moment.

I have a sense of nostalgia of the Pacific breezes as my blogging fits always arose in the deep of the night    while nestled in my jungle hut. So intoxicating the feeling that penning my thoughts seemed almost a compulsory thing to do as sort of a time capsule of my timeline.

Here in the Fertile Crescent it still feels foreign. Perhaps my fear is that I shall come to identify myself here as a denizen in this Cradle of civilization. Perhaps I am destined for elsewhere. My trajectory stay all kapakai right now... Oh yes, the Hawaiian Creole English is flowing from my internal hard drive. I am wired for this. I always will be. Hawaii is etched in me. An alchemic experiment to tattoo my soul so I always know my path back home.

Life here is full of wonder, first of all. New challenges in the form of career and climate are most overwhelming. I roll with it, but still contemplate- as I am known to do. Mission accomplished and I get what I ask for and enjoy seizing the moments. Most comforting is creating a routine that keeps me grounded. Running seems to be the easiest to replicate- on any continent that I find myself on. Once my running routine took shape, I started to feel 'normal.'

Now, the thing about Gaziantep is that it is VERY difficult to remain anonymous while running in this city... Fortune always befriends me though and I happen to live across the street from Gaziantep University, while has a plethora  of forested woodlands behind it, complete with a pack of wild dogs though. Unfortunate. Alas, there is always the running track/futbol field. Long gone are the meandering runs through the jungle of Haiku and the sweet country roads that are a tangle of mazes and exotic smells that left me mesmerized (always a bonus while running long distances). Now I have headphones and count laps. When in Rome is the requisite stance to take here... The headphones more a mind block from the, mostly appreciative, stares I receive from the university athletes. I guess it still is an unusual site to see a chick running in these parts. No matter.

Yoga has taken a backseat here in Antep. This will need to be worked out more efficiently and this is my 'to do' task. I need more than headstands, and I need more seclusion and privacy to do it. Again, these most common basic 'needs' of mine seems to play out as almost some sort of 'corrupt perversion' in this community. Let's not even discuss the withdrawals I experience by not wearing bikinis on a daily basis...

On the subject of bikinis, I spent 2 weeks on the Mediterranean south of Fethiye in Kabak Kolu at my friends camp just relaxing and luxuriating. Some friends from Tunis met me and we hiked into the valley with out backpacks with a grand adventure in mind. Beautiful pine forests and warm Mediterranean currents with candlelit evenings full of organic meals straight from the temples of the Gods/Goddesses further aloft in the valley. My tent was HQ AND there was wifi! Yes, bring me back home to the lux life! In addition a bar with chilled beers & Raki completed the intoxicating journey. Oh yea, there was the little issue of the 'thrown out back'... Haha.

Back in Antep though this all seems so far away, as does romance. A summer romance fades into an autumnal chill settling in the air here. Everything is larger than life in summertime, right? Perhaps this is why Maui is on my mind- it is always summertime. 'Seasons change and so do you'- isn't that a song? Well, I'm a romantic. I don't think I change. Maybe I do. I wonder.

It's peculiar. In the timeline of Earth we are but mere momentary dwellers. It's a big place, Earth. There are so many connections to be made, but so few real deep connections. We should seize the moment when it presents itself. Are we evolving as a species? I wonder. Why are Homo sapiens so afraid of touching the void so to speak? Are we so disconnected that we give ourselves enough room to make contact, but cannot allow ourselves a deeper sense of connection to another? Are we just too busy to make deeper connections? Do we need to put the brake on the wheel spinning outta control? Do we really need all this 'stuff' we surround ourselves with? There is something to be said about going back to nature. Living in the jungle surrounded by all the flora winding, wrapping, growing out of control all seeping into the cracks of falsely constructed modernity threatens to disrupt the 'master plan.' I don't know... I'm not exactly buying it. I remember. I remember being submissive to my surroundings. I remember being awed by them. I remember being engulfed in loved by them. I remember being unashamed of my feelings, thoughts, actions when entrenched by them. I want that here. I want that anywhere I am. That's what I want. What I really, really, really, really want. Don't try to tell me I want unobtainium...

You're either with me, or you're against me. This is me. Raw.

(not even going to proof this because... well, there is no need: My words. My rules. My empire.

Must sleep before 5:45 call to prayer, which is descending upon me rapidly. Finish wine. Blow out candle. Dream about unobtainium. Kerplunk...

In final, some summer images from an intrepid traveler and romantic at heart below-