Soyle iki tane bezi poposunun arasina kacmis yagli pehlivan diyecegim, resmi gorup bunu okumaya baslayanlarin birden istahi kacicak. Ama iki dakka sabredin, sonra hep birlikte muradimiza erecegiz.

Gelelim yagli pehlivanlarimiza... Iki tanesi yavrum Allah girismisler. Bez donu yakalamakmis, calim atmakmis, bunlar hikaye. Eller ensede. Kim kelleyi koltuk altina alirsa, oburune hukmedecek. Bir insanin bedenini kontrol etmenin en kolay yolu kafasini yakalamak.

Filmlerde adam sol eliyle kurbanin saclarindan tutar, sonra obur eliylede burnunu dagitir... Cunku kafasini kontrol ettimi zavallicik bir yerlere kacamaz. Belki de harbi erkek kisa sacli olur kulturu, eski medeniyetlerde savasci rolundeki erkegin saldiriya daha kapali olabilmek icin saclarini kesmesinden gelmektedir?

Amcam Sigmund Freud'un bana verdigi yetkiye dayanarak diyorum ki, erkeklerin kadinlarda uzun sac sevmesinin altinda bu vucuda hukmetme, kadina sahip olma ic gudusu yatar. Hatta uzun sac torpulenmis bir fetistir. Gizliden gizliye obsesif ve saldirgan bi yani da vardir.

Oh be, soyledim... Incilerimi sactim yine. Burasi benim blogum degil mi, atis serbest!

"Atesli" posterlerde adam kadinin sacini arkadan parmaklarina dolar ve ceker. Kadin savunmasizdir, adam ona sahip olmustur. Bence uzun sac gunluk hayatta bile derinlerde bir yerlerde erkeklerde bu cagrisimi yaptigindan kadinlarda uzun sac severler.

Son olarak DuyguLabs'deki kucuk sample grubumdaki once 10 kere calkalayarak, sonra 10 kere particle acceleratorimda dondurerek yapi taslarina ayirdigim erkeklere bakinca bir de sunu fark ettim, ne kadar playboy, o kadar uzun sac duskunu. Yani ne kadar ava cikiyorsa, o kadar cok kadinda uzun sac ariyor. Elinde mizrak, onunde bir yaprakla geyik pesinde kosan atalari uzaklardan onlara "kolay yem" mi diyor belki? Bilemedim.

Driving along the shore of California

Friends from NY used to say that I was certainly NY material, whereas my incredible punctuality with deadlines had convinced other friends from CA that I belonged laid-back sun State. Some not-so-innocent dance moves might have added to that too. (Oh, Brown..)

I am not a beach bum, I hardly ever tan. I am with Marilyn Monroe on preferring pale white skin to bronze. I would stand out in California. I am not serious or cynical enough to pass for a New Yorker either. Consequently, the debate was never settled for me, until recently.

Between the time I attended Columbia and my visits to my boyfriend, I lived in NY for about 5 months. I liked it there, but something never felt quite right. It lacked something that was so essential to me. I can't put it in words, but my spirit felt contained in NY. I still can't put my finger on what it was exactly. Manhattan has everything I wish for in a city: a great park, a well-developed public transportation network, flat roads for cycling, several Michelin recommended restaurants, crazy parties, three international airports (Newark caters to NY, too), the biggest show cases in the world and a green-minded mayor and his great administration which provides the city with endless cultural activities. It is the perfect recipe for a great city, yet, it never captured me.

I had been to LA for business two times already and both times I ran back to New York after passing three days there.

Yet, our roadtrip on Highway 1 blew my mind... Now I think that California is something else.


Day 1

We started in LA.

My bf had to stop there for a meeting. Meanwhile, I chilled in Venice Beach.

He picked me up and we drew to San Luis Obispo.

Just out of Santa Barbara, we passed a small University whose entire student body was in the ocean waiting for a big wave. The school looked empty. 4 years of surfing, bonfire parties, whale watching...

We stayed in a beautiful hotel called Sanitarium in SLO. It is a 4 bedroom house owned by a local painter. Each room has a bathtub in front of the bed and is unique in decoration. The breakfast is served at 9. You sit around a big table with all the guests. In the middle of you all, they put a big pan of organic asparagus omelette or whatever they find that day on the farmer's market. On the right of your plate there is small glass of fresh squeezed orange juice and a cup of steaming coffee. On the left if a small bowl of organic granola. You dip your garlic butter toasts in your omelette and chase it down with a big gulp of coffee.

http://www.thesanitariumspa.com/


Day 2

San Luis Obispo is the up coming Napa Valley. The land prices went up drastically over the past 10 years as more vineyard kept popping up. We stopped at a random one for wine tasting. Turned out it was owned by a Japanese agri-holding. The owner bought it for fun. The hostess proudly said, " We don't sell our wine on the market and we don't do mass production. The limited wine we do is available only through wine clubs or here at the vineyard." They were very confident in their wine. They want you to try their wine because they are sure you will buy some once you taste it. That's why you only have to pay 5 bucks for tasting 5 wines although a bottle is pretentiously sold at 35- 70 dollars.

To be honest, when she mention the Japanese owner, I got skeptical. What do Japanese know about wine making? Once I put my nose in the glass, my doubts shattered. I could almost smell a rain forest in that wine. Hints of soaked earth, freshly crushed coffee beans, and vanilla bursted out of the glass. My nose warned my taste buds this will be something extraordinary.

The wine was indeed out-of-the-ordinary. Both the red and the white tasted like Sake! Sake Bordeaux, Sake Shiraz, Sake Cabarnet... We spit the 5 wines we tried in the bucket. It made our wine tasting experience quite brief and dissappointing, but in retrospection, maybe be it was a good thing as we still had 4 hours of driving to get to Carmel.

In an hour, we got to a beach taken over by a huge colony of sea lions. There lied maybe 5000 of them along the shore. They were only 3 steps away from us. If you slipped, you would find yourself cuddling with them.

Kaya wanted to rent a convertible for the trip so that my polka dot scarf could blow in the wind like Marilyn's as we drove on the cliffs by the ocean. I wasn't a fan of this idea because: 1) i didn't want to get a tan (especially a trucker's tan), 2) driving in the wind for hours isn't fun,
3) it is disturbing when you are on the highway, 4) it gets cold in the car when you drive fast. But Kaya was not in a mood for cooperating that day. He dictated that we were getting a convertible. His absolutism made me super angry but for the sake of not ruining the holiday I decided to contain it inside. Poor me ended up holding my scarf above my head like a tent for about 6 hours everyday. That certainly added to my discontentment and brought me to explosion. As we approached to the the most recommended part of our trip, we started arguing.

Usually a redwood forest on a high cliff by the sea shore would have dazzled me. At times the waves were so big and powerful, they would reach the road. I secretly wished we would get caught in one and would get soaked to the bone. Then, he maybe would regret not listening to my argument but the universe was on his side.

There we were in Big Sur, which is claimed to be the prettiest place in Cali and we were fighting while other couples were happily seizing this romantic view by making out. They were taking 'happy couple' pictures, splitting a sandwich and sipping beer out of the same can and we were sitting on two distant rocks.

We sat there for 20 minutes until the ocean mellowed us out. There is something therapeutic about that view. We hugged and kissed then, we finally took a happy couple picture.

Big Sur was amazingly pretty. Hippies settle there because it moves you so much that you realize you don't need much to be happy. It makes you feel like you can be forever happy by looking at that view. You see the essence of life. Consequently, everyone you meet there is a very peaceful, pleasant person. They so are warm and cheerful that even if you are not from there, you feel home.

Pfeiffer Beach is an mandatory stop in Big Sur. It was probably the highlight of our entire trip. The above photo is taken there.

Nepenthe is a popular eatery in Big Sur. The guides go on and on about their steaks and pump you up for a fine meal but they only have diner food. Fortunately, the visual feast makes up for the so- so food. With that said, I should probably mention that it is said to be the best restaurant in the area.


Just about 100 meters down from Nepenthe is the Big Sur Bakery. We only had desert and coffee there but from our conversation with its loyal costumers, we figured that the food is better there.
I would still prefer a plain turkey breast sandwich at Nepenthe because its terrace is really the deciding factor. Good food you can find any where, but the view is unique.

You should still stop at the bakery to see the open air studio of a hippy artist. Through out the summer he hold percussion sessions in this studio/theather/garden/carpenter shop or whatever you want to call it. He says major artists go there to play with him. They share smokes, drums and woman. He has a big collection peyotes, a type of hallucinogenic cactus. He said he didn't try them yet, but I bet some people will land on the moon next summer. Why would you need so many other wise?

An hour away is the prettiest town I have seen in the States. Carmel-By-The-Sea. Small little boutiques, tons of small art galleries, few cars, small but expensive American houses, trimmed lawns, newspaper boys on bicycles, big trees on the sides of the roads, old couples hand in hand make you feel like it is a film set. It is by far the most charming place.

There are several good places to stay at in Carmel. The problem is there is nothing under 200 bucks.

Tickle Pink Inn is known to be the nicest but it is out side of the town, which means that you would have to drive back and forth. I like to be able to walk every where from my hotel. Especially in such a beautiful town, walking is the only way of seizing it.

Cypress Inn is in a beautiful colonial looking house. Another popular pick.

Carriage House Inn is cozy and romantic. Excellent views of the water.

We stayed at La Playa Hotel. It is conveniently located, 5 mins away from the busy downtown and as well from the ocean. It doesn't look as nice as it does on the website. It is older than what you would expect, but the Turkish receptionist is quite nice. He sent us a free bottle of champagne ;)

Day 3

There is nothing really worth telling about day 3 as I had to go to Fresno for a meeting. It is a sketchy old town which has nothing to offer. After the meeting we drove to SFO. The Carmel-Fresno-SFO route took us 8 hours. Once we got to the hotel, we immadeately passed out.

Day 4

We woke up and went to the famous Pork Store dinner on Ashburry Street. It was around 10 on a Sat morning, so we didn't have to wait for a table but those who arrived 10 mins after us had to wait about 30 mins in line. It is a famous dinner because it was the cradle of the hippy movement. Turns out, the clientele didn't change much over the decades.

Ashburry Street is still the home of the hippies and drugs. We enjoyed walking along the street, peeping at all the new inventions at the smoke shops and sex boutiques. You can see all sorts of people there. Tourists, homeless, transexuals...

From there we walked into the Golden Gate Park. Many people were outside running. We paid 7 dollars each to enter the Japanese Tea Garden. We tried to getaway with paying 5 but didn't work. They built a perfect Japanese garden. Bonsai domes in the river, two life size temples, red fish ponds, fully costumed geishas serving green tea. It was another moment of absolute Zen.

Renzo Piano's green masterpiece California Academy of Sciences is a wonderful example of modern architecture.

"Renzo Piano’s goal was to create a sense of transparency and connectedness between the building and the park through both a careful selection of materials such as glass slender support columns and a thoughtful arrangement of space.

“Museums are not usually transparent,” says Piano. “They are opaque, they are closed. They are like a kingdom of darkness, and you are trapped inside. With the new Academy, we are creating a museum that is visually and functionally linked to its natural surroundings, metaphorically lifting up a piece of the park and putting a building underneath”.

And that is exactly what the eye meets on arrival: an undulating green roof expanding over 2.5 acre, landscaped with 1.7 million individual native plant species, unifying the different functions of the museum, creating a new link in the ecological corridor for wildlife. The living roof reduces storm water runoff by up to 3.6 million gallons of water per year and includes an observation deck, allowing visitors to admire the rooftop wildlife haven and learn about the benefits of this sustainable feature. The “green blanket” is bordered by a glass canopy containing nearly 60,000 photo voltaic cells, which will produce up to 10 percent of the Academy’s annual energy needs. These photo voltaic cells are clearly visible in the glass canopy, providing both shade and visual interest for the visitors below." (World Architecture News)

Then we met up with a friend on the pier. The bridge over us, the sail boats on the sea and the near by island made us feel like we were in Ortakoy in Istanbul. I can easily say that the highlight of SFO is a restaurant called The Slanted Door in the Ferry Building on the pier. The food is so good, people don't stop to talk during the dinner. Super fine samples of Asian Fusion Cuisine.

http://slanteddoor.com/index.html

Finally we went to China Town. It is supposed to be the biggest one in the world. To my surprise, it was much neater and less dense than NY's. Moreover, you could communicate in English! That, and the Oreos next to the counters suggested that Californian Chinese are more willing to integrate.

Before we headed to the airport, we stopped a the Golden Gate Bridge.

Our visit to SFO was very brief. I wish I had more to say on USA's most preferred place to live but that was all I could squeeze into 24 hours. If you have have recommendations, please drop here a few lines!

Genetik olarak sosyetigim ben.

Hic inkar etmeyecegim. Gayet pahali zevklerimin oldugu dogrudur.

Evvela sushi, personal training, Iphone, Stella for Adidas, masaj.. Mac'e uyeyim, kisin Isvicre'ye kayaga giderim, yazin Bodrum'a... Konserdir, muzedir falan onlari saymiyorum bile cunku onlar yeterince yuzeysel degiller. Boyle en bayagisindan, Yeditepe ayardinda inciler sacicam simdi size.

Bazilari bunlari telefonda mi yetistirir, kapi onu smorting malzemesi mi yapar, onu bilemem...

Daha kartlamama ceyrek asir kala yatmadan once illa yuzume krem surerim. Chanel, Lancome, Clinique ne varsa hucrelerim kendilerini iyi tanir. Gel gelelim benim 13. kromozomumda "sosyetik" yazdigindan kabul etmiyor oyle 50 dolarlik kremleri. Nitekim ilk Chanel sisesinde davul gibi sismis gozlerle uyandim, Clinique goz torbamda tomurcuklanma yapti, Lancome ise nemlendirecegine pul pul kuruttu. Supper alerjik cildim Body Shop'un %100 dogal urunlerine de kirmizi kart verdi. Bi sisesi 150 dolarlik La Mer'e ha diyor.

13. kromozomda kodlu: P.A.H.A.L.I. Hatta hatta La Mer ve sushi karsilikli helixte twist halindeler. Daha neler var, neler... Gelicem onlara da baska bi ara. Kendi fetvami veriyorum.

Fall Getaway

Freshen yourself up. Hop on a boat, straight to Burgaz Island. Travel light. Grab a toothbrush, no PJs necessary, and check your worries and duties in at the Kabatas port. In an hour step into the surreal.

Time to discharge your polluted mind. Let the old Greek houses, absence of cars, unusually peaceful locals distract you. Istanbul exhausted soul. Breath Burgaz into your heart, eye lids and gut.



Treat yourself with a dinner at Kalpazankaya Restaurant. Situated on top of a cliff on the less resided back side of the island and in the pine forest, it is known only by a loyal crowd who keep it a secret. Let the simplicity of it purify you. Leave your shoes at the wooden tables, walk down to the sandy beach. Your fish will be ready by the time you dry.

http://www.kalpazankaya.com - Don't let the bad marketing mislead you. It is far more romantic than it looks like in their website.


Top it with a night in the nicest kiosk of the island. Take a fifteen minute walk from the restaurant to Villa Mimosa. White ornamented exterior, high ceilings, just renovated spacious rooms, a big deck with the prettiest view of Istanbul in the distance...

http://www.adalar-hotel-istanbul.com/ - Disregard the prices. They are open to negociation.

Indulge yourself. Revive.

Write me a thank you letter.

Aziz's

Sundays could be quite boring if I did not live in Istanbul but this city is a joker, a flirtatious mamasita, a devil in disguise, a mad scientist who experiments on his own kids and each street of Istanbul is a different film set, so its charms and adventures never end. Here, Sundays are rarely about laundry and baking. Instead, you find an eye patch and hook, and go treasure hunting.

After indulging myself with delicious brunch at Cuppa (my favorite spot for brunch), I walked down my favorite street crowded with antique and second hand furniture shops. The shopkeepers sat outside sipping tea and absorbing as much sun as they can before the evening settled. The weather is menopausal this time of year. It is cool in the morning, than it is sweating hot at noon and than it is where-are-my-wool-socks?-cool again at night.

The narrow streets, the paved roads, antique shops, and the warmth of the shopkeepers put me on a time machine and ship me back to Istanbul in 1960s. I looked at my watch and turned to my friend with panic: "The broadcast ends at 5 pm on Sundays on our single channeled TV, so, I better rush home and remove the lace decorations before the neighborhood pours into our house for the TRT Choir!"

I was about to rush home, when a 1963 Da Vinci branded whisky bottle started calling my name from the window of a small shop. I went in to ask to price and that is when I met Aziz. A bundle of joy and Qi. Aziz is a 37 year, old blue-eyed man from Diyarbakir. His warmth is magnetic. You are drawn into his shop because of the positive vibrations he radiates. He offered us tea. When I refused, he lifted the table cloth exposing a little fridge hidden under table and asked, "I also have home-made iced tea from this morning, Italian white wine a friend gave me, or (pointing to the sister of my whisky bottle), Vodka, but it is Tekel" in a thick Kurdish accent. That was some surprise from a bathroom sized shop. Even more surprisingly, I spent an hour in there.

He carries 18th century silver spoons, old British alcohol bottles, old pins, cuff links, caftans and jewelry from Uzbekistan and much more but it is his stories that sell the best. I listen to how lived in Malta as a fugitive for two years and how he got shipped back, how during his military service he punched a field officer (binbasi) who humiliated him and got sentenced to months in prison and how he fled from there, how he got caught four years later due to a business transaction, how his luck turned around the second time he had to do the military service, how he smuggled his first antiques from Uzbekistan, how he first set up his business in Ortakoy on a clerk, how a British lord bought stuff worth thousands of pounds, how his sister emerged from the slums of Diyarbakir to being a bag designer in Italy...

You must stop at his place for his stories are capturing, his antiques are charming, and his heart is too big and naive to sell them at a big price.




His shop doesn't have a name, you have to ask for Aziz to the shopkeepers.

Kuloglu Mah
Faik Pasa Cad
1/1 Cukurcuma
Beyoglu

0532 372 2881

The Birthday Bubble

Yeay, I am 27!

That is 27 in Turkish standards because they round 26 years 1 day off to 27. To the rest of the world I am still 26.

I could choose to say 26 but I prefer 27 for people perceive 27 a lot older than 26. By claming to be 27, I get the “adult” treatment and shock those who think I must be a freshman in collage.

I amuse myself by making people guess my age. It is usually a very flattering game except for this last time I played it with the cab driver who was taking me to my birthday party. It got a little uncomfortable when he started elaborating on how I have the body of a woman and the face of a teenager. It is a compliment that most women die to hear but the thought that the driver had already measured my bra size before I get in the car almost made it an assault, or I haven’t gotten over my sensitivities over the past 27 years.

If we manage to overlook these little frustrations, it feels like the universe, which we belong to and own at the same time, is changing skin on the day of our birthdays. We wake up to an improved version of ourselves and thus of the universe. Everything is the same but also different, or at least you feel as so.

On the 18thof Sept 2009, I woke up to my “improved universe” to where my camera finally returned after a year in hiding. Birthday magic continued later in the day when I found out that I had more money in the bank than I knew of. It did not help Turkey to win the basketball match against Greece, but it did fill my karaoke night unexpectedly with about 30-35 people. Yet, the universe saved its best treat for the end of the day when I approached a taxi to turn on the day tariff at 4 am. He said, “Don’t you know? There is no night tariff anymore.” Dolce vita!

Our updated versions make us feel like we are capable of more in this new age. If it weren’t for this feeling of empowerment, we wouldn’t have new resolutions every year.

So, here are mine:

1) Be irreplaceable for the companies I do consulting for. Grow the business. Create opportunities for testing business ideas.
2) Resolve the long distance state of our relationship.
3) Work out consistently three times a week.
4) Get better with emails for the sake of not breaking hearts.

27, are you strong enough to let me do these?

Sodoku pizza

I wish they spiced things up a little.

Simple touches can really charm things up quite a bit.

The Serpentine Pavilion 2006 by Rem Koolhaas and Cecil Balmond

Serpentine Gallery 2005 by Alvaro Siza

Gift-wise

People can be quite uninspired gift wise. They will resort to parfums, scarves, ties, pens, photo frames, books or wine.

September is when I break my piggy bank because I have two good friends whose birthdays I have to attend, plus, my mother's and my boyfriend's mother's. So, I have been searching how to be "gift-wise".

Here is what I came up with so far:

www.buldumbuldum.com
www.aktifhediye.com

Back

After a long vacation, it takes an hour of breathing exercises and about 30 mins of streching to finally get yourself to lay your hands on the keyboard. I am mentally and physically rusty to take on any task. My fingers need to be reminded that they are each independent souls for typing. After two months of serious collaborating for holding bears and swimming, shipping the pinky alone to push P can be very stressfull for the poor little one. (OK, now I am just trying to show off saying I type with 10 fingers, but frankly, if my hand was a crew team, my pinky would be the person at the end of the boat who just sits there when everybody else is rowing)

I am a different person since the last time I wrote here: I gave up my soul for a position in a bank (which is where I am writing from in recovery of my soul), put on a few kilos from this summer's partying and ended up quitting alcohol, tea and coffee because my stomach could not take it anymore.

Between the stapler and the hole-puncher, I am debating whether I should have taken the offer to do a friend's farm's landscaping in New Zeland in exchange for free accomodation and food. Sometimes I really suck at decision-making.

Overwhelmed by paperwork

Everyone thinks that their family is different and I am sure that they are each unique cases indeed. Nevertheless, I think many families can be classified under common themes like cheating fathers, too involved grandparents, weird siblings, dependent mothers, financial worries, interventionist extended families, etc...

Yet, I still feel like mine stands alone in its own category : A successful, well-educated but not enlightened doctor dad whose obsessive-compulsiveness casted a shadow over a complete era even after his death, a schizophrenic and violent uncle whose gambling addiction paved his way to trouble with the mafia, a 12 year old half-brother I (intentionally) never met, an angelic yet amazon mother who tackles all the problems that threaten her family, a step dad who lives in Switzerland and four step siblings I have seen maybe a total of 5 times in 8 years, a depressed grandmother, a dear friend, two dogs: one blind, one lame and myself.

I have no considerable worldly possessions but in case we crash in the same plane with my mother once day, I would rather save the remaining 1600 pandas instead of my providing my uncle with more money to get himself in trouble with.

So, I wrote my will 3-4 years ago.

I wanted to amend it today but I was overwhelmed by the amount of paperwork they threw at me. You can't even rest easily in peace in this country. You need to get a number and wait in line for 3 hours only to be told that you have to come back on Mon to complete your paperwork.

This is why gluttony is a deadly sin

The Serpentine Gallery's pavilion was designed by Toyo Ito in 2002.

It is so beautiful, how could they condemn it to storage space?

Yumm, can we have your leftovers?

I have an artistic crush on Frank Gehry. London's beloved Serpentine Gallery commissioned him to design its outdoor showcase in 2008. As they appoint a different world famous architect to recreate the pavilion each year, this gorgeous structure was replaced with a design by Sanaa in 2009.

It seems to me that Istanbul will never have its promised Frank Gehry building. The project he draw to replace the ugly TRT building in Tepebasi will remain in 2D as the Turkish government is determined to not grant permission for it.

So, since London is done with the pavilion, can we have the leftovers?
It is such a shame to discard it and I have a perfect place in mind.

Bodrum Ahoy!

As I previously mentioned, I am not a fan of emailing fake "already 20 times forwarded personalized recommendations", so once again I will make my Bodrum recommendations public here.

First of all, Bodrum is made up of several bays all of which are reputed for different sorts of things. You will be hopping from one bay to the other. People use shared cabs (dolmus in Tr) for transportation. Dolmus (pronounced as dolmoosh) has very little to do with the cabs you have in mind. They are a cross between cabs and buses. They travel on predetermined routes like buses but unlike buses you can get off and get on it at any place you like you are in a cab. They do not work on a schedule. They wait at the dolmus station, and once all seats are taken, they head for the road. They announce where they are going to on their front window but as they usually put the final destination, you might want to check with the driver before you get on it. Alternatively, you can wait on their route and make a sign to stop them to get on them.

Renting a car or a scooter is also convenient option in Bodrum.

Do NOT use the cab in Bodrum. You will end up spending ridiculous amounts of money. A ride to the beach and back will exceed what you pay to the hotel. There are shuttles to the downtown bus terminal from the airport, but if you are a group of four, it is highly likely that getting a cab will cost around the same.


CULTURE

Do not go to Bodrum with the expectation to enrich your culture. It is a hip and happening beach town where you will dance off your pants and recover around 3 pm the next day only to restart the cycle in a few hours. Yet, as any spot you would point to on the map of Anatolia has, it does have some interesting historical attractions:

- You should def visit the Underwater Archaeology Museum in the Bodrum Castle. It has the world's oldest shipwreck. It is pretty much the only historical site where you will get a satisfactory sense of self-improvement.

One of the 7 wonders of the ancient world is in Bodrum: Mausoleum of Halicarnassus. Unfortunately, there is nothing but chopped up stones at the site. It is rather sad and disappointing.

Finally, there is the Myndos Gate. That will be the last bit of culture you will find.

An hour outside of Bodrum is Euromos which can potentially satisfy your hunger for history.

However, if you are intrigued by thu local culture, Bodrum has a lot to offer. There are some intact Aegean villages that you can visit, which make up my favorite parts of Bodrum. However, you would need to rent a car or at least a scooter. Guvercinlik and Gumusluk would be two of the easier to get to options. They are both pleasant villages but I can not say that they are completey untamed. Guvercinlik is comparatively more authentic. If you want a real village with olive trees and citrus gardens, you should probably go towards Inceburun . If you would like to buy some Bodrum style carpets, Mumcular is an untapped resource. The village is certainly not on the way of the regular tourists, so the villagers have no idea how much people might be willing to pay! I invite you to be nice and reasonable when negotiating. Keep in mind that your glass of tea feeds their entire family for a night. Support the locals.



DOWNTOWN

- The Bodrum Bazaar is very lively and overwhelmingly crowded at night but then, it is overwhelmingly hot during day time, so you are still better off touring at night. Plus, it only makes sense to profit as much as you can from the sea in a place like Bodrum.

Here are the things you can do while you are there:
* Bodrum Castle is 2 mins away from the bazaar.
* Mavi Bar is on the opposite end of the bazaar (in reference to the castle). You will find it when you are about to lose your hope. :) It is a tiny Bodrum style bar with live music, descent crowd but the people do not dance.
* Korfez and Adamik are hidden in the streets that branch off of the main street of the bazaar. Drinks are relatively cheaper in these rock bars. You won't find many foreigners here. The ones you find will have probably read my blog. ☺
* You can try out the Bodrum style veggie-beef gyros at Sirin. Many alternatives are available but this is my favorite one.
* Have the Ottoman breakfast plate at Penguen which is an icecream/desert shop on the sea. They have tables on the beach.
* You can smoke hookah (nargile) on the beach. All places next around BBC or Blue Moon offer it. Apple and melon are my favorite flavors.

My favorite nighttime hang out in Bodrum is the bar in the Bodrum Marina. It is only a 10 min walk from the bazaar. They have great live music and quality crowd that actually dance! (Turks are usually busy watching people) If you are traveling on a budget, make sure to have pregamed before getting there. A screwdriver is around 20 Euros.


AROUND

Once again, Bodrum is all about checking out the different scenes at different bays. If you stick to the area of your hotel, you will be missing a lot. Usually people will leave their hotel around 11 or 12, go to one beach, come back around 7 to shower, and leave at 8 again only to come back around 3 or 4. They will try a new beach, breath the air at a different bay everyday.

- Turkbuku is where the Turkish jetset and the jetset wannabes hang out. All boys think of themselves as Hugh Hefner and all girls act as Heidi Klum. It might be an interesting scene to check out, but might get boring after a day or two. (Take the dolmus to get there) I like going there if I am in the mood for dressing up. SHIP AHOY is a fun bar on the sea in Turkbuku. You might like it.

- There are many beach clubs like Xuma or Havana. Havana is probably the better one. They are both a spin off of Mykanos. It is a place to check people out and make appearances. People make a serious effort to dress up (to swim!) and look their best. Gorgeous girls. The party starts around 5 and continues into the night but I think that it is sort of lame. I do not find the scene at these beach clubs entertaining but to be fair, I should also note that some people adore it. It is a matter of taste.

- Gumusluk used to be a modest fisherman's village. It is still one of the best places to have fish at. (need to take the dolmus to get there)

If you can afford a night of gourme sea food, go to Mimoza. A modest but classy atmosphere with hints of local touches. Make reservations in advance and ask him to reserve the fish you want as they sell out quickly. Tel: 0.252.394.31.39 Gsm.0.532.247.61.17

I recommend to try out the following:
My favorite two mezes ever are Fava and Deniz Borulcesi with lots of garlic. :) Additionally, get Kopeoglu (Eggplant with yoghurt) and calamari.

For fish, I recommend tuzda levrek They coat the seabass with a salt crust and put it in the oven. Then, they remove it from the oven and flame it before they break the crust. Nice to watch, good to eat. :)

If they are out of levrek, go for laos buglama. They cook the fish with veggies and serve it in juice.

To do it the Turkish style, drink raki with your fish. There are many brands on the market and they are all good but siyah Efe (black Efe) and Yesil Efe (Green Efe) are especially good. Yesil Efe is (green efe) made from young grapes and the Siyah Efe is triple distilled. That is how they get their unique taste. Yeni Raki, previously the major player in the market, had some health issues recently, so keep it as your last resort.

- If you want to windsurf, go to Ortakentt or to Bitez.

- There are daily boat tours that leave from every bay. As much as I like cruising, these tours are over-crowded and it spoils the pleasant feeling of being on a boat. Alternatively, you can approach a small boat and ask if they do private tours. Get him to include lunch and afternoon fruit service in the price.


HOTELS:

Warning: A quiet sleep is very hard to find in Bodrum.

Downtown:

Dilek Pansiyon $
Very basic room with beds and AC. Bathroom might be shared.
I have no idea what it looks like inside but I imagine it must the equivalent of a cheap youth hostel. I put it here because it is dirt cheap and its location is prime.
+90 252 316 3891
Kumbahce Mah. Ataturk Cad, No 69

Diamond of Bodrum $$$
It has a great location if you want to stay downtown. Only a 5 min walk to the Bodrum Bazaar. The rooms are basic and clean. Has a pool and a beach. The price is reasonable and comes with breakfast.
Yet, the breakfast is of very bad quality and very noisy at night.
Ask for a sea view room in advance.

Su Otel $$$
15 min walk to the Bodrum Bazaar.
It is a boutique hotel with a pool, but no sea shore.
The rooms are simple and clean. They have a family suit for 3 which you might find comfortable.
The prices are higher than Diamond of Bodrum but the food is much better.
The beds are little hard tho!

Hotel Istankoy $$
Haven't been inside but I briefly conversed with a few tourist who were staying there. They said that they love the location and it is a good deal for the price. It has a pool but no seashore.
Ataturk St, No 73
0252 316 4187
www.hotelistankoy.com.tr

The Marmara
This hotel is on the higher end. 15-20 min to the bazaar. If you can afford it, go for it.



Other Bays:

Mer-can Story
It is in Yalikavak, which is one of the nicer bays of Bodrum. It is a good deal because it is on the sea, has a pool an reasonably priced suites with equipped kitchens.
http://www.mercanstory.com/anasayfa.htm


If price is not a concern, here is a list of great hotels:

Maki in Turkbuku
Ada in Turkbuku
Queen Ada In Torba
Casa dell'arte in Torba
4 reasons in Yalikavak
Adahan in Yalikavak


GOOD EATS:

Kismet
My favorite eatery in town. It is a delicious esnaf lokantasi which is a cafeteria which is open only for lunch. You will get to eat real Turkish home cooking here. It is the best deal you will find: healthy, clean, cheap, and very yummy. I highly recommend the Kabak Tatlisi (pumpkin desert). They make their own yoghurt daily and grow their own herbs.
The head chef is a very descent guy. You would expect find a guy like that in a five star hotel's hospitality management. The only downside of Kismet is its location. It is not in the center of Bodrum, it is on the main road (Ataturk Blvd) that dolmuses pass through, behind Finansbank. It is easily accessible by dolmus but still not very conveniently situated. That's because it caters to the locals who work around that area, not to the tourists. Everybody is a regular here. Go there three times a week, you will get a sense of who is who.
Ataturk Blvd, behind Finansbank, Konacik
0252 319 0096 - 319 36 38

Denizhan
Meat and kebap house, the only restaurant distunguished by the New York Times in Bodrum
0252/363-7674
Turgut Reis Yolu, about 2.5km (1 1/2 miles) outside of town (across from the Tofas/Fiat service station)

Antique Theatre Hotel
Award winning menu, contemporary french cuisine
Kibris Sehitleri Cad. 243, Bodrum
Across from the ruins of the antique theater
0252/316-6053

Berk
It is a 20 something year old fish restaurant. Neither its costumers nor employees changed in those 20 something years. The restaurant is characterized by its super friendly white haired hosts (Husnu Baba and Haydar Usta) and its simplicity. You can taste the 20 years of experience in their mezes. When Bodrum is empty of tourists in the winter time, it is the only restaurant boosting with business downtown. You have to reserve a day in advance even in the winter. It is probably the cheapest fish you can eat in downtown Bodrum.
Cumhuriyet Ave, no 167 (They are close to the disco Halicarnasus (Halikarnas)
0252 313 02 39

Orfoz
Another fish restaurant right next to Berk famous for its mezes.



WARNING:
Halikarnas Disco is a trap for tourists. They advertise everywhere to make sure that it is something you can't leave without experiencing. They have buble/foam party nights twice a week and it only attracts "drink till puke" kind of Brits and overdressed Russians.

SIMPLE AND GENIUS 1: How The Greeks Estimated the Circumference of Earth

Eratosthenes was a liberian in Alexandria. One day he stumbled upon a curious piece where he read that you could see the bottom of a deep well in Syene at noon on the day of the summer solstice. Alexandria was only 787km away and no such phenomenon occured there. He could tell that the sun was right above the well in Syene at noon whereas Alexendria recieve it at an angle.

He noticed that if he could calculate the angle the sun hits Alexandria with, he could use trigonometry to estimate the circumfrance of Earth. He placed a stuck a stick on the ground and measured the lenght of the shadow. He plugged in the lenght of the stick and shadow in the Law of Sines and found the angle the sun shone with over Alexandria.



Since a perpendicularly placed stick would have to pass through the center of the Earth if extended, he could use Alternate Interior Angles to work out the angle the distance between the two cities would correspond to. The graph below will brush up the high school remains of geometry knowledge you have.





Finally, he could proportion the angle to the distance to calculate the circumference:

7.2 / 360 = 787 / X
X = 39350 km

St Michael of the under-equipped hikers is gone.

The North Star no longer exists!

Apparently, it has supernovaed. The north star will outshine the combined output of an entire galaxy for a brief time and then die over several weeks or months.


What the supernova?

Temperature and pressure in a star's core is so great that it triggers a continuous nuclear fusion inside the star. The star relies on this power to make up for the energy it looses in the form of light and heat. When the hydrogen source runs out, its star can no longer sustain this nuclear fusion.

When this happens, the star is incapable of maintaining its size. The force of gravity makes a star want to shrink, and the above mentioned reactions make the star want to expand. During the life span of a star these forces are balanced, so the star remains at a fixed size. However, when there is no hydrogen to fuel the reactions, gravity wins. The inner parts shrink and the outer parts are discarded into the space.

When a star has 8 times more mass than the sun like the North Star, the outer shell breaks with the catastrophic supernova explosion. So, the sun can not go supernova.



The Little Dipper just got smaller!

I want to go to PERU!!!!

Brown is an unique place on earth. It is full of inspiring idealists (despite its share of engineers and bankers :) - no offense- ).
A good percent of the people I know are working in academia or non-profits. Two friends I know moved to Haiti to fight AIDS. My roommate handed out free condoms for four years on the streets, reached out to the prostitutes and helped them be safe. Standing on the streets though a Providence winter would have been enough of a statement in itself. Another couple I know moved to some remote place in China to teach English. Brown even got a Turk to move to Indonesia to teach English.

The most recent rabbit that Brown pulled out its hat is my dear friend Ben. Ben was in finance for the last 3 years. A month ago, he quit his job at Citi and started a grand tour of Latino America. He sent me an email that made me want to pack my bags up and leave to some place. I am very jealous of Ben.

I am posting in here so that you can reconsider your career plans in your job that you started to like less since the summer.




Greetings from Cusco Peru on the first day of Winter (or Summer in the States)!

A lot has happened in the first two weeks, and I'd like to share with you some thoughts and stories.

I am currently living in Zurite Peru, working alongside my great friend Jasper and his newly founded non-profit (Global Student Embassy) providing cultural exchange opportunities for high school students. We are providing financial support and volunteer labor to help the town of Zurite carry out a massive irrigation building project. Relative to other towns between Cusco and Zurite (about 40 miles) it´s a luxurious village of about 1,000 people nestled under massive, sprawling mountains and one of the widest Incan terraces in Peru. The buildings are well kept, there´s a town square with a church, a new hospital in construction, a new central market, a primary and secondary school, running water (the house I am at for now has a flush toilet, which is new since last year), electricity, and warm people. One phone, no internet, and no newspapers.

We are a group of seven volunteers, living with various host families in Zurite. Jasper and I are living under the bustling roof of Tomas and Gladys Ruiz Lopez and their three bright, cheerful children, Joel, 16, Marilyn, 13, and Johan, 9. Tomas, a high school professor of religious studies, coordinates all religious studies in each of the State of Cusco's 100 high schools. The hush hush is also that he will be running for mayor of Zurite in December 2010. Seeing his work and the way he is received in town, I think he will win. Gladys has an endless number of jobs. In addition to being the nucleus of the family and maintaing a house of 6 people, she manages water usage for all homes in Zurite, breeds prize winning cueys (guinea pigs), and helps us coordinate some important aspects of the irrigation project. The most fun comes after dinner when Jasper and I play cards with 2 of the kids in the family we are living with (Marilyn, 13, and Johan, 9) or try to understand the riddles they tell us. And the excitement begins every day by 5AM with bantar about water usage rights or the sale of a decently-bred toro (Tomas admits they don't have the time to raise prize winning toros go figure!)

Cesar is the most eccentric character I've met in Zurite The first night I met him, we stopped by his shop and started playing poker with him. A few others joined and within 10 minutes a small crowd gathered in his store. The game was Texas Hold em of course. The pace of play was a cheetah running across the desert. I tried to stall on the second hand, but was reprimanded by Cesar (he´s about 78). We played with chips, but no real money. When you ran out of chips, whoever had the most gave you some. I´ve never heard so much laughter and cheer around a game of poker. And after Jasper lost about 8 hands in a row, Cesar called him inutil (worthless). That caused an uproar of course. Cesar´s nickname became La Mafia or La Socialista because he won most hands and redistributed the wealth. Tomas describes him as "no tiene pelos en la lengua" (basically, he's got a sharp tongue). He tries out his few English phrases on us and makes fun of our slow, deliberate Spanish speech.

One of the first lessons I learned about working in an agricultural setting is ¨no golpear sino jalar.¨ Don´t punch but rather pull. It´s about finesse, not strength. This has held true on three types of work I have done so far. Cutting grass for los cueys (guinea pigs). Using pico y pala (pick and shovel) to dig a ditch. And para desgranar el maiz (No word in english. Think of it this way - the corn is dried in the sun for a few weeks. You then twist and turn the corn in your hands to push off the corn kernels. They feel like corn nuts.) Jasper and I did this for about 3 hours and got through about 500 husks of corn. My technique is improving, but I still have blisters and cuts on my delicate city hands after doing some real work. Day 2 of this work, Jasper and I were complimented by Gladys on our speed.

And yes, we did come here to work. It's been a back and forth with the Mayor, who has the last call on the use of the municipality's equipment and money. There´s plenty to talk about regarding the decision making process at the mayor´s office (actually, it went quite smoothly after he tried to stall first our meeting then the project by a week then a day then agreed to the original plan), but the most pleasant and happy sight was on the first Monday in Zurite - the first day of work. The President of Agriculture, Julio (he's puros negocios, pure business) had organized the farmers to meet for La Faena General. It´s like a town hall that takes place at the beginning of each week. Day to day, about 10 - 15 volunteers are needed to help keep the farmer's land and equipment in good repair. But we were in for a special treat on Monday, as it was the launch of a new project. We arrived probably 5 minutes early (I have no idea) and already there were about 70 campesinos. Julio spoke mostly in Quecha but we were told that he used the time to rouse the people and get them motivated about the project. The only line I understood was ¨no va a borrechar¨ (don´t get drunk). By the end of the session, there were about 170 farmers. Every two people were 'assigned' to 10 meters of canal digging (we were widening and cleaning an old canal). The assignment process basically entailed the group walking along the canal and stopping when they found a spot they liked. Jasper and I ended up at the end of the canal. Probably about 1.5 kilometers down. Work started around 10am. At 12pm we were done with our 10 meters (we had a relatively easy part compared to some of the other sections) and went home for lunch. Gladys, the mother of the host family, insisted we eat at home during our first day of work. Lunch started late of course but was mighty delicious (a heaping plate of fish, tons of veggies and lots of rice). We returned at 2pm and headed for the top of the canal to get some video footage. No one there. We started walking. No one. Still more walking and still no people. Within 4 hours, 170 farmers had cleared the way for 1.5 kilometers of cement irrigation to be built. When we put together a video, we´ll have to explain why there´s no footage of the digging! It will be a great story to tell.

For the next 8 days, we have been organizing a team of workers, buying material, and pushing the mayor to let us have our way. Finances are tough, but we've been told by Julio and Ruiz (President of the Zurite Community) that he will try to stall from time to time. When we left yesterday (Friday) for Cusco, all supplies had been purchased and work had kicked off in full force. When we return Friday, we'll start pouring the cement over the wooden frame. Can't wait to get back to Zurite!

Oh, and day 2 of work was unreal. Let's call it Home Depot - Inka Style. Wednesday morning we wake up at 6am for an early start. Our task today is to build a make-shift tent to store the wood and cement as close as possible to the canal. We wait in town until 8:45am for the materials only to learn that they had been dropped off at the camp site, rather than the Plaza. We two step it up to the building site. Our greeting is put down our backpacks and follow them to palos (wood logs). I hear palas (shovels). After 20 minutes of walking, I'm wondering why the shovels are so far off site. A loud crash should have warned me that we were carrying town trees not shovels, but in my state of stomach churning induced delirium, this thought does not cross my mind. Over the next 4 hours, a group of 9 of us carry down about 20 eucalpytus trees, making 2-3 trips each, 2 miles each trip. For the 7 volunteers, it was the hardest day of manual labor any of us had ever done. 12,500 feet altitude, smashing through dried corn fields, keeping balance on over turned grass fields, making small river crossings while carrying a tree between 40 and 90 pounds, 7 to 25 feet long. Not your average trip to Home Depot.

Many nights, we are joined at dinner by up to 6 people. A few nights ago, 4 farm hands and 1 of their children joined us. Their wage: 10 soles/day, plus dinner (3 soles to 1 dollar). After dinner I started thinking about the economics of poverty, as I do quite often. This time I had the beginning of a real observation. One cannot measure the tangible benefit of a meal as payment, the caloric intake aside. It's a social and cultural benefit; a form of human expression. Like most people in the world, these workers live alone or in small families. Dinner, in this form, becomes a gathering place, a social time. The benefit was made more apparent when Juan, the 4 year old, started to cry when his dad picked him up to leave. I asked Gladys why he was crying. She said because they had to leave dinner. He was in a social environment entertaining non-family members with his new radio and boisterous laugh Of course, this is no way a lift out of poverty. Simply one unseen benefit missed when looking at numbers and statistics.

Finally, on the political front, you have probably been reading about the conflict between the government and the indigenous people living in the jungles of Peru. Peru has 28 million people, 8 million of which live in the jungles. The current conflict is not only one of indigenous rights, but also resource and water usage/rights. Las huelgas (the strikes) have closed down road and train transportation between Cusco, Puno, and Arequipa. If you find a picture, you will see why. The streets are packed side-to-side with people and rock barricades. As I write this email, 7,000 protesters are headed to Cusco to arrive on June 24 - Inti Raymi, the most sacred festival of the year. It's attendance across South America is topped only by Carneval in Brazil. Gladys and Julio believe things will get worse after the holiday season ends. Tomas warned that if tensions continue to escalate, a civil war may break out.

Time for La Chifa (chinese-peruvian food) at our good friend Uriel's restaurant. He lives in Cusco and helped to found GSE from the Peru side. More about him later, but he's an amazing 29 year old, in his 4th year of dentistry school.

Kaya's creme fraiche whole wheat spaghetti

Kaya requested that I share his abracadabra recipe with you and since I have (almost) adamant confidence in his cooking skills, I gladly accepted.




serves 4
total cooking time: aprox. 40 minutes

3/4 a pack of trader Joe's whole wheat spaghetti

Creme Fraiche
2 chicken breast
1 small squash
4 cloves garlic
1 large onion
leaves of aniseed root (if not substitute parsley)
10 hedgehog mushrooms
1 glass of quality white wine
black pepper
salt to taste
olive oil
canola oil

mix 1/4 part canola oil with olive oil on a nonstick pan and put the salted and black peppered chicken skin down on high heat for 3 minutes then lower the heat to turn over.
if the breasts are thick make two knife marks to increase heat penetration. Turn over 3-4 times as you cook then set aside. Don't worry if its not cooked entirely inside. Cube the chicken and set aside.

simmer the onion in the chicken pan within the chicken oil along with the garlic. Meanwhile in a different low pan boil the cubed squash with a lid on low heat for about 12 minutes
until a fork can easily penetrate the largest piece. Pour out excess water leaving about 5 tablespoons of the squash water

In a separate bowl whip 1 cup of creme fraiche with 2/3 cups water until foamy. As the onion and garlic turn caramel add black pepper and a little salt then add the cubes of squash
turn to high heat and pour in a glass of white wine let simmer for 5-6 minutes then add chicken and creme fraiche.
Let simmer for 7-8 minutes. then serve with spaghetti cooked 12 minutes aldente garnished with aniseed leaves.

Have a band-aid?

It has been a very tough year.

How did it get here? I was a happily slacking yet still A scoring senior at Brown. Had a great group of friends, a summer vacation to look forward to, a house on the best spot of Providence, healthy family, and no worries on my head expect how to skip my African Dance rituals. I used to wake up at 5 am for my yoga and pilates classes Mon through Thurs, swam at least twice a week, organized basketball games, and partied on the weekends, marched for Darfur, had 5K on my account.

Of course I knew that life would be a bumpy road but I thought things would come one by one and that I would have the strenght to tackle them all. If only one of the ropes of your parachute gets loose, you can still manage. 2009 has been the year of free fall. My parachute seems to disappear in the sky. Shit really hit the fan this time.