Turkish Delight

Minneapolis Bridge Photos

2007-08-07T06:00:00.000-07:00

It was devastating to see the coverage of a such a disaster happening so close to home from my hotel room on the exact opposite side of the world. Too see in depth coverage from major and minor media outlets such as CNN, BBC World, Aljazeera, and The Jakarta Post was quite irksome.

I found out about while at work as I was searching for some recent news on a company we working with for my new job. I started from the google news site and surprisingly little Minneapolis was the top headline of World News. Learning that the bridge that I driven over nearly four to five times a week for a about a year only two months prior was completely shocking, not to mention that many of my closest friends and family also use the bridge on a daily bases. Thank god everyone I know is alright.

Istanbul Fashion

2007-06-12T05:13:00.000-07:00

I have always thought the hipsters of Istanbul have such unique fashion. I've been wanting to do a little photography piece on it to show friends at home and carry out some amature anthropological studies on it to find out where the artists get their inspiration and how it all comes together. It seems that this project has already been done. For those of you who are curious, check this out and let me know what you think. http://www.istanbulstreetstyle.com/.

Area Woman Overcomes Quarterlife Crises

2007-06-01T07:33:00.000-07:00

Since returning from a life in Turkey, I spent more than a year living in my hometown in constant confusion about current contentment and career and life goals. For the majority of the earlier part of the year I focused on figuring out what I thought would truly make me happy. What could I do now that I will feel good about doing for the next 10 years of my life? I started sketching out a plan to at least attempt to reach something rather than risk regret by doing nothing.

Unfortunately during this time I was unable to live my life to the fullest and enjoy my friends and family around me. I was focusing too much on the destination rather than the journey. As soon as my plan began to solidify, I started to really appreciate everything in my life of the present.

No matter how much I loved my colleagues, neighbors, friends, family, and life in general in Minneapolis, I couldn't turn back. I had already purchased my plane ticket and told my boss I was leaving. The last day of work I even ended up in his office crying my eyes out, unsure if I was making the right decision. Fortunately, whether he believed it or not, he supported me and encouraged me to follow through with my plan.

Since my last day at the office with a farewell lunch followed shortly after with a very teary farewell happy hour and late night The Nina, The Pinta show I have been quite worried about the possible negative outcomes of my risky adventure abroad. What if nothing I go for works out? What will I do if I get back to Minneapolis without a plan, a job, or money?

After spending a year in constant confusion, risking what became a wonderful life in Minneapolis by trying my chances on graduate school abroad and a dream job, it all finally payed off.

Two days ago I was offered a position as a Country Director for Oxford Business Group, http://www.oxfordbusinessgroup.com/. I will be a country director working on five to seven month team projects involving marketing, PR, sales, and possibly opportunities for a little writing. Each project will be located in a different country in the Middle East or Southeast Asia. As for my first project, I will be training with a fellow UW, Madison Alumni in Indonesia.

Although I had my heart set on being back in the Midwest from July through September to experience summer Minnesota style on the lakes, grilling out, and cabin'n it up with great friends, the job offer was contingent on my flexibility on being able to start in Istanbul on the 4th of July without going home.

Because I have promised so many people and I was looking forward to being home for a while, I am having quite a hard time explaining the news to all of my friends. Of those of you who find this and read it, I hope you understand.

As for the few weeks I have left in Istanbul, I am planning on spending my time reuniting with old friends and perfecting my Turkish language and cuisine. I'm kicking it off tonight with a Rakı Sofrası, cooking up some Meze and hosting a colorful jamboree of harmony chaos, fun, sadness, and laughs with a few friends in Istanbul with that cloudy Turkish national drink, raki, in celebration of my new exciting job.

In The Know - The Onion News Network

2007-03-27T07:25:00.000-07:00

Minnesota

2007-03-23T12:14:00.000-07:00

A few of my favorite things About Minnesota... AND some other fun facts...

1.Fearless of weather conditions. - Even at 40 below, people are still excited to ice fish, ski and snowboard, or cross country ski. At 110 degrees they say take a hike around Minnehaha Falls!

2. Modesty with money. - You never know if your sitting next to a billionaire or a bum.

3.It's the land of 10,000 lakes. Minnesota has 90,000 miles of shoreline, more than California, Florida and Hawaii combined. Who needs the coast when you can walk two blocks from your house to find the nearest lake or head up north for a weekend get-away to a cabin on a lake with a weekend full of waterskiing, sailing, wakeboarding, tubing, and fresh-water fishing?

Other fun facts...

Minnesota has been ranked one of the most livable states nationwide in the last nine years, ranking first between 1997 and 2003 and second in 2004 and 2005, according to Morgan Quitno Press.

Minnesota ranked as one of the five healthiest states in the country over the last 10 years (1996-2005), according to Morgan Quitno Press, based on a variety of economic, social and health-related factors.

Minnesotans are politically active. According to the U.S. Bureau of the Census, 79.2 percent of Minnesotans voted in November 2004, giving Minnesota the top spot over runner-up Wisconsin.

In 2005, Minnesota ranked No. 3 among states in the well-being of its children, according to the annual Kids Count report.

Minnesota has more miles of paved bike trails than any other state, offering easygoing biking through scenic corridors.

Minneapolis-St. Paul is the 13th best place for singles, according to Forbes in 2005.

Minnesota has one recreational boat per every six people, more than any other state.

Minneapolis has more golfers per capita than any other city in the country.

The first open heart surgery and the first bone marrow transplant in the United States were done at the University of Minnesota.

The first Intercollegiate Basketball game was played in Minnesota on February 9,1895.

Rollerblades were the first commercially successful in-line Roller Skates. Minnesota students Scott and Brennan Olson invented them in 1980, when they were looking for a way to practice Hockey during the off-season. Their design was an ice hockey boot with 3 inline wheels instead of a blade.

Polaris Industries of Roseau, Minnesota invented the snowmobile.

Twin Cities-based Northwest Airlines was the first major airline to ban smoking on international flights.

2007-03-21T09:06:00.000-07:00

Nobody celebrates St. Patrick's Day like us Irish-Americans

2007-03-18T10:02:00.000-07:00

This could have quite possibly been the best St. Patrick's day I have yet to celebrate. I had absolutely no idea people went so crazy over it right in my own backyard. Every year on March 17th St. Paul drowns in green beer.

This year The Onion Minneapolis went on a mission to visit as many of our Irish Pub clients as possible. To pull it off we had to break up in to two teams to cover both Minneapolis and St. Paul and reconvene at the parade. We rented an escalade as our get-away vehicle and hired an intern as our designated driver for the day.

My team started off with an traditional Irish breakfast and Irish coffee at O'Donovan's and crawled on to Grumpy's NE for some soda bread compliments of the bar owner's mom who airmailed 30 hand-made fresh loafs to the bar in Minneapolis from her home in Chicago. Then we made our way over to O'Gara's in St. Paul where everyone went crazy over our Onion "Kiss me, I'm too drunk to care" buttons. From there we did the Irish Jig through the following bars in no particular order: Sweeny's, The Happy Gnome, McGovern's, The Dubliner, and Shamrocks. All along the way I kept running in to new and old friends from periods of my life. I even had a chance to hang out with my bro and his friends for a bit at the McGovern's Beer tent.

Here are some pics of the event...

My 25th Birthday Bash

2007-03-15T08:09:00.000-07:00

I had an absolutely wonderful birthday weekend. I think it was one of the best ever. Last year I had just gotten back from Istanbul and felt like I had no friends at home. I just went to dinner and got a free pizza with my family to celebrate my 24th. I remember Martina,my Italian friend, had always said that the odd numbers are always better.

So last Friday Sefer sent yellow tulips to me at work which was soooooooooo super sweet, kicking off a wonderful weekend!

Then that evening after work I had a few close friends of mine over for some Middle Eastern/Medetarrainian meze (hummus and pita, greek olives, and Iranian dates) and wine.

After a quick chat we headed out to a Middle Eastern/Mediterranean restaurant called Jerusalem for food, drinks, and belly dancers. It was absolutely delightful! It was so much fun to be able to expose many new and long-time friends to a new culture with food, atmosphere, and entertainment. Many new and long time friends participated in the event out for that and it was so much fun to introduce them to each other and have them experience that type of cultural atmosphere and food.

After dinner we headed over to U Otter Stop Inn, a total dive in Northeast Minneapolis, where I was to crown the King/Queen of Karaoke. That was a blast! The best part about it was that so many friends from such different social circles were all there and I finally got the chance to introduce them to each other. I had so much fun and from the feedback from others it seems like everyone else did too. I finally felt like I have some real friends here in Minneapolis (*warm fuzzy*). Even a group of people and their significant others from my office showed up for the competition. I crowned my a quite deserving colleague, Rob Shellman, the king that night.

Saturday my best friend had a bridal party slumberparty which was even more fun! I got to talk to her sister forever and we all shared our stories about love, marriage, children, friendship, romance, etc. We had quesadillas and margaritas. Yummy!

Sunday my Dad took my family out to dinner for my birthday at this awesome Mexican restaurant, Salsa A La Salsa. There was great live music from some dude playing guitar and singing songs in spanish. My dad ordered a Carona and my bro and I got Margaritas. The food was excellent! It was the most fun I have had with my family in a long time.

Then to top it off, the king of Karaoke gave me two free lift, rental, and lessons to Welch Village for my birthday. So Monday I took one of my closest friends to the slopes to teach him how to snowboard. After a few too many runs down the bunny hill we got sick of it and he switched to skiis and we skied/snowboarded until the sun went down. Plus it was like 50 degrees so we got to ski/snowboard in t-shirts and sun glasses!

I had an absolutely wonderful time. I feel so lucky and loved. This is what makes leaving Minneapolis to follow my dreams more and more difficult. I have never felt like I have had so many friends that really love me. The whole weekend was probably the best birthday weekend I have ever had. Love you guys!

The Onion Minneapolis

2007-02-22T11:01:00.000-08:00

It's been almost exactly one year since I returned to Minnesota from Turkey and India. Since then I have been working for one of my favorite newspapers and brands; The Onion, www.theonion.com.

Since I've started I have absolutely LOVED working here! The best part is that it is a smaller company, especially our office, so it gives our work team sort of a family feeling. We do a lot of going out to support each other's promotions which is very condusive for bonding. On and off the field is a great time with The Onion. Here are a few pics from the last six months I've been here. You can check out all of them at http://www.flickr.com/photos/nlgoergen/sets/72157594544963787/.

Onion Softball Tournament: The Onion Minneapolis organized a softball tournament with other local radio and print media in town. It was a perfect day for a tournament. Summit supplied the ice cold beverages to keep us hydrated or dehydrated throughout the day. I won MVP and received a softball with the entire office's signatures as a memento. Sefer even got to give a crack at the game and did quite well I must say. Twas a fun day.

One of the ad agencies we work with in town started out as an agency for agriculture. Once they moved downtown The Onion Minneapolis decided to give them an appropriate gift for Christmas.

The Onion out on the town...

We can not survive without The Onion Newsies...

Me and Sefer Summer in Minneapolis 2007

2007-02-21T07:20:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately Sefer and I only took one picture of us together during the entire three months he was in Minneapolis with me over the summer. Why? Because I lost two quite expensive cameras over the last few years of traveling (damn Romanian gypsies!) so I have given up on owning a digi. Sefer on the other hand sold both his Ipod and his Sony digi cam to pay for the cost of his plane ticket to come experience life with me at my home in Minneapolis.

We enjoyed many typical Minnesota summer activities such as celebrating the 4th of July watching fireworks, walking around many a lakes within the city, kayaking in Lake Calhoun, hiking around at Minnehaha Falls, happy hour at Figlio and Stella's Fish Cafe, many a backyard BBQ's, a family reunion at the cabin on the lake where we introduced my extended family to Raki and a lil Turkish music and dance, drinking MGD light while tubing down the Namekagon river with again my extended family, a small town rodeo in Spooner with the Kolthoff family and friends, took an evening tour on Lake Minnetonka with good friends and good spirits, visited my alma mater and experienced Madison at its best with a Big Ten American football game, we even took a trip out to San Francisco, stayed with Jenn, an old college roomie, and met up with a few old Istanbul trainees Ash and Adi at Stanford.

Although armed without a camera and promises about internships were never realized, I think the time we spent together in Minneapolis really strengthened our relationship. It was really important for me to have Sefer not only just meet my friends and family but also interact and take part in our daily lives. Living together we were able to gnaw away at a few cultural barriers giving room for our relationship to evolve and stay strong throughout the imminent long distance relationship.

Overall it was a wonderful summer. I just wish we had more pictures to remember it.

Pictures from India

2007-02-11T12:12:00.000-08:00

So it's been over a year since my last post. I can not even begin to describe my experience in India. Here are a few pictures that will help. But the only true way to learn about this exciting and wonderful place is to experience it for yourself. Until then, check these out:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nlgoergen/

8 Days Until India: Our Plan

2006-01-03T01:05:00.000-08:00

Jan 12 - Arrive Delhi around 11 pm
Jan 13 - 16 Delhi
Jan 17 Agra (dept evening of 17 for Jaipur)
Jan 18 - 20 Jaipur (dept evening of 20 for Bombay)
Jan 21 - 25 Bombay
Jan 26 - Jan 29 Pune (dept evening of 29 for Goa)
Jan 30 - Feb 3 Goa (dept evening of 3 for Kerola)
Feb 4 - Feb 9 Kerola
Dept evening of Feb 9 to Delhi. Dept Delhi ---)
Feb 10 - Istanbul 2.50 am

Twas the night before Christmas

2005-12-27T01:49:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I didn't get to celebrate Christmas in such a traditional way, but it is definitely a time that I will never forget. Organizing parties or events with our group is nearly impossible but after a few hours of sober partying we finally found someone to buy a wine bottle opener for the five or six bottles of wine we had. We never got a knife to cut the apples, or a pan to boil some wine, but we found some tape in Simon's first aid kit to put up the one strand of garland and the half working string of Christmas lights we bought from the Egyptian Spice Bazaar that day. Sefer's sacred Bacardi and the candles we bought for decoration were the party's savior.

As we were exchanging our secret Santa Christmas gifts my eyes started to water as smoke from what I thought was coming from the candles was getting into my eyes. I couldn't even tell my giftee Merry Christmas with y eyes open. Suddenly Sefer came dashing over to put out the fire which started on my scarf from one of the candles. He said that my whole upper body was in flames. I pretty much owe him my life by now. These are a few of the events which led to such an unforgettable Christmas.

Here are some pictures from the party:

Early on in the night when Alex was still able to stand in her heels and look like a giant.

Sefer and I dressed up in our traditional Christmas attire.

Han Min enjoying Steve's gift to Yuzuro even more than Steve and Yuzuro.

This must have been taken in the two sober hours before the party really got started.

Aside from my favorite shirt getting burn marks and wholes in it, the evening was quite splendid. We got to spend it all together with all the new and old trainees and some new and old AIESECers Celal even showed up for some time. It was good to see him. Although it wasn't traditional, it was fun.

A Typical Monday in Istanbul

2005-12-22T02:14:00.000-08:00

Here are a few of the things I see on a typical day. I only have a few pictures of some things I see on the way to work, but I am going to update this soon with pictures from work and my english classes, the dorm, and Sefer's apartment, so you can get the feel of what a typical day in Turkey is to me.

Someone's pet sheep that I see every day walking up the hill on the way to work. They keep in these little grassy areas and tie it to the fence. I am not sure if they are keeping it for the Kurban Bayram (where a sheep is sacrificed as part of the traditional celebration) or what.

The Bakery. There is a huge truck filled with fresh bread baked overnight that is delivered to the bakeries, resturaunts and grocery stores every morning.

The Butcher Shop. Every time I see this I always get a little freaked out. They deliver the meat out of these trucks. I would absolutely hate to have this job.

The Stray Dog Sleeping. This is one of many sray dogs I see on my way to work. Here it is sleeping on Gule Cadesi (Happy Street) side walk. Actually, there are way more stray cats on this street than stray dogs.

More to come....

Visiting Iva in Ankara for her Birthday

2005-12-22T01:50:00.000-08:00

Iva's Birthday was quite a while ago but I never had a chance to post anything about it. Aakash and I went to Ankara to visit our dear friend Iva. She is busy with grad school and was lucky enough to get some time off over the weekend to spend with us.

Over the past year, Iva has been my closest friend. We have both experienced so much together here in Istanbul. We shared a room for an entire year, I don't think its possible to have any secrets between us. We have had many ups and downs over the last year and have spent many nights questioning love, life, and everything in between. I was so happy to be able to visit her in Ankara for her Birthday. We had the chance to see her dorm, her favorite bar, her campus, and just where and how she is now living her daily life.

We had this really great party for Iva. Just the way I like it. One of Iva's friends' parents were out of town for the weekend so she had us over to her very nice appartment. There were like 8 people from 8 different countries who specialize in I swear 8 different things so the conversation was great. We were sitting on pillows around a big square coffee table with dried fruit, insence, freddy,wine, sweet lighting from candles, and a quote book called Be Happy,while listening to Portishead. It was so much fun! Iva's friend from Mexico and her Turkish friend Deniz were so friendly and so much fun. I am so happy Iva was able to find such great friends in Ankara. Anyway we ended up having a really great time. I hope you really enjoyed your birthday, Iva!

This is a picture of Aakash, Iva, and me in front of the Ataturk Memorial.

Although Iva is only 5 hours away by bus, it is still feels really far in comparison to just the five feet away her bed was to mine just a few months ago. I really miss her. At least we were able to spend a very nice weekend together in her new place that she calls home.

She is coming to Istanbul again before New Years. I am really excited to hang out just her and I. Its gonna be just like the good old days!

Stealing a post about Beautiful Istanbul

2005-12-22T01:36:00.000-08:00

I was reading Iva's blog and noticed this post about Istanbul. Iva lived with me in Istanbul for the last year but then moved to Ankara for grad school at Bilkent University. Her post about Istanbul was a great reminder to me about how gorgeous the city is. Sometimes all the people, the traffic and the chaos get in the way of really enjoying the beauty of the city. I didn't realize it before, but I am really gonna miss this place.

From Iva (http://ivuskawalterova.blogspot.com/) :

Istanbul en guzel bir sehir

I miss seeing Istanbul every morning after I wake up... I especially loved the morning bus rides from Besiktas to Taksim to work or driving across the bridge in the evening right before sunset or watching the mosques across the Golden Horn during the evening call for prayer, when the voices of the muezzins filled the warm evening air...

A White Christmas :-)

2005-12-19T03:11:00.000-08:00

YEay!!!! I never thought Iwould be so happy to see snow. Ya know that feeling ya get when it hasn't snowed and its almost Christmas? Yeah. Well, finally it snowed, five days before Christmas! Woo Hoo! Feels good! Anyone want to sing Christmas carols?

Here are some pictures from last year's winter in Istanbul. In some ways I wish we had the same amount of snow, first because it is so pretty, but more importantly because when it snows like this no one goes to work until noon and everyone leaves work around 4pm. Its great!

Turkey, A Diamond in the Rough: The Best Summer Vacation of My Life

2005-12-19T01:22:00.000-08:00

This post is about six moths late, just in time to help us all dream of a warm paradise on a blistering cold Christmas morning. Maybe this will give some people some good ideas of what to ask Santa for for Christmas.

It all went down about mid summer 2005. After my good friend Alex came to visit me in Istanbul in March, she knew she had to come back to this lively city for an internship. We strategically planned a mini vacation in June on the near-by Greek islands before she would dive in to her work. Because of some freak accident and visa issues we were prohibited from going Greek. We were heartbroken. We decided to go with Plan B, which was to stay on the Agean coast of Turkey, but soon enough we found that plan B should have originally been Plan A. Turkey really is a Diamond in the rough. We found the most wonderful whimsicle hostels to stay, the beaches were beautiful, the water was crystal clear, there were secret little swimming coves, and the people were absolutely wonderful. I couldn't have asked for anything better. All of this for a fraction of the cost I had planned for for Greece.

We started on the weekend in Bodrum with four other friends, a total of six. It was such a great group of people. Somehow we all seemed to get along perfectly. The first day was the best, spent on the beach teaching Saad to swim, playing beach volleyball, playing pool at the outdoor bar in our bathing suits, and laying around on the pillows and hammocks at the end of the day. Aside from our hostel, it was perfect. The next few days we spent doing much of the same including a little trip kayacking on the crystal clear water and the beautiful white houses lining the shore. It was wonderful. But definitely the best day was the day of the Blue Cruize.

We went on this amazing 5 hour boat tour around the islands off of Bodrum. I swear every second we were not chill'n on the front of the boat listening to beach music on the way to our next destination, we were in the water. The first time we stopped I thought it must have been six feet deep. I could clearly see the floor of the sea. I was way off, it had to be at least 20 feet deep. It took some courage but finally all six of us were able to jump off of the second floor of the boat, even Saad who had only a little practice swimming jumped with his life jacket. In fact he was in the water more that anyone, except maybe me.

The boat stopped in about five different little coves where we could get out and swim. Saad and I were prunes by the end of the trip. We had lunch on the boat and made a final stop at some hot springs and a mud bath. At the end we were exosted but totally satisfied. It was a little sad because our friends had to leave us at this time, but Alex and I were excited for the next 5 days of our trip.

It was nice because Alex's man was there and Sefer flew down and joined us the last night in Bodrum and came to our next destination, Fethiye. Again the water was beautiful. We got to spend the day on the beach with our men and then moved on to this small little beach town of Kas.

Kas was my favorite. The guy who owned our hostel was super cool. He gave us a ride to the beach on his motorcycle. We swam in a secret little rocky cove and went Kayaking the next day. We took a full day and kayaked with a group over a sunken city. We went to an Island where the people use no electricity and live off the tourists that come in their kayaks. It was quite weird actually.

The next night we headed off to Olympos. Olympos I had heard was supposed to be the coolest place for travelers in Turkey for the summer. We were sad we only had one last night to spend there but were greatful we at least had that. We stayed at the absolute coolest hostel I have ever experienced. It was a little villiage of treehouses. There was a place to play volleyball, a place to chill outside on pillows, an awesome bar upstairs, and a danceclub with a firepit in the middle about half a meter away through the woods. It was like a frathouse for backpackers. We got there late and met a group of Aussies to hang out with and drink for a while. Then we headed to the club and danced our asses off. We ended up back in our treehouses at who knows what time, probably about 4 or 5 in the morning. It was a blast. It also had the best breakfast of any Hostel. Good for our hungover asses. We got breakfast and watched top 10 countdown on VH1 and then headed to the airport satisfied and ready to get back to the big city of Istanbul.

Honestly, if I could take this vacation again I would. It was absolutely wonderful and so god damn cheap!!! I am so glad we didn't go to Greece.

a shared feeling among many travelers

2005-12-12T02:54:00.000-08:00

The world's a big place, and planning a trip can be mighty confusing when you've got no idea where to start. I mean, India's cheap, and there's all that culture and stuff, but everyone goes to India andmaybe you'd get more respect if you went to Uzbekistan, but that'skind of daunting and and really, deep down inside, you'd rather go to New York City, but that's not really travel, that's tourism, so perhaps you should do an ecotour in Botswana, but you might get some hideous amoebic dysentery and besides, you don't know the first thing about Botswana, whereas you majored in pre-Renaissance art, so maybe you should go to Italy but it's so expensive, whereas India's cheap...
- The Lonely Planet

Agva

2005-12-05T05:01:00.000-08:00

It was maybe the second weekend I was back in Istanbul when Alex, Emre, Sefer and I decided to get out of the city to experience nature. We went to the quiant little town of Agva. We found an overly expensive hotel by the river to hang out at for the day. It was absolutely gorgeous. We had lunch right next to the water and then resorted to the huge pillows under the willow trees for after-lunch tea. We layed around for about four hours until set out to find a hostel where we could afford to sleep. After spending only a week in the big city of Istanbul the fresh air really cleared my mind.In the morning we took the tandem bike out for a ride around the town and next to the bay. We had a long breakfast by the sea and then hopped on the bus back to Istanbul. It was one of the most relaxing weekends I had for a very long time.

rediscovering my love for advertising

2005-12-01T01:58:00.000-08:00

After spending two months in the creative department of Saatchi and Saatchi, Istanbul, I just transfered to the strategic department and found my home. Most of my background is in strategy so I understand so much more about whats going on than I did in the creative department. For that reason they give me much more work and the work is much more fun than stupid photoshop tutorials.

I am so happy I got a chance to work in creative, just to see if I might like it and to give me a better perspective of the entire process but because I don't know Turkish, all of my ideas always had to be filtered through someone. It sucked! I mean of course it isn't the translators fault but that person just naturally picks which parts he or she likes of my ideas to present. So the key parts to my approach weren't always transmitted to the decision makers. This frustrated me a lot. I found that the strategic department just suits my personality much better. I really like doing the research part and finding creative ways to connect to the audience. It's much more wholistic than getting a brief and making a pretty picture.

So now that I am back in my comfort zone, I am really enjoying my work. I almost gave up on advertising but luckily I got this opportunity to remember how much I loved it in the first place.

At the moment there are like 10 people in a meeting holding up all these cookies, crackers, and candy, playing with the packaging talking and laughing. Who knows what the hell they are talking about but it looks like fun!

World Traveler

2005-12-01T01:43:00.000-08:00

So I was thinking of going to Egypt to renew my tourist visa for Turkey but with my trip to India and the possibility of doing another two month traineeship in Italy, I really don't have the money to afford it. If for some reason the trip to India gets canceled (we are getting a bit nervous being that there is no malaria shot available in Turkey) then I would take that time and go to Egypt instead.

So I just spoke to a friend from home that has been working for the past year in a really great job in a law firm in Minneaolis and I freaked out! I am seiously so afraid that I'm gonna jump in to the daily grind and I'm never going to be able to escape. This means only two weeks of vacation the entire year! How am I going to visit all my friends all over the world? Okay yeah, I will start a retirement plan and go to the doctor for regular check-ups because I will have health insurence, but I don't know if I can handle driving down the same streets, going in to the same building on the same floor, in the same place every day and every day 5 days a week, 52 weeks a year, for who knows how many years?!! ARGH!!!!!

I am really enjoying my life of constant cultural stimulation, excitement of the unknown in every corner, and the ability to take off to another foreign exotic country at the drop of a hat. Its really so amazing! I would never give up this experience for anything. After this I am just afraid of going home and getting bored...

which is why I just might possibly take up this opportunity to work in Italy for two months. At this point what is going to a place I have always dreamed of living for two more months out of the next 50 years of my life? Nothing. When am I ever going to get another chance for a two month vacation? Sometime in the next 10 years??

If the company is decent and I can learn something from it, to Italy I will go. This would put me back in Minnesota around the end of April or the first week of May. Actually, it would be perfect timing for skipping out on the post winter muddy slush. I have more time for that later on in life :-)

Girls Night

2005-12-01T01:24:00.000-08:00

Friday night we had an amazing girls night. We had some crazy Balkan liquor that got all the girls hammered. I think 6 out of the 10 girls ended up puking. Aside from the after effects it was a great night.

Finally a plan

2005-11-13T02:01:00.000-08:00

After nine months of blowing in the wind, I finally have a stable plan. It is so difficult to concentrate on work or make time to develope yourself in areas of personal interest when your constantly trying to figure out if next month you will be in South America learning a whole new culture and a whole new life during an eight month traineeship, or if you will just take a week long vacation in Egypt so that you can be home for Christmas. Finally I feel free. Instead of always worring in the back of my mind what I will be doing next month, I can be fully engaged in my work and play. It feels wonderful.

The Plan:
I will stay in Istanbul until the middle of January. I will then travel to India for one month with Alex and then return home to Minnesota to find a real job in the middle of February.

I am really looking forward to having a more stable life and better living conditions and a higher income. I am not ,however, looking forward to the monotany of a 9 to 5 office job. I swear I will kill myself if I have to sit in front of a computer all day working on Excel.

Sefer plans to come to Minnesota in the summer for a Civil Engineering program or internship if he can find one. It is really difficult to get a visa to come but we are working on it.

A little clarification about Muslim sections

2005-11-13T01:43:00.000-08:00

One day I was looking for some information after I had read an article about some stuff going on with the new Iraqi government. I was a little confused about the Sunni and Shii groups. I emailed and asked Sefer for some clarification and this is what he wrote. I thought I would share.

Nikki in the year of 632 Muhammed died without telling the new leader for the Muslims. So, some of the muslims said the new leader is "Ebu Bekir" who was Muahmmed's wife's father. The other part of the muslims said no, the new leader has to be his nephew Ali. So, Islam is divided into two main groups:

1. Sunni: They are the Ebu Bekir ones. Sunni's are living according to the sunnets. Sunnet is the behaviours or life styles which Muhammed said its good. Sunni's are divided to 4 groups and they are "hanbeli", "hanefi", "shafii" and "maliki".

Hanbeli: This is the most strict one. They dont have grave stone or anything, they try to live with the same situations or behaviours as Muahmmed (s.a.v) did.

Hanefi: This means right way, true way. 45-50% of Turkey is belong to this group and they dont like other groups. They think they are the chosen group.

Shafii: This one is a lil bit different than hanefi's and this is the other most common one. Most of the Kurds are belong to that group because the Kurds were living with the Christians and this group is like Christian Orthodoks. They cant touch a dog. They cant touch a lady when they are going to for prayer. Alcohol and drugs are strictly forbidden.

Maliki: Its coming from the religion education of Mekka schools and i dont know very much stuff about them because i dont know anyone who is maliki.

2.Shii: They are the Ali ones. It's coming from Sia i Ali ehich means the ones who are going on the way of Ali. They have 12 big imams who are all Ali's children and Huseyin is the oldest of them who was the leader after Ali. They dont have the one's face because they believe that God took him to the heaven when he was 5 years old and he will come back as the new Jesus to the world. Their prayer is 3 times a day.

So how the hell did it happen? The main questions is that right? After Muhammed (s.a.v) died, one group said Ebu Bekir and the others said no Ali is the new leader. But, Ebu Bekir fans were more than the Ali fans so Ebu Bekir was chosen by VOTE! (i think this is may be the first voting for a leader in the world.) After that the Sunni's (ebu bekir fans) killed Ali's oldest son Huseyin in KERBELA. So, the big fight began and the Shiis didnt want to obey the rules of Ebu Bekir and the Shii's wanted to move to Iran and most of them did but some of them didnt move and still live in Iraq, Suria, Malaysia, Palestine and the other middle east countries.

There is one more group but they are not very crowded but i want to tell you about them because my 2 bestfriends are from this group and i think the best people are coming from this one:

Alevi: Its alittle bit Turks and Kurds old religion before Islam which is Shamanism (this one of the oldest religion with paganism and you can see how much it effected the main religions). They respect Ali too. They have really big philosophers, they live the religion as a philosophy and they dont obey the rules of Islamsuch as festing, praying, kiling the animals for god. They believe that god is inside of you and you can feel it. They respect women very much and women is very important for them. Women and men is equal in this group and women dont cover their head or sth. They are the most modern group thats why in the history they always killed by the others because thier religion is the different. From 1930 until 1995-1996 the main mosque or religion rulers made lots of stupid things about them and they made people in Turkey to believe that Alevis\' are bad, disqusting people so the Alevis wanted to have part in the left side of the ideology and then the pressure became worse and worse on them. They couldnt even go out from their house. These people are so open and you can see how gentle they are. Respect is the most important thing for them and for them you have to live your religion inside, you dont need to show it to anyone by praying or doing other things. "Alevi", is a really good life philosophy and even turkey just started knowing about them and i think in 20-30 years lots of the people in the world will have a chance to know their philosophy.

Thats all, I hope I could help i little bit.

-Sefer

Home Sweet Home

2005-11-08T06:41:00.000-08:00

There were a lot of emotions and unsual feelings about going home and being home once I was there. But quite honestly the culture shock was definitely not the same as the first time coming back after going abroad. Yeah there were a few things that I "couldn't believe," about our culture and there were so many things that I looked at in a new perspective, but overall it was just a warm feeling to be back with my friends and family.

2005-11-08T06:30:00.000-08:00

My oldest brother Jeff, Me, My brother Dave, and my Dad for a family photo. How sweet :-)

2005-11-08T06:29:00.000-08:00

My dad and his wonderful summer flowers. They were the most beautiful this year than any other year I have seen them.

2005-11-08T06:27:00.000-08:00

My brother, Jeff, and I at his new cabin in Wisconsin.

2005-11-08T06:26:00.000-08:00

My room with the roses Sefer sent me for our six month anniversary :-)

2005-11-08T06:24:00.000-08:00

Eric, Jenny, and Ryan. This is Laura's sister, brother-in-law, and nephew, they are so cute!

2005-11-08T06:20:00.000-08:00

I just had to hit up a Bloomington party when I was home. "Hey I heard Tom Royer was throwing a pig roast!" was a common phrase of the week. I stopped by only for an hour but it was definitely a good time. I haven't seen these people in ages! Honestly, its been since high school for many of them. I missed them. The party seemed to be a complete replica of the party scene in high school. I was even the designated driver yet again.

2005-11-08T06:16:00.000-08:00

Laura Me and Jess at our first time being all together in an entire year. Its been a long year and we have all grown as people in many different ways but we will always and forever be best friends from home.

Eurotrip

2005-10-28T06:45:00.000-07:00

Traveling in Europe alone has its ups and downs. Its not so much fun when you are lost with walking around for two hours 40 kilos of luggage past midnight in the gayborhood of Madrid. But there is also a great sense of accomplishment after finally following the right tourist to the fround door of the hostel you have been searching for for the past two and a half hours. You feel that no matter what situation you are in, you can make it on your own. But thank god I traveled alone for less than a total of 5 days :-)

I spent most of the day underground in Madrid. I was riding the subway all over town in search of Saatchi Madrid, AIESEC Madrid, a Train Station to buy a ticket to Lisbon, and a bus station for a ticket to Barcelona. What I saw of Madrid I loved! I couldn't believe how fast I fell back in love with the Mediterranian lifestyle of socializing at outdoor cafes and bars until early hours in the morning and taking siestas after lunch to catch up on the sleep you missed from the night before with a pitcher of sangria with tapas after work, and dinner at midnight. God! I would die to live in Spain! Which is why I gave it a good shot searching for jobs in Barcelona. I fell behind because of my lack of skills in the spanish language department. If I wasn't so worried about life and if everyone didn't ask me every day when I am coming home I would take a bar job to learn the language and move up from there. Life is too short to be cought up in the daily grind. But apparently my father disagrees. So. . . the plan is to be home for summer and start my "real life," then god dammit! Rar!

The Famous Lizard by Gaudi

Anyone been to Barcelona?

After my unsuccessful job search in Barcelona I stopped in Valencia for one day. It just happened to be the day of La Tomatino.

Every year, on the last Wednesday in August between 11am and 1pm, the little town of Bunol in the east of Spain is almost literally painted red - by over 125,000 kilos of tomatoes.It's one giant throwback to the rebellious days of your adolescence as complete strangers spend two hours hurling ripe fruit at each other and generally causing total mayhem. The rules are simple: squash the tomatoes before you throw them, don't throw anything else, and… well, that's it. La Tomatina has been part of Bunol tradition since 1945, when a food-fight broke out in the town square. Since then it has gained international renown. So handpick your fittest friends, grab some tomatoes and go forth. Oh, and trust no one. (Image and article taken from www.thisisthelife.com)

Thank god I didn't get wrapped up in this mess alone. Luckily I just missed it and got in to town just as everyone was showering off and getting ready for a long night of partying. After hours of searching for another hostel I finally begged an old women to let me stay in one of her hostel rooms . She was screaming at me in spanish from out the third floor window and I was yelling ''por favore" up to her from the street. Finally, after trying to bargain using Spanish numbers I barely remembered from high school, we settled on a pretty hefty price for a room with two double beds that I obviously didn't need. She dropped the key down to me from the third story window and I took another 45 minutes to get to the room after trying to figure out how to open the old antique Spanish door and lug all my bags up three flights of stairs. Honestly, I didn't care anymore, all I cared about was having a place to put my luggage and having something nicer than a bus station chair to sleep in. I was happy. I watched clips from La Tomatino on news with the old woman and her husband while they were eating dinner. They asked if I had gone to the festival. The two warmed to me after I told them I missed it.

I ended up really liking the city. It seemed so Spanish, more so than Barcelona or Madrid. No one spoke English, there were little to no American chain stores, and la paella was excellent!

After a night alone I caught a bus from Madrid to Lisbon to meet up with some friends. As soon as I found the right car on the train I asked the girl who was sharing my room which bed was mine. As she turned around I recagnized her as the most anoying girl I had ever met while traveling. I met her a week earlier at a hostel in Madrid. We chatted a while and I found she is actually much more interesting than I originally thought. She is studying theater and women studies and great university in Canada and writes for Rollingstone! Although she doesn't drink we made our way to the bar and met some crazie Aussies. One was a stockbroker that works in London and makes frequent trips to Abiza to entertain his clients. This company made for one hell of a night. We bought a bottle of cheap wine off of the bar after it had closed down and drank until the early morn. I only had a few hours to sleep before we arived in Lisbon but all was good. This is a picture of the crazy music journalist from Canada with the Australian DJ-stockbroker from England on the train.

From Lisbon I set out for my mini 603 reunion (http://www.istanbul603.blogspot.com/). I met up with Ashfaque, and we then made our way to Aveiro to visit Natercia. She was an absolutely wonderful host! She brought us out to a party on the beach with all of her friends. I love the protugues when they drink. They always seem to find the need to by a foreigner a drink. They play a game called "Till the End," where the whole group will look at you and sing a song in portuguese, this is when you are supposed to start chugging your drink and then they dont stop until you finish it. The night was a blast. Somehow Ash lost his belt in the sand after the shots of absenth, I started balling because I am American and everyone hates me, and we lost Natercia in the crowd and slept in the car and ate cookies for breakfast. Twas a great party.

After Aveiro we went up to visit Cristiano (A.K.A. The Captain) in Porto. Porto is such a fine city. He showed us all around the city day and night. My favorite was dinner with his family. His mother grew up in Brazil and his father in Portugal, and both his grandmothers live together in the apartment next door. The food was excellent, and the company even better.

The Captain put together a very fine itinerary as our tour guide. We got to see everything from historical buildings, to beautiful parks, the seaside, modern art museums, and his favorite little cafes in Porto. It was really wonderful.

My Big Fat Turkish Wedding

2005-10-20T16:41:00.000-07:00

I don't think a lot of people know that Greek culture and Turkish culture are so similar. But so many of the things in this movie remind me of my first experience attending a Turkish wedding. The dancing, the singing, the family, the food, and the love. All of them are there in full affect.

I absolutely loved learning the dances, meeting Sefer's family, and attending both the wedding and henna ceremony. It was wonderful!

I think Sef's trying to be all cool before the wedding. But I love it! The converse shoes definitely make the outfit.

Sefer's mother and sister, Cihan, are dancing in a traditional style at the wedding reception.

The Jewelry Ceremony

The main reason for the jewelry ceremony is to help the new couple a little bit financially because the wedding ceremony, renting the house, buying all the new furniture and everything else that comes with starting out is so expensive. I think this is where the practice started but now it’s just a tradition. Even if the couple is wealthy the guests still must give gold or they are looked down upon. Usually, during the ceremony, a line is formed to give the jewelry to the bride and money to the groom. First the couple’s immediate family give their jewelry to the bride. This jewelry must be the most magnificent of all! Then it’s the relatives' turn, after all the relatives give their gifts it is finally bride and groom's friends' turn. If one of your relative's son or daughter marries before your son or daughter and you didn’t give any jewelry, that family will not give anything to your son or daughter when they decide to marry. If you gave expensive, they have to give expensive, if they gave a cheap one, then it’s up to you what you give. (Usually if a family has financial problems, it’s looked down upon if they wont give anything but they must explain the situation to the father of the bride. If the family can not afford to buy a gift but are able to give at least something, usually the family will give something more expensive in return. -Sefer

Helin, Me, and Cihan at the wedding.

The Wedding Cake

I don't know if it is some kind incarnation of the western style wedding cake or what, but it is quite increadible.

Henna Night

Henna Night is celebrated by the female relatives of the bride and groom. The night before the wedding the women come together to sing and dance and celebrate however they choose. The bride must apply henna to her hands and wear a red dress. She also wears a red veil over her head and around her hands.(Some people say that red symbolizes the bride’s virginity and something about blood showing her purity and innocence during her first experience after being married.) The women involved in the ceremony also put henna in their palm and if men are involved they will put it on their finger tips. Usually the bride cries during the henna ceremonies because of a song which says, "I’m in a place that I don’t know anything about and I miss my mother.. bla bla". (This references the tradition in which the bride is taken from her home and moved to the home of her husband. -NG) Right after the crying session there is another song for belly dancing and the other ladies force the bride to belly dance which is a little ironic because she cries when she dances.. In the old times and still in East, Henna ceremonies are a platform for the single women to display their beauty to the mothers of the other men. (I think this has something to do with the competition between the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law -NG) So you can ask how I know these things… When you are a little kid you are allowed to goto Hennas with your mother and maybe the guys are having fun and drinking while kids are always at kina. - Sefer

Mersin

2005-08-08T12:06:00.000-07:00

I was a little hesitant to go to the hometown of my hubby but aside from the 15 hour bus ride, it turned out to be such a great trip. I got to meet his mother, father, sister, and his brother’s fiancé. They were all so great. Although we couldn’t really speak to each other in the same language we seemed to get along so well. I absolutely loved their home. They have this great balcony that comes off the kitchen and looks over the sea. If I lived there I would spend every day on the balcony.

2005-08-08T12:05:00.000-07:00

Kiz Kalesi. The fortune teller told the king that her daughter was going to be killed by a snake. The king built this castle to keep his daughter safe but when the servents were taking fruit to the princess a snake snuck in to the fruit basket and poisoned the girl in the castle. This is the beach where we swam. We were a little lazy to swim out to the castle but we did explore the one just behind us on land. It was so intricate. I couldn't believe it. But it was fun to sit on the old walls looking right down to the ocean and a little scary because if we accidentally fell off we would have totally died on all the rocks before hitting the water. A little scary, but sooo much fun.

2005-08-08T11:54:00.000-07:00

Near the Mediterranean Sea in the Mersin.

2005-08-08T11:52:00.000-07:00

My baby eating "the best Tan Tuni in Turkey."

2005-08-08T11:51:00.000-07:00

Sefer's father

2005-08-08T11:50:00.001-07:00

Driving up in the mountains in Mersin.

2005-08-08T11:50:00.000-07:00

The fam took me out to dinner at this beautiful restaurant somewhere up in the mountains. The view was gorgeous and the air was so fresh and the food was probably the most delicious I have yet tasted in Turkey.

2005-08-08T11:49:00.000-07:00

Mmmmmmmmmmmm...........Turkish food. I absolutely LOVE the meze (appetizors). There was natural honey, dolma, humus, fresh cheeses and yogurt, and such great salads. Not only that but we were also served fish AND chicken. We ordered waaaaaaaayyyyy too much and Sefer's mom kept telling me to keep eating. I was so full but I couldn't resist the food was amazing! No one can say no to this.

2005-08-08T11:40:00.000-07:00

Megan, Me, and Serina ready or a rock'n night on the boat.

AIESEC Boat Party

2005-08-08T11:29:00.000-07:00

The AIESECers set up a nice little boat party on the Bosphorus with the Alumni, trainees and AIESECers. The trainees were a little disapointed at first because it took so long to get the drinks flowing but in the end it turned out alright. We saw fireworks both in the sky and between a one cute little Turkish-American and her new Turkish friend who would like to remain anonymous. There were AIESEC dances, Turkish chants, and a public viewing of a drunken man trying to pee in a Turkish toilet while the boat was rocking. After the boat docked we all headed to Cambaz to “bridge the gap.”

2005-08-08T11:26:00.000-07:00

Neslihan AKA the Turkish-American and best friend Julia AKA the girl from YALE

2005-08-08T11:25:00.000-07:00

Bilal and Utku on the boat with the Bosphorus Bridge in the background.

2005-08-08T11:21:00.001-07:00

A great picture of the AIESECers and Anata.

2005-08-08T11:21:00.000-07:00

The start of a new lovely relationship. Battle it out boys! Lets see who wins.

2005-08-08T11:20:00.000-07:00

Serina, Megan, and Julie busting it out on the dance floor. A bit difficult while drunk on a rocking boat. Bravo ladies!

2005-08-08T11:16:00.000-07:00

This is for everyone who is constantly asking about the drinking habbits of the Turks. I think they have a pretty good idea of how to party. Tolga sneaking a case of beer from the bar to give his friends easy access. Thanks Tolga!!

2005-08-08T11:14:00.000-07:00

Two of AIESEC's "most likely to be 'Hipsters,'" my man Sefer and my girl Elif.

2005-08-08T11:12:00.000-07:00

"Bridging the gap."

2005-08-08T11:09:00.000-07:00

Aakash and I at good old Cambaz the night of the boat party.

THE BEST GIRLS NIGHT EVER

2005-07-20T04:37:00.000-07:00

In midst of transition between the old an new trainees we were able to pull off an amazing night of fun without the men. We bonded by using straws to drink our big mugs of beer at good old Akdeniz. A place along Nevizade, one of the most popular streets in Istanbul. Just because of us they changed the entire atmosphere from alternative rock to american pop. We pretty much rocked the house. The best were the reactions of everyone on the street to 10 girls without a care in the world dancing from our heart. It was great! At all three bars we were never once approached my creepy men, and none of us even looked at anyone outside our group. We didn't care. We were just having a good time with each other. Telling old stories to train the new naïve trainees and some of us being a little sentamental about leaving all of our "family," to venture home to a familiar yet unfamiliar place called home. This girls night was one of the best nights in Istanbul. Love you guys!!

2005-07-20T04:36:00.000-07:00

Lucky girl! You got the glass with the entire effes basketball team on it. That is a one of a kind. Why the hell didn't we steel that thing? Natercia, what were we thinking? Or were we even thinking....? Don't forget about the straws.

2005-07-20T04:35:00.000-07:00

The "Gregs" and the "Newbies" come together to pull off the BEST GIRLS NIGHT EVER.

2005-07-20T04:34:00.000-07:00

Sana - this girls got soul.

2005-07-20T04:33:00.000-07:00

"Heeeeeeeeyyyyyy" (see Istanbul603.blogspot.com for most common comments in the dorms) Get down, get down... Natercia won the trainee dance off but is normally too modest to show off her skillz. Lova ya girl!

2005-07-20T04:19:00.000-07:00

Sarah a.k.a. party pro

2005-07-20T04:18:00.002-07:00

It never stops.

2005-07-20T04:18:00.001-07:00

crazy girls

2005-07-20T04:18:00.000-07:00

Do you guys even remember this, or only after seeing this picture to remind you?

2005-07-20T04:17:00.000-07:00

Natercia, me, Sarah

A visit from Dad

2005-07-20T03:53:00.001-07:00

It was really so great to have my dad come to see me in Turkey. I am so happy he finally made his way over. It makes everything so much easier when he can really understand what I'm talking about and he can picture where I am when we communicate through email and phone. I think it makes him a lot less worried about me now that he has seen the security for the dorms and the scene of the city. As far as the trip itself goes we had a really great time.

It was really nice that my dad brought a colleague of his, Terry. All three of us really enjoyed ourselves. Although I made them walk about 500 miles in total, I think they might have forgiven me after their pain and muscle soreness went away. It was quite nice to have them because they really pointed out so many things I really never took notice of before. Some of them included:

1. "Istanbul is like the Minnesota State Fair except with better architecture, shopping, and fashion, and food in some people's opinion."

2. Tavuk doners (chicken wraps) are the greatest fast food in the world.

3. The boat traffic in the Bosphorus is insane.

If Terry and Tom would fill out the little surveys I sent them with their experiences I could tell you more. However they are quite busy working on top secret projects and giving cultural presentations :-)

2005-07-20T03:53:00.000-07:00

My dad and me enjoying a nice day in a little cafe by the Bosphorus in Besiktas. My dad was so amazed by all of the boat traffic. He couldn't believe how many barges, taxie-boats and ferrys were able to manouver their way around such a small waterway.

2005-07-20T03:49:00.000-07:00

Terry and Tom posing for a photo at one of the best overlook areas of the city. Bosphorus University

2005-07-20T03:48:00.000-07:00

Eating Doner (drunk food) after a late night of partying it up Istanbul style.

2005-07-20T03:46:00.000-07:00

On the way back from the Grand Bazaar (the second time!!)

2005-07-20T03:45:00.001-07:00

On the ferry from Kadikoy to Eminonu.

2005-07-20T03:45:00.000-07:00

On the ferry from Kadikoy to Eminonu.

2005-07-20T03:44:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite places to take tourists. The decore is all old turkish instruments, farming tools, pottery, or other random artifacts. They make you take off your shoes before entering the room and you must sit on pillows on the floor while you dine. The food is traditional and delicious! Although some traditions are not liked by all (e.g. The yogurt in Iskender or ayran).

2005-07-20T03:38:00.000-07:00

Aya Sophia

2005-07-20T03:37:00.001-07:00

simit guy

2005-07-20T03:37:00.000-07:00

traditional tea salesman

2005-07-20T03:36:00.000-07:00

I don't remember which mosque this was in, I swear I have been to waaaaaaaayyy too many. I love the hot-pink and black shirt brown and gold scarf combo. I think I pull it off real well.

2005-07-20T03:34:00.000-07:00

Terry enjoying the view as we drive through different neighborhoods of the Asian side.

2005-07-20T03:33:00.000-07:00

Dad chill'n out on a crowded bus. We were lucky we got seats.

2005-07-20T03:32:00.000-07:00

Terry and Tom having lunch in a nice little place in Kadikoy after me forcing them to walk more than they ever had in their life. I don't think they could even move after the first day. Ooops... sorry guys.

2005-07-20T03:30:00.000-07:00

I think they are mother and daughter. They look so happy. I love the little one's smile.

2005-07-20T03:29:00.000-07:00

They were so excited to have us take their picture.

Blog Neglect

2005-07-16T18:10:00.000-07:00

I am quite ashamed but I must plead guilty of blog neglect. My only excuse is that I've been lost and in love for the past two months and "haven't had any time." I think the past few months have been the most dramatic of my life and I apologize for not having documented nor shared all the thought provoking ideas and feelings that have been going through my mind. With a month left before my flight to Minneapolis from Istanbul is scheduled to take off, I will do as much as I can to make up for it.

Quick Updates:
1. I am currently starting a new CEEDership for AIESEC Istanbul in order to learn a little more about the organization and gain some experience.
2. I am continuing to look for a job with a multinational company almost anywhere in the world, preferably Turkey, Italy, Spain, or any Spanish speaking country. Avon is my first choice after my newfound obsession with Corporate Social Responsibility.
3. The truly amazing friends that have basically taken the place of my family in Turkey have all pretty much left for their home countries. It's pretty hard to see them leave but I must say that I am lucky enough to have those with whom I was closest, my dearest Aakash and Iva, still here with me. I love you guys!!!
4. Again, lucky me one of best friends/roommates from Madison has just come to Istanbul to start a new traineeship for 6-12 months. She's currently sharing my boyfriend's sweet little pad in the artsy neighborhood of Ortakoy. Last week we took a vacation along the Aegean coast of Turkey (see pictures above).
5. A whole new batch of trainees came to Istanbul for the summer. At first it was pretty difficult to start all over again with the "hi, how are you, where are you from, what are you doing in life, blah, blah, blah." But after a week or so I think everyone started feeling comfortable with each other and I have come to really like each of them as individuals and would love to try to become closer friends with them even though I know they are leaving in a month. You guys are really such a great group. Kisses!!
6. My friends and family still ask "when are you coming home?" every time I speak with them. I really miss you guys and love you so much, but don't worry, I will come home, I just don't quite know when. K? Until then don't miss your chance to come visit me in Turkey and experience a completely new enchanting culture.

Prince's Islands

2005-05-27T18:52:00.000-07:00

After taking a bus from Ortakoy to the bus station in Eminunu I booked it under the bridge past all the merchants selling the fresh fish sandwiches and doner’s for a dollar through mass amounts of people along the sea side about 100 meters to the fairy port praying that I could make the boat my friends were on going to the Island. I got there just as the men were closing the gate to board the boat, somehow I convinced them to let me in. Thank god, or otherwise I would have missed out on an absolutely lovely day.

I got on the boat just as it was leaving and surprised my friends sitting in perfect seats as they got their early just to get them. Sweating, I squeezed myself in between Monica and an old fat lady in a vail. The vailed lady didn’t seem too happy about my presence but I really didn’t care. We watched a few sales pitches in Turkish, one for a set of knives and the other for a lemon juicer. Even without understanding the language we were very impressed and a few from our group ended up buying the juicers and the fat lady in the vail bought the set of knives. Something to keep us entertained during the 2 hours it takes to get to the island.

Once on the island we walked around for a bit checking the place out getting used to the sound of horse carrage drivers yelling pardon for us to move out of the way instead of hearing constant car horns just confusing us as they do in Taksim. We had lunch, walked along the sea and had ice cream. I was of course having a hard time deciding over chewy dondurma (turkish ice cream) or a waffle which I became obsessed with the day before. Because of the warm weather I went for the dondurma and even if they ice cream man tried to scam us, believe me it was well worth it. I got Karasik, a little bit of each flavor all on one cone. Dipped in chocolate and nuts, its Absolutely amazing I tell you.

We rented bikes and biked all over the island. Ringing the bells on our handlebars going down hills in a line through the forest with the summer breeze against our face we felt just like kids again. It was the best! It didn’t matter where we were from (Venezuela, Portugal, Netherlands, Canada, and USA) or what the history of our country was. It was all lost in the fun just as if we were children without a care in the world. While dodging horse carriages we passed little shops and beautiful old mansions on the road. From the tops of the hills we could see the Bosphorus and parts of Istanbul in the distance.

After getting lost for a short period of time because of my and Martin’s adventurous nature, we hurried back to catch the 7:30pm fairy. We arrived just in time but the departure was then changed to 8:00pm. We sat next to the water as the sun was setting and ordered elma chai (apple tea) and tried to figure out how they got the bread around the breaded peanuts as we waited for the fairy. Once we boarded and the boat started to move all five of us passed out for 2 hours until we reached our final destination, Karikoy, Home Sweet Home!

Another lovely day with the trianees in Istanbul :-)

2005-05-27T07:59:00.000-07:00

Touring the Island

2005-05-27T07:58:00.000-07:00

I know it was a long night last night, but open your eyes girl!

2005-05-27T07:57:00.000-07:00

Buyuk Ada

2005-05-27T07:56:00.000-07:00

Is someone sleeping?

2005-05-27T07:55:00.000-07:00

mmm...ice cream...

2005-05-27T07:54:00.000-07:00

Basilio

2005-05-27T07:53:00.000-07:00

We're ready!!

2005-05-27T07:52:00.000-07:00

Moni modeling with her bike and Istanbul in the background.

2005-05-27T07:51:00.001-07:00

Woo Hoo!

2005-05-27T07:51:00.000-07:00

Yea!!

2005-05-27T07:50:00.000-07:00

Horse!

2005-05-27T07:49:00.000-07:00

Ferry port at Buyuk Ada

The Love Boat

2005-05-27T07:25:00.000-07:00

I just reached the ferry port in time to board after saying farewell to my father as he was leaving Turkey to go home to the states. I felt bad for leaving early but I really needed to have a good night with all my friends. I was a little worried as a boat party pretty much means you’re stuck out at sea with the same people for 5 hours. It was actually really cool because all of the trainees decided to go together. It was a kind of "bonding" if you will.

The city of Istanbul is absolutely gorgeous at night and from a boat in the Bosphorus it's pretty much indescribable. All of the Mosques and Palaces are all lit up and reflect beautifully off the water.

The first hour was nice as we were all starting to get a little tipsy, a few more hours and we became more than a little friendly. The trainees pretty much became incestual. It was so surprising. People I never would have imagined having chemistry for each other fell victim to their libido that night. I think there must be something about the sea that brings people together.

It's too bad I didn't care to pay attention to any of the love escapades of the night. I could have taken some wonderfully incriminating photos. But as you can see by the ones taken that even those of us who didn't meet our match that night had an absolutely wonderful time ;-)

2005-05-27T07:23:00.000-07:00

Random Dude, Christiano as part of the Turkish Mafia, and Aakash

2005-05-27T07:09:00.000-07:00

Iva, me, Sara aboard the Love Boat not really knowing what we are about to get ourselves into. rrrr....

2005-05-27T07:06:00.001-07:00

Maarten!!!!

2005-05-27T07:06:00.000-07:00

Hmmm....