Anna's Bakery

Oh my. So deelicious..... a real berliner, a real chocolate croissant, and a real latte! Hard to believe this happened in Turkey.
How did it happen, you may ask with good reason. My coworker was determined to find a German bakery somewhere in Istanbul. He did, but it was in Göktürk, a part of the city that doesn't connect well with Sarıyer by public transportation. He convinced another coworker (who has a car) to join in the quest, and since I was there at the right moment, I got to come along, too.
Göktürk is saturated with boutique shops, especially French and German ones, and its central area hardly looks like Istanbul at all. We speculated that it was a kind of Turkish Truman Show set. There were plenty of people and cars, but this photo is basically what it looks like:

The bakery, however, was the real thing. It was so much fun to drink a cappuccino that can be distinguished from a latte! (My coworker took the photo, so that's why the latte was featured.) I brought home some tasty treats so we can extend the mystical bakery experience a couple more days...

Happy Solstice!

From: NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day

More Snowy Pictures from Campus

Some of my students hadn't seen snow at all before, so they were eager to take photos from the classroom (during class, of course). In exchange for a 2 minute "snow break," I asked to get copies of the photos :D
Here are a few of those:

Now it is all melted... no surprise since it was a wet, slushy snow to begin with. Maybe we'll get more later, who knows?

First Snowy Day

After much anticipation, and a teaser of sleet yesterday, this morning we have a blustery, truly snowy day. From the inside, I'm a lot more impressed by the wind than the snow. We'll see if I think the same later today. Some of my coworkers were hoping for a snow-day today. If that really happens, the threshold for "too much snow" is very low. I guess there's still time, but I very much doubt that we have a free day today.

Here's the view from the porch this morning:

Here are a couple photos of campus later in the day:

Winter is here!

Also of note, my mini-bus commute was rather exciting as we fish-tailed up the hill to the main road. When we arrived on campus, I wanted to applaud! On the way home, I got a ride from a coworker, which was much better.

Fall Semester Countdown!

Two more weeks of teaching to go... and yes, I'm counting!

The last three weekends have been crammed with grading and a bit of hasty planning :((( I've been forcing myself to use the Pomodoro timing system to keep focused (see http://tomatoi.st/ixka ), and it works, but I'm really sick of it. This is when it helps to have a little more experience in a job because you know when the assignments will pile up and can try to spread them out better. I didn't; now I cry, cry, cry.

In the meantime, the weather has finally turned cooler. It'll be close to freezing when I go to work this morning. The rest of the week is supposed to rain in the low 40s, which means icy rain overnight, I bet. We're keeping warm in the apartment all the same. On campus, the rooms are overheated, so students end up opening the windows--energy efficiency, what's that?

The final exams will be on December 23rd and 24th, and the grading day is the 25th. I've been told that we can grade at home--woohoo! I'm a bit vague on the next week or two, but it's not break. It seems to be a planning period for the Spring Semester and a tutoring time for students who will be taking the university entrance exam in the first week of January. Out winter break starts January 11. The big news is that Alex and I are going to visit his family in France for part of the break--this has been a goal for a looooooong time. From Istanbul, the flight is just over 3 hours to Lyon... not so bad!

Oh! It's 7am already--time to get movin!

Hat and Scarf!

Huzzah! I finally finished the hat and scarf! Now I can move onto the poncho.

Here's my lame attempt at a selfie: Self with Hat.

An Evening of Fil'm

Our friend Sibel, who got her MA at the University of Arizona, is a great film buff, and when she suggested that we see some short films together, it was a done deal! She has a membership with a group called Fil'm Hafizası (Film Memory), which is a pretty silly pun in Turkish. 'Fil' means 'elephant', and here is their logo:

They host a monthly short film series and this time the theme was "High Tension Night". Luckily, most of the films didn't focus on the slasher aspect of horror, even though there were a few gruesome moments. Some of the best features were:

Le Lac Noir dir. by Victor Jacquier (2011, Switzerland/France)

A big-toothy fish.... what could go wrong?

The Heat dir. by Bartosz Kruhlik (2013, Poland)

This one is real-life horror--much more gut-wrenching than anything else we saw.

The Small Assassin dir. by Chris Charles (2007, USA)

Ray Bradbury wrote the story, that is all.

Yours Truly dir. by Elvira Kusno and Ian Salim (2011, Indonesia)

Of these, I have to recommend Yours Truly above the others. It has a fascinating build-up and a couple more plot twists, which don't depend on a cameo from The Devil. Lucky you, it is available on Vimeo:

http://vimeo.com/20466527

Getting back up to speed...

So, I'm no longer behind by four sets of exams, one set of essays, a few homework assignments, and countless random attendance-related tasks. That feels better... now I just have to stay ahead of the game just enough to minimize the pointless stress. Really, this is about teaching more than it is about living in Turkey. In fourteen years of teaching, I've been trying to streamline my effort while still doing my best for the students' learning--sort of the "Cheaper By the Dozen" efficiency mode. If I it were up to me, I would just take more time to teach and learn at a calmer pace. Of course, it's not up to me, and so we rush to cram in as much material as possible in a semester, and the students are just as impatient to "get through" the language program. And, here it is, past seven already, so I better keep moving!

Homage to Oatmeal

I would never have predicted it, but I miss oatmeal... a lot. In Turkey, I have found perfectly acceptable muesli, but not just plain oatmeal. When I was in Michigan for Grandma Reed's funeral, I had delicious oatmeal--twice--which only fed into my obsession with the humble oats. Yesterday, at the market on campus, I found two possibilities. I recognized the word for oats (yulaf) but I didn't know the second words. I had to choose between yulaf kepeği and yulaf ezmesi. I don't have a smartphone, so I couldn't just look it up. I tried to choose by reading the recipes on the packages; one had what seemed to be muffins and the other had a pankek recipe. Needless to say, I chose the wrong one. I now have a bag of oatbran (yulaf kepeği). Well, with enough honey, nuts, and dried fruit, oatbran makes a fine hot mush. So, I think I'll go back and get the other kind too. (According to the dictionary, yulaf ezmesi should be oatmeal.) I can make pancakes with the oatbran later, I guess.

Welcomed back by a beautiful day

Well, well, I woke up to a beautiful day in Istanbul. In the afternoon, Alex and I took a little trip down to the Bosphorus in Sarıyer for a pleasant walk. There were lots of families out strolling, people fishing, people lounging on park benches eating sunflower seeds, and a few intrepid bicyclists, too. Some others had brought picnic lunches, complete with tea kettles, and propane tanks. You just don't want to run out of fresh tea!

The scenic views

The less scenic view of the pylons for the Third Bosphorus Bridge 

that are eating up the forest on the Asian side.

Foggy Mornings

The Black Sea sends its regards...

This is the view from our porch on many a foggy morning; it burns off in a couple of hours. It makes it very, very easy to sleep in! 

Recommended Films: Meryem and Üç Yol

If, somehow, these movies get U.S. distribution and/or English subtitles, I recommend you see them! The first one, Meryem, is all in Turkish, so I understood about 30% of what they were saying. Still, it was definitely worth seeing for the overall story, characters, and images.
Meryem
(Don't let the conventional "young bride who waits" premise put you off.)

The second film, Üç Yol (Crossroads), is set in Bosnia and Turkey with a great mix of Bosnian, Turkish, English, French. The plot and its universe are often set in dreams that slide into reality and vice-versa. The lasting traumas of the Bosnian War are just one layer of the psychology of the characters and the film.

Üç Yol (Crossroads)

A kilim of our own!

Behold, our new Turkish rug!

On Saturday, I went with a group of friends from work on an all-day expedition to the Grand Bazaar (Kapalı Çarşı) in the old, touristy part of Istanbul. The day started with Turkish breakfast at Cafe Violeta, a nearby restaurant in Sarıyer. For $12.50 per person, we had: cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, hard boiled eggs, sausage (enjoyed by others, I assure you), menemen, several cheeses, french toast, bread, simit, poğaca, clotted cream and honey (bal kaymak), apricot jam, cherry jam, strawberry jam, tahini and molasses (pekmez), endless tea, and Turkish coffee to finish the meal. (I've probably forgotten something, too). This, of course, was a leisurely meal, and we all claimed that we would never eat again when we left the table!
Then we began the long trek south to the old city.
When we got there, somehow people were ready to have a snack!?! I could just manage tea, but it was an interesting, quieter nook of the market. We were being watched...

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk looms large

The ceiling makes a cool pattern

When we got the check, we noticed that it didn't quite add up. In fact, it was nearly 70 lira over! The waitstaff did apologize, but what a stupid "error." If it's just bad math, they seriously need a calculator. If it's a scam, did they think no one would notice? 

Well, after that, we went to a carpet shop, Adnan and Hasan, that has been recommended by KU people. It was the moment when ancestral knowledge was passed down to the next generation: here is where the ELC family has always found it's rugs and carpets. We had more tea (!) and settled in for a long, detailed, and truly fascinating tutorial on carpets and rugs. So, I decided to put that new knowledge to good use, and get a rug, too! 

The rug (kilim) I bought is thick, woven cotton and it is approximately 4 1/2 feet square. It is a sofra, which is a rug traditionally used for dining. A large communal plate would be put in the center and people would sit with the edge of the rug in their lap in order to catch any dropped food. At the end of the meal, the rug would be shaken out for the birds and no food would be wasted.

While we won't be using our rug in the traditional way, I have to say the new rug makes the apartment feel more homey, more like our own space.  

Going to the gym...

Over break, I finally went to the gym to exercise with some of my colleagues. The machines are much like what I used back in Arizona, which makes it easier. The rooms are quite small, so the machines are really tucked in closely. It was great to go back--I realllllllly felt it the next day.
I decided to rearrange my office hours after classes so that I could have more time in the mid-afternoon to go during the week. Right now, I can just manage a 45 minute workout. I went on Monday; there were only about four of us there. Of course, one of them was my student ;P It wasn't too horrendously awkward. He did tell me that he approved of me going to the gym--thanks!
It's no surprise to see a student there because the gym is in their "territory." The West Campus, which is a student residential area, is within walking distance of our apartment complex. The walk goes through some major construction that overlaps a highly traveled road for cars, motorcycles, and public transportation. I get the adrenaline going just getting there. I could take a dolmuş, but it seems silly for such a short ride.
My plan is to go again today. If I make this a routine, I'll go Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Wish me luck!

I went yesterday, asphalt laying backhoes be damned! Saw two more students, one of whom said, "What are you doing here!" Sorry kid, nowhere is safe from the olds....

Oh, by the way, I just noticed this is the 100th post on my blog! 

Istanbul Biennial 2013

 This post is a work in progress... Here are the photos from my outing to the Istanbul Biennial. I'll add more text sooooooon! Uff ya, adding a little less than expected this morning. I discovered there was no gas left for the stove :((( 

OK, I got a new gas cylinder yesterday afternoon--with the normal amount of confusion over the phone--but, as they say, now we're cookin' with gas!

On Sunday, my friend Blake and I went to see two of the venues of the Istanbul Biennial; the 2013 theme was "Mom, am I a barbarian?". We had planned to go earlier in the week, but the weather turned much too rainy and cold for such a cross-town trek. Sunday was the last day of the Biennial, so there was a bit of motivation to go. Lucky for us, it was a gorgeous, fall day!

This is one set of Rainbow Stairs in Istanbul (near the Fındıklı tram stop).

The words are: Barış için el ele. /  Hand in hand for peace.

These photos are from an exhibit of children's art at the Biennial. The school kids made a shadow-paper diorama of "their" city.

Pieces from the Biennial 

I still need to look up the titles and names of the artists...

Lunch break with attendant kitty

Massive installation at another Biennial venue

Art masquerading as flooring

Ah, if only this were in focus!

Floor masquerading as art

 View of a church from the roof of one of the venues

The parking lot for the church--is that a landing pad?

Blake contemplating the city

Happy to be out seeing art on a beautiful day!

Cappuccino and Carrot Cake on the Bosphorus

...and a view!

Alex and I took a jaunt down to Sarıyer to see if anything was open on the first day of the holiday. Most grocery stores, clothing stores, and cafes were open, but not much else. There were plenty of people out and about along the shore, and we stopped at Camilla Cafe to enjoy some coffee and a treat. That was the extent of today's adventure. Now I'm back in the apartment avoiding grading ;P

Expedition to the Big Island!

On our first official vacation day, we went with a group of my work friends to Büyükada, which is the biggest of the Princes Islands in the Mamara Sea just off the coast of Istanbul. We left the apartment pretty early, around 8:15am, caught a nearly empty dolmuş down to Sarıyer to meet up with everyone. There was some hope of taking a commuter boat from Sarıyer to Kabataş, where there is a pier for boats to the islands. Since the ticket office door was still locked at 8:45 (and there was no boat waiting), we took a bus instead. The bus made remarkably good time--it seems that Istanbul has emptied out for the week long holiday--and we caught a 10am boat to the islands with 15 minutes to spare! The trip to the islands took about an hour. Here we are at the beginning of the trip:

Good-bye mainland!

Hello island!

Beautiful gardens, beautiful houses...

Beautiful cats!

 One of many horse-drawn carriages

The majority of the other tourists on our boat to the island were from Gulf countries (Saudi Arabia, most likely), and they hired the carriages--the Europeans and Americans generally chose to walk. It was quite a steep uphill walk, but the views were well worth the effort.

A more humble abode

So, there is a story for this photo; the dog was tied, but determined to catch the birds. It kept rushing at them, and would get held back by the leash. The cats just watched this poor, deluded dog...

At the beginning of the real uphill trek

Wish-strings--apparently people tie these to trees and if the strands don't break, 

then their wish will come true.

Wish tree--these are labels from water bottles and wet wipes!

Abandoned orphanage--a huge wooden structure

Our destination--the monastery of Saint George

It wasn't clear if services were still held here, 

but there were lots of signs for people to be quiet to respect worshipers.

Cats waiting for us to drop something from our lunch

On break....

 Bee houses?

The House of the Masons?

Arty House

GELATO!

 

Tired feets

Good-bye islands!

Hello city...

The end of a fine day