Turkish pumpkins! Well, watermelons. But they turned out really well, huh? And with candles, they're appropriately red and scary. Happy Hallowe'en!
Thursday, October 30, 2008
If we find a dead body, we can kill it!
Turkish pumpkins! Well, watermelons. But they turned out really well, huh? And with candles, they're appropriately red and scary. Happy Hallowe'en!
Istanbul Hallowe'en, Part 1
Well, food coloring apparently doesn't exist in Istanbul (Turkey?). So our cupcakes don't have blue or green eyes, but brown instead. We're getting ready for Hallowe'en, so did these last night...stay tuned!
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Animal Collective in Istanbul!
Yeah, we're cool! (And we were the oldest people there, we believe!) Went to see Animal Collective last night, at Babylon in the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul. There's a dolmuş (public minibus) that goes straight to Taksim Square from near our house, and then straight back afterwards (we caught it coming home at 1:30 a.m.), so although the hours are a bit late for us old people, at least it's easy. 
The club is quite small, but is really nice. We've been in a few clubs in Istanbul now, where they take old buildings/warehouses and upgrade them, making 'em very cool & useable.
It was way too loud and we were sorry we'd forgotten to buy earplugs, but it was totally weird and wonderful. Sort of like if the Residents were indie pop?! Or funky, head-bopping avant-garde? Here's an article from the New Yorker about them.
After the show, as we walked back up to Taksim Square to get a dolmuş back home, we were a little surprised at how Istiglal Street was still quite full of pedestrians, and others enjoying a midnight snack or tea in many of the cafes that're still open at that hour. We didn't linger, however, and were glad when we got home and plopped ourselves into bed, about an hour later. Thank god it wasn't a school night!
The club is quite small, but is really nice. We've been in a few clubs in Istanbul now, where they take old buildings/warehouses and upgrade them, making 'em very cool & useable.
It was way too loud and we were sorry we'd forgotten to buy earplugs, but it was totally weird and wonderful. Sort of like if the Residents were indie pop?! Or funky, head-bopping avant-garde? Here's an article from the New Yorker about them.
After the show, as we walked back up to Taksim Square to get a dolmuş back home, we were a little surprised at how Istiglal Street was still quite full of pedestrians, and others enjoying a midnight snack or tea in many of the cafes that're still open at that hour. We didn't linger, however, and were glad when we got home and plopped ourselves into bed, about an hour later. Thank god it wasn't a school night!
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Dental Hygiene Week in Grade 5
Thought you'd enjoy these clay models of teeth. I like the ones with different colored teeth; I don't know if that means more or less decay!
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Surreal Life
Hi!
This post is not called Surreal Life because there's a Dali exhibit at the Bostanci Museum here in Istanbul now. It's because we had an 'official' welcome dinner last night at the Foundation's dining room. (We work for a school, but the school is run by a foundation.)
About a half hour after we had all sat down, and were thinking we'd be served dinner, suddenly there was a flutter by the door (at the end of the red carpet we'd entered on) and a bride & groom entered! Elvis Presley's "I Can't Help Falling in Love with You" started playing and they had a first dance.
So why was a wedding party at our welcome dinner? Well, all we can figure is they were sharing the dining room with us because either they (or the Foundation) got a discount; waiters, food costs, etc., divided by 2?!
Strange and stranger...
This post is not called Surreal Life because there's a Dali exhibit at the Bostanci Museum here in Istanbul now. It's because we had an 'official' welcome dinner last night at the Foundation's dining room. (We work for a school, but the school is run by a foundation.)
About a half hour after we had all sat down, and were thinking we'd be served dinner, suddenly there was a flutter by the door (at the end of the red carpet we'd entered on) and a bride & groom entered! Elvis Presley's "I Can't Help Falling in Love with You" started playing and they had a first dance.
So why was a wedding party at our welcome dinner? Well, all we can figure is they were sharing the dining room with us because either they (or the Foundation) got a discount; waiters, food costs, etc., divided by 2?!
Strange and stranger...
Friday, October 17, 2008
Some HOT stuff in the fridge
Now that chiles are finding their way into all kinds of food, including pricey chocolate in some parts of the world, it probably shouldn't be all that surprising that it's a key ingredient in... a Turkish soft drink.
Pictured here is a small bottle of Şalgam suyu (hot, fermented carrot juice), which is pretty strong stuff, and explains why it's sold in such a small bottle. [As always, you can click on any picture here at this blog to see the original (larger) version of the photo.] It's not all that bad when cut with some fizzy water, though that's not exactly the thing to do when drinking among purists. We didn't try the un-spicy version; perhaps that's better.
A little less exotic is Hot Ajvar (jar shown below), a spicy veggie spread that's pretty tasty on crackers or as a condiment. According to the back label, red pepper is the first ingredient (red peppers in Turkey are longer and a little spicier than, say, red bell peppers, but hardly in the same league as actual chiles), followed by eggplant, then "hot peppers" (there ya go!), garlic, sunflower oil, salt, vinegar and sugar. Kinda refreshing to not have Red Dye No. 13 or some other caustic chemical! What is great about this label are the 5 languages it's written in: Arabic, Dutch, English, German and Turkish.
In any case, the whole spiciness issue is kinda interesting, given that Turkish food is, on the whole, extremely bland for those of us who appreciate New Mexican and Indian food. But at least if you have a craving for peppery fermented carrot juice (by the way, on the label they look like beets, not carrots), you can try a Turkish market.
Pictured here is a small bottle of Şalgam suyu (hot, fermented carrot juice), which is pretty strong stuff, and explains why it's sold in such a small bottle. [As always, you can click on any picture here at this blog to see the original (larger) version of the photo.] It's not all that bad when cut with some fizzy water, though that's not exactly the thing to do when drinking among purists. We didn't try the un-spicy version; perhaps that's better.
A little less exotic is Hot Ajvar (jar shown below), a spicy veggie spread that's pretty tasty on crackers or as a condiment. According to the back label, red pepper is the first ingredient (red peppers in Turkey are longer and a little spicier than, say, red bell peppers, but hardly in the same league as actual chiles), followed by eggplant, then "hot peppers" (there ya go!), garlic, sunflower oil, salt, vinegar and sugar. Kinda refreshing to not have Red Dye No. 13 or some other caustic chemical! What is great about this label are the 5 languages it's written in: Arabic, Dutch, English, German and Turkish.
In any case, the whole spiciness issue is kinda interesting, given that Turkish food is, on the whole, extremely bland for those of us who appreciate New Mexican and Indian food. But at least if you have a craving for peppery fermented carrot juice (by the way, on the label they look like beets, not carrots), you can try a Turkish market.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Cult of Personality
Not sure why, but the last three countries we've lived in have been heavy on the Cult of Personality. Photos are ubiquitous: in every store or bank, throughout the school (you don't pick the photos that decorate your office!), and of course even on the money. This is Kamal Ataturk. Multiple celebrations coming up in late October and early November. We'll keep you posted!
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Pictures available for Crete & Athens
Check out these 2 links if you want to see some of our travel photos from our trip over Bayram/Eid to Greece...Photos from Athens
Photos from Crete
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Our beloved translators
At the school, we are fortunate, even blessed, to have two translators: Arjlan & Nazli. Two Turkish women who speak amazing English. (Their jobs are equivalent to PROs—Public Relations Officers—in the Gulf, though they have different job titles.)
Yesterday, an emergency prompted me to call one of our principals to come down "immediately." He arrived a few minutes later with Nazli in tow, not sure what to expect. Fortunately, it wasn't a fire (though Nazli was prepared to blow it out), but a conflagration of a different sort: two teachers fighting over access to the children's room (which has children's books and a DVD player/TV). It turned out no translation was necessary after all, but it sure was nice to have a language expert available.
(BTW, I don't think there should be a DVD player/TV for children, actually, and am going to try to get it removed completely—and fill that space with books. That's one way to solve the problem!)
Language is quite fascinating here (everywhere!). People don't generally speak
Arabic, but there are quite a few words that appear in both languages. For example, tamam, which means maybe in Arabic, is instead okay in Turkish. I still have to think a few seconds to decide if someone is telling me okay or not. The Turkish word harem, which us English speakers think of as the concubine's quarters in a palace, has the meaning of forbidden (with a slightly different pronunciation) in Arabic.
Interestingly, the call to prayer here at the mosques is in Arabic, because Arabic is the language of Allah.
At our gym, the Pilates class, besides making me cranky and exhausted, is also teaching me some interesting words: suk (squeeze), bas (press) and nefisir and nefisvar (breathe in, breathe out). I'm learning to count (but only to 10!) but also to dread when she says, "Iketane" (two more).
Back at our school, Nazli & Arjlan do their best to ensure cross-cultural relations are smooth and pleasant for all involved. That's worth a lot, of course, and we're really lucky to have them as colleagues.
Yesterday, an emergency prompted me to call one of our principals to come down "immediately." He arrived a few minutes later with Nazli in tow, not sure what to expect. Fortunately, it wasn't a fire (though Nazli was prepared to blow it out), but a conflagration of a different sort: two teachers fighting over access to the children's room (which has children's books and a DVD player/TV). It turned out no translation was necessary after all, but it sure was nice to have a language expert available.
(BTW, I don't think there should be a DVD player/TV for children, actually, and am going to try to get it removed completely—and fill that space with books. That's one way to solve the problem!)
Language is quite fascinating here (everywhere!). People don't generally speak
Arabic, but there are quite a few words that appear in both languages. For example, tamam, which means maybe in Arabic, is instead okay in Turkish. I still have to think a few seconds to decide if someone is telling me okay or not. The Turkish word harem, which us English speakers think of as the concubine's quarters in a palace, has the meaning of forbidden (with a slightly different pronunciation) in Arabic. Interestingly, the call to prayer here at the mosques is in Arabic, because Arabic is the language of Allah.
At our gym, the Pilates class, besides making me cranky and exhausted, is also teaching me some interesting words: suk (squeeze), bas (press) and nefisir and nefisvar (breathe in, breathe out). I'm learning to count (but only to 10!) but also to dread when she says, "Iketane" (two more).
Back at our school, Nazli & Arjlan do their best to ensure cross-cultural relations are smooth and pleasant for all involved. That's worth a lot, of course, and we're really lucky to have them as colleagues.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Quick note about the train from Istanbul - Athens
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