Four Days in One

Whew. No Internet for several days and the experiences are backing up. I need to record them for clarity, because as the UTAustin professor Jennifer Gates-Foster predicted to us, I'm starting to get "marble fatigue". Actually no, not fatigue, but I risk confusion as the amazing sites start to slide together in my memory.
A brief list:
Antalya: the hotel rocked. That is my most enduring impression of my time there. I totally needed a day off, but I didn't recognize that because I'm like a hamster in the wheel of learning here. I cannot emphasize enough how well done this program is in terms of providing insight and context to the culture. It is heresy that we teach "the classics" from a solely Greek and Roman point of view. Worse--it's just historically myopic.
The old city was wonderful but I think I covered that in an earlier post. Our day off was rejuvenative (made up word?) and I needed it. I've been swimming almost every day this week. I think my triceps are starting to de-atrophy (another made up word).

Geez., where did we go from Antalya? I need to check. We spent last night in Kaqlkan, a super-charming but rather expensive harbor city. Our hotel was sweet (the Happy Hotel, google it) and I had a suite...yes, that was a ridiculous and intentional pun. Sorry. Poolside dining. For real. I took a walk after the after-dinner conversation (I love Jim and Jim for that, or Jim and David) down the steep streets--like Signal Hill only longer--to the ledge leading down to the public beach. It was Friday night, I gathered, because the few rooftop and sidewalk bars in this otherwise quiet residential neighborhood were pulsing with music and action. But we were removed from the center of the city, and apparently the mostly British clientele doesn't head out until 11:00 or so for the big nights. Oy vay. Not me. I had to pick up a few stones for the very large dogs in the area. Just in case. This place (Turkey) is rife with feral cats, and there are far fewer untended dogs here, but the ones they have are HUGE. So you don't take chances...that's what the stones are for.

Gosh, what did we do today? I have the Lycians (Lyceans?) on the brain. Yes, we started at Patara Beach, which I keep trying to write as Parata, but that's probably Indian. Anyway, it's a national park that belongs to humans from 7 to 8 during the day and from 8 to 7 to the Caratta caratta turtles during the night. Apparently they swim from the waters of Mexico all the way across to the Turkish Mediterranean to lay their eggs. 10 miles of uninterrupted beach. Jim Bey (Jim Haut from St. Louis, not to be confused with Jim Pasha from Cincinnati, more than 10 years his senior--hence the differential in titles) and I came across some serious fish vertebrae half buried in the sand. At least 8 inches across, this was a link of 6-7 vertebrae. Serious stuff. We were like kids, thrilled with our discovery but marvelously underinformed. And even at 8:30, the heat was killer so it was hard to be exultant.
Next to Lycian ruins currently under excavation. See, Patara is the birthplace of St. Nicholas, whose tomb/church we visited yesterday. My camera batteries were kicking (what I get for buying a 4-pack of Panasonics for 2 Turkish lira on the street in Antalya--they didn't work AT ALL). My main pursuit was following around the hordes of Russian tourists who come in droves to pay some sort of twisted cultural homage to St. Nicholas. So pious. That was in the city of Demre, which is half-Russian now. The history of the town is pretty interesting, but I won't detail it here. Suffice it to say that the Italians had their claws in St. Nicholas's relics, but the Russians could not be dissuaded. They bought up property at an alarming rate, while they were purportedly there to renovate the delapidated church (under Nicholas I, I think). I just liked listening to and reading all the Russian. BTW, if you're interested, Russian women's holiday fashion has just gotten worse as "prosperity" has come to them. Holy cow. Awful. Still gorgeous, but could somebody please dress these women to go outside???
Anyway, then I had a transcendent experience. Hard to describe, because you'd have to know about my history with water sports, fear of my uncles teaching me to swim (I was so sure they'd let go as they held me, floating, and then share a good laugh about how I sputtered...psychosis? I don't know. Anyway, I have a tenuous relationship with swimming/diving/large open water). So. We go out on a boat in...forget name of town. To spend some time in the water and see underground Lycian cities, mostly amphorae (plural of amphora, big jugs to hold oil, wine, whatever). 5-6 century B.C. Water levels were way lower then. These cities are buried under 4-5 meters of water. We stopped at 4-5 places for swimming. Gorgeous water. Oh yeah, and on the boat I realized I'd forgotten the bottom of my bathing suit. Nice. Just right there on my seat on the bus. I hadn't put it in my bag. What a moron. Crap. What to do. I had on shorts, but they were like tent canvas. Underwear option? No dice--not appropriate (what a day not to wear bikini briefs!) So in I went with the shorts. To hell with it. Had the time of my life. Apparently, since they were khaki colored, they looked quite scandalous from the boat. Ha. We became progressively braver as the afternoon wore on. I ended up jumping off the top rail--probably 3-4 meters from the water. For me this was a huge deal. I have never in my life gone off a high dive. However, I was filled with such exuberance, such optimism...I accessed my inner 11-year old. And boy did I have fun. What a day. We were all kids. Like kids at camp who really want to be there. We jumped in tandem. We jumped in groups of 4, 5...even like those old water-ballet movies, in a line. People did swan dives, back dives, cannonballs...it was great. I can't remember the last time I slayed a personal dragon (highdive) and had such fun. I think I did it 6-7 times. Go me.
Oh yeah, we went to Phaselis, a beautiful ancient town with 3 sleepy harbors that once was the dominion of pirates. It was a Lycian place (Anatolian peoples, not Greeks) then under the nominal direction of Rome, fended off the Persians (or am I getting my places confused?), was a hub for pirates for a long time...I forget. I'm telling you, we get so much info in a single day, I feel like I could write a lengthy piece that could submit to rigorous scholarly scrutiny every day.
It's crazy.

But that was yesterday. Today we hit Parata, Xanthos (pronounced Santos) and somewhere else, but I don't have my notes in front of me. Xanthos is what I really want to talk about because it brings up such thorny ethical/political/historic/economic issues. Basically the deal is this: the treasures and traces of the Lycian civilization at Xanthos (as in so many Turkish sites of antiquity) are mostly in the hands of foreign entities, namely the British Museum. This is not meant to point the finger of "guilt" (is it?) at Britain. The Germans, Americans and countless other "developed" countries have "helped" Turkey excavate here many, many important archaeological sites. Back in the 1800s and even early `1900s, I can be persuaded by the predominant argument that Turkey was unable to do justice to the digs, the research, the long-term housing and display (not to mention transport) of these objects. But this is not the case anymore. These objects belong in Turkish museums. In Turkey. The British Museum has priceless artifacts from countries around the world, so does the Met, and nearly every major museum in the West. And how did they get them? That's a question to ask. The black market for antiquities is HUGE. I do not mean to intimate that the major Western museums have acquired their stellar collections--seen by millions who might never travel to these far-flung places--by roguish means. Still, we need to ask the question of where Turkey's treasures (and India's and Afghanistan's and Egypt's, etc, etc, etc) belong. Times have changed. These countries know have the scholars, the technology, the know-how to protect and display these works. The two museums we've seen here (Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara and the Antalya Museum) are amazing. A-ma-zing. But they've had to buy some of their items from individuals or from major museums. That's just wrong. The Lycian coin collection we just viewed in Antalya was purchased by the Turkish state for $5 million just a few years ago, I think from the British Museum, but I'm not sure. That's so wrong. So many items displayed in the Antalya Museum has identification cards saying they'd been recouped from smugglers. It's big business. Like arms, like drugs, like human trafficking. Pisses me off.
This might be more than people wanted to read tonight.

Other quick notes: 40% done with Orhan Pamuk's book, Snow. Lovely. I really like it, but my time in Turkey and my readings for it have helped me appreciate it, the regional implications, the weighted individual (and larger social) implications of a person's relationship with God, the gender divide. It's wonderful.

Also, I L-O-V-E Fethiye. I should post a zillion pics of Fethiye, since it was the town I'd decided I would love while I was still in CT. I imagined it like a young man might imagine the perfect bride, full of charm, smiles just for him. So Fethiye has been in my imagination. Being here, it makes me think of Mom, rum and Jimmy Buffet. Not that I have any of those, but that she would like it. So would Chris. Boats, water, stores and bars. Our hotel pool is charming and the view from my window cannot be beat (except perhaps by the folks 2 stories above me.) Anyway, we have to leave in the morning. Early. I had a great walk (2K each way)down along the water--some serious boats moored here (rich people envy rearing its head again). Past the jendarm (like the French gendarme, except these dudes are military, not local police) to the main marina and all the shops, restaurants and activity unfolding there. Lovely. So very, very lovely in the soft light of early evening. I shopped a bit, bought 2 pieces of jewelry (so decadent) and walked through the bazaar (spelled pazar in Turkish).

Now distracted. Must go. More tomorrow.

Lost (technologically) in Antalya

I know, I know...Antalya is a total tourist town now, all built up with hotels, nothing like the small-town charm it had 15 years ago.... But even with a gazillion Turkish, Russian and German tourists, it's hard to ruin this city* that was an important port city during the Roman Republic (apparently the Romans took it over in the 2nd century B.C.) There is an arched wall dedicated to(by?) the emperor Hadrian--our guide calls Hadrian the travelling emperor. He does seem to have walls and arches and statues all over the place. The Ottomans put their mark on the Old City, a part of town called Kale İçi (kah-lay ee-chee in Turkish). I spent 4 hours this morning, on our only free day of the tour, walking its irregular streets around the wharf with my friend Julie, a social studies grant manager from NYC. We took a minibus from our hotel to the old part of town then had a Turkish coffee to sit with the map and orient ourselves a bit. Julie laughs that she's a camel, never drinks water. I on the other hand go through about 4-5 liters a day. We sweated in the morning heat, making our way past modern(ish) shops, the clocktower, the old mosque, the bazaar (where terrible t-shirts go to die) to the water. Holy cow. There's just something completely romantic and transformative about a Mediterranean marina, sky and water each boasting a better brand of blue, mountains on the far shore of the curved city. (Uh, oh yeah, and 2+2=4. What am I saying...of course the Mediterranean coast is ıncredible!) We wandered past dreamy new hotels crafted in revitalized Ottoman buildings, stopped for an ice cream show where I had my pic taken with the most compelling ıce cream pushcart operator I've ever met. Alas, I'm having computer problems and cannot post today.
Back to hotel (check it out: the Marmara in Antalya...make sure you see shots of the pool and the beach). Swim in ocean, kick butt on an NYC crossword puzzle, then shower and nap. Ahh. Now THAT's a day off.

Will post separately for yesterday and the day before. I want to stave off blog fatigue.

We leave tomorrow morning for the several sites along the coast and a boat ride at Fethiye. By the way, when I didn't want to grade papers in May, I'd spend an hour checking out real estate in Fethiye (Fet-ee-yeh). It' gorgeous. We'll be there one night then on to Kuşadası for 4 days. Holy cow. I'm just looking up and around ın the openair common room of this hotel. This has got to be the nicest one I've ever stayed in. Thank you Fulbright!!

Quick Note from Konya

Hey all--haven't had time to do much on the blog. Quick recap: trouble sleeping has brought me down, coupled with continued stalled negotiations between me and my digestive tract. Relations seem to be improving, but I haven't been the happiest camper in terms of my corporal state. We were up at 4:15 for ballooning yesterday in Cappadocia. Man, if you're going to lay out $210 for a 75 minute experience, it might as well be for this. Sheer glory in the meeting of earth and sky, with you hanging right there in the twain (in the 'tween?). Then a sad goodbye to Cappadocia and a few hours on the bus. We stopped at a 13th or 14th century Seljuk Turk Caravanseray with a crumbling mosque inside. Gorgeous. More on that when I have time to post. Caravanserays were placed at places with water about one day's camel ride apart along the old Silk Road, done so for safety. Anyway, from there to Konya, the place where Mevlana (Rumi) is buried. The mosque, now a museum, in which he is "buried" (Muslim tradition says the body must be interred, so his coffin is symbolic) is gorgeous. Its walls are filled with geometric Seljuk-era designs, calligraphy from the Qur'an written in Farsi (the language of the time) and the ceilings are bursting with color. There were many other coffins, relics, ancient pieces of clothing and priceless Qur'ans, many 8 or 9 centuries old. I was in the 6-7% of women not wearing headscarves. More on that later too. My luggage is getting picked up in 8 minutes and I am not packed, so I have to be quick. Konya is a city of 2 million, not very charming to the eye, and highly conservative. There is a military base here where American, Israeli and other international pilots come to train with their Turkish counterparts. A bunch of them were staying in this hotel last night. It is Konya's only 5 star and somehow I got a suite: Sweet! My room in Antalya, where we're heading today, will suffer by comparison!

Cappadocia Pictures

Here are a few more pictures from the past 2 days in Cappadocia (that's cap-uh-DOKE-ee-uh). And seriously, you should check it out online. It's wicked cool.

5 July Urgup, near Goreme in Cappadocia

Hey folks. For those of you who have no idea where/what Cappadocia is, you need to Google it. It's a region of central Turkey, the Asian part that is called Anatolia (incidentally, 3% of Turkey is in Europe, that's the part known as Thrace, even in Roman times; 97% is in Asia, and it's Anatolia). Anyway, heading a few hundred kms SSW of Ankara, Cappadocia begins roughly near the dormant volcano Mt. Hasan, which exploded in...uh, can't remember, sometime in the Bronze Age (1150 B.C.?) and was home to the Hittite empire. Mt. Hasan is the subject of the first recorded landscape painting on a wall in Catal Huyuk, the first settled society. Think 6000 B.C. One of our professors says evidence has recently come to light that Catal Huyuk (Cha-tal Hew-yewk) was actually inhabited as far back as 9000 B.C. ("All the history books will have to be changed.") The land becomes browner, dryer, and more topographically interesting as you head SW. We stopped at a salt lake that was only 5" deep all the way across (it covers over 1000 sq. km., but we only saw the head of the lake). My feet, newly exfoliated at the Ankara pedicure, were unprotected from the salt pebbles and shards. Ouch, ouch, ouch. I can safely say that Turkey has now heard all my profanity. Anyway, the lake is 30% salt, that's pretty high salinity. So nothing lives in it but a type of bacteria that turns the water (and the surrounding sand, depending on the light) soft to bright pink. It was lovely.
The true draw of Cappadocia, however, is the rock formations. Much like the American SW and W, central Turkey has landscapes of great drama. I don't retain all of the geological info we receive (my head is so full, you wouldn't believe it), but it has to do with volcanic ash and basalt. And probably some other stuff. Erosion, wind, etc. And we're left with "fairy chimneys". And lots and lots of cave homes. Plus underground cities, some as deep as 7 levels (or 8, depending on who you ask) going down about 140 feet. Early Christians, we're talking 3rd and 4th centuries, used to live here and hide from the marauders (Romans, then Arabian peninsula Muslims, then...well, I can't remember.) So interesting, so ingenius in many respects. Just great.

Last night was our Turkish cultural festival. Tour groups pay $35/head and watch dancers represent different regions/eras of Turkish and Ottoman history. Very cool. We drank local wines and raki (pronounced rah-kuh), an anisette "brandy" that you mix with water. Yum. We danced like crazy people and had a great time. Tonight after all our Goreme (pronounced ger-rem-ay) hiking, we went to a Dervish ceremony--so...totally...cool. I was afraid watching all that whirling would make me feel queasy, especially since my tummy and I are still not on full-out speaking terms. But no. It reminded me of going to the symphony in Moscow: it's atmospheric. The lights were low, the music and singing were wonderful, and the dervishes were elegant and inspiring. I didn't have my camera, so I'll have to get pics from a colleague. The Turkish instrument kanun is fantastic. It's a many-stringed instrument in a box that you hold on your lap. It's beautiful and evocative. I love that sound.
We went to a famous carpet maker/seller today too. They make the famous Ciran (chi-rahn) carpets that have won the Architectural Digest World Carpet competitions 3 years in a row. You should totally check them out on line. My pictures do not do them justice. They showed us the Ottoman weaving style of Hareke, another cool technique/product to check out on line. These carpets were so beautiful, I had an acute case of Rich People Envy. Dreadful. The pictures I took are to show my husband how much money I didn't spend. My favorite was almost $20K, but they were at $17K before I left. I wonder how low they would've gone. It was huge and beautiful. Sigh.

Tomorrow we have our balloon ride, and with it a 4:15 wake-up call. I will post pictures here, but if you want to see more, go to my Facebook page where I'm loading up albums.

Ebru, Turkish Water Painting, Part 2

alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5354464623705098274" />
Here's the last bit of the women squeezing out the water, rinsing the silk and hanging it to dry. The last shot is of a pair of fancy shoes from the Ottoman days. They'd be worn in the hamam, or bath house, to keep your feet off the cold and slippery marble. Speaking of which, the sidewalks here are crazy slippery, especially given the hilly nature of the city. We've had some near wipe-outs. You have to be careful and go slowly.

Ebru, Turkish Water Painting, Part 1

A few days ago we got a demonstration of the Turkish art of ebru. I described it in an earlier post. I have a few minutes while the computer is charging and wanted to post a string of pics to show how totally cool the process and product are.