Turkey Trotting

Time for Korea Trotting

2011-07-17T07:59:00.000-07:00

It's time to leave my Turkey blog behind. Of course I feel like it was more of a Europe blog, but whatever. I will MISS my time in Turkey. What a fabulous place!

We just received a draft of our orientation schedule at Chadwick, and we go in exactly two weeks, and so I think it's appropriate to turn the focus to the new blog. The permanent blog--the one that won't change, even if we move again in two years (please let this be so good we don't want to leave in two years!).

Introducing: Love International Living. http://loveinternationalliving.wordpress.com
I've decided to try out the Wordpress service for blogging as I have more and more friends going that route. There must be a reason, yes? So far I like it. There's something professional about all those setting options and it's rigidity within certain templates (just kidding--I hate rigidity but I'm making peace with it). I've actually been posting to it for a couple of months now so scroll down for more posts.

I'm changing the format because I've had soooo many people ask me how we came into this line of work and it's a lot of information to try to communicate each time. So now I have a how-to page with lots of links and helpful information for people who want to work in international schools.

For my dear friends and family who are on the email list for this current blog, to get the same, all you have to do is go to the blog page ONCE and on the right hand side there's an option to enter your email address to receive notifications of new posts. Okay? Easy peasy.

The Time For Home is Nigh

2011-06-06T01:09:00.000-07:00

We began packing yesterday for our big move. Bali is so pissed at us. I think she realizes that we're not leaving her, but she is aware that traumatic things are on the horizon. She's withholding her purrs and most general affection. Poor Bali! She's so ornery!

Many emotions swirl as we look down the tracks of the roller coaster of the next 2 and 1/2 weeks here (and the summer beyond). We have 2 weekends left. We're going to be leaving some wonderful friends, both local and other American and international teachers. I'm leaving a group of kids I've spent the last two years with and love dearly. I've already shed a few tears. And I also feel a small pang of regret for things not accomplished while here.

--No trip to Cyprus to see Chaddy
--No trip to Jordan, Petra and the Wadi Rum
--Not enough time in Israel or Egypt
--No trip to the Turkish Kachkar Mountains
--No trip to Nemruit Dag (think Easter Island but up high)
--No African safari
*Okay, perhaps I get a tad carried away.

Still, what an incredible part of the world we've had a chance to occupy! We've been to Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, and all over Turkey--the cradle of human civilization. I also feel fortunate to have lived in a secular Muslim country. I feel so much more prepared to understand the politics and difficulties of a global world, how religion informs politics, to think in different ways, and to keep an open mind in ALL matters. I've had the unique opportunity to make friends from this area and Pakistan--many Muslim, many agnostic, but all wonderful and they have informed my understanding and world view. So, in many ways, it is so hard to leave.

But we're excited for so many things too:
--the opportunity to build a dream school
--the opportunity to form the community of a new small city
--travel in Asia (climbing in Thailand, skiing in Japan, trekking in Nepal, China, etc etc)
--a SIGNIFICANT furthering of our cultural education
--a new climbing community
--an expat running community
--proximity to New Zealand and the Pacific Islands
--proximity to more of our friends we've made over the years of this gig
--the opportunity to spend our summers in the States

There are many things to be excited for. And so I'm ready. Ready to start again. Ready for more new experiences. Ready to get home for the summer (it's been 2 years--we're so excited for this trip!) to be with friends and family.
The travel schedule looks like this:
--June 22nd we arrive in NC. That weekend we go to Leatherwood (where we were married 6 years ago) with our parents
--From then till July 1st we're in Boone
--July 1st-5th we're in DC
--From July 6th to July 14th I'll be in Colorado (Tim will be there till the 19th)
--July 14th-31st: time split between Boone, Greenville and Asheville
And on the 31st, we fly to Seoul.

It will be a whirlwind, and not enough time spent anywhere to make everyone happy. But we'll have longer next summer. We'll not have to go 2 years without being home again. And that should make people happy. Us too.

And with that, my Turkey trotting is finished. I'll still be trotting my trails for the next 2 and 1/2 weeks, but I won't be blogging it. I'll post one last time with a new blog address later--and I imagine this will be a more permanent address. An I-may-move-but-the-blog-will-stay-the-same sort of concept.

Holy Springtime!

2011-05-17T23:59:00.000-07:00

Oh my. It's been a busy spring. And our time is quickly winding down! We have been having some SERIOUS adventures. Here's a re-cap:

The end of February (or was it the beginning of March?) Tim dislocated his shoulder (a horrific ordeal that will have to be detailed in a less public way at some other time) and got the corrective surgery to anchor the torn what-cha-ma-call-it. That was a very, uh, exciting time for us, but he's taken good care of it and is still going to daily PT to get his full range of movement. He begins strength training for it this week.

Midway through March, we jetted over to Dublin for Tim's cousin's wedding. Tim still had to wear his shoulder brace, but got to imbibe plenty of whisky and Guinness. I freaking LOVED what tiny little bit of Ireland I saw. Tim's family lives in a village just outside of Dublin called Dunboyne and this is where the wedding was and where we all stayed. We were literally there long enough to see a tiny bit of downtown Dublin, go to the Guinness factory, and then do all the wedding stuff which was great fun. The Irish party. The wedding on Saturday began at 2 pm and the FIRST bus home from the reception was at 12:30. The last day was a big get together at Tim's aunt and uncle's house where we ate, drank, and sang songs while Tim's Uncle Frank played his guitar. We were fortunate to be able to be there--it was the first time all the cousins in his family had been together since they were all little people.

Tim continued healing and in mid-April we met Tim's parents in Venice to begin our Italian spring break. That was an incredbile vacation. We stayed in Venice, Bologna, and went through Maranello (home of Ferrari) with Bill and Carol before they left for home and we continued west to Florence and the Cinque Terre. It was beautiful and warm and sunny and I love Italy. For so many reasons. I'll link up to Tim's pictures when he gets them together. I could ramble on and on about Italy, so I'll cut it off here.

Since then, I've been climbing with Carrie, running in the hills (during our fleeting periods of sunshine and warmth--as a side note, it has been a CRAP spring weather-wise but this week we finally got some continuous sun and warmth), and getting my mind ready for the great culture shift. Well, two of them really. The first being a summer back in the States, and from there moving on to South Korea.

Tomorrow, we begin a long weekend and our last trip from Turkey. We are heading over to Cairo to visit old friends from Colegio Americano. Yeah, it's just a long weekend. But when again in our lives will be able to go to Cairo for a long weekend???? No time soon, so we're taking the opportunity.

I'm starting to get a little sad about leaving Turkey. There are many things I didn't get to do and places I didn't have a chance to see. This has been such a warm, friendly, and beautiful place to be. A country of surprises in every way. We've also made so many wonderful friends here. It's the hardest part about this job. But bitter-sweet too because we are quickly amassing many close friends all over the Earth that we'll eventually meet back up with at some point.

Travel plans are coming together. We leave Turkey on June 22nd and will be in Boone until the July 4th weekend where we'll spend in DC and then it's on to Colorado for a week for me, two for Tim. The rest of our time will be split between Boone and Greenville as we try to spread ourselves around and on July 31st, we fly from Atlanta on one long-haul straight to Seoul.

4 More Months

2011-02-21T10:40:00.000-08:00

4 more months until the end of this school year.

4 more months until our lives turn over again.

4 more months and I won't be trotting around Turkey anymore.

Next, we move to South Korea for an opportunity to build our dream school--which we of course could not pass up. We are moving to the new city being developed called Songdo-dong, a part of Incheon, or also known as New Songdo City, a "free economic zone." Google it. That part will be beyond anything we can imagine. It's also about 45 minutes from downtown Seoul. So, we'll be close to Seoul, yet not in Seoul, which I hope will suit fine.

While I'm trying to prepare myself mentally (making myself consider what true crowds, etc. will literally mean to me) and physically (I've been eating a ton of spicy things--I'm in training. Bring on the hot sauce!), I also know that there is so much I just can't prepare myself for.

And then there's Turkey. We still live here, in Turkey--a fantastic place to live. I think it's vital that we continue to try to stay in the present and all else will work out. I don't want these 4 months to fly by. I want a long, warm spring where we climb lots, see some more new sights, and hopefully even make it down to the Med once more before we pack it all up and bring this chapter to a close.

Qatari Impressions

2011-02-18T07:35:00.001-08:00

This the Qatari skyline as seen from the Museum of Arabic Art. If the day were more clear, you'd quickly point out the corkscrewing building, all the construction cranes, the hour-glass building clad in fishnet stocking, and a building that can only be described as something one might find in Mrs. Kong's bedside goody drawer.

The pic below is on a clearer day, but from farther away. Oh well, you get the idea. Qatar is pretty much it's capital city, Doha. And it is brand-spanking-new. And falling over itself to prove to you how ready it is to be an international destination and high-powered world economic player. Winning the bid to host the World Cup has catapulted the city into a frenzy of infrastructure construction and attention from the world.

But with all the glitz, glam, fancy cars, oil money, malls, and seven star hotels, you sometimes catch a glimpse of the old world:

The city is so new, in fact, that law enforcement officials are not sure what the rules are. Case in point: I tried to bring a Ukrainian student. I sent the Qatari government a copy of the child's passport and they promptly issued her a visa which I printed and carried with us. Turns out that in the Ukraine, you don't get an actual passport until you turn 18. Before that, you have a "travel document." But no big deal, right? Pasted in those pages are numerous visas for the USA, England, and so and so forth complete with entry and exit stamps. She's obviously been using it as a passport. But the immigration police would not let us pass without a "real" passport. Yes, we had her Qatari visa in hand, issued by their own government. She and a teacher ended up staying in the airport overnight. After much intervention from high-ups (thank you, many helpers who got out of bed to come to our rescue!), they were allowed to enter the country at 7 am the following morning. Hopefully they get these glitches are worked out before the World Cup comes to town. I don't think they want the reputation that report of such interactions would paint.

While it was unseasonably cool, as in, NOT bathing suit weather, it was still warm enough to relax in a sunbed on the beach. See my white feet? Those suckers haven't seen sun since late September!

The Villagio Mall, complete with Venetian canals and water taxis:

While there's no indoor skiing (yet!), or the world's tallest building (yet!), or even a subway (yet!), the glitz and mall culture definitely reminded me of Dubai. Those are my two Arabian experiences: Doha and Dubai (Israel doesn't count as Arabian to me). And at first I think, well, that's not enough. I can't base judgments and impressions on two Disney-esque cities. Or can I? Is this becoming Arabian culture?

*Side note:
We were in Doha for an MUN conference hosted by Georgetown University. Yes, the very one. Not kidding. Several prominent universities from the States (Northwestern, Carnegie Mellon, etc.) house a single degree program at Education City where they each have a satellite campus, and as the program for Georgetown is international politics, it makes sense that the entire branch of the school is involved in putting on the conference. And it was truly excellent!

Europe Trotting

2011-01-06T09:17:00.000-08:00

We've just returned from what is becoming our annual European ski vacation! Last year, Austria, this year, France. While it's true that I don't necessarily always give the French a lot of credit for being nice and welcoming, in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary (!), I had a wonderful time skiing in France and thought that even though it's yet more not about Turkey, it was still way cool and worthy of blog space.

Since we spent about 5 months paying off last year's Christmas trip, we were all settled to go to Bulgaria this year instead. It's close, it's much cheaper than the Alps, and the skiing is supposed to be great. BUT, 'round about October, we noticed that Tim's cousin, Chelsea, whom we met at another cousin's wedding, was moving to the French Alps for the season. "Hmmm," we thought and proceeded to get the scoop. Turns out, Chelsea's boyfriend was doing a ski patroller exchange with the resort, Courchevel. It helped matters that he has a cute avalanche dog, and voile! (as the French say) They got put up in an apartment in the center of 1850 Courchevel, the most expensive and tres she-she part of the biggest, most expensive, and tres she-she ski resort in the world! Oh, and they had an extra bedroom (thumbs up!)

So we changed plans and went to France instead. We got cheap tickets into Turin, Italy, and then took trains to France and spent about a week and a half skiing. We even got a powder day! We'll post pictures at some point. Tim did take out the fancy camera one day, and we had the point and shoot the rest. But he loves doctoring them a bit before he publishes. We also had a few days in Turin on the front end, and we loved it! Fortunately, we get to go back to Italy in April for a week and we're really looking forward to it.

For now, the difference between the Austrian Alps and the French Alps:

Skiing in France---better! The pistes are wider and seem better maintained. However, it's still, you're either on the piste or on your own and if you have to get rescued, they are chargin' your ass! Even if you're in-bounds of the resort! We were off-piste on our glorious, but low-visibility powder day, and I did a somersault off a low cliff. Good thing it was a powder day...

Apres Ski in Austria--better! I think we have a special place in our hearts for dancing on tables, crashing beer steins, singing bad music, eating sausages, and smiling big with our big beers after a long day skiing. We may be slightly German at-heart.

Lift lines in France---better! I don't know exactly why, but they sure managed and moved the crowds better. Perhaps because there were several gondolas at the base and many easy routes to take back down to the base?

Gondolas and lifts in Austria---better! There were no heated seats in France, and very few storm bubbles on the chairs. Austria totally had this dialed.

Cool backcountry shop---both! There was one token rando/tele shop in each and the people at both stores were equally friendly and helpful and cool.

Food?---Hmmm. The French eat a lot of cheese. And duck. And dried meat with cheese melted on it. And steak tartare and foie gras and many other things I'm not ready to try. The Austrians eat sausage and kraut! Mmmmm, sausage..... Of course, we could barely afford to eat out in France, so perhaps there were more and better options?

In Germany/Austria, we fell in love with Gluwein, but the French Alps added an irresistible twist: fortification with Grand Marnier! Oh, yes! We'll add that to the mulling pot for sure!

And lastly, like I said, the people there and on the trains were genuinely friendly and interested in us, and were genuinely interested in trying to speak English to communicate with us. Okay, France, maybe you're not so bad after-all.

My Days

2010-10-25T07:34:00.000-07:00

It seems like all I ever find worthy of talk is my travel, and not my day-to-day. I think that's because I've been doing this living abroad stuff long enough that where I live seems just as mundane as anywhere else in the world. I may live in cool places, but I still work a (more than) full-time job, I still wash dishes after Tim's nightly culinary creations, and every night, Bali still snuggles with me and my current novel.

We sort of slipped into the beginning of a new school year. Because we immediately had vacation, it just seemed like the beginning was less of a bang and more of a month-long, hanging on the edge of the abyss sort of thing. However, we seem to be getting into the groove of things. I have two classes of 10th grades English and all my students I also had in 9th grade. I love having two years with the students--the training has been done. We all know what to expect. We can get right down to business. I also adore my current students and so wanted to be with them longer. I have also inherited another round of IB Psychology seniors--7 girls and they are lovely. So, my teaching load became much more manageable this year and I actually have a chance to breath and do a halfway decent job ;-)

Our new middle school finally opened last week and Tim moved to the new building. I have projector envy. But I'm happy for Tim.

We have also had quite a few extra-curricular excursions since I last posted.
--Megan came to visit and we all went to Olympos for the vacation.
--U2 came to Istanbul on a school night and we managed to get there and back in time to enjoy the show and be back at work.
--My only little brother got married in Florida, so we made like lightening to the States for a few days to be there.
--We celebrated Oktoberfest at the German embassy, complete with cheesy band wearing lederhosen, German beer, stein crashing, picnic table dancing, Bavarian-sausage-eating, and just general revelry.

I suppose we also have some extra-curriculars coming up that we're pretty excited for:
--A week at the best rock climbing in Turkey
--Christmas skiing with Tim's cousin in the French Alps
--And for spring break we'll meet Tim's parents for a tour of Northern Italy

Turkish Summer: Part Two

2010-09-03T08:53:00.000-07:00

But first a little disclaimer. While we were using our lousy point-and-shoot camera, we would both take pictures and the quality was nothing to get all excited about. But when we were in Finland, Tim got a REALLY nice birthday present: A new DSLR. And since then, all of our collective photos are actually his of quite a good artistic quality. Sooooo, you should just understand that from now on, unless Tim is in the picture or I say I took it, that all photos posted on my blog are the artistic property of Timothy C. Henkels and may not be reused or reposted or filched in any way shape or form without explicit permission from the artist himself. Okay?

Okay.

Now, where was I? Oh yes, we returned to Ankara from Finland and began the preparations to move to our summer house in the mountains. Now, we've been to the Aladaglar before: click here to go back to our pics from last September. So we knew where we were heading and had the guy who owns the campsite to broker a deal for us with the homeowner next door. We decided to rent the house so we could take Bali with us and so we could stay longer. 3 weeks on the ground in a hot tent is just no longer kosher, now that I'm in my 30s and seem a lot more sensitive to that stuff these days.

We spent the weeks climbing, just the two of us or with our friends from Ankara who came to visit on the weekends. Mostly, we were sport climbing, but Tim managed an ascent of Turkey's most prominent and famous rock formation. Click here to read about that adventure. We had a great time climbing. We both pushed the limits of our ability and Tim was even moving into grades he hasn't climbed since college. We were both a bit proud. But pride goeth before a fall: Tim popped a finger pulley our last day of climbing. So he's out of comission for the fall, but will be back at it hardcore come spring. I have never spent that much time climbing before and now that we're back home, I'm really missing it. Tim got to work on his future Climbing magazine artwork as well:
In addition to the great climbing, we had some beautiful hikes and mountain scrambles. It was a bit too hot for peak-bagging, okay, way too hot---but we still got in some nice strolls.

Our weeks in the mountains were SWEET! We got in great shape, were in the middle of nowhere surrounded by beautiful mountains, and we got a lot closer to the local climbing community. We also managed to narrowly avoid the hottest summer in the city in recent memory.

What's even better, is that when we returned home, the summer was hardly over! We instantly joined the pool down the road and spent our last week of vacation there (and continue to go there for the afternoons).
And while we've been at work now for a couple of weeks, summer seems to continue. This past weekend we went camping on the Black Sea with friends. It has been the most tranquilo summer to work transition I've ever experienced:

"Get back to work!" you yell at me. Well, not quite yet. After a week of school with the students, we head to Istanbul to see U2 in concert, and Tim's sister is here. We have a week of vacation already so we'll be taking her down to the Mediterranean. We'll have a bit more summer yet! Then I swear, I'll try to get back to work.

Turkish Summer: Part One

2010-08-15T02:33:00.000-07:00

We've had a nice summer.
We began with our trip through the ruins and finished that one off with a road trip along the Turquoise Coast, from Marmaris to Kas, stopping and camping and floating in the Mediterranean. We found awesome camping areas, gorgeous beaches, and cute towns. That whole week looked a lot like this:

Then it was time for our trip to Finland for the Ruisrock festival. We had a day on either end in Helsinki and we loved it. The farmhouses, the bikes, the beers, the farmers' markets, the trees, trees, trees!

Look! It's Tayfun Bey on some random island off Helsinki! Tayfun was the Turkish principal at our high school this past year. Small world, right?

The festival was great fun too--and certainly the most "civilized" music festival we've ever been to. It was very European with their sit-down dinners, tap water, and champagne spots. The light was crazy too. The sun finally "set" at about 11:30 at night, and it was twilight until about 2:00 am when the sun started to "come up" again.

The venue was on a beautiful island that we all had to walk 2km to access. The best stage, where we saw Rise Against, Anti-Flag and Flogging Molly was right on the beach. The weather gorgeous, but really hot. Hotter than we expected. For Anti-Flag, I got a hose-down from the nice guy with the ear-muffs. We were able to get right in front for all our favorite bands.

The people-watching was almost as much fun at the festival as the bands. It was too funny--on Saturday, everyone was falling down drunk. I mean, these people are practically Russian, right? and they are slamming vodka like it's water. What's funny is that the falling-down-public-drunkenness is kind of embraced. I mean you can be blitzed and the bar will keep serving you. There were no fights, no scuffles, just a lot of happy drunks, and this was a punk/metal festival. But of course, by Sunday, the heat and booze had gotten to everyone and we saw a lot of this:

I was just happy to see that they're human after all. Seriously I've never seen so many people drinking the way the Fins were on Saturday at the show. I wondered if they had the stamina to continue. They didn't. Sunday was way more low-key.

We were a little reluctant to leave Finland. We had such a great time there and really loved the city. I don't think it will ever make it on the "list" because there's no mountains. But we would now possibly consider Oslo, Norway. Thoughts?

Hide Out

2010-07-26T04:17:00.000-07:00

I've been hiding out. Tim and Bali and I are spending the rest of our summer vacation in a mountain house in Turkey. We're climbing, hiking, running, and chilling out. Tim is playing with his new camera, so you should go over to his blog to see photos of what we're doing. Sometimes we're able to get on the internet by hooking Tim's phone to the computer.

I'll update with all our summer adventures following our anniversary trip when we return home to Ankara. Until then, hope you have a great summer too!

The Ruins of an Anniversary..

2010-07-07T02:41:00.000-07:00

For our 5 year anniversary, Tim and I took a road trip to the Turquoise Coast of Turkey. On the way, we saw some pretty cool stuff.

Pamukkale and Hierapolis:

Aphrodisias:

After our lessons in ancient ancient history, we continued on to the beautiful turquoise waters of the Mediterranean.....

Afternoon Trail Run

2010-06-16T07:59:00.001-07:00

Most afternoons that it's dry, this is where I am. Often, Tim joins me. I cannot even begin to express how fortunate I feel and how thankful I am to have this right beside my house. This is how I keep sane, regroup, and rejuvenate my energy. Oh yeah, and train for races!

It goes on and on like this. A friend of ours here has spent an entire day on these trails and still didn't see it all.

We live on a university campus, flanked by other university campuses. This land we're on, belongs to the university next door, Metu. But no one ever seems to mind that we use it all the time. Other than some wild dog issues in the spring, the only trouble we've had is the clay-like mud that the trails become after several days of rain and cold (basically 3 months of winter). But I remember how long the trails were inaccessible in Colorado, and I must say, I can't complain about a measly 3 months here.

If we're lucky, we see wildlife! We usually see a huge jackrabbit or two and we've seen a fox several times. I've seen a large snake, grouse, and I ALWAYS spot tortoises!

I'm excited to show new staffers this incredible resource and introduce them to my new tortoise friend, Ottis.

One From the Archives

2010-06-06T08:11:00.000-07:00

Needs No Explaining

2010-06-03T09:47:00.000-07:00

German Party!

2010-05-19T00:37:00.001-07:00

Here's our baby keg from Germany. We also had a lot of pork in the fridge. Time to have a German party! Tim made chicken schnitzel, apple strudel and Carrie brought the German potatoes. We capped it all off with the German music radio station online (hilarious!)

Missing This:

2010-05-15T01:02:00.000-07:00

By "this," I mean, music festivals. Namely, bluegrass festivals, but we do punk music fests as well. So we've made our fist solid plans for the summer. In the middle of July, we're going to FINLAND! I know, right? I don't know the first thing about Finland. Do you? We've signed up to camp and enjoy punk and rock music in Finland (??!!??) for three straight days at the award-winning Ruisrock festival. So far, the line-up includes some serious favorites including Flogging Molly and Frank Turner. Tim is especially excited for NOFX and Rise Against. Additional people we would like to see, but wouldn't go to see alone: Regina Spektor, Anti-Flag, Slash and his band, and even Ozzy. Yes. Ozzy. We're going to have fun. And we're wondering if, being almost the artic circle, it will be light at midnight?

Love Mountains.....

2010-05-13T10:27:00.000-07:00

HATE backpacking.

The lovely Carrie beat us to the punch, once again. You can see her pictures (which are quite good) and read about our trip here. It was great to meet up once again with climbers we met back in the Ala daglar last fall. Nuri and his wife are so sweet and hospitable. I'm sure they are friends we will be in touch with for the rest of our lives. So spending some quality time with them was fantastic.

We learned a lot this weekend about what to do next season to be successful on Erciyes. That's right--we'll go back. But I refuse to carry such a heavy pack next time.

She Gets Me

2010-05-03T07:05:00.000-07:00

No she literally "gets" me. Sometimes I wake up with small scratches on my face. Now I know why. And she does actually sleep between us with her little kitty head on the pillow. Now come on, how cute is that?

A Couple More Pics and Musings

2010-04-28T23:07:00.001-07:00

Rukiye, who we work with, took a couple of pictures of us all during the weekend in Istanbul. Below, we're at packet pick-up. Dale's race number was 666. That's right. Good thing he's Muslim and doesn't have to worry about such suspicions!
See the tulips behind us? Such a pretty weekend in the city!

Here's Tim and I going through the starting line a minute back. This is right where Tim began to realize that instead of charging his ipod the night before, the battery was actually run down. He got no tunes for pumpage :-(

And here's me at the finish. See how I'm all by myself? That's hard to do in a race. I prefer people being around--I feel like it makes me go faster. And here's a goal for me: one day, I want my finish shot to have my actual time over my head. In other words, I want to be close enough (fast enough) to the start that my finish time is the official time. Somehow, 1:56 does not look as cool as I imagine 1:55 would have.

The marathon is coming up in October. I think I should try to run it. I mean, it's that horrible race where you have to stand around in the rain and the aid stations are just water. But as far as I can tell, it's the only game in town. Perhaps we could travel to one, if it's nearby, say, in Bulgaria or Romania in August. Too bad there are no trail marathons or 50ks to speak of. Because there are plenty of trails and mountains and national parks--perfect settings for such events. The World Mountain Running championships were even held here 2 or 3 years ago. But nothing else like that is going on. Oh, what to do? I need a new goal....

Golden Horn Half Marathon in Istanbul

2010-04-26T23:02:00.000-07:00

We spent the past weekend in Istanbul for the Golden Horn half marathon and had a fantastic time! We (finally) stayed in a hotel we were happy with, found an awesome Cuban bar and danced salsa and merengue till 2:00 am, and had an interesting cultural experience at the modern art museum. The tulips were in full bloom and the weather was perfect.

Part of the great experience was the race. Our last race in Istanbul was pretty miserable. I felt good and had a good race that day, but all the odds were certainly stacked against me! You can read about that day here. On Sunday, all was working for me, and again, I had a great race.

There were probably only about 600 runners, so the start was not so crowded and we were only a minute back from the start line. The race finished and ended in the same spot, so there was no throwing drop bags in buses and shoving a thousand people at the end to get your bag from the one volunteer on the bus. Drop bags were arranged around a conference center. Perfect. The center had bathrooms and plenty of places to sit and chill out after the run. It was a great start and end location.

The course was beautiful! I thought it would get monotonous on the water, but it was quite scenic and you could look at the boats on the Bosphorous and the fisherman. Plus, it was sunny, there was a light, cold breeze, and the flowers were going off. You couldn't ask for nicer running weather.

Being in shape, certainly, but having not followed any sort of training regimine, I simply wanted to break 2 hours. I kept the music pumping to keep me going and it really helped. I found myself focusing on the song rather than the negative thoughts that creep in when your legs are tired and you're running by yourself. I ended up running a 1:55:06 and was 21 out of 68 women. I was 8th in my age group, but the age group was 15-35--hahahahah. That's my age group?! In Boulder, an age group would only encompass 5 years. But I am in the land where women DO NOT run. There's a lot of princess mentality. My 1/2 marathon PR was in Boulder in 2006, and was a 1:51:something. I'm not far off of that and because so few women run, I will, if possible, actually train well next year. Who knows? Perhaps I could actually place in a race here. It won't happen in Colorado, but Turkey?? It's possible! I felt great after the race. Actually, I felt like I should have been running a lot harder, but I didn't know if I was conditioned enough to sustain a faster pace for that long. But now I know. I learn something about myself every time I'm out there.

People who participated were extremely supportive. I got a lot of "bravos" at the end and people who ran around me and people I passed congratulated me. That was really nice, I thought. It was like we were a little community, all working together to the same goal.

These pictures are from Tim's phone. If I get better ones, I'll post them later. This is us with Dale, who works with us. He wanted it to be 50 degrees and drizzling. I'm sorry you didn't get your wish, Dale, but not too sorry because it was the weather I wanted.

Hammin' it up a bit at the start line. A little comedy goes a long way. I'm holding my headphones in case you're wondering.

I carried a mix of Powerade and water because the aid stations only have water. Bottles of water, in fact. But at least this time there were in half-size bottles and the volunteers turned the tops for us. I also spaced a pack of Clif Shot Blocks across the race and that worked fine for me. I carried an extra pack but didn't end up needed it because we had an actual breakfast.

Most importanly, during and after, and even now: no knee pain. Consider me 100% recovered.

Greece, I love you.

2010-04-17T07:44:00.000-07:00

But first, a big fat shout out to my BFF Jessica in Boulder. She just had a baby girl: Ella Jae Johnson and she is so gorgeous and tiny! You can see pics of her on Jessica's blog over there on the right in my blog roll. Congratulations Johnson family!

Back to Spring break--which was AWESOME!!! Half road-trip, one quarter ferries trip, a whole lotta climbing, and some serious scenery by the Med. It was everything I thought it could be and more.

Our plans were to eventually stay several days on the Greek island of Kalymnos, a total world-class climbing mecca, but as it was still off season, and ferries only run three days a week, we didn't need to get down to Bodrum in Southwest Turkey until Monday morning. So we drove, checking out the world on the way.

Our first stop was Izmir, the third largest city in Turkey on the Aegean Sea. Near this town are some of the most famous Roman ruins and the area was incredibly beautiful and fertile. We caught up with some friends and stayed the night.

Now that's how much coffee I'll be having, thank you very much. If only I could lift the cup...

Sunday we left Izmir and headed down south to Bodrum with plans to check out an up-and-coming bouldering destination at Bafa Lake. On the way there, in the middle of nowhere-seriously, middle of nowhere, we found caffeine.

Before you arrive at the little village of Bafa, you drive along the lake for awhile. Tim is impressed. The lake is hu-mongo and GORGEOUS. There are olive groves everywhere.

And all around the lake are tons and tons of rock and boulders. Only a tiny little bit has been developed. Last year, a group of kids from Salt Lake came out and developed a bit and made a movie, Herakleia. Go here to see the trailer and some crazy shots of this crazy place. Herakleia was actually an ancient city and the ruins are almost as impressive as the sheer amount of rock in this gorgeous area.

We didn't actually do any bouldering. All the landings were pretty serious and we didn't have a crash pad yet. Turns out, the only place you can get one is a little store in Izmir--they make them right there. The store was closed while we were there but we did get a pad on the way back home. So....we are well-prepared for our next Lake Bafa trip.

So we continued on our way when all of a sudden, again in the middle of nowhere, we spotted what looked like a Roman temple. So we pulled over.

Sure enough, it's the old city of Euromos (of course). This is what happens in Turkey. There are ruins everywhere. You know, being the cradle of modern civilization and all.

Finally, Sunday evening, we made it down to Bodrum which is a seriously popular vacation spot. Honestly it's pretty similar to the Greek Islands just across the bay. Except for the whole call-to-prayer thing. Okay, there are many more differences. But Bodrum is still charming and beautiful. We stayed the evening and went to catch our ferry the next morning. Our boat was the only one on the dock and while I was out on the deck, checking out the bay, a Navy ship pulled up beside us. Here was my thought process:

--Oh, that looks like a US naval ship.
--Oh, yeah, there's the American flag. Cool.

--Hmm, that's a pretty small boat to come such long way.
--My brother's boat was that small.
--Actually, that looks a lot like my brother's boat.
--I wonder what the name---HOLY SHIT!!

--It IS my brother's boat!!

After much tweaking out and yelling at them, and me acting like a crazy person, we learned there were a couple dudes on board who had worked with my brother when we was serving on the John L. Hall. They told him about it. How cool is that? How small world is that? This is a TINY harbor for an unimportant city. And it's the only other boat on the dock? RANDOM!!

Bye-bye, Alan's former boat.

Actually, I'm really glad he wasn't actually on the boat still. I would have freaked out and then some. Especially if we had not been able to get off our respective boats. I would have been a mess. I love you, Alan!!

And an hour later, we pull into the harbor for the Greek Island of Kos which is a pretty big, popular island for tourists. This was the day after Easter, so besides restaurants, all the business were closed and all the islands' inhabitants were in town hanging out at the cafes. How Euro!

So we joined them. We thought this old guy was cute.

Nice Vespa! --the preferred mode of travel on the islands.

We soon hopped our next ferry for our final destination: Kalymnos. The owner of the apartment we rented picked us up at the harbor and took us to our little home away from home. Kalymnos is a tiny island and the majority of the tourism in the months off of tourist months (June-August) is just climbers from around the world. So there aren't really many hotels. Mostly, there are just apartments that you rent. Ours was quite nice and cost us 25 Euro a night. We also rented a scooter to get around to the climbing areas.

Day One (as in Tuesday), we went first to crag called Summertime:

But we soon realized that the reason why it's called summertime is because it's shady. So you go there in the summer. Duh. It was winter so we moved on somewhere sunny. The crag was called Casteli and it was out on a point that jutted out from the mainland. Here's Tim on some infamous gray limestone slab:

Then it was time for our, okay, we're in another country, let's have some Guinness, Guinness.
We love Guinness. We miss Guinness. Mmmmm.....

The next day we spent at a great crag called the Odyssey. I think. We didn't get a guidebook because they're putting out a new one next month. So we'll buy the new one when we return. So the rest is off the top of my head and my memory is like my Guinness: gone!

There were several great, fun routes there. We also had a nice time talking to folks at the base. There are literally people there from all over the world and everyone speaks English to each other (except the French, of course). This is nice and comfortable for us after struggling with Turkish.

Great shot of the crag from below. But it makes you feel like, while there are TONS of routes here, there seems to be the potential for even more.

Time to hop on the scooter, go home, shower, and go out for some MOUSAKA!!!

Tim enjoying the sunset over the Med on our porch.

We can't leave just yet. There's a little visitor on our scooter.

The islands were totally prime for my favorite game: Spot the kitty. They were everywhere. Even more so than in Istanbul. It was awesome.

Here's an interesting reminder about what to do with your toilet paper:

Our last day climbing, we went to a popular crag called Archi, or Arhi in the book:

This is Tim below his proud send, Thetis--a fun 6b+ that we had to wait in line for.

Alas, way too soon, we had to pack up and leave. Friday afternoon we boarded our ferry back to Kos. In Kos we picked up plenty of bacon and sausages and Tim refrigerated the whole package with giant packs of frozen pita bread. It worked well!

Leaving the port in Kalymnos. So long, paradise.....

We're pretty sure it's going to be crazy hot there this summer. But the trade winds kick up and there's always a breeze and plenty of routes in the shade. We're pretty convinced we'll be spending more time here this summer. Mostly, this was meant to be a re-con mission to figure out if we really wanted to spend a large hunk of time here. The answer is, obviously, a resounding YES!

Hello, Goodbye

2010-03-25T08:51:00.001-07:00

There is not so much of this anymore:

We just had our last ski weekend. 15 days for me, 16 for Tim. I think that's pretty good. Especially when you consider the season is only 3 months long. The trip to Austria helped a lot. I think we'll still get another backcountry day or two in April in the high mountains. But it has warmed up fast!! Today at school I wore sandals and short-sleeves. This past weekend, we experienced in one day what would be a two month progression of snow quality in Colorado. With that sort of warp-speed, I'm not holding out much hope. But this season was awesome! I was so pleased with what we found here in Turkey AND I got my first ever ski vacation. I got a new pair of skis this past summer (G3 Vivas--sweet!) and I can honestly say I broke them in well. I am satisfied.

And now we approach our spring break. We shall head off for a week of sunshine on the island of Kalymnos. It's a Greek island, but so close, it might as well be Turkey. But it's not. It's Greece. And some of the best climbing in the world. We'll see. Next weekend we drive to the cool Med town of Bodrum where we'll hang out a night or two, then we'll hop a ferry to Kalymnos.

We're staying in these climber apartments where, with our rent, we get a moped for the weekend. How Euro! After these 3 months straight with kids (that's right teachers, no long weekends, no half days, nothing!) I NEED some time on the Med. It will be well-earned. Ahhhh.....

My New Kitty

2010-03-14T04:33:00.000-07:00

That's Right

2010-03-12T10:39:00.000-08:00

PALANDÖKEN! Skiing Eastern Turkey

2010-03-06T04:34:00.000-08:00

Unsure of what we'd find, last weekend we set off for eastern Turkey for the biggest ski resort in the country. We flew an hour and a half and took a 15 minute taxi up to the resort. Again, it was one of those all-inclusive deals, but this time, much cheaper for waaaaayyy better skiing! We didn't find any powder. In fact, they need some serious snow out there. But there was enough for us to have a total blast and not get bored on the pistes.

The place has an ancient gondola, 3 high-speed quads, and several dinky lifts and t-bars. The runs were plenty steep and long and there were several slalom courses set up all over the mountain--probably the only resort steep enough to have such courses. From the top of the mountain, we could get a couple thousand feet of decent in, and NOT on cat tracks. We were very pleased.

We also made quite an impression with the tele skis. People stared and the brave ones told us our skis were broken. Thank you for letting us know.

The bare landscape was still a bit shocking, even though I feel like I've been around the Middle East enough now to expect it. We felt like we were skiing on the moon. There were no trees anywhere. But of course, that meant plenty of wide bowls for carving huge turns.

As soon as we got back, we tried to book a second trip, but all the flights are full this month. We may have to wait till next year to go again, but we'll be sure to get out there at least once a month next winter!

Tomorrow we're off to yet another new ski area, Dorukaya. We are slowly reaching Tim's goal to ski every resort in Turkey by the time we leave--short winter be-damned!

8 Weeks to Go Time

2010-03-04T04:16:00.000-08:00

We've added a race to the calendar! It's the Golden Horn 1/2 Marathon! The race traces the Golden Horn in Istanbul--the old European bit that has all the old stuff in it. It's an out-and-back, but since it's confined to that one little area of the city, it should be easier to manage, logistically (read: no standing in the rain for an hour beforehand).

I learned about the race through a random email, and I'm glad I did, because there are just not many races here--none that I've heard of in my own city. I thought the next race we would run would again be the intercontinental race that we did earlier in the fall. We kicked off the 8 weeks with a huge trail run the other day. My knee is doing decidedly well. This race will be the longest I've run since my knee injury onset. I think if I get through it without knee pain, then my full recovery is official. I had no pain after the 15k we ran in the fall, so I'm keeping my hopes high. I'm still treating it and still certainly working on hip strength. I can tell when I ski--my left leg is still severely weaker than my right and that's just going to take more time.

In other fun news--we're working on our spring break, the first week of April. The early coming of spring has cut our ski plans for that break. Instead, we are planning to go climbing on the Greek island of Kalymnos--some of the best climbing in Europe. It will be in the middle of training time, so I guess I'll need to do some runs on the beach. I know, it's a rough life.

Thought I'd Be An Expert By Now, But.....

2010-02-20T01:43:00.000-08:00

In the middle of this past week I returned from a whirlwind trip to Israel with a bunch of kids. It was incredibly stressful for me being responsible for kids in a new country. But I didn't let any parents down this time, though we discovered one child is violently allergic to strawberries, I had to pack up the kids belongings and move their luggage out of the horrible hostel we were set up in for our first night of the conference, and I had to act as our tour guide in Jerusalem. Overall it was a great trip, and the kids made it worth it. I was waiting to see how this conference went to decide if I would be involved in MUN again next year, but the kids have convinced me through their behavior and pride in their performance that I should definitely stick with it.

I know before I left I promised my expert commentary upon my return. So sure was I that I would know the route to peace and be the purveyor of understanding to all ethnic and religious groups around the West Bank with my five days in their midst. Alas, I am as confused as ever. My presence did not quell the tensions that run high throughout and around the old city--ancient wrongs, vengeance, and not-so-ancient grudges are alive and well. And so what follows is merely a tourist's commentary on her photos. I did learn a good deal about what is housed in Jerusalem and I left with a strong resolution to return sometime (without 16 high school kids) and really SEE Israel.

Like many Westerners, I expected Israelis to be fluent in both Hebrew and English. That simply is not always the case and I seriously underestimated the amount of Palestinian-Israelis and Arab Christians in the country. So, most road signs and information of importance appear in the three languages: Hebrew, Arabic, and English.

In this picture we're on the bus and over the hill lies Jerusalem. I took pictures of the hill because it looked familiar to me--like I see such landscape in photos of Israel.

Below is the "new" part of Jerusalem. This city is much different from Tel Aviv, which could pass as any Western, well-developed city. Just outside of old Jerusalem, where we were staying, and inside the old city walls, it all felt very third world to me.

The old, walled-in city is accessed through several "Gates." The one below, near where we stayed with a bunch of French nuns, is the Damascus Gate. This is the northern-most gate and is named (I assume) for the major city it is oriented towards.

The Damascus Gate entrance.

Once we passed through the gate, I lead us as straight as possible through the streets to reach the Western Wall (Wailing Wall). On the way, we bisected the street called "Via Dolorosa" on which lie the Stations of the Cross. Below is the 5th Station of the Cross, thought to be where Simon of Cyrene helped Jesus carry his cross or tried to carry it a ways for him. As a side note, in Jerusalem, it seems like the Christians are less concerned (than the Jews and Muslims) with actual historical fact, or archaeological proof and just ardently hold on to what is generally accepted as commemorative places. There exists loads of criticism and archaeological support that things happened differently, in different areas around Jerusalem. So I suppose it's something you have to decide for yourself. It still does not take away the fact that these places are so revered by so many and have been for centuries. You cannot easily dispel that kind of power and magic.

Below is a typical scene in the old city. People still live and work in the buildings and the streets are narrow and crowded.

I expected to see a lot of Orthodox Jews. What I did not expect was the interesting hat below. I simply imagined the black coats and hats with the side curls. Other dudes were wearing fur flying saucers. I know that's not very respectful, but that was my first impression. And at least I understand that they aren't tourist attractions and so did not jump in anyone's face to take a picture (I just clicked them off from behind). I think that this guy's hat means he's an Hasidic Rabbi.

And now we come to my contraband picture. No photos allowed of the Western Wall, but I got a couple anyway--taken in a very non-obvious, from in front of my stomach, sort of position.

In front of that barrier, there are many many Jews, praying and swaying. The men and women are separated and the mens' side is MUCH bigger than the womens' side. The men are very loud in their "wailing" and the women just seem to sway and read from their Torah books. If you go to the Wiki link above, you can see better pictures of the people at the wall, though not nearly as crowded as the day we were there. Tourists were allowed to respectfully go up to the wall, so I went up and stuck my little prayer for my family into a little cranny. While I can't honestly say I believe in anything like that--least of all any sort of dogma, it was still pretty cool to be there.

This is the entrance to the Dome of the Rock, which is not accessible these days to non-Muslims on Saturdays. But I had Turkish kids with me, so I let them go in and snap off photos while I waited outside the gate. Definitely go to the Wiki link. I was disappointed to not see this site. This is the girls getting themselves all covered up. The people inside the area made fun of the kids and hassled them for not knowing their prayers. It's probably a good thing I couldn't go in... I'd hate to have the kids see me rough-up anyone.

From Dome of the Rock, we made our way down the Via Dolorosa to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre where we spent a good deal of time. This is the place where, supposedly, the hill where Jesus was crucified and entombed has been dug away and this church was built over the site to commemorate all the important spots involved in the crucifixion, anointment, and entombment.
The history and ownership of the church itself is very interesting and the Wiki article on this place is definitely worth the read.

Just inside the doorway, this is the rock that commemorates where Jesus was anointed and wrapped up. There is a lot of contention over the validity of this spot, and I guess it's now more of a traditional place-marker than an historic one. To the right of the rock is a stair climb which represents his climb up the hill of Golgotha and at various points the rock on which the cross was set up is visible through glass. At the very top is an incredibly ornate altar and the rock is exposed under glass windows there. We did not go up there as we spent the majority of our time trying to get into the tomb instead.

But this is part of the rock of Golgotha, exposed on the lower level of the church. So I thought that was pretty good...

And underneath a huge, ornate dome, there lies, I mean, there for three days, lay Jesus.

The Greek Orthodox (I'm pretty sure anyway) own this part of the church, and so we had to cover our heads with scarves to enter. On this wooden structure built over the tomb there are shelves where people placed lighted bundles of 33 candles. 33 to represent Jesus' age when he died.

The dome from the inside.

We had to wait in line a LONG time, wrapped around the structure before we could go in. Here's people going inside--our turn is soon.

Inside the structure is two little rooms. This is the outer room and you have to bend down and go through that ornate marble doorway to get to the rock that commemorates the location of the tomb.

And this is the rock that people accept as Jesus' tomb. It's worn incredibly smooth from the billions of hands that have rubbed over it.

This is the altar above the rock. And that's all I had time for. They hustled us in and out very quickly. The kids were cute--they wanted to know if they were supposed to cross themselves before they went in and they conducted themselves with the requisite awe. Jesus is still an important prophet for Muslims.

Good shot of the doorway as I backed away.

After our day in Jerusalem we moved north of Tel Aviv to the gorgeous American International School for the MUN conference. The pic below is from even farther north, almost to Haifa. The woman I stayed with the last night really took good care of me and my kids and I shot this from her roof. In the distance is the huge Cesarea Aqueduct.

And below is the US Ambassador to Israel. This guys traveled with no less than 4 secret service dudes. He was gracious enough to come and speak to the students during the opening ceremonies of the conference.

I don't have the kids' parents' permission to post any pictures of them, so I won't. But we spent about three days at this school, joined by many schools from all over Israel--a great learning experience for our kids. While somethings went wrong for us on the trip, and we stayed in hostels while they are used to Hiltons, I have since overheard the kids talking to others about what a great experience they had and what an incredible impression Jerusalem made on them. Color me satisfied.

Cross Country Festival

2010-02-16T02:22:00.000-08:00

Carrie, our ski and climb buddy, has already posted to her blog about our interesting day last Sunday. You'll notice from her pictures, that I'm kind of blurry. That's the speed. So fast you can barely see me. I knew I was born for this stuff. Another 4 years and I'll be ready to represent the good ole USA (I'm an excellent sharpshooter as well).

We had a great time and appreciated being able to help raise awareness for the sport in Turkey. Consider us aware.

Things Fast Approaching

2010-02-03T07:50:00.000-08:00

Several things are coming up that I'm excited about and I thought it a good time to share.

On Sunday we're participating in a cross country race. It's not a big sport in Turkey and the event is meant to give it a bit of exposure. Anyhoo, the whole thing is FREE, from the transport to and from the ski resort, lunch, booze, the ski race---everything is taken care of. I've never cross country skied before. Of course we've done plenty of touring on our teles, but I've never tried the skinny skies. I'm excited for the event!

Next week, I'm taking a group (mostly made up of my 9th graders) to Israel for a Model United Nations conference. I'm pretty stoked to go to Israel. I think the conflicts there are fascinating and we'll spend some time in Jerusalem. Expect a full report since after my five days, I'll surely be an expert on all things Israel/Palestine/Arab relations.

The weekend after I get back, we head out to Erzurum--way out in East Turkey, where the mountains are big, the snow is deep, the choppers are running, and all things are quite a deal more conservative. But it's the best skiing in Turkey and we are GOING!

April break is coming. We have a week off. We'd like to ski. We'll see what happens.

Austria On My Mind

2010-01-28T09:16:00.000-08:00

We had a great little backcountry touring session in the hills beside our school this afternoon. Now we're mulling wine, drinking German beer, and listening to German beer songs. We're having an awesome little flashback.

Everyone think: more snow so we get a snowday (err, ski day) tomorrow!

Ski Turkey!!

2010-01-24T00:50:00.000-08:00

What? Ski Turkey? Seriously?
Stone-cold-serious!

Here, in the country of surprises (ahem, Turkey), turns out we can ski too. I mean, we realized the country is becoming known for it's climbing. And we knew there was skiing. But we had no clue about anything more. There is literally close to no information on the Internets about how the Turks do snow. We heard a rumor (seriously, this is how it happens) in December that the resorts were opening right about the time we had vacation. So, we decided to investigate.

We chose to go to Kartalkaya because it is the most popular resort near Ankara. It takes us about 2 and half hours to get there. Tim found information online for a hotel there---the Grand Kartal. Finding close to no information on the website, Tim called. Can we come? Yes. Are the lifts open? Yes. Is there snow? Yes.
Alright.
And this is what we found. This was a blue-bird day with close to no one on the mountain. It had just snowed and we quickly learned that Turkish skiing is middle-eastern skiing: stay on the piste, no matter what. So we literally skied fresh tracks in the powder ALL DAY.

Is it huge? Certainly not. Is it bigger than where I grew up skiing in NC? For sure. Less crowded too. Are the people in the hotel awesome? Absolutely. We got a fabulous pre-season deal at the hotel. It was $90 a person and included the hotel stay, 2 days of skiing, all meals (huge buffets at each meal), all the booze you can drink, and an afternoon happy hour--all included. I'd say that's a sweet deal.

We went back just this past weekend and took two friends to teach them how to ski, and our friend Carrie met up with us there too. Now we're in high season--it was $175 per person for the same deal. But whatever. That still seems totally reasonable to me. Yes, of course it was more crowded, but there was still no one in the trees or off-piste anywhere. So we still had a great time. And of course it's awesome to teach friends how to ski and watch them have a total blast doing it!

Carrie drops into the trees:

The fabulous hotel dinner after a long day in the snow :-)

Simon: James Bond (according to Khadijah) on skis.

Yours truly:

Tim seasoning the hat he picked up for Johnny Love in Austria:

Had we just come from Colorado, I might be slightly disappointed. But I'm not. I'm coming from Quito, Ecuador: no skiing. For two years, no skiing. I will never do that to myself again. So the skiing nearby is like an answered prayer. I don't care that it's not epic. I don't care that it's not hip. It's skiing. Color me happy.

Next weekend we'll try a new, nearby area, and at some point this winter, we'll fly East to Erzurum, to a resort called Palandoken, where the Swiss have recently begun heli-ski operations and where, we hear, it is all off-the-hizzook. But again, we'll just have to explore.

My Very First Ski Vacation

2010-01-23T07:07:00.001-08:00

I know--it sounds so bizarre, but like I mentioned before, previous experiences in Colorado don't really count as VACATION. To me, vacation is travel, paying for food, mostly staying indoors, and you know, like, buying a lift ticket. We LIVED in Colorado. So we didn't go on vacation in Colorado....see the difference?

Ah well. So, for Christmas, to make it up to ourselves for surviving (with lots of complaining) two years without skiing, we gave ourselves a European ski VACATION, complete with meals in restaurants, staying inside in an actual bed, and buying lift tickets. Yes, it was expensive. But wow, we had a great time! So much so, we're seriously considering another ski vacation for our spring break.

We picked St. Anton in Austria. Why? Well, it's an easy train ride from Munich and we are able to fly direct to Munich fairly cheaply. And it's really German, isn't it? We figured it'd all be right up our alley and we were not disappointed. There are fascinating cultural differences between the European way of "doing" skiing or a ski resort and the American way. Consider us well-educated now.

Here's one thing the Europeans do, I don't know, maybe not better, but a helluva lot more entertainingly: Apres Ski. I guess St. Anton is known for the revelry that takes place once your ski day has ended. There are a few great bars on the bottom of the mountain--and by on, I mean, you still have about 400 meters left to ski down from these. They close at about 8 pm and it's quite the sight when these places empty out and everyone attempts to ski down. We did one night in the Austrian style and I'll post some videos a little later.

We began in this place with a couple huge beers and lots of German-table-stomping, bad-80s-covering, and stein-crashing:

Then we ended the evening at the Mooserwirt. Known only for it's crazy party and it was certainly going off:

Like I said, for what happened next, I'll just have to post some videos.

A couple of days were not clear, but this is usually what skiing looked like:

And we of course had to take breaks to buy bacon....

The Ice bar--seriously, made of ice. Like the hotels you hear about. It was, um, cold.

Our pretty little chalet. We LOVED this house and the sweet couple who ran the place. If we ever go back, we would immediately book the same spot.

We, um, survived the runs in the pic below. It was big and not well-maintained like the off-piste in-area skiing in the States.

Favorite mountain bar complete with mulled wine.

You may notice that we're skiing with packs. That's because having your avalanche gear with you is necessary unless you plan to ski the one-cat-track-wide piste going down the mountain. The groomed routes are the only things guaranteed to be patrolled and avy controlled. So you must be self sufficient, even in-bounds. This is a huge(!!!!!!) difference between how they do it in the Alps and how they do it in the States. In the States, ski resorts are measured in acreage and you do not need avy gear in-bounds. It's all controlled. In the Alps, if you have no beacon or avy knowledge, you are relegated to the one track winding down the mountain--the piste--which is why the Alps are measured in kilometers or miles of skiing.

Honestly, we have a LOT of shots of the mountains, us skiing, and us drinking German and Austrian beer. I'll make you a web album, Mom! It is every bit as incredible as I expected it to be. I think the Alps must be my archetype for "mountains."

Let me just close by asking that anyone who reads this, please, please, help me put it out there in the universe: I want to work in the Alps. Think, for me please: School in Switzerland. School in Switzerland.

She Missed Us

2010-01-06T11:58:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve and New Year's Day in Munich

2010-01-06T03:14:00.000-08:00

This year for Christmas break we did something we've never done before: we took a ski vacation. Now you're thinking, but you skied all the time in Colorado. Sure, but that was just what we did. It was just life. This time, it was an adventure to a new part of the world for us.

We were fortunate enough to have a little bit of time in Munich before and after our trip to the mountains, and we got to experience a pretty good feel of the city. Fortunately, too, we had a tour guide. While in Ecuador, Tim volunteered for an overseas vote organization which just happens to be based in Munich and run by two expat women. The woman he worked with the most, but whom he had never met, Marina, offered to meet us Christmas Eve and show us around. She did that and so much more (including finding our hotel) and we were so grateful to have her there the first day. We were really able to maximize our time on the flip-side because of her as well. Thank you, Marina!

We had to smooch under the mistletoe!

My one chore in Munich was to trek over to the Patagonia store so they could repair or replace my down sweater. They replaced it, of course, and we were off to see the city.

Most street vendors in the city work this way--you get a token, pay a little extra up front so you can drink out of glass or ceramic, then you take back the mug and token and get your money back. Deposit system--it's great. Really cuts down on garbage. These were our mugs for "glühwein," my new favorite thing. It's hot, mulled wine and all the restaurants, bars, and what-not have it. It really became a staple for me this vacation.

The only major Christmas market still open on the 24th was the one in the city center. It was still pretty packed with last minute shoppers and tourists. It was all like Christmas overload and I must admit, I loved it.

After a serious walking and underground transit tour, we settled into one of the beer-houses along the pedestrian area. We ate lots of sausage, potato, and pork roast (a recurring theme for this vacation) and had plenty of these:

After our awesome lunch, Marina helped us figure out the train situation, and we were off to the Alps after a fabulous introduction to German culture!

On our way back from Austria, we had one night to spend again in Munich. Now, there's really only one thing open in Munich on New Year's day: beer-houses! So we embarked on a do-it-yourself beer tour.

Happy New Year!

Quick Trip to Boone and Back

2010-01-03T01:00:00.000-08:00

December was quite the month 'o travel for little ole me. Our December began in the middle of a vacation! It was the second Muslim "Bayram." Remember, the first one we went climbing in the Aladag mountains (beautiful!) and it was the "sugar holiday" where everyone fasts for the month of Ramazan or Ramadan or whatever YOUR locals call it and ends with children getting candy from neighbors--much like trick-or-treating but with a prequel of patience and much delayed gratification.

The second Bayram is important for families to spend time together and sacrifice an animal of some sort. Usually the animal is a goat and several families get together on a goat, do the sacrifice, and have a big feast. If you're rich, you can afford to go in with others on a cow. It was for this holiday that we took our first big road trip in the mighty Buda (yes, one "d" as is it's short for Budapest) down to Turkey's climbing Mecca, Antalya, on the Mediterranean coast. It was a great trip, but I'm leaving it to Tim to post about that, because this post is about what happened on the way back.

We were on the road, driving back home, chatting about our trip and getting excited for our ski vacation only 3 weeks away, when we got a phone call from my Mom in the middle-of-nowhere-Turkey (technology is truly amazing). My grandfather had passed away the night before. We weighed our options, I took a short ride on the emotional roller-coaster, and then two days later I was on a plane bound for NC.

I made it Boone the morning of the funeral and even got a day with my brother, saw family and family friends--some of which I had not seen in five years--and generally had a really good time remembering our great patriarch. My grandfather was incredible. He had just turned 99 and had spent the last year and a half in a nursing home. He lived by himself before that and suffered from macular degeneration, meaning, he was for all intents and purposes, legally blind from about age 80. But he just kept going. He was caring, and funny, and actually touched many more people than I realized. His funeral service was full to the brim with people who knew, appreciated, and loved him, and it was beautiful to have him remembered so eloquently by so many who knew him personally.

In a nut-shell, wow am I glad I went back. 24 hours of travel and a hefty plane ticket is nothing when family and close friends are concerned. I'm glad we had the resources to send me there and that we have supportive people around us who come together to make everything work.

I got to spend about five and a half days with my family and visited some friends. One of my best friends had just had a baby on Thanksgiving day, so I got to meet the new addition. And I got to see the Klamborowskis and meet their son for the first time. It was a very satisfying thing to say goodbye to my grandfather with my family and meet some new little people too.

When I got back to Turkey, we had about a week left of school, and two weeks to Austria.....

Look at That

2009-12-18T08:41:00.000-08:00

Now how cute is this? Come on. Just look at her. She's like, .....perfect.

Translating Seven Different Languages

2009-11-22T04:05:00.000-08:00

The true mark of internationally-minded people is being multi-lingual--at least bilingual, but certainly, in Europe, being bilingual is not nearly the rare accomplishment it is in the States. But here we have a Europen fluent in SEVEN languages. Wow! You have simply got to see this.

My New Best Friend

2009-11-22T03:23:00.000-08:00

One of the perks of working on a University campus is free access to the gym/rec center. Now, to be sure, the rec center is nothing special, but it's got a bunch of treadmills, elipticals, stationary bikes, and almost every weight machine you could ask for. There is no swimming pool for me to use (disappointed sigh), and there is no track for me to run (eyes rolling--come on, is this a university or no?). But, I do have the BUTT MACHINE. My new best friend. Why? Because this little somethin' is making my knee feel better than it has all year. Part of my runner's knee problem is weak hips. This is something that affects a lot of female runners. So I am doing lots of the butt machine, both where you close with your knees like on the machine in the above picture, and especially the opposite one where you turn the pads around and push them out with your outer bootay muscles. SO GOOD!! And doing it's job because my knee pain has steadily decreased in the last few weeks. Ahhhhhhh......

While spending so much time at the gym, I get to observe the behavior of the Turkish students and people who work here. I must say, it is quite entertaining indeed! It's just generally in the form of people doing next to nothing or ineffective things, like, barely spinning the stationary bike or walking at a snail's pace on the treadmill. Seriously, you would walk faster just naturally walking along. Further observational study is required before I begin posting about my stereotypes.

Personally, I find the gym to be a necessary evil. I hate working-out inside. I hate treadmills. But it gets dark at 4:30 and there's no way I'm getting up early in the morning to run. Yuck. But it is making my knee feel better. And fortunately, I can pass the time giggling to myself about gym-behavior and do my little ethnocentric comparisons.

Bali's Double-Wide

2009-11-21T08:19:00.000-08:00

And yes, Bali is getting a bit double-wide herself. But this is about her awesome scratchy.

She's never had one she can actually sleep on and love on and take baths on. In other words, this is Christmas times twenty for her. And speaking of Christmas, yes, there are Christmas decorations everywhere! It's a Muslim country!!! Turns out, Turks, especially, our super-secular families in this part of Ankara, celebrate Christmas as New Years. When they say "merry Christmas," they mean "happy New Year!" It's true: everyone loves Christmas.

Workshop in Dubai

2009-11-12T06:46:00.000-08:00

Ahh, how fitting: I can hear the call to prayer....

In the middle of October, I had my first real Arabic experience: a professional development workshop in Dubai. Nevermind that only maybe 20% of the population of that city are actually residents of the UAE.
"20%?" you ask. "Really? So few Arabs?"
Really. The other 80% of the population of that place I loving refer to as Vegas-Without-The-Gambling-and-Free-Booze, are the people shipped in to build the place and staff the place and drive the taxis and clean the houses, and the Europeans who go to work their crazy real-estate, finance, and whatever other posh jobs are available there. But this post is not about the human-trafficking and indentured-servitude masked as "providing jobs where the less fortunate can come and work and send home lots of money from the land of prosperity." This post is about my impressions, however misinformed they may actually be, of Dubai.

Without further adieu, the moment you've all been waiting for.... Yes! I went to Mall of the Emirates. Wooo, fancy! What did I find there? EVERYTHING. No, seriously. You name it. It's there. It's a crazy uber-shopping complex with labels and stores and things from all over the world, complete with more Bentleys, Ferraris, and Porsches I've ever seen in one place at one time parked out front. And yes, you've guessed it---THE largest indoor ski resort in the world:
SKI DUBAI!!!!

A little anti-climatic? Perhaps for you. For me, it was standing on snow inside, while it was 95% Fahrenheit at 10 o'clock at night outside. It was a ski lift, in-freaking-doors! It was a tiny terrain park. It was women in full ha-jibs tubing! It was 4 ski trails, the longest of which are 400 meters long! It was Japanese tourists skiing! (as an aside, I adore Japanese tourists)

And yes, too, it is one of the most incredibly atrocious wastes of natural resources I have ever seen in my life. Seriously. It makes me a little ill just thinking about it. It's a travesty.

Of course, let's not get carried away with crazy, flashy city-land. I was there to work. I was sent by my school to go to a workshop for IGCSE literature, a two-year course I am currently teaching with my darling little 9th graders (a post for some other time). Here I am getting LOTS of work done:

It was this school's location that gave me a crash-course in Arabic culture every morning. There are no addresses. Everyone uses a PO box for mail, and the city is divided into districts and neighborhoods. In order to arrive at your destination, you must either have: 1. a very detailed map (a little difficult to obtain for a city that is constantly new and expanding) which was not provided for participants, or 2. a taxi-driver who knows the area. No taxi drivers know the area. They are all from Pakistan or India (and kind of hate Arabs, I think). I guess it sort of makes sense that they wouldn't have addresses. I mean, the city is younger than I am and before there was a city, there were tents and camels and horses and that's all.

However, they do happen to have a lovely metro:

I could have even sat in the women-and-children only car, but I did not, since my traveling partner and colleague is a dude. I would have though--for the novelty of it.

Honestly, this is more like what travel has come to mean to me:

An opportunity to drink good beer that I can't get at wherever my current home happens to be.

Yes, as you may have noticed, all my pictures of Dubai are from the inside. Because that's where life has to be lived, because it's too freaking hot out to hang around outside. Humans weren't meant to live in that kind of heat. Nothing is. That's why it's a desert and nothing more. Literally, it's just sand. Which is another reason why my pictures are from the inside. Not because sand is ugly or I don't especially love the desert, because I do. But when you build a city on sand, the air is filled with dust. You can't see far around you for the haze--there's just a ton of dust in the air. And that is why, when you google pictures of Dubai, all you get are computer-generated images. No one can get a good shot of the city because it's too hazy. And that is why I have no picture of the Burj for you, or of The Palm Islands, or of construction progress on The World Islands.

I did manage one photo of the crazy 7-star hotel out in the ocean:

But here's what it really looks like. I stole this pic from Wikipedia:

"Will they finish The World?" you ask.
"Is The Palm sinking?" you wonder.

I don't know. All I know is, the exchange rate is plummeting, there are countless half-finished sky-scrappers, and my fancy-schmancy hotel was the same price as my kinda-crappy last hotel room in Istanbul.

Obviously, my three whole days in Dubai has made me a literal expert on all thing UAE and Arabic culture, so just feel free to ask me anything.

In Which I Attempt to Not Gush About Austria

2009-10-30T10:24:00.000-07:00

This is how awesome Tim happens to be: he bought (yes, purchased) access to the U2.com website so that we would have the ability to buy tickets to the U2 show next September in Istanbul before tickets open up to the public. This is a man who pretty much just goes to punk shows and events that sell for $20 a pop, don't sell out, and are not huge productions requiring a year of work in advance. We just bought said tickets and, yes, they are way more fabulous than anywhere I have ever sat for a U2 show. And that's how much he loves me. Wow.

In other news, we have just ended week 2 of the "thank-God-we-don't-actually-eat-pig-because-THEN-how-bad-would-the-flu-outbreak-be-here?" freak-a-thon. And that IS a reason why Turkey is more prepared and will not suffer from the swine-flu as badly as so many other countries. But if you do happen to eat pork, make sure you cook it to above 40 degrees, okay? This comes from the Ministry of Health and our school doctors. Thank goodness we're in such capable hands!

I do worry a bit for our summer. Sure we were supposed to deliver curriculum online and yes we did. Did the students access it? Eh...maybe 60%. Will that count? Will I lose any Saturdays? 2 weeks off my Greek paradise cruise and stay? A day or two off school is fun for everyone. 2 weeks? Not good! Not good at all.

Some Things

2009-10-25T01:20:00.001-07:00

*The car is ours--officially. Bought and paid for, and this weekend we took her climbing. Well, she took us climbing and provided a nice, comfy ride on the way there and back. I've named her Buda in honor of her one owner before us--the Hungarian ambassador. Get it? Buda? Short for Budapest, but also much like Buddha, taking us along on our path? It makes sense to me at least, and that's all that matters.

*All her life, Bali has had cardboard scratchy things. If you don't have a cat and don't know what this is, it's just corrugated cardboard turned on it's side, so the corrugations face up. Cat's like to scratch it. And you can put kitty-nip in it and it makes the cat especially happy. This week, Tim found her a double-wide. She's laying on it regularly, loves to launch off it while being chased, and generally rolls all over it. She loves it. This is one happy kitty.

*This week, we booked my Austrian ski vacation. We are going to St. Aton for Christmas and we'll be there in the Alps for 8 days. I'm so freaking excited I could pee. Plane tickets to Munich are booked and our bed and breakfast is booked. We arrive Christmas Eve and leave the 2nd of January.

*Tim is making me an omelet.

Eurasia Marathon! (okay, 15k)

2009-10-22T09:07:00.000-07:00

This is not a picture from our race. Maybe it came from last year? I don't know. I stole it off the internets. But I did not run with a camera. And Tim did not run with a camera, so I'm reduced to stealing photos. But this is how our run across the Bosphorus looked. Before we ran across the bridge, from Asia to Europe, we stood around in the rain for an hour. That's not really the best way to start a race. It does very little for morale, it's cold, and it's uncomfortable. Yours truly, however, was able to recover as soon as she warmed up--10 minutes or so into the race.

I actually ran quite well and took 10 minutes off my 15k time! Yes, I've only run 15k once, but I think I'm about in the same shape. And yes, that last one was at 10,000 feet. But I ran hard for me and that was nice. My only real problem is that I was out of energy. I wasn't able to eat breakfast that morning. So I had a pack of shot bloks before the run and two gels during the run. Not enough fuel for 9 miles of go. I was totally out of mojo by the last mile, but still pulled it through.

The differences in experiences between racing here--Turkey (it's almost Europe for crying outloud)--and there--South America (the shit-show) are stark. I will take a Quito race over an Istanbul race ANYDAY! I was blown away by the lack of organization this past weekend. There were barely any kilometer markers, aid stations had only water and they were tiny and understaffed, and I couldn't get my finishers medal at the end because I couldn't deal with 50 pushy sweaty bodies trying to get finish bags from ONE volunteer. Freaking Quito can do this better, people! Tim got a medal, but turns out it's the marathon medal.

I also really missed the Quiteno enthusiasm. People there would line the sidewalks and shout and cheer and sweetly offer you anything they had. Random runners would lead off into a motivational cheer or two. All that enthusiasm was sorely missing and missed. There were hardly any spectators. The one time I was cheered for during the race was when I passed by a Spanish family. Go figure. Oh, and at the end, because I was the only chick surrounded by men. And anytime there are few women, you gets lots of encouragement.

But all that being said, it's quite cool to run from one continent to another....and I'll take any excuse to hang out in Istanbul for a weekend. Maybe next year I'll run the marathon?

Flu Vacation

2009-10-14T08:27:00.000-07:00

Yes, this is a media circus outside of our school today. All day. They were out there, filming the closed school. Exciting!

I guess Ankara is currently freaking out. It's here, people--swine flu! Arrgghhh!!!!! While I think the whole flu thing is completely sensationalistic, I do get a vacation, which is awesome. Last night, school was called off for today. Then today we got word that there are several confirmed cases and so the ministry of health has shut us down till next Wednesday.

We're still planning on heading to Istanbul this weekend for the Eurasia marathon (we're running the 15k), but now it's looking like we get leisurely long weekend there. Darn!

Here's the link to the news craze:
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=swine-flu-causes-alarm-with-up-to-7-cases-in-ankara-2009-10-14

On the Frontpage of CNN.com

2009-10-06T08:54:00.000-07:00

Turkey isn't a country I thought you'd see much of on the news in the States. But this afternoon, upon opening up the national (as in, your national--the States) edition of CNN online, the number one story was all about a cab driver in Istanbul. Perhaps you all are tired of updates on the health care debate and the war in Afghanistan. Perhaps we all need a little Istanbul sometimes.

ISTANBUL, Turkey (CNN) -- Sevket Sahintas works the night shift driving his taxi around Istanbul, Turkey, from midnight until dawn.

Sahintas says he wants Turkey's "happy people" to see how less-fortunate Istanbul residents live.

His route takes him past symbols of wealth old and new: the ornate carved stone gates of a 19th-century Ottoman sultan's palace, the gleaming high-rises in the city's rapidly growing financial district.

Periodically, Sahintas stops his yellow cab not for customers, but for photos.

Under a roaring overpass, he steps out of his vehicle and walks across the street to two homeless men who sleep huddled on the concrete under a blanket next to a half-finished plastic bottle of water.

Sahintas pauses for a moment and presses a button on his small camera. A flash erupts, then he turns and walks slowly back to the car.

In addition to being a cabbie, Sahintas is a self-taught photographer. He focuses his lens on the poorest segments of Istanbul's society. Sahintas, who began driving a taxi when he was 19, said he started taking photos five years ago when he began working the night shift. Watch Sahintas as he photographs street scenes »

"I saw people on the street in winter. They were cold at night," he said. "To make their voices heard, I wanted to buy a camera and show that these people are living in difficult conditions. That's how it started."

Sahintas takes photos of homeless people, who often sleep barefoot in bus stops next to billboards where smiling models advertise everything from ice cream bars to credit cards. See the streets through Sahintas' lens »

"I like to capture those contradictions," he said. "Happy smiling people on the ad boards beside that unhappy person who is trying to sleep. I want the happy people to see that minority and do something about it."

Sahintas also takes black-and-white portraits of the other characters who roam Istanbul's streets at night: dirty street children, garbage pickers, transvestite prostitutes.

Eventually, Sahintas' nocturnal perspective on Turkey's largest city began attracting attention, both at home and overseas. This month, an exhibit of his photos titled "The Other Side of the Night," is on display in an Istanbul gallery.

"Basically, we were amazed by his photos," said Anna Heidenhain, one of the directors of Manzara Perspectives, the art program displaying Sahintas' work. She compares his photographs to the social documentary form of photography that rose to prominence in the 1930s.

But Sahintas is the first to acknowledge he approached photography as an amateur.

"I didn't know anything about photography," he said. "I didn't know any technical terms, just an on and an off button."

He keeps an eye out for subjects while driving Istanbul's winding streets.

At 2 a.m., he spotted a freelance garbage-picker patrolling Istanbul and hauling giant rolling carts through traffic.

Sahintas stopped and met with the man, named Yasar, and offered him a cigarette. Yasar told Sahintas he scavenges packing paper and cardboard boxes from garbage bins for resale to private recycling companies. Working until dawn, he can make the equivalent of $7 a night to feed his family of six.

"We are struggling to earn enough money to buy bread," Yasar said, before trundling off into the night with his cargo of paper, a lit cigarette hanging from his lips.

This week Turkey, one of the world's 20 wealthiest economies, is holding an annual meeting of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The delegates are expected to discuss ways to battle poverty and strategies to prevent a repeat of last year's global economic crisis.

But Sahintas disagrees with experts who rate economies based on gross domestic product.

A country's wealth "should be related to how that money is distributed," he said. "If all the money is controlled by a few monopolies, I believe it shows a country's poverty, not its wealth."

Sahintas' work highlights the huge income gap in Turkish society. Even though the Turkish economy enjoyed steady growth for much of the past decade, the latest government statistics show that nearly one in five Turks live below the poverty line. During the past year, the economic crisis pummeled Turkey's export-driven industries, pushing unemployment to record highs.

The downturn has hit many Turks -- from Istanbul's garbage-pickers, who say there is less useful trash to scavenge, to the city's cabbies, who complain that fewer customers can afford their services.

Still, at the station from where Sahintas operates his cab, taxi drivers are quick to heap praise on their colleague.

We're proud of our friend. We like his pictures, as well," Tolga Donmez said between glasses of steaming hot Turkish tea. "He makes us want to learn new skills, as well."

Despite the attention, Sahintas doesn't make enough money from his photos to earn a living. For that, the photographer has to work the night shift in his yellow cab.

The Kitties of Istanbul

2009-10-02T08:42:00.000-07:00

The Turks immediately endeared themselves to me when I realized we had a very special something in common: the love of kitties. Turks love kitties. There are stray cats everywhere in the cities, but they aren't really stray because they belong to everyone and everyone takes care of them and then shares the kitty-love. Seriously, big tough dudes will play with the cats on the street-corners, giggling and smiling the whole time. More often than not, there are kitties in restaurants, kitties under outdoor tables, and kitties that know how to break into the first floor apartments of our staff housing.

During my time here, I've developed a new game: spot the kitty. It's a pretty easy and obvious game but you'd be surprised by how much better at it I am than you could ever hope to be. But, of course, with this game, everyone is a winner.

So that brings us to Istanbul (NOT Constantinople). Istanbul is a beautiful city; it has loads of old-world, European charm, thrown in with all the Islam and mosques and calls to prayer. Everyone loves Istanbul. We'll be heading back in another 2 weeks for the Eurasia marathon (though we're only running the 15k) where we'll run from Asia to Europe. I imagine, rather than focusing on my race, I'll be spotting kitties, much like I was the last trip. It's such a great game. Here, join along with me:

I spotted the guy in the above photo from a balcony where we shared a late-night meal with some friends. Actually, I spotted 3 kitties from this higher vantage point.

Here's another kitty being bad. He's crossing a second story light-fixture. There are people eating dinner below him.

Here's a kitty checking out the fire-escape. Must be sure it's kitty-approved!

Here we are taking a break from kitty spotting and touristy places to stock up on house stuff.

This little guy belonged in the bar that apparently serves the only Guinness in Turkey. Thank goodness we found it. I guess it was our only chance. This little baby had a twin brother but they were darting all over the place instead of posing for my camera.

You get double points when you spot two kitties at once, and you win for like, a year, if a kitty gets in your lap. This is out side the Topkapi palace.

Here's a kitty with his big, pink tongue sticking out for some water.

I guess what's supposed to be great about this photo is that, first off, it's taken in the Hagia Sofia, and secondly, that thing I'm in front of is a vase carved out of one piece of marble. I clearly only have eyes and time for one thing....

This little baby was outside on the steps of the Blue Mosque. The Japanese tourists loved him too. He's totally posing right now.

I think this kitty must be some decedent of the Sultan's kitties. Look how regal!

Here's two little guys playing in the street below our hostel.

No kitties in this shot. It's just a cool Istanbul-ish pic. I imagine after our second trip, or when Tim gets his blog up, you can see a post about all the cool stuff in the city. I imagine my promise of excellent kitty-sightings will not be enough to convince you to come visit. So we'll be sure to show the stuff everyone gushes about. For now, though, it's just about the kitties.

The House Tour

2009-10-01T07:38:00.000-07:00

Before the tour begins....this is how cute my cat is. She takes baths and forgets her tongue is still hanging out. How perfect is that????

Okay, here it is--the long awaited house-tour (Hi Mom!)

We are pretty stoked on where we live. It's a five minute walk to work, which means we also get an extra hour of sleep in the morning. Quite the change from the last two years of a 45 minute morning bus commute, landing at school that began at 7:20. That's right. You do the math.

The house is nothing special, but since our recent visit to the Istanbul IKEA, it sure feels like home. And Bali loves it, so that's affirmation enough for me.

Here's what our building looks like, even though this particular building is the one across the way from us. No matter--all 8 staff apartment buildings on east campus look the same: 3 stories, 4 apartments on each floor. We live on the third floor, which somehow means our place is a little bigger than the lower floors and for some reason, means we are also blessed with 3 whole porches. 1st floor has none!

Here's my favorite feature: miles and miles and miles of lovely rolling hills full of trails!

Here's our front porch. We drink a lot of beer here. It's a great spot for watching the sun set and the moon rise.

And here you can see our living room and most-used porch off the front. In the book case, there's a fold-out desk on which we sit the big laptop and watch My Name is Earl, movies, and other such things. Bali loves the armchairs and spends 8 hours of daylight in them everyday. Then there's the nighttime. Oh what to do? If you're Bali, you're in an armchair.

Here's Tim's massive, gourmet kitchen. See the island and the pot racks and all the utensils he could ever need? See the massive industrial stove, stainless steel fridge and granite counters?

This used to be a bedroom. Now it's where we have our office, where the kitty goes to poo, and is our gear storage/ski locker.

Here's our bedroom and the newly installed wall-decal. Thank you, IKEA, for your affordable down bedding and big things to put on walls that make my house look better.

Sure, the place lacks some decoration and what-not, but we've only been here a month! Give us 2 seconds to track down attractive wall-hangings!

And here's the car we're trying to buy. It's a Nissan, Toureno or something. I don't know. All I know is, it's in great condition, is diesel, and has only been owned by the Hungarian ambassador. The Hungarian embassy isn't returning phone calls at the moment, so we're having problems getting it released to us, which is also why I'm not giving you more pictures now. What if it doesn't work out? We'll save the car post for when it's officially ours.

And because you should never be left without a gratuitous Bali-shot:

Bali Likes Turkey

2009-09-25T07:10:00.000-07:00

Ala Dağlar (The Crimson Mountains)

2009-09-24T01:18:00.000-07:00

Sweet--our friend Carrie already posted about our vacation! We didn't actually have a charged battery in our camera and so Carrie took all the pictures. So.....since she's a lovely writer and an excellent picture-taker, and possessor of all existing pictures of the vacation, we'll just leave it to her. You can follow this link to read about our fabulous, exciting, relaxing, and awesome climbing road-trip to a magical area. Or, you can access Carrie's blog, Turkish Adventures, on the right side of this blog, under "Who I Read." It was actually Carrie's blog that first convinced us we could probably live in Turkey quite happily. Check her out!

A Month

2009-09-23T08:29:00.001-07:00

A lot happens in a month when you move to a new country.
We've been a lot busier than expected. And for some reason, I often can't access blogger, which is a BOTHER!

Stories and pictures coming soon on:

Our apartment
Our school
Our car
The local crag
Istanbul
Our first vacation to the Aladağlar

In other news, I will soon be going to a workshop in Dubai! Stay tuned...

Arrival and Settling

2009-08-22T05:59:00.000-07:00

After one helluva long travel day, we arrived in Ankara, Turkey this past Sunday. All of Bali's papers were in order, but, of course, there were no customs officials, no need to declare anything--not even bag scanning. The woman in Denver was so overwhelmed with all our bags and connections, she didn't even remember to charge me for Bali. This is getting easier and easier. From Chicago to Munich, we got a free upgrade to economy plus which was helpful. But we still didn't sleep. Bali just about tore her carrier to shreds every time she needed to potty. We were afraid she'd bust out of her carrier and run amok around the plane. I got her out several times to hold her and feed her water while Tim held his magazine in front of us. Pulling a cat out on the plane is a no-no!

We could only buy 2 liters of booze each once in Turkey from the duty free, but we could bring in as much as we wanted (we brought in extra from Munich). This is important to remember when you come to visit. Good alcohol is available here, but it's almost twice the cost in the States.

Several people from the school met us and took us (and our 9 bags) on a bus across the city to our new home: Bilkent University.
First impressions---well, we can't help but compare it to Quito. I think a lot of people come here having never experienced the third world and think that the city is ugly or that it's not very nice. We have been nothing but impressed so far in this first week. Ankara is not Istanbul, and everyone LOVES Istanbul. But Tim and I are not city people. What we have seen has been a clean, nice, modern city where people seemingly obey traffic laws, the infrastructure seems good, and there are a couple cool parts of town.

We live at the University which sits on the outskirts of the city and up a big hill. So, while Ankara is smoggy, we don't have to experience it. Right outside our door, the hills and open space goes on and on and is laced with hundreds of miles of trail and dirt roads. We've already begun exploring this treasure. One thing about jet-lag--we're up super early in the morning, ready to run!

The weather has been wonderful. The mornings and evenings are cool. It's hot in the afternoon, from about 12:30 to 5ish. Hot as in, in the 90s. But it's super dry, so the heat doesn't bother us too much. We also know it's short-lived. We're looking forward to experiencing fall for the first time in what has seemed like ages. It's sunny and beautiful--almost no clouds in the sky. Ever. The altitude is about the same as Boone, my hometown in NC. Oh, and there are three ski areas within 2 hours of the city--woo hoo!

Some last little observations and curiosities to leave you with because I know you're wondering:
-Whenever we need a taste of the States, there's Ben and Jerry's
-We're buying our coffee at Starbucks. And thank goodness for it because the coffee at the grocery store is crap!
-You can't say "sick," "um," or "peach/es" because these are all very bad words in Turkish
-We have not heard a single call to prayer, seen anyone praying, or seen anything that would indicate what we Americans think is Muslim except for some older women at the store who wear pants, long sleeves, and head scarves. But I can wear whatever I want. Tank tops, shorts, short skirts--anything. The conservative old-town area and out in villages are the only places I would not dress like that and only because I don't like people staring at me. I dress more conservatively naturally than many of the Turkish women I've met/seen.
-the food is GOOD
-I have not yet had the tea because it's hot
-I have not yet seen any whirling dervishes
-I have not been in a carpet shop
-There are kitties EVERYWHERE!!!!

Okay, off now to shop Ikea online (it's in Istanbul) for some stuff for the house.
I will post pictures as soon as we get the big computer on the internet. It's having issues connecting.

Runner's Knee

2009-08-03T11:58:00.000-07:00

I went to the sports doctor here in Boulder. He quickly discovered what my problem is/has been. My knee cap collapses too far to the left. My outer leg muscles pull my knee cap, causing pain due to the compression and to compensate, the tendons on the inside pull to try to align the thing, causing pain on the inside. Because of the push and pull, my patella tendon can't run in a straight line and I get tendinitis. Poof. Tah-dah. We learned this from a simple x-ray. An x-ray they didn't take, for some reason, in Quito. But the x-ray shows that it's not as bad as my MRI suggests. Thankfully, it seems to be something I can manage. Unfortunately, I probably won't be able to run long distances. Ever. But who knows? I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. The good news is that I know what the problem actually is, and I can work on it. I have two physical therapy appointments scheduled so that we can make up a plan for me. And there we have it.

In the meantime, we've been running. Since my knee really only hurts after running, not during, I've kinda gone at it, and it's been great! These pics are from our 4th of July run at the Avery Brewing Company. A bunch of friends got together and ran the 4k on the 4th--then drank LOTS of beer! It was a blast!

This past Saturday, Tim and I ran a trail 10k up at Eldora and it was sooo much fun! We were flying through the woods, whooping and hollering and grinning ear to ear. If my knee ever acts normally enough for me to do longer runs, I think this one may help me convince Tim to do big Euro mountain runs with me. It was a tiny race--only 118 men and 95 women. It wasn't really a race for casual runners, either. It attracted a crazy hardcore crowd, so we didn't place very well. But that's what you get in Boulder. And we loved it.

Bali's Nudity

2009-07-26T10:17:00.000-07:00

Bali's nudity is really pretty much all that's wrong with her. In less than a week after sugery, she's already putting weight on her leg, she fully extends and bends it herself (she's doing her own physical therapy), her stitches fell out yesterday, and I quit giving her pain meds days ago. This kitty is no longer a tri-pod. She is only 1/2 naked and limping. She's sleeping with us at night (not hiding) and generally letting me mess with her leg.

I'd say that bodes well for how "normal" she'll be when she fully recovers. She's still pretty embarrassed about being naked and her fur will take awhile to grow back in. But if that's all she has to worry about, I'd say we're doing great!

Little Tri-Pod

2009-07-22T10:57:00.000-07:00

Bali got her ACL surgery on Monday, and I must say, she is not complaining much! When we brought her home Monday, she was all growly, and hissy, and we're pretty sure she was not growling at us, but rather at the pain in her leg. But by Tuesday, she was all purry and lovey, and now she's not even struggling when I give her the meds.

They say it'll be 3-4 weeks before she's putting much weight on it, and another 6-8 after that before she's approaching normal. But the kitty is doing well, and maybe things will get better faster for her. What all this means is that we'll be traveling to Turkey with a hurt kitty. Will the import police have a problem with a half shaved, limping kitty, or will they not even notice her? That's the question. I'm banking on them not noticing her. But if they do start poking and prodding, I'm ready to throw a tantrum. Tantrums get you far in many other countries where English is not widely spoken.

A Post About Turkey!

2009-07-09T14:05:00.000-07:00

We are experiencing our first taste of Turkish bureaucracy as we attempt to procure visas. Because I have bachelor degrees specific to the subjects I will teach (English and Psychology), I will be employed by our school. This means that my paperwork is easy, but it takes a long time to get it. So I only need to show up in Turkey, get a tourist visa there in the airport, and then the school will eventually finish my paperwork and get my work visa.

Tim, though, is different. He will be teaching English as well, which is not what his bachelors degree is in. Therefore, he must be hired by the University. The University will then "lend him" to our school to teach. Because he will work for the University, he must get his work visa here in the States. To get a work visa, you must show up at the embassy--no mailing this stuff in like we did for Ecuador.

Can't wait to see what other convoluted, irrational hoops we'll have to jump through!

We also just bought our first rock guide to Turkey, and, thankfully, it looks like all the silly bureaucracy will be worth it. It definitely gets us excited to go. The areas really look fantastic and are pretty accessible to where we'll be.

About a month to go!

Poor Kitty!

2009-07-06T13:58:00.000-07:00

Bali, being the true-blood Coloradan she is, has torn her ACL. We imagine she did it while attempting some sick jump from a window ledge that she didn't calculate just right. That's cool, I mean, she's the first one in a family of skiers to bust her ACL, but she's also the only one without health insurance. Maybe she should have calculated the risk a bit further. But in true Colorado style, she went ahead and tried that epic jump.

Can you imagine what ACL surgery is going to look like for a person that small? I bet her little tendon is maybe a cm long? Anyway, for now, she's a tri-pod kitty, hobbling around the house, missing out on the sweet mountain biking and trail running. But we'll get her back in shape for the winter ski season.

Goodbye

2009-06-26T08:02:00.000-07:00

I'm at work. It's our last day. Tomorrow night, we go home. Our home. The home we made together for ourselves. Colorado.

We have grown so much in the last two years. The life education we received was much more intense and severely enlightening than anything we signed up for or expected. And I don't think we'll be able to focus on all the wonderful things about it until we have some distance and space from this life here.

And yet...goodbyes are in order. We leave wonderful people, a fascinating culture, my first teaching job, a language we've cultivated in ourselves, and norms and expectations we have finally adapted to. We are taking our experiences with us, the beautiful and the ugly, the severe and the suave, the scary and the comforting--they have all changed us. The rest, we leave behind.

Goodbye, year-round beautiful flowers and gardens.
Goodbye, awe-inspiring volcanoes. Cotopaxi, twice you rejected me. I was never able to try for a third.
Goodbye, seasonless year--holding us all in a perpetual springtime.
Goodbye, rain. I will miss you not.
Goodbye, easiest teaching job ever. I may miss your ease later in life.
Goodbye, eucalyptus leaves in my running park, filtering sunlight and freshening the air.
Goodbye, fear. Disappear. I don't want to see you again.
Goodbye, chatty, kind, and endearing students. I love you.
Goodbye, slow internet. I hope one day soon you can be fast.
Goodbye, colleagues. It's been one helluva ride.
Goodbye, climbers. You people are awesome. I hope we meet again somewhere soon.
Goodbye, airplanes overhead. All the time. Oye.
Goodbye, cheap and deliciously perfect steak. I think maybe we took you for granted and may regret that soon.
Goodbye, kind families that took care of us. We will always remember you.
Goodbye, pan de yucca, fresh fruit juices, my favorite yogurt, and all other yummies.
Goodbye, all the broken stuff in my classroom.
Goodbye, tall concrete.
Goodbye, Galapagos and jungle. You are treasures.
Goodbye, Canoa--home aways from home, great friends, lovely vacation spot.
Goodbye, severe green landscape with your nausea-inducing, twisty, curvy roads.
Goodbye, valley, goodbye, sigsi--our one climbing area, goodbye clothing that doesn't fit me.
Goodbye to all the things too numerous to name but that still made an impression--like the crowded buses, the sink holes, easy travel to the coast, etc.

Tomorrow night, we board a plane and say our goodbyes from above, looking down and back, on our first international living experience.
Goodbye Quito.

Klassic

2009-06-22T08:32:00.000-07:00

I took Bali in so she could get her very official, stamped and dated health certificate. The vet listened to Bali's heart for about 30 seconds, declared her perfect, and signed the certificate. This was after much oooing and wowing over her age (kitties don't survive long south of the border) and about five minutes of me begging the vet to make the date on the cert this Friday, the day before we leave. I only had to ask twice and make a mild show of being upset about bringing in the cat too early. Ta-daaahh! Kitty ready to fly.

I'm doing something new with Bali this time. I'm not carrying litter and her little travel poo box. I'm going to try lining her carrier with diapers. Last time, she only peed in her carrier once and then refused food, water, and the chance to potty like a dignified kitty the whole rest of the travel time. We'll do a trial run tomorrow. All I worry about is how much space she has (nil) and how well the diapers will adhere and stay put.

And finally, some good news for us: we're moving to Martin Acres! A friend there needs her house sat for July. Lucky us, huh? South Boulder, watch out! Here we's come.

4 on the 4th

2009-06-13T14:03:00.000-07:00

I just officially registered for Avery's short run and long drink event on the 4th of July. I think you should too.
You can register here for $25.

I'm also going to try to register for La Sportiva's trail 10k the 1st of August. I think you should do that one too.

Only 2 weeks for us to go. 2 weeks and we'll be finished with our first overseas living/teaching experience. I'll re-cap soon when I have some distance and so a clarified perspective as well. Right now, I can only focus on getting to Colorado. So I'm going to continue to honor that for now, and I'll get back to Quito in my mind soon enough.

Teaching Assignment

2009-06-03T11:37:00.000-07:00

In honor of learning my teaching assignment today (and because I´m at an internet cafe until the Censo office opens), I thought I´d go ahead and open my new blog.

Next year in Turkey, I´ll teach 3 sections of English 9 (IGCSE curriculum) and I´ll teach IB Psychology again. Blissfully, no more TOK! I´m very excited to be teaching both my loves, and only having two preps--down from my current 4. I think it´ll be fantastic!

If you have not yet heard, our house in Quito was robbed. Quite a bummer. But my cat is fine, thank you for wondering. She hid while the baddies were in our house. But they did manage to take both our computers. Since we only have about 3 weeks left in Quito, we won´t be trying to replace those until we get back to Colorado (June 28th!!! WOOOOHOOOO!!). Thus, we are sorry about the limited contact. And pictureless blogs. The camera is gone too. But we´re not letting it get us too down. We´re fine and we´ll slowly replace what we´ve lost.

Can´t wait to see everyone this soon--we are so ready for a great Colorado summer!