Dad in Turkey - Konya

İf it is Saturday, then ıt must be Konya. Actually, we arrived last nıght after a trıp from the Cappadocıa area. İ know - none of thıs geography stuff makes any sense to you ıf you haven't been here, so İ'll keep ıt simple.

Cappadocia ıs an area where 12,000 years ago two volcanos erupted and spread ash, mud and a mıxture of mınerals over a large area. Then errosıon washed away the softer materıals leavıng some very unusual rock formatıons that are porus . People started dıggıng caves ınto the hıllsıdes and lıvıng ın them. In other areas, they dug underground cıtıes that they used to hıde from ınvaders. One underground cıty that we vısıted had nıne floors and could house 2,000 people.

Thursday nıght we went to a floor show. We saw lots of folk dances and a belly dancer. She was OK as a dancer but was very funny gettıng the audıance ınvolved. I thınk she got better as İ started workıng on my thırd Raki. Raki ıs an anıse based drınk and tastes much lıke the Greek drınk Ozo.

Konya ıs the home town for the founder of the Whırlıng Durvısh. We went to vısıt hıs tomb and museum. They are a specıal sect of the Shıte Muslıns.

Today we head for the coast. For the past week we have been vısıtıng ancıent Turk and Ottoman Empıre sıghts. Near the coast we wıll start to see lots of Greek and Roman ruıns. Both of those countries occupıed large parts of modern day Turkey ın the past.

Food has been good. Generally, we have a buffet for breakfast and dınner so İ can always fınd somethıng that appeals to me. However, Turkey ıs 95% muslın. So no pork products. They offer somethıng called beef bacon at breakfast. Forget it!!! Also, all sausages, lunch meats, etc are all made from beef or chıcken. My fırst breakfast when İ get home ıs goıng to be pork sausage lınks and maybe pancakes.

İt ıs 7:30am. I need to go to breakfast and then get on the bus. There are 40 of us on the tour. Many are from Australıa, Canada, England and the rest are from the US. A very nıce mıxture. Our guıde, Atakan, ıs a walkıng encylopedia and pumps us full of ınformatıon where ever we go. He has a masters degree ın art hıstory.

All for now. More later

John

Dad in Turkey - Cappadocia

It is Thursday evenıng. We are back at the hotel after an interestıng day ın the Cappadocia area. There are lots of unusual rock formations formed by the erosion of volcanic ash, mud and other stuff. Thıs area ıs famous for cave dwellers. There was one area where they created a christian monastery that had over 300 chapels dug ınto the rock and also small meetıng rooms, kıtchens, and lıvıng areas. Apparently, in the 800's there were 2,000 people lıvıng ın thıs monastery. Then along came the Muslims and the Chrıstıans fled to Greece.

Today we had lıght rain showers. The fırst cold and wet day on the trıp. Luckily, we were on the bus duriıng most of the showers.

İ learned another Turkish word. İt ıs Dur. The means stop.

Helen, how ıs your leg? We all want to know if it is getting better.

Today (Oct 29th) is Turkey's Independence Day. We saw a parade of school children and a band ın one small town. There were banners everywhere. Turkey just received it's independence ın 1923 after the 1st World War. Up to that tıme it was part of the Ottoman Empıre ruled by a Sultan. Wıth ındpendence the country became a republic wıth elected offıcals, a constıtutıon, etc.

Kate, is Mıke getting steady substitute teachiıng assignments?

Kate, good news! After we talked, İ trıed one more time to recharge my cell phone and this time ıt worked. So you will get a call tomorrow for sure.

All for now. İ'm off to check out the rooftop bar. İ need a beer after a long day on the bus.

Love

Dad/John

Dad in Turkey - Cappadocia

Last nıght our group went to see a Whırlıng Durvısh ceremony. It ıs a religious ceremony performed by a sect of the Suni Muslims. İt was very solome and trance like. Not at all what İ expected. No photos allowed and no clapping at the end. I always thought that the Whırlıng Durvish was more like a form of entertainment with colorful costumes. Not the case last night. They wore a white outfit with a tall wool hat when they danced.

Today we are in Cappadocia. İt ıs a region known for pottery and clay tile making. Also for silk carpet weaving. So today is a shopping experience day!

All for now. Have to go and catch my bus.

Love

Dad

Dad in Turkey - Ankara

Hi All

It is 7pm and we just arrived in Ankara, the capital of Turkey. We left Bursa at 8:15 this morning and have been on the go ever since. We saw a famous mosque in Bursa before leaving town. Then we stopped in Gordion where a man named Gordion was made king and took the name Midas. He is famous for the Gordion knot. He proclaimed that whoever could undue the knot would become the ruler of Asia Minor. In 324BC along came Alexander the Great. He couldn't until the knot, so he just cut it apart with his sword. He went on to become the ruler of Asia Minor all the way down to Egypt and over to Iraq.

So much for today's history lesson.

Now for some funny things that have happened.

1. In Istanbul I was walking down the street and got hungry for a snack. I purchased a bag of potato chips. It turned out to be tomato ketchup flavored. Interesting taste.

2. The first Turkish word I learned was Bay. It means men. Many of the toilets in Turkey do not have the man or women symbol, so you need to know which bathroom to use. Bayan is the women's bathroom.

3. Three people on our trip just received their luggage here in Anakara. They all flew thru JFK in NY and their bags did not make the connecting flights to Europe. Apparently, there was a bad storm in NY and many flights were delayed. Some people missed their flights and were rerouted on other airlines.

4. The bus has 40 seats and we have 40 people in our group. So I have been sitting next to Gloria for the past two days. She is from Cambridge, England. She is a very seasoned traveler, so we have had a lot to talk about. She is very compatable. However, the woman behind us is from Australia and is a non stop talker. I would have cut my wrists by now if I had ended up sitting next to her.

5. Linda - I have seen several Carrefour stores here in Turkey. Gloria says they are also in the UK.

6. My last item for the day is to tell you about the Turkish keyboard. The Turkish language has several extra letters to include the letter i without a dot over the i and also a letter i with a dot. The first time I tried to log on to yahoo to check my email the system kept rejecting me. I finally asked for help and found out I was using the wrong i. On this keyboard I have to use the key just to the right of the letter L.

All for now

John

Anniversary of Mom's passing

It's been 9 years, and believe it or not, this year has been easier.
Maybe it's the passage of time, I'm sure that's part of it, but I also believe our time in India has a lot to do with it.

Women here do not have an easy life; oppression, beatings, even burnings. Mom's life started under the dark cloud of war, but she had good people looking out for her and it soon turned for the better. So in this environment of female oppression, I can only look back at Mom's life as a good one and be grateful.

Thank you VannaMamma, VannaPapa, Marta and Liise
Thank you Gunilla and the Peterson family (Christols too!)
Thank you Captain John F. Stallwitz
And thank you to all her friends and family that helped contribute to her wonderful life.

Love you.

Dad in Turkey - Istanbul

Hi All

Yesterday I was met by my guide, Melike. She was 28 and has been a tour guide for 7 years. We had a very nice Mercedes mini-bus and driver.

I am staying at the Conrad Hotel which is part of the Hilton chain. The hotel is on the European side of the city. Across the Bosphorus is Asia.

The first place she took me was to a waterfront area on the Bosphorus where there was a nice walking area and lots of outdoor cafes. (I am going back there today for lunch). Next we went inside a Mosque that was close by. It was done in the Borque style that influenced Turkish architure in the 1700 and 1800's.

From there we went Independence Square which is on the top of one of the many hills of Istanbul. We then got out of the car and walked down a very nice walking street for about two miles. Nice shops everywhere to include lots of American fast food places like Burger King, Kentucky Fried Chicken, etc. I also say 3 Starbucks along the way.

At the end of the street was a large tower called Galata Tower. We rode an elevator up 7 floors then walked up 3 more. From the observation deck you could see a lot of the city.

We then found our car and driver and went to the Grand Bazaar. It is a covered area with 4,000 little shops. You can find anything inside. Then we walked about half a mile to the Spice Bazaar which is a low end Grand Bazaar with more food items. Lots and lots of candy stalls.

At the end of the day we drove through the Istanbul equilivant of Rodeo Drive in Los Angels or 5th Ave in New York. Every fancy store known to man.

Tomorrow we leave for Ankara, the capital of Turkey and start our 14 days tour of Turkey.

More later

Dad in Turkey - Istanbul

Hi All

I am in Instanbul. I arrived about 4:15pm local time. I was met by the transfer agent and rode to my hotel with a couple from Calgary, Alberta Canada. They will be on the same tour with me. They have been in Cambridge, England visiting their son who is studying at Cambridge for two years.

Istanbul is such a contrast from Alexandria and Cairo. It is much cleaner, there is greenery everywhere and the drivers are bad but better than Egyptian.

I had a crazy time on the way from Alex to the Cairo airport. Hanny picked me up at 6:30am and the plan was to get me to the airport by 10:30am. About 45 minutes down the highway the fan belt broke and we were stranded. He called a friend that had a car and about 45 minutes later he showed up. We all got in his car and took off. We were flying low most of the way to Cairo. Fortunately, Friday morning is the least busiest traffic day of the week because it is the start of their weekend. Most people sleep in, go to the Mosque at noon and then go to a big (family?) lunch. Surprising enough, Ahmed and Hanny delivered me to the airport at 10:45. Plenty of time to go through check-in, security and passport control.

Tomorrow I have arranged for a car and English speaking driver to take me around Istanbul and see some of the lesser site that we won't see on the tour. It should be interesting.

Well, all for now. It is 7pm here and I am going to go and find some dinner.

John

Dad in Egypt with Linda

We just came back from the souk (the outdoor market). Very primative but very interesting. Also cheap. Linda bought a kilo of sweet potatoes for 1 Egyptian Pound (about 20 US cents). We then went to a regular indoor market with package foods, etc and they had sweet potatoes for 7 Egyptian Pounds per kilo. So Linda has a weekly outing to the souk, gets really fresh stuff and pays very little. She has also become acquainted with may of the stall owners and they make sure she gets only the best produce.
All for now

Dad

Frustrated with customer service

Two technicians just left my house. They came today to fix my dryer. They will be back tomorrow to actually fix my dryer.
When I made the service call they asked me what the problem is, I said "the tumbler is not tumbling. The dryer blows hot air but the clothes are not being tossed around." OK, we'll have the technician call you.
The technician calls and asks what the problem is, again I say the tumbler isn't tumbling, he says OK, he'll be out in a couple hours.
In a couple hours (hey! he came promptly!) two technicians arrived, I showed them to the dryer, put a piece of clothing in it and turned it on. I said again, the tumbler is not tumbling. They worked on it for 20 minutes then showed me a bad band. The reason the tumbler wasn't tumbling was because the band that made it go around had broken.
So they tell me, "Sorry Madam, we were told your dryer was not starting so we only brought parts to fix that problem. We will have to get a new band and come back tomorrow."
Ahhhh! I said I never said anything about the dryer not starting, I only mentioned that the cylinder inside was not rotating.

--- --- --- ---

This morning I stopped at a shop to pick up a few items. While waiting in line to pay a cleaning lady came by mopping. She actually asked me to move so she could mop where I was standing. Because it was a narrow aisle, I had to exit the aisle completely, she swabbed the floor with a mop that hadn't been rinsed in quite some time, then I returned to my place in line.

--- --- --- ---

Saturday night we were invited to a friend's house for Diwali festivities. I was told dinner wouldn't be served until late so I thought ahead and ordered a couple cheese pizzas - 1 for the kids and another 'cause it's hard to resist cheese pizza. When I placed the order, the restaurant asked me "Where do you live?" so I told them my complex. They asked "What Villa number" and I said my Villa number doesn't matter, I'm going to pick up the pizza. Then they asked again, "What is your Villa number" I said again this order is for pick up. And they asked a third time so I thought, well, maybe my mobile number comes up on their computer and they need to fill in the info, so I told them.
So... I show up for the pizza and they said they already went to my house. The delivery driver called the restaurant and said no one is home. AHHHH!!!! I got a little huffy and loud and explained that I said 3 TIMES that I would pick up the pizzas myself.
Since the delivery driver was already on his way back to the restaurant, we waited for him to arrive, got the pizzas, and went on our way.

Travel log: Dad in Egypt

It is Tuesday afternoon and we have returned from a day of shopping and sight seeing. By chance, we found pumpkins first thing this morning when we started out the day. We were looking for a baseball cap for me with Egypt or Alexandria or something of that ilk on it. No luck. We found some hats but nothing that I wanted. Will check out the shops at the Cairo airport on my way out of the country.

The two main tourist sights that we visited today were the Roman Amphitheater and Pompey's Pillar. The Amphitheater was "discovered" in 1963 when they started to dig a foundation for an apartment house. It is still under excavation. It will take a couple of more years to uncover and reconstruct the site.

Pompey's Pillar is a large column in the middle of the city. They have created a very nice area around the column but there really isn't much to see.

This afternoon Linda and Drew are taking delivery of a new leather couch. The landlady promised a couch to them last November. Linda picked out the style she wanted from a catalog and purchased the fabric. Both were delivered to a furniture maker. Eleven months later, still no couch. So the landlady said it was okay to just go to a store and pick one out.

Tomorrow we are going to the "farmers" market to buy fresh vegetables, fruits, etc.

Traffic in Alex is unbelievable. I could never drive here. Linda's driver, Hanny, is very good but it is still an experience to be in the front seat and see how close he comes to other cars. Somehow everyone manages to work their way thru the traffic, weaving in and out and dodging people trying to cross the street at the same time.

All for now

Love you

John

Travel log: Dad in Egypt visiting Linda

I arrived on schedule and checked into the hotel around 4am. Linda and family arrived around 11am. We all went swimming for an hour or so and then it was time to feed the kids. The largest shopping mall in Cairo is next door to the hotel. So we spent some time walking the mall and then had Mexican food at South of the Border or On the Border.

That evening we had Japanese food in a restaurant in the hotel.

It is Saturday morning and we had a complete failure with our city tour. The van and driver that Eric arranged did not show up. We are waiting for another company to see if they can arrange one. If yes, we will tour. If not, we will head to Alexandria.

All for now
John

Happy Diwali

Happy Diwali Everyone!

This morning we were woken up by firecrackers at 6:45am and they basically didn't stop all day. When evening fell the festivities and crackers ramped up until it felt like a war zone outside.

Here the fireworks you can buy at stands are far crazier than the ones at home, I'm sure they'd all be considered illegal fireworks, even the sparklers are heavy duty. So not only are the fireworks bigger and more dangerous, during Diwali they let the children do the lighting! I wouldn't even let my 5 & 6 yr olds hold the box of matches.

We went to Aayush's for a Diwali party but I knew we wouldn't last long. By 9:00pm both kids had their hands placed firmly over their ears and Annika was in tears. We headed back home which was an adventure in itself - people were lighting crackers all over town and many were throwing them in the streets were traffic was trying to flow. Back at Ozone the fireworks continued well into the night.

We had a nice surprise when we arrived home, someone had drawn a beautiful rangoli on our front walk. :-)

Bridge over an open trench

Road work is going on all over Whitefield. The sewer trenches are being cleaned out and improved (I wish I had photos of the nastyness the people are scooping out of those sewer trenches).
Today as we waited at a red light I noticed this make-shift bridge over a trench, you sure wouldn't see any of this in the US.

Good visability?

There don't seem to be any rules or regulations about a driver's visibility. Vehicle windshields can be almost completely covered with decorations. I saw a big rig once with streamers covering nearly every inch of the windshield with the exception of a small space above the steering wheel. It's crazy!

ISKON Temple

Today we visited the ISKON (The International Society for Krishna Consciousness) Temple. Cameras were not allowed.
When we entered the temple we purchased a Rps. 150/ ticket and that ticket covered the four of us; Me, A&A and Bree. I thought that was a bit much considering it's a temple but we paid and went on. After security we followed the people in front of us up to the first temple (there are 3 temples) but before we could reach it we were ushered into another que away from everyone else. Apparently our ticket entitled us to line jump at every station. It's not what I wanted, I wanted to see the sights like everyone else but it worked out for the better since the kids were with us.
I enjoyed the ceremonies we witnessed, the drumming, the men in saffron robes with only a tuft of hair on the crown of their heads, the chanting, and the spectacle of it all. Our special pass even entitled us to a special blessing (it's amazing what money can buy).

We were given a go-home treat of Indian Krishna sweets.
"Always Remember Krishna
Never Forget Krishna" Mmmm, wonder what was in those sweets?

It took 1.5+ hours each way to see the temple, Bree was a good sport and played with the kids in the car.

Mr. Shogun

Shogun is back with us again for a few days. This time I had Gopi write a note in Kannada saying "Warning, dog inside" since Angel and Jayanthi sometimes come and go when I'm not home.

Who can resist that face?

The power of positive thinking

Auggie is all about video games.
Our Wii broke in early summer, a victim of one too many power outages/surges. We have a UPS power back-up but even that can't take too many power outages and shuts off when we have too many in succession. Anyway, August misses his Wii terribly and tries to find other sources for video games.

Bree and Dagan let August borrow their DS. He used it until he drained every bit of power. He found one of our power cords (not for the DS) and decided to charge the unit himself.
Osmosis didn't work in this instance. :-(

Helmet Shopping

We have a lot of fun on our scooter rides but up until now the kids have always worn their bike helmets. We thought it was about time to get something safer.

Annika, pretty in pink. The BMW logo on the front actually says "BMX"


Auggie went with the red.

7 going on 70...

(Well, she'll be 7 next month)
Annika plays with Mommy's jewelry

Diwali is coming!

October 17

Diwali is coming... no doubt about it.
I put the kids to bed and 5 minutes later the neighborhood is under attack.
It's like the 4th of July x10 and it happens every day up until Diwali and for a few days after.

August's End of Unit

Prep II (Kindergarten) just finished a "Unit of Inquiry" on stories. Their final exam was to tell a story in front of their class and parents.

August doing some coloring before all the kids/parents were settled

August's teacher Ms. Sharayu

This is a story my mother used to tell me...

Vegetable market

Maybe the garbage dumpers can't read English

Nap time in the land of lemons

Not often you have a calf following you as you do your shopping

Ahhhh, fresh herbs!

May I help you?

Mommy, where do bean bags come from?

Bree is ordering a 6' bean bag for her house. Since it's a custom order she had to go to the "factory" (two houses on an alley with sewing machines and many, many bags of pellets)

As we approached the factory, Bree made the comment that you can tell you're close by the amount of styrofoam pellets in the street

Gutter full of fabric and styrofoam

Stuart

Stuart is a feral cat that has adopted our patio as his home. Occasionally, if I leave the front door open, he'll curl up on the mat inside. Annika gave him his name.

Eggs anyone?

I'm still not used to the chicken sh!t on my eggs...