Follow Me As I Discover Land, Language and Self...
Why do pictures made up of hundreds of separate pieces appear to us humans as whole and cohesive? It turns out that our brains are wired to perceive objects in their entirety before identifying individual parts. This is a phenomenon known as Gestalt. Perhaps the first artists to make use of Gestalt were those who worked with mosaics, colored bits of stone fixed into mortar. The concept is improbable because stones…
Dear readers, I often think of you and wish you were beside me as I experience different parts of Istanbul. The next best thing, I guess, is bringing you along photographically. Here are some photo highlights of the past week. Sunday, September 16, near Istiklal Avenue How many cats can you find in this picture? Monday, September 17, Istinye Would someone please explain this? Tuesday, September 18, Arnavutkoy Tuesday market…
The first refugee camp Turkey has built for Syrian refugees is located near Gaziantep, in southeastern Turkey. Last Friday I flew down to that city and met up with Sankar and one of his project teams. They had just arrived from government meetings in Ankara. From Gaziantep we drove south to the small town of Kilis and then from Kilis a few more kilometers to the actual border. This rather…
I returned to the city two weeks ago, Sankar preceding me by about ten days. The usual west-to-east jet lag, involving long afternoon naps, lasted only a few days, but a muddled mental feeling lingered. I had stayed too many weeks in Minnesota, I’d had too much fun, and certainly had become caught up in too many absorbing plans for the near future when we move back. It was hard…
Empires put up buildings, and when those empires are religious, they put up buildings of worship. The Roman Empire was weakening when, in 324 CE, Emperor Constantine opened a second branch 840 miles to the east. He built a new church in the city he named after himself. Completed in 360 CE, it was known as the Hagia Sofia, Sofia being the phonetic spelling of the Greek word wisdom. In 410 CE…
I am leaving Minnesota for Istanbul on August 16. It’s been a satisfying summer, with some house and professional projects completed and fun times with friends and family. Since I’m straddling two wonderful cultures, it seems appropriate to make some comparisons: What I will miss when I return to Istanbul: -Butter in restaurants -My huge National Geographic World Atlas that I forgot to have 3M ship to Turkey -Ziplock bags…
Well, I have apparently adjusted so well to Turkish food that I am overeating. I should have known it would come to this. During my first year in Istanbul I was skeptical. I sampled but didn’t really embrace savory items such as borek and interesting desserts like kunefe and kadayif, and I tried to resist the pistachios, almonds and cashews I saw all around me. Flaky, cheesy borek With repeated exposure, however, these…
Our house in Minnesota has a way of pulling me right back into my own culture. It does that by making demands we can’t ignore. Sometimes, upon our return, the basement is wet. Other times a mouse, or a horde of box elder bugs has moved in. For our summer homecomings, weeds usually stand tall, saluting us. One winter, thanks to the combination of heated roof coils and an overwhelming…
I wish I could have taken the tomatoes. I felt inordinately bad about throwing them away, three perfect red globes, their stems still attached. I think every Turk eats at least one tomato each day—and I have grown to regard tomatoes reverentially. Before heading to the airport to travel back to Minnesota, I bit into one of them, adding salt as I ate. I thought about how this “vegetable” that…
Sankar and I are fortunate to live near one of the most intact historical neighborhoods in Istanbul. Arnavutkoy is a hillside town that hugs the European side of the Bosphorus. Its name means “Albanian village,” a reference to past residents. It is known for its wooden Ottoman mansions and fish restaurants. I walk through Arnavutkoy five or six times each week as I head for the bus stop or a…
