Threatened Hasankeyf
All these stories and Kadri suddenly opened up in the car about his family history: Armenian; his grandfather died at 42, Musur, went from Caucus… Read More »Threatened Hasankeyf
Brian Felsen
Syrian monks at the Saffron monastery
I was getting to see all the places I wanted and they pretty much let me decide, and I kept saying, east. We drove to… Read More »Syrian monks at the Saffron monastery
The Kurdish lord of Viransehir
I had big plans for the next day, we’d see monasteries and border towns and Hasankeyf and it would all be just so, but Turkey… Read More »The Kurdish lord of Viransehir
Bazaar in Urfa
The next morning we saw Urfa, and it was like having left the country – very middle-east; little Turkish spoken; Kurdish and Arabic; covered women;… Read More »Bazaar in Urfa
East to the Syrian border
After three days at Elif’s father’s house in Antalya, swimming and eating as if on a beached cruise ship, Kadri announced that we’d be going… Read More »East to the Syrian border
A perfect day
Elif’s stepfather Cos won’t be able to get any vacation at all this summer, which means he’s going to try to call in sick occasionally.… Read More »A perfect day
A unique brand of Islam
Today, Elif cut tinsel for our friend Jeff at Telli Baba’s grave. The “Telli Baba” tomb is set on the very edge of the water,… Read More »A unique brand of Islam
Cinema and theater
7/21/2002 Istanbul theaters are showing films from all over the world. Of course our Hollywood action exports do the biggest business, but they also have… Read More »Cinema and theater
The World Cup
6/14/2002 Turkey advanced to the second round of the World Cup for the first time in its history, and I found it out from the… Read More »The World Cup
Shitbus to Bangkok
W4/10 We get reservations in the morning for a bus from Krabi to Bangkok. We find an internet café to make online reservations for the… Read More »Shitbus to Bangkok