Day 3 – Thursday – July 14, 2011

Today Pervin was joined by an architect friend of hers from the University and we were going to drive (and walk) around Gonen to look at the mud-brick houses.  Most buildings now are brick or reinforced concrete but the oldest houses are made of mud-brick (and my old we mean 50-60 years old).  There are a few buildings older (like the Hamam) but for the most part its all pretty new construction.

As we started to walk around I heard this weird shrieking noise and I looked up and saw an owl! Perched on a roof clear as day a big old owl just sitting there.  We explored this one area of town and I was told that they had relocated from up in the hills 50 or 60 years prior (and that we would try and explore the old village another day).

It was a pleasant walk around town – talking to people and taking pictures (of VERY run down buildings).  One of the buildings however was in great shape and a new roof and very modern windows – very weird mix.

It was hot out but a nice breeze and pretty dry – the sun was shining very bright – at one point I went to put on my sunglasses only to find I was already wearing them!  In fact I wear my sunglasses almost all the time here – a very good purchase indeed.

At one point we heard this announcement on some city loudspeakers – it wasn’t the call to prayer but something very official sounding. I turned to Pervin to ask what it was but they were all already laughing. She said she knew I was going to ask what they were saying but that she had no idea how to translate it.  It turns out that the city was coming by with a very high end thresher and any farmer who wanted their field ‘threshed – or whatever’ should stand out there so that they would know to do their field.

Speaking of threshers we passed this weird wood board with slits in it on the side of the road.  Until the late 1960s this board would have had pointy bits of flint in it to make like a sharp comb and they would drag it over the field to cut down the wheat stalks.  Pretty neat.

The part of town we were in were the ‘other’ type of local Muslims.  There are 3600 people in Gonen (which is what the sign says – and has said I am told for 3 years) and 5 Mosques.  But the Mosques are for the Sunni Muslims the other group the Alevi Muslims worship at a different place in this on part of town.  I was told that the town might also have some atheists and that long long long ago there was evidence of Christianity in the region – that if there are any Christians now that they don’t advertise the fact.  I didn’t ask about Jews. 🙂

Later as we walked around an black cat crossed my path – which combined with the own makes for good storytelling – I am going to try and break a mirror and find a ladder to walk under this week if I can.

Its a quiet town – saw some kids bathing puppies (how cute is that) and a lot of animals and plants.  I loved seeing the Pomegranate tree with the baby fruits and pretty flowers.  Also little pears and such. Its not exactly like home – but I saw a walnut tree, a cherry tree, some berry trees (and if you get near them you get terrible stains all over you).

This one mud brick house we visited was completely abandoned but in GREAT shape.  We explore the various floors (if you saw how solid the wood portions were!) and walked around the rubble of the previous tenants.  We joked about restoring it but it turns out it was actually very restore-able.

Several people chatted with us but one lady was terrified – her body language said everything – she had her hand on the door and the frame blocking our entrance to the gate and she would only let one person into her courtyard and look around so the architecture professor went.

After a few hours of exploring we went to the park and sat and drank some soda, tea, and water.  We sat for like an hour which was really nice – there is this park in the center of town and everyone just sits there and enjoys themselves.

The best house of the day was the oldest home in Gonen.  It was a very nice house that had attached to it a little very very old hovel (used for storage).  It had a great garden and some wonderful shaded area and they welcomed us with open arms.  The couple Fatma and Ramazan really wanted us to stay and see everything.  She had a lovely garden which I took pictures of but can’t identify all of the stuff in.  Everyone also has lots of flowers – I think its great that as much as they grow to eat they also grow to enjoy.  Fatma took us into the back and showed us the old portions and where she would dry her herbs and spices – it smelled so wonderful!

They had a massive white mulberry tree (sorry folks its what I been eating) and they made us sit and pick berries and eat them from the tree for at least 20 minutes.  We were so full.  I asked Fatma how long they had been married and she said she was married at 16 and that she was 73 years old – Ramazan is 83 now.  They let me take pictures of them and Ramazan was very upset when he saw his because he wanted his hat straighter so I took it again – he loved seeing the picture of his wife on the camera.

On Friday I am going to try and give some prints I brought to the people I took photos of last year in the market and the reactions look like they could be good.

As I took their photos a neighbor came by and insisted I take her photo as well – when I was done she said – “now you have a picture of a real Ottoman woman” her name was Rukiye and we sat for a bit and talked to all three.

I took a sip of water from my water bottle and Ramazan told me I should drink cold water instead – I lied and told him my water was cold but he insisted that I refill my body with fresh cold water from his … tap.  I asked Pervin if it was safe and all she could tell me was that ‘they drink it’.  So I drank what I could and THEN filled my bottle up knowing now I couldn’t drink anymore safely.  He was trying to be nice though and I do appreciate that.

After our exploration we went back to the field house where 3 cars full of people were taken to the spot where we found the inscriptions the day before.  The guys cleared out a lot of rubble and 4 of them managed to get one in the car.  The others were too heavy and the city was going to be called in to relocate them instead.

We only had one last errand to run – Pervin needed to pick up some maps from the city planning office and she wanted me to see some photos that they had on the wall to tell her the best way to scan them – pretty much what I do at work.

When we got to the panning office I could tell right away that the pictures were very bad (and faded) inkjet prints of low resolution jpg images. I told her it was worthless to scan them and to find the digital images they had been made from.  She also showed me several older (and not digital) panoramas that had been taken of the city.  At close inspection you could tell they were quite good (and quite large) and probably from the 1960s.  She asked if it was possible to take a modern version of the same picture – so we stood there trying to identify landmarks to see where the picture might have been taken from.

One of the city planners walked up and said that it was taken from atop the Minaret at the central Mosque in town and that he would call the Imam and ask if we could go up it!  I didn’t even ask – they just offered!  The Imam wanted to know what time would give us the best light and suggested we go around 7pm. The city planners were nice as well – wherever you go someone offers you a drink – I keep passing on the tea because while I do enjoy tea you can get sick of it fast so I am delaying it until it is the ONLY option.  I did learn a trick – if you ask for cold water they offer you cold soda – its either Fanta (orange), a lemon/lime soda, or some sort of cola.  You have to be careful though – if you finish they bring you another so its always good to leave a little in the glass and then down it when you are just leaving.

We had a quick dinner and headed back to town. The Imam opened up the Minaret for us and told us it was 104 steps to the top.  Unlike in other towns, in Gonen the call to prayer is done live my the Imam so he climbs these steps often.  He bounded up them (I knew he would) and we emerged at the top about 30 minutes before sunset.  It was so nice – the wind – the sunset – the moon – the swaying of the Minaret (yes it swayed in the wind).  He was so gracious and we stayed there for a long time – he told us we can come back whenever we want and now we want to climb all the Minarets in town.

Pervin is going to try and have my panorama printed and brought to the Imam as a present.

What a day!  Friday we go to the market.

Images from Day 3 (also read the captions!)
(click here if you don’t see the image thumbnails)

PANORAMA: View from the Minaret

My computer is acting slow and they are keeping me busy but I do indeed have posts coming soon (which means like 12-14 hours) and images too!

The adventure has been a good one!

Some teasers:

I climbed a minaret of a mosque.

I got a straight razor shave.

I ate poppy!

Pictures and stories later!

Going to climb a mountain (well be driven most of the way).

Day 2 – Wednesday – July 13, 2011

We started today with an early breakfast of…. that’s right cheese, olives, and bread. Yummy.

Our first stop of the day was back to the Police station in Isparta to try and get our residency permits.   You have to love the bureaucracy its all about stamps and photocopies and typewriters. There were a lot of people waiting but one in particular stood out – her had an ‘air’ about him – I mean he totally reeked – and I don’t mean like BO or even smoke – but it was a strong smell of garlic like a very old salami – it was crazy potent and I kept having to hold my breath. It only took an hour today and we were told that they would be done later in the day.

My task for the rest of the day was to photograph as many of the inscriptions in the Isparta Archeology Museum as I could for their catalog. There is a lot of formality in this country. And similar to the bureaucracy at the police station when we went to the museum we were taken to the director’s office first for a chat. There Bilge asked me “What would you like to drink?” with the quick follow up addendum of “There is no escape from this!”  I had ‘su’ which is water. I have avoided the ‘chi’ (ie Tea) because there will be many times I am forced to have it (a cultural necessity) and I am stalling as much as I can.  We sat in the office for 30 minutes as Bilge and the director spoke in Turkish – it was all a form of pleasantry – an expectation that we wouldn’t work until they had showed us some courtesy – the irony of course is that we just sat there for 30 minutes having no idea what they were saying. But ceremony is ceremony and you have to love that.

It was pretty hot out (but not very humid) probably high 80’s low 90’s and fairly sunny.  The sun meant that I didn’t have to worry about a tripod but also that lighting ‘was what it was’. To get the shots I needed it was a lot of kneeling, squatting, and bending after a few hours I really needed to give my back a break.

For those photographically minded I used my 18mm-200mm lens the entire time.

One funny moment happened right before lunchtime.  I was so caught up in taking a photo and moving around a column that I stepped on a sprinkler head and activated it. Of course I had no idea what I had tripped over and why I was suddenly all wet and quickly had to scramble to figure out how to turn it off again! No one noticed 🙂

Paul noticed that the items he needed to work on weren’t in the garden and we found out that they weren’t at the museum yet so he said that was all we needed for the day and headed back for lunch.

After lunch I was going to go into the village with Pervin.  She is a professor or city planning or something of that nature and is very interested in how people currently live and how they have lived in the past.  Last year she is the one who introduced us to the nomads and the villagers and knows a lot of people.  I wanted to give the photos I brought with me to the villagers and she said she would help – also she needed me to help her photograph some mud-brick buildings.

I remember that one person lived across from the ruined Hammam (bath-house) so we went to that window and it was indeed the same house.  We knocked on the door – no answer.  The opened the door and yelled inside – no answer. So we figured we would come back later.

We hiked around and found some new construction.  New construction is very important because they always un-earth things when they go to build new and what they find the museum can take.  We also find items that are built into walls – sometimes inscriptions and all – so we do look carefully.  In one pile of rubble near a construction site we found 2 stones with inscriptions and really nice carved column top. Paul told us that he has seen one of these inscriptions the previous year but that it was in someone’s shed.  The shed was now gone and it was in this pile of rubble. We also found another stone that head a wreath on it.  Its tough climbing over rocks and field (and rebar) and at one point I slipped and landed on my knee – funnily enough it doesn’t hurt today – though everything else does.

Paul wanted to show Pervin the other sights so we walked to where we collected pottery in a freshly plowed field the previous year. Its a nice little walk and there are a lot of fruit trees along the way – I love the while mulberries we just kept eating and eating them – I am tempted to plant one back home.  We found an old cemetery in one of the fields some of the graves went back to the 19th century but one of them was from 1990.

Survey archaeology is pretty fun – you walk around – photograph some flowers, eat some berries, hike through construction sites and garbage dumps. We found a turtle on the road – really just a turtle – of of the people with us (an 11 year old who is the nephew of the representative of the Minister of Culture – and sometimes quiet the terror) picked it up and it got scared – I made him put it down (and then I set him back upright!) and a few minutes later he came out and headed off down the road.

Speaking of roads – the path we were on was an old roman road! Paul showed use the way the stones were laid out and how that this was part of the ancient road between the cities. Pretty cool.

We saw some other animals too – we saw dogs – and cats – and chickens.  The cats always look like death – the dogs look very slow and the chickens – well they are just future food.

It had been a pretty busy day so we stopped in the square for some ice-cream before we headed out again. The ice-cream is very gooey in Turkey like its part marshmallow – also the spoon had a squared edge!

I really wanted to go back and try to give that guy his picture.  Paul went back to the field house at this point.  As I led the group back to where his house was we cut between the mosque and the place where you wash your feet.  Pervin was like – ‘um – we were supposed to go the long way – women don’t generally take this path’.  I wouldn’t have thought anything of it because we took the path earlier but right now there were a bunch of men gathered outside the mosque and they started to talk and ask questions.  Pervin explain what we were doing and I pulled out the photograph of the man.  He laughed and told me that the guy had gotten married and moved but would walk us to his new house.

We walked to the new house and there he was – a year older – but it was the same man – Abdullah. We showed him the photos and he said it was the best present ever.  He then insisted that we come in.  Now it is very important to me that the gift not turn into an imposition – I don’t want to be ‘gifted back’ from these pretty poor families but accepting basic hospitality is fine.  He led us into his house. As we hit the first landing we had to remove out shoes and proceeded into his modest home. I love these Turkish homes they have the best carpets – I’m not kidding you can’t fail to notice them.  So of course he asks us what we want to drink and instead of asking for tea I ask for water and he offers ‘Fanta?’ which is really just Turkish for any form of soda on hand.  He goes into the back and then the yelling starts. His wife, who has yet to come out, and him are really going at it and then he comes back with the glasses and Pepsi.  She makes a quick appearance and then leave the room where we sit and he jokes and I take a new picture of him and he and I take a picture together but he makes me wear his hat which is too small.  He tries to get us to stay for a meal but we tell him we must be getting back.  We leave and he follows us down.  Pervin is thrilled because its another ‘in’ with a villager that she can go back and interview.  He then insists on giving me a present – I am dreading it being the hat – but am pleased when he comes back with a bag of cherries.

I gave home a deburred – I was covered with stuff – though luckily not red berry juice like some of the others (it got everywhere).

Oh – highlight of my day – in this guy’s living room – off in the corner – a stuffed animal of a penguin.  (I photograph imagery of penguins in everyday life and this was a real treat).

Images from Day 2 (also read the captions!)
(click here if you don’t see the image thumbnails)

OK – so the question was asked what is food like here?

Well for breakfast its pretty much olives, cheese, bread, cucumbers and tomatoes.

Yesterday for lunch we had rice and chickpeas.

For dinner we had noodles and chicken.

After dinner I went into the village to get an ice-cream bar but instead stopped at the local bakery.

I ‘tried’ to get 2 pieces of baklava but he misunderstood me and instead of 2 pieces to go I was given to plates of baklava for eat it.  Bert was with me so we sat down and ate our 2 pieces of baklava each.

Total cost? 5 Turkish Lira = $3.18 (for 6 pieces)

Yum Yum

On the way out I passed some good looking cakes but I am not that far off my diet wagon yet.

Day 1 – Tuesday July 12, 2011

So I should clarify that I am not actually staying in Isparta – I am staying in a small town about 20km away called Gonen.

We got up today and had our traditional breakfast of olives and cheese – yum yum – but more on food for another entry.

As we are new to the area we need to get residency permits and headed into Isparta to the local police station.  We waited there for several hours while the bureaucracy did their thing.  We sat outside and I showed pictures to some of the police and Paul how to use an iPad.  After a few hours they told us we could finish up tomorrow.

We then headed to Burder to the museum there to photograph and take a ‘squeeze’ of an inscription there.  This was very unusual as it is outside of the ‘region’ that the survey is in control of but they got permission because the inscription mentions this region.  Also has this inscription was been ‘published’ before I AM allowed to post photos of it.

They were very gracious at the museum, allowed us to play with the lighting and such and I was able to get the photos that Paul needed.  They require a lot of post processing as he care more about being able to read them more than they are pretty.  After I was done he got to making the “squeeze” which is done with special paper, water, and a bristle brush.  It takes a lot of time and water to get every bit of it and then it has to dry some before he can leave.

I ended up taking some photos in the museum both indoors and outdoors.  I love the outdoor gardens.  Paul pointed out a Frieze that depicts gladiators in training.  Bilge asked if I could take pictures of one of the pottery displays – just some tourist snaps for her as reference.  She said her student would show me which ones. The student took me to the display and I asked which pot she wanted and she sheepishly said “all of them”.  It didn’t take long but it was kind of funny because there were tourists in the museum and there I am shooting every pot in a display case.

The museum was partially under construction but they still let us walk around and some of the galleries were funny cause they were totally covered in plastic sheets.  Very modern.

We went back for dinner and then I went for a littler dessert but I will save that for another entry.

Images from Day 1 – Don’t forget to read the captions!

(click here if you don’t see the image thumbnails)

I just got confirmation on our one day trip to Cappadocia

Here is the itinerary:
August 4th 2011 Thursday(Lunch included!)
At 05:40 they pick us up from the hotel and take us to Istanbul Ataturk airport.
We fly at 07:25 to Nevsehir and arrive at 08:45.
They pick us up at Nevsehir to:
Explore Devrent Valley, one of the most impressive monastery complexes in the area.
http://www.goreme.com/devrent.php

Then we visit Pasabag (also known as Monk’s Valley)
http://www.goreme.com/pasabag.php

We then drive to Avanos, a village situated on the banks of Kizilirmak River, famous for its clay pottery where we can also participate hands-on in a pottery work shop.
http://www.goreme.com/avanos.php

We then have lunch.

The we proceed to the Goreme Open Air Museum, featuring the most impressive of all rock-carved churches in Cappadocia.
http://www.goreme.com/goreme-open-air-museum.php

The last stop-off will be at Uchisar Village, located next to a natural Citadel.
http://www.goreme.com/uchisar.php

The Tour finishes around 17:00.
They take us to the Airport at 17:45 for the flight to Istanbul at 19:50.
Back in Istanbul at 21:10 they take us to our hotel.

Should be a fun day – 3 weeks from now!

Day 0 – Sunday & Monday – July 10 & July 11 – 2011

So I am sitting here in my room, I’ve just had breakfast, and we are leaving in 45 minutes to get our residency permits.

I figure this gives me enough time to setup my equipment and give you all a brief summary of what happened since I left Cleveland.

First, the flight out of Cleveland was delayed. Very delayed.  First 4:15, them 4:50, then 5:25, we left after 6pm.

I had a connection in Toronto that boarded at 7:25!

They assured me that this wouldn’t be a problem but in Toronto it was one story after another.  No one knew if I needed to get my bags or not (I didn’t) and one woman kept telling me that I needed to relax because I already missed it – just to deal with it an move on – oh and that her shift was over and she really wanted to go home.

I got to the gate (after clearing immigration, customs, and security – none of which I am now told I needed to do – except security) and boarded just in time.  I get there to find my seat is a middle seat between two other people. Before I can say anything a flight attendant told me that the plane was pretty empty and sit wherever.  I grabbed a middle section with three empty seats!  The 777 plane was HUGE!  personal movies at every seat and very roomy.

I started to watch True Grit with dinner and opted to have a swig (that’s a sip for the rest of you) of red wine and next thing you know they were serving breakfast.  I watched a little bit of Limitless (I had seen it so I fast forwarded around) and then we landed in Munich.

Wow was Munich organized.  They knew who I was and where I was going – they knew I had 2 bags and ever verified that they made it with me.  Spent almost no time there and then off to Istanbul.  I slept most of the way though I will admit I ate every meal they offered me 🙂 I am off of my diet for the entire trip though I still find it hard to just drink soda or totally overdo it.

When I landed in Istanbul it was hot – oh yeah now I remember – very hot – 38C or 101F.  Hot.  I already had a research Visa and even though I told them it expired 2 days before I left the country and was happy to purchase a tourist visa they just waived me though to get my bags.  I changed some money got my stuff (which WAS there) and headed to the domestic terminal to fly to Antalya.

At the domestic terminal (which is like a 20 minute walk with 4 bags on a trolley) they man was very distressed.  I had too many bags and they weighed too much.  First my 2 checked bags were 16KG overweight and he didn’t like that I had two carry on bags – I was only supposed to have one and it was supposed to be 8KB combined I was another 16KG overweight.  I didn’t argue with him – I just asked him what he wanted me to do – I clearly wasn’t go to leave the bags – there must be SOME solution. I also told him that I wasn’t going to check my 3rd bag (its got the cameras).  He just kept thinking and looking at me and finally handed me a slip saying I was 16KB overweight and to go pay for it.  Another line – did I mention it was hot – and it was 48Turkish Lira which is about $30 – which is GREAT.  So I came back and he was very happy to check my bags and ignore my other bag.  The plane was plenty big and I had no problems there.

A funny thing to mention was that when we landed both in Istanbul and in Antalya people started to applaud like big clapping of celebration.  In Istanbul it was simply quirky but in Antalya I noticed some of the guys getting ready to do it very excited to be the ones to start the celebration.

I got my bags in Antalya and headed out to be picked up but alas there was no one to be found.  I waited for about a half an hour and I purchased some WIFI 4TL/hour about $2.50.  And emailed telling them I was here – a few minutes later a driver and student came for me and told me it was 2.5 hours to drive to the field house.  They asked if I needed anything but I just fell asleep in the car.

When I awoke we were pulling up to the field house.  It was very quiet as it was after 10pm (we get up real early) and people greeted me and I found that there is 1/2 if not 1/3 of the people here this year and that everyone started to arrive on Thursday.  I had some bread and cheese and gave the pictures I brought.  I am sharing a room with a Dutch guy named Bert but pronounced much fancier than that.  I charged my equipment and passed out.

This morning I got up and had some breakfast – olives and cheese – and am getting ready for the day.

First we head to the police station to get out residency permits and then to a museum where I am to photograph an inscription.  I am limited on what I can post photographically (because of the research) so expect everything BUT that image later tonight 🙂

That’s what I have time for now – I will try and fill in the blanks later!

Four flights and one long car trip – and a day of travel and I have arrived.

I must sleep now so long story later!

Cleveland – Toronto
Toronto – Munich
Munich – Istanbul
Istanbul – Antalya
Antalya – Isparta

Wish me good napping!

So its 4:30 am and I should be in bed.  My flight is in 12 hours so I will get a nap before I leave.

I’ve been really working on the packing.

The final inventory is:

Pentax K5 Camera with Battery Grip – 3 Batteries, 2 Chargers, wireless remote, AC Adapter, and a whole lot of memory cards and a card reader.

3 Lenses: 10-20mm, 18-200mm, 70-300mm

2 Tripod Legs, 4 tripod heads, a  stereo slider bar, and an object VR turntable

2 cool lights and AC Transformers, a white balance reflector combo, and color bars

2 Geologgers

Camera, sensor, and lens cleaning kit

Macbook and Charger (and output cables), Headset Microphone,  external HD and a ColorSpace HD

iPhone, iPad, chargers, Headphones

AC Adapters, European Power Strips, and Plug Adapters

Electro-stim unit for my back with extra back pads

Wand Scanner

2 Liter Hydration Bladder

Toiletries and Towels

14 shirts, 3 pairs of pants, 16 pairs of socks and undies, pajamas, swimsuit, shower shoes and a set of boots

11×14″ and 8×10″ Photographs

Biz Cards

Luggage Scale

My Cane, My Vest,  and a Portable Toilet

Why a portable toilet? Because the toilets in Turkey look like this:

So I do this:

See you at the airport!