(no subject)
Since my last update I've been on two rotary trips. One to Bursa, the end of the silk road, and one to the Black Sea. For the Bursa trip all we had to pay for was the bus there and back because the rotary there found host families to put us up for three nights. Bursa is the fourth biggest city in Turkey and is much greener than İzmir. A lot of people there live in houses (as opposed to Apartments) and the city seemed to me to be a lot cleaner than İzmir. The ski center of Turkey, Uludağ, is right up next to the city. In the city center there is a silk bazaar called koza han, where you can buy the cheapest silk and cashmere scarves in the country (especially if you haggle). My friend and I bought together and we managed to get the price of 4 silk scarves with classic ottoman designs from 160 ytl to 110 ytl, which is about 20 dollars per scarf! We also went to a little town about half an hour out of Bursa bordering the Sea of Marmara. We saw what was supposedly the first church to have paintings and learned it was on sale for only one million dollars.
I just returned from my trip to the Black Sea yesterday. It was without a doubt my favorite trip (Kappadokya being second). This trip we did have to pay for, and we went by plane, but it was SO worth it. In sheer contrast to the drier Agean region with it's turquoise sea, the Black sea is a moody grey and drastically steep mountains go right down to it. The land there is made of five thousand different colors of green and it gushes water. Driving through the deep valleys raging snowmelt rivers and waterfalls were just secretly pulsing behind rocks in all the corners. We got all our drinking water from spigots at every stop. The steep sides of the mountains were (up until a certain elevation) planted with tea, kiwi, hazelnut and kale plants, and usually traditionally dressed workers could be seen in the fields (most of them women). We stayed some nights in hotels in the city where we saw fights from our windows and heard gunshots, but the best nights we spent were in woodlined cabins or hotels up in the mountains where we had fresh milk and homemade cheese and butter for breakfast. We also saw the border of Georgia and Turkey, which is right in the middle of a town. During the time that the USSR was in power, passing through the border from either side was forbidden and families got split up. Now it functions as a town again. The people that live there are part of the Laz race, the speak Laz, and are known for their incredibly long noses. There is a beefarm in that region that is part of the WOOF program, and I am definitely considering returning later.... I'll be picking up pictures of both Bursa and the Black Sea any day now, so be on the lookout.
Although many of my pictures and writings describe how things here are different, that many things or more are the same as at home. When I'm in a new place, I seek out things that are different to report back to y'all that don't have the chance to see them. The truth is though, that sometimes finding things that different is hard because many things here are just like there. Although there are some scarved women, most of them in the west or in cities are not. Another reason I notice differences is that the people I stay with and and am introduced to and go to school with are considerably wealthier than most of the people I know in Portland, and just staying with that same tax bracket in the US would be this much of a change. Really, a lot of things are similar, but it's incredibly difficult to put a finger on them.
see you in seven weeks,
izza
I just returned from my trip to the Black Sea yesterday. It was without a doubt my favorite trip (Kappadokya being second). This trip we did have to pay for, and we went by plane, but it was SO worth it. In sheer contrast to the drier Agean region with it's turquoise sea, the Black sea is a moody grey and drastically steep mountains go right down to it. The land there is made of five thousand different colors of green and it gushes water. Driving through the deep valleys raging snowmelt rivers and waterfalls were just secretly pulsing behind rocks in all the corners. We got all our drinking water from spigots at every stop. The steep sides of the mountains were (up until a certain elevation) planted with tea, kiwi, hazelnut and kale plants, and usually traditionally dressed workers could be seen in the fields (most of them women). We stayed some nights in hotels in the city where we saw fights from our windows and heard gunshots, but the best nights we spent were in woodlined cabins or hotels up in the mountains where we had fresh milk and homemade cheese and butter for breakfast. We also saw the border of Georgia and Turkey, which is right in the middle of a town. During the time that the USSR was in power, passing through the border from either side was forbidden and families got split up. Now it functions as a town again. The people that live there are part of the Laz race, the speak Laz, and are known for their incredibly long noses. There is a beefarm in that region that is part of the WOOF program, and I am definitely considering returning later.... I'll be picking up pictures of both Bursa and the Black Sea any day now, so be on the lookout.
Although many of my pictures and writings describe how things here are different, that many things or more are the same as at home. When I'm in a new place, I seek out things that are different to report back to y'all that don't have the chance to see them. The truth is though, that sometimes finding things that different is hard because many things here are just like there. Although there are some scarved women, most of them in the west or in cities are not. Another reason I notice differences is that the people I stay with and and am introduced to and go to school with are considerably wealthier than most of the people I know in Portland, and just staying with that same tax bracket in the US would be this much of a change. Really, a lot of things are similar, but it's incredibly difficult to put a finger on them.
see you in seven weeks,
izza