Republic Day in Turkey

And we're back...
I write quickly as I have no idea when my blog will again be blocked, but for today we are live!

Today we'll be discussing Turkish 4th of July! So there we were hoping to go see our friend last night when out of the blue Turkish 4th of July fell on us like a cart fully of disgruntled chickens.

They closed roads leading everywhere in every direction. Immediately we were stranded. So when in Rome...but we weren't in Rome we were in Istanbul, we did our best to blend in but failed miserably. It's hard to look like you belong when you don't know the patriotic songs and such. I tried to sing along with the American national anthem, no dice. The streets were completely flooded with excited revelers. It was literally difficult to walk 10 feet without being whacked with a Turkish flag.

As with any holiday the occasion brought out the entrepreneur in everyone. There were almost more places to buy paraphernalia than there were people. It was like seething sea of red and commerce that lapped upon the sidewalks and culminated at the main park near our house.
As we walked every 500 meters there was a huge television screen blaring patriotic music. Unfortunately for us they had the volume turned up loud enough for those to hear who were actually around for the founding of the Republic (1923). Sadly there are only 3 patriotic songs so we had to listen to them ad nauseum as we walked. At one point everyone stopped to recite what seemed like a pledge of allegiance: shown below.
We waded through the crowds until we finally emerged at the park. There was a bus decorated with lights and banners. On top there was a man chanting patriotic rhetoric into a microphone. The crowd became as thick as 3-day-old oatmeal as they chanted along in a kind of call-and-answer style. We had think pretty thin to push through.

Finally we emerged into the park where the fireworks show began. There in the middle of the park not 20 feet from passers by they launched the fireworks. All that separated us from the launch site was a flimsy plastic police line. This would not happen in the US.

We watched, as you can see below, for a few minutes but the sound grew deafening so we headed (finally) back home.


One more cultural experience in the bank. Hope you all are well.

The Death of the Joof?

"How can it be?" say I listlessly as I type to myself. Can this really be happening? Yes it is happening. So some of you may know that youtube.com is banned in Turkey. No one has a good explanation why but rest assured it does not work here. I have stood by using proxy sites to view youtube. I was annoyed yes but it didn't affect me directly.

Now here I sit typing to you through a proxy server. Yes that's right blogger.com joins the ranks of the censored many here in Turkey. "Justice" here comes swiftly with IP blocker written on it's lapel. Not 2 days after the decision are we blocked and censored. Here is the official notice: (Oh I can't upload it because I'm writing to you through a proxy...Damn)

Censorship of the internet is easy in Turkey because ONE COMPANY controls all access. Once the small Right Wing court located in the distant southwest corner of Turkey in a town called Diyarbakir, decides to ban something they can instantly with one phone call (or email assuming that it hasn't been banned as well).

Things are getting worse here. Once a secularized Republic, Turkey is quickly slipping into a dangerous oligarchy. As an American, I hold freedom of speech as one of man's most sacred rights. Apparently Turks don't share this sentiment. I don't need to mention (but I'm going to) the parallels with Iraq war propaganda in the US or the stifling of German media during WWII.

Now we get to the meat. This is religiously based. A GOVERNMENT ORDER IN THIS COUNTRY IS RELIGIOUSLY BASED. Now if you know anything about Turkey you know that it is unique in the world being a country that primarily practices Islam but does not allow it in Politics. Secular government. Religious public. That used to be the story. Not anymore.

"It is suspected that the reason for this has something to do with Adnan Oktar, by some considered the leading Muslim advocate for creationism, who has in the past managed to get Wordpress, Google Groups, as well as Richard Dawkins’ website."
-source http://advocacy.globalvoicesonline.org/2008/10/25/bloggercom-banned-in-turkey/

For more about Adnan Oktar
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harun_Yahya

So this is the new state of affairs here in Turkey. Kinda crazy. So for now I will try to write what I can and hold on. I no longer will be able to add photographs or videos though I may find a way around this. Until then. It's been quite fun blogging with you all. Please let me know how you are.
D

Final Day in Sevilla, Granada and Madrid.

Hello friends,

The night before we left we managed to do a little shopping at the Sevilla H&M. Where was this place last year? (this comment is for Pants-Off!)With heavy hearts we caught the bus to the Sevilla Train station. It was bitter sweet as it began to pour down rain at the very moment we were leaving. In a stroke of brilliance Rana and I did our damndest to miss our train. Just in time we hopped on and the doors closed behind us. From Sevilla we had a nice 3 hour ride. The trains are really the way to travel in Spain. It's first class baby. Spanish moms by the way are totally hip. Check out this one rockin' the Nintendo DS on the train ride. We arrived in Granada and I instantly felt at home. It has almost been 7 years since I studied there but it's a small town. No problem. We found our hostel in about 15 minutos though we had to ask a few locals. It was completely unmarked save for Arabic writing. Check it out. Colin you will like this in Arabic this Maktub. It was an amazing place. Right when we got there we met an amazing girl from Venezulea and a cool guy from Italy with whom we enjoyed some wine on the rooftop terrace. After that we decided to go down stairs and meet the other people and I litereally ran in an Indian girl coming out of her room. She was quickly followed by another Indian girl and an american man. We 5 became fast friends and we went with them to dinner. The girls were name Rupal and Nisha. Yep Rupal. The man was from Tacoma and his name was Jason. RuPaul for obvious reason went as "Boo." The girls were both born and raised in England but knew some Hindi so we decided to go to an Indian resturante. It was great fun and we got to know all about them. Then we went out dancing and jason taught us all the apple dance. I can't really explain it but well it's amazing.

So the next day we headed to the Alhambra, a Moorish fortress from the 1300s wow. The gardens inside and fountains were truly spectacular. We walked around all day until it started raining and we had to take refuge in beer and an umbrella. Here are some photos from the visit:Rana playing in the gardens...and the on the wall and again in the gardens... So there we are. We found a tiny little door that sent Rana looking for Narnia:Where is it Rana?

We had wonderful time and went back to meet our new friends Boo Nisha and Jason. That night we has some excellent Lebanese food and smoked a hooka full of cherry flavored tobacco. Yum taskic. We thought our new friendship deserved a group portrait so we took one... I'm sure you're dying to know so the photo from left to right kind-of goes like this Moi, Boo Nisha, Jason and Rana. Fun Times!

Sadly the next day we had to leave our new friends but Jason decided he would travel with us so only Boo and Nisha were left behind. We headed for Madrid on the train. WEEE!
When we got there Jason hung out for a few hours but had to catch the next train to Segovia where he was studying. We then headed to Rana's friend's house Maya. She was kind enough to put us up for the night. We went out and found a fencing mask. Like ya you do. Here it is. Early the next morning we headed with heavy hearts to the airport and before we knew it. We found ourselves back in Istanbul before we knew it.