Random thoughts from Selçuk

The DRC is descending into chaos once more.

The elections that once seemed so distant are coming up on Tuesday.

I miss Ev. Hope we'll be able to go to Amsterdam for the next bayram.

Mum and A. Es are shopaholics. I need to get them into a program ASAP.

Need to add new music to my Creative player.

My eyes itch. This hotel room is aggravating my allergies.

Did Idaho turn my brother into a Republican or did my brother turn Idaho into a Republican state?

Paul Simon songs remind me of Alexia and time in The Gambia.

Ran into one little Turkish girl here that had dressed up as a cat for Halloween. Where was the party and why wasn't I invited?

Blackalicious, Sky is Falling

Random play mode is not at all random.

Wending through Şirince

House in Şirince

Minaret

St. John the Baptist Church, f. 1832

On the road

It's a week into my month-long vacation and the main feeling here is mmmmmmmyes! My mum and her oldest sister arrived last week and after a few days in the Bul and visiting the Princes' Islands we headed south to Çanakkale, where we spent two days wandering the Gallipoli battlefields and Troy. Finally being able to see the Dardanelles strait and surroundings has added to/cemented the vivid mental map in my mind, something that only an in-person visit can do.

It's surprising to me how quickly I can forget about the routine of work and strict schedules and fall into vacation-time ease. The thought of work, that life, that chronic tiredness, is abhorrent right now. Why return to it?

Currently staying in Selçuk, where I lived for a month back in '06 while attending language school in Izmir. I had a great experience here then and not much seems to have changed.

This town just gives me the ultimate feeling of calm. I stroll the cobbled roads without a worry on my mind. And it has been a pleasure to share this place and the surrounding sites -- Efes, Meryemana, St. John's Basilica -- with my mom (my aunt had been here before). Tomorrow we'll wander the streets of Şirince and taste every variety of fruit wine imagineable. Though my mum does not usually partake of alcoholic beverages, I think we'll be able to convince her into making an exception, or several.

Mum & Tita Espie at Efes (Ephesus)

Please explain yourselves

I'm perplexed. I'm feeling quite similar to how I did 8 years ago when I was in The Gambia and listening to the results of pre-election polls on shortwave radio. What are my fellow Americans thinking? And I don't know if this would be any clearer to me if I were living in the US right now; in fact, I think I might be even more confused. I've read numerous commentaries flowing out of American publications during this final countdown to the elections, but few have made me think "Yes, that's at least a piece of the puzzle!"

The following are some excerpts from Professor Jeffrey Sachs that I found particularly insightful. Read the full commentary here.

"While many factors contributed to America’s destabilizing actions, a powerful one is anti-intellectualism, exemplified recently by Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin’s surging popularity.

"By anti-intellectualism, I mean especially an aggressively anti-scientific perspective, backed by disdain for those who adhere to science and evidence. The challenges faced by a major power like the US require rigorous analysis of information according to the best scientific principles."

"In the US, however, the attitudes of President Bush, leading Republicans, and now Sarah Palin, have been the opposite of scientific. The White House did all it could for eight years to hide the overwhelming scientific consensus that humans are contributing to climate change. It tried to prevent government scientists from speaking honestly to the public. The Wall Street Journal has similarly peddled anti-science and pseudo-science to oppose policies to fight human-induced climate change.

"These anti-scientific approaches affected not only climate policy, but also foreign policy. The US went to war in Iraq on the basis of Bush’s gut instincts and religious convictions, not rigorous evidence. Likewise, Palin has called the Iraq War 'a task from God'.

"These are not isolated albeit powerful individuals out of touch with reality. They reflect the fact that a significant portion of American society, which currently votes mainly Republican, rejects or is simply unaware of basic scientific evidence regarding climate change, biological evolution, human health and other fields. These voters generally do not reject the benefits of technologies that result from modern science, but they do reject the evidence and advice of scientists regarding public policies."

"In many statements, Palin seems intent on invoking God in her judgments about war, an ominous sign for the future if she is elected. She would certainly stoke many enemies who will look to their own brands of fundamentalism to strike back at the US. Extremists on both sides end up putting at risk the vast majority of humans who are neither extremists nor anti-science fundamentalists."

Scotty, beam me out of September

This week I will find out if my running days, at least for the next several months, are over due to a stress fracture in my left tibia, meaning no Eurasia Marathon for me. Needless to say, I'm pretty bummed about this prospect as I've been training for this event for most of the year.

Seems like it's just been that kind of month, starting with the 3am drumming sessions for Ramadan. I don't deal well with chronic sleep deprivation and I just can't seem to sleep through the morning rhythms, another thing that I envy Ev for -- he can sleep through virtually anything. I'm sure when the 9.0 magnitude quake hits the Bul, he'll snooze right through that too. Work is bordering on harrowing as we're understaffed right now and have to meet an early deadline for Ramadan.

Please evacuate me from this month!

Farewell to August

This month has been a really hectic one for me and also one that marked several important dates in my life. Evren and I celebrated our 2nd anniversary at a cosy Mexican restaurant on the Bosporus. This month also marks our first year in Istanbul and the end of my first year with the newspaper. As well, I got a promotion earlier this month, along with a very nice raise (woo hoo!).

Tomorrow is the beginning of Ramadan, at least here in Turkey. I've found that different countries figure out the date by different means, so the start date can vary up to three days in the Muslim world. Normally I would just fast along with everyone at work, mostly because I'm lazy and don't want to leave the building for lunch as the cafeteria is closed during the day for the month. But since I'm training for a marathon this year, not eating during the day is simply not an option -- unless I have some sort of death wish.

The company issues cards with money loaded on them for the non-fasters, but the options nearby are limited -- McDonald's, Sbarro or Sultanahmet Koftecesi (where one of my co-workers once got food poisoning). There are some other places but most of them don't accept the mutinet card from the company. I suppose I could always fix a lunch and bring it, but that would then require finding some place to hide away and eat it so I don't offend fasters (or have them looking at me with ravenous, animal eyes). Besides, I just don't have time for such endeavors in the morning, which is my normal running time. So yes, I will be able to create my own fast food documentary about eating at McDonald's for a full month.

Hobbling after the 17

I finished a run of 17 miles about an hour ago. My thigh muscles are incredibly sore but outside of that I don't feel exhausted like I thought I would. This is the end of my 10th week of intensive marathon training. A week ago I was really questioning whether I was going to make it through after suffering from some injuries and having to cut back my mileage. But tonight's run felt pretty strong all the way through and I was able to keep a steady pace. It was just the confidence builder and reassurance that I needed at this point. Thank you body for coming through for me!