life in a non-existent state of being [part II]

I forgot to include it in my last post, but I just have to add it now…here’s a funny little interchange that occurred during dinner at Niazi’s:

note: In Turkish, Cyprus is Kibris [keubreus]

Ryan: So, what would you call someone from Kibris?
Me: In English or in Turkish?
Ryan: In English. Would it be Kibrian?
Me: Maybe…Cypriot?

Now, the reason this is funny is because a) Kibrian isn’t in English because it uses the Turkish name for Cyprus and b) Cabrini Green is a historically nasty set of Projects in Chicago and Kibrian sounds like Cabrian, i.e. someone from Cabrini Green.

Hahahahahahahahaha. Oh man, it’s hilarious!

Ok, so maybe you had to be there-slash-know the languages and places I’m talking about…but I will say this: Ryan and I couldn’t stop laughing for a good three or four minutes after this little back-and-forth. Of course, for the remainder of the trip we also had to refer to the Cypriot nationals as Kibrians…because we really really love our own stupid jokes.

Yet another example of how we got to be the genius Fulbright Grantees that we are. Ha! At least I have an excuse being that I’m in geology. Ryan, though, he’s a political science guy.

Ok, now I’ll move on to Day 2, overwhelming you with pictures and unimportant writings.

Day 2: Monday May 21, 2007

So, I’m a pretty crappy sleeper. Consequently, I woke up early on Day 2…way early…not "vacation early"...we’re talking 6 am here. Ryan, yeah, he’s a pretty good sleeper. He didn’t wake up until 8ish. And, that was fine. So, I had a couple of hours to kill, big deal!

Unfortunately, I couldn’t really leave the room because you need to put the key in a special slot in the room to make the lights go on, so if I had left and Ryan woke up he wouldn’t have any lights. Additionally, if I left the keys in the room and went out I wouldn’t be able to get back in. So, I spent my time taking a long shower and reading the super out-of-date guidebook to Cyprus, copyright year 2000. It was nice and sunny on our balcony, so I was pretty content.

Eventually Ryan woke up and we headed downstairs for breakfast. I, of course, went for the yogurt, which was incredibly satisfying. They also had this delicious honey. Mixed together with some bran cereal…I was in heaven.

Oddly, Cyprus is pretty famous for honey, but when I asked where this delicious stuff came from the fella said it was from Konya! Ha. It was good, though…I’m gonna have to try and find some. It had this really interesting texture, it wasn’t smooth but it wasn’t like there were pieces of honeycomb in it either. Ach, it was so good.

After breakfast we planned our day. We went to talk to the front desk about transportation around the island and how long it takes to get to different places. We decided to spend our first day in Kyrenia/Girne, lazily checking out the sites there then hitting up the beach for the remainder of the afternoon.

We caught the dolmus and made our way downtown. Public transport isn’t generally used by the tourists, so we surprised the driver a bit. Nonetheless, half-an-hour later, we were in Girne.

The layout and architecture of Girne reminds me a lot of the Old City in Puerto Rico. It was a beautiful and quaint place but, unlike Puerto Rico, it was plastered with propaganda. Nonetheless, it’s a great place to walk around and it’s there are nice seaside cafes for leisurely meals or a cup of tea.

As we started to make our way down to the city’s sites, we came upon a wall of postcards. There were some typical picture cards, and then there was this one. The place that sold them also sold interesting flavors of Turkish delight, like banana and papaya, so we decided we had to a) buy some cards and b) try the delights. The cards were great, though the sign outside said they came with stamps and they didn’t. The delights…not so delightful. In fact, they were disgusting. So, that was a no-go.

Continuing down to the sea, we came to the port. It was a pretty little thing, lined with cafes and chock full of boats.

We strolled along the walkway, watching the guys on the wall as they fished lazily or napped in the sun. It was a nice place, not much more than a pretty wall and a place to sit. Across the port, however, was the Girne Castle. That’s where we headed next.

We walked by the cafes and checked out the cases of fresh fish being sold for lunch. In one case I saw these crazy pink fish—not like salmon; we're talking nearly fuschia pink. I’ve never seen a color quite like it on a fish.

Eventually, we arrived at the castle and walked in through what we thought was the gate. Turns out, we couldn’t get in that way…we just ended up walking around the perimeter of the place. Upon returning to our starting point, we decided to ascend a random staircase we saw. It didn’t have any signs or anything, but if you want to get on top of the walls it makes sense to go up, right? Well, as it turns out, the entrance gate was at the top of the stairs. So, that was a lucky find.

We started by going to the to the top of the walls. Traversing the upper walkway, we could see forever—the day could not have been more clear and perfect.

There were also little connections between ancient and modern, like bottlecaps artistically squashed into the stone.

Inside the walls there were neat alcoves and tunnels, and a small museum housing the oldest sunken ship ever discovered. The museum was an interesting place--the ship was in amazing condition, kept in a temperature/humidity controlled room, and there was a display of almonds and olives that had been preserved and found during excavation. The ship was discovered by divers from the University of Pennsylvania and was recovered in a seemingly excruciating excavation.

The castle was nice—nothing so special, but a great place to walk around and perfect for landscape viewing or contemplating. After touring around the castle, we decided to get some lunch at one of the cafes.

I ordered the moussaka and Ryan chose the fried haloumi sandwich. As we were waiting for our food, Ryan discovered bacon listed on the menu. He’s a bacon fiend and being in Turkey has not lessened his affinity for it. So, he asked the waiter to put bacon on the sandwhich. The waiter was kind of confused, but he said he’d tell the chef. When the food came out, I got my moussaka but Ryan got…a bacon sandwich. bacon + pita. no cheese. But, whatever, he got bol bol bacon!

After lunch we stopped by an old looking internet café that actually served beer and ice cream. We had tried to go to a different place earlier in the day but when we followed the signs we just came upon an empty room of concrete. While the sign to this place wasn’t nearly as snazzy, it did have electronic equipment, so that was great.

After the internet we decided to head up to the main center. On the way, we noticed this sticker on a window. "Ne mutlu Turk'um diyene" is an Ataturk quote seen a lot around Turkey and means “How happy is one that can say he is a Turk.” Ryan was pretty excited about it and decided we should go inside the place and ask if they had anymore stickers. Apparently, it was the “veterans society”, which helps and supports and remembers veterans of the battles for Northern Cyprus’ independence. The guy looked at us like we were crazy but was also excited at our interest. He had to go down the street to get them, but we ended up with the stickers and Ryan got a Northern Cyprus flag. So, that was exciting...I think.

Next, we decided to go up the mountain to Bellapais Abbey and the Tree of Idleness, made famous by the book Bitter Lemons, not that either of us had ever heard of the book. Rumor is, if you sat beneath the tree you were supposed to become lazy or something. It was also supposed to be a pretty monastery. So, we caught a cab and went up.

The monastery was, indeed, a delightful place . The architecture was unsurprising, but lovely. The chapel was small but filled with gorgeous paintings and interesting wood carvings. It is a wonderful place if you want to sit and think or just gain some respite from the bustling downtown.

The landscaping was also keenly designed. Fig and orange trees dotted the garden and at the café next door an old man was picking mulberries.

No matter where you stood, the views of the Besparmak Mountains were superbly framed by flowering trees...

and whoever planted the four ubertall trees in the center was a bloody genius.

After walking around the monastery, we went on a search for the famous tree. We looked everywhere, expecting it to be pretty big and obvious. Eventually, we asked someone and he pointed to this tiny little thing in the corner of a restaurant. That was so not a fame worthy tree. Nor did it make me introspective or lazy.

After the letdown of the tree, we decided to get some ice cream. As we were eating it, we saw some weird camera crew come up and start filming some stuff. Eventually they decided to film the man picking mulberries. It was ridiculous. At some point, I was apparently marring their shot and they tried to get me to move out of the way by talking to me with a series of grunts in no particular language. I have no idea who they were or what they were doing but I think it was a German television show. Who knows.

After the monestary, it was time for the beach. The guy at the hotel said there was only one beach around, the “SK” beach. Turns out, it’s called ESCAPE and it’s a beach club. There was a pretty steep entrance fee, but we went for it anyway. It wasn’t particularly crowded, which was nice, but it was a bit windy which made swimming impossible. The sound of the water was soothing, though, and I managed to nap a bit.

Around 6 o’clock we left the beach. Nearby was a monument and a military museum which Ryan wanted to check out. We had discovered early on that it was impossible to find the guide book to Cyprus in Turkey. When we did find one in the ARIT library, we discovered why Turkey won’t sell it: it is incredibly biased and derogatory. For instance, this monument was
deemed by the LP author as “phallic.” Hello? Not only is that rude but it’s not really true. Anyhow, the monument was interesting, with little friezes of important war events. The military museum was closed, but the Garden of Rusted Military Vehicles and the Cemetary of “Martyrs” were open to be traversed. I found some massive pine cones—nearly the size of my hand—and fell in love with this silly jalopy.

The cemetery was striking but delicate. Overall, however, it was propaganda at its best and the garden of vehicles seemed somewhat superfluous…it’s fine to have one example of each type of car, but 2, 3, 4, or 5 examples…all of which are falling apart? I mean, I don’t need to see 6 tanks to know what one of them is like. That’s where repetition does NOT do anything worthwhile.

But, it was a nice little walk around.

Afterwards, we headed back to the hotel, washed up, and got ready for dinner. The desk suggested a place called Cenap, known for it’s massive meze dinner.

It was a Monday night and there were very few people at the restaurant when we arrived. It was nice to not be amongst crowds and just have a peaceful quiet dinner. Granted, the waiters were incredibly excited by our Turkish and didn’t really know how to leave us alone, but that’s Turkish waiters for you. Sometimes I just speak English and pretend I can’t speak Turkish so they’ll leave me alone. But, these kids were nice enough and not overly intrusive.

The meze were outstanding. They gave us something like 30 meze. Each time we thought they were done bringing things out, they brought more. It was particularly funny when they brought out French fries. Turks seem to be somewhat obsessed with French fries, and we were pretty sure they were bringing them out last, like the cherry on a sundae. The epitome of the meze meal. But then they brought a few more meze and our theory was disproved. Phew. I’m glad for that because French fries were by no means the peak meze.

After the meze, of course, they gave us kebap. In the end they offered fruit and dessert, but we were so stuffed we didn’t take it. Apparently, we should have at least had the dessert because this restaurant is famous for it. Alas. I guess that’s a reason to go back. And, of course, the yogurt was out of control. I ate nearly half the pot.

During dinner there was a guy walking around playing the violin and singing. It was nice. He came by our table and Ryan asked him to play songs from some of the Turkish pop stars and famous Turkish singers. He did and he did it well. He had a surprisingly nice voice.

After dinner we headed home. It was pretty late and we had to get up quite early—Day 3 was to be our trek to southern Cyprus—so we hit the sack.

The day was altogether a truly delightful and a wonderful introduction to Cyprus, relaxed and fulfilling. I have come away content; I don't feel like I missed out on anything in Girne and we definitely had a nice balance of sightseeing and veg-out time. I'd put it on my list of trip recommendations, for sure!

life in a non-existent state of being [part I]

Q: What do you call a place that doesn’t exist?

A: Northern Cyprus.

Ok, ok, Northern Cyprus exists…physically, that is. But, in the world consciousness, it does not. Turkey is the only country in the whole entire world that recognizes Northern Cyprus as an independent political entity. People born in Cyprus are given a North Cypriot passport and a Turkish passport because no country but Turkey will accept a North Cypriot passport. Heck, the only ways to get into Northern Cyprus are by plane or ferry from Turkey’s mainland…or by crossing the border in Nicosia/Lefkosia/Lefkosa [city name depends on your language/time in history].

The history of Cyprus—north + south—is an interesting but tumultuous one, which has served to create the current situation: the construction of a U.N. buffer zone, known as the Green Line, splitting the island into two provinces, only one of which is recognized by the world. While relations between the two sides have historically been poor and tension runs high, there currently seems to be a general acceptance of the situation. Sure, the older generation holds on to the anger and there are memorials on both sides recalling memories of the bloody battles that caused the U.N. intervention in 1967. However, the younger generation doesn’t seem to be nearly so tied to that history. It’s reminds me a lot of South Africa, actually—there, much of the younger generation is “over” apartheid because it’s not their history, they are ready to move on because they have their own problems to deal with.

These days, in Cyprus, much of the separation between the two sides seems to be, to the outsider, merely a formality. It used to be such that if you had a stamp from Northern Cyprus in your passport there was no way you could cross the border to the south and Greece would oftentimes deny you entry to the mainland. Nowadays, people from the North cross the border daily for work and having a stamp from Northern Cyprus is virtually no problem at all. While visiting, it seemed to me that the idea of bringing the two sides together is not nearly as important to the public as it used to be/governments make it seem. Since the failure of the Annan Plan awhile back, efforts towards reunification of the island have been generally stagnant.

So, for much of the past week Ryan and I were in the Bermuda Triangle of the Mediterranean a.k.a. KKTC—Kuzey Kibris Turk Cumhuriyet—or Northern Cyprus. We were living in this state of "existence limbo" for four days, living like ghosts doing things that never happened and seeing things that didn’t exist! At least, that was our running joke. I must say, if you're forced to not exist, Northern Cyprus is a beautiful place to do it.

Now, one of the questions that arises in disappearing into Northern Cyprus concerns the implementation of law. Say, for instance, we were to kill a man in Northern Cyprus. Well, given the country's status in the world, did we really ever commit the crime? I mean, for all intents and purposes, Northern Cyprus does not exist. Who would prosecute us? Not Turkey because Northern Cyprus is not a part of Turkey—it’s independent. Not the EU because they don’t recognize it as a state. And if we were to leave, would it be as if it never happened? Basically, if Northern Cyprus is invisible, its inhabitants must be too, right?

I guess I could look up the answer to those questions, but it's more fun to go through the mental exercise, come up nil, and have a joke that can be implemented constantly...which Ryan and I did. Constantly.

It would actually be pretty cool if that happened…all of a sudden, you cross a border and you disappear, only to re-materialize when you re-enter the recognized world? In reality, however, the re-materialization process is entirely underwhelming. When you cross the border into the southern region of Cyprus the police officer—note, I did not say border official—sees “United States of America” or “EU” on your passport and doesn’t even open it up. You don’t get a stamp when you enter The Republic of Cyprus because, to them, you aren’t crossing a border; to them, Northern Cyprus rightfully belongs to the Republic of Cyprus.

But, I’m getting ahead of myself! Re-materialization didn’t happen until Day 3! We’ve gotta start from the beginning…

Introduction and Day 1: Sunday May 20, 2007

The issues surrounding Cyprus make it quite difficult to get any consistent and trustworthy information concerning traveling to/from/within/across borders. For the two weeks prior to our trip, Ryan and I researched everything from hotels to rental cars to public transportation to food to footwear to laundry to blah blah…only to arrive there throwing our hands in the air and hoping everything worked out.

Cyprus is not a cheap place. On the northern side the official currency is the Turkish Lira while the southern side uses the Cypriot Pound. However, British pounds, euros and dollars are also generally accepted and you can use a combination

of currencies to pay for things. For instance, you can pay for a cab ride with lira, euros, and dollars all at once. It is remarkably confusing and always an adventure trying to figure out correct amounts to pay.

We realized the difficulty of this money business before we even arrived. I emailed 25 different hotels to do price comparisons and got myself so confused between quotes in lira, British pounds, euros, and dollars that I nearly gave myself a migraine. It wasn’t much better for Ryan in his research on rental cars. In the end, however, we booked ourselves a room at a great little hotel in Kyrenia (Girne), called Hotel Sempati. It’s a small world—as it turns out, the hotel manager is the cousin of my dad’s Cypriot friend!

So, around 10:45 am on Sunday Ryan and I met at ASTI to catch the HAVAS bus to the airport. We arrived at the airport with plenty of time, got our tickets, and headed towards customs. This was not as easy as it sounds—Esenboga Airport has been beautifully remodeled recently but, my goodness, the signage inside is absolutely horrendous! Ryan and I managed to go downstairs, upstairs, in circles before we had to ask someone…who pointed to an alcove right next to the check-in desk. That’s pretty stellar for two Fulbright Grant recipients. A real kick in the pants. Geniuses, that’s what we are. We’re great. I’m just going to keep blaming the signs. Seriously, though…they were wretched.

We ended up having a lot of time so we took a tour of the DutyFree store, which resulted in a package of cigars for Ryan. Then we got some coffee…which almost made me puke. It was the worst stuff in the world. Outside of Turkish Coffee the Turks have really missed the good coffee boat. Also, getting iced coffee, i.e. ice + coffee, is impossible. I’m always tricked into trying it when I see it on a menu…and then I want to kill myself for giving it yet another chance. It always has to have ice cream or whipped cream or some ridiculousness in it...and never ice! and sometimes not even coffee! Ok, end rant.

Eventually it was time to catch the plane so we headed towards the gate. To get into the airport you have to go through a security system and to get into each individual gate you have to go through another security check. It’s pretty intense.

As we sat and waited for the boarding call, some lady came up and asked us to take a survey about our time in Turkey. Of course, we aren’t just tourists here so the questions about the amount of money we spent and how long we stayed in places were kind of difficult to answer. Also, the questions like, “is there anyone traveling with you from whom you have paid for travel for with” were nearly incomprehensible. But, we had a good time making up answers.

The flight is a short one—one hour from Ankara—and mostly consists of going up and coming down. Despite the shortness of the trip, the airline insisted on giving us a snack, which had to be shoved down the throat in approximately three minutes. This was a difficult task for Ryan, who is an uberslow eater.

There are something like five or six airports in Cyprus, but only one in Northern Cyprus--Ercan. Turkey is the only country that has flights to Ercan, so people coming from Europe often have a “complimentary stay” in Istanbul or Ankara. Otherwise, they fly into the south and drive to the north. Tourist season on the island is just starting to gear up, but flights from Turkey are currently still a steal.

When we arrived, we had to go through customs. At that point, we had thought that having a KKTC stamp in your passport meant a big NO! to crossing the border. Consequently, we politely asked the passport control fella NOT to stamp our passports but to stamp a piece of paper--a process they are not unfamiliar with. Lo and behold, the guy says "sure, i'll stamp a piece of paper" and then proceeds to stamp our passports.

Can I tell you how pissed/dismayed we were? Man, we were totally pissed and dismayed! We badmouthed the guy while we waited for our bags, got over it [kind of], and met the reps from the hotel who drove us the hour to Girne.

The fellas who drove us to the hotel were very nice and we talked a lot. They liked that we spoke Turkish. One guy was Kurdish and when I told him my family was originally from Diyarbakir he tried to speak Kurdish with me. Of course, I don’t know Kurdish, but he insisted that “there are no Turks in Diyarbakir” and a few days later told me to “ask [my] dad some more about whether or not we are Kurdish.” No surprise, it’s a major part of his identity and he thought it should be of mine as well. However, I don’t think my dad knows much better than I what, if any, Kurdish influence there is in our bloodline. Not that it matters to me; quite frankly, I think everyone is a mutt...and that's a good thing.

The hotel was wonderful. It was shaped like a crescent to give each room a sea view on one side and a mountain view on the other. It also had hot water, which thrilled Ryan who has been taking freezing cold three minute showers for the past nine months. He reveled in the hot shower twice a day for long periods of time.

We arrived late in the afternoon but got ourselves a little sun time, hanging out by the pool for a few hours.

After our basking for awhile, we relished in our hot showers and got a recommendation for dinner from the desk—Niazi's in Girne.

The place was hopping; it’s a prime spot and we had to wait awhile before they opened the upstairs room. The place is known for its “Full Kebap”, which consists of a series of 15-20 mezes and a series of meat dishes. It was quite delicious and a wonderful introduction to what would become my obsession for the next few days: Cypriot yogurt. Oh lordy lordy that stuff is out-of-control. It’s not Greek yogurt and it’s not Turkish yogurt. It’s this distinct flavor that is a-maze-ing…in my opinion, at least. We also had our first slice of fried haloumi [yum!] and the “famous” seftali kebap.

sidenote: in the taxi ride to the restaurant, the driver talked about the seftali kebap. In Turkish, seftali means peach, so I asked him if it involved peaches. He laughed at me. I’m sorry to say, no, it doesn’t involve peaches in the slightest. It’s good though.

After dinner we took a little walk around the city center and found the Icon Museum, which looked quite pretty/haunting in the darkness. While it looked nice, we never did go back to see what was inside, even when we traipsed around the city in the daylight. After our "digestion walk" we got a cab home, watched some BBC [thank you thank you for some English language television] and hit the sack.

And that will end Introduction and Day 1. Less writing, more pictures to come with subsequent days. Ok, well, maybe not less writing, but definitely way more pictures.

But, just to get them out of the way, I’ll make my general comments about traveling to/in Cyprus now. If any of you are considering visiting Cyprus, you should really think about doing it in the spring or early autumn. Overall, we lucked out and I’m glad we went when we did—the middle of summer would have been miserable in terms of both weather and other tourists. The weather was beautiful; we had warm breezy days and cool nights. The hotel was wonderfully calm, primarily filled with older couples from the U.K. who have made Hotel Sempati their regular haunt over the year [I can't recommend the place enough]. Apparently, in the heart of summer, it’s blazingly hot 24/7 and the place [i.e. Cyprus] is overrun with British tourists.

In terms of communication, you also won’t have to worry. Cyprus is an easy place. It’s actually quite funny because most people speak decent English but they have a British accent. Ryan and I were particularly well received, however, because we spoke Turkish. Granted, that meant we were continually answering the same five questions of where we come from and what we were doing. But, whatever. I actually felt much more comfortable about my speaking and understanding of Turkish in Cyprus. It was strange, but a nice boost as I’ve been generally depressed by my continously poor Turkish skills.

As a previous British colony, cars are driven on the left side of the road in both the north and south. It’s really to your advantage to rent a car there and automatics are available, though more expensive than manuals. There is public transportation that is very easy to manage, but the flexibility of having a car can’t be rivaled. Traffic is a cinch and you can have a more leisurely time with a car. Ryan and I only rented for a day when we went to the south and did manage to do a lot of exploring without a car on the north. I’d still recommend it--it's cheap [relatively. I won't lie, getting gas is a hemorrhage], easy, and nearly every hotel has a car hire service.

There is a lot of history on the island, but seeing the sites is not overwhelming. Ryan and I decided that Cyprus is a great place to go for a week—you will have plenty of time to leisurely explore the sites and plenty of time to also relax on the beach. If you're bored lazing around you can go see stuff and vice versa. People are friendly and helpful. It's a very safe place and fine for a woman traveling alone. We were only there for 3.5 days and a couple more would have been perfect, but I think we did the place justice.

More to come...just you wait!

the big purge.

Well, the time has finally come--the time where I have to rid my house of perishable foods.

It's amazing how quickly time here is passing me by and the fact that I already have to think about this is shocking! But, come Sunday, I'm outta here...

Sunday May 20: Ankara to Cyprus
Thursday May 24: Cyprus to Antalya [S. Turkey]
Sunday May 27: Antalya to Ankara
Friday June 1: Ankara to Kerkenes
July ??: Kerkenes to Ankara?

Wow, I'm basically not going to be "home" for 1.5 months...and then, who knows what?! July and August look to be fine fine travelin' times/staring down a microscope and getting migranes while looking at thin sections times. But, one step at a time...

and Step #1: Clean Out The Fridge

This is actually a somewhat exciting task for me as it gets my culinary juices flowing. After a bad dry spell, I've had to be pretty creative to figure out tasty ways to get rid of everything. I've had both successful and unsuccessful food purges in the past. So far, this one has resulted in some incredibly tasty creations that I think will become part of my normal food repertoire. [warning: this is about to turn into a foody post because i want to remember these recipes--i'm sorry!, for those who hate my fooding I promise Cyprus and Antalya will give me enough travel fodder to make up for this patheticness!]

Here's what I was dealing with:

1. 1 kilo potatoes
2. 1 kilo onions
3. 1/2 kilo carrots
4. 1/4 kilo cucumbers
5. ~15 small radishes
6. ~10 hot peppers
7. 1/4 kilo olives, various varieites
8. 1/4 kilo cheese, beyaz peynir + izmir tulum
9. 1 small-medium tomato
10. 1/4 kilo sucuk, spicy turkish sausage reminiscent of merguez or chorizo
11. 5 lemons
12. 3 heads fresh garlic
13. 1/2 head purple cabbage
14. 1 ear corn
15. 5 green peppers
16. 8 eggs
17. 7 tortillas
18. fresh ginger
19. 1 kiwi
20. 2 avocados
21. fresh mint
22. my first parsley harvest!!!!!

Sigh. Look at that absolutely perfect parsley! I can't believe I succeeded at making something grow. It's a very special moment in the ASP's home.

So, yeah, that's kind of an eclectic bunch of items which don't immediately lend themselves to sudden inspiration. However, I think I've done a good job.

The first task was to get rid of the potatoes as they were already at the edge of nastiness. So, I decided to make some homemade gnocchi. This was the first time I ever attempted the pasta and, though the actual recipe is a cinch, getting the proportions of flour right [more flour = heavier gnocchi] is tough.

If I may brag a bit, the result was, I gotta say, not bad! Especially for a first try with limited time and resources--I'm actually kind of proud of myself. They were pretty light and did float when they were cooked.

I froze some of the gnocchi and used the rest to get rid of some other stuff. This was done in a baked gnocchi dish I made up. It turned out surprisingly well. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures, but here's the recipe at least [it's quick, easy, and tasty!].

Warning: this can be quite salty, depending on the type of sausage you use. to balance it out, avoid using a very salty cheese like parmesan.


Baked Gnocchi with Tomato-Sausage Sauce and Caramelized Onions

1 lb gnocchi
1 28-oz can whole plum tomatoes
1 14-oz can diced tomatoes
1/2 - 1 lb raw or precooked spicy sausage, like sucuk, merguez, or chorizo garlic or bacon
8 fresh basil leaves or 1 tsp dried basil
1/2 bunch fresh parsley or 1 tsp dried parsley
1 purple onion, cut into rings
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
cheese, preferably something not particularly salty

Tomato-Sausage Sauce [can be made ahead]
1. remove the casing on the sausage and brown it in a saucepan. if you are using raw sausage, break up the clumps. if you are using precooked sausage, dice it into 1/4-inch cubes and saute until it starts getting crispy, like bacon. if using bacon, cook until crispy, then crumble into large pieces.

2. remove meat and drain on a papertowel. add garlic to the pan and saute until brown.

3. add drained meat, tomatoes, basil, and parsley. bring to a boil, reduce heat, then simmer 30-35 minutes. add more water if it gets to be really thick. simmer longer if it's too thin. it's really about how you like your sauce.

Balsamic Caramelized Onions [can be made ahead]
1. heat olive oil in a saucepan. when oil is hot, add onions.

2. reduce heat and cover. let onions cook, stirring occasionally, until onions start sticking to the bottom of the pan and are getting brown. you don't want them to be crunchy.

3. remove from heat and immediately add balsamic vinegar. stir. if the residual heat does not cause the vinegar to boil off, return to heat and boil off the remaining vinegar.

Assembly
1. bring pot of salted water to a boil. add gnocchi, a dozen or so at a time, and cook until they float.

2. remove gnocchi from the water using a slotted spoon and immediately put into 8x8-inch square glass baking dish.

3. pour tomato sauce over top of gnocchi. it should fill up to the top. if you have too much tomato sauce, save the rest and freeze it for a quick pasta or pizza sauce.

4. bake in 350-degree oven for 20-30 minutes, or until juices start to bubble.

5. shave cheese in strips and place on top of baked gnocchi. sprinkle onions over top. bake a little longer, until cheese has melted.

-----------

Well, that was great! But, unfortunately, it didn't get rid of all that much. No surprise, the big problem is fruits and vegetables. Consequently, I've ended up making three interesting and delicious salads over the past week.


The first, Fiesta Salad, was inspired by Cinco de Mayo and used up a lot of stuff. For the tortilla chips, I made my own by cutting up some tortillas into triangles and baking them--it's a great way to use up extra tortillas and is much healthier/faster/cleaner than frying them.








Fiesta Salad









Dressing
juice of 1/2 lemon
a swig or so of olive oil
+- 1 tsp cumin
+- 1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp sugar

Salsa
1 ear corn
2 small tomatoes, diced
1 avocado, diced
a few radishes, chopped into thin circles
1/2 green pepper, diced
1 hot pepper, chopped fine
1-2 garlic cloves, chopped fine
1/4 onion or 3 scallions, chopped fine

1/4 head purple cabbage
1 small cucumber, sliced into rounds
1 small carrot, grated
tortilla chips, coarsely crushed
shredded chicken [optional; leftovers work great]
shredded cheese
chopped olives [i've been making my own marinade for olives which adds a nice bit of umph to the flavor: olive oil, red wine vinegar, orange zest, rosemary, red pepper flakes]

Dressing
1. put all the ingredients together in a jar. shake.

Salsa
1. boil some water in a pot. cut corn off the ear and put in the water. boil 2 minutes or until corn is soft but not mushy.

2. while corn cooks, cut up the other ingredients and put in a bowl. drizzle with lemon juice, salt, and pepper.

3. drain corn. add to the other ingredients and mix.

Assembly
1. slice cabbage into strips and put in a big bowl.

2. add crushed tortilla chips, cucumber, carrot, salsa, chicken, cheese, and olives.

3. add dressing. if the olives have been marinated, you can add some of the marinade oil as well.

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The fiesta salad was undeniably good and fulfilling. However, I wanted to extend outside of the realm of lettuce salads...

Actually, I ran out of cabbage and other vegetables, but still had a lot of carrots and onions. So, yesterday and today I concocted a couple of great carrot salads. These salads make for a good meal on their own because they include legumes and pulses, but they are also great as sides.







Carrot and Chickpea Salad









Dressing
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp sumac
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp chili powder
pepper
salt
a swig or two of pomegranate molasses [optional]
a swig or two of olive oil
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 cloves garlic, chopped

4 carrots, grated
2 handfuls of small radishes, grated
olives, chopped
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
handful of parsley, coursely chopped
1/2 c dried chickpeas, rehydrated and cooked or 8oz canned chickpeas

Dressing
1. put it all together and shake. the dressing is to taste, so add or subtract spices as necessary.

Assembly
1. put olives in a bowl and sprinkle salt on them. knead them with your hands until they soften and become somewhat translucent. rinse off residual salt with water. put in a large bowl.

2. add the remaining ingredients.

3. add dressing to taste and mix. chill for 30 minutes - 1 hour.

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That salad is very hearty and made for a great meal. This next one is wonderful paired with a bit of plain yogurt. I had it as a side dish with some leftover icli kofte from my aunt and some chocolate rice pudding I made on a whim. The flavor of the salad was really outstanding and it's definitely going to become a staple salad in my life.








Carrot and Green Lentil Salad









1/4 cup green lentils
2 carrots, grated
1/2 onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
olive oil
sumac
pomegranate molasses

1. boil lentils in 2 cups of water until they are tender but not mushy, approximately 15 minutes.

2. in a saucepan, heat some olive oil. when oil is very hot, add the onions and garlic and cook/fry until onions are tender-crispy. turn off heat and transfer onions and garlic to a bowl using a slotted spoon.

3. in a bowl, mix together the carrots, onions, garlic, and lentils. sprinkle with sumac and a few swigs of pomegranate molasses. the onions should provide enough, but if you need to you can add some more olive oil.

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Overall, I've managed to get rid of almost everything in my fridge. The fruits and herbs were a bit of a challenge. With the mint, I made a melon and mint sorbet. Additionally, I've made two batches of iced tea: ginger+mint and kiwi, which did well to get rid of those items. So, all I have left now are some green peppers, olives, lemons, hot peppers, tortillas, eggs and cheese. Those will last a week and in the four days I'm back before going to Kerkenes I should be able to use the remainder up.

The whole exercise of cleaning out the fridge has been wonderful, actually. This is just a smattering of the things I've been making and the process has given me a renewed excitement in cooking and food experimentation. I've been in a serious funk with cooking since I arrived here, very uncreative and boring...sticking to the old standards. But, in this week I've taken a greater command of grains, legumes, and pulses than before. Additionally, I've experimented with lots of spices and flavors, creating some unexpected combinations that have turned out well above and beyond what I would have expected.

I can't even tell you, it's a great feeling to love food again.

vroom vroom.

So, I've mentioned Turkey's long distance buses a number of times now. Yet, I don't feel I've really done the system justice--it is truly is remarkably well-developed and acts as the main form of intercity travel in Turkey. It's nothing like the Greyhound system in the US and is, in my opinion, one of the most commendable features of Turkey's transportation infrastructure. Actually, I'd say it's one of the things Turkey should be most proud of in general.

The advantages of the bus system here have been overwhelming. Not only is the system extensive and reliable, but it's development has encouraged road creation and repair throughout the nation. Consequently, remote places are more accessible than ever before. This is obvious just by considering the 8th edition of Lonely Planet: Turkey--since 2003, when that edition was printed, the accessibility by bus to smaller towns has increased in a big way.

There is a disadvantage in this as well--I, personally, think the development of the bus system can be considered a key catalyst and assistant in the enormous migration of people from the smaller villages to the larger cities that is currently taking place. The populations in Ankara and Istanbul are growing at alarming rates and the cities are wavering somewhat under the pressure of this influx of people.

Considering Ankara's otogar, ASTI [Ankara Sehirler arasi Terminal Isletmesi], is probably the best way to illustrate the enormity of the system. I don't remember what the Istanbul otogar is like, but Ankara's otogar is top-notch. Luckily, on a recent trip, I had some time to walk around and take photographs of the terminal.



ASTI is stunning in its size and available amenities, not unlike many newer airplane terminals these days. For me, though, it was a wonderful surprise to see on my first visit. Before now, upon hearing "bus terminal" I'd think of a dingy building attached to a gas station...not that I've ever been to a long-distance bus terminal in the US. Nonetheless, it was quite a shocker to see ASTI.


The building has three floors and direct access to the Ankaray subway line into Kizilay, a trip that only takes about 15 minutes. On the main floor is where most of the ticket vendors are located. There must be over 50 bus companies represented here--some going to only one or two locations, others traveling nearly everywhere.


Vendors for different companies also walk along the hall trying to guess your destination and calling out ticket prices. It's pretty hilarious because they are often wrong, but when they get it right you can't help but stop for a moment in shock...until you remember it was a guess and, no, they can not read your mind!

The terminal is pretty much ringing, or at least low level buzzing, at all hours of the day and night. There are buses leaving nearly every half-hour or hour for the big cities, like Istanbul and Izmir. Other places have buses that leave less frequently, but it's not usually a long wait. While tickets can be bought in advance, it is oftentimes no problem to show up and buy a ticket for a bus leaving half-an-hour or an hour later. Ticket prices are competitive and reasonable. Recently, low cost airlines moved into the market, but buses still reign supreme.



You can get virtually anything you need at ASTI. Speckled throughout the station are little shoe polishing stations. These regal stands are filled with polishes of every color imaginable--those little gold bumps are canisters of polish.













You want a book? No problem-- pleasure reading, maps, dictionaries, pencil games, and study guides are all available at the various booksellers dotting the station.



Food is, of course, easy to find as there are many small cafes and a plethora of acik bufes like this one, all stuffed to the brim with every candy, snack, drink, and toiletry imaginable.




The hall is incredibly clean. There are guys who ride around on little orange floor polishers, lined up one behind the other, circling the station and mowing down anyone who gets in the way. No joke. They are like elephants that don't even recognize your presence--you gotta move cause they sure ain't stoppin' their floor waxin'.






And then there is the eternal window washing, which you see every day walking around Turkey...I've never seen so many windows being washed as I have in this country!








ASTI is one of the best places I've ever been to for people watching. You see a lot of honest emotion here--a lot of crying, especially amongst the population of older travelers. Sometimes you see great cargo, like these huge bunches of daisies being sent to some far-off destination.


It's fun to think about where everyone is going and startling to realize how diverse the population is...how you've all ended up in this place and soon enough you may be at seemingly opposite ends of the world, never to see each other again. But, there's a brief moment where you actually have something in common. I don't know, there's something a little more desolate about the bus terminal than an airport.



The perspective from inside the bus is an interesting one, too, as you see all the people being left behind. There's a lot of predeparture waving that goes nonstop for the five minutes before we leave. There are also lots of dopplegangers here and the bus terminal is a good place to find them. Take, for instance, this Shatner look-a-like...maybe? kinda?



While this is all nice, it doesn't say much about actual service on the bus--that hamburger on TV sure does look good but, slathered with wood stain and fingernail polish, the taste doesn't really compare. You know? Well, luckily, that absolutely brilliant analogy doesn't really apply here, at least amongst the reliable companies like Nilufer, Ulusoy, Varan, and Metro.

First, it's remarkable how on-time the buses are--they leave when they say they are leaving and they arrive when they say they will arrive, nearly without fail. Additionally, safety ratings are high and modern, well-maintained buses are used. I never fail to chuckle when I realize I'm riding in a bus manufactured by a more prestigious company than my own car, like BMW or Jaguar.


Second, being on a bus here is a little like being on an airplane...except everyone has a buisness class seat. Throughout the ride, you are served water, coffee/tea/juice, a snack, a wetnap, and kolonya--a liquid cologne that evaporates, very popular in Turkey--all by a nice fella who sometimes wears a bow tie.


sidenote: you have to be careful with the kolonya. typically, they give you lemon. apparently, however, there are a lot of different kolonya scents...including hamsi kolonya a.k.a. anchovy scented cologne. so, if you visit the black sea region, you have been warned. watch out! and don't sit next to the guy if he smells like fish!



If you're lucky/not-so-lucky they also show a movie--I've seen Tokyo Drift twice now. Word on the street is that some of the Ulusoy buses also have wireless internet!

On longer trips the bus stops halfway through for a meal. Unlike in the US, rest stops here have some of the best food around! That has been my experience, at least, and others have related similar stories. This is especially true if you're in a region with a food specialty. For instance, near Corum--roasted chickpea capital of the world--the chickpea stew was bloody fantastic!

The analogy to the airplane wouldn't be complete without a cell phone rule, however, and rest assured that you had better turn your cell phone off when you are on the bus [the reason for this one still escapes me].


The best part of the buses, though, is how much you get to see. They can be long and sometimes a bit bumpy, but landscapes rarely disappoint...except, of course, on night buses. With the development of the Hizli Tren [his-lee trehn; speedy train] and the introduction of new low fare airlines the bus system will surely be threatened at some point. For now, these new services don't seem to be impacting it too much. In my opinion, it would be a real shame if the bus system collapsed. So here's to hoping it never goes extinct!