Billy Elliot

Of all the movies I watched, none were as touching and uplifting as Billy Elliot. I admit, even I was a little reluctant to watch a movie about a young, working-class tough whose life is transformed when he secretly gives up boxing for ballet. Many obstacles must be overcome, including the disapproval of many of the people in young Billy’s life, especially his father. Not to mention the area he lives in is in the middle of the famous UK Miners Strike of 1984-1985.

What makes this movie more than just the typical (British) feel-good/against-the-odds film is the spectacular acting from all the characters, especially Jamie Bell, who plays the eleven year old title character. Bell was fourteen years old when he played the role of Billy, a role which won him a BAFTA (the British Oscar) for Best Actor. Julie Walters is also excellent as Billy’s no-nonsense, embittered ballet teacher; as is Gary Lewis as Billy’s father. My personal favorite character is Billy’s best friend Michael Caffrey (Stuart Wells). He is effeminate and gay, clearly out of place in a coal mining town, but the movie doesn’t dwell on that, just the touching friendship two awkward and out of place young boys, one straight, one gay, can create.

To sum it all up, Billy Elliot is the first movie in a long time that made me want to cry for joy. This is a movie that will make you laugh and cry in the best of ways. If I were Ebert, Siskel, or Roper, I’d give this film two very big thumbs up.

Movie Review: Boys Don't Cry

The first movie that I want to review is also probably the most well known, and that’s saying something. Boys Don’t Cry is the 1999 drama which won Hilary Swank a VERY well-deserved Oscar for Best Actress.

The film is based on the true story of Teena Brandon/ Brandon Teena, a pre-op female to male transgender who was murdered in 1993 in Nebraska while posing as an anatomically normal male. Swank is truly phenomenal in this role, even the viewer must admit that she is thoroughly convincing as a man. The supporting cast is also strong, with Chloe Sevigny as Lana, the girl Brandon dates, and Peter Sarsgaard as John Lotter, the man who befriends, but later rapes and murders Brandon.

If the film has any weakness, it is that it does little to explain Brandon’s life before meeting Lana and John or trangendered people in general. There is no real explanation as to why Brandon would choose to live as a boy. Was he transgendered, a hermaphrodite, or was he simply a lesbian in disguise? A person less familiar or sympathetic to the transgendered would likely not view Brandon very favorably. Although I don’t believe that any movie should portray a character as an angel just to avoid stereotyping, there are points in the movie where Brandon comes across more as a daredevil pushing his luck rather than a transgendered man trying to get by in an unsympathetic environment.

Politics aside, Boys Don’t Cry is a beautiful piece of filmmaking which tells the story of one person trying to live a normal life in very unnormal circumstances. Since it is based on a true story, there is no need to try to avoid spoilers, going into this you should know that Brandon does not survive. But like Milk, another excellent film about the life of a doomed LGBT American, the lack of suspense does nothing to stop you from being engrossed in this fascinating tale of love, hate, death, and life.

Netflix for a Month!

As part of a Skype promotion, I got a free month’s supply of Netflix. So for most of June and July, I have been either working at my job at my local YMCA, then coming home and sitting on my ass all day watching Netflix, then going to sleep, then waking up the next day to start the cycle all over again. Needless to say, this hasn’t been good for either my social or blogging life. I decided to reclaim some of the latter now that my free month is over and I’ve disabled my Netflix account because I am a broke college student by blogging about some of the movies that I watched.

My taste in film is very eclectic, I love the classics, film noir, detective stories, action, horror, as well as documentaries, indie and foreign films, and queer cinema. I decided to blog about some of the films that most of you have probably never seen or even heard about. That means that most of these movies will some sort of combination of gay, indie, and/or foreign language films. Hope that you enjoy and discover a new favorite film!

It Gets Better, From the Massachusetts Congressional Delegations

Hi y'all!

I know it's been forever since I posted anything, and I promise, I will update this blog with more Turkey stories as well as some movie reviews.

However, I wanted to detour into politics and LGBT issues for a quick post. The "It Get's Better Campaign" has become famous for posting videos online by both regular and famous people encouraging young people, especially those struggling with their sexual orientation and gender identity. Although I think some people believe that posting a video is all they need to do to solve gay and teen suicide, it is a noble project.

Recently, eleven out of the twelve members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation posted a joint video for the Campaign. Although it may not be the best one out there, it is a wonderful reminder of how lucky some of us, including myself, are to live in such a liberal and accepting state. It's especially meaningful for me because I worked on both Congressmen Jim McGovern and Bill Keating's campaigns, so it's nice to see some of the people I helped to elect standing up for causes that I believe in.

It also is a reminder of the one eyesore in our delegation. Like I said earlier, eleven out of the twelve members are present in the video. The one missing? The one Republican, Scott Brown, of course. Now it is certainly possible that in today's hyper-partisan Washington the other members just didn't tell Senator Brown that they were making this video to make him look bad....but I highly doubt it.

Anyway, here's the actual video:

UPDATE: As I suspected, Sen. Brown was indeed invited to join in the making of the video, but declined. His spokesman insisted that Sen. Brown has a "strong record" of standing up to bullying and discrimination and the National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee has gone so far as to attack Dan Savage, trying to distract from the real issue at hand. If Sen. Brown is truly the bipartisan, moderate Republican that he claims to be, the least he could do is take part with is home state colleagues in making a video urging young kids not to kill themselves!

Read more on the controversy here and here. 

Favorites and Most Memorable Moments

Since coming back from Turkey, the question I keep hearing again and again is, “What was your favorite thing about Turkey?”

Honestly, I’m never quite sure how to answer that question. There were so many positive aspects of my time there that it is hard to say. Making new friends and having crazy, hilarious, and awesome adventures with them would probably be my favorite memory, but that experience is not unique to Turkey, though I’m sure some of the situations we found ourselves in were. Of course seeing many historical sites, such as the Hagia Sophia, was amazing, especially for a history buff like me. And finally, just the experience of being a different country, culture and language I found to be much more thrilling than it was terrifying.

So, more for my own memory than anything else, I’ve gone all David Letterman and have  compiled three Top 10 lists to remember the moments, places, and sites which most stuck out to me, along with a few comments. Enjoy!

Top 10 Most Memorable Moments

1.      Hostel in Jordan (funny looking back on it, bad at the time)

2.      Getting quizzed by a 32 year old Turkish pot smoking, mechanic about being gay (hilarious both now and then)

3.      Getting yelled at by the Crazy Bitch Lady of Koc University (pretty funny and soooo ironic)

4.      Thinking we got left behind in Taksim Square and not having enough money to pay for a taxi back to Koc (kinda funny now, super scary then)

5.      Floating in the Dead Sea and seeing Petra  & Beirut (amazing)

6.      Going to Bosnia (very moving and as it turned out, timely)

7.      Having lunch with the villagers in the Black Sea Region (wonderful experience)

8.      Opening two bottles of wine in Cappadocia with a nail and my boot (hilarious)

9.      Our favorite cab driver in Istanbul (too much fun)

10.  Too many random nights out at KBox, Riddim, Hawaii, Rock Bar, or some other bar or club in Taksim to keep straight (sometimes good, sometimes bad, always memorable)

(Bonus)Marianimal’s Turkish Presentation (She knows what I’m talking about)

Ranking of Places I Travelled and My Memories of Them

1.      Istanbul: this place is the automatic winner, since it was my home for 4 months

2.      Beirut: beautiful city, friendly people, and lots of fun, not that many sites though

3.      Rome: very close behind Beirut, beautiful architecture and history, didn’t go out because it was a family holiday

4.      Sarajevo: beautiful city with a tragic past but friendly people

5.      Black Sea Region: beautiful country and incredibly gracious people

6.      Jordan: great sites, crazy people

7.      Cappadocia: really cool and beautiful, but so far away

8.      Eskisehir: far below Cappadocia, nice looking city, but little of historical value and not much fun either

9.      Sofia: seemed boring and unwelcoming

10.  Ankara: by far the worst, incredibly boring with far fewer sites that you’d expect in a capital city, however, the people were very friendly

Top 10 Sites

1.      Hagia Sophia (Istanbul)

2.      Vatican (Rome)

3.      Petra (Jordan)

4.      Cappadocia (Turkey)

5.      Blue Mosque (Istanbul)

6.      Chora Monastery (Istanbul)

7.      Dead Sea (Jordan)

8.      War Tunnel Museum (Sarajevo)

9.      Topkapi Palace (Istanbul)

10.  Jeita Grotto (Lebanon)

Final Moments in Turkey

June 13^th

As I write this, I’m sitting in Ataturk Airport in Istanbul right, waiting for my 6:30 am flight to Rome and then back to Boston. Surprisingly, I haven't broken down and cried yet, though I’m sure if the immigration officer in Boston says anything along the lines of, “Welcome home,” I probably will bawl my eyes out. Istanbul honestly feels like home at this point. The past few days have been spent visiting a few remaining unvisited sites, saying goodbye to the Hagia Sophia, gift shopping, and saying goodbye to friends. It is hard to believe that it has been four months since I arrived in Istanbul. I can remember clearly waiting for hours for our pickup in the Starbucks in the far right hand side of the airport, seeing people selling bananas in the middle of the highway, and hearing the very strange song “Barbara Sreisand” playing over the bus radio.

That day I remember thinking, “What exactly have I gotten myself into.” Now I know and it has been the best experience so far in my life. I love Istanbul, I love Turkey, and I love the Turkish people. I had a chance to see historical sites that I had read about since I was ten but never dreamed I would actually get to see. I made friends with people from across the world who I would never otherwise have met. For every time somebody tried to rip me off, there were five other times that a random Turk welcomed me to their country, helped me find something that I had lost, or gave me food or drink and then refused to accept my money.

I have grown so comfortable in this country that it feels like home. It is going to be weird going back to small-town suburbia, to actually understand what the person sitting next to me on the T is saying, and to actually have choices of what to eat besides Turkish food. I’m still not sure how smooth the transition is going to be; we’ll have to wait and see.

This is not the end of this blog. I’ve still got plenty more to post on Istanbul and Turkey, including travel tips, must see sites, and districts of Istanbul. Depending on how much free time I have, this may take a week or months. Once I’ve said everything that I can about Turkey, I’m going to keep up blogging periodically, about life, travels, politics, and whatever else I feel like. I’ve found this process to be very therapeutic and it’s a great way to capture memories. Whether anyone besides me actually reads these posts is unimportant (but thank you for reading if you do!).

War Criminal, Plain and Simple

Ratko Mladic

Less than a week after I came back from Bosnia, it was announced that Serbia had captured one of the most wanted war criminals from the Bosnian War, Ratko Mladic. This event made me even happier that I had gone to Bosnia, because it allowed me to see and hear for myself the destruction and pain that this man had helped to create.

After his arrest, Serbian ultra-nationalists in both Serbia and Bosnia called for his release because he was a “hero.” Whenever I heard people saying that, I couldn’t help but be reminded of one of the stories my hostel owner, Jasmina, had told me about the Siege of Sarajevo. She remembered constantly having to duck and run across the streets whenever she went outside because there were always Serbian snipers who would shoot anyone that they saw. She told me, “Now I understand in war soldiers kill soldiers, and that is fine, but I cannot understand how someone can shoot an unarmed woman or child. To me, you have to be crazy or something to do that.”

One of the times I was walking through Sarajevo, I came across this monument in a park. The monument consisted of a fountain and two twisted pieces of glass in the middle. Next to the fountain, were revolving metal cones with the names of birth and death dates of people. I didn’t really look too hard at the names because honestly, when you see a bunch of names, especially if you cannot even pronounce some of them, they all kind of glaze together. But as I continued walking, I saw a sign pointing in the direction that I had just come from and it said in Bosnian and English, “Monument to Murdered Children.”

1500 children died during the Siege of Sarajevo, not to mention the thousands more who were killed in other cities and towns across Bosnia. Anyone who thinks that a man who led the army that deliberately killed most of these children is a hero I think is just as crazy as the ones who actually pulled the trigger.

Monument to Murdered Children

The names of the children killed in the Siege of Sarajevo

Beautiful Bosnia, Besieged Bosnia

May 23-26

May 23^rd is a holiday in Turkey (Youth & Sports Day), meaning that we had an extra long weekend starting Thursday. I took this opportunity to travel to the country of Bosnia and Herzegovina. When I was about eleven and twelve, I was fascinated by the conflict that occurred in Bosnia and read many books about it (normal I know). For those of you who don’t know, between 1992 and 1995, a three-way war started for control over the country between the Catholic Croats, Orthodox Serbs, and Muslim Bosniaks. About one hundred thousand people were killed, many in “ethnic cleansing” massacres such as the one in Srebrenica where eight thousand Bosniaks were murdered by the Serbs. Since I was so close to Bosnia, and because friends of mine who had been told me that they loved it, I decided to spend my long weekend there.

I travelled alone, which turned out to be pretty relaxing because it meant that there was no pressure to constantly have a plan or know where I was going. That doesn’t mean that the trip was without stress. The biggest stress was getting there. I had booked the cheapest plane ticket that I could find, which entailed flying from Istanbul to Belgrade, Serbia, and then to Sarajevo, but with only thirty minutes between my flight was supposed to land in Belgrade to when the next one was supposed to take off to Sarajevo. I was a bit nervous about missing my flight to Sarajevo, but I just figured that when I landed in Belgrade I’d grab my carryon and then rush off the plane with to my next flight, boarding pass in hand.

You can imagine my horror when, at the airport in Istanbul, the man checking me in told me that I had to check in my carryon as baggage because the flight was too full to allow my carryon AND he couldn’t print out my boarding to Sarajevo, I would have to get that in Belgrade. The entire time I spent waiting to board the plane and while we were flying I kept going through different nightmare scenarios in my head of how either my baggage, myself, or both would not make it to Sarajevo. When we landed in Belgrade, I’m pretty sure I pushed past a number of other people on the plane and then bolted through the airport up to ticket counter and blurted out, “I have a flight in less than 30 minutes!” The ticket lady was clearly amused by my desperation, but she stayed calm and said, “Sarajevo?” and then printed out my boarding pass. I then raced to the terminal, where it turned out the flight was delayed 45 minutes. I have never been so happy for a delay in my life!

When my plane landed in Sarajevo and stepped onto the tarmac at 10:45 pm all that I could hear was crickets chirping. It kinda made me wonder about my decision to come here, but fortunately, that doubt left soon after. My hostel owner Jasmina was waiting at the airport and we drove in her husband’s taxi to the hostel.

The hostel I stayed at was called Hostel Enjoy. It’s in an apartment complex, with one 2 person bedroom, one dorm style bed room, a room for the toilet and another for the shower. Pretty basic, but the water was always warm, the toilets worked and at most it was only a 10 minute walk from the city center. Also, it’s probably one of the cheapest hostels in the city. But what makes Hostel Enjoy special is Jasmina, she is not only one of the most gracious hostesses you will ever find, she can also give you an authentic sense of what Sarajevo was like during the war.

On my first full day in Sarajevo, Jasmina first took me out to breakfast, her treat to me, and we drove to the War Tunnel Museum. During the Siege of Sarajevo, this 800 meter long tunnel was the only means of supply and communication for city for nearly three years! While we were there, Jasmina told me about the history of the tunnel, how hungry everyone always was and she told me her own story. She was originally from Croatia but came to study in Sarajevo in 1991. For the first seven months of the siege, her family in Croatia had no means to contact her and had no idea whether she was dead or alive. Finally, a UN peacekeeper was able to give her a mobile phone and she was able to talk to her sister to let her family know that she was okay. Her sister couldn’t bear to tell her that her parents had both been killed in a Serbian bombing; she didn’t find that out until 1995. Stories like that can be found all around Sarajevo and Bosnia. I was quiet for a real long time after she told me her story, it still blows my mind that these sorts of things could happen in my lifetime.

Map showing the Siege of Sarajevo

After the War Tunnel Museum, I went to the Historical Museum of Bosnia. It is a pretty small museum with just two exhibits, one on the war and siege, the other on the history of the Bosnian people. However, it was only 3 or 4 Bosnian KM to get in and again, the exhibits helped to bring home the tragic history all around you.

After the museums, I walked through the city. Sarajevo is a surprisingly small city and very walkable, you can see just about everything worth seeing in one to one and a half days. There are actually two “old cities” in Sarajevo. The City Center looks like turn of the 20^th Century Europe, with classical architecture and numerous cafes and restaurants. This is where many of the older historical sites, like the Latin Bridge, where Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in 1914, the event which started World War I. Then there is the Turkish Quarter, which is what Sarajevo looked like during Ottoman times, with copplestone streets, small shops and mosques. If you’re looking for souvenirs to buy and cheap Bosnian food, this is the area to look.

 On my second day I took a three hour bus ride to Mostar. Mostar is most famous because it is the home of a 16^th Century Ottoman bridge which was destroyed during the war and became a symbol of the tragedy of the Bosnian war. Driving through the Bosnian countryside is beautiful, but you also notice some signs of nationalism that isn’t as apparent in Sarajevo, which is still more multi-ethnic. You see Serbian and Croatian flags flying from farmhouses and the road signs change too. Croats, Bosniaks, and Serbs all speak a variation of the same language, but Croats and Bosniaks use the Latin alphabet while Serbs use the Cyrillic alphabet. In Sarajevo, you see almost no signs in Cyrillic, but outside of Sarajevo, most of the signs are in both Latin and Cyrillic.

Mostar Bridge

Mostar is a lovely little town, again with many restaurants, shops and cafes, though it does have a very touristy vibe. The Ottoman  Bridge, which was completely restored in 2004 after years of work, is in the center of the Old City. The bridge can seem unremarkable to a casual observer, it is necessary to know the history of the bridge to appreciate both its beauty and its symbolism.

After coming back from my day trip in Mostar, I did a little more walking around Sarajevo and then went to bed early because my flight was at 6:30 the next morning. I really enjoyed Bosnia and would highly recommend anyone interested in going. You should probably plan out a whole Balkans tour of Croatia and/or Serbia as well, because Bosnia is a little small to justify going to if you’re coming all the way from the US. It is very cheap there, I spent about $150 the two and a half days I was there, and that includes food, transportation, and the hostel. Also the people were very proficient in English, perhaps a legacy of the English speaking UN and NATO peacekeepers that were stationed there.

Roman Holiday

May 16-19

Over the weekend of May 16^th, I travelled to Rome to visit my family, who had flown out from Boston to see me. I had always wanted to go to Rome and the chance to see it on someone else’s dime was too good to pass up!

After flying into Fumicino Airport, I took the train into Rome where I met up with my parents, brother and sister for the first time in three months. They had rented an apartment right in the middle of the old city, literally two blocks from the Coliseum. One thing that I really liked about Rome was how it seemed that whole sections of the city had been preserved overtime; in Istanbul it’s more like they have preserved historic building, but the neighborhoods around them have all changed with the times.  

Although we were only in Rome for three days, we still managed to cover all the must-see sites. Rome is a city with about one thousand churches, half of which are named Santa Maria Something or Other. If you are into seeing old, beautifully decorated churches (and you should be if you’re in Rome), then just pop your head in any that you pass on the street, they’re all free and mostly open to the public when mass is being held.

Trevi Fountain

We were within walking distance of the Coliseum, Pantheon, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, and the Roman Forum; of course, we saw all of them. My personal favorite was the Pantheon, I guess I just have a weakness for really old churches with beautifully decorated interiors. The Trevi Fountain was also really cool to see. Honestly, the Coliseum was a bit boring, interesting, but seeing it from the outside honestly gives you a pretty good idea of what it was like. The Roman Forum also was interesting but a bit boring; my biggest problem with it was it was that the headphones you can buy to tell you what everything is will cover several different buildings at a time so it’s hard to keep track and impossible to summarize to other people.

One of my biggest gripes about Turkey is the lack of non-Turkish food available. While Turkish food is good, I’m used to having the choice of Vietnamese, Chinese, American, or of course, Italian food. It was lovely to be in a country with delicious pasta, coffee, wine, and gelato! My brother was pretty disappointed though, because the only Italian food that he wanted in Italy was chicken parmesan and one restaurant in Rome that we went to had it. He was very disappointed! I should warn you about one restaurant we went to. I can’t remember the name, but I do remember it was literally across the street from the Coliseum. We had read a few good things about it in a book or website so we went to it after the Coliseum. The food was good, but we wanted some appetizers and our waitress suggested this single plate that could feed the whole table. It was very good, however, when we got the final bill, they had charges us 25 euro per person (there was 5 of us) just for the appetizers. Yeah, rip-off.

On our final day in Rome, we saw what undoubtedly was my favorite site in Rome, the Vatican. Whether you are Catholic or not (and I am), you have to see the Vatican if you are in Rome. We arranged a small group tour with one of the many tour agencies that Rome has where we were with about fifteen other people and listened to our tour guide through headphones so she didn’t have to yell. Highly recommend you look into one of these groups to show you around the Vatican because the amount of art and history in the Vatican Museum is both beautiful and staggering. We saw various rooms and exhibits, the old private quarters of the Popes, the Sistine Chapel and St. Peters Basilica. You are technically not allowed to take pictures in the Sistine Chapel; though most tourists were ignoring that rule I chose to follow it out of respect and also to not damage the paintings with the flash. No matter how much you read about the Sistine Chapel or see pictures of it in books, online, or on film, nothing can compare to seeing it in person. This is where a tour guide becomes crucial because they are able to tell you the story of how it was made and also what each intricate detail means. St. Peters is also an amazing site to be held, by Church law, no Catholic church can be larger than St. Peters and our tour guide claimed that 50,000 people could fit inside the church! I have to admit, it sometimes makes me uneasy seeing so much wealth in the hands of men who have made a vow of poverty, however, I suppose it is okay so long as it is for the glorification of God and not man.



Altar at St. Peters



The Most Boring Capital City Ever: Ankara

May 10-12

I travelled to Ankara, the capital of Turkey with a Dutch exchange student for a project on disability in Turkish universities. We went to Ankara to interview a prominent disabilities rights activist who lives there.

There are many options for someone who wants to go from Istanbul to Ankara or vice versa. You can take a bus, fly, or take the train. We chose to take the overnight train where we got a room with two pull-out beds. It actually was surprisingly comfortable, I would recommend it to anyone who doesn’t feel like flying and is less than 6’ 4” (I’m 6’ 3” and just barely fit in the bed).

We left Istanbul at 10:30 pm Friday and arrived in Ankara around 7 am. Ankara is not a very aesthetically pleasing city, some people would call it soulless, I would not disagree. Wherever you are in Istanbul, you get this sense of energy and excitement that is missing in Ankara. We asked several Turks in Ankara if they liked it and all of them said no.

Since the interview was not until later in the afternoon, we decided we wanted to see the sights. The most famous attraction in Ankara has to be the mausoleum of the founder of the Republic of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Turks have a (obsession) love of Atatürk that puts America’s love of the Founding Fathers to shame. That is exemplified by the mausoleum which dominates the Ankara skyline and is meant to resemble an Ancient Greek temple. The complex is on a hill and surrounded by forests and gardens. Admittance is free. Both the mausoleum itself and the grounds around are massive and imposing. Anyone travelling through Ankara has to see it, not so much for its natural beauty but because of the tremendous importance Atatürk has played in Turkish history and psyche.

We then travelled to the Anatolian Civilization Museum where we were meeting our interviewee, Claire Ozel. She is an expat who married a Turk and then became the head of disability services at Middle Eastern Technical University in Ankara. She insisted on giving us a tour of the Museum before the interview, which was a good thing because although the museum has an extensive collection of Ancient Anatolian artifacts, there is a real lack of labeling to let you know exactly what you are looking at.

Ironically, the best thing about the museum wasn’t the exhibits (though they were interesting to a history buff like me) but the tour group of little kids that was also visiting the museum while we were there. At first they stared at me, then they pretended to take photos of the exhibitions I was standing next to, then they worked up the courage to ask if they could take my picture, and by the time we were leaving they were posing with me. I swear, there was one point where I had about six twelve year old Turks having their picture with me at the same time!

This little event is a good example of how different Ankara is from Istanbul. In Istanbul, you see all kinds of people who are blond, or Central Asian looking, or fair skinned and who are all Turks. The Turks in Ankara, on the other hand, look much more Anatolian or stereotypically “Middle Eastern” and they are not as used to seeing foreigners. I definitely felt more like a foreigner in Ankara than in Istanbul, though I’m sure I stick out in both cities.

Anyway, Claire took us through the Old City of Ankara, which overlooks most of the newer city and is where you get some authentic culture. We had lunch and discussed with her the situation of disabled Turks in universities. It was really interesting; it is easy to tell that the U.S. gives disability inclusion much higher importance than Turkey does.

I will say that after leaving Claire, I felt really good about the trip. We planned to take the fast train early Sunday morning and be back in Istanbul before dinner time. Sadly for us, all the fast train tickets were sold out, so we had no choice but to take another night train for Sunday night, meaning we wouldn’t be back in Istanbul until Monday morning and would have to spend another day in Ankara!

 This was where the trip went downhill for me. We spent an hour looking for a restaurant to have dinner in; apparently they like to keep their restaurants hidden in Ankara. The next day we had to check out of our (shitty) hotel by 10:30 am, so we then wondered around the city for the next few hours looking for sites that we hadn’t already seen. There were no good ones. We spent about two hours sitting at a park bench doing homework, because that was the most fun thing we could find to do. You cannot understand the relief that I felt when we finally we able to board our train around 10:30 pm and finally leave Ankara behind. I would only recommend going to Ankara for a day trip, trust me when I say that that is more than enough to see all that is worthwhile.

The one truly redeeming quality that Ankara has going for it is how nice its people are. From the student who paid for our bus fare and refused our money, to the guy barbecuing chicken in the park who unprompted brought us some of his food, to the Kurd who insisted on buying us tea and practicing his English with us, the people of Ankara showed us some great Turkish hospitality!

The Black Sea Region

April 28-May 1

I had been looking forward to the CIEE trip a lot because the Black Sea region is so different from the rest of Turkey. It is very mountainous and lush, and also very agricultural, the complete opposite of Istanbul.

The first city we arrived in was Trabzon. It used to be known as Trebizond when it was an independent Greek state until being conquered in 1461 by the Ottomans. It is now the biggest city on Turkey’s Black Sea coast and an international trading hub.

We arrived in Trabzon the night of April 28^th. It was late and we had to wake up early the next morning so we mostly just got into our rooms and went to bed. After breakfast the next day, our group first went on a tour of the old Hagia Sophia church in Trabzon. Hagia Sophia means “Church of Holy Wisdom;” it was a common name to use for a church to the Byzantines who built both the Hagia Sophia of Trabzon and the Hagia Sophia of Constantinople. Like the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, the one in Trabzon was converted into a mosque after being conquered by the Ottomans. Unlike the Istanbul Hagia Sophia, Hagia Sophia Trabzon is a pretty small building. It does have a nice series of mosaics on the walls and ceilings, though they are in need of restoration.

After seeing Hagia Sophia, we had a little bit of free time to explore Trabzon. A few friends and I went in search of this Trabzon mosque that has the tomb of the mother of one of the Ottoman Sultans. It gave us a chance to see a little more of Trabzon. It is a small city, but there’s history at every turn and the mosque itself was very beautiful.

After that, we got on bus and left Trabzon to go to our next stop, Sumela Monastery. This was the sight I was most excited to see. It was built hundreds of years ago on a side of a mountain 1300 meters above sea level after a sighting of the Virgin Mary. It was a center for Orthodox Christians until 1923 when as part of a treaty, most of the Greeks in Turkey were removed to Greece. Since then the monastery has been abandoned and for many years, sightseers and locals would desecrate this beautiful site by carving messages and initials into the frescoes. Despite the damage, the place is still amazing and a must see for anyone in the area. However, be warned that it is about 270 meters above where the buses drop you off and the minibuses that can drive up there aren’t always running, so you might have to hike up there (like we did).

Sumela Monastery from below

 Our next stop was the village of Çamlıhemşin (Cham-luh-hem-shin), about four hours from Trabzon. The total population is around two thousand people. The hotel that we stayed in was actually a little bit outside of Çamlıhemşin and it looked like a 3 story log cabin next to a river. This only increased our feeling of being in the absolute middle of nowhere. The hotel was pretty basic, there wasn’t always hot water and the heating didn’t always work. On the other hand, the food was always good and it was incredibly peaceful to wake up and fall asleep to the sound of a river flowing by. The next day we travelled to a collection of tiny villages with a total population of about 700. We were told we were going to have a picnic with the villagers. What they didn’t tell us is that we were first going to see the village, which was entirely on a hill, meaning that there was a ton of hiking up sometimes steep, slippery slopes. Once we got to the top, our guides then showed us the smooth dirt path that we were going to take down!

Some of the frescoes at Sumela

Rather than a traditional picnic, we were split up into groups of about six Americans and then went off with different Turkish families to their houses. The family that I went to was just a mother and her college student son, but they were the best hosts ever! First there was melted cheese and bread, followed by salad, soup, delicious greens, and at least five plates of rice pudding which we were too full to finish! Afterwards, our family made us tea which they had harvested and our host mother insisted that the girls in our group try on some traditional Turkish headscarves. We also watched a documentary on Christina Aguilera on MTV Turkey.

After we left the families, our final stop for the day was an organic tea factory. The Black Sea region produces about 90% of the tea harvested in Turkey. The operator showed us around a little bit but nobody was really listening and then one of the Americans asked if anybody was from Boston because there was someone at the factory who was. Since I am (I know Massachusetts, but outsiders don’t know the difference), I got really excited and probably knocked a few people over who were in my path. The guy turned to be a Turk who was originally from the area but for the past six years had owned a Domino’s in Winchester (or maybe Winthrop, one of those towns).

On the final day of our trip, we went up to a mountain resort area for a barbecue and then we were all going to go into some “hot springs.” The hot springs turned out to be inside a building and actually looked more like a sauna with extremely hot water; the thermometer supposedly said it was 56 degrees Celsius, which translates into about 133 degrees Fahrenheit! Whether that was right or not, the water was definitely the hottest water I have ever been in, and we all spent no more than fifteen minutes actually in the water before we all felt too hot. After that, we all got dressed and then got on the bus for the two hour drive back to Trabzon Airport and then flew back to Istanbul.

I would highly recommend anyone travelling through Turkey to see the Black Sea region around Trabzon. The culture and environment is completely different from the rest of Turkey. Many of the people are ethnic Laz, and have their own language and famous dance. The area is mountainous but extremely lush. Highly recommended for anyone who loves nature and getting away from the city.

Just some of the food that our host family gave us!

Spring Break: Beirut

April 5-9

When most Americans hear the words “Beirut” or “Lebanon” their minds immediately flash to images of destruction, bombings, and Islamic radicals. During the 1980’s and early 90’s, Beirut, along with the rest of Lebanon as a whole was destroyed by a civil war involving Christians, Sunnis, Shiites, Syrians, and Israelis. The fighting was only ended by a peace treaty that basically just returned everything to the prewar status quo, meaning that there is still a lot of tension between all these groups. Hezbollah doesn't help of course. Because of all this, there is a travel warning for Americans about going to Lebanon. This made all us a little nervous going, especially when you see all the other things that are going on in the Arab world.

Fortunately for us, Lebanon did not explode (no pun intended) while we there, and it was the perfect way to end our trip. In the two decades since the end of the civil war, the Lebanese have rebuilt almost their entire country, especially Beirut. If you are looking for reminders of the war, you will be hard pressed to find them. In many ways, the Lebanese try to erase all memory of the war because when it ended most of the perpetrators simply became politicians and there is always a chance that fighting may start up again. That may explain why Beirut has so many bars and clubs, the people want to enjoy as much of life as possible because it could all lie in ruins the next day.

The hotel that we stayed in was called the Embassy Hotel. It was located in the middle of the very trendy and student-friendly area of Beirut called Hamra, which is full of cafes, restaurants, bars, and shops. Embassy is a legit hotel, we had trouble finding a cheap hostel in Beirut and after the lunacy that was our Jordan hostel, we had decided to splurge and treat ourselves to an actual hotel. It was about $700 for four nights for five people, not a bad price for being in such an amazing location and after Jordan, the comfy beds, spacious rooms and working hot showers made this place feel like heaven!

While Amman has a distinctly Arab feel, Beirut had a much more Mediterranean feel. In the nicer sections of Beirut, most of the signs are in English only and it’s common to hear Lebanese talking amongst themselves in English. It is very common to see unveiled Lebanese women. Almost everywhere you go, when you ask for the bill it will come in both Lebanese pounds and American dollars, which can be helpful since the Lebanese pound is very inflated and $1 equals about 1500 Lebanese pounds.

Lebanon in general does not have an abundance of tourist sites, unlike Jordan. In that way, we planned our trip perfectly, first Jordan with all the tourist sites, and then Beirut where we could sleep in everyday, then stroll over to a neighborhood coffee shop, walk around the city, and then go out to eat and then hit up a bar later. Beirut is a large city of about two million people, but the nice parts are easily walkable. One of the downsides is that there is almost no public transportation, so you will have to take a taxi if you want to go to place that are farther apart. The thing about Lebanese taxis is that they are ALL unmetered, so you have to negotiate a price, and they come in all different colors and car types, the only thing that marks it as a taxi is the red license plate. However, you will have no problem finding taxis because whenever you set foot on the streets every single one will honk at you to see if you want a ride. I’m pretty sure I spent half of our time in Beirut shaking my head and waving the taxis on!

Like I said, we didn’t see many tourist sites while we were in Beirut, but we did travel throughout the city. The American University in Beirut has what may well be the most beautiful campus in the world! The buildings are all Mediterranean neoclassical style and it is right on the ocean. We walked along the ocean for a long time, and saw Pigeon’s Rock, which is group of rock formations. We also went to the city center and saw Martyrs Square, where the main statue still has bullet holes in it from the war.



AUB campus



The Lebanese people themselves are very friendly and like meeting foreigners and showing them that their country is not a crazy, destroyed third-world nation. The one thing you have to remember is that this is a country with a siege mentality and they take their security very seriously. Even before you get on the airplane, someone will ask you if you have ever been to Israel and go through your passport to check if you have any Israeli stamps. Once you arrive in Lebanon, you have to fill out an arrival card stating why you are coming to Lebanon and then the people at passport control will process you and again check your passport before stamping it. Once you clear that checkpoint, there will be one more security checkpoint where you must present your passport. If they find any evidence of you having been in Israel, they won’t allow you into the country; they’re afraid you may be a spy. Another thing you MUST know is that it is illegal to take pictures of the military or police in Lebanon, and you shouldn’t take any pictures even of the general area if you see police or army. If they see you taking pictures of them or of installations that they are guarding, they may simply tell you to stop or they might make you delete the pictures. All of this is out of fear of foreign spies.



Jeita Grotto- I cannot claim to have taken the picture



On the last full day that we were in Beirut, we did our one really tourist thing outside of Beirut and went to the Jeita Grotto. The Grotto is a series of above ground and underground caves where the rock inside has naturally been shaped into thousands of often massive stalagmites and stalactites (thank you Earth Science). The grotto is about 45 minutes outside of Beirut and you’ll need to take a taxi to get there, don’t pay more than $50 for the full journey. Although it should only take you about two hours to see the grotto, it is a breathtaking site and well worth the trip.

It was with a heavy heart that we had to leave Beirut. Lebanon is truly a beautiful and widely misunderstood country. Its reputation is one of the main things holding it back. The time between when we decided to go to Lebanon and when we actually arrived we very stressful because people and the news made us feel like we were about to go to a dangerous country where we might get caught up in a civil war and get killed or kidnapped. Once we got there, we forgot all of our previous worries. I would highly recommend travelling to Lebanon, though there are of course areas you should avoid and you might want to use some sort of travel agency to arrange your trip if you want to see the country outside of Beirut.

Spring Break: Jordan Pt. 3

April 4

Before I go on, I want to do a little explaining about the last paragraph of the previous post. I do not want to feed into the stereotype that all Arab men are lechers who prey on women. Nor do I want to give the perception that Jordan is unsafe. In fact, of all the countries I’ve been to during this time, it may be one of the most orderly and law-abiding (minus driving) countries. However, even though Jordan has many tourists sites, many Jordanians are unused to seeing foreigners, especially young, unveiled women. The two girls in our group are both South Asians, they’re not blonde white girls, but because they were unveiled, they stood out and drew stares wherever we went. Frankly, unless you are an experienced traveler, preferably with a good knowledge of Arabic, I wouldn’t recommend going to Jordan as a single woman.

Anyway, now to our final full day in Jordan. We left this day to stick strictly to Amman, no long car rides to any new tourist places. We walked from our hostel to the Ancient Roman Amphitheater, which is right in the heart of downtown Amman. It is a very cool structure, if you walk all the way to the top you can get a good idea of just how many people it fit. Attached is a small museum of Jordanian and Bedouin culture and history which the 1-2 dinar ticket you pay to get into the amphitheater covers. When in the amphitheater, you may be approached by men offering to be your tour guide for a small fee. Trust me, it’s not worth paying for a tour of a single building for info that you can get on Wikipedia for free.

The Ampitheater

From the amphitheater you can see across the city to the ancient city citadel on top of a hill. We walked from the amphitheater, up the hill, through residential neighborhoods to get to the Citadel. If you decide to take a taxi to these sites, I’d recommend you take the taxi up to the Citadel before the seeing the Amphitheater, so that you can then walk downhill to the Amphitheater.

  The Citadel was first constructed by the Ancient Greeks and Romans and has been added on by the various civilizations that have come after them. Therefore, you will see a two thousand year old Roman temple next to an Arab mosque and palace. It is an interesting site and the panoramic view of Amman is truly special.

After the Citadel, we took a taxi to Rainbow Street to meet up with some CIEE students who were studying in Jordan. Our Istanbul CIEE director had given us the email of the CIEE Amman director and when I emailed her to ask her for tips, she had forwarded my email to CIEE Jordan students, several of whom wrote back to me to offer advice. One of them, a girl named Meghan, offered to meet up with us on Rainbow Street and take us to a bookstore/bar/café/restaurant that she and her friends really liked. Rainbow Street is known for being the area where all the expats and college students go and definitely has a very different feeling from all the rest of Amman, but we figured we had had enough of the authentic Jordanian experience and could treat ourselves to some Western cultural imperialism. The place Meghan took us to was called Books @Cafe and it had some of the most delicious frozen margaritas and pizzas that I have ever had. It was a welcome break and an excellent way to wrap up an amazing but also amazingly crazy trip!

Spring Break: Jordan Pt. 2

April 3

The day after going to the Dead Sea, we went to visit Petra. It is a five hour drive from Amman. We paid 35 dinar for our hostel to take us there. I have been told by other friends who have also been that this was an overcharge. The thing about Jordan is that everything is so cheap, it is really easy to get ripped off because even that price seems cheap compared to prices in Istanbul, Europe, or America. When we would take taxis around Amman, the meter would frequently come to the Jordanian equivalent of 60 cents and we weren't sure if the cab driver was ripping himself off.

For those who don’t know, Petra is an ancient city found in southern Jordan. It was founded by the Nabatean people around the 6^th Century BC and flourished as a trading center for them and later the Romans before being abandoned and completely lost to Western history until the 19^th Century. The buildings were most stone cut from the mountains which surround the city.

Getting into Petra costs 50 dinars per person which was definitely the most we had to pay for any one thing in Jordan. You can also pay another 50 dinars for a tour guide, but being college students we opted not to do that. As you walk into Petra there are also many men trying to get you to ride on their horse or horse-drawn carriage, but trust me, unless you about to drop dead from heat-stroke or are in a wheelchair, it is best to walk.

The first evidence of the ancient Nabatean civilization can be seen before you even squeeze into a path between two mountains that leads to the main part of the city. While we were walking down this path, we noticed the different tour groups with English guides, but we would never have fit in with most of them. One of the funny things about being in Petra was that we were surrounded by more seniors with Southern accents than I think I have ever been before in my life! I guess it makes sense considering how so much of Jordanian tourism is based on religious sites.

Fortunately for us, “Group 23” was made up of Americans our age who were nice enough not to ask why a bunch of people they had never seen before were suddenly part of the group tour. We stayed with Group 23 for at least 30 minutes, and for much of the time, the five of us were the only ones who were actually listening to the guide.

Me in front of the Treasury

After about 45-60 minutes of walking through the narrow gorge, the valley opens and you stumble upon probably the most famous site in Petra, the building known as the “Treasury.” It was actually probably a temple, but the Bedouin, who were the only people who knew about Petra for hundreds of years referred to it as the Treasury. It really is a breathtaking sight to see this beautiful building that was literally carved into the rock. “Our” tour guide told us that it is believed that the Nabateans carved it from top to bottom, which is even more impressive.

After the Treasury, we decided to ditch the group and do the rest of Petra on our own. Actually, we didn’t even cover all of Petra in the six or so hours that we were there, it really is something that you should devote two days to seeing, but we were on a budget and schedule. However we came away very satisfied with what we saw. We also got a hint of non-sketchy Jordanian hospitality from a Bedouin woman selling souvenirs who invited us to drink homemade mint tea with her as she tried to souvenirs to other tourists. We were so grateful we all bought one dinar souvenirs from her; I’m sure if you combine the value of the tea plus the souvenirs the price would equal around one dinar.

The night that we got back to Amman was, as of May 23, 2011, the sketchiest moment of my entire time abroad. The five of us went to a restaurant called Hashems which is right in the middle of the old downtown and is a great place to go if you want cheap (about 6 dinar total for 5 people) and authentic Arab food like falafel and hummus. While we were eating, a Jordanian man at the table next to us started passing his food over to us. Naturally, we weren’t going to turn down perfectly good food so we accepted it and thanked him. The guy could speak almost no English but at first all he seemed to be saying was, “Barcelona good, Real Madrid bad.” After a while, we started to notice that he reeked of alcohol and he started making comments about the two girls in our group. We did our best to ignore him and eventually he stood up and seemed to leave. Our waiter came over to us and asked us if he was bothering us and assured us that if he was that they wouldn’t mind kicking him out because he was the crazy neighborhood drunk. While our waiter was saying this, our dirty drunk friend was outside smoking a cigarette and blowing the girls kisses. Then he came back and for what seemed like an eternity stood directly over us muttering “very pretty” while the entire restaurant seemed to freeze and watch us. Finally, one of the other boys in our group got up and got the manager, who gently but firmly led the guy out. We very quickly finished our meal, paid, and then left through a back exit and made our way back to the hostel as quickly as possible.