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.

Spring Break: Jordan Pt. 1

Over Spring Break, I travelled with four other friends to Jordan and Lebanon. It was a wonderful time, but both countries and experiences were very different so I am going to talk about each of them in separate posts. Going chronologically, I’ll start with Jordan, but since so much happened to us there; I’m also going to break up our stay in Jordan.

Arriving: March 31-2

When we bought our plane tickets for Spring Break, we bought different round trip tickets for Istanbul and Beirut and Beirut to Jordan. We flew Pegasus Airlines (great bargains if you’re flying around the Middle East or Europe) to Beirut and then Royal Jordanian to Amman, Jordan. The problem was, the cheapest flights to Beirut were Thursday night, while the cheapest flights to Amman were Friday morning. We ended up staying the night in the Beirut airport. We definitely got stared from other people as we tried to fall asleep on metal benches. I’m pretty sure some thought we were homeless. Nobody got much sleep.

We were very relieved when our flight finally took off and then landed after only fifty minutes in the air. When we stepped onto the tarmac, it was a wonderful feeling getting hit by the 85 degree dry heat that is Jordanian weather in April! Our hostel sent a van to pick us up and we took the 30-40 minute drive to Amman.

Amman is the capital of Jordan and its largest city. It is a fascinating place. You know you’re in an Arab, Middle Eastern country when you’re in Amman. The eastern part of the city, where the old downtown is and where we stayed, is largely residential, with sand colored houses and the largest buildings are mostly minarets. West Amman is the much more modern, Western part of the city, where the government, expats, and most of the finer hotels and restaurants can be found.



Amman


We stayed at the Bdeiwi Hostel. It is hard to describe this place. In many ways, it was what we expected for a hostel that charged $7 a night for a 4 bed dorm. But it was the people that worked at this place that gave it its character. This place had too much character. The owner was a tricky guy, who, as soon as we arrived, greeted us and gave us Jordanian tea, calling it “his present” to us. We later found out he added it to our final bill. There was also a white, blonde woman from Alabama, who had married a Muslim, converted, started an Islamic school in Alabama, and then moved to Jordan a few years ago. Supposedly she was an Arabic to English teacher, the problem being, she couldn’t speak that much Arabic, which is probably why she was working at this hostel. One night, we overheard her begging the owner for some food because she “hadn’t eaten all day.” His response, “No food for you!” Eventually he caved in and gave her some money to go buy food.

On our first full day our hostel took us (at an inflated price) to Mount Nebo and the Dead Sea. Mount Nebo is the site where Moses is said to have died and where Pope John Paul II came in the year 2000. Most of the tourist sites in Jordan have some sort of religious significance so if you’re not at all interested in that kind of stuff then you might not want to go to Jordan. Most of the area that we drove through was barren desert and savannah. It was striking and beautiful in its own way.

The Jordanian Countryside

After about a two hour total drive, we arrived at the Dead Sea. There is a section of it where it is free to enter, but our drivers refused to take us there, saying that it “wasn’t safe.” Instead they took us to a beach resort where we had to pay 15 dinar to get in and then 2 dinar to rent a locker. It was annoying, however our displeasure soon floated away, literally. When you first walk in, you see other people floating, but you’re nervous because your not sure if there's some sort of position or steps your supposed to take in order to float. But once you swallow that fear and let yourself lay back in the water you realize that all that stuff about floating really IS true. It is a feeling that’s hard to describe, it’s like being weightless and wet at the same time. We must have spent at least an hour, maybe two floating on the water and lying in the sun. Ironically, as soon as we got out of the water, this crazy wind storm came and created these huge waves that were knocking over all the people who were still in the water. We watched with a slightly sadistic amusement. On a side note, we earlier saw a man try to make a big scene and swim really far out. Problem was, he splashed a lot of water when he swam and got some of the water in his eyes and had to rush back to shore and wash it out. Please remember, the Dead Sea is for floating, not swimming, you don't wanna get this salt in your eyes because it WILL burn.

The Dead Sea

After getting out of the water, you NEED to shower, because your skin is literally coated with a layer of salt. Of course, the one time the resort lost all water pressure in their showers was when I got out of the Dead Sea. I had to put my clothes over my salt covered body, which wasn’t a pleasant experience, trust me.

When we left the Dead Sea, our drivers told us they were taking us to this spot higher up where we could see the sunset. Trouble was, it was around 4 p.m., so no sunset was happening any time soon. Instead we stopped at a tea vendor literally in the middle of nowhere besides the highway. There, one of our drivers, a guy named Yahya who was only happy when Arab music was playing, suddenly turned up the speakers in his car and started making us all, but especially the two girls in our group, dance to traditional Arab music with him. At first we thought it was really funny, but after a group of Jordanian truck drivers stopped by, joined in, and made the girls pose on their trucks, we all got a little creeped out.

Salt and sand at the Dead Sea

After the forced dancing, our drivers took us back to Amman, but before they would take us back to the hostel, they told us they needed to stop at the duty free shop in Amman. The duty free shop is in the middle of the city, but is only open to foreigners, which is why our drivers needed us to get in. I have to admit, I never thought that I would be asked to buy alcohol and cigarettes for two 45 years old men, but I guess there’s a first time for everything.

If you ever see the guy on the left, run!

It's the Last Week of School!

Hi everyone!

I know I promised blog updates about two weeks ago, but I've been so busy travelling around and now it is the last week of school, meaning that every single one of my classes has something due this week. In the next seven days, I have two final tests, two essays and two presentations to work on, so as much as I would love to procrastinate and update y'all about everything that has happened to me since April, I really just don't have the time.

However, after May 31, I will be completely done with school, and I will not be returning to America until June 13, meaning I will have plenty of time in between to fully write about all the travels and experiences that I have had in the four months that I have been away.

In the meantime, keep you fingers crossed for me to pass all of my classes andif anyone wants to start of collection for me for once I get back to Mass, I would be most grateful!

How I feel at the moment, and probably will for the next week

I Can See Light at the End of the Tunnel!

So if you have been following this blog at any point in the past month or so you'll know that I haven't posted much due to the fact that my computer charger broke, meaning my laptop and all the pictures I like to add to my blog have been off limits for awhile. I did search for a new charger here in Istanbul, but believe it or not, no place seems to have HP chargers!

Fortunately, both for myself and all my loyal reader(s), this hellish period of being laptopless is nearly over. On Thursday, I will fly out to Rome for a nice Italian vacation with my family and then on Sunday, take them back to Istanbul for 2 days to show them around. Among the other things that they are brining with them from America just happens to be a new charger! Hip hip hooray!!!!!!!!

Once I can use my laptop again, I'll have a ton of things to update to my blog! Here's a short list of a few of the things that I should post about in the next week:

-My incredible/crazy spring break in Jordan and Lebanon
-My trip to the Black Sea region of Turkey
-My trip to the Turkish capital city of Ankara
-My trip to Rome of course
-A few other observations about culture, food, etc.

So if you have grown bored of this blog because it never seems to change, have no fear, because it will be up and running again!