Turkish Delights

Welcome to Turkey
Its the second week in september, for the last twenty years it has meant the start of a new school year. But here were are the deck of a boat in the Med. enjoying the sunshine. You can't help feeling guilty being on a holiday so soon after school starts but to be honest that guilt lasted about .653 seconds and then it dissolved in the surrounding beauty of the turkish coast line.
The Turkish experience is fabulous, the people are great, the country is stunning and its clean!

Our first night we stayed in treehouses, which I thought would be open A-frames, they turned out to be shacks with very little ventilation, but for one night, it was fine and the surrounding grounds were beautiful.

no frills.

The trees in the surrounding grounds were orange and lemon trees... beautiful.

They look like "greens" but they really are "oranges".

Dinner was a yummy buffet as was breakfast and the beer was cheap!

Karen and Jeff Genest

Lounging Turkish Style! Drinking Efes beer ... Its a pretty fine brew!
buds
After some R and R Conor and I went to check out the beach.
But on the way to the beach, much our surprise we ended up walking through 3rd and 4th century ruins.

An ancient tomb and sarcophogus. An ancient aquaduct.

Most of the ruins were hidden in the the trees and with out the signage you would have walked right past it, completely unawares.

Mosaic tilings on the floors.
A roman arch that marked the entrance to a temple which has unfortunately eroded away.
We eventually made it to the beach... Very rocky, but the was water clear and warm.
A natural arch.

The next day we drove to Demre (Myra) where we were to hop on our boat for our cruise.

Stepping into Demre was like arriving at the North Pole. Santa Claus knick knacks are everywhere.

Saint Nicholaus was born in this area and was the Bishop of the area between the 3rd and 4th centuries AD.
Lenore gets a head start on the Christmas Rush... Wouldn't these look nice hanging from our Christmas tree in Doha.

We finally made it onto the boat ... There were 19 of us plus the crew ... And did we ever luck out!! Just a very nice group of people, easy going bunch, lots of fun!

We left the Demre hatbor and our first stop was Simena (Kalekoy) also the home village of the captain of the ship.

The village has a beautiful castle (4th century)... Much of the ancient harbor is underwater has the Mediterranean has risen.

The area is sometimes called the sunken city. But unless you scuba its hard to really appreciate.
The vista though was stunning ...
the climb was a work out but after sitting for a few days it felt good to stretch your legs.
I wonder if that villa's for sale hmmmm .... Location, location, location .....
Don't jump !!! All right, all right, you can shop!
Lenore in her element! The blue pendant in the background is everywhere in Turkey and is called a "Nazar" its purpose is to ward off the evil eye.
A couple of bracelets hucksters, with attitude..
Bar - b on the rocks, captn' and the first mate.

The meals were excellent, mainly vegetarian, but the cook was excellent and very creative, presentation was always very nice. Breakfast got to be a bit of a drag. Turkish breakfast is always the same, no variety .... airport, hotel, boat break fast was tomatoes, cucumbers, bread, feta cheese, nescafe or tea.Apres dinner wit da boyz.. Bar, Dave n' Jeff
Every night we slept on the deck, the skies were clear but the air was warm! The Milky Way was visible in all its splender.
Sunrise on the Med.
We were moored every night in beautiful little coves.

Our ship mates were a lively bunch !
But Jay was dreadful
Day time was a mixture of motoring( not sailing),

swimming ... peer pressure
floating
floatilla
games
reading
taking pictures,
or jus' chillin'
enjoying the scenery, especially the water color which was always beautiful but never quite the same in different places, a light green-blue here
blue-blue ( I don't know...)
kind of a pretty pale green here, this fellow was the ice cream guy, no hokey music playing but the ice cream was definitely deluxe!
Aquamarine
Cobalt
... but always very relaxing!
Not only did we have ice cream vendors, but this husband and wife made crepes
... with nutella and banana.... they were "very" tasty

This is St. Nicholas Island, yes this is where he hangs in the off season..

The ruins are in very good condition and their character

A stone arch and our ship beyond in the bay
Very nice lighting that evening, there wasn't a bad photograph to be had
light through the arches is cool
I like the cross above the arches and how the negative space is used to illuminate
A cell or residence?
the corridor outside and inside

Summit ... Heidi, Kris, Karen and Damien... what a good lookin' bunch!
nice view from the top!
The ship was about 30 meters long (100ft)
This is our cook and the galley
The forward berths, there are six but we only used them for washing up in the morning, storing clothes
Capn'... and his crew
a friendly bunch
Fethiye and the end of our 4 day adventure


Fethiye had lots of carpet shops, which is typical in turkey
You can buy watches too and fortunately the store keepers are pretty upfront.
The turkish delight is laced with ... je ne sais quoi ???
But the end result fairly ... uplifting?
Fethiye has beautiful open mall the roof of which are bouganvalea plants
Great seafood - conor and I had octopus...mmmm

On to Istanbul

We had a great hotel in Istanbul, you could see the blue mosque and
Hagia Sophia and the Sea of Marmara all from our hotel roof restaurant, pretty cool.
We had 2 day in Istanbul which is definitely not enough. We saw the Palace the first day and took a boat ride up the Bosphorus to the Black Sea.
The Palace is impressive
The tiles and the trim is very ornate, very eastern.

Make sure to wash feet and hands
The picture behind Lenore are black and grey sone which have been glued in place... beautiful

Istanbul is a real mix of the very old and the very new
some things get lost in translation... but make you smile!
Our boat ride up the Bosphorus was a couple hours. The bridge above unites Europe on the right and Asia on the left.
We took the municipal ferry very which very comfortable and extremely reasonable.
There are palacial residences along the Bosphorus.
Sometimes good and bad,side by side.
You wouldn't want to swim in the bosphorus, these guys seemed to be everywhere.
We disembarked to climb to the castle on the hill
and grabbed fish sandwiches for the hike!!

Sounds worse than it was, they were pretty good, a little heavy on the onions

the climb was worth it, the view was great, unfortunately the castle was closed
I got to see the black sea, would have liked to get closer, the fort on the point marks the end of the sea and the start of the river. Lo and belhold... its blue, not black!


The castle from the outside was cool it was built in repeating layers.
The ramparts sit where the river is narrowist to protect from the invading hoards...

Holidays can be exhausting, right Andrew!
We went for a stroll of Istanbul that night, highlights included ...
Hagia Sophia
Ice cream vendors who have this great routine they put on. Turkish ice cream has a consistency approaching marshmellow, its very sticky. The vendors can pull a yard of this stuff out and wave it over their heads. The routine is hilarious, they all do the same shtick.
Our last day we visited the
Hagia Sophia was a christian cathedral from 530 to 1450 when the Ottoman turks converted into a mosque in 1935 it was turned into a museum. Much of the Christian motifs were plastered over
but are now being restored, many are beautiful mosaics..

it's very odd to see these images in a mosque.
the columns were magnificent, green.Lovely ornate chadeliers
On to the blue Mosque and their stained glass windows...
The entrance
beautiful stained glass

the colors are amazing
ah lunch and Kofte or turkisn meatballs ...
delicious!
The grand baazar was grand but after a while, bland, as all the shops were

same same and not very different
this kid, however, was very cool he was selling tops/ yoyo toys and he was a little magician with them.
more rugs to buy

Working!
Cisterns supporting the streets of Istanbul above
Two columns bear the head of the medusa!

We had a great time but all good things come to an end
Turkey was a delight.

Ramadan Kareem

Ramadan is coming to a close as the moon prepares to reappear as a sliver in the sky. Everywhere the signs read "Ramadan Kareem", which encourages generosity and recognition of the bountiful life we all enjoy.
When we arrived here last year, it was difficult to appreciate how much different Doha is during Ramadan compared to the rest of the year. There are far less people out during the day, as everyone is fasting, no food or water. The roads are quiet, until sunset, when you want to make sure you are off the road, as everyone races home for iftar. Iftar is the evening meal during Ramadan, where muslims break their fast.

We had a wonderful experience a week ago. We arrived at our favorite arabic restaurant, Al-Ennabi, just as the sun was setting. The owner of the restaurant was getting ready for Iftar, as we entered. We ordered 3 large chicken shwarmas, also know as "The Turkish ", (shaved chicken in a freshly cooked pita with yummy white sauce, pardon my drool) and waited for them in the heat of the restaurant (40C). The owner offered us orange juice as we waited as it was quite hot, the ovens are close to the fromt door and the small AC unit just can't keep up.

Once we finished our juice the owner insisted that we sit down at a table with him. He offered us a bowl of soup / broth. He asked us where we are from and how are summer had gone. It was odd receiving free food in a restaurant and that's when we came to the realization that he was serving us "Iftar". The juice, the soup, followed by a plate of spaghetti was his generous gift to us, perhaps a thank you for all the meals we had purchased in his restaurant the previous year.

The experience was truly wonderful, but I got a little worried when the spaghetti showed up. The plate was huge and spaghetti though simply prepared, nicely seasoned and very tasty. I was worried because we had ordered these jumbo shwarmas and they are absolutely delicious. My appetite was slowly waning and unlilke pizzas, shwarmas don't taste nearly as good the next day. To boot our son, Conor, was at home waiting expectantly for his meal.

As we finished our spaghetti, our worries were replaced by a sense of gratitude, not for the food as much as for being invited to share in this very muslim experience which highlighted what "Ramadan Kareem" truly means... genorously sharing what you have with others. We had a very nice chat with a man with whom we had shared a few hellos and thank you's. He was quite excited to learn that we would be heading to Turkey, his native country, for Eid, the celebration that marks the end of Ramadan. The greeting during Eid is "Eid Mubarak" which means ... "may you enjoy a blessed festival."
So, even though Eid is the party, I have found this year's Ramadan to be peaceful time. I look forward to it next year.

Rather than adding a new post
Here are a few shots of our beautiful Kalamlka lake in Vernon and our return trip to Doha ...

The mountain in the background is an extinct volcano called Camel's Hump. It was blowing its top about 60 million years ago. Notice the haze from the forest fires, a yearly summer occurance in BC.Middleton Mountain and Kal lake from our temporary hangout at the Maguire's.
Sovereign Beach a little jewel that not too many people know about. Got lots of reading done on that beach this summer :)
On our trip back to Doha we had an overnighter in London, so we made the most of it! Last time we were here was early June, in coats. Much more pleasant this time around.
We found another one of our pubs on the list, unfortunately it was closed, on a Saturday night at 7 pm.... Its in the business district.
This is a great idea, Its bar on a bike. You pedal while sip your favorite pint. The chap at the front is steering and as far as I could tell, drinking water. Every one who is seated has a set of pedals.Picadilly at night before we headed to the airport... it was 5 pm in the afternoon for us, but we had been up most of the night on the plane... Our flight left 4 hours late, hydrolic fluid leak in the landing gear... Ayuh, we want to make sure that's working ok !.... Trouble is you don't find out for sure until the wheels hit the tarmak 8 hours later.

End Year 1... Reflections

We have come full circle. It was exactly a year ago that we left so what have I learned???

1. Green spaces and fresh water lakes are a gift. Next to friends and family, I miss them the most. We are incredibly fortunate in North America.
   
2. Qataris own the road in Doha and the sooner you accept that the more serene life becomes
3. Shipping stuff halfway around the world is bloody expensive no matter which direction its going.
4. 45 degrees celcius is unpleasant no matter what kind of breeze is blowing and summer in Doha is just like winter in Saskatoon. You run from the car to work to the car to the house.
5. You don't need to ship Christmas trees to the middle east cause they've heard of Santa Claus too, you can buy one.
6. The Middle East, in fact, has all the modern conveniences. I just shake my head when I think back to what I predicted life in Doha would be like... Surprise, they do have bottled milk over here and no we don't milk the camel every morning.
   
7. Kids are the same everywhere and teaching is teaching. Its like Canadian vs American football, the game's basically the same, only a few of the rules are different.
8. Being abroad brings your family closer together. My wife, Lenore, is my best friend I have never felt closer to her. My son and I spend more time together than ever before
   
9. Teaching colleagues become surrogate families and the friendships that you develop with those collegues are very tight as everyone is is the same dhow .
   
10. For all its short comings, thank God for the internet. I can't imagine what it must have been like to be overseas without it ... No skype, no expedia, no email, local TV ... Geez people must have read a lot of books in the olden days.
    
11. International schools have a vitality that seems to be missing where I come from. The school is staffed by risk takers. People who are willing to give up the comforts of home, to travel huge distances away from family, to teach a new curriculum in a foreign culture.
12. You can play ice hockey in the middle east! ... If you don't mind playing in the food court of the local mall, or getting a skate stuck in between the ice and the boards and no, we use actual rubber pucks, not camel turds.
    
13. Camping in the desert in the winter is magical...
14. As we are now down to three, Breana is in Canada at university, we miss her daily ... We do look forward to new experiences and adventures
    

Breana's ASD Graduation

Breana's Graduation went off without a hitch. Breana was melancholy about not being with her pals in Vernon, but as the night wear on you could see her level of excitement rise. Breana graduate with honors and therefore she got to wear the red braided honor cord ... proud papa and mama. The venue for the graduation ceremony was the gym and not the auditorium, regardless the layout was beautiful, and it was quite comfortable.
The American Ambassador to Qatar was on hand to present the "ambassador's award", my camera was not handling the low light / distance combo...



Chamber Singers sing the Qatari and American National Anthems ... and then they sang a lovely melody entited, "For Good". (Click on the above words to see the video)

Got It!!

Michelle and David Carlson teach with us at ASD. They have become our second family over here. They are from California, that's Michelle with Breana during the post grad festivities.

Breana and her buds, Matt, Jeff and Sean . Can you guess which of them is responsible for Breana's hair?

Conor, Tori and Dominic were also there to celebrate with Breana.Breana, Torey and Zoe ... Grads of 2010.

Doha Musings 4 - Sailing

The heat right now is really starting to crank up. It's 9 am and outside its already 34 C and 61% humidity. It's suppose to get up to 40C today... With that in mind it kinda limits your options when you look for activities for the family. So when you look around what definitely becomes appealing is anything near the water.
The sailing in Doha is wonderful. There is small yacht club that is on the grounds of the Intercontinental hotel.
They have laser and catamarans, quite a wide variety of boats to learn on. Our school also has a short day on Tuesdays.
The kids catch a cab to the beach and they get to sail of an hour an a half. If you're a sailor you know that there always bunps and bruises when you start. Both kids, this week, moved up to lasers from the boats they started on, pekos. The lasers are much quicker and more responsive. When I picked them up after their lesson this week both of them had rather large bumps on their heads. The booms swing around fast and if your not alert ... pow!

Conor was knocked clear out of the boat with his skiff capsizing shortly thereafter.
They were unsure about liking the sailing initially but, they both seemed to really enjoy it now.
The temperatures are at least 2-3 degrees cooler on the water plus the breeze. It makes for a pleasant afternoon and it gets the kids off the computer and outside
The next step I think in the fall will be learning how to scuba dive, which is also run through the hotel. I think that might be one for the whole family.