Arrival in Morocco

After 12 hours in London, and a quick flight down, I arrived in Morocco at Fez airport. I was met, along with some other students on the flight, by one of the student assistants from Al-Akhawayn University.

A drive took us out of Fez, and up into the middle Atlas mountains. It is very beautiful here, and campus is very nice. The picture is the window in my dorm room, which I will say is a bit more modern than my Turkish dorm last year.

More pictures to follow! It is warm, but nothing like the heat of Istanbul. The terrain looks a lot like southern Spain. On the route down this morning, we flew right over Sevilla, and there are elements here that are very Andalusian in style.

More to come....

Istanbul, Part II: Pamuk's Istanbul

The main purpose of my trip to Istanbul was to see the neighborhoods that Orhan Pamuk so often refers to in his book, Kara Kitap (The Black Book). Istanbul figures so prominently in this novel, it is hard to place much of the story without a good knowledge of where these neighborhoods are that are mentioned so often...Nisantasi, Cihangir, Beyoglu, Harbiye, Karakoy, Tunel. So, here are a few places....

the Pamuk family's apartment building in Nisantasi

a side street in Beyoglu heading towards Cihangir


a view of Galata Tower from Cihangir

stairs leading to up to Taksim from Cihangir

spilling off the hill and into Karakoy; turning right at the bottom will take you towards the Galata Bridge

the street in Nisantasi where the Pamuk Apartments are located

Alaaddin's shop in Nisantasi, which is much like it is described in the novel

Istanbul, Part I

As rewarding as my trip to Ankara was, it is nice to be back on familiar ground in Istanbul. I arrived late, and the next day began my search for Orhan Pamuk's literary landmarks. I'll save those pictures for another day, but thought I would give you some nice shots from one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

From the Kariye Muzesi (Museum)....

beautiful mosaics from a Byzantine church dating to the 5th century C.E.

From the Blue Mosque in Sultanahmet....

notice the Egyptian (Pharonic) obelisk in the foreground of the Hippodrome, part of the Roman bounty looted from Heliopolis, outside of Cairo

And from the Ottoman Topkapi Palace....

and the amazing Iznik tiles that cover so many of the walls in Topkapi Palace...

Success in Ankara

So, these elusive civil servant houses that I was trying to find have all but been wiped off the map in Ankara. A surging population needed more density and thus the ubiquitous Turkish apartment block took over. However, while walking back from the Samanpazari and Celebi areas into Yenisehir, I saw a leafy green block, walled off and gated. After finding the guard station, we discovered that it was indeed a set of these old houses used for the administration of the Ankara Football (soccer) Association. After explaining that I had flown thousands of miles and then made the long trip to Ankara, the guard let me in to take pictures. I know these are not all that exciting, but they are perfect example of the structures I was looking for. (and much nicer houses than most Turkish government employees get today)

Special thanks to my friend Chase who came down from Istanbul to Ankara. Chase's Turkish is much better than mine, and that is always helpful in a new city.


Now, back to Istanbul to see how much of Orhan Pamuk's city I can relate in pictures.....

Buradayim! Turkiye'deyim

Hi to everyone! I am off on my Summer 2007 adventure. Many of you are probably still wondering, "what is it exactly that you are doing this summer, Matt?". Well, I was very fortunate to receive a cultural immersion travel fellowship to go to urban settings that have been prominent literary depictions in the works of authors I have been working on. For example, the first location I will be working on is Ankara, Turkey. I have brought myself here to follow up on a rather interesting passage I translated from Yakup Kadri Karaosmanoglu's novel, "Ankara", in which he talks about the rapid growth and development in Ankara after the formation of the Turkish republic in the early 1920's. The next question (should be), "did you find anything in Ankara that was relevant to this novel?"....the answer will be posted soon.

Anitkebir (Ataturk's Mausoleum, Ankara)

Meanwhile, know that I am well and in good spirits, enjoying being back in Turkey and walking around a lot in very hot weather.