Technology

Clad with all the amenities to cure boredom I’ve added my computer/internet to the list of ipod, books on tape and a paper back copy of The Great Gatsby in my tractor. Now thanks to G.P.S and wireless internet I can fully pursue a sedentary lifestyle while working. There is also the possibility of putting a toaster in here and thus I’ll never have to leave the cab, with the exception of bathroom breaks.

School is finally out, concluding a very busy junior year. I finished out the year well but not as well as I would have hoped.

I moved in with Jeff at the lake house. It’s been great thus far and am enjoy the bachelor life. Although he’s cat (Tiger Cat) is scheming to get me moved out as he terrorizes me constantly!

Work has been busy as the rain has delayed planting spuds. I am putting in a lot of hours but am finding more and more things to keep me from boredom.

It’s been great spending time with Katie. Currently she’s been dabbling in carpentry, constructing the game Corn Hole. The whole process has been quite comical as her and Anna cruise the farm in, painting, hammering and sewing all the while in disguise as one of the Brothers dressed in Cliff’s outdated cloths.

Last Days

I've been back in the states for about two days now but my final hours in Nicaragua where quite special. Katie and I boarded a bus so crammed with people that upon exiting I found my self literally stuck between bodies. Having to use the railings to pull my torso from its vice of hips and butts. And the most ridiculous part of it was that as only 3 people left the bus five more where waiting to board! In an attempt by Katie to further my taste for Chinese food she took me to a little restaurant serving huge piles of rice, noodles and other assortments of meats and such.

Since being home I've done little with the exception of homework and slaving away at the farm! The other day I spray painted to the point of exhaustion. My fingers and forearms where shot and today my shoulder is sore from holding the can!

The posted pictures (first one) is some graffiti I saw in Masaya. The second is of Katie (obviously) finally realizing the potential of her opposable thumb (at least she looks good in her self discovery). The final bottom one was taken in Granada, a very colorful colonial city.

Name Change

I am changing the name of my blog as I no longer am living in Turkey. For lack of creativity and wit I might just stick w/ tony hart's blog........Unless anyone has a better suggestion.



Currently I am in beautiful Nicaragua. It not as I imagined but is still a third world country and I love being here. There is something about poor countries that really blesses my opportunity to visit.



The weather has been extremely hot, as it is summer here. Although, I love taking cold showers--the only water temp available here--to cool off, then stepping out of the shower and warming up again; my skin has protested my shirtless adventures. It hates the sun and thus fries like ants under a magnifying glass.



Yesterday, we took the afternoon to play a fierce game of Ultimate Frisbee in which I walked away with three blisters and a wifebeater sunburn......real white-trash like. Katie has turned the most beautiful brown color and looks amazing. I laugh sometimes when we hold hands as it looks like a vanilla and chocolate swirl ice cream cone.



Katie has been thoroughly impressing me with her knowledge of Managua and ability to barter w/ cabbies and locals. We are having a wonderful time here in paradise, reading down by the pool, visiting old cities and markets, etc. What an amazing woman!



--I apologise fore the the long absence, i really want this blog to be more then just a travel journal, but have not been keeping it as such.
--I've only take a few shot's but will definitely be posting some later on.

Egypt and Beyond

"We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open."

Jawaharal Nehru

This past week I’ve spent traveling Egypt. Spending 3 days in Cairo and 4 on the beaches of Dahab culminated in sunburn, a PADI open water diving certification, and the privilege of seeing the last standing wonder of the ancient world. As most travelers often discover there is much more to a country than usually what is expected.

Seeing the Pyramids of Giza was truly awe inspiring. As we rode across a small valley of sand (just as one would imagione in a desert being) it was difficult to keep your jaw from hanging in wonder. Dan, Carla, Steve and I rode camels to and around the pyramids stopping only to get hustled by some locals and take a few pictures. Additionally, we bore witness to an Egyptian force feeding his donkey Pepsi!

*one of the hustlers around the Pyramids. He rides up on his donkey grabs some soft drinks, pops the tops and hands them to you. You are left wondering and then forced to pay...

*Our Crew

The following day after recovering from a rugged camel ride w/ sore backs, hair missing from our legs due to the rubbing and jostling of our saddles and Dan bum crack being rubbed raw to the extent of bleeding we hobbled over to the Egyptian Museum. Marveling at King Tut’s golden caskets (3 in total) and head piece, along with some other mummies, ruins, and artifacts.

The following morning we decided to bag our plans to travel to Luxor and opted to spend some time one the beaches of the Red Sea. We traveled over with some Ausies (Steve and Carla) from “Brisie.” Dahab, our destination, is a very small resort town with its beach front board walk, hippie feel, and eager restaurant works shouting, stopping, and trying to course you into their restaurant.

*This pictures a bit blow out but on the horizon is Saudi Arabia

*The view from the other side, it was seriously what I inagine Mars like.

Dan, Carla, and I took an open water diving course while Steve, the expert of our crew, did some more advanced dives. Scuba diving is a dream come true for anyone who loves the water. The world that it opens up is full of the most magnificent colors and creatures. Although I had a little trouble equalizing my ears at our dive depth (19 meters/62 feet) once I got comfortable I was in an underwater paradise. It’s what I imagine zero gravity feels like. Simply floating…….. it was so disorienting on my first I actually didn’t really like it, but by the end found my self wishing I could stay all day. Now that I am certified, I can do open water dives at my hearts desire, and I plan to. Just another expensive hobby I’ve picked up!

In response to my first idea about there being more to a country than expected I’d never dreamed of the people, places and opportunities I would have offered to me while in my 8 days of travel. On our final day Dan and I (leaving Steve and Carla in Dahab), back in Cairo, went to Coptic Cairo and around. Here we found an open air market in session. We had such a great time taking pictures of the kids there and experiencing the culture. The poverty there was so real, the people genuine, and experience priceless. We’re so blessed in the U.S. but I think it’s important to put yourself in those circumstances and places where you can have this epiphany.

Preparation

I've spent almost the entire day studying psychology for my finals this upcoming week! I've got a ridiculous amount of material to cover as I have learned very little in my psych classes. I attribute this to the teaching style adopted by my prof. Each student does a power point on each chapter of the book. That is our lecture. In a heavy Turkish accent, peer guided, word for word from the book. I haven't learned anything!

Luckily, my studies were quite interesting. I covered the humanistic approach to psychology and it's forefathers Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow. I was pretty engaged in the information otherwise I would have gone nuts spending another day catching up.

Chris and I also planed a Christmas dinner. As I mentioned earlier the Christmas spirit doesn't frequent Turkey and we've all been missing its presence.

Then till Now

Tonight, I will finally be attending a football match. Fenerbahçe will be playing Trabzon a team from the black sea region of Turkey. Football here in Istanbul really is a part of life. I'm told that going to a match in Istanbul is a must and I have managed to purchase tickets to the final one. -- The conclusion of the game was Fener 3, Trabzon 2. Fanatics yelling and screaming. Chanting and calling from one end of the stadium to the other made for an electric atmosphere.


Since my last post in November I've done little traveling. School has surprisingly been taking up quite a bit of time. However, I've enjoyed further exploring the city: visiting Rumeli Castle and the Ortaköy Mosque, while dabbling in the club/pub scene.



Life here in Istanbul has been quite different. We've been on a holiday vacation (Kurban Bayrami) for the past week. Kurban Bayrami is a time to visit family and give to the poor buy purchasing a sheep or cow to have slaughtered and give 1/3 of it those in need. There have been make shift slaughter houses set up all over the city and it's been quite humorous to see all the cows and sheep walked down the street. Apparently they've had some trouble with cows escaping and running loose in the city! Visiting one of these slaughter houses next to the mall I was reminded of home with the pungent scent of cow shit! As for Christmas, it will be spent in a class room! I am possibly attending a midnight mass at an historic church here and will likely go out to dinner with a group. That's about the extent of the Christmas spirit. We've all been reminiscing about Christmas days spent eating, visiting family, and the general atmosphere.

I've begun the painstaking task of pick put gifts and souvenirs. With limitless possibilities, a tight budget and indecision, I've almost completed my shopping list. My fist intentions where to visit the Grand Bazaar for all my shopping quarries, however, I was let down with it's modern feel and aggressive selling. I found solace in visiting local markets which are quit amazing. They where more of the bazaar experience I was looking for, full of cheap knock offs, spices, veggies, fish, and fruit. It's the locals market and you get definitely don't get that feel in the Grand Bazaar.

I've been there...

Midterms are almost finished and in a sense school will be winding down for a while. I’ve continued my integration into the many facets of Istanbul and Turkey as they are seemingly very different.

I’ve posted a link to Wikipedia on Goreme, Turkey. We visited this region in Cappadocia which is in central Turkey a couple of weeks ago. I shot all my photos in RAW format under the assumption that they would be of better quality and of course easier to manipulate in Photoshop. This advice comes from my friend Dan who unknowing assumed I had a program to open these files on my computer, which I don’t. Needless to say I’ve got 80 pictures on my camera that I can not store on my computer, and until I find a solution you’ll just have to google the location.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Churches_of_G%C3%B6reme%2C_Turkey

Babylon is apparently a famous night club in Istanbul; a hot spot for locals and celebrities alike, or so I am told by a fellow student. It was always his dream to go to this club, thus I invited him to accompany our group to the Balkan Beat Box concert playing that night. Quoting Dan's response to the live show, “Damn those beats were fresh…”. And truly fresh they were, I’ve never heard anything quit like it before. They didn’t actually beat box but hand two saxophonist, a percussionist, and a singer/keyboard/laptop….man. Although the concert didn’t start till midnight I danced wildly until they left the stage.
Not only were these guys talented, playing through a power outage in the middle of a song with just the saxes and the drum set. Which eventually crescendoed as the power came on flawlessly resuming their song. They were super chill as a few of the ladies we were with were so inclined to hop up on stage and dance with and around the musicians with they encouraged the act and asked security to let them be.

Efes Pilsin is really the sole beer distributor in Turkey. It has quite a monopoly on the market however because of the Muslim tradition liquor licenses and alcohol in general is extremely expensive and not so readily available. Although you can find Efes for relatively cheep, hard alcohol such as Jack Daniels sells for 58 YTL approximately 48 dollars.

I watched the film Zeitgeist the other night on a recommendation from Jeff Schutter, thinking that it would be obscure and a philosophical quagmire. However I was very please or should I say unsettled by its contents. It’s not a horror, but a conspiracy type film which analyzes Religion, the 9/11 attacks, and the Federal Reserve. The take home message here is to get involved and educate ones self. I though it was very well done…

http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com/

**really it’s worth watching