Back to school

I've had four days off in a row, and now it's time to get back into the swing of things. I had my normal two days off on Tuesday and Wednesday, then Thursday was closed because it was a national holiday, then I learned on Tuesday all schools in Istanbul were going to be closed in order to sterilize them for the swine flu! It's a little rough thinking I have to go back - I've enjoyed these days off shopping, cooking, going to the Spice Bazaar, reading and so forth, but it's good to get back into a routine. Let me show you some things I've cooked and seen:



Chicken with onions, tomatoes, and chickpeas. A little boring but it ended up feeding 5 hungry guys and me.



I thought this was a good although the guys weren't as excited about it - there certainly wasn't much flavor. I made bulgur kofte, pretty much just some fine bulgur with tomato and red pepper paste and an egg. You make the shape by squeezing some of the "dough" into your hand and then you boil them. The best part is putting garlicy, salty yogurt and then butter with paprika on it. Next time I'll make them smaller and use more salt.



The weather has been soup weather so I tried to make some. This is red lentil and bulgur soup. I don't think I'll ever crave it but it was okay, not bad for a first time.



I've hardly done anything cultural the last couple months which is quite a shame - I live in Istanbul! So although the weather was windy, rainy, and cold I decided to go out to the Spice/Egyptian Bazaar to pick up some things to bring home when I go home in a couple of weeks. I like it there more than the Grand Bazaar because it is easier to navigate and the sellers don't harass you as much. The selection isn't as good and I think another day I'll go get lost around the Grand Bazaar. Anyway, just near the bazaar is the Yeni (New) Mosque, a pretty impressive mosque. I popped in for a few seconds to snap a few pictures.



A man performing his ablutions (I don't know how to use that word) in front of the mosque. I don't know why people go there to pray, it's so touristy. It is quite magnificent though, I suppose I might go there if I was religious!









There are some great colors in the Spice Bazaar. It's hard to capture it but you might get the idea.

Turkish food part 2

Dinner on the balcony



Stuffed eggplant - the guys were really excited about it but unfortunately they couldn't eat it because I didn't cook it long enough! Umut was like wow were did you learn this, you should write a book blah blah then they only ate the meat part. I don't know if you have made stuffed eggplant but it's hard to scrape out the inside, especially at the ends. I'll have to work on it.



I wasn't sure what to do with the eggplant that I scraped out, so Sinan suggested I cook it with some oil, onions and garlic. Then we added some tomato sauce I made using tomatoes, olive oil, and garlic. Yum! Good with bread.



I had leftover meat from stuffing the eggplants so I fried some potatoes then put it on those. Awesome.



Breakfast on the balcony



I wandered around Kadikoy, a part of Istanbul on the Asian side, with a former student/friend and we got waffles. It's kind of a "thing" in Istanbul - they cook the waffles right when you order them, then you have a choice from a lot of different toppings. I'm so boring and I always just get milk chocolate with sprinkles of some sort. The sellers think I'm crazy.

Turkish food

Some Turkish food I've been attempting to cook:



I used meat in the sarma but they ended up tasting like meatballs. Next time, vegetarian. And, it looks like a 5 year old rolled them up, but I just need practice.



I also tried to make red lentil and bulgur kofte but again, not so great. Next time, no lentils I think.



Now this turned out well. Green beans in onions, tomatoes, and garlic. It can be served warm or cold. A little little bit of sugar makes a difference too.



Fried spinach in garlicy yogurt. I didn't like it much but the others (Sinan and his roommates) did.



I've attempted this before. I just can't get the proportions right in the sauce - oil, some sort of sesame sauce I think, lemon juice, vinegar, salt and garlic. You pour it over cooked white beans and add hardboiled egg and tomato and parsley.

I'll add more later, I'm going for a run now. I'm thinking I want to run a 1/2 marathon in March, but we'll see how the first 3 weeks of training goes. I've only accomplished 1.5 miles! Take care!

House pictures from Heybeliada

Even though Istanbul is a short distance away, the climate is milder and you see a lot of things growing on the islands that you don't in the city.










This one is for sale!

Heybeliada

Yesterday I went to one of the Princes' Islands, Heybeliada, with a group of women from the women's organization IWI - International Women of Istanbul. There are four visitable islands located in the Marmara sea, about a 1 - 1.5 hour ferry ride from Istanbul. Heybeliada used to be populated by Greeks, but that has changed and I think now it is mostly Turkish people who have a summer house there. The houses there are to drool for, old and wooden with lovely carved features. Another lovely change from Istanbul is that there are no cars there, only some municipal vehicles, so it was nice and peaceful. Visitors often travel by horse and cart, an expensive and I think slightly cruel way to travel, but also kind of an experience. This island is known for the Haghia Triada Monastery, a Greek Orthodox school of theology, but it was closed down in the 1970s by the government. This has added to the tensions between Turkey and Greece, as well as Turkey's chances to enter the EU.

The monastery is difficult to visit but fortunately the lady leading the group was a Greek Orthodox and had some connections. It was built upon Byzantine ruins I think in the late 1800s, and it was a pretty prestigious place for people who want to be a Somebody in the priest world. People came from Australia, the US, and other parts of Europe. Though the school was closed over 30 years ago, it looks like the it's ready to open any day. The desks are organized, a person is cleaning the classrooms, and there are even ping pong tables in the hall still. The monastery is on top of a hill so there were spectacular views. Most of our time was spent at the monastery, then an overpriced lunch (with fish, I was the only person who had to eat the kofte) with bugs crawling from the bread and I was pretty queasy all last night.

After lunch we had a little bit of time to walk around before taking the ferry back, so I snapped some pictures of the wooden houses, but I'll post those later because I have many other photos to put up now.



View of the Hagia Sofia and Topkapi Palace while leaving the ferry.



Looking up the Bosphorus, at the first bridge



A view of one of the islands - the ferry stops at 2 others before Heybeliada.



A ride up the hill to the monastery. Visitors can rent bikes to travel around the island.



Outside of the monastery. There were really lovely gardens there. It was also a beautiful, gorgeous day.



Entrance to the monastery



School time! We were listened to a priest who gave us a nice tour. While it isn't a school anymore, it's still one of the best places to go for research, apparently. We went into the library and there were tons and tons of books as well as magazines.



Staircase in entrance hall.



Ping pong tables



A pretty remarkable church in the monastery. There were a lot of decorations. I hadn't seen Jesus in a long time, you don't see him much around Istanbul!



View from the hill where the monastery and church is. That's the Asian side of Istanbul off in the distance, it's actually not that far away at all.



That's the biggest island, Buyukada. I hope to visit there next week.

Article

This is an article I received from PAWI - Professional American Women in Istanbul, and I think the statistics come from the World Bank. Anyway, thought you might be interested:

NEWS RELEASE

Economic Crisis Affecting the Welfare of Families in Turkey

A new survey of households in Turkey’s five largest urban centers
shows how families are affected by the economic slowdown and how they
cope to make ends meet in difficult times.

Istanbul, September 2009 - The economic slowdown, through lower
incomes and higher unemployment, has affected the lives of the
majority of families in the five largest urban centers in Turkey:
Adana, Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir, and Kocaeli. Almost three quarters of
families report reductions in income between October 2008 and June
2009, according to a new survey of 2100 households, jointly sponsored
by TEPAV, UNICEF and the World Bank.

“Unemployment is the most visible impact of the economic crisis in
Turkey. Yet, even many workers who have held on to their jobs have
seen their income fall, especially informal and self-employed
workers,” said Ulrich Zachau, World Bank Country Director for Turkey.
“Moreover, falling incomes have hit the urban poor most frequently:
among the poorest 20 percent of urban families, nine out of ten say
that they have had to find ways to cope with lower incomes.”

Urban families adjust to lower earnings in various ways. Families
mostly buy cheaper food and non-food items, but they also try to
economize on the amount of food consumption. Reducing expenditures for
social events, producing their own food, and changing transportation
also feature prominently. At the time of the survey, one third had
fallen behind in utility payments, and nine percent had lost their
electricity connection, at least temporarily. By contrast, families
appear to protect what they spend on education and health as much as
possible.

“The survey shows the many different ways that families try to deal
with the consequences of the crisis,” said Reza Hosseini, Resident
Representative of UNICEF Turkey. “Among the poorest 20 percent of
urban families, almost half of the parents reported that they had to
reduce food consumption for their children. Monitoring closely whether
such economic stress continues for these poor families will be a
priority.”

Many poor urban families say they have mobilized support from
neighbors, friends, family, their community, and public programs to
make ends meet. Yet, in-depth interviews with some families reveal
that these support networks are stretched. About one-fifth of the
poorest families say they have been left without any support at all.

“The survey provides much information about the impact of the economic
slowdown on Turkish families,” said Güven Sak, Managing Director of
TEPAV. “It shows that there is a need for dialogue among Government,
civil society, universities and the general public alike as to what
social policies could best support impacted households in these
times.”

Please click for report summary and urban household micro dataset
(SPSS) or visit www.worldbank.org.tr