Talk Turkey TWO

As I spend time living in the ME, I learn more and more about the history of this region and how the it became what it is today. It is a millennia-old civilization that has thrived in some of the world’s harshest conditions.

Istanbul was an amazing area with strong ties to the people and cultures of Saudia Arabia and Bahrain.  There are 14 million people living in Istanbul. I find that alone amazing.  However the rich history of Istanbul makes the city even more amazing.

Looking out over the European side of the city. Istanbul is inside both Europe and Asia.

Turkey was once known as the Ottoman Empire.  Hittites, Phrygians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Crusaders, Seljuks, Mongols, Ottomans and others have all left their works of art, architecture and culture in what is now the Turkish homeland.

READER ALERT - This is a long blog, but there is a surprise photo at the end. DON"T CHEAT and go there now. Read the whole blog.  :-)

Before we left Bahrain for Turkey, DW and I visited the Turkish consulate in Manama, Bahrain to pick up travel books about the area.  Going to the embassy was DW’s idea and I was resistive because I was afraid we would get lost in the back roads of Manama.  She insisted and I was very happy I went with her.  Actually, we did get lost, but we found our way out thanks to two very nice Arab men that directed us the right road.

When we arrived, on a whim I asked if the Ambassador was in and available.  We had met Ambassador Hatun Demirer, at an American Woman’s Association luncheon only a couple of weeks previously.

DW (middle) with American Ambassador Thomas C. Krajeski and Turkish Ambassador Hatun Demirer, at the AWA meeting.

We were extremely lucky, she was in.  She came rushing out to meet us and gave us the 3 kiss “Turkish” greeting. She explained every area has it’s own greeting with kisses on the cheek. In Turkey you have 3 kisses on alternating cheeks.

D and I are taking Arabic lessons and our teacher told us that the custom in Saudi Arabia is one kiss on each cheek. I am still trying to find out if the Bahrainian "kiss greeting" is different.

It was very lovely to see Ambassador Demirer, again and we felt especially excited to be going to visit her country. She is a great ambassador for Turkey.

There are several places in Istanbul that everyone recommended we visit.  Even Ambassador Demirer insisted we must see these and we did see them all.

Aya Sofya Museum. 
This museum was consecrated as a church in 537 and covered to a mosque in 1453.

The view inside the dome of the Aya Sofya Museum.

Windows inside the Aya Sofya Museum.

This was our view of the Aya Sofya as we ate lunch.

Doug and a sleeping friend just outside the museum.

Topika Palace.
This is a group of buildings and structures.

Many of the mosques and buildings built in Istanbul used recycled colums and stone from other sites. This seemed to be a theme in many of the historical sites.  No one is sure where all of them came from. It was very interesting to see these different kinds of stone and wonder how they were able to move them from Italy and other sites to come to Istanbul. Along the path leading up to the Topaki Palace there were "extra" pieces from other historical sites that were open to the public. We wandered through them, sat on them and touched many of the old carvings.

Doors to the Topaki Palace.

Gold door inside the Topaki Palace.

Mosque of Sultan Ahmet I.
Called the Blue Mosque by foreign visitors because of its interior tiles, it disappoints if you're looking for lots of blue because the blue tiles are mostly on the inaccessible upper floors. Otherwise, the mosque is among the finest examples of Istanbul's wonderful imperial Ottoman mosques.

Ceiling view in the Blue Mosque.

Multiple arches and domes that were amazing.

Basilica Cistern.
The Basilica Cistern is a subterranean structure commissioned by Emperor Justinian and built in 532. The largest surviving Byzantine cistern in İstanbul, it was constructed using 336 columns, many of which were salvaged from ruined temples and feature fine carved capitals. Its symmetry and sheer grandeur of conception are quite breathtaking.

There is a great description of the Basilica Cistern on this web site:  http://www.lonelyplanet.com/turkey/istanbul/sights/other/basilica-cistern

Coastlineof the Bosporus Straight. 
According to the Encyclopedia of Earth, the Bosporus or Bosphorus (also known as the Istanbul Strait) is a strait connecting the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara (and beyond it, through the Dardenelles to the Aegean Sea/Mediterranean Sea). Together with the Dardanelles, the Bophosrus forms the Turkish Straits which separates the European part of Turkey from its Asian part.

View from the boat.

We had a wonderful cruise on the Bosporus and it was quite beautiful. One stop was at a hunting lodge used by the sultans.  This house had no bedrooms. It was only used as a stopping over place to rest and regroup.

Stairs to the "huntng lodge."

Every place we visited, D and SW would spend a significant amount of time discussing the structure and how the building might have been built.  I found it very enjoyable to listen to their conversations and see the historic building from an engineer and architect’s point of view.  Really, how did they build those arches in the year 537?  AMAZING.

SW and D discussing the Aya Sofya Museum.

Discussing the Cisterns. Did it get LEEDS certified?

Studying the Topaki Palace.

Inspecting the ceiling in the Blue Mosque.

After our Bosporus cruise, we decided to walk from the boat back to our hotel. It was not a long distance and it would give us a different view of the area. Previously we only took a taxi when we wanted to go to the port area.

Leaving the docks, we walked through an area that was both a bus terminal and subway station. When we first walked up to the area I was overwhelmed with the number of people. 

One of our many selfies at the port.

To reach the other side of the busy street, we would need to go under the street through a tunnel.  I really was not prepared for the crush of humanity in this small space.  At first I thought I might panic as I was shoved along in the wave of people going to the other side, but finally I just gave in and “went with the flow.”  Now I have a much deeper understanding of that saying.

This video is over 3 minutes long.  It is as long as it took us to move through the tunnel. It is a very interesting experience. I don’t think the video gives you a complete feeling of the movement of the crowd, but you can sense the closeness of the others and how little control I had over my movements. I was very happy to reach the other side of the tunnel.

One night we had a wonderful dinner in the trendy Restaurant 360 overlooking the entire region and the Bosporus Straight that runs between the old city and the new city. SW took this picture of the people crowding the street using his cell as we walked home. I am not sure what enhancement he used, but you can feel the people "dancing in the streets."

Street scenes along the way to our hotel gave us some very good pictures of life in Istanbul.

Our last night was a wonderful time and I will share that with you along with my favorite photo of the trip in MY NEXT BLOG. 

Cheers.

Brenda

In the Cistern there was a "Disney" opportunity.  Here is the Sultan D and his harem.

Let’s Talk Turkey

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My friend DW gave me idea for the title to this blog.  It seemed to be the most logical way to start talking about our second holiday since arriving in the Middle East (ME). Thanks, DW!

I survived my first Ramadan and the heat of August.  Now at the beginning of October, we have the second Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.

Again, hubbie D’s office is closed.  To fill the holiday, we planned to visit Istanbul, Turkey with our friends DW and SW from Texas.

DW and SW have also come to Bahrain to help build a buildings business in the ME.

Eid al-Adha is an Islamic festival to commemorate the willingness of Ibrahim (also known as Abraham) to follow Allah's (God's) command to sacrifice his son Ishmael. Muslims around the world observe this event with pilgrimages to Mecca and by making animal sacrifices.

Here is a link to pictures of this significant Muslim holiday.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2014/oct/06/eid-al-adha-around-the-world-in-pictures

I loved Istanbul.  You could walk down the street and see layer upon layer of history unfold in front of you. There were voices in so many different languages that I could not ask people fast enough to find out where they came from.  In one day we heard Spanish, English, French, Dutch, German, Arabic, Turkish, Russian and Urdu.

I loved listening to the sound of the muezzins dueling from their minarets as the “faithful” scurried off for prayers at the many mosques. 

If you are reading this blog in an email, you can click on this link and see the video in the live blog.

Even in the middle of the Grand Bazaar, the Muslims stopped in the hallways to kneel in prayer.

Istanbul lies at the crossroads of Europe and Asia.  In fact, half of the city is in Europe and half in Asia. Istanbul’s strategic location is significant.  The city has been ruled by Greeks, Persians, Romans, Venetians and Ottomans. You can find bits of history for all of these covering the city.

The old part of the city is the Sultanahmet District that has a concentration of historic sights, shopping areas, hotels and restaurants.  It is filled with mosques, palaces, and churches dating as far back as the Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman periods.

On our first day we rushed off the Spice Bazaar and Grand Bazaar.  Because this was the week of the Eids holiday, these bazaars would only be open on the first and last days of our visit.

Standing in the shopping district after our first purchase of some Turkish Delight.

Wedding and beaded dress fabric shops lined the streets between the Spice Bazaar and the Grand Bazaar.

Sultan clothing to be purchased or custom made.

The street leading up to the gates of the Grand Bazaar.

Gates of the Grand Bazaar.

D and DW inside the Grand Bazaar.  This was a very quiet area.  Mostly it was very crowded and extremely noisy.

We stopped for a break at an outside cafe at the edge of the Grand Bazaar where we could watch the people.  A juice vendor was very close by so we purchased some fresh pomegranate juice. It was great!

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Tea and fresh pomegranate juice.

After our bazaar experience, we returned to our hotel for drinks on the patio overlooking the city and then strolled down the street for dinner.

As we walked along the sidewalk, in front of us a shoeshine vendor dropped his brush as he was walking and SW politely picked it up and returned it to him.  The man immediately offered to give SW and D a free shoeshine.  Out of no where, two other shoe shiners showed up and offered free shines. Unfortunately, the shines ended in the request for money – significant money. 

No such thing as a FREE shoe shine.

Later during our trip, D was reading a local guidebook and apparently this is one of the oldest scams in the city.  We were sucked right in….once! We only paid a small amount for the FREE shoe shines but several minutes of emotional demands from the shoe shiners for large amounts of money certainly made me nervous.

Our hotel was wonderful, our room was very large and the bathroom was great. It was located in a newer area and we planned on staying there for 3 nights.  The second half of the trip we would be moving to the Sultanahmet area of the city.

Our visit to Turkey started with great food, interesting history and beautiful sites.  I don’t want to overwhelm you so I will divide this adventure into a couple of blogs.  More to come!

Adventure was one of our goals in coming the ME and we are definitely achieving that goal.

Cheers,

Brenda

Blur of Activities

The past 3 weeks have been a blur of activities and fun.  Really!


(It is a tough job, but someone has to do it.)

I have . . .

Cooked breakfast (bacon) for a group of engineers who have been living in Saudi Arabia.  They asked – Real bacon?  (Pork cannot be consumed in SA.)

Pork is kept in a special "dirty closet" at one grocery store. You can not buy pork anywhere else.

Hosted 3 dinner parties in our flat.

Almost every night, hosted a cocktail hour for several friends and co-workers in our flat.

Hosted an engineer from the States in our flat for 3 weeks. He is relocating here and it was great to have him stay with us.

Cooked breakfast every morning for D (hubby) and the visiting engineer.

Fixed lunches every day for D and the visiting engineer. (Kobar, SA doesn’t have a lot of lunch opportunities and they like to eat at their desks…)

Cooked healthy dinners every night for D and visiting engineer.

A cuban fish recipe from my father-in-law. Yumm.

We had a group of engineers use our flat as a meeting room for a planning session.  They took over the living room and dining room even taking pictures off the walls to create a white space for slides.

Attended a morning meeting with 250 other ladies from all over the world.

Attended a morning coffee with 100 other ladies on a man-made island on the north side of Bahrain.

Went to lunch with 30 other ladies at the Gulf Hotel (famous Bahrainian hotel) where they gave us a cooking demonstration.  That was fun!

Met the American Ambassador and his wife at two different events.

Met the Turkish Ambassador. She is an inspiring woman.

Attended a large evening reception at the Ritz Carlton.  The food was amazing!

Met numerous dignitaries and celebrities at the reception.

Started taking Arabic lesson (this is a lost cause for me).

Attended a ball at the Ritz and danced to some great jazz.  WOW!

The Gatsby Ball made the papers!

Getting ready to leave for the Gatsby Ball.

I was invited to attend a company dinner with some very high level executives from the US.  You know I never pass up an opportunity to dress up!

Here we are at the company dinner.

Appetizers at the company dinner.

Desserts at the company dinner.

I worked out most mornings at 5AM with D. And, I also try to work in a session of Pilates after D leaves for work.

Whew. . . .

I am lucky.  I have a great life and I am having a WHOLE bunch of fun.

I read a blog the other day written by a mom who lives in Doha.  She said she was luckier than a lotto winner.  I would agree that the expat life is blessed.

I have almost everything I would like in life right now.  I can see down the road and know that the areas where I want more, they are coming.  I need for nothing and I have the greatest husband in the world who is also my best friend.

It is perfect? Of course not and I would not want my life to be completely perfect. 

To quote our pastor at the Boston Avenue United Methodist Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, “The good things in life are like a hot fudge sundae.  If you had to eat one every day they would not be special nor would they taste as good. “

However, right now I cannot complain. I feel like I am having hot fundge at every meal. Even the heat is giving me a break and the weather is wonderful. 

Tomorrow we are off for a holiday in Turkey. We will have some great sights, wonderful food and fun times together learning more about this area of the world.



When we come back from Turkey, I leave for the US where I will visit my youngest daughter who is expecting a baby!

I will be apart from D (my husband) for 3 weeks. This is the longest we have ever been apart since the first months we were married when he spent 6 weeks in SA on another engineering job. Life has come full circle in 34 years.

I am going to miss him terribly and I know he will miss my hot breakfasts and warm kisses.  But they will be that much better when we are together again.

D will look forward to being back together as much as I will and things could not get much better than that.

Cheers, Brenda

My First Purchase for Baby Bowlin

I have been trying to think of a good “first” gift for the new member of our family (arriving in late January) and today I think I found it.

Cutie the Camel

Brittany sent me pictures of the room décor and I think little Cutie will fit right in.







This is fun!

Brittany and I will need to do some serious shopping when I am in Florida in October.

FUN!!!

Cheers, Brenda

The Baby Looks Like Randy

Had a great email early this morning.  Brittany had another sonagram and Baby Bowlin is doing great.  The pictures are so cute.

Baby Bowlin looks just like his daddy, Randy.  Don't you think?

 

I am going to start a "Delivery Date" contest.  Want to participate? (or have a better idea?)

Winner has bragging rights for guessing the "D Day" (delivery day).  Cost is $5 for each date you enter and we are sending all the entry fees to the Baby Bowlin fund in care of Brittany in Sebastian.

Official rules (Brenda's rules) are that your day is not secured until the bet is received by the Bowlin family. Only one bet per day and all bets are final.....LOL

However multiple bets for more than one day are allowed at $5 each day.

This was taken on the day Brittany was born.

The proud daddy, Doug and Brittany just minutes after her arrival.

Let me know if you want to join in the competition.  Should be fun..... of course Brittany was 2 weeks late when she was born so I am betting on February 3.



I really want the little guy to be on time so I can spend more time with him (I will be in Florida until Febrary 25) but my gut says he will be having so much fun beating up on his mommy he won't be in a big hurry to come out into the cold world. Hope I am wrong!

When we get closer to "D Day" I will start giving out information to keep all the contestants informed.

Brittany with Grandpa Don and Grandma Tudy in Newton, Kansas

Actual due date is January 20.  Grandpa Don has already taken January 12 as the day he is betting on.  That is his birthday!  That would be a hoot.


Let me know your dates!

Cheers, Brenda

I Met the American Ambassador

Ambassador Krajeski was very welcoming.

The American Ambassador to Bahrain is Thomas C. Krajeski and I was honored to meet him Monday morning at the American Women’s Association’s (AWA) general meeting.  This meeting celebrated the 40th anniversary of the AWA in Bahrain and it was quite an affair.

Previous to arriving in Bahrain, I had two friends tell me that I definitely needed to join the AWA and participate in their activities.  They were so right! 

The AWA in Bahrain has been a social and charitable group since 1974.  There are currently over 230 members from all nationalities. For expat women moving to Bahrain, this group is a great way to meet other expats and learn more about the Island. 

They have groups for just about every interest, they take tours all over the island and even plan trips for expat women to other countries.  They also have a band of volunteers who coordinate charitable contributions to more than 30 nonprofit organizations in Bahrain every year.

Whether you have an interest is food, art, books, culture or service, you will find a group in AWA for you. The only problem is choosing the ones where you want to participate.

Both the American Ambassador, Thomas C. Krajeski and his wife attended this special meeting.  Ambassador Krajeski spoke to the group about the value of community service and his history of service. AWA is definitely a great organization that gives much to the Bahrain community.

Ambassador Krajeski told the AWA group he recently attended the change of command for two branches of the US Military in Bahrain.  He spoke of the contributions these young men and women give in service to their country.  He was extremely candid and told the group that he refused to serve in Vietnam when he was younger however was proud of his service in the US Foreign Service which began in 1979.

I really enjoyed hearing about his history and achievements.  After the meeting we did meet one on one and I warned him I would be blogging about him.

I went to this AWA meeting with another expat wife of a Jacob’s employee, Diana Wilson. As it turns out, Ambassador Krajeski was Ambassador to the Republic Yemen not long after she designed the American Ambassador’s residence in Yemen.  It is truly a small world.  They had a great conversation about that coincidence.  He told Diana he wanted to be a landscape architect when he young.

Diana with Ambassador Krajeski and Ambassador Demirer

Also attending the AWA meeting was Ambassador Hatun Demirer, Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey.  This wonderful woman was fascinating.  When she was only 12, she received a scholarship from an organization in Turkey like the AWA in Bahrain.  The scholarship enabled her to go on to complete her degree in college and led her on the path she took for her career. 

Ambassador Demirer shared her touching story and how much a scholarship changed her life.

Ambassador Demirer spoke very passionately about her belief that women can shape the world if they are given the opportunity and education.

One of the points that Ambassador Demirer stressed was that women wear many hats and that makes them unique.  I have often said that very same thing. Moms must multitask every day.

Ambassador Demirer went on to say that in order for women to obtain equal positions in the world they need access to education. 

Something that is extremely apparent in the Middle East is that women here are fighting for equality.  They do not have the same freedoms that we have in the United States.  I think US women are very privileged and they don’t really know it.  In fact, Americans in general are very privileged.  The rest of the world has not even come close to having equality for women in the same range as we have in the US.

Education is powerful and we should all support helping women become more educated in all countries. We live in a global community and what effects one country will have impact on other countries.

One surprise highlight of the morning was a visitor to the group that I was not expecting. Photographer Andrew Weaver was at the meeting to present a copy of his new book to the group.  Andrew has published 2 stunning books of photographs of the Kingdom of Bahrain.

One of the very first things I purchased after arriving in Bahrain was his book Between To Seas.  It is breathtakingly beautiful pictures of Bahrain and proudly sits on my livingroom coffee table.  The second book, Above Two Seas was just released.  I was very excited to meet Andrew and tell him how much I admire his work.  He told me he is getting ready to release another book of sunset photographs.  He offered to include one of mine if I had a wonderful sunset shot in Bahrain.  Unfortunately I have not seen a good sunset yet.  I can not wait to see his sunset book as I am sure his photos will be amazing.  I suggested he do a book on sunrises in Bahrain. I have several great sunrise shots.  :-)

I was thrilled to have the opportunity to vist with Andrew Weaver

It was a very enjoyable morning.  It was great to be around other American women and to meet these two very outstanding people that are serving their countries in the Kingdom of Bahrain.  And, to meet Andrew was a fantastic surprise. Gee whiz – and I was there!

Cheers,
Brenda

Sunrises can be beautiful as well. A good one starts the day off telling you life is good.

Never Ending Thrills in Bahrain

Over the dessert, the sun was setting and it was beautiful.  But, that was not the thrill for the night. . .

Excitement was in the air.  The sense of competition hung heavy over the crowd. Oh, What FUN!!  Last night we experienced the Bahrain International Circuit Motorway in a way I would never have imagined.

16 members of the Jacobs Zate team became RACE CAR DRIVERS for the night! 

This was not just any race; it was on a race on the Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) premier tracks.

The BIC’s annual Grand Prix is renowned as one of the most friendly, atmospheric and exciting events of the Formula One racing season.

On April 4, 2004, Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari was first to the chequered flag to win the Bahrain Grand Prix, the first FIA Formula One World Championship event held in the Middle East.

Formula One Track

Very unique atmosphere.

Overhead view.

The BIC’s success has brought other international race series flooding into Bahrain: international Formula 3, GP2, GP2 Asia, the FIA GT Championship, the BMW World Final, the V8 Supercars Australia have all raced at BIC, and in 2012, the FIA World Endurance Championship was added to the calendar.

VIVA Karting Track, BIC’s all-new state-of-the-art karting facility built to standards of the Commission Internationale de Karting (CIK), helps unearth young local talent; and its on-site technicians provide vital racing expertise.

This premier Karting Track is where our competition was held last night.

In typical Jacob’s fashion the evening started with an in-depth safety briefing and everyone suited up in safety coveralls.  Helmets were secured and a 10-minute “seating” race began. 

Doug zipping up for safety.

Helmets at ready for the racers.

One member of the team (not to be mentioned by name) spent the previous weekend testing the course. I am sure that gave him a significant advantage, but it was all for fun, right? 

Wrong! 
These competition infused men were all out to win. They owned the course. They wanted victory!

Getting all the gear in place.

The team is ready.

Getting into the cars.

It was an excitement filled evening at the races in the middle of the dessert.

Here's a video of the first turn during the first race.

This video shows a spin out close to the end of the second race. The race may be contested because of this encounter . . . 

Winners of race ONE.

Winners of race TWO - the BIG RACE. 

After the victor was crowned, some of us retired to our flat for beer and Papa John’s pizza. 

..Ah, a taste of home!

Cheers,
Brenda

Pollice Blockade

A couple of days ago, at 6AM when Doug and I came out of the Ritz Health Club after our workout there were police cars blocking the roads leading up to our flat.

On one street there were tanks as well as police officers.

Helicopter over the skyline of Manama.

I was curious and maybe a bit alarmed.  However, there were no helicopters overhead.  I have been told that when there is trouble, there will be helicopters.

After the short 3-minute walk home, I immediately grabbed my phone and went to take a picture.  As I was leaving the flat, Doug yelled after me, "Remember, you are in a foreign country. Don't make anyone mad."

I thought about that all the way down to the parking lot to take my picture.  Would they be upset I was shooting a picture of a police car with it's lights flashing?  I hoped not because I wanted a picture.  I felt like a reporter for CNN in a foreign country shooting to send footage back to the States... LOL

I took the shot, no one paid any attention to me and I safely returned to our flat to cook breakfast.

Gate to the Ritz with a military vehicle and flashing blue lights.

Later on in the day I read in the Bahrain newspaper that a group of Saudi high level dignitaries would be meeting that day with the HRH the King of Bahrain.  Apparently they spent the night at the Ritz.  It is definitely one of the best hotels in the country.  A friend (her husband works with Doug) told me she saw a long convoy of big black cars with a military escort arrive the night before.

So I don't have any problems to report, only big wigs arriving to do business in Bahrain.  Drats.

Cheers, Brenda