Sunday, August 31, 2008

Admiring Istanbul

We had an early start today....Well I guess 8:45 am isn't too bad. the good thing about today was the fact that we stayed in one area of Istanbul, Sultanahmet. Here is where the famous Haghia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, and the Topkapi Sarayi are located. The Topkapi Sayari was our first stop of the day. It was the official and primary residence of the Sultan. this grand palace was captivating to explore, being able to wander around the beautiful structures here and there. There was also this exhibition in the palace museum that had interesting relics. I saw a case and skeleton of Prophet John's arm, the sword of Prophet David, the footprint of Prophet Muhammad, and the rod of Prophet Moses among other things. (Picture: Courtyard in Harem, section for the concubines)


Afterwards, we went to the Basilica Cistern, which wasn't far from the Sultan's Palace. This is a underground water system that the Romans had constructed in Istanbul. I felt like I was on the set of Phantom of the Opera. There were these amazing pillars that were lit by orange and red lights, creating a romantic yet gothic ambience. In the water I saw fish swimming around. I believe that they were catfish but I couldn't easily tell. We walked through and came to two Medusa heads, carved into stone pillars. What? I didn't expect that...The origin of the two heads are unknown...creepy. No, but it was really fascinating. We spent a good amount of time below Istanbul, and then the clock stroked "Lunch Time."  (Picture: Cistern)
Let me tell you something, Turkish people are very friendly. We met this man named Tolga (I hope I got it right) who was interested in knowing what we were doing in Turkey and whether or not we were enjoying it here. After chatting a bit withe the Mallerys, he invited us to his shop where we gave us complimentary apple tea. It was delicious. We sat around in the back of the store, which was a carpet shop. We got a great "lecture" about carpets. I learned a lot about carpets and realized that every carpet has a story to tell through the patterns and colors. I didn't get a carpet but I may return so I can haggle...(Picture: Carpet "Lecture" and below that is Tolga)



Eventually, we had lunch and it was great Turkish cuisine. 

The Haghia Sophia was the last stop and it was really a sight for the eyes. This building is worth admiring because of its architecture. The dome on the top looks weightless and look as if it is floating but it is heavy and (shockingly enough) is not actually being help up by the main pillars. It is hard to explain but it is worth the trip to Istanbul to come and see it for yourself. It is amazing because this building was way beyond its time in term of its stucture...It would be many, many years before any city and civilization could come close to building anything like the Hagia Sophia. It was a basilica, then a mosque, and now it a museum. It was interesting to see Islamic calligraphy and pictures of Saints next to each other. (Picture: Interior of the Haghia Sophia)

We had free time to ram around and so a few of us went to the Blue Mosque once the sun set, to get pictures of the grand edifice while it lit up the dark sky. It was a blast. I ahuld mention that Ramadan started today so there was feasting and socializing that we could observe. Overall, it was a great day. (Picture: Blue Mosque)
 


so.... Istanbul

Hello guys... this is Julián writing from what was once known as Caput Mundi, (Capital of the world.... for anyone who doesn't speak latin :P). At top of the hotel's balcony I can see why... 2 continents come together here... Europe and Asia... the scenery feels just magical. We are finally here, on a country where an impossible astronomical phenomenon adorns its flag. I took some pictures of two of its more famous buildings (Agya Sophia and the Blue Mosque)... I think they speak for themselves.

Some hours later... after having a strange dream about someone giving me directions in Arabic (thanks to the call to prayer at sunrise), we headed for the street. It was Victory Day on Turkey, Zafer Bayrami, so every museum and other goverment run facilities were closed. But that did not matter, the tea made it for the lack of traditional cultural tourism. Soon after we took a train to the Fahti Neighborhood, there I felt in love... The food made me fell in love with Turkey.
We took a ferry to a mosque at the Galata Neighbourhood. It was an experience I never had before, had never seen people praying at a Mosque. A weird smell filled the scene, one of many unpleasant smell to come (I don't want to be rude... but they were feet, sweat and other bodily fluids). I guess that some of the activities of the culture and religion of the place could prone those smell. Not everything was unpleasant at the mosque, the arquitecture is amazing. The lack of paintings is something I still have to get used to, but the patterns are interesting. The eyes of some of the headscarved girls could melt any man.


I wonder if the use of a headscarf could have helped this wonderful situation. This is my theory, given that the face is the only thing that could be clearly visible (and in some extreme cases, only the eyes) body parts of a woman; could there be some positive selections towards certain gene types of eyes and faces? I guess it could be the subject to an interesting human genetics study.

Later we took the same ferry to go back. Somehow we ended up in Asia... how cool is that?. By mistake I can scratch another continent out of the list. So we decided to have dinner on Asia and celebrates Dr. Paul Mallery's birthday..... Felicidades Paul! Turkey throw off some fireworks just for you!
The way back to the hotel was quite an adventure, and of cultural clashing...
But I think that without this kind of experiences, good and bad, you have not really traveled.

Friday, August 29, 2008

arrived in Istanbul

after a visit to the Pergamon museum this morning plus lunch near the museum, we headed off to the airport. The Pergamon museum was wonderful and yes, Dr Clark, we did see the Babylon exhibit.

We flew to Munich and then had connection to Istanbul that was "legal" (travel agent speak) but I assume just barely. we only had 35 minutes from runway to runway, and were relieved to find a Lufthansa agent waiting to shepherd us through passport control and on to our next gate.

Once we arrived in Istanbul the students were in at a high level of excitement which crescendoed off the scale once we drove through the ancient city walls and between the Blue mosque and the Aya Sofya. They were stunned by this ancient part of the city and I had to talk them out of walking right back up to look at the mosque and Aya Sofya again after they dropped off their luggage (at 1 am). I also had to remind them that "decent" Turkish girls do NOT wander around the city at 1 am. I also fed the guys some key phrases to ward off unwanted attention toward the women (e.g. "her father would be very angry") These are "old" and traditional attitudes, but they send the immediate message that these are decent women who need to be treated like your sister.

Hoping to get to an internet café tomorrow to post photos.

Goodnight from Istanbul.
Suzanne Mallery

Thursday, August 28, 2008

A Day in oranienburg

Today we visited the Reichstag and the Brandenburg Gate, but the most meaningful experience that I gained was while visiting the Sachsenhousen Concentration Camp. I had already researched a little bit about the camp, but I learned a whole lot from the tour guide. My preconceptions about the camp were that it was a trianglar shaped encased in barbed wire a little bit like the small POW camp from Hogan's heros, but to my astonishment, I learned that this camp was only a small section of the vast area belonging to the Sachsenousen Concentration Camp. Unfortunetly most of the SS training grounds and the labor areas have totally disappeared and in their place are fields with trees. Like our tour guide said, without the prescence of these other buildings, it requires abstract thought to be able to imagine what the entire camp was like. Sachsenhousen was the first concentration labor camp and was built in 1936 by political prisoners. It was meant to set the bar in comfort for officers and efficency of organization for the future camps. As a result of this the conditions for the SS officers were made to be as comfortable as possible. I was surprised that there really was a SS casino. Before the guardhouse and gate to the inmate camp, was a grassy area. According to our tourguide, this area was always green and had been the location were the important officers were housed. Back during the time when camp was in opperation, propaganda postcards with the caption "when will we see our green concentration camp again?" were even made. Inside the concentration camp however, was a totally different picture of life. The barracks and role call area were laid out in a fasion that intimidated the prisioners because they felt that the machine gun in the tower could reach any point in the camp. The living conditions of the prisioners were bleak with about seven toilets for 100 prisoners in 1938 and in 1945 about seven toilets to 400 prisioners. It is astonishing to learning that the camp was built with the capacity for 10000 prisioners but ended up with 60000 prisoners. Inside one of the barracks there were triple bunks crowded close together, and this was representitive of all the buncks. Because this camp was a work camp and not an extermination camp there were no mass killing facilities in the begining, but by 1942, station z, the neck shootings and crematory had been built. There is record of 8 tons of ash being dumped into the river, and an aditional 8 tons were found later, so at least 20000 people died. I have always been fascinated by the holocaust and WWII, and visiting this camp made me realize how evil humans can get. By visiting this camp I could see how the germans made killing commonplace. I had always thought that it was a lowly job to work in a concentration camp, but according to the tour guide, SS officers came to Sachsenhousen to build their careers. The thing that disturbed me the most was that the SS sought to make the SS officers job as pleasent as possible. How can killing ever be pleasent? I left the concentration camp with a new view of the way concentration camps were run and the way that officers were treated. Knowing about the horrors that happented and hearing about the survivors gives me an appreciation for my sheltered life. I think that keeping this camp open as a whitness and memorial to the potentiol of humans for good or bad is the duty of Germany.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Wow, it has been such an adventure already and we’ve only been here for two days. There has been so much excitement and activity since the first hour we all got together; it’s hard to believe that the hostel can contain all of our energy. For many of us it is our first time in Germany and it may even be our first time in Europe. The moment we have been excitedly telling our friends about from the first day we knew where we were traveling has finally arrived. The worries and anxieties about the hostel have finally been put to rest seeing as though it really is quite lovely (I don’t know if lovely or quaint is the EXACT word to describe it, but nonetheless, it’s a great place). After having lunch at the delicious Vietnamese place, we went to the Turkish market to look around. The diversity that is found in Berlin is quite extraordinary; admittedly it is a little difficult to be in a place where the majority of what people say I cannot understand; however, I truly do feel as though I am immersed in the Berlin culture, and it is constant reminder that am in Germany and not just at a Wednesday night honors event (not to discount the amazing-ness that is a Wednesday night Honors social). Alongside being in a different country, the group that I am with keeps things fun and exciting. Who can forget the conversations that we had about graffiti being art or a crime, the many stabbings we received from Darth Vader aka Aydin (I hope I spelled that correctly), the sugar in Leslie’s hair, or even the time Niiang forgot her train ticket. But it has not all been fun and games, I have learned more about Berlin in these two days than I have in a whole year sitting in World History. While I knew that the Berlin Wall obviously separated Berlin, I had no idea how oppressive it was and what a symbol of liberation it must have been when it was torn down. Being at Checkpoint Charlie and recognizing the seriousness of the wall and what it meant for people to be quarantined in this one little area has truly been an eye opening experience for me.I apologize for this picture not having reason it was taking (the main sign of Checkpoint Charlie, but ask Niiang if you desire that copy, my photographer didn’t seem to understand we were at a historical monument and that the sign was a little important – woops).



I also learned even MORE about Berlin at the Berlin Airlift memorial; embarrassingly, I had no clue that what the Berlin Airlift was referring to and that it took a great deal of money to support a whole city through cargo plains (I should have probably brushed up on my German history before this trip, but that’s why we’re here, right? To learn).
Here is a picture of the memorial and I believe the three pillars at the top represent the three airplanes that were flying into the city (see, I’m getting good at this whole learning bit).



I have to say my favorite part of our escapade thus far has been the Sehitlik Mosque. Not only was it beautiful, but our tour guide did a fine job of explaining a lot of the basic Islamic beliefs. I think a lot of the symbolism found in the Mosque itself and also the significance of the prayer movements and other Muslim traditions were made clearer. I gained a lot of insight from that tour and I’m always interested to hear why certain religions participate in the practices they do; I thought it was an informative and eye opening experience.

This picture doesn’t even BEGIN to show the true beauty and majesty of this house of worship, but it does scratch the surface… BARELY. *sigh* look at all the color. Gorgeous.




The Jewish Museum was and experience. I love the architecture and the meaning of the structure itself.

The Memory Void memorial shown in the picture above was touching because I believe it truly captured the essence of the Jewish void in Germany for so many years.



Lastly, we went to the TV tower for a little fun and excitement; unfortunately, we didn’t want to wait two hours so the picture below is the full extent of my experience with the Berlin TV tower.





Well, we’ve reached the conclusion of my blog. Thank you for reading. And family if and when you read this I miss you, I love you, and I’m having a great time. Take Care.

Greetings from Berlin

We have all arrived safely and have plunged into discovering Berlin. Everyone was worn out last night from our travels, but we managed to catch the tail end of the Turkish market and then headed off to Checkpoint Charlie. That seemed to have a big impact on all the students.
Our youngest traveler, our 6 year old has met his new best friend in Alex. He is Aydin's match in enthusiasm for and knowledge of Star Wars, so he's in Paradise. They entertained an entire train car on the S Bahn yesterday with a pantomime light saber battle. Photos later. We're on our way to the mosque now.

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Map of our travels in Turkey



Several of you have asked for a map of our travels in Turkey, so here it is

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Welcome to the blog for the LSU Honors Going Global class for 2008. If you've happened upon this site accidentally, you're welcome to browse, but we're writing mostly for our family and friends, the LSU campus community (and the elementary school, since two of our group members are students there), and particularly for the incoming freshman honors students, who will be in our place a year from now.

We will be leaving in a week and a half for Berlin, and we're all getting excited. We will be sharing the authorship of the blog, so expect to see posts from various ones of us updating you on each stage of our journeys. Feel free to send us your comments and greetings as we travel.