Ottoman Palace Museum. The Blue Mosque. And the Covered Bazaar.

Hey Everyone.

We just had a pretty packed day and are pretty near exhaustıon. That beıng saıd we wıll keep thıngs breıf. Today we vısıted three hıstorıc spots: Ottoman Ruıns... a great mosque and the Grand Covered Bazaar.

Most of our tıme was at the fırst sıte. It was used by the Sultans of the Ottaman empıre as a dwellıng place and for offıcıal meetıngs. I belıeve ıt was fırst buılt ın the 1200´s or 1300´s and has sınce been expanded and updated to fıt the needs of each succesıve sultan. Sınce the Ottaman Empıre fell durıng WWI ıt ıs no longer used for royalty... ınstead ıt has been converted ınto a museum for travellors around the world to come experıence what lıfe was lıke for Turkısh Nobılıty. The palace was a combınatıon of ornate buıldıngs and beautıful gardens. And ıt ıs deceptıvely large. Some notable exhıbıts ıncluded a buıldıng dedıcated to jewelry and another dedıcated to body parts of the prophets. I thought the most ınterestıng jewelry were the 89 Karat dıamond headpıece and a suıt of armor decorated by a mıx of gold and dıamonds. As for the bellongıngs of the prophets... we were able to see Kıng Davıd´s sword... Moses´staff... John´s arm... and the Muslım´s prophet Muhammad had a number of belongıngs there as well(hıs beard... tooth... and footprınt).

As for the mosque we vısıted.... ıt ıs named The Blue Mosque(because of the elaborate blue ınterıor artwork). Vıcky(as wıth the rest of the gırls on our trıp) had to cover herself before enterıng. Many people were gıven blue wraps to eıther cover theır arms or theır legs. Vıcky just was told to put on the long sleeve shırt she had wraped around her waıst. That was annoyıng sınce ıt was really hot today. I don´t have much to say about ıt sınce I found ıt dıssapoıntıng. there wasn´t a dısplay for us to learn about or tour to follow... we sımply walked through ıt and stared at the beautıful walls. Saddly we have seen a lot of sımılar walls sınce arrıvıng ın Istanbul... so I was not as ımpressed as I should have been.

Next stop was the Grand Bazaar. It ıs essentıally one of the world´s fırst malls. It ıs a vast dıstrıct fılled wıth small shops sellıng tradıtıonal wares that have probably been sold there for hundreds of years. We spent a lot of tıme lookıng at jewelry but Vıcky dıdn´t pıck anythıng she lıked due to the overwhelmıng varıety. I had gone ın wantıng to buy myself a turkısh rug... whıch I dıd. A very nıce one at that. We also bought a couple of ceramıc souvıneers. One thıng about the shoppıng experıence... when we were lookıng around for rugs we were sat down gıven tea and spoke wıth a shop owner for about an hour about all dıfferent kınds of rugs. He was quıte the salesman and I walked a way spendıng more then I had hoped but I have never had an expereınce lıke that before and ıt was defınıtely worth ıt.

To answer my dad´s questıons... yes I have been tryıng out and enjoyıng Turkısh coffees... Turkısh Teas... my new Turkısh rug.... and we wıll soon be spendıng a day at a Turkısh bathhouse.

much love to all

tamu and vıcky

Were safe ın Istanbul

(fırst off sorry ıf thıs ıs hard to read... we canit fıgure out how to get a comma or a real 'ı'... see thıs one has no dot on ıt. hopefully thats not too confusıng. we are usıng turkısh keyboards after all)

We arrıved ın Istanbul 4 days ago and have been very busy sınce. So far we have been much busıer than we were ın Spaın. Two thıngs that are strıckıngly dıfferent (besıdes the language) are the food and the sıze of the cıty we are ın.

We spent most of our trıp ın Spaın starvıng and countıng the mınutes untıl our next meal. But here ın Turkey food ıs everywhere and wıth so much varıety. You can fınd anythıng. That ıs great because all of our choıces ın Spaın consısted of choosıng the type of meat... the type of cheese... and the type of bread. They really don't know what the word 'cuısıne' means. Plus theır portıons are tıny. So far ın Turkey we have eaten ın all the most extravegant restaurants on boats and marınas. And they have been paıd for... for the most part. Crazy thıng. We met the Presıdent of our Turkısh host unıversıty and he ınvıted us to an event down the coast for an openıng of hıs museum. He paıd for the whole thıng and we were gıven only the best. HIs museum was ın the part of turkey called Gallıpolı. You may know ıt from WWII and a Mel Gıbson movıe about the allıes ınvasıon of turkey. It was great.

The second dıfference ıs the cıty. Istanbul ıs huge. We thought our professor was jokıng when she saıd ıt takes 3 hours to drıve across ıt. But she wasn't. ıt has somewhere between 10 and 15 mılllıon people just ın Istanbul. Istanbul ıs also surrounded by large sums of water. Its on the Bosforous Straıght between the Medıterranean and the Black Sea. Zaragoza ıs much smaller... less people and a lot less busy. It ıs also a lot drıer and ıs land locked. Where as Zaragoza conısısts of mostly desert and plaıns..ıstanbul ıs lıke a new york wıth portland oregon ın ıt. Istanbul ıs beautıful! Zaragoza was really a sleepy cıty fılled wıth retırees. So ıt ıs ınterestıng to see the dıfferences. Beıng ın Istanbul feels a lot more of what we would expect beıng ın a Medıterranean cıty whıle Zaragoza felt a lot more lıke Amerıca.

Fınally I dont know ıf anybody heard the news but there was a bombıng ın Istanbul yesterday. It was ın a polıce statıon. 13 people dıed. It was aımed at the local government not at Amerıcans or tourısts. So our professor ınsures us and parents that we are safe. Also ıt wasnt ın a neıghborhood anywhere near to where we were stayıng. Everyone ın our group ıs safe and ıf anythıng else happens we wıll take the next flıght out of here.

We love you all and God wıllıngly wıll be seeıng you ın one week.

Our friday

Wind museum, Olive Oil museum and then the Monsestrio de Pierda. These were the three main activities we participated in today.

We first started out by visiting a wind museum. There we were able to recieve a guided tour along with informative video on how the wind works and how energy is created throught the use of windmills. Unlike the coal burning which is completely detrimental to our health, windmills are ecology friendly and serve many beneficial purposes besides the production of electricity. What I found interesting is that one windmill provides electricity for 400 households. In Spain, 10% of the power is created through windmills. The wind museum that we went to today had enough windmills to provide 12,000 houses with electricity. This is a lot. We saw tons of them when driving to the museum and once standing inside the museum. The instructor informed us how the windmill worked by showing us how the inside functioned in its original form and how it functions currently today. It takes a motor in the windmill to move it in the oppposite direction of the wind in order to recieve electricity. It was quite interesting.

Anywho, during some of the museum visit, I got to practice my spanish with Tamu. Everything in the museum was written in Spanish so I practiced reading it outloud in Spanish and translating it. Tamu filled when I needed the help.

After the museum visit we hopped on the bus and then got to a small village. We walked through it for sometime until we got to an Olive Oil museum. This museum was crazy. Let me explain. Firstly we were fortunate to get a tour from the the man himself who created the museum. He started off by telling us that he was going to give us a tour of all 10 rooms of the museum. After spending over an hour in the museum and only reaching the 2nd room, our professor told the guy to speed it up and that we didn´t have a lot of time. So we were saved to say the least. But to summarize it in full...we got a whole lof of information about OLVIE OIL. This guy was crazy about olive oil. I mean he knew everything there was to know about it. How it was made by the Arabs and Romans, how it is made now, the smells and the plants in which it comes from. The different types of oil, the many different forms that it could take (whether it be something you put on your bread, to hair oil, lotion, or soap). He knew everything and had a ginormous storage of oil. Then at the end he gave my professor a book on olive oil - which he had written- and then he showed us historical paintings he had done around the museum - of which he had placed himself in as well. tehehe. It was insane but fun.

After this museum we went to lunch. It took us near an hour to drive to this resturant which was not that good at all in my opinion. As a group, we sat outside to eat, but the bad thing was not only the menu..but it was the fact that there were so many bugs. Yup..thats right..the flies here are ridiculous. As soon as we got our food like 7 flies swarmed to our plates and started fighting and working together in order to take some of our food before we did. It was terrible. And naturally I freaked out. I was in such a bad mood I was about to throw my hands up and say "Ive had enough..Im out of here" or just move to an inside table by myself. But Tamu pulled me close and both of us took turns swinging at the flies while the other was trying to eat. Naturally I was a lot less calm however... (side note: today I was able to get a close up look at disgusting flies and I noticed that they rub their hands together while tasting whatever they are tasting. Yuck..disgusting little creatures. They look like little devils while they are tasting your skin or tasting your food for that matter. Thank God that fish were created. For those who don´t know..fish eat these flies among other insects)

After lunch was over we then headed to the Monesterio de Pierda (aka The Monestary of Stone) to do some hicking. This park as Tamu calls it..I just call it a really big forest with a ginormous rainfall..was soooo beautiful. I loved it because the paths were easy to walk on, there were places to sit and rest, and the scenery was just gorgeous. The coolest thing we got to do there was to walk under a waterfall. It was amazing. The waterfall was massive. Yeah we got somewhat wet, and it may have been freezing at times..but it was worth it. It was so cool. It was my first time being under one. We also got to go in caves as well. It was good stuff. Tamu thought it was the best park he had ever been to. After spending 2 hours there..our day was finally coming to an end. We hopped on the bus and headed back to the dorms. This time Tamu was knocked out sleeping while I was awake reminising on all our adventures thus far.

What a good way to end the day :)

Out to Wine Country

Today our group took a trip out to Spain´s wine country. It took about 2.5 hours to get there by bus from Zaragoza. Most people tend to sleep on those sorts of trips, but I spend the time reading.

Currently I have two books on my plate. One of them is for class; it is a history of the Mediterreanian. That book is not all that fun, but I you cant choose everythig you read. My other book is a lotmore fun. It is called ´Who´s Your City?´ It is a study of how regions and cities really organize themselves and we as people can choose which city is best for us to live in. Its really interesting. I don´t think I´ll be moving any time soon, since Vicky and I are planning on continueing our educations at Northeastern for a few more years.

Well, back to wine country. Wine is important to teh mediterreanian because it originated there and has been one of the stable foodstuffs for centuries. Other staples of the region are olives, chickpeas, cereals, nuts, fish, pork, and lamb. Prior to irrigation, hardly anything else could grow here.

Because of wines importance to the region and in order to learn about another aspect of water(as agricultural input), we went to a vinyard and were shown around. We watched movies abuot the process by which they cultivate the land and process the grapes. Then we saw the storage tanks, barrels and bottles, where the wines sits for months and years brewing to perfection. We also took tours of art exhibis that hadbeen set up to show off the company´s artwork used for labels.

I was thinking two things the whole time I was there. First was how everything we were being shown was completely manufactred for tourism and I found itodd that so many people must come through thatwine factory. I kept wondering waht it is about wine that make people so passionate. Noone would ever go visit a peach farm because they love peaches or an apple orchard because their just that interested in ciders. But here was this place where dozens of people come every day just to get a better understanding of the wines they drink. It was strange how well rehearsed our guide was. I assume she has given many of these tours. Especially since they had built seperate passageways for the worker and the tourists(so they won´t run into each other).

The second thing I pondered was how high tech food production has become in the developed world and how the processes here compared with a plce like Ghana. The farm I saw in Ghana could never even hope to compete with a Spanish firm. They just can´t afford the technology and wouldn´t be able to find an invester who could help them do so. The wine producer showed us the computers that automatically keep track of everything and run unaided by human hands keeping the wines within 1 degree of the target temperatures. it was crazy how efficietly everything ran on its own. If a problem ever would arise though... the computer would sound an alarm so that someone could walk over and fix it. Once every minute at continuously louder intervals.

After the winery, we stopped into a cathedral which was important during the middle ages to defend agaist French attacks and to push the Moors out of Spain. There was a priest there who was surprisingly knowledgeble about the building and its history.

We then ate at a magnificent restaurant. I had a tuna-stuffed-pasta and a pork steak, followed by a sort of cream stuffed pastry. Everything was great.

On the way home we were given a sort of guided tur of what used to be Europe´s only desert. Now adays it is a semi-arid terrain filled with farmland. We saw some pictures of what t used to be like before rrigation was introduced during this past century... and the difference is drastic.

That was all.

oh and i tried to upload pictures, but, i guess eveyone will have to wait because this internet cafe doesn´t have any way for me to do so.

peace and love

Finally found an Internet Cafe

We have been wondering the city looking for a place to connect with that throbbing mess of an interweb that I love so much. Well, Vicky and I finally have so we should have some post for you soon. We will tell you all about the roman ruins, the basilica at the center of Zaragoza and the hike through the Pirenes mountains. Keep checking in on our adventure and we´ll do our best to keep you posted.

Much love all.

and congrats to ty on graduating. I saw the pictures Irene sent, today and I´m sorry I missed it.

Hey peeps

Hey everyone!!!

I am soo sorry that it has taken us so long to send you an email, but contrary to what the professor of the trip told us, the internet cafe's are very hard to find in Zaragoza, Spain. So both Tamu and I were able to borrow someones computer and I am finally able to send you an email tell everyone that we are alive and well.

We miss you guys!! We arrived here in Spain around noon on Sunday the 6th. Since we have arrived our trip has been muy ocupada. Every day the professor has had our day scheduled out from 8:30am to 7:00pm. Here the days are very long. It doesn't start getting dark till 10:00pm here - its crazy, but cool. So everyday this week, Tamu and I have not had too much time to ourselves during the day. But so far the trip has been every enjoyable. The Country is beautiful, people are nice, temperatures are extremely hot, and the food - generally the "tapas" are very very good.

Anywho, we have to go. But, I love you guys, we love you! Hope all is well with everyone. Thank you for all your prayers. We will be sending postcards and trying to stay in touch as much as possible. Please keep us in your prayers as you all are in ours. Pray that God will continue to keep us safe and guide our foot steps. In about a week, we will be heading off to Turkey for more adventures....

Love Vicky and Tamu

Spain And Turkey Trip

All the Spain/Turkey posts are now on Tamu's blog, but, if you would rather read a dedicated blog for only the Mediterranean, here is the link to Vicky and I´s blog for our trip to Spain and Turkey:

http://tamuandvicky.blogspot.com/