Monday, October 27, 2008

The View From 30-Something

So here I am, now a couple years into my thirties (I'm 32 now, by the way. No point in hiding it; the math and my mother don't lie) and honestly not noticing much of a difference from 31 or 30. The difference I do, however, notice - and thankfully, I might add - is the one between being 20-something vs. 30-something. This side of 29 feels some much calmer. As if a settling into myself has taken place. Gone is much of the self-questioning, the comparing myself to others, the frantic fuzziness that seems (in hind-sight) to have accompanied all my major decisions. I have a better idea of what I want, what I need, to be happy.

To celebrate another year on the planet, some friends of mine and I had dinner at Mikla. The only word to describe Mikla is fabulous. Fabulous views (the best in Istanbul, in my opinion), fabulous food, fabulous atmosphere, fabulous service, fabulous company. Absolutely fabulous all around. If you're ever in Istanbul, it is a must!

Sunday, I "ran" a 6k run - the Intercontinental Fun Run from Asia to Europe. Sigh. I wish I could say it was a stellar performance on my part or the weather's. I only ran about 4 of the 6 kilometers (good heavens Istanbul is hilly!) and it was a literal downpour the whole way. So while I ran across the finish line, I walked a good part of the way before that, and I crossed it almost soaked to the bone. But I'll tell you what, I felt like a serious bad-ass running across the finish line of an intercontinental race cold and sopping wet. Grrrrr!

Last night was Cumhuriyet Bayram (Turkish Independence Day) and they celebrated it like so many other countries - with a fireworks display. But a fireworks display the likes of which I have never seen before! It was a full scale, eight launch point (yes 8!), fully coordinated on both sides of the Bosphorus display that lasted for nearly 20 minutes. It was stunning!

I'm not going to be able to post pictures to my blog site for a while. Blogger.com was recently added to the list of websites blocked by the Turkish government so I can't access it from home. This happens periodically and means I have to write my entries from work for the time being, but that, in turn, means no pictures for a while. Sorry.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Run, Kellie, Run!

Next Sunday, I and some friends are running the Intercontinental 6k Fun Run. It starts on the Asian side and ends on the European side (hence the "intercontinental" part). The coolest thing about it? We get to run across one of the two bridges linking the two sides of Istanbul.

So of course I've been training - sort of. Given the semi-old-lady condition of my knees, I decided not to wear them out by training on concrete so I upped my time on the elliptical machine at the gym (I managed to do 7.75k in 35 minutes this morning! Not too shabby!). I have to admit, it feels damn good to have a training goal again. I've missed running.

http://www.istanbulmarathon.org/course.html

The bridge I'm running across (right side is Asia, left side is Europe)

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Ramadan

The last week of September was Ramazan Bayram - the celebration at the end of the month-long Ramadan. And it is a hard earned celebration; for practicing Muslims, it marks the end of the month-long, sunrise to sunset fast. During Ramadan, nothing can be consumed between sunrise and sunset so Muslims eat 2 large meals a day - one in the evening after sunset, called Iftar, and one in the morning before sunrise. As Ramadan is a floating holiday, it moves backwards through the months of year meaning, as it gets further and further from the winter months, the days of Ramadan get longer and longer.

In Istanbul, observing Ramadan is not as big of a deal as it is elsewhere in Turkey, or the rest of the Muslim world. Istanbul is very secular so restaruants and grocery stores were open during the day (though going to the grocery store at 5:oopm was to be avoided. Best leave that time to Istanbulites - seeminly every single one of them - shopping for the Iftar meal). As you can imagine, going 17 hours without food or water (the more devout Muslims don't even swallow their own spit) makes people rather cranky. Traffic was worse than usual (which is saying a lot) and tensions were high.

But Ramazan Bayram also meant an entire week off from work and provided the perfect opportunity for visitors. Jason came in from Oslo and we spent the week being tourists (strolling with the rest of Istanbul down Istikal Street) and being lazy.

Busy Istikal Street

We did make it to the Salvador Dali exhibit that is here in Istanbul through January 2009. Hosted by the Sabanci Art Museum, it is an extensive collection and follows his career from early works to working with Walt Disney to his return to the classics. Not only was the exhibit itself beautiful, but the grounds of the Sabanci Museum are stunning! The Sabancis are a power-house family in Turkey and the museum sits on the grounds of the old family mansion on the shore of the Bosphorus. There is also an incredible cafe on the muesum grounds that serves dishes like fried zucchini flowers stuffed with goat cheese and pine nuts and ginger and jasmine iced tea. Delicious!

We also spent a delightful afternoon wandering through Gulhane (Rose) Park, taking pictures and meandering through the various walk-ways. It was here we stumbled upon a tea garden with the most incredible view of the Bosphorus! So we stopped and warmed up with some strong turkish tea.

Saturday was a night of photography - an art studio down in Sultanahmeht is showcasing 3 photographers with ties to the Consulate. Several of us headed down to show our support and see some incredible photographs.

Kishor, Karen, and Jonathan enjoying at night of photography



All in all, a nice, relaxing week!


Kiz Kulesi (Maiden's Tower) from the Gulhane Park tea garden


A ship making its way through the Bosphorus to the Marmara Sea


Tea Time!