ceramic kaleidoscopes...
silks...
and orange.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Dinner and Coffee
The food in Istanbul was fantastic. Kebabs, doners, and fresh seafood every evening. 
Turkish food kept our meat-a-saurus kids very happy.
And the seafood was straight off the boat.
Coffee shops with views of the Bosporus Strait.
And, of course, Turkish coffee. I describe it as jet fuel mixed with sawdust. Coffee was introduced to Turkey 450 years ago. It became an instant success. The Ottomans introduced it to Paris and London 100 years after they became hooked on it. But in their haste, their almost immediate addiction, they overlooked filtering it; your last mouthful is always an unusual blend of slime, grit, and charcoal.
Turkish food kept our meat-a-saurus kids very happy.
And the seafood was straight off the boat.
Coffee shops with views of the Bosporus Strait.
And, of course, Turkish coffee. I describe it as jet fuel mixed with sawdust. Coffee was introduced to Turkey 450 years ago. It became an instant success. The Ottomans introduced it to Paris and London 100 years after they became hooked on it. But in their haste, their almost immediate addiction, they overlooked filtering it; your last mouthful is always an unusual blend of slime, grit, and charcoal.
Monday, March 29, 2010
The Great Theatre
We spent a few days near Ephesus. 2100 years ago, the population was 250,000. The Great Theatre, below, was built around 280BC. It can seat 25,000 people and is still used today for culture and art festivals.
The short video clip, below, was taken during a few quiet moments when the 6 of us were in the theatre completely by ourselves.
The short video clip, below, was taken during a few quiet moments when the 6 of us were in the theatre completely by ourselves.The Grand Fortess
This is my brother-in-law George, standing at the base of Ayasoluk Hill in Selcuk, Turkey. The Grand Fortess is perched at the very top. I'm not completely sure who started building it or when, but the Ottomans used it as a lookout and stronghold for several centuries. 
It's been closed for 10 years because of "renovations." But we met a local who kept insisting that if we snuck in with him, in the evening, we wouldn't get in trouble. This is Edna making sure no one is watching us.
This is the view from the top.
This is Ali, our free-agent tour guide.
And here we are perched at the very top of the minaret that the muezzins used to call the faithful to prayer.
It's been closed for 10 years because of "renovations." But we met a local who kept insisting that if we snuck in with him, in the evening, we wouldn't get in trouble. This is Edna making sure no one is watching us.
This is the view from the top.
This is Ali, our free-agent tour guide.
And here we are perched at the very top of the minaret that the muezzins used to call the faithful to prayer.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Turkey: 2010
We just got back from Turkey. Another excellent trip. 
This is the Blue Mosque, downtown Istanbul.
Galata Tower: built in 528AD, it is one of the oldest structures in the world that still allows visitors.
The Bosporous Strait, viewed from the Galata Tower. Europe in the foreground, Asia in the background.
George and Tina came out to visit us for a week.
More pictures coming soon.
This is the Blue Mosque, downtown Istanbul.
Galata Tower: built in 528AD, it is one of the oldest structures in the world that still allows visitors.
The Bosporous Strait, viewed from the Galata Tower. Europe in the foreground, Asia in the background.
George and Tina came out to visit us for a week.
More pictures coming soon. Thursday, March 11, 2010
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Canada-stan Wins: Almaty News Report.
My "World Geography" students and I created an interactive scoreboard for the two weeks of the Olympics. We have about 46 different nationalities attending our school here in Almaty. All but Indonesia, Ecuador, Palestine, Venezuala, Turkmenistan, and Parador were represented.We updated the medal rankings every morning. I was getting a little nervous until the last 4 days when we (Canada) surged ahead.
Most of my students couldn't comprehend that I actually knew three of the torch bearers. But then I explained how few people live on Highway 16. That was even more puzzling for them.
Tubing at Ak Bulak!!
After 4 hours of skiing last Saturday, the kids still had some energy and they wanted to go Tubing! We watched a couple of times but today we tried it.The attendant tried to stop Dave and tell him that we could not go on the tubes wearing ski boots but Dave said, "Come on kids; just walk past him." The funny part is that there was a mom going on the tube with her son, and this is not an exaggeration, she had 3 inch tapered heels--that would be more of a weapon than the kids' ski boots. So past the attendent they went. He finally gave up--thank goodness; it was a long way down to the car to get their regular boots.
Cody is at the top of the hill and then this man and his kid are right behind Kyla--they just about hit each other a couple of times. Kyla was laughing so hard, we thought she might fall out. 
They had to pull the tubes up from the bottom of the hill but there was a tow-rope at the top. It was a rough day at the hill! Dave helped them pull up the tubes.
Dave's Birthday Celebrations!
The player I am, the smoker I get. No, wait. The more immature I am, the better I understand. Maybe...the more I know, the less I undersatnd. No, really; this time I got it: the older I get, the more I refuse to mature. The Mongol's Fort
Take a VERY close look at these images. This fort is located on the Ili River, about an hour and a half out of the city.
Believe 85% of what you hear, 75% of what you read, and 50% of what you see. This entire site is made of plastic and compressed cardboard. It's an abandoned movie set, out on the steppe. In 2004, one of my students' father built this set for the movie "Nomads." Filmed between here and Outer Mongolia, it's one of the first Kazakh films accepted by the industry.
Believe 85% of what you hear, 75% of what you read, and 50% of what you see. This entire site is made of plastic and compressed cardboard. It's an abandoned movie set, out on the steppe. In 2004, one of my students' father built this set for the movie "Nomads." Filmed between here and Outer Mongolia, it's one of the first Kazakh films accepted by the industry.
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