Thhaaaaaaat’s me!Skyping overseas turns me into a real beauty
-Tas
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Globe Jotter
~ Sunday, October 9 ~
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şelale//waterfall
08.10.11
Yesterday was the best. I love nature.
Sarah, Nick and I drove into the mountains that surround our city with our new Belgian friend Victoria. Victoria works here in Düzce at a hilariously awesome Belgian pajama company.
Turkey’s tallest waterfall, Guzeldere Şelalesi is just a few kilometers outside Düzce. On our way there we stopped at a primo-bird-watching spot, Efteni Lake. We climbed the bird-watching tower and Sarah swears she spotted an anaconda-esque snake.
The drive through the country was so peaceful (and beautiful). I weirdly felt like I was back in South Carolina, driving through the Smoky Mountains—which is what I call the mountains of Düzce too, because they are surrounded by smokey fog all the time—and stopping for honey at the stands on the roadside.
Even the path to the waterfall felt like one we would hike in Chimney Rock. The air was crisp, the sun was bright and the leaves were tinged with yellows&oranges—like the autumns I’m used to back at home. I was comforted by that. Fall is my favorite season, and fall in the mountains is the absolute best.
The waterfall wasn’t at its fullest force because it’s the end of summer, but it was still worth the trip. We scrambled over the rocks all around it and even waded in the chilly water.
We had a picnic of bread, figs, honey, chicken, cookies, tomatoes, fresh grapes from Victoria’s garden and my new favorite cheese (it taste like fresh extra-sharp white cheddar!).
I love Düzce more and more each day.
-Tas
1. the mountain drive
2. view from the bird-watching tower at Efteni Lake
3. stopping for honey
4. handmade signs
5. Me & the waterfall
(Source: postgradlife-tas)
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~ Sunday, September 11 ~
orange in ankara//turuncu ankaradan
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~ Saturday, September 10 ~
So, this looks amazing doesn’t it? “Çok güzel,” the man cooking it said to me.
Two hours ago (about 2 am), I’m on my way home from a night out in Ankara and I wanted a kebab-esque snack; I am in Turkey after all! My hungry eyes settled on a man wielding this large skewer of what is apparently called kokoreç. It looked succulent and flavorful and was exactly what I wanted.
Except after I ordered I stood there and watched him make it. And I slowly realized that this meat was suspiciously white on the inside. The same suspicious white of the sheep intestine I had to eat in Morocco after helping cook it wrapped in stomach fat.
I asked the Turkish guy my new friends were hanging out with if kokoreç had anything to do with stomach or intestines.
He said, “most definitely and it is çok güzel!”
It was NOT very good. I spent the next few minutes walking around offering kokoreç to those passing by and practicing my Turkish—telling everyone, “problem var.” (there is a problem).
Don’t get me wrong, there is amazing, amazing, amazing food here. But this was not a delicacy I wished to try again.
I ended up finishing it, though.
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~ Wednesday, August 31 ~
Why they almost didn’t let me through security
April 2010
I was going through customs in Dubai to get on my plane back to Prague when the customs official stopped me. He kept looking from me to my passport photo (top), bewildered and suspicious. That photo was taken in 2006, after an afternoon of playing lacrosse at the end of summer. I tan really quickly, and when I do I look like a different person. I was also not the most…put-together high-schooler.
The customs official just couldn’t believe that was me. He even went to get his buddy at another booth to figure out what to do. I eventually remembered that I had my czech visa (bottom) in my passport, which had a more recent photo of me taken in the dead of winter.
You should see the scans of my passport. You can’t even see my face, just the glint from my braces.
When the customs official finally let me go, he asked: “What’s your secret?”
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April 2010
My friend loves to tell the story of how I make a horrible lookout.
We were roaming the cliffs (so poetic, right?) of Cabo de Roca in Portugal, and suddenly the urge struck us. I really, really had to pee. My friend really, really had to poo. We found a picturesque spot and I went first. Then I stepped away so she could do her business, and got caught up with the stunning view of the ocean waves beating against the rock faces. I also happened to be looking in the opposite direction of the path.
People were approaching.
Whoops.
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~ Sunday, August 28 ~
Harry Potter, “jizz in my pants.”
Malia showed this to me and I CANNOT STOP LAUGHING. Instead of studying Turkish I am watching crap (i.e. awesomeness) like this. So many quality faces.
-Tas
I couldn’t not share this with you guys not following postgradlife. Best. Video. Ever.
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Yediburunlar Lighthouse, Turkey.
Tas, go here!
HOLY CRAP OK! i’m in love. Only six hours from Duzce! Thanks Katie :D
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[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
Tags:
Somalia
K'naan
This is a really powerful interview that NPR did with K’Naan on the famine in Somalia.
“I don’t think that we should speak about those kinds of numbers, because what it does is it turns off the part of the mind that probably transmits that information to the heart. I think we need to talk about this in ones and twos. It gets normalized in a way. And I feel that we’re not doing the people that are suffering any justice.”
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I told Ella that I enjoyed bluegrass. I made myself an Arnold Palmer at the honors café. I mention my car and my grandparents. I hang up my hammock outside. And to all these things, Ella...
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(by matutino!)
