Happy Holidays

Jocund

[jok-uhnd, joh-kuhnd]

cheerful; merry; blithe; festive

Just a quick post to say Happy Holidays to all! It's very nearly Christmas and my house is definitely all bedecked in Christmas cheer. In true southern California style, the weather is decidedly not Christmasy, with an expected high of 74 degrees on the day itself. But still, there is snow in the mountains and it's rather nice to be able to take long, sunny hikes in the end of December (which I did just the other day, with no coat).

So to wish everyone a little holiday cheer here are some pictures from mi casa.

The stockings were hung on the mantle with care...

So many Christmas cookies!

My mom's Santa(s).

And finally our Christmas tree!

And now I'm off to bake some peanut butter triple chocolate cookies. So good.

The Manic MFA

Fractious

[FRAK-shuhs] adjective

1. Tending to cause trouble. Unruly.

So, I'm currently knee-deep in MFA in Creative Writing apps and am truly and utterly done with the whole thing. And not done as in "yay! I've finished them all, I'm done!" but done as in I "F@#$! you grad apps, I hate you. I'm done!" sort of way. But I'm 8 for 15, so I am past that half way point. So that's gotta count for something. Right????

I just feel very much like this when I'm working on apps:

I drew that! You know, instead of working on my applications (in my defense I am turning them in WAY before the deadlines), I've been playing around on my sister's new tablet. Yus, that's right, she got a fancy-schmancy tablet as an (early) Christmas present. And it's so cool. But that picture above is me when I'm in application-land. Only more melodramatic and manic. I wanted my word for this post to be manic or something similar to it, but manic seemed too easy and I couldn't find a proper synonym for it. Fractious works though too.

In this whole process, I just wish there was some sort of common app or something. I've got 3 writing samples of different lengths, about 8 drastically different statement of purposes, 2 teaching statements, 2 expository papers (10 and 15 pages), an autobiographical sketch, a personal history statement, 3 diversity statements, 4 different GPA calculations and so many other things. That's not to mention that schools require different numbers of transcripts, copies of letters of recs, additional forms, mailed applications, etc. etc.

On the upside? I've met some really amazing writers through online writing/MFA communities and they've really helped with this whole process. I got so many insightful edits from complete strangers (as well as some good 'ole friends) and have seen examples of successful writing samples, SOPs, etc. And HOPEFULLY the upside is also I get into a program and get some nice funds too, so at least I know what the next 3-ish years of my life is looking like.

And whenever I turn in an application I feel like this:

It's me! This sketch is taken from a photo of me during the HP7 Part 1 midnight premiere.

Manic, enthused, way too excited. 8/15--I'll be done soon!

A pIcture is worth a thousand words.

Prolix

[proh-liks, proh-liks] adjective

1. extended to great, unnecessary, or tedious length; long and wordy.

Prolix pretty much sums me up completely. Like seriously. I was that geek in college who adjusted margins so that my papers were shorter (ok not always, but often enough). On this essay exam I took in Lancaster, England I only stopped writing because I ran out of paper. And the booklet I was given was meant for 2 essays and I only had to write one. And I used all of that paper in half the alloted time (actually less than half). So yeah, me=prolix. Notice the "or" in the above definition though, ie. great length OR unnecessary length OR tedious length. I'd like to think my verbosity is usually great, but I gotta admit it's probably unnecessary quite frequently. Case in point: one story that I'm (gasp!) submitting as part of my MFA in CW writing sample started as a 22 page monster. Now it's around 13 and is SO much better for it. But I do hope my writing is rarely tedious.

One thing that wasn't prolix? My bio thesis on the possible ramifications of incorporating positive species interactions in coral reef restoration (yeah, yeah it's title was prolix...). That monster clocked in at just under 7 pages I think. So, there, I can be concise. I just choose not to. Because I'm lazy. And yeah, writing more is my version of lazy. I never said I was sane.

This is probably why I could never really be a poet though. When I write a poem they have to be about one very specific, very small thing, a simple idea, an emotion, one small scenario. Anything more and it turns into something way too long to be a poem (not that poems can't be long, but I really don't want to write an epic "Song of Myself" type piece). This is also why the idea of the "short" story (as compared to a novel) makes me uneasy. I'm really good at expanding ideas and not so good at containing them.

Interestingly enough my current "novel" (read: one day maybe potential novel length work) originally came to me when I was asked to write a 3 page vignette. Yes, that's right, I thought my potential novel length WIP could be 3 pages. It's currently around 70-ish and it feels like I've barely scratched the surface.

But I'm smart like that.

Scratch that, I'm prolix like that.

But, it's photo Friday! So like a true prolix word-queen, I word-ed up some pictures. I really was just playing around because I like fooling with photoshop sometimes. I'm so far from an expert at photoshop it's laughable (as you can tell by my work below), but it's fun sometimes.

Hey look it's me! In Florence. I really dig this picture; I think I look good, Florence looks good and Miss Disdainbrook and I had a totally fab time traipsing around Florence. I also like that my smile is wonky/lopsided. So the text is a poem by Robert Browning (NOT BY ME) called "Old Pictures in Florence".

A picture of the beach by moi and the text is actually mine as well. It's part of the ending of a story called "Rescue" which takes place entirely at a beach.

The Mighty Galapagos Sea Lion

Roister

\ROY-stur\ , intransitive verb;

1. to engage in boisterous merrymaking; to revel; to carouse

2. to bluster; to swagger

So I'm back on the blog-wagon and I am determined to keep this thing at least semi-up to date. My life is not so interesting now that I am back in California. I'm mainly enjoying spending time with family and freaking out about grad schools (more of that to come in later posts).

But for now I want to introduce Photo Phridays... no Foto Fridays? Photo Fridays?

I have such a large gallery of really neat photos that I'd like to share somewhere, so I thought this would be as good a place as any.

So today I bring you the Galapagos Sea Lion, from the small island of San Cristobal, where I lived and studied for about 4 months.

The word roister is really apt for these creatures. They are incredibly playful, expressive, loud and they do have a sort of swagger to them.

Two baby sea lions, with a female swimming in the back.

This would be me, conversing with a juvenile.

A sea lion pup being dramatic and woebegone . That or he's posing.

I love this picture because the sea lion looks so out of place, like she's living in a grassland or something. But really there is some ocean just a few steps away.

A female, full grown sea lion.

That big bulky blob in the water? That's the alpha male. Notice how much larger he is than the females.

Some interesting facts about the Galapagos Sea Lion.

-They are closely related to the California Sea Lion but are considered a separate species.

-The IUCN declared them Endangered in 2008, though population data is pretty limited.

-To tell the difference between a sea lion and a seal look at the head. If there are ear flaps it's a sea lion, if not, it's a seal. Also sea lions have a rotating pelvis, so they can "walk" on land much easier than a seal.

-To tell male from female look for a slight bump on the crown of the male's head. If it's an alpha male this bump will be large.

-In Ecuador they call the sea lion, los lobos marinos, or lobos for short. In English that translate to sea wolves.

Izmir

Maunder

\MON-duhr\

To wander aimlessly.

Okay, so I'm jetting back in time a bit to talk about traveling to Izmir which happened...about 3 weeks ago or so. Oops.

Izmir was actually a little tricky to get to from Foca. I took a bus, then a really long metro, then another metro. Even though it only takes about 45 minutes by car it took me almost 2 hours. Because you know, there's a lot of waiting time involved in public transit. But I had my ipod (which I've know lost!, I'm so sad) so the trip was peaceful.

After wandering around looking for a map and trying to find 2 tourist informations (which turned out to actually be complete fabrications, the only tourist info center is eons away at the airport), I decided just to wander around the coast, which was beautiful.

Izmir is the third largest city in Turkey and is a coastal city.

Today it's most well known for its clock tower, which has become the symbol of the city. It is in Konak Square (the main city square) and was built in 1901 as a gift from Sultan Abdulhamid.

Having no map, and no real sense where anything was, I just wandered around, enjoying the ocean air and keeping cool with some delicious vanilla/chocolate/strawberry ice cream. I found Kemer Alta, which is a big shopping district, with everything from street vendors selling cheap knock offs, to high end stores with legitimate name brand stuff. I didn't need to buy anything, so I just window shopped, but the whole vibe there was really great. It was super bustling and lively, with all sorts of people.

Other than walking a lot in the city center, I didn't do much else. I found a cute restaurant and ate outside by the water and did some reading. I had this very good albeit a little strange "mushroom crepe" which was more like a inverted fluffy pizza or something. But still, delish.

A skeleton-like hull of a ship? It was pretty cool looking though.

Right by the clock tower in Konak Square.

Apparently a ship sank and I think they were dealing with some oil clean-up issues because of it.

Frolicking in Foca

Empyrean

\em-py-REE-uhn; -PEER-ee-\

The highest heaven; in ancient belief usually thought to be pure fire or light. Paradise.

So I’ve spent most of the last week in Foca, which is about 7-8 hours south of Istanbul, along the coast in Western Turkey. It’s a small fishing village that’s popular among vacationers and retirees. I thought it was absolutely charming and had such a great time here.

Some days I spent the majority of my time at the beach. The beach here isn’t really sandy, more pebbly and rocky and there aren’t really waves, but the water was clear, bright blue and just the right temperature. So all day I would basically swim, sun bathe, fall asleep in the shade and read. So relaxing.

What a view, right?

At the beach I met some people. I met Aylin’s brother’s wife’s friend, who was an English teacher. She was super sweet and told me how to get to Izmir and helped me communicate with Aylin’s parents, who I’m staying with. We talked about all sorts of things and it was interesting to hear her perspective on the US, foreign countries and Turkey. For instance, she said she went to England and stayed with a friend of a friend who was a psychiatrist (so an educated dude). And he was convinced that all women in Turkey wore headscarves and emphatically told her that she had just taken hers off while she was in England. He wouldn’t believe her that she normally didn’t wear one. Though some women here definitely do wear headscarves, I’d say more than half don’t. Certainly no one in Kemer Country (the neighborhood where the Ozadams, my family, lives) does.

I also met one of Aylin’s old school friends, and her two kids who were lovely. I definitely helped them build a sand castle and talked about creative writing to the eldest, who was 9.

Foca the city is absolutely gorgeous. It’s small, not too touristy and has this great Mediterranean vibe to it. It’s name is derived from Fok (sp?) which means seal in Turkish. It’s home to the endangered Mediterranean Monk seal. Although sadly I didn’t see any because they are pretty scared of people and hide.

I spent a few days wandering around the city center, which is small, but along the ocean and absolutely packed with cool things to see.

Some of the really cute architecture of the houses.

Here are some of the cool things I saw.

The Rampart and Beskapilar (Five Gates) was part of the boathouse section of an Ottoman period castle. They aren’t quite sure how far back it dates, but it was restored back in 1538-1539 and then again in 1983.

Fatih Mosque: the most important Turkish building in Foca. It was constructed under Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror who (unsurprisingly) conquered Foca in 1531. It was redone by Sultan Suleyman the Magnificant in 1569. Not sure who this dude was (other than the sultan), but he seems to pop up a lot in the history here, and judging by his name, I’d say he did some pretty cool stuff. Sadly my pic of this didn't turn out.

The Open Air Temple: dates to around 580s BC and has statues and relics of Goddess Cybele in five niches around it. The temple of Athena is also situated in this temple.

Lover’s Road: I can’t find the origin of this walkway but it connect the Five Gates and the Open Air Temple and is right on the ocean. It is such a wonderful place to walk.

Travels

Propitious

[pruh-pish-uhs]

Presenting favorable conditions; favorable (a little redundant there dictionary.com)

So this last Tuesday my Turkish family headed towards Tampa Florida, which means I get 11 days off! So midnight on Tuesday I caught a midnight bus to Izmir. Aylin’s parents were so kind and said I could stay with them for a week in this little fishing village outside of Izmir called Foca. The plan for the trip couldn’t have been any easier; the family’s driver would drive me to the bus stop in Istanbul, then I would hop on the bus and get picked up by Aylin’s parents at the bus stop. Easy right?

Well it sure sounded that way…

Ok so I forgot to take any photos on the trip, so this is from the internet (http://0.tqn.com/w/experts/Turkey-207/2009/09/bus-trip-kusadasi.jpg) and isn't exactly what my bus looked like. But it's pretty close. Swanky isn't it?

I was supposed to arrive to Izmir at 8:30, but there were other stops along the way. So when we arrived to this whole in the wall gas station at 8:00 I figured this wasn’t my stop. Because Izmir is the third largest city in Turkey; I figured the Izmir stop would be at some big bus station like in Istanbul. So I stayed on the bus, but eventually the driver came up to me and was like, “Izmir?” and I nodded and he told me that this stop was Izmir. A little weird, but whatever.

So I got off the bus, got my bag and some guy told me I had to take a free shuttle to Izmir. I tried to say no, that someone was supposed to pick me up at the bus stop, but they shook there heads and some guy said “no, no one stays here”. So one of the helper guys grabbed my bag and pointed and started running towards the shuttle. So I had no choice but to follow him.

So I got on the free shuttle, awkwardly sat down and the driver asked, “where to?”. I said Izmir, at the bus stop, and he looked at me a little confused, but luckily someone on the bus spoke English and all seemed to be all right. So I just hoped this was what I was supposed to be doing. It was also now that I realized I didn’t have the phone number of Aylin’s parents and I had forgotten their names….

I get off the bus with the guy who speaks English and I ask him if the bus station is close. Then he tells me there is no bus station, that this is Izmir’s biggest hotel. So I’m thinking, gee great, I’m lost in a city I know nothing about, in who knows what area of the city. But then the guy points to this travel agency and says, “go stand there, they’ll pick you up there.” So I’m standing in the middle of nowhere outside of this tiny travel agency and it’s like 8:45. So I’m pretty positive all hope is lost and I’m going have to try to find a cheap hotel for the night or something. So I wander back towards the guy who speaks English and say, “Uh, what am I supposed to do?”. I’m sure he was thinking I was a stupid American, but he smiled and told me that Aylin’s parents (he said their names) were coming to pick me up right here. Apparently they had called the bus station or something.

Well, phew. And sure enough within a couple of minutes they drove up and we exchanged awkward hellos (they don’t speak really any English) and they drove me to Foca.

Why is my Foca picture so much smaller than my ugly bus picture. Well that's a very good question and only blogger has the answer. :(

A Brief Tour

Peregrination

[per-i-gruh-ney-shuhn]

To travel from one place to another, especially on foot

Well this post is long in coming...I've been meaning to do it for ages. Uh, sorry this took so long, Dad. :)

So let me take you on a metaphoric walk around the family's house here in Istanbul.

Let's start in my room....

That's Turkish Monopoly on the floor--the kids and I had just played. But this is it in its normal state: a little messy. But you should see it right now! Gulizar just cleaned it and it looks ridiculously clean. The missing wall here has a really nice book case in it, with some English and some Turkish books. I like it.

Next stop...the area right outside my room. Like a family room, I guess.

The couches are super comfy and face towards a TV. They have a projection screen too, but we can only use it at night because it's too bright during the day. Outside of this room is the "garden" (the backyard) I posted pics of earlier. It's small but has a very nice view.

So if we walk up the stairs to what I call the main floor (it's the floor you walk in on if you go through the front door) you get to the kitchen and the living room...

Very elegant and ornate. There's even a tv hidden in what looks like a mirror. It's a mirror, with a fancy gold gilded frame, but then if you press on on the remote it's a tv screen. Pretty cool. There's Dilara's piano in the background. I tried playing it but it sounded wonky and off tune, but somehow it sounds beautiful when she plays (I suppose, it's a testament to my piano skills!)

This is the mantle in the living room--you can see some of the Muslim influence here. Really pretty.

And then if you walk up the stairs again, that's where the kids' rooms are and such. No pics, because that's weird. But I did take a picture from the top of the twisting wood staircase....

And that's about it. There's a dining room next to the living room that has a nice view but I couldn't get a good photo of it because the sun was too bright. Plus the kitchen, but that's pretty standard.

So I guess I'm signing out for now!

And Tomorrow it Ends

Rara avis

\RAIR-uh-AY-vis\

A rare or unique person or thing.

June 13th in Turkey. June 15th most other places. Yup, that's right, it's the day the last HP movies comes out. I'm foregoing the midnight showing here (because it would have been essentially impossible) but am seeing the movie at 9 pm tomorrow (the 14th). A little bummed about missing the midnight showing, but okay with it considering I'm seeing it 13 hours before I would if I were home. Yup, that's right, 13 HOURS!

But I thought the end of such a fantastic series deserved a little mention. Sure the last book was a MUCH bigger deal. But my panic that the last book was coming out was slightly assuaged by the fact that there were still movies to come. Because seeing it is different than reading it. Albeit, almost always worse than reading it, but powerful in it's own way. And I'll be the first to admit the movies aren't perfect. I think Steve Klove's work on the screen play hasn't ever fully captured the true magic of the stories (or even come close) and Michael Gambdon's Dumbledore lacks the warmth and charm of Rowling's version. But I also think the movies are...well, truly wonderful. The trio is great, Radcliffe grew up into a gifted actor and some of the scenes will really stick with me: Harry bringing Cedric back from the graveyard and his dad yelling "my boy, my boy", Harry being possessed in OotP in the Ministry, Snape yelling "don't call me a coward" in HBP, Hedwig and Dobby dying in Part 1 of DH.

So the movies are important, and are part of this wonderful series. Which means, this is the end of an era. And really feels like a big end to my childhood. Sure I've been an adult for awhile, technically, but being in college still felt a bit like being a kid. I graduate high school, the last HP book comes out, I graduate college and the last movie comes out. The End. Appropriate, but also frightening.

And, well...Harry Potter has been a big part of my life. When I was 9 or 10, I read the first book and essentially grew up with Harry. I remember reading the graveyard scene alone in my sister's room at night and being scared half to death, and trying to stop crying so I could continue reading when Sirius died. All the waiting for new books and midnight premieres and staying up 'til 6 am reading and re-reading and theorizing was such a big and wonderful part of growing up for me. So, Harry Potter just feels like home and always will. Like JK said during her speech at the London premiere, Hogwarts is home. And it will continue to be home as long as people remember it...but in a different way now that everything is done.

So really, what I'd just like to say is thank you, JK Rowling for being so fantastic and changing my life in the best of ways.

Let's hope this last movie is everything we want it to be.

A Rudimentary Routine

Winsome

[WIN-suhm]

Cheerful, merry, gay, light-hearted.

Well I've been meaning to update for ages now. Just haven't gotten to it somehow. Oops. Things here have been pretty same ole, same ole. I think I've settled into a routine of sorts, if you can count every day being a bit different being a routine. Because sometimes the kids have friends over, or sometimes we go to the pool, or they have extra practice or less practice, or we go out to dinner, or to a park. So some days I have a lot of free time (like today!) and other days not so much. But I'm just rolling with it.

Sundays though are always my day off and so far Brandon and I have had some very nice Sundays.

By far my favorite part of Istanbul is the Bosphorous (surprise, surprise, right?) There's just something about bodies of water that puts me at peace, especially the ocean. So even though it's smack did in the middle of the hustle and bustle of a very, very large city it still strikes me as calm. And gorgeous. And ocean breezy (kinda).

The last two weekends we went to Taksim Square, which is this busy, store filled square/street, that's mostly really cute. There are even old fashioned metro cars, which I liked a lot.

But then, it's also packed with Burger Kings and McDonalds (but mostly Burger Kings). Brandon and I went to a Starbucks and man, was that carmel frapp delicious. Sometimes I just have to have some expensive coffee!

And in Taksim two weekends ago we got a very wonderful surprise. We ran into this enormous gay pride parade. Apparently it was celebrating gay pride week and was the end celebration for the week. It was so great to see. Especially because Istanbul is becoming more and more liberal in that regard--it was nice to see all the support!

Last weekend, Brandon and I decided to hop on a 3.5 TL ferry to the Princes' Islands. Which was basically the best choice we could have made. It was by far my favorite thing I've done here. Just being on the boat, in the sun and the breeze, surrounded by ocean, with Asia on one side and Europe on the other, felt so perfect. One of those moments that makes you think, this is what traveling is about, this is what living is about.

So after about an hour and a half we hopped off the ferry and started exploring Heybeliada, the third island. It reminded me a bit of the Galapagos-it was small and cute, with hole in the wall grocery stores and lots of tourists. No cars are allowed on the islands, so it really has a very different feel than Istanbul which is all traffic and craziness. You can even hop on a horse drawn carriage and it will take you around the island.

So we walked around the island for a bit, grabbed a cold beer and went (maybe snuck in?) to a "beach". I use beach in the loosest term of the word. It felt more like a hotel resort pool or something. I mean, there was sand...just not much of it. And a lot of beach chairs and things to lounge on. But still we put our toes in the water and enjoyed lying by the water for a bit.

Then we had to go back for a beautiful night-ish ferry ride. We didn't check what time the ferries came and went, so we ended up having to wait for one to come for like 50 minutes. Which would have been ok, but we had a bus we needed to catch (which we also didn't know the times of). I tend to not have such great luck in such matters, so I was way worried we'd miss the last bus. Especially because, with my sense of direction, I had no real idea how to get back to the bus stop. But all was well and we made it back to the bus ok. In the meantime we got to enjoy a beautiful night time ferry ride.

So all in all the last two weeks have passed rather quickly. I can't believe today is already Friday and in just a day I'll have another Sunday off!

An Update in 10 Photos

Breviloquence

Bre*vil"o*quence

A brief mode of speaking.

So I haven't updated in awhile. But I have a semi-legitimate excuse. I've been busy and with my free time I've been writing (curse you MFA writing sample!). And by writing I mean staring at my computer screen, pacing around my room and cursing. But I have made some progress.

So instead of a long winded post that brings you all up to date with my oh so fascinating life (I kid, I kid) I thought I would just bring you a post through pictures. And yes, there will be ducks

A typical Turkish breakfast. Cake, coffee, tee, watermelon, peaches from Firat's garden, cheeses, olives, tomatoes in olive oil and eggs. The housekeeper,( no idea how to spell her name but is sounds like Goo-lee-zar) set everything on the table to be brought outside to the garden so we could eat outside. Lovely.

I found ducklings! Underneath this beautiful weeping willow tree.

I've always loved the grungier side of cities. This is taken from a street we walked down in downtown Istanbul.

We ran into a pigeon lady. LOVE.

How beautiful are these handpainted bowls? We ran into this fabulous mini bazar. It was just a street but there were so many pretty and colorful things! Bowls, plates, crystal hanging lamps and even felted hats!

The buildings here are so bright and refreshing. It makes me so cheery.

Topkapi Palace. And me. And a fountain. (Just in case you couldn't tell)

Hagia Sophia

The famous Bosphorous. Hey look, it's Asia! (On the other side)

While Barkan plays tennis, I spend my mornings laying out by this pool. It's beyond beautiful. There's a main swimming part, and two bridges. If you swim under one you find this narrow little waterway that overlooks tennis courts. If you swim under the other, it opens up to a smaller main pool area, that is surrounded by forest. So peaceful.