A couple more photos from Bodrum

I like to lean back and stretch my legs out in front of me when I view this picture:This one is from Bodrum Castle. It was really quite an impressive structure with a rich history and many rooms. I think we spent almost 2 hours there.

Denizli, Pamukkale, and Bodrum

I went to Denizli to see a friend for the weekend. The city is famous for its roosters. The roosters are famous because they crow for maybe 20 seconds without stopping and sometimes pass out.
The city is also famous for Pamukkale, a touristic location with beautiful natural hot springs and pools.We spent a lot of time together but often had to deal with my friend's young niece, who apart from being totally adorable, always wanted to come along on our walks. We were not allowed to stay out late and as time passed in Denizli, we came to realize that what we really wanted was to be somewhere where no one would bother us and we could swim. So we took a bus to Bodrum.
I won't tell you exactly where we are, because like I say, we don't want to be bothered! But really, it's wonderful here. I will return to normal life in İstanbul in a couple days, but for now it will be a little more fun in the sun and mixed in with bouts of pure serenity.

The Cranberries

I saw the Cranberries last night and it rocked. They have ended their 7 year hiatus and many other people my age came to see them, for the first time.

A Long-Time Friend Stops By

I got to see B today. And I got to meet her brother. It was a real treat. It had just stopped raining when we met. We went to one of my favorite cafes in Kadıköy and then to Bağdat Caddesi for a light meal. I have many friends in İstanbul, all of whom I treasure. But it's really something when a friend whom I have known for such a long time and with whom I have so many connections, shows up in my city, in her country. I met her in the US 7 years ago. I surprise-visited her on my first ever trip to this country. Three years after that, I moved here. Now the irony is that she is moving to Canada, to the city where I was visiting when I decided to move here. Life is strange and it has called for us to trade places. So be it. We will enjoy afternoons together until that time comes.

A visit from a friend

Dilek, my friend from Van, and her mother came to İstanbul for a couple of days. Özlem and I visited with Dilek briefly when we were in Van, but we wanted to see her again while she was in İstanbul. We had dinner on the top floor of the biggest mall in Europe.

Something that did not occur to me at the time...

I did not notice this while I was at Mt. Nemrut in Adıyaman, but later, while reading about the mountain, I stumbled upon a reference to the mountain's Diablo II connection...

Since getting back

I went to Balıkesir with friends Kuthan and Ozan to visit Hazal and his family for a day. On the way down, we stopped in Bursa for İskender. Of course, it was really great. It was also really great to see Ozan again after a long time. At one point he asked me if I know Michael Hyde. Hyde! One of my best roommates of days passed. The two of them work at the same company back in Boston. I like these small world moments. For a moment I felt physically much closer to the friends and folks back home.It was good to see Hazal and his family again, if only briefly. His aunt and cousin, whom I had met last year, were there as well.Since returning from the East, I haven't seen too many of the folks I usually hang out with because I was sick and busy for a while. I played football once with the guys, but my performance was terrible. I wasn't yet fully recovered at that time, and so after the game I felt even worse. Anyway, I've been trying to reunite with the İstanbul crew. For the first time in a month or more, I met up with Pınar. We went to Caddebostan, bought some beer at the Migros, and sat in the shade of a tree near the water. Derya, Pelin, and Başak joined us for a bite to eat. Later, I went to a party at Özlem's. It was cool to meet her friends from work. I sat in a comfy chair and struggled to understand their gossiping. I have really learned patience with regard to this trying to understand Turkish thing.

In the evening I went to Taksim to watch the World Cup Final. I was dressed in orange, in support of Holland. I met some new friends who had plans to go together to a bar in Galata. When we got there, I stopped. The name of the bar was "Vente del Torro". The place was swarming with Spaniards. Granted, it was lively, but I really wished I could be around some Dutch supporters. For the second half, I went to the SumoCat Hostel nearby, hoping to find some orange. There were people from all over the world there, but for some reason they too were supporting Spain. I suppose the upside is that I was surrounded by happy people all night. I don't like this subject because I still feel bad about the result. However, I will say this:
Football resumes this week with Brøndby and Beşiktaş playing in the Europa League. About the same time as the start of the group stages of the Champions and Europa Leagues, the Euro qualifiers begin. Holland, Spain, Turkey, and the others, will all get to start over and fight for dominance and a chance to win the Euro 2012. So life goes on, is my point.

A few random pictures that tell it all

Two pictures from two Nemruts. The mountains really were the highlights of the trip for both myself and Özlem. She especially liked the Nemrut in Adıyaman (above), and I especially liked the Nemrut in Tatvan (below).
I never mentioned it here before, but just before the trip started, I saw a scene being filmed of one of my favorite Turkish tv shows, Adanalı. I was in a cafe minding my own business, when I looked out the window to see the familiar face of Oktay Kaynarca running by with a gun in hand. It was kind of surreal. So I took a picture, but I didn't bother anyone for conversation or autographs.
The best part though was after this scene was shot, a nearby cafe started playing "Fark Var" over their sound system. At that point I walked away toward the docks to catch my boat.

Nemrut 2: The sunrise and so forth

The sunrise at Nemrut Dağı is supposed to be the best in Turkey. It was pretty good, but Özlem and I liked sunset there a little better. Anyway, it was an amazing feeling to be at the top of mountain dotted with ancient sculptures and reliefs... at 5 in the morning.
My brother always does this pose when he is standing in a place of altitude and prominence. As a tribute to him, the Soul-Seeker:

A terrible article about the Suarez incident

Before continuing with pictures and stories from the East, I just have to rant about an article I read last week. The article can be found here. But I've copied it below for the sake of inserting my comments.

FIFA should have banned Suarez from World Cup

By JOHN LEICESTER (AP)

JOHANNESBURG — Yet again, blatant cheating in soccer is not being adequately punished.

Ok, you can't really cheat in soccer. It's like you can't really cheat in baseball, or basketball. In the end, a ref makes a decision. Now, you could make illegal deals and buy the results of a game in a gambling scheme. That could be called cheating. You could pay the other team to let you win, that's cheating.

Uruguay forward Luis Suarez escaped with a one-match suspension from FIFA on Saturday for deliberately using his hands to slap away what would have been a certain match-winning goal for Ghana.

A one-match suspension isn't exactly an escape. Uruguay will miss one of their best players in the semifinals of the World Cup. A win could take them to their first cup final in more than half a century. Also, the phrase "deliberately using his hands to slap away a certain match-winning goal for Ghana" seems to explain it all. What, are you going to try to deter someone from preventing a certain match-winning goal for the other team by whatever means necessary?

So he'll miss the semifinal. Suarez will be back, suspension served, for the final or the third-place match, depending on how Uruguay fares.

That's how it works.

That is so wrong. FIFA should have sent him packing from the World Cup, deterred cheats by making an example of this one.

FIFA has every right to do this. But deter cheats by making an example? I think with a World Cup suspension or one-game suspension, Suarez or anyone else in his position would do the same thing without a moment's hesitation. He is a national hero back home in Uruguay.

"Foot" and "ball." It couldn't be any simpler. You were calling it "soccer" a minute ago. The most basic rule is no handling by anyone other than the goalkeeper, and Suarez slapped it in the face.

I'm pretty sure Luis Alberto Suarez knows the rules of the game and that he was breaking them.

FIFA can draw up as many fair play codes as it likes, they will remain dead letters as long as cheats are allowed to prosper. Thierry Henry was allowed to escape scot-free for his double handball that led to France, instead of Ireland, playing at this World Cup. FIFA flaccidly argued that its disciplinary panel couldn't punish the French striker because the referee and his officials did not spot his cheating during the game.

Ok, this has absolutely NOTHING to do with the Suarez case or fair play codes. If the ref had SEEN the Henry handball, Henry would have been ejected and the goal that resulted would have been discounted. This would have left the two teams TIED which means that France might have gone on to win anyway, not necessarily Ireland. Do I hate Henry? Of course. But kicking the player out of the competition is a bit stupid. They might have qualified anyway! Introduce replay to soccer/football for goals. If the ball goes into the goal, while the players are busy celebrating and going nuts, have a ref watch it again to make sure it is legit. If they see a blatant handball in the replay, they can take appropriate action as far as ejections and free kicks. And later, FIFA can tack on more punishment if it sees fit.

If the ref somehow hadn't seen Suarez's crime, that would be a huge problem. Like the one in the France-Ireland game. But when do you kick the player out? How intention must the handball be? Players will always take one for the team, and you won't deter them from that. Have a ref watch a replay, have FIFA look at it on a case by case basis. But whatever FIFA decides, it is not going to deter anything. It will only serve justice.

FIFA doesn't have that excuse this time. Referee Olegario Benquerenca did his job in showing Suarez the red card. FIFA should have done its duty by suspending Suarez for Uruguay's last two games.

What if there were three more games? Suspend him for those? Suspend him for the tournament? As a player, he did the best thing he could do and it involved intentionally violating the rules. There are professional fouls in the game. This is when someone intentionally commits a foul (and often earns a yellow card) in order to pause the game and give the defense time to get back. Fouling is against the rules, but it is a tactic. Does this mean that you want to suspend every player who commits an intentional foul? Are you going to have FIFA review every foul to see if it was intentional enough? How many instances in other sports is fouling or violating other rules used as a tactic? Only ALL THE TIME.

"Cheating is easy, but brings no pleasure," says FIFA's fair play code. But that is not true. Suarez will still have the pleasure of playing another World Cup match — a pleasure he stole from Ghana's players.

I'm beginning to think that John Leicester (the author of this nonsense) placed a lot of money on Ghana to win this one. Also, Gyan's missed penalty kick is more to blame for Ghana's fate I think.

Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez's assertion that Suarez's action was a natural reflex is nonsense.

I completely agree. The handball was intentional.

Suarez knew what he was doing. He took a calculated risk. The teams were tied at 1-1. It was the last minute of the match. Dominic Adiyiah's header was goal-bound for Ghana. So Suarez lifted both arms and pushed it away. He didn't even try to use his head or chest. Looking at the replay, it seems as though he might have been able to block it with his head, were he quick enough. He knew that the punishment for handling would be a penalty for Ghana. But that had to be better for Uruguay than losing to a last-gasp goal.

And the gamble paid off when Ghana's penalty-taker Asamoah Gyan thumped the crossbar with his shot. Suarez pumped his fists in celebration.

I think I would have pumped my fists, too. And breathed the biggest sigh of relief in the history of sighs of relief everywhere ever. I would have kissed the nearest decent-looking girl. I would have called everyone in my family. Then I would have bought a lottery ticket. Then I would have started shaking my booty like Shenaynay...

"I think I made the best save of the World Cup," he said afterward, tickled pink with himself.

Not my choice of words. I would say that he was happy with himself. His comment is kinda funny/ironic though right? Are you mad that he is happy about it? Wouldn't anyone be? I get it; you think he should be feeling regret about what he did. And you think that somehow FIFA can deliver to him that regret. Nonsense.

It would be wrong in the wake of Suarez's dishonesty to push FIFA for changes to the laws of the game so that referees could award goals that are illegally and deliberately blocked, even if they don't cross the line. Basketball awards points for such eventualities, punishing teams for swatting away a ball that is already starting to go in. Ice hockey also allows umpires to declare in certain cases that a goalward-bound shot was a goal, even if the puck did not go in.

If only soccer was like these other games!!!! In soccer, you can goal-tend... and defenders stop goals all the time. Defenders commit handballs all the time. The combination of the two is a little rarer, but it happens.

Asking similar of soccer referees is not the answer. They are already struggling to keep pace with all the action in the fast modern game. Asking them to also judge whether a goal would or would not have gone in had X, Y, or Z happened, or not happened, will guarantee bad calls. Instantly calculating ball trajectories and whether a hand stopped it from hitting the net is a job for technologies like Hawk-Eye, not overworked referees.

Agreed. Hawk-Eye technology is ready for the sport and should be implemented ASAP.

A better solution is deterrence. WHAT???? Come down harder on cheats. Ruin the rest of Suarez's World Cup like he ruined it for the Ghanaians and the millions of Africans who thought Adiyiah's header was about to carry them to the first semifinal for an African team.

At this point, you can't ruin Suarez's World Cup. Sorry.

Suarez said being sent off "was worth it."

Yeah, no shit. And it would have been worth it even if he was suspended the rest of the tournament.

FIFA could have proved him wrong. Instead, it proved him right.

The only way they could have "proved him wrong" would be to suspend him AND make the goal count. That would deter anyone. But then you have to analyze each case to see if it was intentional or whatnot. Soccer, unlike say, American Football, is generally against adding lots of new complicated rules. It's a simple game and that's what makes it beautiful.

In conclusion, I would like to say that FIFA could have suspended Suarez how they wanted. Would I be upset if he was knocked out of the rest of the tournament? No. But don't do it thinking that it will deter anything. Is "cheating" a rampant problem in soccer? No. Is Leicester a little bitter? Yes.

Özlem watching the sunset at Nemrut

Moments from the East

There were so many moments that I would like to take more time to describe.

In Van, Özlem and I had a tradition Van-style breakfast. For this, we met up with Dilek, whom I had met last year when I was in Van. She was the same goodhearted, go-with-the-flow woman I remembered from last August. The breakfast was awesome of course. The owner of the place was visiting each table and cracking jokes. I thought this is an excellent place for someone trying to wake up in the morning.
THE TRIP TO MALATYA

After Van, we headed for Malatya. A bus ride that I thought was going to be eternal was helped greatly by the fact that they had a tv on board and two world cup games were on. Again, there were so many moments. When the bus left, I handed the woman behind me some tissues. He entire family was waving goodbye to her. She was just home for a wedding and relatives from at least 3 generations were crying and waving to her. She was also crying, but it was a happy thing.

THE MEMORABLE NIGHT WALK IN MALATYA
We were in Malatya and it was night, but I did not feel tired. At midnight, I went for a walk. For an hour or so I walked and walked. What a green city, this Malatya. As I walked, I created a map of the area in my head, noting apricot stores and other shops I wanted to visit the next day. At one point, I heard some live music. Life is an adventure, I thought, so I followed the sounds until I came to the entrance of the place. I had a relaxing time listening to the music and drinking a beer.

NEMRUT 2: THE MOUNTAIN
Özlem and I spent the following day arranging a trip to Nemrut Mountain in Adıyaman. We heard of two tour guides, Kemal and Ramazan. As we walked toward the place to meet them, I suddenly slowed my pace and turned to Özlem. "I think I know Ramazan," I said. She looked at me bewildered. I could hardly believe it myself, but I remembered meeting a Malatyan tour guide last year while I was in Urfa at the end of my previous trip to the east. Was it the same guy? When we met up, I realized... it was him! We could hardly believe it. We arranged a tour through him to Nemrut and left on a 3 hour bus ride through the mountains of northern Adıyaman.

Nemrut is famous for ancient statues on the summit that guard a 2000 year-old tomb. It is also known as the best place in Turkey to watch the sunrise. We arrived and watched the sunset with plans to wake up at 4 the following morning and see this much talked-about sunrise.