dad and i somehow managed to get to the cairo airport on tuesday amidst "unprecedented" demonstrations by egyptians who turned out to voice their frustration with the longtime president mubarak. (one egyptian we spoke to, when we asked what about egypt makes him proud and what makes him ashamed said: "easy! fantastic, amazing people. horrible government.") such numbers were able to make it out to the streets because it was a national holiday celebrating the day when egyptian police forces joined the military in the fight against israelis over the sinai peninsula. it took us longer than we hoped to get to the airport, but we made it on time. here is a link to an article about the demonstrations across cairo, which escallated yesterday: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12289475
so now i'm in amman, but i don't get to enjoy my new home because i've been sick in bed for the past two days!! dad has ditched me to visit the dead sea (which i will luckily get to do later with my program) and i'm taking the opportunity to catch up on some reading and apply for some summer internships and watch the news.
based on what i've seen between the drive from the airport and the window from our hotel room, amman reminds me in some ways of the bay area. some of the architecture is surprisingly similar (though the buildings here are made from limestone, something you definitely don't see at home), and there are hills galore (24 in amman, i think) with well-paved roads barreling up and down them. the january weather here is almost exactly like home, though a bit more dry and less foggy. it definitely suits me better than cairo, insofar as the pace seems markedly more relaxed (understandable, when the city of cairo has 4-5 times the population of the entire country of jordan). the traffic flows easily, the streets seem more enjoyable to walk around on. and, as our cab driver from the airport assured us, it is safe to walk down any street, any time day or night. the infrastructure is much much better, indicating a government that is more responsible towards its people. (the same egyptian man who told us he was very unhappy with his government gave us an example: the main tourist road that you have to take to get to the giza pyramids is horribly cared for, with potholes everywhere. well, just about 10 million tourists visit egypt each year, with most of them visiting the pyramids, and the government hasn't bothered to repave to road that each of them must drive on.)
so, once i get out there and actually see more of the city, i'll have more to share! but for now, i'm going to take a nap.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
sad news, glad news
so, here's the sitch:
for those of you who don't find a newspaper to be of use, things are happening here in the mideast. hezbollah is none too pleased with the way proceedings regarding the 2005 assassination of former lebanese PM hariri have been going. many ministers in the party simultaneously resigned, essentially causing the government to collapse. all this doesn't bode too well for travelers like my dad and i, and at the advice of my friend kevin (who goes to mac and is 1/2 lebanese), we have decided to change our travel plans.
so no more beirut (SAD), but amman tomorrow (GLAD!!!!!!!!!!)
i am excited to finally be close to my study abroad destination, and to get acquainted to the city. i am also excited to see what the political climate is like there in reaction to the wave of protests in the arab world. there was a massive peaceful demonstration the other day in jordan, as people grow increasingly frustrated with a poor economic climate (i'm sensing a theme here...) and some absolute powers that the king enjoys. king abdullah II is responding, calling meetings with representatives of varying viewpoints and reaching out to the public. i am glad this is the case, but i wonder if this will be enough for the jordanian people.
also, i have to say that i won't be too sad to leave cairo (where i sit writing this!). i'm finding it to be really inaccessible and pretty intimidating as a city. it is ginormous (20+ million, and growing by a million every year, which excites the geographer in me) and busy all the time. there is an unrelentless cacophony of car horns (being in a car in cairo is an experience that i don't wish to repeat) and frankly it is terrifying to cross to street. but the nile is really beautiful (also it's the NILE. i am in EGYPT. i am in AFRICA. how cool is that?!?) and the people that i've met are really nice and honest.
we went to giza, and i have to say, well done hollywood! i feel duped. all the movies portray the pyramids as being totally isolated in the desert. not so! you can see the city of giza (which is a BIG city) very well from the pyramids. pyramids had to be constructed right at the edge of the desert where it meets up with the floodplain; they needed to be on solid ground where they wouldn't be damaged by floods, but also as close to the river as possible because that's how they transported all the stone (sup, geography!). i actually liked that you could see the city; in a way it grounded these almost mythical and magical structures in reality. i actually found myself taking more pictures of the city than the pyramids.
for those of you who don't find a newspaper to be of use, things are happening here in the mideast. hezbollah is none too pleased with the way proceedings regarding the 2005 assassination of former lebanese PM hariri have been going. many ministers in the party simultaneously resigned, essentially causing the government to collapse. all this doesn't bode too well for travelers like my dad and i, and at the advice of my friend kevin (who goes to mac and is 1/2 lebanese), we have decided to change our travel plans.
so no more beirut (SAD), but amman tomorrow (GLAD!!!!!!!!!!)
i am excited to finally be close to my study abroad destination, and to get acquainted to the city. i am also excited to see what the political climate is like there in reaction to the wave of protests in the arab world. there was a massive peaceful demonstration the other day in jordan, as people grow increasingly frustrated with a poor economic climate (i'm sensing a theme here...) and some absolute powers that the king enjoys. king abdullah II is responding, calling meetings with representatives of varying viewpoints and reaching out to the public. i am glad this is the case, but i wonder if this will be enough for the jordanian people.
also, i have to say that i won't be too sad to leave cairo (where i sit writing this!). i'm finding it to be really inaccessible and pretty intimidating as a city. it is ginormous (20+ million, and growing by a million every year, which excites the geographer in me) and busy all the time. there is an unrelentless cacophony of car horns (being in a car in cairo is an experience that i don't wish to repeat) and frankly it is terrifying to cross to street. but the nile is really beautiful (also it's the NILE. i am in EGYPT. i am in AFRICA. how cool is that?!?) and the people that i've met are really nice and honest.
we went to giza, and i have to say, well done hollywood! i feel duped. all the movies portray the pyramids as being totally isolated in the desert. not so! you can see the city of giza (which is a BIG city) very well from the pyramids. pyramids had to be constructed right at the edge of the desert where it meets up with the floodplain; they needed to be on solid ground where they wouldn't be damaged by floods, but also as close to the river as possible because that's how they transported all the stone (sup, geography!). i actually liked that you could see the city; in a way it grounded these almost mythical and magical structures in reality. i actually found myself taking more pictures of the city than the pyramids.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
the title of this post is CATS, or water water everywhere and not a drop to drink, or thoughts on istanbul
hello friends and family!
let me preface this post by saying that yours truly has absentmindedly forgotten the cord thingy that connects my digital camera to my computer. so, until i can figure that situation out, i will be looking for appropriate substitues to the Real Thing on the world wide web (a pretty good resource, it turns out).
so tonight is our (my dad and i) last night in istanbul, a WONDERFUL city. after 4 very full days, i am really starting to feel settled in, and dad and i have developed a bit of a routine: awake early to the sound of the call to prayer coming from the minaret just outside our window, stop by the little bakery across the street for some tea and baklava from a man we can miraculously communicate with (he knowing no english and us knowing only "thank you" in turkish), walk up the hill to the blue mosque and go from there. i can find my way around easily now, at least in Sultanahmet (the old city) where we are staying. i even ventured off on my own today (i got annoyed stopping in every single rug shop with dad just to "admire the craftsmanship") and only had to pull out my map once!
here are some of the many things we have done/sights we have seen so far:
-the BLUE MOSQUE, an ottoman structure that contains over 20,000 handpainted ceramic tiles of blue tulips and gorgeous calligraphy
-the hagia sophia (ayasofya), just across from the blue mosque. an equally imposing structure that looks like it's from the planet of naboo. it is 1,500 YEARS OLD and was originally a church, then a mosque, and is now a museum.
-the grand bazaar (the largest covered bazaar in the world) and the egyptian/spice bazaar. i was very overwhelmed by the number of stalls selling the same thing (rugs, linens, ceramic ware, lanterns, evil eyes... what makes one person's better than the others'?) and the aggressiveness of the salesmen ("can i help you spend your money today?"). i have found that i am TERRIBLE at bargaining, and so i only bought two small souveniers. after bargaining for them, i walked away with a pit in my stomach, feeling as though i had robbed them, when in reality it was probably the other way around.
-topkapi palace and all its historical artifacts (including a lush harem, emeralds the size of my fist, and hairs from muhammad's beard).
-crossed the galata bridge to the new city, climbed the galata tower for panoramic views, and walked along istiklal cadessi in the beyoglu neigborhood, a huge promenade that, on a tuesday night, felt busier than new york city.
-took a boat tour of the bosphorus, the stretch of water that connects the black and mediterranean seas and divides the european and asian sides of istanbul.
-ran into dad's old college buddy!! in istanbul, of all places.
-just walking around you stumble upon relics from the byzantine and ottoman periods. the modern turks (masters at economizing space) have built in, around, and on top of memories of a distant past. sometimes it's hard to know whether you are in the year 2011 or 1611!
here are some first impressions/gross generalizations about a fantastically complex capital city:
-THERE ARE STRAY CATS AND DOGS EVERYWHERE. I MEAN EVERYWHERE. it is both my paradise and my hell: cats galore, but i'm not supposed to pet them because they are diseased.
-everyone wears black in the winter. i felt even more out of place in my red and black checked lumberjack jacket.
-the street food is pretty homogenous: roasted chestnuts, corn on the cob, pomegranate/orange juice, and a turkish bread treat (a name i forget) were about the only things i saw.
-if you stop for more than 10 seconds to try to find out which direction to walk, or pull out a map, you will immediately be approached by a kind stranger ("not a tour guide, don't worry") who will point you in the right direction, then invite you to his rug shop for some apple tea and a look around. to my father's chagrin, i was too polite not to let this happen to us... thrice.
-the roads are not meant for pedestrians (or, rather, they were never meant for cars). i have started to feel comfortable with coming within an inch of my life on a daily basis, and have learned to trust turkish drivers. you just have to go for it... the drivers go off of a reasonable expectation of your next move and adjust accordingly. i have come closer to more vehicles (cars, motorbikes, TRAINS) in the past 4 days than ever before in my life.
-everyone smokes like a chimney.
-ataturk's face is EVERYWHERE.
tomorrow we are off on more adventures, this time in egypt!!! amman is still 11 days away, and i am getting anxious/nervous/excited. i am READY FOR THIS SEMESTER (oh, except for the 2 books i forgot to read and the 5-8 page paper i need to write... whoops!).
until next time, i remain faithfully yours,
molly
let me preface this post by saying that yours truly has absentmindedly forgotten the cord thingy that connects my digital camera to my computer. so, until i can figure that situation out, i will be looking for appropriate substitues to the Real Thing on the world wide web (a pretty good resource, it turns out).
so tonight is our (my dad and i) last night in istanbul, a WONDERFUL city. after 4 very full days, i am really starting to feel settled in, and dad and i have developed a bit of a routine: awake early to the sound of the call to prayer coming from the minaret just outside our window, stop by the little bakery across the street for some tea and baklava from a man we can miraculously communicate with (he knowing no english and us knowing only "thank you" in turkish), walk up the hill to the blue mosque and go from there. i can find my way around easily now, at least in Sultanahmet (the old city) where we are staying. i even ventured off on my own today (i got annoyed stopping in every single rug shop with dad just to "admire the craftsmanship") and only had to pull out my map once!
here are some of the many things we have done/sights we have seen so far:
-the BLUE MOSQUE, an ottoman structure that contains over 20,000 handpainted ceramic tiles of blue tulips and gorgeous calligraphy-the hagia sophia (ayasofya), just across from the blue mosque. an equally imposing structure that looks like it's from the planet of naboo. it is 1,500 YEARS OLD and was originally a church, then a mosque, and is now a museum.
-the grand bazaar (the largest covered bazaar in the world) and the egyptian/spice bazaar. i was very overwhelmed by the number of stalls selling the same thing (rugs, linens, ceramic ware, lanterns, evil eyes... what makes one person's better than the others'?) and the aggressiveness of the salesmen ("can i help you spend your money today?"). i have found that i am TERRIBLE at bargaining, and so i only bought two small souveniers. after bargaining for them, i walked away with a pit in my stomach, feeling as though i had robbed them, when in reality it was probably the other way around.
-topkapi palace and all its historical artifacts (including a lush harem, emeralds the size of my fist, and hairs from muhammad's beard).
-crossed the galata bridge to the new city, climbed the galata tower for panoramic views, and walked along istiklal cadessi in the beyoglu neigborhood, a huge promenade that, on a tuesday night, felt busier than new york city.
-took a boat tour of the bosphorus, the stretch of water that connects the black and mediterranean seas and divides the european and asian sides of istanbul.
-ran into dad's old college buddy!! in istanbul, of all places.
-just walking around you stumble upon relics from the byzantine and ottoman periods. the modern turks (masters at economizing space) have built in, around, and on top of memories of a distant past. sometimes it's hard to know whether you are in the year 2011 or 1611!
here are some first impressions/gross generalizations about a fantastically complex capital city:
-THERE ARE STRAY CATS AND DOGS EVERYWHERE. I MEAN EVERYWHERE. it is both my paradise and my hell: cats galore, but i'm not supposed to pet them because they are diseased.
-everyone wears black in the winter. i felt even more out of place in my red and black checked lumberjack jacket.
-the street food is pretty homogenous: roasted chestnuts, corn on the cob, pomegranate/orange juice, and a turkish bread treat (a name i forget) were about the only things i saw.
-if you stop for more than 10 seconds to try to find out which direction to walk, or pull out a map, you will immediately be approached by a kind stranger ("not a tour guide, don't worry") who will point you in the right direction, then invite you to his rug shop for some apple tea and a look around. to my father's chagrin, i was too polite not to let this happen to us... thrice.
-the roads are not meant for pedestrians (or, rather, they were never meant for cars). i have started to feel comfortable with coming within an inch of my life on a daily basis, and have learned to trust turkish drivers. you just have to go for it... the drivers go off of a reasonable expectation of your next move and adjust accordingly. i have come closer to more vehicles (cars, motorbikes, TRAINS) in the past 4 days than ever before in my life.
-everyone smokes like a chimney.
-ataturk's face is EVERYWHERE.
tomorrow we are off on more adventures, this time in egypt!!! amman is still 11 days away, and i am getting anxious/nervous/excited. i am READY FOR THIS SEMESTER (oh, except for the 2 books i forgot to read and the 5-8 page paper i need to write... whoops!).
until next time, i remain faithfully yours,
molly
Thursday, January 13, 2011
correction
whoops! this is my REAL mailing address:
Molly Sullivan
c/o Dr. Raed Al-Tabini
60 Damascus St., Abdoun
P.O. Box 840062
Amman 11181, JORDAN
Molly Sullivan
c/o Dr. Raed Al-Tabini
60 Damascus St., Abdoun
P.O. Box 840062
Amman 11181, JORDAN
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
sup, world!
hello all interested parties!
i will be updating this blog periodically over the course of the semester to keep you all up to date on my experiences in jordan. but let's not get ahead of ourselves; i won't be there for another 2 weeks or so! i will, however, be leaving in just a few days for turkey, egypt, and lebanon (hopefully?! wha happened?!), so i thought i'd get this going now as i likely won't have internet access during that time.
for now, you might like to know that the best way to contact me this semester will be via email. i created a new email address and it is molly.sullivan12@gmail.com. you can also send me snail mail (srsly snail mail: letters could take up to 6 weeks!) at the following address:
Molly Sullivan
c/o SIT Study Abroad
PO Box 840062
Amman 11118
JORDAN
please DO NOT send me packages!!! i will not receive them.
thanks, pals! here are some kitties, livin it up in jordan:
i hope i meet them, and they don't have rabies, which is endemic in jordan!
xoxo,
gossip girl
i will be updating this blog periodically over the course of the semester to keep you all up to date on my experiences in jordan. but let's not get ahead of ourselves; i won't be there for another 2 weeks or so! i will, however, be leaving in just a few days for turkey, egypt, and lebanon (hopefully?! wha happened?!), so i thought i'd get this going now as i likely won't have internet access during that time.
for now, you might like to know that the best way to contact me this semester will be via email. i created a new email address and it is molly.sullivan12@gmail.com. you can also send me snail mail (srsly snail mail: letters could take up to 6 weeks!) at the following address:
Molly Sullivan
c/o SIT Study Abroad
PO Box 840062
Amman 11118
JORDAN
please DO NOT send me packages!!! i will not receive them.
thanks, pals! here are some kitties, livin it up in jordan:
i hope i meet them, and they don't have rabies, which is endemic in jordan!
xoxo,
gossip girl
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