Category: after all the flurry and fluster it’s Turkey

  • Day Three: Cappadocia

    Graded class work until 2 a.m. Woke up twice before 5 a.m. Got dressed at 5:20 a.m. On shuttle to airport by 5:45 a.m. Haven’t slept since. Tragic sleep update is now officially over, as lack of sleep is only making me feel slightly loony (the main effect of which is that I’ve lost huge…

  • Day Two: Istanbul

    Sleep is still an issue. But let me give you highlights from today–a very good day, indeed. We took the tram to Dolmabahce palace, which is where the sultans and their families started living in the 1800s, a place that remained the seat of power for the country until it became a republic. Once Turkey…

  • Day One: Istanbul

    After an easy flight to NYC, followed by a long-but-okay (despite the screening of MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: GHOST PROTOCOL, which seemed to last forever) flight to Istanbul, we’re here. I actually, so far, don’t feel one way or another about being back. Another way to put this is that it feels like we never left. And…

  • We’re Going to Need Some Witnesses

    …because we’ve made a will. Only twelve years past any reasonable expectation of such a document being drawn up. I guess the drafting of such an important disposition, even at this late date, frees us to die with impunity. Whew. This is important because Byron and I are getting on an airplane on Wednesday and…

  • Home Again

    “One never reaches home, but wherever friendly paths intersect, the whole world looks like home for a time.” –Herman Hesse  Sometimes, 5,700 miles from Minnesota, 480 miles from Iraq, a person scans the landscape and thinks, “Jump back, Mehmet, and crumble me with feta: this place looks just like central Montana!” Admittedly, there are some dramatic…

  • You Know How On Extreme Makeover They Drive the Bus Away for the ‘Big Reveal’? This Is Kind of Like That, Only Nobody Gets a Jungle Theme in the Living Room

      The kids raced away from the school bus on the final day of the school year, sweat and excitement mixed on their faces. Breathlessly, Paco reported, “Al the Bus Driver is so nice. We’re the last kids off today, so he gave us each TWO suckers to celebrate the last day!” Just then, Al…