Istanbul

The 40 degree weather in Cairo finally encouraged me to tear myself away and head to Turkey.  Istanbul- what a beautiful city! The historical sites and thriving metropolis are sure to impress.  However, I am slightly irritated I have to start learning another new language.  I have really enjoyed learning Arabic and recently discovered my Arabic is much better than my French!  Istanbul has also taught me that I am a total nerd.  I took about 100 pictures of bridges and boats... 

You may be interested to know Turkey is the military superpower in the Middle East- arguably second only to the USA in the world.  It is said if Israel was tempted to start anything with their neighbours they would have to answer to Turkey too (but of course Israel has the USA backing them).  On that note, some believe the Arab Uprising is making Israel nervous.  Alongside the Pro-Palestinian demonstrations inside Israel, Palestine and across the Middle East, there have been some significant events such as Egypt opening the border to Gaza. 

So what about Egypt? If the Egyptian Revolution fails, it could be devastating for all other Arab nations who seek change.  Everyone is watching and waiting to see what will happen in Egypt- so Egyptians know they must do this right.  First, a new constitution written by a committee representing the people, then a new president.  Although the Muslim Brotherhood may have been the only organized group after the fall of the National Democratic Party they are clearly not the favourite to succeed Mubarak.  Religious practices determining government policy is over.

As Egypt enjoys the splendours of the Revolution, Syria is clearly suffering.  Assad is definitely a sick bastard who is lying to the world when he says the anti-government demonstrators are a minority terrorizing the country.  The “pro-government” demonstrations are quite likely made up of people who were forced and threatened to show government support.  Hopefully I will learn more about this the closer I get to the Syrian border- where thousands have fled to refugee camps in Turkey.

Below you will see some truly amazing sights from Istanbul, but these are only the best of the best.  I had to pick and choose because Istanbul is expensive!  Sorry the posts are getting so long, hopefully the pictures will appease my ADD friendsJ.  Thinking of home but happily abroad,

Carrie

ISTANBUL- Boshorus Bridge linking Europe and Asia

TOPKAPI PALACE

TOPKAPI PALACE

TOPKAPI PALACE

TOPKAPI PALACE

TOPKAPI PALACE

TOPKAPI PALACE

TOPKAPI PALACE

TOPKAPI PALACE

AYA SOPHIA

AYA SOPHIA

AYA SOPHIA

AYA SOPHIA- a mosaic



AYA SOPHIA

BLUE MOSQUE

BLUE MOSQUE

BLUE MOSQUE

BLUE MOSQUE

GRAND BAZAAR

SULEYMANIYE CAMII

SULEYMANIYE CAMII

SULEYMANIYE CAMII

SULEYMANIYE CAMII

The simple things that make me smile...

I am aware of how fortunate I am to be on this trip and try not to take it for granted.  That may be why the differences between here and home usually make me giggle instead of making me frustrated.  Below are some things that make me laugh on a regular basis...

• The man who bangs on the steel pot at 7am each morning announcing he has gas for sale has good rhythm (and good lungs!)...
• Egyptians use hissing/psssttting to get your attention- it is not meant to be scary, sexual or intimidating.  They hiss at babies to get them to look, ladies to get their attention, pedestrians to warn them of a cyclist heading the wrong direction down the street...
•  If you want to befriend an Egyptian or make a good impression just say something nice about their country.  “Anna baheb Misr” (I love Egypt) and you will hear “Egypt loves you!”  They are so welcoming.  Actually, "Welcome to Egypt" is a popular phrase I never get tired of it.
• Driving in Egypt is a never ending practice of merging.  You can do anything you like so long as you merge your way into/through the traffic.  Same goes for pedestrians.  No one stops for anyone- you just have to merge yourself in the direction you want to go....
• Everyone has an uncle in Canada- or so I`m told daily.  Interesting...
• Street touts seem to have their specific zones.  If someone starts talking to me and I am not interested in their attempt to befriend me (they have so many ways, they are ingenious really) I am polite but keep walking.  At a certain point they stop walking but continue trying to talk to me in hopes I will stop walking too.  Eventually when their shouts out to me do not elicit a response they move on to someone else.  Hehehe.
• Street touts are also gossip whores.  I think all of downtown Cairo knows where I am at any given time, where I’ve been that day, how long I’ve been in Cairo, where I am from....One day a street tout was asking me the usual “what’s your name, where you from” and all I said was Carrie and  Canada.  He started to ask if I like living in Calgary- his uncle lives there don’t you know- but not once did I mention Calgary.  Disturbing, no, it`s and Egyptian thing... 
• People tell me they love me every day.  Strange men of course, but it is nice nonetheless.

Below are some pics from my trip to Alexandria as well as a Bedouin music performance.  Alex is a nice city on the Mediterranean but still authentically Egyptian J.  The disc-shaped building is part of the famed library.  I fly to Istanbul next week so I will have some more exciting visuals soon.  Thinking of home but happily abroad,

Carrie

Jerusalem and Palestine

Sometimes when I travel I feel like Canada lacks history, culture, patriotism, tradition...If I were to stereotype myself and my peers I might say we are an indifferent group.  After visiting Jerusalem I am so happy I live in a country that tries to be open and accepting to all.  Yes, I am making some broad statements, but I love Canada! 

As fascinating as Jerusalem is I am happy to have left.  How can a place so significant to many religions be so full of discrimination and negativity? What happened to love being the foundation of all religions and which unites us all?  During my stay, I had many encounters that made me aware of the tension between Palestinians and Israelis. Unbeknownst to me, I look Jewish- which surprised me more than the Jews/Muslims I'm sure.  That type of labelling is strange, but I quickly got over tiptoeing around everyone.  I bought a sweatshirt that says "I love Palestine" which immediately encouraged long conversations with multiple Palestinians but also resulted in a long lecture by an Israeli who told me "all Arabs want to kill us".  Interesting. 

After spending a week in Jerusalem and the West bank I met many Palestinians and Israelis who do not agree with what is happening in Palestine care of Israel.  I will not get into the long history and all the issues in this blog, you can research it for yourself.  But I have seen the "security wall" which is 8m high (twice as high as the Berlin wall).  It is built so Palestinians have less land than was agreed on and effectively chokes off Palestine.  Palestinians call it the "discrimination wall" and I agree.  I have seen the Israeli settlements inside Palestinian territory.  The settlements have new houses, water 24/7 and heavy security.  In the West Bank, Palestinians have water 2 days a week, many have been forced out of their homes, and they cannot travel outside of Palestine without special papers that are difficult to get.  The Gaza Strip (no I didn't visit) is the most heavily populated place on the planet (people per sq meter), is surrounded by a wall, and only a handful of people can visit- making it easy for the rest of the world to forget about this tragedy.  Palestinians can’t vote- they are not a part of Israel nor are they separate.  It is very confusing but it doesn’t seem right.

I visited Ramallah (West Bank) for Nakba Day (see previous blog) to support the Palestinians.  My friend Rami took me and when we crossed the checkpoint into Palestine we practically drove into a scene straight out of BBC world news. The military was present in overwhelming numbers and full riot gear.  The protesters threw stones, had onions to their face (helps against tear gas), and the obligatory tire fire in the street. Rami and I joke that my mom doesn’t need to see me on TV so we head to the city centre where music, dancing and speeches are being held.  After a while we go to Star & Bucks to watch the events from 7 floors up and Al-Jazeera news as they broadcast from the checkpoint we were at, Gaza, the Israeli-Jordan border, the Israeli-Lebanon border and the Israeli-Syrian border.  I am shocked to learn Palestinian refugees have marched to the borders to show they want to return to their homeland.  The Israeli government says Al-Jazeera provides too much information...   

Amidst all that I also visited the birthplace of Jesus, the place of his crucifixion, burial and resurrection, the Tomb of Mary, the Western Wall, Dome of the Rock and many more historical sites that make the area such a hotbed.   

Here is a short explanation of the pics below:

• 1, 2 and 3 are pics inside the church where Jesus was said to be crucified, buried and resurrected
• 4 and 5 are from Nakba Day in Ramallah.  
• 6 and 7 are Dome of the Rock, important to Jews and Muslims alike
• 7 and 8 are views of the Old City and the graves where people have paid tens of thousands of dollars so they can be resurrected on Judgment Day...
• 9 shows the security wall from a distance (Jerusalem)
• 10 and 11 are the security wall in Bethlehem (which is a part of the West Bank)
• 12 is a poster from Nakba Day promising the return of refugees to their homes one day 

Thinking of home but happily abroad,

Carrie

Tel Aviv: I could get used to this...

Ahhhh, Tel Aviv.  Who would have thought I would like this city so much.  But what's not to like?  The city is gorgeous with beautiful beaches, impressive promenade, great weather, shopping, cafes- and really clean.  It has a more "western"  feel to it (crosswalks, yeah!) and I easily forget I am in the middle east.  I enjoyed Tel Aviv so much I stayed for 6 days and didn't do anything else I had planned.  Instead I fixed my tan lines- the farmers tan from Egypt (neck, forearms and maybe my calves get exposure but the rest is usually covered up) and the one-peice bathing suit lines from Jordan's Dead Sea visit (still trying to be conservative amoungst some fully clothed ladies in the water).  But anything goes in Tel Aviv and I felt like I was on a proper vacation the past 6 days on the beach in my bikini and a smile on my face.  I spent 3 nights at a great hostel and 3 nights at my friend's place who I met in Cairo- thanks Tamir love you owe you!

Today I arrived in Jerusalem.  So close yet a world away from Tel Aviv.  I am staying in the Old City which is surrounded by walls that encompass the Muslim, Christian, Jewish and Armenian quarters.  When I arrived at the hostel I had a long conversation with the receptionist who is concerned about events taking place this weekend.  As I was well aware, May 15 marks the day Israel became a country- not a cause for celebration in Palestine.  With the revolutions in other countries like Egypt, there has been a call for Palestinians to have a large protest on May 15th.  Although many people want the protest to be peaceful, labels such as the 3rd Intifada (uprising) are being used which has a connotation of violence.  The plan for demonstrations on this date have been circulating for at least a month and include protests to be held all over the world and even for marches to the Israel border from surrounding countries (Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon).  Will my stay here shed some light on solutions to bring peace to Israel and Palestine...

Below are pics from Tel Aviv.  Thinking of home but happily abroad,

Carrie

Jordan

The second I stepped out of the airport I knew Jordan was very different than Egypt.  The country seems wealthier, is cleaner, quieter and relaxed (it also a Kingdom!!).  The people are increadibly kind in a low key way.  Every day I met someone who was extremely generous and a number of times a simple question turned into an invitation for tea and even dinner (honestly, last night a 5min errand turned into a 2 hour affair). 
I have toured around Amman, Jerash, visited Petra and today the Dead Sea.  Jordan has this great system of "shared taxis" which is basically an organized form of hitchhiking.  Today I could only take the bus part of the way to the Dead Sea.  At the corner where the bus drops off are a number of guys with cars.  You pay a fee and when the car is full everyone heads to the destination (or same direction).  The buses are the same in that they do not have a set departure time- you leave when the bus is full.  This is frustrating to people who wait for a long time, but everytime I took the bus I only had to wait a few minutes. 

So, the highlights of Jordan...Obviously Petra was the most impressive (the pics don't do it justice).  Petra is an ancient city carved into the rock valleys. The ruins are impressive and the colors of the rocks are gorgeous.  I spent a full day there and was thoroughly cooked afterwards.  It was about 40 degrees with lots of hiking to spots like the cleverly named "High Place of Sacrafice".  I was covered from head to toe to keep from burning and was so hot I almost hired a donkey to take me to the Monestary.  I was happy I didn't when I saw one tourist who could not control his and so it simply went where it wanted (the donkey people don't come with you, just send you up the mountain with the donkey).  I saw another donkey slip and fall on the sandstone hill sending its passenger to the ground.  Also, on one of my last days in Cairo I went via horse to the desert behind the pyramids and one of the horses bit one of the tourists on another horse- no lie, right on the leg.  All that and the infamous Camel Experience with Bri in India and I am quite certain I will never ride an animal anywhere my own 2 legs can take me.  Anyways, Petra was great but one full day was enough for me, the heat is really insane.  Yesterday I went to a Turkish bath in Amman- amazing- and today the Dead Sea.  At the Dead Sea I couldn't stop laughing, it really is a funny experience to have your ass in the water and your legs, arms and head out of the water :)

Tomorrow I head to Israel and my first stop is Tel Aviv.  Wish me luck re the Israeli stamp- I can't have it in my passport (otherwise I can't go to Lebanon and Syria in the future) so hopefully getting the stamp on a slip of paper works.  Below are pics of Petra only. Try and see the people to understand the size of some of the structures.  Thinking of home but happily abroad,

Carrie

PS- sorry to those of you who have been trying to get a hold of me on Skype.  The internet connection really is a challenge.  Fingers crossed we will talk soon!