Adventures in Thailand

So this past weekend Mer and I went bowling. Bowling in Turkey. Who would’ve thunk. The sport that many people in the United States pass over for its ‘redneckness’ is pretty popular in the land of carpets and currently, snow. The bowling alley is called Rollhouse, and it’s not just a bowling venue. It has many pool tables, a dart-throwing area, an arcade, an eating area, and a place to watch football (sorry, soccer) on a huge projection screen. It is truly massive. And also quite nice. Unfortunately, I did not learn any Turkish bowling words, as the scoring system was exactly the same as you’d find in the AMF down the street in Anytown, USA. I also didn’t bowl all that well, but then again, it’s been like 2-3 years…

We drank Tuborg beer, which, coincidentally enough, is Danish. Why is that a coincidence, you ask? Well, in case you haven’t been reading the news for the past few days, the Danish and Norwegian embassies in Lebanon and Syria were all burned to the ground in protest over some cartoons that a Danish newspaper published that depicted the prophet Mohammed. It is against Islamic law, as dictated by the Q’uran, to show the prophet, or any other religious figure, in a picture, painting, or whatever. All over the Muslim world there were protests against any country that published the cartoons, and in a few instances, it turned violent. It’s definitely not surprising that the most destructive occurred in the previously mentioned countries, where the host government, which has a duty and responsibility to protect the property (namely, embassies and consulates) of foreign nations on its own soil, never lifted a finger to dispatch police in riot gear to do just that.

In stark contrast, the protests in front of the Danish embassy here in Ankara were completely civilized affairs. Apparently, only 10-25 people showed up over the weekend, and were buffered by double that number of Turkish police. Nobody ever tried to be violent, they just peacefully voiced their displeasure over the cartoons, as is their right in a Democratic country. This secular thing just might work out after all… The Turkish Prime and Foreign Minister both condemned the cartoons, but also stated that violence was not the way to express the Muslim world’s feelings over this wacky affair. They said that diplomatic channels were the way to begin a discourse about it.

I gotta tell you, it really makes me feel good to live in a country that is similar in a religious sense to other Muslim countries (after all, Turkey is 98% Muslim), but is also so different, so civilized. I’m almost proud, and I’ve only been here for 3 weeks!

Getting back to our lives, after our Friday night of bowling, we had to take the entire weekend to recover. The dryness and high altitude of this city is not a good recipe for curing hangovers. It took double the time that it would back home to get better. So we sat on our collective butts and watched movies all weekend on our new Turkish satellite TV, DigiTurk. They carry many English channels that show a bunch of American movies. It was great. It didn’t snow the entire weekend, which was a godsend, as it seems like it hasn’t stopped since we’ve been here. Of course, Murphy’s Law took over today and it snowed in the morning and rained in the afternoon.

We continue to be impressed by the Turkish grocery store that is right down the street from us, called Migros. It’s great! I’ve always wanted to have a grocery store right near us, and now I have it. It’s pretty small, but it has all the basics that we need, and it’s reasonably priced. Another issue this weekend was that we thought we had gotten our first cases of Turk Tummy. For the uninformed, Turk Tummy is the condition that we read about many times, and that many people here say you will get. Knock on wood, we’ve been OK so far. This past weekend seems to have passed without any of the worst symptoms of Turk Tummy.

We are longing for all of our stuff to make our place seem more like home, but we did get 2 packages from Mer’s mom (Thanks Connie!), that had a bunch of pictures and things to put on the fridge that makes it feel more homey. Mer had her first hair appointment tonight, our neighbor, Cathy came over for a simple trim, and it seems like the start of something for her. I’m very excited about the prospects, and everything I hear from people at the embassy is very positive. I think she’s going to take over the entire expat community!

Well, I’ve spouted off enough about the goings on in this snowbound land, but rest assured, we’re having a good time, and we both think that it can only get better!

We miss you guys!