KIRCI Bursa

... and five skilled dancers in such a beautiful old building,<br>even if the women had to sit upstairs! (It was quite nice to see the<br>dancers from above, with their flowing skirts in a circle.) How<br>fortunate to be able to see them two nights in a row! As they say in<br>Vietnam, "Same, same, only different!".<br><br>On the way back to the hotel, Ahmed showed us some of the buildings that<br>were being refurbished in the Ottoman style. Then, he took us ...

... The third thought being: Just another day in Bursa? I overcame my own inertia and headed for the otogar (bus station) around 7 Saturday morning. The road from Bözüyük heads steeply up hill pretty quickly. I put into action my hitchhiking theory of the best place to stand: First you have to walk to beyond the edge of the urban zone, so that the traffic is pretty clearly going on to the next place. Next, you can't stand on the advanced upward slope of a hill because drivers don ...

... 18.50), not bad for an Istanbul dinner. I got back to my host's lodging at about 10pm, and crashed, due, certainly to the walking, heat, humidity and hunger. To be awakened, remind, by the "drum nazis" at perhaps 3am parading in the street below. On the second day I wanted to take a bus from Taksim, and to get over to the Kariye Musesi/Chora Church earlier, then do some other exploring (walking), purchasing remaining books as I got back to the minister's apartment. The Lonely ...

... made it as far as being a fully matured adult anyway. Now, to the project. There were to be three components: 1) paintings on the exterior walls of the municipal youth center; 2) restoration work on a church in the area, and 3) a film team documenting the progress of the first two. This third component never materialized, presumably because the volunteers for that segment, for one reason or another, never made it to Bursa. I had been assigned for the church restoration ...

... Between rooms I was invited to sit and have tea with a Turkish family also visiting--the tea compliments of the museum. It was during this chat that a young fellow on the staff explained to me in English that there would be no show this day. The announcements I had seen were for last month. I'd come one weekend too late. So I looked around the second room: some musical instruments and samples of the shadow figures and props--translucent painted ...

... Stephen Hawking), who ride the "Vomit Comet," I think it is called. The plane flies a parabolic curve, and during a short p**iod the occupants exp**ience the weightlessness of space, floating uncontrollably about the int**ior of the plane. <br><br>P**haps it is--and unfortunately this seems to be my world view; p**haps it is that humanity is now in that apex p**iod of the tipping phase, wh**e we have recognized our new status--we know we are going to crash down--but we (humanity ...

... out." It is more like, "flick it, toss it, leave it." And thus, as I went ever higher up into the woods my way was confirmed often as not by sundry leavings--a plastic something--than actual path indications. Of course these indicators diminished the higher I went. But even the end of my hike at a certain prominence was marked by three 12-guage shotgun shells.<br><br>Which reminds me. The woods were remarkably quiet, except for insects. I have been told there are wild ...

... the arm.<br><br>One here takes a metro line to one end, then walks across the street to a mini-bus, or dolmus terminus and catches a ride to Mudanya, on the coast of the Sea of Marmara. The metro is 1.50 YTL, the dolmus 2 YTL, so from the city to the coast it's only about US$2.85 one way. Not a bad deal.<br><br>I stayed on the dolmus to see how far it would go, and it went all the way through the town of Mudanya, which was great since I really ...

... Ankara--that I can report on--merely included seeing a movie (a sort of B silly romantic comedy), and a quarter final in the Euro Cup 2008 soccer race between Croatia and Turkey. Turkey won an exciting game. I would also say that the weather in Ankara was surprisingly refreshing. A spring-like warm dryness.<br><br>Back in Bursa, I spent the morning taking down and cleaning the curtain guide rails in my bedroom. I found the curtains would not move not because the rails were dirty, but ...

... towards meeting my next day, Saturday, deposit and rental payments. Nothing was forthcoming. I only had a 20 YTL in my wallet. It occurred to me that there would probably be a deposit to be made at the gas company offices. I thought perhaps my bank on the west coast of the U.S. was still recognizing my withdrawl yesterday in Bursa. So, maybe later. But it occurred to me that I could be embarrassed at the gas company.<br><br>But first, the young lady's husband ...