Hey all,
Saeyoon sent me some links to articles in the New York Times travel section so I'm gonna put them up here to share with you all:
The Soul of Morocco (Fez)
The Fragrant Food of Morocco
For the Egyptian Explorer (Check out "The Face of Cairo")
Travel Guide for Turkey
Istanbul Does Coffee
With much thanks to Saeyoon, that is all I've got right now!
Ma'as Salaama,
Brennan
Monday, November 12, 2007
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Allies at a Crossroad - Turkey and the US
Hello all,
In case I didn't tell you before, I am now working at a firm that puts on fundraising events for non-profits in Oakland. Most days my boss is out and about and I, her assistant, am alone in the office. For this reason I have begun to listen to The Current, Minnesota Public Radio's music station. It is great and I love the reminder of my home for the past four years (though I don't envy you all when the weather report comes on).
Some days I listen to straight up NPR news and get so absorbed with the story that I am startled by a phone ringing or the fax machine. Today was one such day. For about an hour I listened to a great story, called Allies at a Crossroad, about the tumultuous history of the US and Turkey, starting with a time when our president revered Ataturk and his efforts to westernize his country. So, here it is. I know that I said you didn't have to read this but I highly recommend taking an hour and listening to it. It is so pertinent:
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2007/11/07/midday2/
Stay warm, Minnesotans!
Brennan
In case I didn't tell you before, I am now working at a firm that puts on fundraising events for non-profits in Oakland. Most days my boss is out and about and I, her assistant, am alone in the office. For this reason I have begun to listen to The Current, Minnesota Public Radio's music station. It is great and I love the reminder of my home for the past four years (though I don't envy you all when the weather report comes on).
Some days I listen to straight up NPR news and get so absorbed with the story that I am startled by a phone ringing or the fax machine. Today was one such day. For about an hour I listened to a great story, called Allies at a Crossroad, about the tumultuous history of the US and Turkey, starting with a time when our president revered Ataturk and his efforts to westernize his country. So, here it is. I know that I said you didn't have to read this but I highly recommend taking an hour and listening to it. It is so pertinent:
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2007/11/07/midday2/
Stay warm, Minnesotans!
Brennan
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Other Colors to come...
Ahlan! Greetings! Unless you found this blog on google, you are going on Carleton's Middle East Mosaics Program this winter term! Who am I and why did I create this blog, you ask? My name is Brennan and I will be traveling with you all as the program's assistant. I am also a 2007 Carleton grad with a BA in History and a current resident of Oakland, California. I'm excited about using this blog as a way for me to share my insights and yours as they occur before, during, or after the trip. Although it isn't required reading, I'd love for y'all to check it out often and write your comments.
As January approaches, I'm sure you're all starting to imagine what is in store for you as you explore the streets of Istanbul, drink tea in Rabat, and cross the Nile in Cairo. In order for me to be a better resource to you during these adventures, I'm taking Arabic classes this fall, doing all the same readings you are doing, searching in vain to find the films you got to watch this fall, and attending pertinent activities that have been going on in my area.
For example, a few weeks ago I was fortunate enough to see Orhan Pamuk speak and read passages from his new book at Berkeley. His book is a collection of writings that he has collected over the years called "Other Colors: Essays and a Story." Other colors, he told the audience, is a reference to a question he is often asked: What is the significance of the colors that play key roles in your books. He said that words are like colors, a way of seeing and defining the world. As you may have gathered if you already read Istanbul, and perhaps may have glimpsed in reading My Name is Red, Pamuk's writing is very self-reflective and small passages of his writing often offer insights into larger segments of human experience as a whole. The passages he read from Other Colors did not betray this trait. As he read a short story recounting an episode in his daughter's life, he also told a story that got to the heart of the father/daughter relationship with an honesty that made his story become reality. All good readers, Pamuk said, should ask themselves, is what I'm reading lived or imagined? If it is imagined, what is it that drove the author to create it? What is at the core of the story? When asked about his forays into historical writing (ahem, My Name is Red) he said that he enjoyed them because they gave him an opportunity to talk about the present, putting our problems in temporal perspective. He likes to write about how conflicts and reconciliations make up the histories of human relationships. Pamuk said that he has since given up historical works, however, because he enjoys writing from his own experiences and playing with the lines between his own imagination and his reality: where he finds what he called "hidden worlds." Someone asked why Pamuk has been such a prolific writer he said he writes every day because he wants to read books like the ones he writes. He seems to have a knack for succinct one liners like this, both in his books and in person. As I had anticipated, the mood turned a bit less jovial when an audience member asked Pamuk for his opinion on the current political situation in Turkey. Without much elaboration, Pamuk called Istanbul's a "crippled democracy," and spoke against Article 301 which criminalized attacks on "Turkishnes" in 2005. I'm sure we'll explore this further, and other events in blogs to come. Although I'd dreamed that after his talk I'd line up an encounter with the author for you all in the winter, his popularity is such that I was simply hurried through the long line of folks waiting for autographs. Alas!
Later that week, the Arab Film Festival came to Berkeley and I went to a screening of "What a Wonderful World," a Moroccan film directed by and staring Faouzi Bensaidi. This black comedy, a "neo-noir", is reminiscent of Pulp Fiction (a reviewer's observation, not my own). It tells the story of a hit man who falls in love with a police woman in Casablanca. Although the film was in Arabic, at which I am still a novice, I really enjoyed listening to it because the Arabic was peppered with french and even a tiny bit of english, giving me a better understanding of the cultural infusions that are present in the country. Combined with a leading lady who is a traffic cop (renting her cell phone by the minute on the side) and a hit man whose assignments are given to him via a secret chatroom, this film really gave me great insight into Morocco's modernity.
These days I feel, as you might, fairly uncertain about what the winter months hold in store. Perhaps that is one of the reasons I feel so grateful for the recent literary and cinematic opportunities that I've had. They are slowly but surely helping me add new colors and shapes to my toolbox so that I might better experience the months to come.
I really look forward to seeing you all at the airport in January and blogging with you until then.
Tasharrafna! Pleased to meet you!
Brennan
As January approaches, I'm sure you're all starting to imagine what is in store for you as you explore the streets of Istanbul, drink tea in Rabat, and cross the Nile in Cairo. In order for me to be a better resource to you during these adventures, I'm taking Arabic classes this fall, doing all the same readings you are doing, searching in vain to find the films you got to watch this fall, and attending pertinent activities that have been going on in my area.
For example, a few weeks ago I was fortunate enough to see Orhan Pamuk speak and read passages from his new book at Berkeley. His book is a collection of writings that he has collected over the years called "Other Colors: Essays and a Story." Other colors, he told the audience, is a reference to a question he is often asked: What is the significance of the colors that play key roles in your books. He said that words are like colors, a way of seeing and defining the world. As you may have gathered if you already read Istanbul, and perhaps may have glimpsed in reading My Name is Red, Pamuk's writing is very self-reflective and small passages of his writing often offer insights into larger segments of human experience as a whole. The passages he read from Other Colors did not betray this trait. As he read a short story recounting an episode in his daughter's life, he also told a story that got to the heart of the father/daughter relationship with an honesty that made his story become reality. All good readers, Pamuk said, should ask themselves, is what I'm reading lived or imagined? If it is imagined, what is it that drove the author to create it? What is at the core of the story? When asked about his forays into historical writing (ahem, My Name is Red) he said that he enjoyed them because they gave him an opportunity to talk about the present, putting our problems in temporal perspective. He likes to write about how conflicts and reconciliations make up the histories of human relationships. Pamuk said that he has since given up historical works, however, because he enjoys writing from his own experiences and playing with the lines between his own imagination and his reality: where he finds what he called "hidden worlds." Someone asked why Pamuk has been such a prolific writer he said he writes every day because he wants to read books like the ones he writes. He seems to have a knack for succinct one liners like this, both in his books and in person. As I had anticipated, the mood turned a bit less jovial when an audience member asked Pamuk for his opinion on the current political situation in Turkey. Without much elaboration, Pamuk called Istanbul's a "crippled democracy," and spoke against Article 301 which criminalized attacks on "Turkishnes" in 2005. I'm sure we'll explore this further, and other events in blogs to come. Although I'd dreamed that after his talk I'd line up an encounter with the author for you all in the winter, his popularity is such that I was simply hurried through the long line of folks waiting for autographs. Alas!
Later that week, the Arab Film Festival came to Berkeley and I went to a screening of "What a Wonderful World," a Moroccan film directed by and staring Faouzi Bensaidi. This black comedy, a "neo-noir", is reminiscent of Pulp Fiction (a reviewer's observation, not my own). It tells the story of a hit man who falls in love with a police woman in Casablanca. Although the film was in Arabic, at which I am still a novice, I really enjoyed listening to it because the Arabic was peppered with french and even a tiny bit of english, giving me a better understanding of the cultural infusions that are present in the country. Combined with a leading lady who is a traffic cop (renting her cell phone by the minute on the side) and a hit man whose assignments are given to him via a secret chatroom, this film really gave me great insight into Morocco's modernity.
These days I feel, as you might, fairly uncertain about what the winter months hold in store. Perhaps that is one of the reasons I feel so grateful for the recent literary and cinematic opportunities that I've had. They are slowly but surely helping me add new colors and shapes to my toolbox so that I might better experience the months to come.
I really look forward to seeing you all at the airport in January and blogging with you until then.
Tasharrafna! Pleased to meet you!
Brennan
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