Wrapping Up and Winding Down

Mom & Dad in Kapadokia

We are wrapping up the final few days with my folks. We have been together for almost 5 weeks...it still seems far too short. Dad has settled into a routine of getting out and about, and as always, no matter where he goes he ends up knowing most of the comings and goings of those around. Even though he can't speak a lick of Turkish he has some amazingly animated conversations with the locals. One of our neighbors just stopped by to take him for a walk and spend an afternoon with him.
With just a few days left we are looking back over this year's first foray to the east. In spite of the downside of traveling with an expert on driving habits, it was a blast and I am not looking forward to the wrap up of this trip.
Antakya Mosaic Museum

Near Samandag with their Tour Guide

In the Underground City of Derinkuyu

The Back Country from the Back Seat

Hanging with the Locals in Hasankeyf

We got home a few days ago and to my astonishment, I have discovered yet another nasty element of my personality...I don't travel well with elderly men. Especially those who sit in the back seat and drive "out-loud" when it is time to brake, turn, decelerate, accelerate or perform any other activity related to the operation of a motor vehicle.
Dad and Elle

While some people can afford their own personal-shoppers, the best I could drum up was my very own personal-driving critic. I love him...but thank God this road trip is in the can, you would have thought we were driving on two wheels the whole time from his gasps, sighs and snorts. Next time (if there is one) we will use sedation and install a fake brake pedal in the back seat as a pacifier.
We cut the last three days off due to some hotel problems and the fact that we were all pretty wiped. We did have a chance to check in with a few of the villages and touch base with some friends along the way...but most of the villages are still inaccessible due to the mud and snow.
Back in Istanbul we are trying to catch up on life and enjoy the last two weeks with my folks before they head back to Grants Pass and a new career as expert motor vehicle accident statisticians.
Below, a few vignettes of our two weeks in the outback of Turkey and parts east.

Cliff Homes on the Tigris

New Grapes on the Syrian Plains

Leaving Dad Behind

Ibrahim Tepe

Safranbolu Salon

Amasya Portico Dome

City of a Thousand Churches

Highlights of the Low Points

8000 Foot Chalk Pass

Just a quick recap while our wireless is still up...we tried to reach a snowbound village yesterday a few hours north of Erzurum and off the pavement and got stuck on a sludgy dirt road that was blocked by snowdrifts. Dad's pile of rocks, mom's prayers, a little horsepower and an hour later we broke free and decided to wait for summer and drier ground.
At first we tried to back our way out of the mess until I heard the backdoor open and dad say "I'm outta here". I guess even the chief of the backseat-drivers have a point where they just can't take any more. For my dad it was about the time we were getting a running start in reverse to try and jump the deep trench our wheels had dug. The view out of his window of the drop off to our right made him realize that he would have more fun as a spectator. He spent the next hour pitching rocks into the muck to give us a footing to grab onto.Digging In

Back on Terra Firma

The Recap

A few hours later we gassed up and washed down the muck. Heading east towards Ardahan we passed this village bridge that the kids begged to cross. Made it to Kars before sunset and got settled in for a couple of days of exploration. Today Ani and tomorrow south.
Crossing Village Bridge

SRE08 Test Run

We are heading out on a quick run to the borders. Kinda of a test run for this year's SRE's....You can check our Global Nomads Live window to the right> for GPS updates.
We will keep you posted when and where we can...the plan? East until we hit the Armenian border and then south to Iraq and west towards Kapadokia. Should be back to Istanbul and home in about 15 days.

Mini Break

Elle & Her Mimi

With a Visa expiration breathing down our necks we found $7.00 round trip tickets to Frankfurt-yep, it was a deal even with the $95 in taxes and fees added in. We haven't seen our family in 2 years so they met us for a few days of hanging out in southern Germany and then flew back to Istanbul with us for a few weeks of adventure and exploration.
We are planning on heading out on this year's first foray in a few days...east to the borders of Armenia and Iran and then south. We will keep you in the loop.
The 3 Stans, Small, Medium and Super-Size

The Good, Bad and Ugly

Being the bum that I am I spend a lot of time hanging with the locals in our little village of Kazasker within Istanbul. My best buds are Levent and Kemal…the three of us form a crew whose humor isn’t always appreciated by our wives and the other encumbrances with which we are blessed.
These compadres of mine are no angels, but when things go south…there is no one else I would rather have watching my back. There are some downsides to being linked at the hip with these two. These were the guys who first taught me to navigate the language, unfortunately for my neighbors; They had great fun at my expense...I could cuss like a dock worker in Turkish before I could order a Coke. I learned that when they put on their teaching faces to tutor me with new phrases in Turkish…I had better run them past a few dictionaries before trying them out on my neighbors.
Unbeknownst to me, using a phrase they had taught me, I had been telling the local grocer that he had a big _ _ _ for weeks before someone pulled me aside and agreed that while the grocer did indeed have a large rear-end…it wasn’t polite to tell him. Now who would do something like that to a likable guy like me?
I had thought I was simply giving a kind greeting to him each time I passed by. I don’t shop there much anymore.
Kemal

Levent

If I can break free from my incredibly busy schedule of holding up the wall we sit on, and the planning of our upcoming SRE08, I am going to get my act together and feature my posse soon in our Threads section.
For now we will leave it up to you to figure out who is going to be the Good, Bad and Ugly of this gang.My Posse

Roots of Wander

Steward Crew Finding Our Wandering Roots

I know this may sound somewhat bumptious but that is not my intent. Our Steward stock simply wasn't blended to be reliant on anyone or anything else.....you might use the words stubborn, bull-headed or cantankerous to define most of us. But the gist is maybe as simple as just wanting to be independent, to be able to do things on our own. To explore, discover, wander and live unconventionally.
Out in eastern Oregon in a prairie in the middle of nowhere is a small stainless steel burial marker with these words "Charlotte, Daughter of James and Ann Steward...Children of Early Settlers". It is the grave of a never known great-ish aunt that died at birth back in the 19th century.
Grave Marker
The story is that our family settled in the Oregon Territory before it became a State of the Union, floods, death and the need to wander drove us south to Wolfcreek, and over the next 100 years the Steward diaspora took us on quite a journey. Coquille, Grant Pass, San Diego (where I entered the family tree) and back again to Grants Pass. Today we are scattered across the western US and the world.
I am the only Steward, along with my dad and son to visit this grave marker where the roots of our family first set their teeth into making life work in, what was then, a far off place. It was an amazing moment for us to experience.
I had discovered the placard issued by the local Historical Society after several months of research and exploration, searching through diaries and the prairies and museums of eastern Oregon a few years ago.
It was the moment of a lifetime to take my dad, 3 generations removed from this plaque to visit the place where our family, settled, homesteaded and took root a century and a half ago...today it is simply a wilderness of wild prairies miles off the nearest road.
The locals remember the family name and tell us that the Steward cabin had burned to the ground years after the family moved away and that no one else has ever lived in that plot of land. Today you can stand there and look for miles in every direction and not see another home or structure...just miles of windswept prairies and broken down fences. Now in the legal ownership of others—it is a hunting reservation that for the last several years has graciously allowed us to visit the site without hindrance.
Why with living today in Asia 10k or so miles away from our home in the States am I telling this story of a remote, barren and windswept Oregon prairie where even now men dare to live? Maybe its because it makes me feel like I am not too far off my rocker by dragging our crew to the ends of the earth. It is a fact that the root of wandering runs in our blood.
Steward Homestead

All of this to say that I am back on my own two feet and yes, while I limp and favor my right foot..these Steward genes run deep. And even if I am a gimp and limping along....Life is still good as we Live, Travel and Wander on the Far Side of the World.

Short & Sweet

The cast is off (a few days early) and while it is still difficult to walk....life is looking good from where I stand.
More later.....

Mischevious Hijackers

Sorry about the 30 hour hiatus. Due to some mischief on another continent we were taken off the air for a bit. We should be back to normal....well, as near normal as our crew can get.

Blocked Blog

Due to some confusion on the WWW.... our blog is temporarily blocked via Eastern European Rulings.....hope to be up soon

Sucking Hoof Marrow

I had some pictures that I was going to post of my lamb's hoof marrow soup...but they didn't do the experience justice. Thick, tallowy, gelatinous and hard to get down, I went thru all four hooves and will wait for new x-rays this week to see if it was worth the effort. Have to tell ya, it didn't really didn't ring my bell.

Turkish Medicine

As a kid I was taught to leave myself a "backdoor" whenever I was expressing my opinions and an awareness of the fact that our thoughts and perceptions can change over time. Dogmatism was not a virtue.
We have benefited from those lessons during our time in Turkey. Over the course of the last two years we have been the recipients of some pretty unorthodox treatments when malaise has struck. Scalp rubs with alcohol, dry coffee grounds with lemon, crushed aspirin in 7/Up, and honey and mint have all been administered with an amazing air of confidence that these folk remedies would clear up whatever ailment had befallen us. In most cases they did.
It shouldn't have surprised me then when Reyhan showed up with a package of freshly culled lamb's hooves to make soup today. They had been ordered "special". It stands to reason that if you have a broken bone in your foot...whatever juice you could leach out of the bones and marrow from lamb's "feet" would be the reasonable treatment.
The cooking is still underway and I can tell by the chatter that they are hoping to tone down the flavor of the bone, skin and marrow. I keep hearing the phrase 'its too gelatinous" being whispered. A fact now verified by Büyük Anne being summoned to help. Funny though...there doesn't seem to be a line waiting to dig in which means its all for me. Giddy up.

Eclipsing Moments

The Steward Crew stayed up until the wee hours to catch the last total lunar eclipse until 2010. Our view from Istanbul started at 4am and ended around 7am. Just before the moon was completely in the earth’s shadow, our 3rd floor view was hijacked by a 100’ tree down the street...by the time I hobbled to adjust it had slipped down the horizon and was hiding behind a building and we missed the highlight of the evening.
Hanging out on our cold balcony made me think back to our early days of marriage and staying up all night to watch meteor showers from Cuyamaca or Laguna meadows. Watching Elle & Stanley in their PJ's crowded around binoculars, cameras and spotting scopes made me feel like a kid again...just not quite as mobile as I used to be.
Slipping Out of View

Pajama Weather

We have had perfect weather for being laid-up this week...sub-freezing temps, gale force winds and heavy snows. It was so bad this week that the ferries stopped running and transportation in Istanbul almost came to a complete stop.
Our neighbors and friends called it pajama-weather. Things look to be clearing up...I am hoping for more of the same to keep the urge to get out at bay.

Good Boy

During One of the Slower Moments
I have been a good patient the past few days and have kept to the prescription of keeping my foot above my heart. Everything we have heard and read says that this particular bone has a notoriously low blood supply. If I don't want to stretch this recovery out to 2-6 months I have to behave.
Looks like our days of living and sleeping on the floor are over for awhile, Ann and friends went shopping this week to find us a western style bed so I can get up easier, getting into a standing position from the floor must be painful to watch...it is coming on Monday. I was left out of the loop on that decision...I think they knew I would have bucked.
My spirits are up and I have a stack of history and travel books waiting to be read. We are also starting to plan our Silk Road Exp's for this coming season...hoping to be fit to travel this spring.

Whine, Women and Throngs

If you have been traveling with us the last few years you already know of my passion for keeping a diary and how my Moleskine Journal is my constant companion. The Moleskine company has been in business for two centuries with the exception of closing down for a few years in the 1980's. For that reason, I have stacks of new Moleskines in reserve. Even though our website is our main venue for the highlights of our life on the Far Side of the World...it is in my Moleskine where my heart is written.
Why, you ask, is this interesting? The problem with online journals is that you can go back and rewrite history to suit your mood. But...since you all know me for the simple mind I am, I will let yesterday's post stand for what it is...a whiner. For that I apologize.
I had a lot of luck yesterday. Our process at the hospital (The Red Crescent) was smooth...the time we entered to the time we left was less than 70 minutes. Consultation, radiology, consultation again, casting and billing was a breeze. The cost was just a few hundred Lira and the most amazing part was that the place was packed with patients. The registration process was less than 1 minute. Not a single form was required on our end and you paid for each service at the time it was rendered.
My Beloved Moleskine

Once we got home the house was full of well-wishers and at one point last night I was lying on the bed and couldn't see the ceiling above me for the huddle of concerned wives and women of our neighborhood hovering over me and talking to Ann. Today there has been a throng gathered at our door or passing through the bedroom waiting to help. Is there an upside to this season of being homebound? You bet...I am guessing the free food will start arriving tonight.

Clipped Wings

Ok...I know I am a bit dense and should have headed into the doc earlier this week. I was hoping things would mend without intervention but everyday brought new colors and swelling into the mix. Today, 3 days after I twisted my foot I acquiesced and went to the doctor with Ann and our neighbors Ercan & Reyhan.
The bad news is that I have a “spiral-torsion break that splintered” (?) and that a break at this location heals slowly. Far worse news is that I am completely off my feet for 8 weeks with the exception of heading in for weekly x-rays. I can't drive, walk, sit or travel for the next 2 months, 60 days, or 1440 hours...basically-forever. They say I need to be flat on my back with my foot raised….now is that really necessary? My nomadic propensities are not flexing well today. More later…Life Ends as I Know It

Stepping on Cracks

My dad is famous for saying that he doesn't want to become an "old man". I understand that sentiment, but today I am feeling it with some passion behind it. A big part of Central Asian and Eastern culture is celebration through dancing…and I am either dance-deficient or I’m getting old.
Our living room, friend's homes, restaurants and even streets often become the scene for spontaneous dancing in Turkey. Men linking arms with men and women with women a large circle is formed and a series of steps are made that rotate the circle to the beat. The machinations of syncing my appendages with those of the other dancers and the music is something far beyond my skill set.


I am not by any defintion "a dancer"...but in this crowd spectators are not allowed. Many times I have been pulled to my feet and thrust into the center of the crowd to dance…poorly.
A few days ago I decided that if I was to continue with cultural saturation I had to learn to dance like a Turk. I started some Turkish music and stood in the living room ready to practice.
With my first step I heard a loud "crack" and remember wondering why I was laying on the floor holding my foot and gasping for breath...the sensations of pain hit and I knew my 3 seconds of dancing fame were over.
My 5th metatarsal is broken clean through and my right foot looks like something out of the Hobbit world. Green and blue with shades of periwinkle, it is swollen and tender and out of commission for the month. In light of this experience I have resigned myself to being the "foreigner who dances like a chicken".
Flat on my back…that’s the news from the Far Side of the World.

Global Cooling

Has anybody wondered why the Doomsters aren't yelling quite so loudly these days about Global Warming? I guess its hard to make a fuss when your teeth are chattering. Everyday here in Istanbul we are reading reports from China, California and the Midwest that claim that this is one of the severest winters on record. We are certainly feeling the effects of Global Cooling here in our neck of Asia.
Chilling in Istanbul

Just goes to show ya, when you shake your finger at others... it might get frostbit.

Winter Color

I know I have told you about our weekly markets before...but, in this relationship you are unfortunately at the mercy of my whimsy. I look forward to the Thursday Pazar that shuts down a few miles of side streets here in our corner of Istanbul.
Busier than Disneyland on the 4th of July it is a chaotic shoving match with vendors touting their wares and goods in high pitched yells and shouts, each trying to outdo the other. The sights, sounds, flavors and smells are full and vibrant.
With winter in full swing I was amazed at the quality of the produce we gathered this week. Elle saw them on the counter waiting to be washed and shot these pics as the afternoon sun was streaming in the window.

Noah's Pudding

Noah's Pudding...Aşure

Middle Eastern tradition holds that when Noah berthed his boat on Mount Ararat (Ağri Dağ) he instructed his wife to gather up whatever food and grains were left over from their cruise to salvation and make a pudding to mark their amazing passage into a new life.
Today across the Middle East, Central Eurasia, and wherever Muslims are found...that celebration of deliverance is still remembered by Aşure Day. Tradition dictates that children and wives make this pudding and deliver it in small bowls to their neighbors, originally meaning the 40 households immediately north, south, east and west of your home.
Yesterday our kitchen was turned into "Aşure Central" and Büyük Anne came to oversee and season the pudding. An all day event...it takes 4-5 hours to cook and bring the ingredients together.
Gulten Finessing the Pudding

Sesame seeds, rice, white beans, raisins, figs, pomegranate seeds, dried fruits, garbanzo beans, wheat, apricots, currants, hazel nuts, walnuts, pine nuts, sugar and water are combined to make an amazingly delicious pudding.
Our morning began early with the first of the dishes from our neighbors arriving and we in turn spent the afternoon delivering Ann's dishes to them. Its kinda like a dessert co-op with purpose and meaning...as long as its food coming thru my door its all good.
Waiting for Me

Ramping Up to 08

New Year Snow
Getting back to Istanbul is a good thing. We arrived a day ago and have been getting back in the swing of life. We finally found the Christmas weather we had tried to find in the UK...just outside our window. It has been snowing all day and more is expected.
It will be a few days before we get things sorted, paid, filled out, washed and back into the swing of blog-life, thanks for letting us take a breather from E.