Avokado and school lunches...

I found some here and they are even grown in Turkey! I wonder where? Anyone know how to grow them? I want a tree for Didim! Will have to make some guacamole!

Does anyone know what wine is good here? Haven't found any I care for yet.

Makes me think of California. Avocados and good wine.

Always impressed by the TED website: Ideas worth spreading. These particular videos I have been watching are about food; particularly how out of touch many Americans are about where it comes from, how to make it and what it is doing...the rest of the world isn't far behind...

Sharing powerful stories from his anti-obesity project in Huntington, W. Va., TED Prize winner Jamie Oliver makes the case for an all-out assault on our ignorance of food.

"renegade lunch lady" Ann Cooper talks about the coming revolution in the way kids eat at school -- local, sustainable, seasonal and even educational food.

In this fiery and funny talk, New York Times food writer Mark Bittman weighs in on what's wrong with the way we eat now (too much meat, too few plants; too much fast food, too little home cooking), and why it's putting the entire planet at risk.



Very inspirational videos. I feel fortunate that I was always raised around gardens with an understanding of how to cook and what a good garden tomato tastes like, what the plant looks like, how they smell. But I still have tons to learn...When we go back to didim for the summer hope to plant a garden(one that thrives unlike last year..) and compost. Start to understand what organic gardening takes.

The above videos refer to the disgusting state of American school lunches. This is a topic that has greatly disturbed my darling sister as she researches it for her master in public health. I can say when I went to university in Turkey I was always impressed with the state schools and I experienced it in the hospitals when I had baby dear a decent lunch program-well balanced. Also it was so cheap like 1TL(75 cents) per day which is unheard of in USA...Ok some days were hit or miss but it was nice to have the option and I loved the metal trays and always gave you real silverware- not plastic throw away stuff that adds to the landfill problems...



P.S. mom thanks for making our school lunches everyday of our school lives.

Irony or karma?

I have another column out in Voices Newspaper entitled "Whose Holding Their Hands?". In the column I muse about our first times in Eskişehir with the student exchange. The contradiction between extreme hospitality but feeling like we were going to get taken out by a car any minute.

I am not sure if it is irony or karma that the day I bought the newspapers to check on my printed article...I was waddling out of a store ın a pregancy ınduced haze where we had bought some new sheets, annoyed at how expensive our sheets were, blindly following my husband to the car when someone was parallel parking and hit me with the car...don't worry it was a slight tap...but ohhh I was angry. The man apologized and I started balling(reminder 38 weeks prego) and my husband told me that I am the one that needs to be careful and that I need to watch where I am going...well I was pissed at this comment and I am huge how could one not see me? The tears were flowing at this point. I got over it but what do you think...ironic I had just written about this or karma for musing about another culture? Or maybe just proves my point...read my column and open your third and fourth eyes! Pregnancy haze is no excuse...

The next part of my column talks about the ONE test university system of Turkey. Although the system is wonderful for the students that pass the test and is very inexpensive they don't leave options for the rest of the population. I think in the states we are very lucky to have the community and technical colleges as an option for preparing for university or just taking a few classes to improve a skill or just for the sake of learning, also for older students. Unfortunately it sounds like right now the university system is cutting classes left and right and so many teachers are out of work. My old teacher writes about these issues often at her blog, Kloe among the Turks.

Obama just passed a $12 billion initiative for community colleges...Hope it works out...don't forget how important the teachers are!!!!

Here is an interesting program from the U.S. Department of State community college initiative for foreign students...


The photo is of Hubby and I on our Kayak...it is so great!

Final critique...

I just had my last official painting critique. It is a strange feeling on many levels. Ideal art critiques usually go as such, you line the room with yours and your peers finished work. The class and teacher(if you are lucky other teachers/grad. students join) and everyone walks around the room and takes in each other's work.

After some processing and side talking the class reconvenes. Maybe the students even wrote notes or followed a thought provoking question/answer handout. The teacher leads the critic and then you and your peers have a chance to voice your opinions/comments also.

In an ideal critiquing world the classes would be somewhat small so it doesn't go a ridiculous amount of time and the class does not get burned out.

In an ideal critic world teachers and students feed off each other and are into it! They want to talk to each other about art, about concepts, about what is driving them to create. People voice strengths and weaknesses and grow stronger, artistically and conceptually.

This is ideal and it wasn't until I didn't have that this last semester that I realize I miss it. It was partially my doing(I think?) since I was in and out of the studio so much going on and the language barrier was definitely there.

The studio here in Turkey was set up so that every student worked in their found personal section of the room. The teachers weren't really involved in the work and didn't seem to give feedback until once at midterm then again at the final critique(again maybe it is diff. for some Turkish students but????).

I am realizing I like more feedback through out but I am also realizing that I am graduating and won't get it unless I go to grad. school or meet lots of willing art friends to make our own group.

Also the critique today was not a class crit. It was each individual student goes in the room with his/her work, closes the door and a group of three to four teachers tells you what they think. No class discussion and no growing from hearing comments from/about other students.

I will never hold this kind of critique in the future if I teach.

There is it's own art to critiquing also. Seeing the work and articulating your words. Also at first it is really intimidating when you are on display. Making work is so personal and an attack on your work may seem like an attack to you personally.

In the beginning years too I didn't know what to say at them and didn't appreciate their importance. I was intimidated to speak and didn't think I had the right words but now let's talk.

It is a powerful thing if you can get people together to talk and they are open to positive and negative reflections and contemplations. We need this more in other places in life, politics, work place, relationships etc.

About the above painting.

On the previous post I wrote that I was excited to be finished doing projects I don't want to do. I take that back and will need to set deadlines for myself and have separate studio space(not my living room to have to set up then clean up each day). In the future I want my own messy art space.

Anyways the above painting had the concept of model and me and I didn't want to do it. I started drawing myself outside in the garden at my Istanbul house. I live with an adorable 5 yr.old and she wanted to check it out. She brought out her paints and stuck here little chair and table right next to me. She is 5 so of course she was running around up to her mom, back to me, little painting, little climbing all the while sporting a pair of purple and white bunny ears. Hard to draw a moving model. So while I was getting bored and thinking that I don't care for self portraits I gave her a brush and she started to draw on my canvas with me. She hates ants and there are tons of them so I painted a few of those into it as well.

So the above is our collaborative work. I like the process of making work far more than the finished piece but want to be proud of the finished work. I find I struggle between the free and controlled mark making.

I am ready...

..to finally finish school! This is a piece I did last fall. I better make it quick and get back to homework. I won't miss finishing projects that I don't want to be doing. I will miss the set aside time and reason for working. I will miss the GOOD teachers mentorship and meeting others with the urge to create. Note to self!

Double life...

I met some friends through Caglar. They are a kind, very warm couple. They have been together for years and they live together. He always speaks turkish to me even though don't really understand but I appreciate it. He tries to include me. She speaks a little english so we speak a broken mix of engish, turkish and sign/body language. I really want to keep practicing my turkish because you can only get to know so much about people with out language or a translator.

My point of the above title of double lives is that so many women and girls here in Turkey seem to live in two worlds: One thier free university life and then the other the ones thier father/husband/family expects them to live. My above friends as I said are so nice. I was so surprised to find out though that my girl friend's father thinks she lives in a girl's only dorm funded by this turkish religious leader with strict curfews and rules. My girl friend also loves swimming. I was even more surprised to find out that her boyfriend forbides her from going to the public university swimming pool because she would be in a swimsuit and he would not be there to 'protect' her. And she listens, she doesn't go. She was enjoying when my boyfriend and I were saying he was crazy but this seems to be a common mentality in Turkey. I have heard many other examples of this control masked as protection. My friend's seem happy and I shouldn't judge what works for them but it is different than what I am used to.

kindness of strangers...

Today started out as a typical day in the life of Istanbul Emily. Woke up , made some filtered yummy coffee from America, rode the bus to Mimar Sinan University, did some silk screening, rode the Tram way Funiknler to Taxsim for my language school and tried to absorb as much Turce dil as possible. After class I was quite hungry. There are tons of tiny fruit and veggie stands around Turkey. I wanted some bananas before I went to yoga. I grab three bananas from one of these little fruit stands and then realize that I am out of cash. I only need 2 YTL (Yeni Turkish lira) but yok/ none. I say pardon...para yok (my broken way of saying never mind). Basically I start to go and he basically in Turkish tells me no problem...sonra sonra/ later later. So basically this man tells me I can pay him later, smiles and goes back to reading his newspaper. I was so shocked and touched by his willingness to trust that I will come back and pay him later. Especially in the big city of Istanbul. It made me smile today.

Living here I take the bus, tram, ferry etc. etc. public transportation. Some days it sucks, I'll be honest. Crowded, so much traffic and you never really know how long it will take 15 minutes or one hour? blah. But It does force you to interact with other human beings. One other kindness of strangers situation I love watching(or being part of) is giving the seats to old people or others that need it more.

Simply, I just feel good about the world when I see honor and trust in or for others.

Field trip...part two...

After our cable factory adventure we had few hours to kill before heading back across the Marmara sea via ferry boat(really nice big boat fyi). The company bussed us to a near by village of Zeytinbogi(a line over the g and no dot on the i). The old name is Tirili. I wonder why the changed the name? Zeytin means olive and there were olives for sale all over the city. Is it for this olive industry? I know turkey is trying the promote this trade.


















It is a great village with winding streets. It is right on the sea. Here is an example of the beautiful olives and oils they had. These travels back in time are some of my favorite times in Turkey.


















I hope these little villages can hold on.


















We met this man when as we wandered the streets. We were admiring his camii(mosques) as he came walking out with his cane. His face screams kindness. Living in a language and culture different than my own I really like this heightened sense for body language, reading eyes. I also have met some nice Turkish friends who help translate. I have started to write down Turkish and this is helping me learn. He loved us visiting with him and we with him...makes me miss my grandpa. He explained to us he has lived in this village his whole life. A Turkish word for friendly is sicakkani I like this sicak means hot. Warm and friendly...


















This is his school he went to. A grand old building that is in the process of restoration. He said they ran out of money though so the project is on hold. Any donations? he-he.














This is another character I snapped a photo of. He wasn't as friendly as our other friend or actually at all. He never cracked a smile but really classic character standing outside his store house watching the students mob through town. I need to paint some of these images!

Field trip...

An International cable manufacturer in here in Turkey is partnering with my host university. The company sponsored us students to ferry boat across the sea and tour their company.














We got to tour the factory and see how they make all the different types of cables from different sizes of copper wires to fire resistant new technologies. I love learning about these industrial places. The large scale, the metal, the smells but I wouldn't want to work there. Nice place to visit...


















After our educational tour of big business we art students were able to dig through the companies waste area digging out crazy materials, melted plastic forms, copper bands, colored wires etc. We were like kids in a candy store. It is funny when poor art students get things for free.


















The point of this field trip is that the company will sponsor an art exhibition. We get free materials and they get publicity and a new use for their products. The art students will make sketches and small mock ups of future works. After a jury will decide whose pieces to sponsor and create full scale with any cable materials they like. It makes for a harmonious relationship.

First day????

This is the backyard of my host university. Deniz cok guzel! The cement retaining wall that runs parallel to the sea. The sun is shining melting the snow storm away! I can go out to the boardwalk on my breaks, drink tea and watch the boats pass. I love the view of old and new, 2,000 yr. old minarets surrounded by brightly colored apartment buldings. This city is packed! Today is my first day out and around by myself with out my helpful knight in shining armor. So much easier the second time around.















An interesting thing about Turkish schools from grade school up until university is this cafeteria lunch served on the metal trays. For some reason I really like the metal trays, the sound, the cold and reusable? The meal is between 1 and 1.50 liras per day. Yes it's not gourmet but when you are a broke student it is hot and quite balanced. It usually consists of some starch, (rice or noodles), some sort of stew with a flavoring of meat, maybe a soup, and a dessert item(fruit or Turkish honey soaked sweets), a water and of course bread! The accompanied silverware is a fork and a big spoon. I also like the big spoon...no knife normally.














This is one of the many friends that visit our campus. They come and go from the canteen, as you can imagine more visit during lunch hour. There are tons of stray cats and dogs in Turkey. Bob Barker needs to visit and promote, "don't forget to spay and neuter your cats and dogs." No really i need to research this more...