idealism in the district

i've been thinking about writing this post for the last two months and i seem to keep saving drafts and never actually publishing anything... i would like to chalk it up to being busy but its probably closer to the truth to say that i just don't feel like i've had that much to write about. despite the soaring temperatures and sauna-like humidity i really have enjoyed DC but it hasnt been an "oh my god i must document this right this second" kind of summer. it's been quiter than that somehow, which is ironic considering i've never lived in a city this large before. i love DC, it's humblingly historical, extremely beautiful, and a twenty-somethings paradise, but its also not entirely me.

working in the senate has been an experience i will never forget and one that has forever changed the way that i look at government and citizenship. never in my life have i felt so connected to the world around me or so engaged in system i live in. on the other hand, i've also never felt so lonely or so disheartened by the stagnancy of our government. i am living in the city that is the epicenter of change in the world and yet frustratingly little change is actually accomplished. i realize now that i was idealistic in coming here - i guess i thought that i would intern for the senate and see the most amazing productivity around me - but it isnt so. it's not that nothing gets done, because important decisions are made every minute, but its the attitude with which the people here approach their positions. the inefficiency and gridlock of the system is accepted rather than challenged and partisanship runs so deep that the two halves of DC seem not to speak to one another. my idealism may be simple naivete that i will grow out of but i am also attached to it.  i'm not quite ready to be jaded; i am too young to accept the world for what it is if what it is isnt working. and so, as hard as it is to leave my best friends and a place that i've grown comfortable in, i am preparing to pack my life up yet again and trek back to the west coast. i need mountains, and oceans, and family, and cool breezes, and yes, i need some idealism.

i don't know if what's to come will be better than what is but that's something i'm willing to explore. i might be commitment-phobic, i might have grass-is-greener syndrome, or i might just be homesick but i'm enjoying not having plans. so to the district, thank you for being wonderful to me and for giving me the confidence to move somewhere new on a whim. and to the west coast, i'll be seeing you soon old friend.

“I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.” - Douglas Adams

Recap

Phew! It certainly has been a while. So much has happened in the last month... It might take me more than one post to get caught up but now that I'm settled hopefully things will even out a little bit!

Where to start...? I guess I will go chronologically and hopefully (someday) end up in the present! Apologies for the instagrams and iphone photos but someone (ahem, mom) forgot to pack a camera charger so this is what we have for now...

Israel:

After leaving Istanbul, mom and I had the pleasure of spending a few days in Israel. We flew into Tel Aviv but drove straight to Jerusalem where we spent two nights. Jerusalem is pretty crazy. Everything is all one color - a kind of yellow beige - and things tend to look older and dirtier than they really are. Which is not to say things aren't old... they most certainly are, but even the new buildings look worn down in the bright, dry light. Adding to the monochrome is the fact that many of the people in Jerusalem dress exclusively in black and white (as is traditional for the Orthodox). I think mom and I were continually amazed that people could be wearing so much clothing in 100 degree heat and not be melting into little puddles on the sidewalk... alas, it must be a matter of aclimatization.

 

jerusalem

Following the supposed footsteps of Jesus through the Old City of Jerusalem was a truly humbling experience. Believer or not, I just spent 4 years of my life studying religion and none of it really compared to the look of wonder on peoples' faces as they entered some of the World's holiest sites. At one point, mom and I just sat in the back of a church and watched the tears roll down peoples' faces while they touched the place from which Jesus ascended. Like I said... humbling. My other favorite parts of Jerusalem were: (1) standing at the Wailing Wall (in the womens section, of course) watching people pray and sway and seeing all the little notes full of wishes tucked into the cracks, and (2) visiting the Israel Musem and seeing the Dead Sea Scrolls and afterwards wandering through a pretty incredible sculpture garden.

sculpture garden

mom at the sculpture garden

Having sites that are foundational for Christians, Jews, and Muslims all in one place was pretty incredible but also nervewracking; the underlying tensions between the groups was palpable in Jerusalem and many people told us that conflict could break out at any moment. When we moved to Tel Aviv for a night these tensions completely dissapated and memebers of many different faiths and ethnic groups coexisted peacefully. Our guide told us that in Tel Aviv people really don't care as much; it's a modern, busy, young city and it seems less burdened by the strains of history.

tel aviv

tel aviv at night

I don't know how else to say it, but I LOVED Tel Aviv. The people were amazingly friendly and kind (not to mention stunningly beautiful) and there was a really great mix of cosmopolitanism and tradition. We stayed in an amazing hotel room, ate great food, and mostly just took our time exploring on foot and poking into shops here and there. For me, Tel Aviv was the most relaxing place we went - if not for all the Hebrew, it could have been anywhere in Europe.

Jordan:

We took a late flight out of Tel Aviv and landed in Amman at about 12 AM. After waiting for an hour for our bags in the dingy airport, we drove into the city and straight to the hotel where we crashed pretty quickly. We met our guide Mo in the morning and did a quick tour of Amman before driving 2 hours to the old city of Petra. Amman reminded me of a small Istanbul, and like Tel Aviv and Istanbul, it was very modern and European. It wasn't until we drove through a small market on the outskirts of the city that mom and I both looked at eachother and said "we're someplace different now." Jordan was definitely the only place we traveled to that we felt truly like outsiders.

ruins in jordan (amman in background)

Petra, which appeared in an Indiana Jones movie and several other films, is, simply put, amazing. To enter the old city you have to walk through a series of passages with naturally made stone walls looming over you. Along the passage there are little caves and arches carved that were meant to be praying stops for travellers but the main attraction is the enormous facade that is carved directly into a rockface. One minute you're surrounded by rock, and then next you step out into an open plaza with the impossbily large monument directly in front of you. It is awe inspiring to say the very least. I thought mom was going to pee herself in excitement. We stood in the shadow of the facade for a long time and just wondered at it; it's so large, and so out of place, it feels like it can't be real.

entrance to petra

old city of petra

camel friend

petra facade

mom and i in the rock

Our last night in Petra we had a private cooking class where we learned to make several traditional Jordanian meals. It was really fun and so so nice to cook for ourselves and not eat in another hotel restaurant! The next day we took off early for the Dead Sea, stopping along the way at a mosaic shop where mom bought a gorgeous handmade table and the guides took one of many smoke breaks. When we got to the Dead Sea we checked into a day room at a hotel/resort, changed into swim suits, and headed immidiately to the water. I cannot explain how insane swimming in the Dead Sea is - it was truly a once in a lifetime experience. When you step into the sea you just bob up and down like a human cork and attempting to change positions inevitably makes you look like a beached white seal - it really is not pretty.

dead sea = below sea level

dead sea

After our dip we ate lunch and got back in the car to drive to the Jordanian-Israeli border. Let me tell you, crossing the border between an Arab country and Israel is not at all like going from Washington to Canada. We had to pass through at least a dozen check points, all of which are guarded by large men with AK-47's, and the one mile bus trip took about an hour. It was an eye opening experience and one that I won't soon forget. We were met on the Israeli side by a driver who took us back into Tel Aviv for dinner before our red-eye to Seattle. On the way, however, we drove past the wall that separated the West Bank and Israel. I have to say, as someone who has studied the Arab-Israeli conflict in detail, nothing prepared me for how eerie and sad that wall really is. I never knew that 30 feet of stark cement, peppered with graffiti and interrupted only by guarded check points, could be so intimidating and devastating.

the wall between the west bank and israel

After a sushi dinner, a ticket mix-up that almost made us miss our flight, and a 16 hour-long flight home in cushy business class, we made it back to Seattle in one piece!

Istanbul

We are now almost half way through our trip (crazy!) and it's time for a serious update! I'm going to go day by day with some pictures thrown in, with hopes that you'll forgive me for taking soooo long to get around to this post!

Day One - New York, NY --> Istanbul, Turkey

We departed NYC at about 4 pm and embarked on a 10 hour trip to the city of Istanbul in Northwestern Turkey. Add in a ten hour time change and our arrival was roughly 11 am the following morning. Neither mom nor I slept very much on the plane but we had pretty comfy business class seats and kept ourselves occupied with books and scrabble. Once we arrived, we cleared customs and found a person with our names on a sign... he was about 15, talked continuously on two cell phones, and refused to talk to us other than to tell us to "wait, and stay put." 45 minutes later we were ushered out into the streets to meet our driver and sped off towards the Blue House Hotel. And oh what a hotel it was. Two tiny twin beds were squished into a yellow room in one of the most charmless hotels I've ever stayed in - and I've stayed in many a seedy hostel. The room's crowning glory was the bathroom... It's a good thing neither mom or I is overweight because we would have been relieving ourselves out the window otherwise. After turning on the shower and drenching myself and the entire bathroom because of a faulty door, I then became stuck inside the shower and had to crawl out, soaking wet, through a 6 inch opening. It was a delight. Think Psycho meets a wet seal. 

Semi-clean, we met our guide Huliya for a quick lunch at a local cafe and headed to the grand bazaar and spice market. Both were long, meandering, and colorful - and chalk full of people hawking their wares to locals and tourists alike. We then walked to the Süleymaniye Mosque where I sat outside in wonder at hearing my first "call to prayer." With several mosques in the vicinity, the whole city seemed to vibrate with the sad echo of the call - definitely the right way to start a trip. The day ended with dinner at a mediocre Kebap house with Huliya, it had an incredible view of the old city but honestly, we were too tired to really notice. 

Day Two - Istanbul, Turkey

We met Huliya at 9:30 and immidiately set  out walking. We began with a tour of the Topkapi Palace which used to hold the Ottoman sultanate. It had gorgeous architecture and stunning gardens topped off with an incredible view of the whole city (which by the way is HUGE, who knew??). Next we hit the Hagia Sophia mosque which is the largest in the area and dominates the old city landscape. A trip to the cistern sheltered us from the unseasonable rain and we took an afternoon break at a famous meatball house which was pretty delicious. Later in the afternoon we jumped on an hour long ferry ride down the Bosphorous for lunch at a local seafood restaurant. I had to test drive all the dishes because no one seemed to know which ones contained crab and lobster and I really didn't feel like putting up with a sick mother for the next few days. Mystery fish aside, the restaurant was pleasant, nothing crazy special, but nice. My only hang up was that Huliya absolutely refused to let me order any of my own food and several times didn't even let me see a menu! Sheesh, I just wanted to know what I was eating!! We crashed at the Blue House Hotel after an hour long van ride home (I slept the whole way, surprise). 

Day Three - Istanbul, Turkey

We met Huliya at 10 much to my chagrin and walked the short distance to the Blue Mosque by our hotel. The mosque is aptly named because it is entirely filled with gorgeous blue tile work that I'm dying to install in my future home. We then made the correct decision to relocate to a different part of town (and a different hotel!) so that we could see a new part of the city. The Palazzo Donizetti proved much more charming than the Blue House, if a little outdated, and the Beygolu neighborhood was infinitely livelier than the touristy old city. 

We jumped on a fairy to Asia (casual) where we had a super delicious lunch at Ciya - Turkey is divided between Europe and Asia so this isn't actually as cool as it sounds but still... I was excited. A meal stuffed artichokes, beef meatballs with sour cherries, yogurt with smashed grilled eggplant, and preserved green walnuts and figs provided the first "Oh My God" food moment of the trip. After wandering through the food markets on the Asian side for a couple of hours, we headed back to Europe and bid Huliya goodbye. We had a little quiet time at our new improved hotel and then mingled with the locals on one of the busiest streets I've ever encountered - Istiklal. Dinner, which only consisted of an enormous cheese plate because we were still stuffed, was had at a swanky modern restaurant called Leb-i-Derya with a nice view of the city. We made our first Turkish friend (and a possible future employee) in the host, and finished the night with the three of us taking a shot of almond flavored vodka - trust me, it's better than it sounds. 

Day Four - Istanbul, Turkey

With a day all to ourselves, mom and I slept in, relaxed, and wandered the Istiklal area - doing plenty of damage in the local shops. We had lunch along the way at a place called Hala Manti, where two women were busily making tiny manti in the window. The food was OK, but watching them work was worth the trip.  Our easy day ended at Mikla restaurant which sits on the top floor of a fancy hotel and has easily the most incredible view I have ever experienced. We toughed out the windy rooftop bar for an hour and then moved inside for dinner. The entire restaurant was spectacular and definitely a highlight of the trip!

We're onto Israel now and I'll update in a day or so! Love love love!

catching up - istanbul

so once again i've totally fallen off the blogging bandwagon BUT i'd like to think that i've had a good reason... in the last three week's i've taken all my finals, finished my thesis, successfully defended my thesis (yay), gone to hilton head for a week of drinking and unwinding, and last but not least GRADUATED. wahoo! it's been a whirlwind but totally worth it and i'm getting really excited for the next chapter.

now, however, wanderlust is going to take a brief diversion from my personal musings and become more of a travel blog for friends and family to keep up with my adventures. for the next two weeks my lovely mother and i will be visiting istanbul, tel aviv, jerusalem, amman, petra, and dubai! so check back here for updates on our travels!

this morning we arrived in istanbul after spending a couple days in the big apple after graduation. the 10 hour flight was long but not unmanageable and i even managed to get a couple hours  of sleep. we set off touring almost immediately with our guide huilia to explore the old city. our little hotel is situated right in the heart of the old city and as we sit next to each other in our twin beds, mom and i feel a little bit like we're at summer camp - the ambiance is helped by the fact that every time we plug something into the wall the power shuts off - delightful!

anywho, we stopped in a couple of incredible mosques, fought our way through the grand bazaar, and snacked in the spice market. there is so much more to write but i am too tired to think straight and the constant loss of power is really putting a damper on my blogging mood. for now i will leave you with a selection of instagrams from the day in istanbul with much better pics to follow soon!