tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8931419742395228672024-02-20T11:57:14.436-08:00The Creative CaravanWelcome to Creative Caravan, a blog dedicated to the creative activities of global traveller Melanie Mehrer.Melanie Mehrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16312745331022268324noreply@blogger.comBlogger156125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-893141974239522867.post-58835848221536747232014-07-18T10:39:00.000-07:002014-07-19T08:05:43.180-07:00Artistic Adventures In Hasankeyf: Ingathering Number Five!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: black; color: #ffd966; font-size: large;">"A building does not have to be an important work of architecture to become a first-rate landmark. Landmarks are not created by architects. They are fashioned by those who encounter them after they are built. The essential feature of a landmark is not its design, but the place it holds in a city's memory. Compared to the place it occupies in social history, a landmark's artistic qualities are incidental."</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #bf9000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> ~Herbert Muschamp </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: x-small;"><b>There is so much to say about Hasankeyf where does one begin? <br /> View of the Tigris from a Hasankeyf teahouse next to the castle. </b></span></span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Artists capturing Hasankeyf on paper!</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In May of this year, I was part of a group of artists who attended “Hasankeyf Ingathering Number 5.” As an artist, art historian and general humanist it’s no wonder why I am drawn this particular little village in South Eastern Turkey that is under threat of being flooded in the next few years. Many of the people have given up and left for other areas of Turkey, but many have stayed to fight for their 12,000 year old ancestral town as long as they can. It seems that only the strong characters and their children have stayed, which makes this little Arabic-Kurdish-Turkish speaking town quite the place to visit and spend some time exploring.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I’m going to digress a bit here as I see parallels between Hasankeyf and my hometown. I grew up in Naramata, BC, a very small, idyllic village in Canada, 14 km from the next big town, Penticton. Naramata isn’t on a river like Hasankeyf, but we do have a large lake in front of us. Hasankeyf and Naramata are both small tightly knit communities that are facing swift changes that threaten what makes them the unique communities they are. </span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>One of the many passageways carved out of the hillside centuries ago. </b></span><br />
<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>The surrounding hills of Hasankeyf have much to offer anyone interested in </b></span><br />
<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>hiking, photography and history. </b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Growing up in the 80’s, Naramata was a very well hidden secret, full of families who wanted to raise their kids in the beauty and safety of a tight village. Naramata’s livelihood was dependant on the fruit industry usually run by orcharding families. In the summer we would swim in the lake, eat stone fruit out of the orchards, and watch out for big fruit trucks carrying big bins of fruit to the thriving packing house located in the middle of the village. Farming was never a get rich quick kind of livelihood, but it made for an extremely rich place to live. </span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>The Koc Mosque. The minaret below is attached to the </b></span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Sultan Suleyman Mosque. </b></span><b style="background-color: white; color: #3d85c6; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: start;">This area was</b><b style="background-color: white; color: #3d85c6; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: start;"> thought</b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #3d85c6; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: start;"> to have been the commercial and </b><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">But then the wineries moved in, and now almost all of the orchards have been ripped out and replaced with grape vines. Big fortress-like buildings with heavy oak doors and slick-looking tasting rooms moved in and replaced the barns full of farming equipment and orchard ladders. I can’t blame people for wanting to make a living and the wineries have helped the area by bringing in new tourism dollars and an industry that employs a lot of people in the town. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">But now Naramata has become a popular place for summer housing, and this is the real danger to our little community. It means that people aren’t living here year round. And when people aren’t living here year round, or are moving here only to retire, the elementary school is under threat to be closed every year. They have already started sending grades six and seven to the next town for school. If the school closes, I am afraid there will be no incentive for families to move to the village and the community will suffer immensely. Not to mention the businesses such as the restaurant, pub, coffee shop and local store that need to be sustained year round. With no winter population I have a soft spot for these businesses that continue to try to make a go of it in Naramata. </span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Hasankeyf Ingathering participants out for a morning walk along the Tigris, </b></span><br />
<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>for a better look at the figures on the Artukid Bridge. </b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Granted, Naramata’s problems are nothing like Hasankeyf’s. We aren’t going to physically lose our town and there is growth in Naramata whether we like it or not. But I keep thinking about what it was like to grow up as a kid in there, and how I return year after year because this is the beautiful place I like to call home. And when I am in Hasankeyf, I see the kids playing in the streets, running in and out of the mosque courtyards and playing in the ruins that once were great buildings on a strategic position on the Silk Road. It is easy to see how they love their town. They play football in the street and catch fish in the Tigris. They visit with the neighbours who all know exactly who they are, and who their parents and grandparents are. It’s like the whole town has a hand in raising everyone’s child. And one day, they may not have a home to return to. I cant imagine how horrifying and devastating that would be, to live under the threat that you will lose everything you know in the near future. (But when is the near future? This discussion has been on the table for forty years! No one really knows when the near future actually is- except now that the dam is 80% finished, the near future seems nearer than ever.) </span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Some of this year's art workshop participants: I didn't know we were covering our faces with the map! </b></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Recently the government came through and spray-painted big ugly numbers on the sides of the buildings to mark them for the minuscule payout the Hasankeyfers will receive once they are evicted from their homes. One resident, frustrated with the spray painted ugliness remarked, “How can we tell the kids that vandalizing the monuments hurts our town when the government comes in and does it themselves?” Residents aren’t legally allowed to make improvements to their homes either. It’s a depressing situation for those who choose to live in Hasankeyf. As the dam has threatened their town and way of life for over forty years, I can’t imagine what that would do to a psyche of people growing up and living under this kind of constant threat. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Last year I was asked to be part of a project to create a walking guide for Hasankeyf in the hopes that if there was a guide to the monuments in town, that people visiting Hasankeyf could understand the importance of what they were looking at, and that those on a day trip could see what they were missing and return at another time to visit it in it’s entirety. John Crofoot and a few Hasankeyf trekking guides perfected the outline for the walking guide, and I created a visual that was both functional and aesthetically pleasing. The map was a hit, especially with the younger inhabitants, so I went out to Hasankeyf in March 2013 for Hasankeyf Ingathering number 3, and with the help of John and a few others, we put on a free art workshop for the kids, aimed at getting them to express their feelings about their town. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">John told me to prepare for thirty kids, but we had just over fifty (John says fifty, I say more!) show up in the park that was graciously lent to us by the Belediye. I was expecting mayhem since we barely had enough supplies (I over-planned but I hadn’t over-planned that much!) but luckily our wax-resist puffy pillows were a hit. We had to water down the paint even further to stretch it out and break all of the oil pastels in half to make sure everyone could access what they needed. When we were finished, two things surprised me: 1) that the kids were happy to leave their creations hanging from the trees in the park, and 2) that they were almost as excited about the clean up as the art making. Kids borrowed a water hose and some brooms from the Belediye next door and I watched in vain as our brand new paintbrushes were used to clean spilled paint out of the crevices in the concrete. But I was ecstatic to have been part of this experience, and everyone who helped in the workshops came out on a creative and inspirational high. </span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>A view of the Tigris with the new bridge.</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">So when the opportunity came up again in May of this year, I jumped at it. But why limit the art making to kids? Let’s bring adults too. Hasankeyf has more than enough interesting architecture, plant, animal and people life to draw- it’s an Urban Sketcher’s dream. So Hasankeyf Matters and I spread the word, mostly through Facebook, that the Fifth Ingathering would be an artist-themed gathering, and a group of my favourite people from Istanbul flew out to Batman and then on to Hasankeyf and we had an amazing weekend, drawing, eating, talking, and learning about the new challenges Hasankeyf is facing. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Smashing job of the Minaret, mini Hasankeyfers!</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The dam is about 80% finished. Some are losing hope of saving the town, but others are wondering if a series of smaller dams could distribute the same amount of water evenly through the river (resulting in a lower water level around Hasankeyf.) It seems strange that the government has gone ahead with restorations to structures that will most likely be flooded. There was talk that the government may cover everything with a highly durable plastic (much like giant condoms!) or cement over certain structures (such as the Artukid Bridge) so when the dam has completed it’s 40 year life cycle, they may be able to recover some of Hasankeyf. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">We did two days of workshops this time around, and since we had other artsy participants, we decided to do stations instead to maximize the creative talent. I paired up with a fellow art teacher from Istanbul, and we did finger puppets one day, and printmaking the next, though there were other activities such as stamping, painting and decorating a large “I love Hasankeyf” sign. I thought perhaps the puppet project could lead into story telling, and maybe one day it will, as I have heard the kids are excited about making puppets again. I would like to create some sort of fabric puppet theatre for next time (something that could be strung up between trees and then rolled up and put away for future use.) Because I believe there are lots of stories that need to be told about Hasankeyf, and the world needs to start listening to them. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>The Timurid built Zeynel Bey Tomb.</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It’s my hope that no matter what happens to Hasankeyf, that these kids remember these workshops as a time where the came together to celebrate their town and why it was important to them. If the Ilisu dam project goes ahead and Hasankeyf does get flooded, may they remember the positive community building experiences they had in the art workshops and carry this with them to their new lives. I hope they get the idea that together in the art workshops they can talk to each other about ideas and cooperatively solve problems. Today’s kids deal with paint. Soon they will be the ones in charge. They can only benefit from the community dialogue that is happening in the workshops at their level now. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">On another serious note, looking at the big picture, the world has not been kind to Islamic antiquities over the past few years. We have lost the Buddhas in Afghanistan, The Islamic Arts Museum in Cairo, Various sites in Syria such as the Great Mosque of Aleppo and the Souk in Aleppo, possibly the winged lions and other Antiquities in Mosul, Iraq, and God knows what is being lost other than precious human lives in Gaza and Israel at the time I type this. All of these World heritage monuments have been lost because of terrorism and bombings. It floors me to think that so many antiquities that have survived for hundreds of years in the hands of humans and all of a sudden we have lost them all in a matter of a decade. (Not to make light of the atrocious number of innocent lives lost as well.) </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>The one and only drawing I managed to squeeze in! </b></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And here we have Hasankeyf- not only important for the people who live there and call it home but it is also home to structures that are becoming increasingly rare and important- not only because we are learning what they are (despite the governments campaign to keep Hasankeyf a secret since it meets nine out of the ten requirements to be deemed a UNESCO site- to qualify for UNESCO WHL status, a site must meet at least one of ten criteria. Very few listed sites meet more than four. Hasankeyf meets nine of the ten!) but because these monuments are becoming rarer in a volatile world. Take the Artukid Bridge, the spinal cord of Hasankeyf, which is decorated with figures still visible around the base. Since depictions of living things is frowned upon in Islamic art, this is a rare find indeed- and only one example of the many treasures scattered around Hasankeyf. It’s not too late to save these monuments, if people are listening. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So head out to Hasankeyf and see it. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #bf9000;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Just in case. </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0px;">And take the map with you! </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Further Reading: </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><a href="http://www.hasankeyfmatters.com/2013/04/a-walkers-guide-to-hasankeyf-version-10.html"><span style="color: #ffd966; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">The Hasankeyf Walking Guide (Free download): </span></a></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="color: #ffd966; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">All things Hasankeyf: </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #ffd966; font-size: x-large; letter-spacing: 0px;"><a href="http://www.hasankeyfmatters.com/">www.hasankeyfmatters.com</a></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="color: #ffd966; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><a href="http://www.dw.de/turkey-culture-heritage-under-water/av-17731240">Turkey: Culture Heritage Under Water</a> </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="color: #ffd966; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-28191181">How Syria’s Antiquities are being smashed</a> </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="color: #ffd966; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><a href="http://online.wsj.com/articles/creating-new-monuments-men-1404338631">War on Antiquities in the Middle East</a> </span></span></div>
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Melanie Mehrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16312745331022268324noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-893141974239522867.post-55482599092510131212014-03-07T00:26:00.001-08:002014-03-07T00:26:49.978-08:00Yabangee Interview with Melanie Mehrer<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<span style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Thank you to Laurel Green of www.yabangee.com for conducting the following interview which lets me plug my upcoming exhibition at St. Pulcherie High School and also my love for Hasankeyf. Please join us at the ext ingatherin May 16-19 for some creative play! You just need to get yourself to Hasankeyf to join in the fun!</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The original article can be found here: <a href="http://yabangee.com/2014/03/ask-an-expat-melanie-mehrer/">http://yabangee.com/2014/03/ask-an-expat-melanie-mehrer/</a></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj6_yA8BURM_f6bB8WO15rWz0BiKM6myE2LboTW_mvza0R_nZaproxkB_6y3WYfxW67HJwt5uctrHtx6jH3sNLi9eXEmc3W2_Sso5sb00Ftqyb2fixJ2iM3Aw0TfCd2l5yHlhJuAPGKUg/s1600/IMG_6329.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj6_yA8BURM_f6bB8WO15rWz0BiKM6myE2LboTW_mvza0R_nZaproxkB_6y3WYfxW67HJwt5uctrHtx6jH3sNLi9eXEmc3W2_Sso5sb00Ftqyb2fixJ2iM3Aw0TfCd2l5yHlhJuAPGKUg/s1600/IMG_6329.JPG" height="320" width="239" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Meet Melanie Mehrer, an artist who is gearing up for an exhibition in April. She has traveled all over Turkey, including to Hasankeyf, where she helped create a walking guide for the area with the help of local residents and offered free art workshops. Read more about her below! </span></span></div>
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<strong style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Why did you come to Istanbul?</span></strong></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I did my undergraduate degree in Art History, with a strong focus in Islamic Art, even though at the time I had never been to an Islamic country. I was drawn to the architecture of mosques and Islamic geometric patterns. I remember sitting in a course I was taking on Ottoman art history and all of a sudden realizing that everything we had studied that month- Topkapı Palace, Hagia Sophia, the Islamic Arts Museum and the Blue Mosque were all in the same neighbourhood! I was completely blown away! A few years later, my sister and I did a three-month trip through Egypt, Jordan, Syria and into Turkey. We took a bus from Aleppo to Cappadocia, and then an overnight bus to Istanbul. We had only planned on about four days in Istanbul before we headed down the coast, but I dropped my bags in a youth hostel and said to my sister, “You go ahead, I’m staying here for the next three weeks.” Partly it was because I was tired of carrying those bags, but Istanbul was immediately fascinating, and I knew three weeks wouldn’t be enough. The funny part about that first trip is that the youth hostel we stayed at was across the street from the apartment I eventually lived in with my sister eight years later!</span></div>
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<strong style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">What do you do here?</span></strong></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I do many things here, but my main job is teaching Visual Arts at a Turkish private school. I’m also preparing for the exhibition ‘Printemps Des Artistes’ at Saint Pulcherie High School, which is a fundraiser for Lape Hospital. (The opening is on Friday, April 4th at Saint Pulcherie and is open to the public.) There will be nine artists including me exhibiting work there, so it’s very exciting. I am also doing some contract work for a Turkish publishing company designing book covers and children’s book illustrations, which I am really excited about. I find at the moment I don’t have much time between work and preparing for shows, but I’m hoping once the Saint Pulcherie show is up it will be spring and I will have more time to go out and enjoy some new inspiration in this fantastic city.</span></div>
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<strong style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">What is the biggest challenge you have faced here?</span></strong></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I know the usual answer is the language, which is definitely my biggest challenge. But another big challenge I have had to deal with is having my artwork stolen from <a href="http://creativecaravan.blogspot.com.tr/" style="color: #bc0c0c; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><b>my blog</b></a> and put on things for sale in the tourist areas of Istanbul. I have a lawyer who is dealing with the cases, and I am happy that I have essentially stopped the pirating of <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/thecreativecaravan" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;">my artwork</a> </span>and that the infringers and I are clear that copyright infringement is taken seriously in Turkey.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">When it first happened, a lot of people told me there was nothing I could do about it in Turkey and I was silly for trying to stop them. Some people said I should be flattered that my work was so appealing that three separate companies decided to pirate my images. I ask those people, “If I had a really nice camera, should I be flattered if someone steals it?” Of course not. Business is business, the copyright belongs to me as the artist, and I need to protect my business, just as any businessperson would. It’s a lesson I teach my students: you own your ideas. They are yours, and nobody is allowed to steal them from you. Artists do have rights that are respected in this country.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Between work and painting, I haven’t had much time for anything else. But when I want to unwind, I like to go visit my old landlord in Sultanahmet. We sometimes take a bottle of wine to the roof of the building, gossip, and watch the ships on the Marmara Sea. Other times I take my museum card and head into Sultanahmet where I can wander for hours in Hagia Sophia. I have also been researching all of the legends of Istanbul and there are so many in Hagia Sophia, so I go and look for the “evidence.” My favourite legend of late is that the reason the dome of Hagia Sophia hasn’t collapsed in a thousand years is because it was painted on the inside with a mixture of paint and prophet’s bones. I also love the legend of Sinan’s love for Mihrimah Sultan. I recently did a painting of it, which will be on display at Saint Pulcherie in April.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I also like to volunteer for various charity activities that I can support with my artistic skills. I have made backdrops for the British Panto, and I am currently helping out with the poster design for the British Fete at the British Consulate this summer. I also donated artwork that was auctioned off at a Charity for LOSEV. I can’t always give time or money, but I can contribute to the charities with the skills I have and I feel really good about that.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">My favourite volunteer activity so far has been to create a walking guide for Hasankeyf with the help of local residents who want people to come out to Hasankeyf and see their jewel of a town. Last spring I went out and did a free art workshop with the kids of Hasankeyf. We gathered in a park and painted pictures of things they love about Hasankeyf and made big puffy paper pillows with them. I was told to expect thirty, and over seventy showed up! Good thing I am an over-planner! It was a beautiful experience and one I hope to repeat again this spring. I hear the kids are already asking about it and want to add some theatre in there, so I have my thinking cap on! You can download your own walking guide of Hasankeyf <a href="http://www.hasankeyfmatters.com/2013/04/a-walkers-guide-to-hasankeyf-version-10.html" style="color: #bc0c0c; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">My favourite thing to do in all of Istanbul is go have a drink under Galata Bridge with friends. In my opinion, the Galata Bridge has the best view of the city. You can sit and have a raki, watch the ferries come and go, watch the Bosphorus Bridge change colour, look at the gorgeous cityscape, watch the fishermen above pull up their catch, and listen to the call to prayer from the New Mosque. And best of all, it’s a good point to meet friends because the ferries are right there if you live on the Asian side. Once I was eating dinner under the bridge and there was a large bang! on our table. I felt a chip of ceramic hit me, but then nothing looked broken on the table. After about a minute we realised what happened- a fishing weight has broken off its line and landed squarely in the toothpick holder! It was really quite funny. We decided it must be a good luck charm and I gave it to my friend who was just about to start a journey across Turkey by foot.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The new metro-lines have been a pleasant surprise. I currently live in Erenköy, and commuting to Europe to see friends is a long journey. The first time I took the Marmaray tunnel I timed it and I found it cut forty minutes off my commute! An hour and twenty minutes less of a commute on a given day is a beautiful thing and makes me feel better connected to the rest of the city.</span></div>
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<strong style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Do you have any advice for other expats?</span></strong></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">My biggest piece of advice for people living in Istanbul is to get out of Istanbul. Especially out east. I have been east three times and I love it. My favourite trip so far has been Gaziantep, Urfa, Mardin, Diyarbakir, Hasankeyf and Van. I never felt unsafe in the east and was always treated with respect as a female traveler. It’s an amazing country out there; get out and explore it. Especially Hasankeyf! And take the walking guide with you!</span></div>
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Melanie Mehrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16312745331022268324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-893141974239522867.post-83609534677972469612013-06-28T11:27:00.000-07:002013-06-28T21:01:04.073-07:00The Perfect Indigo: An Afternoon with Musa Basaran and Natural Dye!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">“Hold on to your divine blush, your innate rosy magic, or end up brown. Once you're brown, you'll find out you're blue. As blue as indigo. And you know what that means. Indigo. Indigoing. Indigone.”</span></span></h1>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 18px;">-Tom Robbins</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mr Musa Basaran, at home in his Atelier! Cherries, wine, cheese, kilims and a friendship started many years ago!</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #9fc5e8; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Many years ago when I lived in Canada I wrote a blog about my old Kilim weaving landlord, Musa Basaran called <a href="http://creativecaravan.blogspot.com/2010/04/missing-musa.html">Missing Musa</a>. Lately, even though I have been living in Turkey for almost a year, I was missing Musa again. I decided once summer holidays came and the demands of my job were over, I would go spend sometime with Musa. So imagine my amusement when on the day my holiday started my phone rang. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #9fc5e8; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">“Melanie! Why haven’t you come to visit me?” </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #9fc5e8; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">“I’m coming to see you!” </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #9fc5e8; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">“Tomorrow."</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #9fc5e8; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">“Really?”</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #9fc5e8; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">“Yes really.” </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #9fc5e8; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Okay! See you tomorrow! Come before I go home at six!” </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #9fc5e8; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">“Bye!” </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #9fc5e8; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">So I went to visit Musa yesterday and we ate cherries and cheese and drank wine, complained and gossiped and laughed. And he told me that this morning, he would dye a batch of silk with indigo. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #9fc5e8; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">“If you come before nine, you can watch!” </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #9fc5e8; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">So I dragged my holidaying butt out of bed this morning and went to Sultanahmet, to watch Musa work his magic. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #9fc5e8; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">When I got there, he was in the middle of a weaving lesson but I sat and chatted with the American woman as she navigated the warp and weft of a barely begun kilim. Every so often, Musa would come out from preparing our dyeing experiment to see her progress. “Uff! You need to come in two warp threads on each side to make a triangle!” Musa would undo this woman’s hard work in a few minutes and whip it back into shape before we had time to actually comprehend what he was doing. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #9fc5e8; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">But soon we were ready to dye with Indigo. Traditionally, urine was used as the acid needed for indigo, but we luckily Musa hadn’t been saving up: we used Hydro Sulphate and Ammonia.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;">The silk prepared and ties to a stick for easy dipping. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;">Hydro Sulphate. Into the boiling pot!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;">Add half a Turkish tea glass of Ammonia. Musa told me to give it a whiff before I knew it was ammonia. I think I shot out a nostril and several thousand brain cells. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjI67AqXFBXlUYzrjd6N2X9eIwSmYz-uv9RkffzYDl7AYJQ1gTUVJHH2i1q0NseqBzFagWWpTtfuQXZiUHRlICoapwvW67xgkfmkIWf0nwMB8P5ISNDdAChUvhM71H-dZePDT3b1lXGig/s1600/IMG_1404.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjI67AqXFBXlUYzrjd6N2X9eIwSmYz-uv9RkffzYDl7AYJQ1gTUVJHH2i1q0NseqBzFagWWpTtfuQXZiUHRlICoapwvW67xgkfmkIWf0nwMB8P5ISNDdAChUvhM71H-dZePDT3b1lXGig/s640/IMG_1404.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;">Indigo! Is not a dye like other dyes. it just coats fibres and doesn’t penetrate- which is why blue jeans fade white and aren’t blue all the way through. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii7xG99_T8NSl5v9luaV8PkwP2mUp4vk6qrVAsdoQuz6DQYu7GZl2gyOag92KZHXd-4GoLtl24LWjn3z2Lpn_7krw8Xwr0VUdlAPt1rgqX-06_xbaXw-21omETYdbCuNImdzk4jlCcnT4/s1600/IMG_1406.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii7xG99_T8NSl5v9luaV8PkwP2mUp4vk6qrVAsdoQuz6DQYu7GZl2gyOag92KZHXd-4GoLtl24LWjn3z2Lpn_7krw8Xwr0VUdlAPt1rgqX-06_xbaXw-21omETYdbCuNImdzk4jlCcnT4/s640/IMG_1406.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;">Indigo is weird because when it hits water, it loses it’s blue colour and turns yellow. The silk in the dye vat looks yellow until you bring it out and it oxidizes in the air. Like magic!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe4miMcAYl8fqNRPrKKQmpd_M_VzCPjCEv63Ia7Ebaj1BEHIOlSga_5r3sAdvV3u3mDh9KxxcfmK9nBT-jYrXNFmscTeXrAorVztgpP9r_v2qme3GfYxl-NI8qkqS3TKXZrBAFyawQzbM/s1600/IMG_1407.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe4miMcAYl8fqNRPrKKQmpd_M_VzCPjCEv63Ia7Ebaj1BEHIOlSga_5r3sAdvV3u3mDh9KxxcfmK9nBT-jYrXNFmscTeXrAorVztgpP9r_v2qme3GfYxl-NI8qkqS3TKXZrBAFyawQzbM/s640/IMG_1407.JPG" width="425" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;">Goodbye, whitish coloured natural silk!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsS84Amt6Z1UEKNGx0MsUoDFFM5hjM59pXkGraW5HvcCJ84s6Jl4URaP2Lwfx_WlDkm1LUKhOuTiPXBe0G5JllSOt5Ctndi3538OU0hYmQu2e9Pdgb9crIGbbtRpbI6cOLJQdz3SxSONo/s1600/IMG_1410.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsS84Amt6Z1UEKNGx0MsUoDFFM5hjM59pXkGraW5HvcCJ84s6Jl4URaP2Lwfx_WlDkm1LUKhOuTiPXBe0G5JllSOt5Ctndi3538OU0hYmQu2e9Pdgb9crIGbbtRpbI6cOLJQdz3SxSONo/s640/IMG_1410.JPG" width="425" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;">Musa lifts it out to show us how it works. This is yellow turning into blue (now green) when the silk comes into contact with air. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrPgqZ8y4qHq89IjqkKwuev0cHvjCVZS6sZOVO-EpScbwQ-hI8vECqgA6wUWgQoQTuEHSHMBsQ7Alq7QQuzMtho7bPGVzH3TSv9lrjNK9_b63OHO9QS5WJyLcEKUwwzVBAg_1MZhsEZAA/s1600/IMG_1411.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrPgqZ8y4qHq89IjqkKwuev0cHvjCVZS6sZOVO-EpScbwQ-hI8vECqgA6wUWgQoQTuEHSHMBsQ7Alq7QQuzMtho7bPGVzH3TSv9lrjNK9_b63OHO9QS5WJyLcEKUwwzVBAg_1MZhsEZAA/s640/IMG_1411.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;">Yellowish dye vat, but you can see it turning blue where the indigo oxidizes around the rim of the stainless steel vat. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7BcnxPbWwEOwZ9q6vxkPDKzCbbpS7Eaxi8-cR4q98eX3zIbgFqJkrc2M7pfCPJ7OSFxf4YyOxPxGbBhcYBqE7q7fsD6fjytMQ-iMi5REDNbFGP3qe-lBxnI8i5tllZ4IOlCyBjRAPR4g/s1600/IMG_1414.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7BcnxPbWwEOwZ9q6vxkPDKzCbbpS7Eaxi8-cR4q98eX3zIbgFqJkrc2M7pfCPJ7OSFxf4YyOxPxGbBhcYBqE7q7fsD6fjytMQ-iMi5REDNbFGP3qe-lBxnI8i5tllZ4IOlCyBjRAPR4g/s640/IMG_1414.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;">Musa left this in for only a minute or two- he was after a light blue. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioHK5plznd8_-3QQ-wPQfYT971YKWJsB0av6M0OS40f91sh-nc7g1kzx9DIUAON-XW692QkLWUJN1DkydRBj8oqqn7gGHQ8JrPK5_P8W3HNf9Q9OmomBFM75gNwAlOPvnuy7WUgfcVCW8/s1600/IMG_1417.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioHK5plznd8_-3QQ-wPQfYT971YKWJsB0av6M0OS40f91sh-nc7g1kzx9DIUAON-XW692QkLWUJN1DkydRBj8oqqn7gGHQ8JrPK5_P8W3HNf9Q9OmomBFM75gNwAlOPvnuy7WUgfcVCW8/s640/IMG_1417.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;">Next batch! This silk was yellow before it went in- dyed with Buckthorn and Camomile. Natural green is a very hard colour to come by, so you have to dye yellow and blue together to get a green. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2nkl4_1k8-x_gfEDDoOuLdthayxtlOyNYupliJQlFj7Hrw-GCP2LsQ9nGr4Jrltk6VSIumfP83LOIJPnfh9ILfNcjsBto1Mm0HZmjFCYKkARYRtsELFFmcVrNclIO25oCe7_8i4QOpyc/s1600/IMG_1420.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2nkl4_1k8-x_gfEDDoOuLdthayxtlOyNYupliJQlFj7Hrw-GCP2LsQ9nGr4Jrltk6VSIumfP83LOIJPnfh9ILfNcjsBto1Mm0HZmjFCYKkARYRtsELFFmcVrNclIO25oCe7_8i4QOpyc/s640/IMG_1420.JPG" width="425" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;">Oooh! Someone is good at green and knows it! he brought it out from the kitchen to show me. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrcipccEnpsIwNdPvY2TXCdkLI9WeVPdVGDQNP6ZL8nLm6bQMHaey0YFnCdrJ_bHedAItiPqGMeDjNtgmgriPPLhyphenhyphen8tY8RC1bzKfIlLDLhEjSfmIULOOYMkYCKh82umVBSXb1_zFf0hk4/s1600/IMG_1422.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrcipccEnpsIwNdPvY2TXCdkLI9WeVPdVGDQNP6ZL8nLm6bQMHaey0YFnCdrJ_bHedAItiPqGMeDjNtgmgriPPLhyphenhyphen8tY8RC1bzKfIlLDLhEjSfmIULOOYMkYCKh82umVBSXb1_zFf0hk4/s640/IMG_1422.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;">Nice looking green! I approve.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxGHwHM-p5_snGWUMFnV0EaldRNPgloLw2MDNqlb7VoWmb4EA9rPpBKe6VNJD4vWyyWX0hucGsyPkfHN4TGrm2wjDfd9tAzNxcRVsSTjnUefKaOqJvYcV1MqzZ8NBbVzSqFWgatLi4mmk/s1600/IMG_1437.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxGHwHM-p5_snGWUMFnV0EaldRNPgloLw2MDNqlb7VoWmb4EA9rPpBKe6VNJD4vWyyWX0hucGsyPkfHN4TGrm2wjDfd9tAzNxcRVsSTjnUefKaOqJvYcV1MqzZ8NBbVzSqFWgatLi4mmk/s640/IMG_1437.JPG" width="425" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;">When you start dyeing, it’s addicting. Musa found some old blue he didn’t like and wanted t make it darker. At one point he jokes that I should give him my skirt to throw in. I would have been tempted, except this crap polyester skirt would have just left me naked in the kitchen with nothing to show for it- you can only dye natural fibres. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYE9rCXGsUWxiA77tKgiwG-KGRP7emMchvuoC6EMwLoEvvmYBTMEZqcYfV2OiSXr5xBy-hM6A3EhS3V-jaTIavb3xX-3Tan52PEppprT-EqjShNfaWHdt_apzkD52oPhJ5PlLUOoTx8mY/s1600/IMG_1439.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYE9rCXGsUWxiA77tKgiwG-KGRP7emMchvuoC6EMwLoEvvmYBTMEZqcYfV2OiSXr5xBy-hM6A3EhS3V-jaTIavb3xX-3Tan52PEppprT-EqjShNfaWHdt_apzkD52oPhJ5PlLUOoTx8mY/s640/IMG_1439.JPG" width="425" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;">Much better blue! One this I learned in textiles class is that there is a very large amount of chemistry and knowledge needed for natural dyeing. For instance vegetable based materials like cotton and bamboo have a smoother molecular structure, so the dye doesn’t stick as nicely as it does to silk and wool, which comes from animals. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFLIvLlByUuzCrLDVNoLXT2OWCGdtz9ShQgrtoqdnjb-PK9x13NtJQJnJJhyphenhyphenCXZQi9bar7-pXQk12nnVO4VV-C8WSWcO6TtNZlokHGBKQD9r6DB4J2g9_rceZAtcGkj7N47s6SdgYzZ04/s1600/IMG_1441.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFLIvLlByUuzCrLDVNoLXT2OWCGdtz9ShQgrtoqdnjb-PK9x13NtJQJnJJhyphenhyphenCXZQi9bar7-pXQk12nnVO4VV-C8WSWcO6TtNZlokHGBKQD9r6DB4J2g9_rceZAtcGkj7N47s6SdgYzZ04/s640/IMG_1441.JPG" width="536" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;">Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and caldron bubble!</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjmetv1gWdfomWFyzowZAA3rXZmzcLhAdH3h-gclkhH0xjxcfqOMW3GUml6kCZzlAB0LHqBnegTFxLR8pKwOeIPh1wLn31HxBfBsTrLQZr9IspgFamSQj9sxbnFX6wNOLoWyMlk2Z2sbY/s1600/IMG_1444.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjmetv1gWdfomWFyzowZAA3rXZmzcLhAdH3h-gclkhH0xjxcfqOMW3GUml6kCZzlAB0LHqBnegTFxLR8pKwOeIPh1wLn31HxBfBsTrLQZr9IspgFamSQj9sxbnFX6wNOLoWyMlk2Z2sbY/s640/IMG_1444.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;">Part of the beauty of natural dyes is that the unevenness gives it texture and depth. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1UWBAcmuk9w7tGSQPavlyEUt7bz1FR8v2t5Mp9SuSwal_HkGJaf1Yjmun81ajyKd3xi8WpK0hV7h-l5P5ZBwMgouS6HOJgNKpIOtuLdxFFbOGpm_nMQJMImROMVM72bQtN2m4kjolyKc/s1600/IMG_1445.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1UWBAcmuk9w7tGSQPavlyEUt7bz1FR8v2t5Mp9SuSwal_HkGJaf1Yjmun81ajyKd3xi8WpK0hV7h-l5P5ZBwMgouS6HOJgNKpIOtuLdxFFbOGpm_nMQJMImROMVM72bQtN2m4kjolyKc/s640/IMG_1445.JPG" width="425" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;">"Melanie! The show is finished!” He said when we were done dyeing with Indigo. But Musa is not used to the show being finished if he still has your attention, so we played with a spindle and he showed me how to spin with it. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;">Spin spin spin! Funny, I usually don’t have time to sit and watch a spinning spindle, but truthfully, there was nothing I would rather do this morning than spend a relaxing visit with my favourite Turkish man. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;">Musa also showed me all of his traditional tools- that thing in the back is a wool carder. </span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #9fc5e8; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I’ll show you how to use those net lesson!” He laughs. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #9fc5e8; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">“I will bring the next bottle of wine!” I promise as I zip out the heavy door and back onto the back streets of Sultanahmet. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Video with Musa dyeing yellow to green: </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The many colours of Naturally dyed silk you will find in Musa’s kilims.</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #9fc5e8; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">xxMelanie</span></div>
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Melanie Mehrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16312745331022268324noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-893141974239522867.post-91571962852640160022013-05-25T06:56:00.001-07:002013-05-26T04:16:11.294-07:00The Great Walking Guide of Hasankeyf!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6aa84f; font-size: large;">“Map-making had never been a precise art on the Discworld. People tended to start off with good intentions and then get so carried away with the spouting whales, monsters, waves and other twiddly bits of cartographic furniture that the often forgot to put the boring mountains and rivers in at </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6aa84f; font-size: large;">all.”</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #93c47d; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">~Terry Pratchett, Moving Pictures</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Walking guide of the endangered 12,000 year old town of Hasankeyf. Hasankeyf meets 9/10 criteria to be a UNESCO site but the government would rather put it underwater with the building of the proposed Ilisu Dam on the Tigris River. </td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #fff2cc; line-height: 18px;">I have always been fascinated by maps. When I was a child my father once told me I could dig a hole straight through the world and come out in China. I wasn’t sure he was right about that, so I tried digging a hole to see if it were true. Unfortunately a toe-shovel accident ended that expedition, so plan B was to check our globe.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #fff2cc; line-height: 18px;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">(By the way, Dad, if I dug a hold straight through the earth, I most likely would have ended up in India!)</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #fff2cc; line-height: 18px;">But this gave birth to one of my favourite past times- sitting on the floor with that old globe, spinning it as fast as I could with my eyes closed. Where my finger stopped the spinning was where I would go in my imagination. </span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">John Crofoot told me he was in a cafe in Hasankeyf when a man came in, picked up the map and looked at it. After a moment, he held it up, pointed at the row of sheep and announced, “These are our sheep!"</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">I had a map of the world that hung in every apartment I have had over the past ten years and I would play the same game, though the globe in reality was much more fun. In Shanghai, the map hung on the kitchen wall and I was amused at how many people, (instead of waiting for me in the more comfortable living room) would stand in the kitchen looking at that map. There is something magical about maps. Of new adventures and life happening in places me might never go, of possibilities of going there, of places we’ve been in the past and places we may go in the future. My map was too tattered to bring with me to Istanbul, but I am on the look out for a new one. </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">So I was excited and honoured to be presented a special opportunity this year to create a walking guide for the Village of Hasankeyf in Eastern Turkey for Hasankeyf Matters; a group of people concerned Hasankeyf will be lost forever if the Ilusu Dam gets built on the Tigris.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Welcome to Hasankeyf! The 12th C Artukid Bridge in the background; It used to have a wooden top that could be dismantled in a heartbeat in case anyone tried to invade. The Tigris, which gave birth to the town of Hasankeyf, may prove to be its demise if the dam becomes a reality.</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"> In 2009, Rene and I had heard the flooding of Hasankeyf was imminent so we spent an afternoon there. We wandered around looked at the town, bought a few goat hair rugs and left. We snapped pictures of the old Roman bridge, walked through one of the canons and looked at old cave houses and even visited with an old lady who still lived in one. We saw ruins of mosques and a tomb, and stuck our feet in the Tigris and bathed in this little 12,000 year old town. But that’s all we really knew about Hasankeyf.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Friends of Hasankeyf bird watching along the Tigris at the 3rd Hasankeyf In-Gathering. </td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">So this year, my good friend Jonathan put me in touch with John Crofoot of Hasankeyf Matters and he told me his idea of a walking guide through the village of Hasankeyf to encourage people to discover the important endangered archeological sites scattered through town. I wasn’t sure if he’d seen any of my artwork. He didn’t seem too concerned. </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">As John was in Hasankeyf and I was in Istanbul, we hashed out drafts through copious emails and uploaded attachments which were shown to the people in Hasankeyf for their input. I was given a google map to work off of with marked sites, and pictures for each place marked. John, a wealth of knowledge, spent time describing flora and fauna and the colours of Hasankeyf (a freshly plucked deep purple fig which when peeled revealed a vibrant earthy green was one of his descriptions!) Together, the walking guide to Hasankeyf was born. </span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The exquisite Zeynel Bey Tomb. Zeynel Bey died in a battle against the Ottomans in 1473.</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">I wanted the map to be a work of art, and playful, as is the town of Hasankeyf. Since it’s so close to the border of Iran and has such a rich history, I wanted it to resemble a Persian miniature painting. I stylized the flora and fauna of the town, </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">but it is all still recognizable to the children of Hasankeyf who have pointed out the plants and animals and explained them to visitors! </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Though the map is quie simple, it was one of the most complex projects I have ever worked on and I am grateful to John and Necdet Talayhan f</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">or their input on getting it right. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Someone moved into the Artukid Bridge. The things you can do when a site isn’t protected. </td></tr>
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In April, I was able to go out to Hasankeyf with a group of like-minded individuals at the 4th Hasankeyf Ingathering and put my own map to use. (I also did a painting workshop there but I will save that for another blog entry.) I can’t really describe the experience very well but to say I felt like the map was a child I’d just seen off to college, and they were excelling at their studies like mad without any help from me. Standing on one of the hills looking down at the town of Hasankeyf for the first time since 2009, I recognised places from my painting and the buildings looked like old friends who I knew well this time around. The painting is mine but the planning belongs to John and Necdet and they did an incredibly caring and intelligent job. The graphics were done by Marta Marszal (link to her below) </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">and I </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">couldn’t be happier with how the map looks. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">I’m not sure how the people of Hasankeyf feel about a foreign Canadian girl painting </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">such a bizarre little walking guide of their town.But we all agree if it brings people out to Hasankeyf to walk around and get to know it and feel it’s worth saving, it must be a good thing. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvHTWs9fd5pUA9dnrsdH41I1fJJZLx6sehQpwPl-mYGvneS4vJYq6_e0u9V_PBiLzshYAE4J8AP05hDM0sC8CP3U-S7sYK2EndvM8tNhX-5kutUY_hzJ6DcS5ShRkY8q-HkTsCEa6a_tE/s1600/IMG_1132.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvHTWs9fd5pUA9dnrsdH41I1fJJZLx6sehQpwPl-mYGvneS4vJYq6_e0u9V_PBiLzshYAE4J8AP05hDM0sC8CP3U-S7sYK2EndvM8tNhX-5kutUY_hzJ6DcS5ShRkY8q-HkTsCEa6a_tE/s400/IMG_1132.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">John and Firat on a hike of the Canyons where we ate Dandelion greens and thistle stalks Firat picked for us along the way. If the flooding happens, Firat will lose his beautiful guesthouse and family home which has a beautiful garden complete with fruit trees that his grandfather planted several decades back. </td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">I am also extremely honoured that Hasankeyf Matters included the map in their petition to put Hasankeyf on the “EuropaNostra Most endangered sites of Europe” list, and Hasankeyf was shortlisted! The big announcement of whether or not they are officially on the list will come on June 16th. I would like to think the map was the icing on a very delicious cake!</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">And now the map is yours! Feel free to download it, share it, and if you have the opportunity, use it! </span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH9wR2-07BzPr-E7B_51iqE4de1F0Zp-1DJmOmTK9qUgRCNVBok5rXnxhjEak13EX1QUN7JzjpQTiTLaiJcsd0RqYaMZOvlHwEFDS4kZf0EESNsdCgrRMZO_rjLS20e-xT47AT0Yy_3p8/s1600/IMG_0714.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH9wR2-07BzPr-E7B_51iqE4de1F0Zp-1DJmOmTK9qUgRCNVBok5rXnxhjEak13EX1QUN7JzjpQTiTLaiJcsd0RqYaMZOvlHwEFDS4kZf0EESNsdCgrRMZO_rjLS20e-xT47AT0Yy_3p8/s400/IMG_0714.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Children of Hasankeyf we all given a colour copy of the map to take home. “This must be a treasure map!” they announced! I think that is my favourite reaction to the Walking Guide, because Hasankeyf itself is a treasure that is unique in that it isn’t lost yet. And who wants to lose treasure?</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f6b26b; font-size: large; line-height: 18px;">The Walking Guide to Hasankeyf:</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f6b26b; line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://www.hasankeyfmatters.com/2013/04/a-walkers-guide-to-hasankeyf-version-10.html">http://www.hasankeyfmatters.com/2013/04/a-walkers-guide-to-hasankeyf-version-10.html</a></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">Link to Superb Graphic Artist Marta Marszal: </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><a href="http://martamarszal.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">http://martamarszal.com</span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">Links to Awesome blogs about Hasankeyf:</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f6b26b; line-height: 18px;">Hasankeyf Matters: Essential reading about the latest of Hasankeyf.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f6b26b; line-height: 18px;"> <a href="http://www.hasankeyfmatters.com/">http://www.hasankeyfmatters.com/</a></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">Hasankeyf matters facebook page: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hasankeyf-Matters/110815625711752?fref=ts">https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hasankeyf-Matters/110815625711752?fref=ts</a></span></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">A common story between Chibayish and Hasankeyf: <a href="http://www.iraqicivilsociety.org/archives/1585">http://www.iraqicivilsociety.org/archives/1585</a></span></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The Europa Nostra shortlist: <a href="http://www.europanostra.org/2013-shortlist/">http://www.europanostra.org/2013-shortlist/</a></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #e69138; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">See you in Hasankeyf!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #e69138; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">xxMelanie</span><br />
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Melanie Mehrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16312745331022268324noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-893141974239522867.post-85181586551314779802012-09-17T12:09:00.000-07:002012-09-17T13:09:22.807-07:00Muslim Rage! A Collection of Photos from the Muslim World<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: large;">“We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures that we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.”</span></span></h1>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #9fc5e8;">~Jawaharal Nehru</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibEbTSSNUWtqmmrJY5pkR8Xl7d7Qa0JsUeyMx-kFse5lPolqVYFUjgxT-z1QGntL-g3mPhAKHRGZ7VmFczn8vMGubJ2vyGWp0L0bngZyQnGQZ_LqLizny_CjGOe4H8jGVgxqhPGekSIZo/s1600/DSC01222.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibEbTSSNUWtqmmrJY5pkR8Xl7d7Qa0JsUeyMx-kFse5lPolqVYFUjgxT-z1QGntL-g3mPhAKHRGZ7VmFczn8vMGubJ2vyGWp0L0bngZyQnGQZ_LqLizny_CjGOe4H8jGVgxqhPGekSIZo/s640/DSC01222.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Scary Muslim Girl! Not wait-that’s me! In Oman.</b></span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af;">So the American Election is coming up and some timely idiot decided to translate a video putting down the Muslim faith and the red necks of the Muslim world are up in arms about it, attacking embassies and all that. I’ve been seeing photos of burning flags and even Obama effigies. I’d like to ask the Muslim red necks exactly why are they burning effigies of the most Muslim-friendly president to ever sit in the Oval Office, but I’m not sure I’d get a very clear answer out of them. Obviously they haven’t really thought that one through.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af;">Anyway, Newsweek put out some inflammatory photos in an article called “Muslim Rage” and my friend Anne posted a counterpoint article on Facebook, which I found quote enjoyable. (Link at the bottom of the paragraph) So I posted one to my friend Anne, of a Muslim Grannie who was playing the lute in the square yesterday, and made a joke about how raging she is. Since the photo was shared around by a few people, I decided for fun, to post some of my most “raging” Muslim photos here for your fear mongering or enjoyment, whatever you might choose.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af;">As many people know, I now live in Turkey, but have also lived in the UAE and travelled through Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Oman. Muslims are not scary and idiots are idiots all over the world.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af;">Enjoy!</span><br />
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<a href="http://gawker.com/5943828/13-powerful-images-of-muslim-rage?utm_campaign=socialflow_gawker_facebook&utm_source=gawker_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow"><b>Link to article here. </b></a><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkC9PEjV3Qyuh2vOPvnoBlxhMbzPC5cOxI8yQvZy-qMdoBgz_mObZWDEw3zx85-RbYJkE6kGNRcgNc-hD1Ah1PLNePLrg8MUfEN1hlCWEqViCKuKNfbatCsj4hxPzosDs1P3tHIJl7oig/s1600/F1010025.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkC9PEjV3Qyuh2vOPvnoBlxhMbzPC5cOxI8yQvZy-qMdoBgz_mObZWDEw3zx85-RbYJkE6kGNRcgNc-hD1Ah1PLNePLrg8MUfEN1hlCWEqViCKuKNfbatCsj4hxPzosDs1P3tHIJl7oig/s640/F1010025.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Me, My Egyptian Friend Sayed and a Japanese Tourist in Dahab Egypt. <br />Sayed took my sister and I far out to the edge of the Red Sea at night, far from the lights, to see the most amazing light fish. </b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ0dT5bjUIbrrA-CF1d_Tz6Lm4XXabsJlBD2DJCLPzT0lF03NW6s6ofH-iXmRC8Ra_mPm1GLozPrA2R9wCPvnWseTmSgME-WETJ_26Ki0z9SZVviLIl6C-g9f33KiqN7Dsbv8fRO9r97g/s1600/IMG_0090.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ0dT5bjUIbrrA-CF1d_Tz6Lm4XXabsJlBD2DJCLPzT0lF03NW6s6ofH-iXmRC8Ra_mPm1GLozPrA2R9wCPvnWseTmSgME-WETJ_26Ki0z9SZVviLIl6C-g9f33KiqN7Dsbv8fRO9r97g/s640/IMG_0090.JPG" width="472" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Muslim Mom snapping a photo of her children with Filipino Nanny in tow on the floor of the Dubai Mall. The Mom and Nanny seemed like they were friends and laughed together over the children. </b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeUmoQO-5zj58kHVuprVSDfb4UN8Mbd083S_-OOm983xf2_LTBGX056lz_AANYuW8iCaSYF53XOHmGrcRhqbiQGkrY94LQ-vvzc1GVM8kLVzLPekFulv6J6cgEcJKeuVV482a6PQp94Ws/s1600/IMG_0246.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeUmoQO-5zj58kHVuprVSDfb4UN8Mbd083S_-OOm983xf2_LTBGX056lz_AANYuW8iCaSYF53XOHmGrcRhqbiQGkrY94LQ-vvzc1GVM8kLVzLPekFulv6J6cgEcJKeuVV482a6PQp94Ws/s640/IMG_0246.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>I’ll rage after I wake up from my Nap. Sanliurfa, Turkey.</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV3H2jWFjxrnq71EMy7JJOi8C7iKtIDbTioDuPaiwLY52ZAvUlsKUhwFBQL43ZKaWa6E3sT1ZsV6iPV0ry8YqbcEHrAzCFIkRsytJcaxMdu46xW6YjePfB14KaBm5e23kjPRdEOjQJMbE/s1600/IMG_0476.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV3H2jWFjxrnq71EMy7JJOi8C7iKtIDbTioDuPaiwLY52ZAvUlsKUhwFBQL43ZKaWa6E3sT1ZsV6iPV0ry8YqbcEHrAzCFIkRsytJcaxMdu46xW6YjePfB14KaBm5e23kjPRdEOjQJMbE/s640/IMG_0476.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Little Muslim Girls in Sanliurfa taking full advantage of their run of the mosque <br />while the boys studied Koran outside. </b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Shoe fixers, Gaziantep. </b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFPyfiO3I7-UlUJo1M-kznmF94Uv9B-mA6unke1NLcP7zgJ22jCs9YfUlevvPsHaDxStp1eCZNxHpWYBzvKnCSkFYTgUR8niGABfD7TxOuuxpvsOxeMeeKLmc7li_nIEWz2HbVWHHBMok/s1600/IMG_0535.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFPyfiO3I7-UlUJo1M-kznmF94Uv9B-mA6unke1NLcP7zgJ22jCs9YfUlevvPsHaDxStp1eCZNxHpWYBzvKnCSkFYTgUR8niGABfD7TxOuuxpvsOxeMeeKLmc7li_nIEWz2HbVWHHBMok/s640/IMG_0535.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Raging baker and furious customer, Mardin, Turkey. </b></span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwdIPkxmolDIAfXqTq0NuJT22vL3Nhsk7jza3-QKWIA9Ay4imknDCjJrjW8Zy9hr-mSsOuPv4V2zmx5yhXXmXyakfY1NCz9pj7z4RtT1ERfl2fy1Dz9VvchXlXHK5egWDbtSOS9UkhTKI/s1600/IMG_0567.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="513" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwdIPkxmolDIAfXqTq0NuJT22vL3Nhsk7jza3-QKWIA9Ay4imknDCjJrjW8Zy9hr-mSsOuPv4V2zmx5yhXXmXyakfY1NCz9pj7z4RtT1ERfl2fy1Dz9VvchXlXHK5egWDbtSOS9UkhTKI/s640/IMG_0567.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Muslim Brotherhood. Gaziantep, Turkey.</b></span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKIYXRhBjsv1vrNEtGK9L_CVnpuzzn4QzpkF_fgGiAUiEl738ZpPL1Wy0FzTqFSyjaGI-FGC539EcWwDCPGqgx0B_uR39eIiJqKeAgO2q6AcxRv5keTEGvA1dvxkvXT_f1aFlRtBbY2QQ/s1600/IMG_0741.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKIYXRhBjsv1vrNEtGK9L_CVnpuzzn4QzpkF_fgGiAUiEl738ZpPL1Wy0FzTqFSyjaGI-FGC539EcWwDCPGqgx0B_uR39eIiJqKeAgO2q6AcxRv5keTEGvA1dvxkvXT_f1aFlRtBbY2QQ/s640/IMG_0741.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>This little shoe shine boy caught me taking a picture through the window. Was he pointing or flipping the bird? Ahh, pointing, we’d already snapped pics and become old friends by this point. </b></span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO4C4aj03TM7x8Fc1Bc3JuEFr71yX8jIRuansvpFKEIQo_sHbEvjnJDAU2kCOsue-0pcfK9tkX0_IGkmYh9ZWIRVWRaf1ZB2-pOQ-gIAMSrxkDZRQlhHgHLCoQE1TMFFArkajWCcEENyU/s1600/IMG_0804.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="412" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO4C4aj03TM7x8Fc1Bc3JuEFr71yX8jIRuansvpFKEIQo_sHbEvjnJDAU2kCOsue-0pcfK9tkX0_IGkmYh9ZWIRVWRaf1ZB2-pOQ-gIAMSrxkDZRQlhHgHLCoQE1TMFFArkajWCcEENyU/s640/IMG_0804.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Men hanging around the mosque in Diyarakir. Plotting or gossiping, you decide. </b></span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirhXOma6LYHkuio8Ub0NF8Q7rmKm957Vvyr64WvAKWT_fXZaFbBCKXOEK9q6DTfdUOu1nC9zTHp499cuC0l66jgsCJCwN7nnSu5e78yPFoei6QXJQZmJLLctkrTEVREiCDo96vP4-9Z04/s1600/IMG_1338.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirhXOma6LYHkuio8Ub0NF8Q7rmKm957Vvyr64WvAKWT_fXZaFbBCKXOEK9q6DTfdUOu1nC9zTHp499cuC0l66jgsCJCwN7nnSu5e78yPFoei6QXJQZmJLLctkrTEVREiCDo96vP4-9Z04/s640/IMG_1338.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #93c47d; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Okay, I have no caption for this one. <br />Diyarbakir, guys hanging out with their pigeons in the barbershop. (???)</span></b></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioz3A4LtsvqyDJJWC8br6epPDmZrshrTmPnkAzqehu3BC1Oisj0wKlcrqBgraj9QogjrjmjkqSUPUQkZ-H0-4NBXN6K54mDcXg8prmTsvQLDM_jv1ep9SGso8QhqR4Cj3JmkXiyhIyfX8/s1600/IMG_1421.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="528" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioz3A4LtsvqyDJJWC8br6epPDmZrshrTmPnkAzqehu3BC1Oisj0wKlcrqBgraj9QogjrjmjkqSUPUQkZ-H0-4NBXN6K54mDcXg8prmTsvQLDM_jv1ep9SGso8QhqR4Cj3JmkXiyhIyfX8/s640/IMG_1421.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Scary Turkish peach sellers! Hasankeyf, Turkey. </b></span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVFbhVQ3Y8m1m06vRCS3WENoJ2c2tAfX-AwFtI1jyeRXh2QyJOmjspn7YjlaZoFFYjPzq_967OtjtcXDL6ZqZinHQBRTv-1x5Xfie3By3I_ooFHekK2Zz6EIVxeHkVNtAfq7VZUqYnfaE/s1600/IMG_1534.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVFbhVQ3Y8m1m06vRCS3WENoJ2c2tAfX-AwFtI1jyeRXh2QyJOmjspn7YjlaZoFFYjPzq_967OtjtcXDL6ZqZinHQBRTv-1x5Xfie3By3I_ooFHekK2Zz6EIVxeHkVNtAfq7VZUqYnfaE/s640/IMG_1534.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Okay, not a Scary Muslim at all, But my sister Rene, resting in the river in Hasankeyf on a hot day, with an entire Muslim family who decided to join her. </b></span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwsIIj31jc5ruMQKWN5PGlUbYZTUtxuHcsrt6kpa0jY-biZEtW2_BQwfNXunHPeVHilKo1WfNKKioZYoV3Jz1c1FXVBWILGeeije7a9IObyhn_CQQoAx_wGBJNr450MS-SdOrO4IxzDA4/s1600/IMG_1587.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwsIIj31jc5ruMQKWN5PGlUbYZTUtxuHcsrt6kpa0jY-biZEtW2_BQwfNXunHPeVHilKo1WfNKKioZYoV3Jz1c1FXVBWILGeeije7a9IObyhn_CQQoAx_wGBJNr450MS-SdOrO4IxzDA4/s640/IMG_1587.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>This little Kurdish lady is one of the last cave dwellers in Hasankeyf, and invited us up to check out her place. She practically did a summersault when Rene said a few kurdish words she learned off a friend. </b></span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBLAicVNecGZKrqWhGd_S8HDMVDXuNRQUbMlF5cyaYt7J0I4nNmiH8zOPopcu98q0b4_LrqVy__g9Uxqy08Ameaqri8cKowajGHHSTlty-LgOjxL8dgl-SXetrlTNe_ZijbovWuYMgnjY/s1600/IMG_2084.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBLAicVNecGZKrqWhGd_S8HDMVDXuNRQUbMlF5cyaYt7J0I4nNmiH8zOPopcu98q0b4_LrqVy__g9Uxqy08Ameaqri8cKowajGHHSTlty-LgOjxL8dgl-SXetrlTNe_ZijbovWuYMgnjY/s640/IMG_2084.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Are you scared? You should be! They are the scary Muslim future. Posers in Gaziantep, Turkey.</b></span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIgQz3JcqEhEt_LX043B6ET-VPBpFFfqNHg46IpZna7HfxJSnNPg853U671g795Fpuk3ANyg9oZWQZOm_x2BQbFc5BWWxfICvRkG5bTaqJ6J6Vd9yiC7jT807dXjSbKTlB2ixE2VQbx7E/s1600/IMG_2153.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIgQz3JcqEhEt_LX043B6ET-VPBpFFfqNHg46IpZna7HfxJSnNPg853U671g795Fpuk3ANyg9oZWQZOm_x2BQbFc5BWWxfICvRkG5bTaqJ6J6Vd9yiC7jT807dXjSbKTlB2ixE2VQbx7E/s640/IMG_2153.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>This lady was so frightening she invited us into her house, fed us tea and fruits and cookies, invited the neighbours to meet us, showed us all of her photo albums and didn’t let us leave without a fresh peach each. Gaziantep, Turkey. </b></span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbTLAs3b3VtMTEccjAooVlHcoOx_p7bmzMF5c32DMFaQ2XAAlqEAMjmcbjPeNraNfkgMBX1BXj0IM6W3xVlvIee4S2cWNG-TbK7gy1ijo331creLlPCxfbm8uq8Gllr96Tt59cGK6PSwA/s1600/IMG_2190.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbTLAs3b3VtMTEccjAooVlHcoOx_p7bmzMF5c32DMFaQ2XAAlqEAMjmcbjPeNraNfkgMBX1BXj0IM6W3xVlvIee4S2cWNG-TbK7gy1ijo331creLlPCxfbm8uq8Gllr96Tt59cGK6PSwA/s640/IMG_2190.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Muslim boys resting after the Imam told them to stop playing soccer in the courtyard of the mosque as the ball was bouncing off heritage architecture. </b></span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhai2PVtT-QWd5aO6MJIxHwbYfCK3FM9pePCeoR4F43Ht-PQlkmBttbSv_i6z8NS8gY6Tssc1oGkWruIoTlc-191Jigh6O5kXCJFwqefoQUrO5nvkx6SW4vTxS-QEslNYTtxDDfRlttyt4/s1600/IMG_2262.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhai2PVtT-QWd5aO6MJIxHwbYfCK3FM9pePCeoR4F43Ht-PQlkmBttbSv_i6z8NS8gY6Tssc1oGkWruIoTlc-191Jigh6O5kXCJFwqefoQUrO5nvkx6SW4vTxS-QEslNYTtxDDfRlttyt4/s640/IMG_2262.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Friday Prayers in the Grand Bazaar. I love how the ladies on the left couldn’t be bothered to move. Istanbul, Turkey.</b></span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2jGzo2q-RgDS1P7AH7bHgvaJ-61wic-oqiIXAt2GY1yswiCYXVfhM3P2zd1Sw3msPFJdH8MDAcunxXo-MKgPZM2PaU6yyNERwz-3VHNNaAsuz0XJTzdPehZTznUQxpgFGmz2Wh3GZhoQ/s1600/IMG_3473.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2jGzo2q-RgDS1P7AH7bHgvaJ-61wic-oqiIXAt2GY1yswiCYXVfhM3P2zd1Sw3msPFJdH8MDAcunxXo-MKgPZM2PaU6yyNERwz-3VHNNaAsuz0XJTzdPehZTznUQxpgFGmz2Wh3GZhoQ/s640/IMG_3473.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>If anyone has a right to be scared, it’s this little boy, celebrating his circumcision scheduled to happen the next day. Istanbul, Turkey.</b></span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIBBLbJ8m1ZDjwOCjrJF2sfPyi0WFRrmd9HeIFJgc3R31-crqPBN_rB-v_lUSa2XlI03k3n73bc38i_-nTKaPSoOhAs5P0jk1bSmglhoNhzLe_65dnDWI-lVhFJfKbgHvGwLUhRkfQ6wg/s1600/IMG_3535.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIBBLbJ8m1ZDjwOCjrJF2sfPyi0WFRrmd9HeIFJgc3R31-crqPBN_rB-v_lUSa2XlI03k3n73bc38i_-nTKaPSoOhAs5P0jk1bSmglhoNhzLe_65dnDWI-lVhFJfKbgHvGwLUhRkfQ6wg/s640/IMG_3535.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Mehdi, the Iranian I met on the plane who has invited me to come visit him in Tehran anytime. He told me to take this picture and tell everyone I sat next to Bin Laden on the plane to Istanbul. </b></span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAcjLP8xKCF2yXuYc3FIeXPCCoQFop5B9CtABUYuFCWQi8yUIYXRzSQa_F3AzRrRW9c-4hRyqZb9fBj1tMUHElmc3Q1SbVPzMhEyFcYuht26FIpMw9oPU-_Sqzu1CtEjY8yGm2VCKppyA/s1600/IMG_3589.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAcjLP8xKCF2yXuYc3FIeXPCCoQFop5B9CtABUYuFCWQi8yUIYXRzSQa_F3AzRrRW9c-4hRyqZb9fBj1tMUHElmc3Q1SbVPzMhEyFcYuht26FIpMw9oPU-_Sqzu1CtEjY8yGm2VCKppyA/s640/IMG_3589.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Usually when you see a man on the floor encircled by a bunch of Muslim men, you’d think something bad was going on. But it’s only bad dancing happening here. Istanbul, Turkey. </b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnL7_lLf8MEvUELtc_qM_590FOXtbxpwKwFs99RTKRuumHNZXwNK8fgnXKHiW5BKbNJQ9BIQuF8v9gQvz8pnb-A9c9oP8E6abQfPoXkNDpzKdeKtn1Gbd_dKRXVcMqL4FIVmbwxIyn9ew/s1600/IMG_3625.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnL7_lLf8MEvUELtc_qM_590FOXtbxpwKwFs99RTKRuumHNZXwNK8fgnXKHiW5BKbNJQ9BIQuF8v9gQvz8pnb-A9c9oP8E6abQfPoXkNDpzKdeKtn1Gbd_dKRXVcMqL4FIVmbwxIyn9ew/s640/IMG_3625.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Really Frightening. Really. Istanbul, Turkey.</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Scary Pakistani, Jordanian and a Lebanese man In Abu Dhabi, UAE. Why exactly do they have so much soda and none of it is Coke? Suspicious. </b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTqxvMrUgaFEH5i4i9pDxI4Ds5AOSRnG0yXebrCtc3xoQg2VKPCnN2uKdV-eStZ5OnhYmR5Z6QamYixz3orQEHONWRSEy_rd6ETr0Vwz_SNWu_06z5eln_ynSAK9QWwHqoFiaIWD1jwZU/s1600/IMG_5834_2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTqxvMrUgaFEH5i4i9pDxI4Ds5AOSRnG0yXebrCtc3xoQg2VKPCnN2uKdV-eStZ5OnhYmR5Z6QamYixz3orQEHONWRSEy_rd6ETr0Vwz_SNWu_06z5eln_ynSAK9QWwHqoFiaIWD1jwZU/s640/IMG_5834_2.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Doner Kebap served up with a side of sensationalism. Istanbul, Turkey. </b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtqL2U9dpUw5dEEXSWECBWfNGt59HxDoqLl_7HFWOZSy0S_LPeNyQf7d7hknQXNvqrFsM2gxbwJag1-Rjz8U09C4BHIw9xGapJgnI87MtMJhyWbQcHpyMYjT-kaP7N-VtH94EAdiz0VMw/s1600/IMG_6391.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtqL2U9dpUw5dEEXSWECBWfNGt59HxDoqLl_7HFWOZSy0S_LPeNyQf7d7hknQXNvqrFsM2gxbwJag1-Rjz8U09C4BHIw9xGapJgnI87MtMJhyWbQcHpyMYjT-kaP7N-VtH94EAdiz0VMw/s640/IMG_6391.JPG" width="612" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>The lute playing Muslim grannie who was the inspiration for this blog post. </b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLzFRYRbKyw0MEE32aBlQWd6BbA4H97ZiPf9nupE-R7zM51pwuBe-sbi2OnYTZN0xp3QOr4o6X-MSp_HMhTQgDnjXYSmcZRGteOKRIPmQ6_4-691LywOTMGvYNfcGMaIn2k4ExVrG1VxQ/s1600/happy+men.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLzFRYRbKyw0MEE32aBlQWd6BbA4H97ZiPf9nupE-R7zM51pwuBe-sbi2OnYTZN0xp3QOr4o6X-MSp_HMhTQgDnjXYSmcZRGteOKRIPmQ6_4-691LywOTMGvYNfcGMaIn2k4ExVrG1VxQ/s640/happy+men.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Really, would you trust these guys? Abu Dhabi Bus Station, UAE.</b></span></td></tr>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">xxMelanie</span></b><br />
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Melanie Mehrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16312745331022268324noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-893141974239522867.post-42093241429227186882012-08-19T07:01:00.001-07:002012-08-28T11:31:05.330-07:00Symbolism of rugs in Anatolia: My Soumak and an old friend, Kathy Hamilton<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">**First blog from Istanbul! I’m finally back!**</span></b></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6aa84f;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One day a Yürük tribal chief saw a kilim rug lying on the ground by a tent. Looking at it brought anguish to his heart, so he called on his men to find the father of the girl who had woven that kilim rug. </span></b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6aa84f;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEGrFLOGhe669ITFnA6f5cfwz7Ho89vszloBxKeAcPSNhp0DudzL5NBA675EnczsZkxm-UipRZz1Z7VZ4WMqpv-82mmV1JFORa9vhkgMu5ygKLdoEiudFcHaA1p6YWRYqWwh1CQ8y1CaM/s1600/sumak.jpeg" /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>When the father of the girl was
brought to the tent the chief asked: </b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>"<i>You have a daughter, don't you?</i>" </b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>"<i>Yes,
I do</i>" replied the father. </b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>"<i>As I understand it,</i>"
continued the chief, "<i>you want to marry the girl to someone she doesn't
want. She has set her heart on another.</i>”</b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b> At first the father was
stunned - how could the chief know of this - but then his tongue was
loosened:</b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b> "<i>That's true, I'm a poor man and the man who wants to marry
my daughter is rich, so I promised to give him her hand in marriage. My girl,
though, lost her heart to a poor young man…but how could you know of this?</i>" </b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The
chief pointed to the kilim rug on the ground saying:</b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b> "<i>Didn't your
daughter weave this kilim rug?</i>” </b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b> "<i>Yes, she did</i>" said
the father, to which the chief replied:</b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6aa84f;"><b> "<i>So I knew about it from the
language spoken by this kilim rug…I'll give you a horse, a camel, go and marry
the girl to the one she loves. Oh! and tell her this…she wove it well, but she
should put a bit less of a green accent by the red…as it is, I was almost
misled.</i>"</b></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtyBiNIIGGqJ0eqh7sKs94WMKR2r-MY07ySa3e3MgZL30mcyhERi-7YDeohNRenAPiq9X7l__t_G5XfcRIxBUF0sFfsjQKJwSZj8erohWXe9VS2aVksVIwUp_dzpL-lm4G2VzTkC40hnk/s1600/Turkiye!444.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtyBiNIIGGqJ0eqh7sKs94WMKR2r-MY07ySa3e3MgZL30mcyhERi-7YDeohNRenAPiq9X7l__t_G5XfcRIxBUF0sFfsjQKJwSZj8erohWXe9VS2aVksVIwUp_dzpL-lm4G2VzTkC40hnk/s320/Turkiye!444.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Murat! Friends since my first trip to Turkey in 2001.</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My my, the past two years of living in Canada have gone quickly. For those of you who have followed my blog, you’ll remember a few years ago I took a textiles class at UBC. I had to do a presentation on something to do with textiles and so I chose to do my presentation based on a soumak I bought a few years back in Turkey.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e;">I have a friend who sells carpets in Sultanahmet, Murat at Artemis Rug Store on Akbiyik Cadesi/ Adliye Sokak. We’ve been friends for years, and once I stopped in to say hello, and saw this soumak hanging on the wall and fought with Murat to sell it to me. He didn’t really want to part with it, knowing he’d probably get a higher price from a richer tourist, but I insisted, and I still love it to this day. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af;">(In fact, it has been on my floor in the UAE, Istanbul in 2009, Throughout many bedroom floors in Canada, and now it has come home to Turkey and it's lying five feet away from me as I type this!)</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e;"> I now avoid looking at walls in Murat’s shop, though! He also says he won’t sell me anymore rugs and I ought to take my business elsewhere, but the truth is, Murat has amazing carpets and I’m always guaranteed an honest price and honesty about the quality of the piece and where it comes from. (My sister and I once locked him out of his own shop and went through his merchandise- which he thought extremely funny, but that’s another story!) </span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBtjGmsQapXfzqObweOK_XE6JKyCN9S0BdOLcaRSs_n668wYGiuRMMlXefbSmIASF5FYQT18Q_h6FLJz0YGzFtu4bgspMIS2GtiS90KD_kNk_amnaLoaB153QdrT39_yqTUfC4_2vKU8M/s1600/KILIM_WEAVE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBtjGmsQapXfzqObweOK_XE6JKyCN9S0BdOLcaRSs_n668wYGiuRMMlXefbSmIASF5FYQT18Q_h6FLJz0YGzFtu4bgspMIS2GtiS90KD_kNk_amnaLoaB153QdrT39_yqTUfC4_2vKU8M/s320/KILIM_WEAVE.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kilim weave</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e;">Okay, what is the difference between a carpet, a kilim and a soumak? Rug 101 coming up.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e;">A carpet is the kind of carpet you know of- it’s thick and has a pile. Carpet weavers tie each piece on and cut it according to a pattern they usually have taped to the side of the loom. </span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzWY5YvH4Ji3qaIa_7SS_VoWmtY4wEV52DBWK2p18IQpzxgeDLfUiWyLVbKCg9rV9TvIK24t_fmrAmfwgU63soLxaBlTIJ2I-C6_DPA_Q32BH30D-_02g9vtecr0RaASopOYx1WyEDRjs/s1600/SOUMAK_WEAVE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzWY5YvH4Ji3qaIa_7SS_VoWmtY4wEV52DBWK2p18IQpzxgeDLfUiWyLVbKCg9rV9TvIK24t_fmrAmfwgU63soLxaBlTIJ2I-C6_DPA_Q32BH30D-_02g9vtecr0RaASopOYx1WyEDRjs/s320/SOUMAK_WEAVE.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Soumak Weave</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e;">A kilim is a flat woven carpet, and can be reversed. It takes more skill and some critical thinking skills in order to work the pattern and still keep the structural integrity of the rug. because the colours don’t overlap there is often a small gap between the colours, so the kilim needs to be planned out in such a way that these slits aren’t too long.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e;">Mine in particular is a soumak, which is very close to a kilim, except it’s embroidered as well as woven, and can’t be reversed, and has a different kind of weave.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC6rxqxhTY9abUzWbYL2XO7tqfq8bazaSE7ihn0jG0Sd5dR5prFQGLcjAqNs249iswc6Qj3ynJ4NzDbda21OHX3gQr55KbUnLUJVlUkGS8KuMiLQw4VZljZJcwM7QwxXZ5AkHr3BvOC7o/s1600/IMG_2544.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC6rxqxhTY9abUzWbYL2XO7tqfq8bazaSE7ihn0jG0Sd5dR5prFQGLcjAqNs249iswc6Qj3ynJ4NzDbda21OHX3gQr55KbUnLUJVlUkGS8KuMiLQw4VZljZJcwM7QwxXZ5AkHr3BvOC7o/s320/IMG_2544.JPG" width="216" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e;">Kathy Hamilton and her son. </span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lucky for me, I have lots of interesting and intelligent friends in Istanbul. Meet Kathy Hamilton from Texas and her son. This picture is a few years old, taken on the day that Kathy, her son, my sister and I stalked Obama on his trek between the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Kathy is the shopping tourists dream, as she has researched and organized tours of the Grand Bazaar to help people navigate the crazy number of stores there: Not only can she tell you the history of the Bazaar, she knows where to get the best stuff for the best price. She also knows a lot about kilims, so I showed her my kilim and she helped me deconstruct the story over a cup of tea one day. </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">My soumak and what it means! </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(As deconstructed by Kathy and me)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(Mini disclaimer: Neither of us claim to be experts!)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPeOdagwL9hME_AtYquMTGo6uBiJ5cECjCaIvO_SzUkeFC5Cyc4pFZNTjS4NtWnzUbpAM6VeqUw1BBt1Ca3hAAVt-XWiNjqLf6JyvPH93a0z_t6y5S-4xi3EpoqdbOeH8uAKzxcPVTmzw/s1600/carpet+1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPeOdagwL9hME_AtYquMTGo6uBiJ5cECjCaIvO_SzUkeFC5Cyc4pFZNTjS4NtWnzUbpAM6VeqUw1BBt1Ca3hAAVt-XWiNjqLf6JyvPH93a0z_t6y5S-4xi3EpoqdbOeH8uAKzxcPVTmzw/s1600/carpet+1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPeOdagwL9hME_AtYquMTGo6uBiJ5cECjCaIvO_SzUkeFC5Cyc4pFZNTjS4NtWnzUbpAM6VeqUw1BBt1Ca3hAAVt-XWiNjqLf6JyvPH93a0z_t6y5S-4xi3EpoqdbOeH8uAKzxcPVTmzw/s400/carpet+1.jpeg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e;">Animals and Ram’s Horns inside a burr design. </span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Animals, most likely livestock that needs protecting. the two little squiggly S’s are snakes, a symbol of renewal and protection. The two blueish symbols in the middle are ram’s horns, symbolising fertility in males,
heroism, power and masculinity. In its earliest forms, ram’s horns were
curvilinear and used in felting in Central Asia. They only became geometric
because of the constraints weavers have of making curvilinear forms.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The oatmeal-coloured shape you see is a burr (burdock) shape. Burrs often get stuck
on humans and animals that live very close to nature, and it is believed that
the burr can ward off the evil eye. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
can also mean “full of flowers” and so therefore it’s often depicted on the
side of flour bags in Anatolia. By putting her livestock and ‘ram’ in the burr pattern, the weaver is protecting her family and security. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu4J6voVEFs36X8nPIrhDCX8PdmYWZWWbq-jRR7-sV3yjGU01CumiD9NRBMXi4Q0cFyaFltRASm2EVWyseY-pOO8lVaECbanWQYrx61nYSsR2I9w221Vl5YUYL-HmSY0UYtfF4ly8g5Gg/s1600/carpet+2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu4J6voVEFs36X8nPIrhDCX8PdmYWZWWbq-jRR7-sV3yjGU01CumiD9NRBMXi4Q0cFyaFltRASm2EVWyseY-pOO8lVaECbanWQYrx61nYSsR2I9w221Vl5YUYL-HmSY0UYtfF4ly8g5Gg/s400/carpet+2.jpeg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e;">Snakes, dowry chests and a broken evil eye/cross. </span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Working from the outside line, the linked S pattern is the snake again, encircling the entire carpet, thus protecting everything inside its design. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The snake is a protection of life symbol. As
it molts its skin every year, it has become the symbol for immortality and
reincarnation and eternity. The snake is also the caretaker of the tree of
life, which also symbolizes eternity. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A black snake represents happiness and
fertility, because of its real life form resembling a phallus. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next up are trousseau chest symbols, the dowry chests of young Anatolian girls, with a cross inside. this isn’t a coptic cross though, this one splits the evil eye in four, sending its ill-will in four different directions, warding of anyone who might be jealous of this bountiful dowry chest! The evil eye is a widespread popular motif
and is still widely used to ward off jealous stared and curses. It is believed
that some people have the power to inflict harm, injury, misfortune or even
death with a glance, and the best way to fight off this evil eye, is with
another human eye. The evil eye is a stylized representation of a human eye and can also be represented as a diamond split into four.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiknoUtmlCDFL55FeDRyUHCeL-M-r-KyYN-CwsDwSHCHZw_kCi-V9WFvpPF4-hwZfC-HL7Zh4XKmX70N7AbC-lXsOLS5vuaYOojswC5RXHjQdoUl0rHxbT6MPZk_QBagCyETgiQln8qBsg/s1600/carpet+3.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiknoUtmlCDFL55FeDRyUHCeL-M-r-KyYN-CwsDwSHCHZw_kCi-V9WFvpPF4-hwZfC-HL7Zh4XKmX70N7AbC-lXsOLS5vuaYOojswC5RXHjQdoUl0rHxbT6MPZk_QBagCyETgiQln8qBsg/s320/carpet+3.jpeg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e;">Coffee cups, oil lamps and water jugs and animals inside a burr.</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another burr pattern with oil lamps, water jars and coffee cups among the plentiful animals. I admit, the jars and coffee cups are what initially attracted me to this soumak, and I have yet to see another one like it. I thought perhaps these were a literal depiction of things you might find on an actual soumak being used out in the field.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> But now I know vessels hold water, a precious commodity for a nomadic tribe, moving their animals around looking for water and suitable grounds. A vessel is also a symbol of fertility as pregnant women are also vessels carrying new life. The ewer, or long spouted vessel found on the top and bottom is also a symbol for pregnancy and cleanliness. Since it is one of the household objects used daily, it is often seen on Turkish prayer rugs and kilims. It reminds the faithful to perform ablutions before prayer. It also represents washing after sexual intercourse, so it’s also a symbol for the wish to have children. The weaver is most likely hoping for an abundance of water and possibly an abundance of children in her future as well! The oil lamps could represent modern convenience or even Islam, as lamps are often included in prayer rugs to symbolise “the light."</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQM5KiXFP37P1ct_RDLLWZJrBKHQArgjDJOzIXY5_zBQdsULLBI7nujDkOPlPlhF7BokrkvAyPu3vr2bbPZleMnQbAMfmYSfSavxOemlDD4vnzFZKZuEo-BNO7PWWYEpGJZwMLmkR6vPk/s1600/carpet+4.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQM5KiXFP37P1ct_RDLLWZJrBKHQArgjDJOzIXY5_zBQdsULLBI7nujDkOPlPlhF7BokrkvAyPu3vr2bbPZleMnQbAMfmYSfSavxOemlDD4vnzFZKZuEo-BNO7PWWYEpGJZwMLmkR6vPk/s320/carpet+4.jpeg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e;">First quirk: half a star.</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s interesting to note that there are always “mistakes’ or quirks in a handwoven kilm/rug/soumak. There are two reasons for this: The first one being that only God can make perfect things. The second is that it proves the carpet wasn’t made by a machine. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are a few quirks on my soumak- one being half a woven star, the yellow and white shape. This simply symbolises happiness and
fertility. If there are many stars on a kilim is means the weaver wishes to
express her utmost happiness in life. Taking into consideration the mother goddess statues where the star symbolises
the womb, it could be said that the motif is related to fertility. Due to
technical weaving difficulties, the star motifs have an even number of points.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzIa8nfNTeoiAT3gfhk9Y9X687klEvlEtkPfvWwft3HCbK7f3LnDdacuzxDw4A1pyCe138GDcwEDjtsuw1cgpOTAmRgT0tj_-PaXFyCoGfy5AbBfxvRfX6prWNPM2RleqQRsKBTocYf5c/s1600/carpet+7.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzIa8nfNTeoiAT3gfhk9Y9X687klEvlEtkPfvWwft3HCbK7f3LnDdacuzxDw4A1pyCe138GDcwEDjtsuw1cgpOTAmRgT0tj_-PaXFyCoGfy5AbBfxvRfX6prWNPM2RleqQRsKBTocYf5c/s320/carpet+7.jpeg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e;">Second quirk: Half a lamp.</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Besides there being a few animals with three legs, it looks like the yellow oil lamp also got cut off. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRfBqWl05XgJRBTlTSmCgQtzqQkX0ho93zRJ762u8NLE9Mkh1vWMhAcLoLVeS_YkdrhBCz-MupT8smFejH-xLLn373MJZkbmxCo7Ul-jhNjMhN-G1u4ashIocbU1wGQIbUlomx9f8Trag/s1600/carpet+8.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRfBqWl05XgJRBTlTSmCgQtzqQkX0ho93zRJ762u8NLE9Mkh1vWMhAcLoLVeS_YkdrhBCz-MupT8smFejH-xLLn373MJZkbmxCo7Ul-jhNjMhN-G1u4ashIocbU1wGQIbUlomx9f8Trag/s320/carpet+8.jpeg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e;">Third quirk: A weird thingy. Someone enlighten me!</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’m not really sure what that little shape next to the oil lamp is. My guess is that it’s a flower bud maybe? or an earring? Earrings are given to bride during the marriage ceremony and symbolises marriage and the desire to get married. It shows weaver's expectations for marriage. It’s a possibility that this is an earring, as it would be fitting with the theme. Though it kind of reminds me of a curling rock from Canada! </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e;">Favourite quirk: Escaping bird!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">And my favourite little quirk of all, this little bird trying to make it’s escape at the very top of the soumak. It’s almost like he’s saying, I’ve made it past the first ring of snakes, now it I could only get past this next ring I’ll be freeee! </span></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">My take on it is that she is young, but very close to marriageable age. She is hoping for a marriage with a good man who will treat her well. She also hopes for half a ton of kids. I think that in addition to showing the material things she dreams of - a home, all the necessities for a home, livestock, etc., I think that she is also giving a picture of her world. I think that the fox-ish animal and some of the birds could represent the wildlife that is around her home. If she is living in a tiny village, or a part of a nomadic unit, she is aware of the fact that there are those around her who are prone to jealousy of someone who is happier, has a nicer husband or more children, and so she is trying to protect herself, and her dreams, from the evil eye.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #76a5af; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">Or, she’s wishing Starbucks would come to her village!</span></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You can see a short little <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNRu1hbwLk8">video of Kathy</a> here and contact her on her website @ <a href="http://www.IstanbulPersonalShopper.com/">Istanbul Personal Shopper</a> . </span></b><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You can find Marat and Artemis Rug Store at their website, <a href="http://www.artemisrugstore.com/">here</a>.</span></b><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Off to meet a new friend under Galata Bridge! It’s nice to be back! </span></b> </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6fa8dc;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">xxMelanie</span></b></span></div>
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Melanie Mehrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16312745331022268324noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-893141974239522867.post-86147272202535001472012-06-02T11:51:00.001-07:002012-06-02T11:54:24.017-07:00A Hill with a Bike on it Stands a little Taller: Cycling in the City!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ffd966; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b style="background-color: black;">My friend Lorens' awesome bamboo bike! The "fiberglass" joints are made from hemp and soy epoxy.<br />Apparently you can find online instructions to make your own, but Loren's friend made Loren's.</b></span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Now that spring is almost on it's way out and summer is on it's way, I manage to get out on my bike when it's not raining. I love cycling. Not like, I have to wear everything spandex and go shooting through the city cycling, But a nice ride along streets I haven't been on before, maybe just a hair of my usual route lets me explore all sorts of things I'd miss if I were walking or on the bus. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Take all my yarn bombing spottings. Most of them have been in the company of my bicycle. But I have also found a few other interesting things in the city because of cycling. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #e69138; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Roundabout Gardens: </b></span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio4x82PyiC4K1ZKw-WUz5DqgqyPWz7Z_uxwX8xB5GNQ0ifwKonhkENPKVE6xeDStkEWADf2v6FznMfUISrVXQdz_xgudYHPiEi1TGgcgZ_XLQuvLpm9Fy7ywbBCdMfhykHQfu78_w-9hk/s1600/IMG_4121.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio4x82PyiC4K1ZKw-WUz5DqgqyPWz7Z_uxwX8xB5GNQ0ifwKonhkENPKVE6xeDStkEWADf2v6FznMfUISrVXQdz_xgudYHPiEi1TGgcgZ_XLQuvLpm9Fy7ywbBCdMfhykHQfu78_w-9hk/s400/IMG_4121.JPG" width="400" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">These are community gardens found in the roundabouts in Kitsilano. If I were living in a cramped little apartment in Kits and staying long term, I might take one of these over. How fun! These guys invite you to take what you need, but they never seem to run out of anything.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivsWMHyNxATcqCy6bWxCXtnkJWNzfb9WBXN4LMUJGJuimZqX1KaezjIDzThmk-v9lei2H7PrgZUSh2mGliO1O9TOUoH4QDQCF9y5r9fKD4Sn3MNcur00ZWPkysA_pVwU1hU-F0P-S0wG8/s1600/IMG_4442.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivsWMHyNxATcqCy6bWxCXtnkJWNzfb9WBXN4LMUJGJuimZqX1KaezjIDzThmk-v9lei2H7PrgZUSh2mGliO1O9TOUoH4QDQCF9y5r9fKD4Sn3MNcur00ZWPkysA_pVwU1hU-F0P-S0wG8/s400/IMG_4442.JPG" width="298" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f6b26b; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">And now that I ride my bike up the big hill to UBC, I was quite pleased to encounter this other form of nice graffitti- Stenciled right in the bike path lane right at the top of the hill it says, "A hill with a bike on it stands a little taller." The kind of graffiti I can get behind. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">xxMelanie</span></div>
</div>Melanie Mehrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16312745331022268324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-893141974239522867.post-8366362377589130932012-05-25T16:51:00.001-07:002012-05-25T22:15:41.041-07:00April Showers Bring May Flowers: Yarn bomb spotted!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I hate moving. Haaaate!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Since moving back to Canada, I have moved nine times. Seriously! Whoever said I should move back to Canada for some stability in my life, should think again! I've never moved this much! Ever! </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">However, all of this moving had an upside this last time around. While I was shuffling my things between my new and old house at the beginning of May, I discovered probably the most ambitious yarn bomb I've seen so far. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This one is on Fourth Avenue West near Collingwood St, (I think, I cant' remember exactly). I've passed it so may times on the bus, trying to snap a picture out the window, but I had never been successful. Luckily one day I decided to ride my bike a different way to my yoga class and I happened across it again. So bike thrown down on the sidewalk much like I did as a kid, I snapped a few pictures with my phone before I continued on my way. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">A few new flowers for May!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> (Now if only the rain would stop, Vancouver!!!) </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>The long view of the fence.</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">The flowers would have been knitted into shape then "sewn" onto the chain-link fence.</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange;"> </span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Notice the cloud! I wish they had filled in the cloud somehow. </b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Okay, the cloud could have been a lot better, but I won't complain! </b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOOabuNTfUOl4CfDHSTsuspt4vDjOe7L1_8oWejpulyff8GIPMW_m7K1q7AzVOcnvgo5b2Kk9QNZ1XyrsZR-oqLqHbhQLWp4PKORsjwTBN_2wmwHDdGpwxvtoARzHeNhbV_YIIPR5Sje0/s1600/IMG_4461.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="366" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOOabuNTfUOl4CfDHSTsuspt4vDjOe7L1_8oWejpulyff8GIPMW_m7K1q7AzVOcnvgo5b2Kk9QNZ1XyrsZR-oqLqHbhQLWp4PKORsjwTBN_2wmwHDdGpwxvtoARzHeNhbV_YIIPR5Sje0/s640/IMG_4461.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>If I had time and some knitting skills I'd go add bees and butterflies. </b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrOUD7EW7uqRD3wSfFZ5x5RwaPF2Mj_-upfQ3fKD8ZUp5wYpIcM7LtQSYdTdLIs0awptgV3hdht6d5KRfXB-G2lbTYiG1rlOaZxJTEySlsATNRi8T5cnp13LQqbrS4d5R9bhmQjVTeLAY/s1600/IMG_4462.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrOUD7EW7uqRD3wSfFZ5x5RwaPF2Mj_-upfQ3fKD8ZUp5wYpIcM7LtQSYdTdLIs0awptgV3hdht6d5KRfXB-G2lbTYiG1rlOaZxJTEySlsATNRi8T5cnp13LQqbrS4d5R9bhmQjVTeLAY/s640/IMG_4462.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Yarn grass would be pretty cool too. </b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEyWmhmcCLaQvpUwW277dD_gTTECfcsPPtwlemFCoqt9l8INAYWiyVEu_u6AOO_QVOODkVNXQP0C_qogWNKt8kaMuvdUDI1NEsjYFT9QUM8sFV_ut4IjZcY8EpbrHkYo6yJ3YV9YdIozk/s1600/IMG_4463.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEyWmhmcCLaQvpUwW277dD_gTTECfcsPPtwlemFCoqt9l8INAYWiyVEu_u6AOO_QVOODkVNXQP0C_qogWNKt8kaMuvdUDI1NEsjYFT9QUM8sFV_ut4IjZcY8EpbrHkYo6yJ3YV9YdIozk/s640/IMG_4463.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>I love how these flowers blend into the field behind it. They don't look out of place at all!</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhatnpsPlzGYD0QKS3MW5bB8SbHG_duaEoQd1rLD1C8ADgyKg75r5zUZNTyp7AeHwBFqxH5qwXScR6-cbsaiuAvsRSQsMDdCRUQ-55gybXvnS82v9pUAKM_Pgu7pubG-td-dYPhMlXmyuY/s1600/IMG_4464.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><img border="0" height="330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhatnpsPlzGYD0QKS3MW5bB8SbHG_duaEoQd1rLD1C8ADgyKg75r5zUZNTyp7AeHwBFqxH5qwXScR6-cbsaiuAvsRSQsMDdCRUQ-55gybXvnS82v9pUAKM_Pgu7pubG-td-dYPhMlXmyuY/s640/IMG_4464.JPG" width="640" /></b></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>The long view from the other side. </b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbS4h8k6RxnHUzFY5Sxda02fah9bFkqESVn7wJyLuvH92fDAF65i9DDaUdrTukCQM7KOskAB5nIkchuYL2XWLkqVbRNWweBCH2ps_Cfs7kppAxYP8JZ4PU4sQxUSBGQqwHep2uFblCgWQ/s1600/IMG_4465.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbS4h8k6RxnHUzFY5Sxda02fah9bFkqESVn7wJyLuvH92fDAF65i9DDaUdrTukCQM7KOskAB5nIkchuYL2XWLkqVbRNWweBCH2ps_Cfs7kppAxYP8JZ4PU4sQxUSBGQqwHep2uFblCgWQ/s640/IMG_4465.JPG" width="478" /></b></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Pink Poinsettia-looking fleur. </b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigXlnopdpBP0Z_r8zNPlEh3cROnCZdbeqCSitIN-gxlYnuXEKwi1H_LRR6OzRETjVwdwkttjvvPu77Ac7zZ9_egajFsKnMcTfCiWYDrZlbO2BXPM_IPnMV_QufwRzGBi2CV7auut84SgY/s1600/IMG_4466.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigXlnopdpBP0Z_r8zNPlEh3cROnCZdbeqCSitIN-gxlYnuXEKwi1H_LRR6OzRETjVwdwkttjvvPu77Ac7zZ9_egajFsKnMcTfCiWYDrZlbO2BXPM_IPnMV_QufwRzGBi2CV7auut84SgY/s640/IMG_4466.JPG" width="418" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;">Thank you for the inspiration, Flower Yarn-Bomber! <br /><br />You have also made my dreary moving duties a little bit brighter with your unsanctioned street installation!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Ps. If you are in the Victoria (British Columbia) Area and would like to donate some yarn to a yarn bomb tree Installation, Go to:</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: #ffd966;"><a href="http://victoria.en.craigslist.ca/art/3025233854.html">This link!</a> </b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;">xxMelanie</span></div>
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<br /></div>Melanie Mehrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16312745331022268324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-893141974239522867.post-20388439403539873312012-05-01T21:59:00.001-07:002012-05-01T21:59:41.119-07:00Seriously Syria: Aleppo and the End of our Trip to Syria<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #bf9000; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b> "You can no more win a war than you can win an earthquake."</b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #f1c232; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">~Jeannette Rankin</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffe599; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Thursday, August 2, 2001</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffe599; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">And so our whirlwind tour of Syria continued on to Aleppo, our last destination in Syria. This time we bought our tickets directly from the bus station as Hama is a much smaller place than Homs. To be honest we were quite unsure as to why we were going to Aleppo, but it was a natural place to go after Hama- and it was also designated at UNESCO site.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixiqEfD1OiTq01ugY4Oz8km8O7reQoQUEiJh_iCYQqhXgTwpxjOnzMffyUUy6KZ-YrLQxTvQuvvTu_CWWqFbYT8Kuwpipiy9-HrdF1Xp3pvx7qd4fY-qxm7WlNIveMS7VD4oEQM12Q4SU/s1600/Aleppo+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; color: #980000; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixiqEfD1OiTq01ugY4Oz8km8O7reQoQUEiJh_iCYQqhXgTwpxjOnzMffyUUy6KZ-YrLQxTvQuvvTu_CWWqFbYT8Kuwpipiy9-HrdF1Xp3pvx7qd4fY-qxm7WlNIveMS7VD4oEQM12Q4SU/s320/Aleppo+1.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0976563) 1px 1px 5px; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: black; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-left-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; border-width: initial; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0976563) 1px 1px 5px; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 1px; padding-right: 1px; padding-top: 1px; position: relative;" width="314" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffe599; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: x-small;"></span></span><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffe599; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The old part of Aleppo was famous as a market city. The main attraction is the Souk which is located in the center of town next to the Citadel. Aleppo has actually been a market town throughout history- It was the capital of the scavenging Amorite kingdom- people who lived off the bounty of the neighbors. But in 1650 BC, the Hittites came and attacked them. The Amorites realize their future was not in stealing fortunes but in earning them. The Greeks arrived in 331 BC and realized Aleppo's potential as a market town. The Persians decimated and devastated it in 614. The Mongols devastated it twice once in 1260 and again under Tamerlane in 1400. A huge earthquake in 1822 reduced much of the city to rubble. But aside from the markets Aleppo has 470 mosques 39 churches 69 caravanserai's and 58 public baths, most which were built in the Mamluk style. 1.5 million people can call Aleppo home. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffe599; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Our first attempt to see the city resulted in us getting majorly lost. We somehow ended up behind the old city entering through some door we first thought was forbidden. But since no one stopped us we continued and found ourselves in a serious maze of streets and from the looks on the people we passed, this area wasn't visited much by tourists. But it was obvious we were in the old city, streets find with old cobblestones, narrow alleyways and only possible to be traversed by foot or bike for little boys came barreling down on bikes, narrowly missing these two lost foreigners! Finally we reached the back end of the Souk but we really only reached it by a total fluke. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirxytms2ZdHwrbdY-oo1RbbOiFz1iomVgQXf4AdD2NJosQxplY4Tx30H1qrRsGgAUK06yWLTVoJPGUkxg09pMbN93I3NpPByVhd-tQATy8TfNvAx8-SwimC_NyrSmIxeuxdORz7RxRKek/s1600/Aleppo+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; color: #980000; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirxytms2ZdHwrbdY-oo1RbbOiFz1iomVgQXf4AdD2NJosQxplY4Tx30H1qrRsGgAUK06yWLTVoJPGUkxg09pMbN93I3NpPByVhd-tQATy8TfNvAx8-SwimC_NyrSmIxeuxdORz7RxRKek/s320/Aleppo+2.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0976563) 1px 1px 5px; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: black; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-left-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; border-width: initial; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0976563) 1px 1px 5px; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 1px; padding-right: 1px; padding-top: 1px; position: relative;" width="293" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffe599; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Wandering through the Souk, I really felt like I was back in Damascus. The same stuff being sold in general except this time at much lower prices. We still didn't buy anything. René had some money to burn as we were planning to cross into Turkey the next day but alas, nothing caught our eyes. We stopped and bought some ice cream and sat on a curb to eat it before it melted. I know we got strange looks from the Aleppians that passed by , but really we got our full share of dirty looks and stares anyway it really didn't matter what we were doing at anytime.</span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffe599; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffe599; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: x-small;"></span></span><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffe599; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> A boy and his friend walked by holding hands.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffe599; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> "Where are you from? Canadian?" He asked. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffe599; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">"Yes," we answered a little bit puzzled, neither of us were carrying anything that gave our nationality away. "Vancouver?"</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffe599; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> "Yes!" we answered. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ffe599;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">"Welcome to Aleppo, eh?" He said, and disappeared into the souk with his handholding friend.</span></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ffe599;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ffe599;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> I only mention this because we ran into him again. – Bashar was walking hand-in-hand with someone who was engaged to his sister. He invited us to his friends shop for tea, but not before he spit out 1000 idioms, rhymes and puns at us. "Life is pretentious!" Seem to be one of his favorites along with "I am not gay but the man I sleep with is." He told us to come drink tea and discover ourselves. W</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">e decided it was worth a tea! </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHp0BKjBvXU4bJfrG1cyv_1hv0Vkfz7uxaVLyNuyJ2AgvSrJ4gR_bw7qGn0pYkukOwyHccQDiq5-t-7CUfD3Hajqyi_K4DPpg29bQ7iZN7LzdT5sZJakXbGZ1AfnzRFwO2sS_sHrniAQM/s1600/Aleppo+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; color: #980000; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHp0BKjBvXU4bJfrG1cyv_1hv0Vkfz7uxaVLyNuyJ2AgvSrJ4gR_bw7qGn0pYkukOwyHccQDiq5-t-7CUfD3Hajqyi_K4DPpg29bQ7iZN7LzdT5sZJakXbGZ1AfnzRFwO2sS_sHrniAQM/s320/Aleppo+4.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0976563) 1px 1px 5px; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: black; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-left-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; border-width: initial; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0976563) 1px 1px 5px; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 1px; padding-right: 1px; padding-top: 1px; position: relative;" width="312" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ffe599;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">So off we went to the shop, called Sebastien which was chosen because it was the name Oscar Wilde apparently adopted after his homosexuality scandal. Hussein the guy who ran the place, had a thing for Oscar Wilde and apparently something for a man who worked for the Syrian Embassy in Canada. It was for this reason he was immigrating to Canada. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Bashar told us </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Thomas, who had left "man-hickeys" all over Hussein, was in the closet and married with kids. Bashar thought he would probably leave his wife once Hussein arrived in Canada sometime in October. </span></span><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffe599; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Bashar also had another friend named Emad who was busy selling some French tourists some silver jewelry. He spoke French fluently and just as he was closing the deal one of the precious necklaces broke all over the floor sending bobbles and beads bouncing over the cement floor. "Lock the doors!" Emad shouted. "I bet these tourists are trying to steal something!" </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffe599; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">After the French tourists left, we headed to Emad's tiny shop in the Souk. We sat in there, eyeing up the mosque lamps unbeknownst to the him and watched him smoking Nargileh, otherwise known to us as sheesha. We talked for a while sucking back more tea and watching Bashar work through all the music they had. Young boys of 24, I couldn't help feel they had carved out a little crazy liberal niche there in Aleppo that didn't really exist anywhere else. They should move to Dahab! We tried to extricate ourselves from the shop but this ended up in us getting a mini-tour of the old caravanserai in the Souk.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffe599; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> We promised to meet the boys for dinner after a jaunt around the old city. But according to the boys we had pretty much seen everything. And that seemed to be pretty much true, so Rene and I decided to leave to Turkey one day early. We had some time before dinner so we wandered around the Souk, chatting with some of the vendors. The weird thing is all the people we stopped to talk to in the Souk designated their sexual preference to us. "Hello, I am Mustafa and I am not gay, really."</span><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffe599; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> Another weird thing is that this day I decided to wear my hair in buns on the top of my head. This is not an unusual hairstyle at home, nor the first time I wore my hair like this on a trip, but for some reason, today nobody could keep their hands off of them. Bashar almost ripped my hair out with all of his grabbing! He said I looked like a little kitten and begged me to meow. Just looking at me thinking about those little buns would send him into serious hysterics! Finally, at the restaurant I took the little buns out as they were now hurting. I put a big one in and now I was apparently a chicken. Sigh!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGUGutxyF4afTe-IZ0-Furmt53Z_khbV0b3El8kJkQPn8mZG02CNiZ1ncV7dwy87OjQfZi2p6iG8DgQY-3XBM2X_fzcIBLBMOnFzE9OqF7R3CujaIDLI5Bm0R4bl-oCPdpmDIWJr-pNUs/s1600/Aleppo+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; color: #980000; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGUGutxyF4afTe-IZ0-Furmt53Z_khbV0b3El8kJkQPn8mZG02CNiZ1ncV7dwy87OjQfZi2p6iG8DgQY-3XBM2X_fzcIBLBMOnFzE9OqF7R3CujaIDLI5Bm0R4bl-oCPdpmDIWJr-pNUs/s320/Aleppo+5.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0976563) 1px 1px 5px; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: black; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-left-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; border-width: initial; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0976563) 1px 1px 5px; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 1px; padding-right: 1px; padding-top: 1px; position: relative;" width="320" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffe599; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Here the boys smoked more nargileh. We ate the usual fare- hummus, pita, vegetables, some lamb and chicken. The restaurant was only a nighttime deal, being situated next to a large community center- like swimming pool. The five star washrooms were actually grubby change rooms. But our boys told us they liked it all five star. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffe599; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Soon into the dinner, I committed social night suicide. I lied to Bashar and told him I had a great boyfriend back in Canada. He told me he wished me no ill will, but would I consider changing boyfriends for a night? I said no, my fictitious boyfriend was a really good man.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffe599; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Bashar ignored me for about half an hour, not speaking to anyone. To be honest, this was really annoying to me as I was still available for witty and interesting conversation, but there was none of that. Instead we watched René thwart Imad's attempts until it was time to leave. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffe599; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">After dinner We went for a big walk and Bashar began to talk a lot and in fact I think our conversation was better since the sex thing was out of the way and we could talk like friends. He said he had some cheating girlfriends so he realize that I was a good one since I wouldn't cheat on my non-existent boyfriend! </span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffe599; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffe599; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Since we were off to Turkey in the morning, we promised Bashar we would meet him for breakfast. We had our usual fill of pita cheese and jam. Then off to the bus we went. Bashar came with us to say goodbye and asked if there was any chance we could stay longer in Aleppo. There was still so much he could show us! Another one asking us to stay a few extra days! We showed him our paid for bus ticket, shook hands, and said goodbye and got on the bus. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffe599; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Goodbye to Syria! On to Turkey. </span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffe599; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #f1c232; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>xxMelanie</b></span></div>
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</div>Melanie Mehrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16312745331022268324noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-893141974239522867.post-23879156311758360412012-03-04T20:06:00.002-08:002012-03-04T20:09:14.517-08:00Seriously Syria: A Visit to Qala'at al-Hosn (Krac des Chevaliers)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #bf9000; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">"A journey is like a marriage. </span></span></b><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #bf9000; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it." </span></span></b></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #f1c232; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><b>~John Steinbeck</b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffe599; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">So on to Homs where we went through the same rigmarole with the annoying touts and bus companies shouting and pulling us in all directions. But within a short time we were en route to the Crac des Chevaliers, known in Arabic as Qala'at Hoseyn. </span></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5ZkcLV54VoFQD8NQfr2qOmdX8Ttn8hrTs9ew_caDcp7_9ivm6RBMkpHsIAvRxMjvPwPf0DcpviKv-c8pc5gu6t1o13XfAG4zoo5VeBoIvp9sfhi26rEIWY_ZXfDFqHn8raWoT0n0IpCc/s1600/The+Crac+Des+Chevaliers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ffe599;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5ZkcLV54VoFQD8NQfr2qOmdX8Ttn8hrTs9ew_caDcp7_9ivm6RBMkpHsIAvRxMjvPwPf0DcpviKv-c8pc5gu6t1o13XfAG4zoo5VeBoIvp9sfhi26rEIWY_ZXfDFqHn8raWoT0n0IpCc/s400/The+Crac+Des+Chevaliers.jpg" width="395" /></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffe599; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">This is the Crusaders' greatest legacy and the best example of military architecture in the Near East. Some guidebooks say it's the best preserved castle in the world! When in use, the Crac could hold 4000 soldiers and 400 knights. The Crac is in a strategic place- it overlooks a gap in the Lebanese mountains which was once a major thoroughfare between the Orontes and the coast. And it was designed to intimidate the folks who utilized that route. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffe599; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">It was built over several years, starting in 1142 and was in use for 129 years. The Crusaders resisted 12 attacks including those led by Nehruddin in 1169 and Saladin in 1188. They were eventually starved out by the Mamluks under Sultan Baybars after a 45 day siege in 1271. After the Mamluks left, the castle wasn't in use and during the Ottoman reign a village of 10,000 lived in there. The French kicked them out in 1936 and the villagers built a new village below with materials they looted from the Crac.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffe599; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> Because the last bus back to Homs left at 3:30, René and I had just over an hour to see the entire Crac. We ran from room to room, checking out the secret passages and views from the tower windows. It was a cool castle and it's true it was of the type fairy tales were made of! Our experience there was good, except A Syrian man followed us around trying to show us things. Though this was not unusual ad he was nice enough, we actually barely had any money. I had none, and there was no place to change at the Crac. As well, the way he spoke Arabic let us to believe that he was deaf which compounded our guilt. We spent much of our time uncomfortable and trying to ditch him. The worst part was that he never asked us for money and said goodbye as he walked off with a friend so maybe hospitality was his only motive and we blew him off. Or maybe not. Who knows? Still I felt horribly guilty.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffe599; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Now was a time to leave the Crac and get back to Homs- or Hama- where we decided we would rather stay for the night before heading on to Aleppo. The minibus driver insisted it would cost us 200 a piece to take us to Hama, but he would take us there directly. We argued with him that this was too expensive but he insisted. I got him to agree to 350 for the two of us (not much of a discount) which he later dismissed as a fee for taking our luggage. I was pissed about this as we had our luggage the whole time we had been bartering.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrZ0bvSLvJWLeTHqyjQrCvCqzyNenn2o6qboMkHR0QhR4s89BRlzvrrqlqZJxcrXNsX9T0t-IY_YTVwcKVpVZMfHiaCEyhzDSZP1PfrpHhJG3ilwNA7wWy1xbUB1sfSPYzKIyvnAuSzfM/s1600/Crac+Des+Chevaliers+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ffe599;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrZ0bvSLvJWLeTHqyjQrCvCqzyNenn2o6qboMkHR0QhR4s89BRlzvrrqlqZJxcrXNsX9T0t-IY_YTVwcKVpVZMfHiaCEyhzDSZP1PfrpHhJG3ilwNA7wWy1xbUB1sfSPYzKIyvnAuSzfM/s400/Crac+Des+Chevaliers+2.jpg" width="398" /></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffe599; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">However close to Homs, (as we figured out we were not going directly to Hama) we saw people take out their money and pay the driver significantly less. When got out, the driver freaked out and insisted we get back in as he was going to drive us to the bus that would take us to Hama. I asked a Japanese boy how much he had paid to get Homs- 35 pounds he answered! how much to Hama? I asked. Seventy was his reply. I fought with the feisty driver who tried to act innocent but accepted our collective 70 pounds and an offer to drive us free! But we wanted nothing to do with him.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffe599; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> At the next Hama ticket booth the man seemed to want us to forget that we had change coming. We kicked up such a fuss that we did get a change back twice! Once directly to René and one and one more time to the bus window to the Japanese boy. By the time we realized the mistake it was too late! Oh well! Win some, lose some!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffe599; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">So off we went to Hama, the land of the waterwheels! On the way, I read up on the history of the town and was surprised that Hama's (somewhat) recent history was not included in René's Lonely Planet. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffe599; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Hama boasts a bloody past. The Arameans, a prosperous group through their trade was with the Israelites, came to blows with the Assyrians who came to loot them. In 722 BC, the Asyrians finally defeated the Arameans after decades of trying and devastated the town. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffe599; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">This happened a lot over the ages, just as the names of victims and assailants have changed. The most recent attack on Hama was in 1982, by its own dear President Assad. In 1980 there was an attempt on President Assad's life by the Muslim brotherhood. Obviously the assassination failed; Assad himself kicked one of the grenades thrown at him out of the way. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffe599; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Assad laid low biding his time until the time was right and exact his revenge on the Muslim brotherhood. In February 1982 after a coalition of revolutionaries published an antigovernment manifesto, the government closed off the city, ordering first an aerial bombardment and then a land invasion by the army. There was a news blackout so details are hazy but it has been estimated that between 15,000 to 25,000 civilians were murdered in the massacre. Many others died in Syria's prisons.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffe599; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Apparently an example was made of Hama, as there were a lot of revolutionaries in Aleppo as well. Again coming from Canada I can't imagine having a leader who would do such a thing. Honestly no one wants you in power, then get out! Why would you want to inflict all that misery on your own people? I highly doubt dictators are happy people.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffe599; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> Even though we were looking at Hama as only a stopover, we took advantage of our time there to go out and see what we could of the place. It seemed like a nice little place, lots of green park area coupled with outdoor restaurants along the river and tons of people out walking, though it was only Wednesday night.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffe599; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">We wandered up and down the streets, sampled some extremely greasy falafel and decided on eating whatever Hama was most famous for- which was an almond flavored cream filled crêpe- although the substance inside was much thicker than cream. We saw the Norias, the famous waterwheels and then retired to our hotel in the evening. We tried to get some sleep but apparently our hotel was on one of the main streets and a few weddings went by to add to the already ludicrous amount of honking. Good night!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffd966; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>Melanie</b></span></div>Melanie Mehrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16312745331022268324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-893141974239522867.post-83842954035727298862012-02-23T21:03:00.004-08:002012-02-23T21:51:28.235-08:00Seriously Syria: Palmyra<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #45818e; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>"The everyday kindness of the back roads more than makes up for the acts of greed in the headlines."</b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #76a5af; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>~Charles Kuralt</b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #bf9000; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>Monday, July 30, 2001.</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxXbWxsKRQWl22do_ZRPpHU2KEA0ycAOdOOdDm4kfIiZkrkCbD6m2ewi6UVQwomKRYDNLWj2RQ1gfCnbds4gMQXagbX_jQbC4t1aa1NEdN98yQzJftFyRTCvpgF2jzagraux5aLW9J_mg/s1600/Syrian+pamphlet+in+Spanish.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxXbWxsKRQWl22do_ZRPpHU2KEA0ycAOdOOdDm4kfIiZkrkCbD6m2ewi6UVQwomKRYDNLWj2RQ1gfCnbds4gMQXagbX_jQbC4t1aa1NEdN98yQzJftFyRTCvpgF2jzagraux5aLW9J_mg/s320/Syrian+pamphlet+in+Spanish.jpg" width="312" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffd966; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> Today we left Damascus and headed for Palmyra. One thing that is cool about travelling in Syria is that the buses go all the time. It seems strange to me that these countries with relatively small populations can sustain this type of traveling! The downside to this in particular in Syria, is that when we arrive at the bus station, we are met by 100 touts who scream names of cities at us or run alongside us asking, "Excuse me where you go?" This is because there are different bus companies competing for travelers. As soon as they're bus is filled up it can go. You would think we be sitting there all day, but actually, we never had to wait more than 40 minutes at a stretch. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffd966; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">So off to Palmyra we went, though we both felt more time could have been spent in Damascus. Though we were not too keen on more Roman ruins, apparently Palmyra is a serious top place to visit, as well as being UNESCO site-a designation Jerash in Jordan doesn't have. However, I think that this is because Palmyra has a far racier past than cousin Jerash.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffd966; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> Pompeii conquered the rest of Syria in 63 BC. Instead of wasting his troops energy by talking them through the desert to Palmyra, the town became a buffer zone between the Roman and Persian Empire. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="clear: left; color: #ffd966; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFVqUos8UM6OPUdLXxXNYAuC-7wKhjww1AtKF38ikexMx4pp0GQxAvJTzgGrAty6kIDIyXMYx_5iZbjjoq99OxxoZDsLEQvofw_MBIBthgOcSe_bO0RMOHONQdvy7TqFiGy9yZVL9gaA4/s320/Syria+Neighbourhood.jpg" width="311" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffd966; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">In A.D. 130, Hadrian declared Palmyra a free town so the people of Palmyra were free to govern themselves. In A.D. 217, Rome gave Palmyra the status of Roman colony, so the Palmyrenes did not have to pay taxes and had rights which were on par with those of Rome. At this time, the citizens changed the name of Palmyra to Palmyra-Hadriana to show their gratitude. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffd966; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> Palmyra became an important city on the trade routes between Rome and the empires of the East. Petra's demise was Palmyra's fortune and more and more trade routes felt under Palmyrene control. However the peak of Palmyrene was when Rome granted Palmyrene King Odenathus full control over all of the Roman forces in the area. This was because he rescued the Roman Emperor Valerian from Persian kidnappers. But Odenathus was murdered in 268-2266 A.D. and his queen, Queen Zenobia assumed the throne for her infant son. But Zenobia was no idle queen and set about expanding the Palmyrene kingdom. Within five years her armies controlled Syria, Egypt and Asia Minor up to and including Ankara. Mints in Alexandria were making coins with her image and Zenobia had taken to calling herself Augusta, the Roman Imperial title. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffd966; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Obviously Rome was a little pissed off and Emperor Aurelian retaliated. By A.D. 272, Zenobia's trips were defeated and Palmyra was captured as Zenobia tried to flee. She had to ride in shackles in Aurelian's victory parade. She lived out the last of her days as a prisoner in Italy. Palmyra never regained its previous splendor. And in 1089, an earthquake toppled most of the city and the place was pretty much abandoned after that.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffd966; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The first day we arrived we really wondered what the big attraction was. This place was no more than a village with cement houses, sometimes painted, kids on bikes, a few chickens. Having arrived in the midday, all sane people had retreated indoors to escape the heat. And what heat it was! Was finding this oasis in the desert all that great? After we checked into our hotel- Al Afqa Hotel, run by a larger than life manager named Mehren, we wanted around the little tumbleweed town, ate dinner and returned just before sundown where we took a taxi up to the Mamluk castle to watch the sunset.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffd966; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> I met a Canadian archaeologist who knew my Roman art history professor from UVic. The discussions I had with her further confirmed that leaving the political profession of art history to go to linguistics was a good one. We watched the sunset, went back to the hotel and joked with Mehren, and retired to the room for the night </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffd966; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Today we got up and headed to the museum and organized a ride of the tombs of Elahbel and the three brothers. Since we had time to kill, we headed out to the ruins which were surprisingly close to where we were staying. I think over all we didn't really see anything that we didn't see at Jerash, though Palmyra seemed more of a city where Jerash seemed like scattered ruins. Of course we had our usual host of totes and camel drivers to bargain for. I told one guy I really hated camels and he kept chasing me down show me his camel wouldn't bite! I have had enough of the furry flatulent beasts! </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffd966; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">After a quick jaunt down to the colonnaded street, checking out the nondescript ruins we headed back in the heat the museum where we met our driver and another Canadian named Tim. Tim was a budding archaeologists you had been on a dig in Turkey. He was way more energetic than us in the heat, running to the top of nearby ruins donning his Indiana Jones hat and peering into the corners with a heavy duty torch. So the first tomb we went to see was the Temple of Elabel. Because these tombs are the best, they are locked and shown only four times a day. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffd966; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The temple of Bell was built in 103 A.D. for four brothers and their portraits are painted on the wall. But on each side of the temple seems to be a filing cabinet for the dead. Four floors, nine recesses, each could hold nine corpses, that's 324 bodies in this one alone! This was done for profit so you could be buried in a tomb even if you couldn't afford one. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffd966; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">One interesting thing was that the spaces were so narrow it was obvious and later confirmed by our Indiana Jones companion that the Romans buried their dead sideways. The tomb of the three brothers was underground and had funerary statues. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffd966; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Tim bartered for several minutes for a Kafiya. He got the guy down to 70 Syrian pounds-very cheap! But he didn't have the correct change. So he borrowed 50 pounds off René and promised he would find her and return the money. After he got out of the taxi he stuck his head back in and said he promised and he even did the scouts sign! We trusted him! </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffd966; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">He did pay René back by leaving an envelope of money with Mehren at the hotel. When Mehren saw the piddly amount of cash in the envelope, he seriously blew a fit:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffd966; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">"You'd think he left you ten million dollars, with the fuss he made about getting this envelope to you! I should go out there and find this guy and crack his head!" Luckily our Indiana Jones was already out of town. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffd966; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">We were hungry at this point so we decided to go for a walk and check out the Pancake House, a restaurant that came highly recommended by the traveller's we had met. We were having a hard time finding it until a man on a bike drove by and called out, </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffd966; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">"Pancake house?" </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffd966; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">"Yes!" </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffd966; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">"Follow me!"</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOdFYYNXvcgIqIpFGxKSEH-7uNP0Y06fwmgKoJg7T7OqTDqDf29ZYSQ1QxNbEmBmx-lDngwd7B_2TAQiKbhraaeFyJauqdD-rCj9icn4v0l5dDfFqGlKxdhY6GyK0c6y46FwAZY5bQhW4/s1600/Palmyra,+Iad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOdFYYNXvcgIqIpFGxKSEH-7uNP0Y06fwmgKoJg7T7OqTDqDf29ZYSQ1QxNbEmBmx-lDngwd7B_2TAQiKbhraaeFyJauqdD-rCj9icn4v0l5dDfFqGlKxdhY6GyK0c6y46FwAZY5bQhW4/s320/Palmyra,+Iad.jpg" width="314" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffd966; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> This was the Iad, cook, owner, manager and full blown-entertainment. After we ate, he invited us into the cool and quiet backroom to hang out with him and his son. René ended up talking to Iad, who drilled her on all sots of topics in order to kill time and I played a strange little card game with his eight-year-old son Mohammed. Iad's wife Gina was currently in Romania with their youngest son and he was left alone with Mohammed for the summer holidays and it was driving him crazy! Mohammed had a fixation with everything mine and carefully checked out the contents of my bag: my camera, backpack, passport, and sunglasses. I took some photos of him wearing everything including my shoes! </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffd966; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">We left to catch the afternoon sunlight on the ruins but not before promising to return for a free dinner! And it was a good dinner-couscous with lamb and tomato- the most expensive thing on the menu! There were no other customers and we spent a few hours there. But I have to admit I got bored listening to Iad ask René when she was planning to come back to Palmiyra and offered to help her find a job in Damascus so they could see each other. Not that I want the attention René gets from these men, but it was getting ridiculous! So I bugged Mohammed and we built our own fun. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffd966; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Soon Mohammed and I were bored with each other and we waited and watched Iad fawn over René and Rene laugh it off for bit longer. He did tell us his grand plans for the pancake House which was basically to become as big as McDonalds is in other countries. (No McDonald's in Syria.) We were only allowed to leave after we had tea with Iad's parents Where he introduced René and told them her life story, ignoring me completely! We also had to promise to come back for breakfast even though in my opinion it was a large pain in the ass and I had had enough of Iad.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #bf9000; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>Wednesday, August 1, 2001</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLGUFZS5rWyEMSp9deARZqyMO6NpJpbl-KU514kZUyMQ1KdwIgCAoDt_q6R_3nSX9WmNIDNzH8e-oiVtWYxA5ZJd_gZ4nrz2kptgKV99Itdr3BTPaIUZk35pF3jKR7AMGJdnw0tsKWFC0/s1600/Palmyra,+Last+Day.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLGUFZS5rWyEMSp9deARZqyMO6NpJpbl-KU514kZUyMQ1KdwIgCAoDt_q6R_3nSX9WmNIDNzH8e-oiVtWYxA5ZJd_gZ4nrz2kptgKV99Itdr3BTPaIUZk35pF3jKR7AMGJdnw0tsKWFC0/s320/Palmyra,+Last+Day.jpg" width="316" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffd966; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">This morning we packed, checked out of our hotel and carried our luggage over to the Pancake House. Iad had sent Mohammed to sleep at his grandfather's and he himself had pulled up a mat Arab style and was asleep on the floor of the restaurant when we arrived. He got up, not a morning person, and staggered around the kitchen making us a really nice send off breakfast. We had pancakes and coffee, and more of the same conversation as the night before. Rene asked and lots of questions about his wife. He answered but didn't talk too much. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffd966; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">He then drove us to the bus station, bought our tickets to Homs, got on the bus and booted two poor boys out of their seats to wait for the next bus. He then reorganized the front seats so we didn't have to sit next to any swarthy men. He asked us if we had made arrangements with the hotel we wanted to stay at in Hama, and we told him no, but it would be okay. Lucky for us, Iad called ahead and booked us a room, as he knew it was often full and there was no where else decent to stay in Hama! </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffd966; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Then we finally said good bye to Iad, the Pancake Man, me feeling a little guilty and sheepish for scoffing so much at him when he really was quite generous, thoughtful, kind, and did a lot for us.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffd966; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">-To be Continued!-</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #bf9000; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>xxMelanie</b></span></div>
</div>Melanie Mehrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16312745331022268324noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-893141974239522867.post-78129997736745162232012-02-05T22:09:00.000-08:002012-02-05T22:13:30.770-08:00Seriously Syria, Last Day in Damascus<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #bf9000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>"Journeys, like artists, are born and not made. A thousand differing circumstances contribute to them, few of them willed or determined by the will- whatever we may think." </b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f1c232; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>~Lawrence Durell</b></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #f1c232; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Sunday, July 29</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-Es7TsWYYbiUtHjbWlG2XGTZbjqLXqYJdSjl_iAsIm0rCnNJgFdXAupMDSCN4jnPV-yQwYzEWr3xl5AZSMpsRdik70xe7k3w2IOlleMI3caQE9nRrfOuNE8SUI8Vd0Sgp4Rh71oKZxPE/s1600/Damascus+Old+City.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-Es7TsWYYbiUtHjbWlG2XGTZbjqLXqYJdSjl_iAsIm0rCnNJgFdXAupMDSCN4jnPV-yQwYzEWr3xl5AZSMpsRdik70xe7k3w2IOlleMI3caQE9nRrfOuNE8SUI8Vd0Sgp4Rh71oKZxPE/s320/Damascus+Old+City.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffd966; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Today was our day to do the rest of the old city. Aside from wandering aimlessly through the streets, we went to see the Azzam Palace next to the great Mosque. It was a nice large space with displays of Arabic life portrayed by a bunch of identical manikins, male or female, punched out of the same mould. It was like seeing an Arab version of the Dionne Quintuplets! They did have a nice Koranic display, with six Koranic lines written on a seed and a whole chapter written on an egg. You could see through a magnifying glass that the script was perfect- Not that I would ever want to do that but it must take skills! </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffd966; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> After we had gone through the palace, we try to take a rest and drink some water on the sidewalk in the old city. Should I say "try" because a small battle ensued with the vendors located in a fifteen foot radius. "Come to my shop lady!" "Wait, okay, we just want to relax and drink some water." "Come drinking my shop!" Wait! We just want to relax and drink some water!" "Drink in my shop! Wullah, it's more comfortable. You no buy. Just looking! No charge for looking! I give you good price!"</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffd966; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> One man sent his friends to tell us to that if we were smart, we'd come to his store because he would give us some free watermelon. "Nothing is free!" we told him. We did end up having tea with one family of a man who ran three shops on that street. They told us that Watermelon Man was a very bad man. "Why?" I asked. "Do you have neighbours in Canada?" "Yes," I replied. "Are they all good?" </span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvBMlvrLOlOXRk8tCK3rJJ4o5smsdzwJUaAp8fz51wPfIj0IeZMgnypvc4R5F4v_uN8QWX56zr6-8HxqvtV7lwRn_uYvXK0uATiG8Ap3AYi5RlCTsFLnRrT6NQHMnFobph1v3gf3C2uwM/s1600/Damascus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ffd966;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvBMlvrLOlOXRk8tCK3rJJ4o5smsdzwJUaAp8fz51wPfIj0IeZMgnypvc4R5F4v_uN8QWX56zr6-8HxqvtV7lwRn_uYvXK0uATiG8Ap3AYi5RlCTsFLnRrT6NQHMnFobph1v3gf3C2uwM/s320/Damascus.jpg" width="313" /></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffd966; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />Next, they brought out a little wire puzzle and Nae and I had to get a little ring off the wire structure. I had seen it before in Taiwan even though the men insisted that it had been invented by Bedouin man in the desert. As we try to get the ring off, we attracted an Arab crowd of such a mass that the men who ran the shops tried to take the game away to disperse the crowd. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffd966; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">"No!" We told them, determined to solve the puzzle. "Go make some sales!" We laughed. We eventually did solve the puzzle, with a little help from the father of the store. Each time we made motions to leave, the teapot would be refilled and we would be invited to look at one of their other shops. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMI_b8mpHonSqCT7Ii0H3pc2YrTGVXDkCzVy1QqH1bW3CvUbFUBnvUWueOmFRNMICGg_KdQlkU7AL3as6D-ck_P5eOavGS6PzkI_VcjLmobofTcxzb5jv5bM798c9c8yY5OhVVE2L-ybQ/s1600/end+of+Damascus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ffd966;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMI_b8mpHonSqCT7Ii0H3pc2YrTGVXDkCzVy1QqH1bW3CvUbFUBnvUWueOmFRNMICGg_KdQlkU7AL3as6D-ck_P5eOavGS6PzkI_VcjLmobofTcxzb5jv5bM798c9c8yY5OhVVE2L-ybQ/s320/end+of+Damascus.jpg" width="312" /></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffd966; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Eventually we did succumb and followed one man into his own private warehouse. The warehouse was a four story building with a courtyard and fountain. There were more authentic Turkish wall paintings painted by the people who built the edifice. René and I saw guesthouse potential!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffd966; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> Even though we repeatedly told them that we had no money, they continued to show us room and rooms full of old stuff, swords, teapots, rugs etc. and offer us tea. The boy showing us around decided to be our self-appointed guide for the rest of our stay in Damascus. We had to work carefully to extricate ourselves from the situation without being rude.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffd966; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> On the way out I happened to glance under a chair. "Is that cat dead?" I asked.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffd966; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> "No no! Not dead! Sleping. Just watch!" One of the boys moved the chair and poked the cat, but it didn't move. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffd966; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">"Oh, what a pity! This cat was playing just two days ago! Never mind, pull up a chair and drink some tea!"</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffd966; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> We practically ran out of the shop after that, and so ended our days in Damascus.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #f1c232; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>-To be continued-</b></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #bf9000; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>xxMelanie</b></span></div>Melanie Mehrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16312745331022268324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-893141974239522867.post-51403236672746123472012-01-31T18:04:00.000-08:002012-01-31T18:04:26.721-08:00Seriously Syria: The Great Mosque of Damascus<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #bf9000; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>"I love you when you bow in your mosque, kneel in your temple, pray in your church. For you and I are sons of one religion, and it is the spirit." </b></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffd966; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Saturday, July 28, 2001</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim47e7kQtInFpmJJZJZaR8DAl7BZMaYWTePSK-QBBbmgnZ1ACAw5wm5ckE43fdpwzyGCeKXFGNuVETBxqaupTmUFG56ORPTEYyRxs5LjiWWD42JtuRcuySsrNKtpIVzVxiy72pu-P10W4/s1600/Syrian+Title+Page.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim47e7kQtInFpmJJZJZaR8DAl7BZMaYWTePSK-QBBbmgnZ1ACAw5wm5ckE43fdpwzyGCeKXFGNuVETBxqaupTmUFG56ORPTEYyRxs5LjiWWD42JtuRcuySsrNKtpIVzVxiy72pu-P10W4/s320/Syrian+Title+Page.jpg" width="314" /></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffe599; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today we slept in. Perhaps we need it, we didn't sleep well in Amman. We had a hot room on the roof so we kept the door open since we seemed to retain a lot of heat from the day. All of the people who paid to sleep on the roof slept in sleeping bags on mats on concrete right outside our door, which meant we had to step over bodies to get to and from the shared bathroom. We were tired enough we slept right through the call to prayer which is happening later and later as fall approaches. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffe599; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I did get to chat with some young Canadian girls who just came back from Beirut. Apparently Lebanon was too expensive for a shopping spree, so they came to Damascus. Bags and bags of spices, pestles and mortars (stone), three gallabeyahs each, miscellaneous water pipes and four or five pairs of shoes each, they were the souk merchants wet dream! None of them knew the Canadian exchange rate, and didn't seem to care . All the money was spent and they were heading home to Montreal. I can imagine the theme party these four would have! </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffe599; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And so after a lazy morning start We finally made it to the Ummayad Mosque, known to me in Art History as the Great Mosque of Damascus. This is Islam's most holy building outside Mecca and Medina, making it the most important Islamic building that a non-Muslim can enter in the world. First, a bit of history. This site has seen many temples. The first being dedicated to the Aramaic God Haddad. The Romans identified him with their God Jupiter; Some Roman ruins remain between the mosque and the souk.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOW2Ww3m0Vqs-oJzJP_hnTRgLgDt4_HFoP-XzDx8a5j2vNkZqU_dZhnmwgrbpc3iPNYeskWTLoB04uQw4YIdZyiSH9I7Wqr-WUkhFEwK3vazNXXNiaNzKURr4Krjma6uumbb72o_a4yG4/s1600/Ummayad+mosque,+Damascus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ffe599; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOW2Ww3m0Vqs-oJzJP_hnTRgLgDt4_HFoP-XzDx8a5j2vNkZqU_dZhnmwgrbpc3iPNYeskWTLoB04uQw4YIdZyiSH9I7Wqr-WUkhFEwK3vazNXXNiaNzKURr4Krjma6uumbb72o_a4yG4/s320/Ummayad+mosque,+Damascus.jpg" width="310" /></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffe599;"> Next, the Byzantines converted the temple into a church dedicated to John the Baptist. When the Ummayads came to power, they destroyed the Church and found</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ffe599;"> John the Baptist's body in the process. They kept his head for good luck and made a little green dome enclosure inside to house it. (But I am assuming he was found with his whole body- but what did they do with it? Did they really need to save the space it would take to house a whole body?)</span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ffd966;"><br /></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ffe599;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ffd966;">(Side note here: when we arrived in Istanbul and went to the Topkapi palace, we were lucky enough to see the <i>OTHER</i> head of John the Baptist. Who knew JB had two heads?!!? I feel doubly blessed. ) </span></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ffe599; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> And of course there are the Byzantine mosaics of lush trees and improved fantastical versions of Damascus. Apparently at the time of building there were no skilled mosaicists so they just hired Byzantine ones- kind of ironic since the Ummayads had just cleared away all the Byzantine rubble. It was the Ummayads who made Damascus the center of the Islamic world and the Abbasids who took it away to Baghdad. I'll get into Damascus history later on right now I just talk about her experience at the mosque. </span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ffe599; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We ran to gauntlet of the souk which now, being Saturday, was in full throw and we couldn't walk a minute without hearing, "Welcome to my shop!" "Where you from?" Finally we arrived at the mosque and headed for the ticket office. There René and I paid our 50 pound entrance fees, and because we are female, we got fitted with dingy, unattractive sackish brown monk-like robes. (René described them as grayish-brown hospital gowns with hoods) Once fitted in the somewhat hot annoying ugly outfits, we headed to the mosque. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffe599; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Maybe it's just the tourist area, but I didn't find the people we met to be very friendly. Upon entering and wandering around the mosque, I felt a little intimidated. Some of the looks I got especially from other women had me checking that I was properly done up and my head was covered. Perhaps it's because I am a foreign woman with no attached husband. At least that's the most logical reason I can think of. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ffe599; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">The mosque's courtyard was very beautiful, and when I saw the Byzantine mosaics everything I learned in Art History flooded back to me. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">It's funny. When I studied in Art History, I always had the idea that I would like to visit these places one day, but somehow it seems impossible. It was a very satisfying feeling to be standing in front of those mosaics and know again I had come full circle. </span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ffe599; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Unfortunately my freaking robe kept getting in the way of taking photos. It was a particularly windy day and either my sleeve blew in front of my camera lens or the wind tried to blow the hood of my head and my ankle would be exposed under the ankle length robe if I were facing the wrong way. As well I had a really annoying young guy </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffe599; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(dressed in head to toe denim)</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffe599; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, 'psssting' me if I were to fall out of line in this regard. Of course Denim Man did it to all the foreign women running around and like he did with me, he smiled and try to pick them up after he had finished chastising them for not having their necks covered. (But this feature wasn't built into the robes, so I felt he just have to live with it.)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffe599;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So even though I took the photo with great difficulty as my feet were burning on the sunbaked marble tiles as well, I got my Byzantine Mosaics in the end. </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffe599;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And I got a slight feel of what it must be like for Muslim women on a day to day basis, especially in Damascus. The women here were few and the ones we saw were in full purdah; not even their eyes visible. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffe599; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A lot were in head to toe black and had their eyes and nose covered. Many women who were covered but didn't wear black wore tan trench coats over their dresses. How anyone could wear that in this heat was beyond me. Omar told me it was the woman's choice what she wanted to wear and that they chose to cover. Standing there in the Great Mosque of Damascus I decided there must be serious social pressure for the women to cover- probably most enforced by other women. I know now why there aren't many Muslim women photographers! Damn sleeves keep getting in the way. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ffe599; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">René and I went into the mosque and to my surprise the inside was austere compared to the outside. there were cushy rugs all over the floor and people were either lounging or sleeping. I eyed René suspiciously as lounging is her new favorite hobby- after Dahab she can practically sleep anywhere at anytime! But this makes for a boring travel partner so she didn't sleep in the mosque. In the middle of the interior there was the large green domed enclosure holding poor John the Baptist's head. Rene and I sat down next to a group of women and apparently a little wrinkled lady kept getting giving me hell behind my back, but when I turned around she just stared. Apparently whatever I was doing wrong was not dire enough to let me in on it. I was really beginning not to like Syrian women, based on the little contact I had with them. René had also been complaining a lot about being elbowed pushed and shoved in the markets as well. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ffe599; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> And so hot and a little bothered, but still happy to have been able to see the Great Mosque of Damascus, Rene and I continued on. We went to the mausoleum of Saladdin but this was largely uninteresting. I mention it only because it was there I realize that Denim Man was following us. He had there been the one chastising us in the mosque. With some fancy footwork near the entrance of the souk we were rid of him! The rest of our day was fairly boring. We had our shoes fixed as all this traveling has really put some miles on my Birkenstocks, my only pair of shoes at the moment- My other leather sandals didn't react well to the day at the Dead Sea and are now unwearable. (But it was so cheap we got everything fixed- even things that weren't quite broken yet! I got new soles on my Birks for twenty five cents Canadian!) The most memorable part of this night was our discovery of tasty lemon ice-like a soft slurpee-only for 10 pounds. The lemon ice vendors sure make killing continuously scooping frozen ice into cups- usually they're sold before they melt in the 40+ degree heat. I would always watch for him to scoop a fresh one and I would scoop it for myself, yum!</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 13px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f1c232; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-To be continued-</span></b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 13px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f1c232; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 13px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f1c232; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">xxMelanie</span></b></span></div>Melanie Mehrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16312745331022268324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-893141974239522867.post-81017924409282323762012-01-29T01:06:00.000-08:002012-01-29T10:44:37.030-08:00Seriously Syria: A Telling 2001 Adventure<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF6Od6NjFq5f4bDBKMpUoL8ZPLHLnLWPoMy73CJnvtzRKjAn3NIaGc-Ifq2XE3MoYJV_iteISh6BzO6Z0KAoN7HM643yvih4mK6bWuBVihLBh2Xj443d6Z_CKPof68gekKx8On2x5YWHY/s1600/Cover,+Near+East+Journal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF6Od6NjFq5f4bDBKMpUoL8ZPLHLnLWPoMy73CJnvtzRKjAn3NIaGc-Ifq2XE3MoYJV_iteISh6BzO6Z0KAoN7HM643yvih4mK6bWuBVihLBh2Xj443d6Z_CKPof68gekKx8On2x5YWHY/s1600/Cover,+Near+East+Journal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF6Od6NjFq5f4bDBKMpUoL8ZPLHLnLWPoMy73CJnvtzRKjAn3NIaGc-Ifq2XE3MoYJV_iteISh6BzO6Z0KAoN7HM643yvih4mK6bWuBVihLBh2Xj443d6Z_CKPof68gekKx8On2x5YWHY/s1600/Cover,+Near+East+Journal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffd966; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>"You can't make war in the Middle East without Egypt </b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffd966; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>and you can't make peace without Syria." </b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffe599;"><b>~Henry Kissinger</b></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF6Od6NjFq5f4bDBKMpUoL8ZPLHLnLWPoMy73CJnvtzRKjAn3NIaGc-Ifq2XE3MoYJV_iteISh6BzO6Z0KAoN7HM643yvih4mK6bWuBVihLBh2Xj443d6Z_CKPof68gekKx8On2x5YWHY/s1600/Cover,+Near+East+Journal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #fff2cc;"><img border="0" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF6Od6NjFq5f4bDBKMpUoL8ZPLHLnLWPoMy73CJnvtzRKjAn3NIaGc-Ifq2XE3MoYJV_iteISh6BzO6Z0KAoN7HM643yvih4mK6bWuBVihLBh2Xj443d6Z_CKPof68gekKx8On2x5YWHY/s320/Cover,+Near+East+Journal.jpg" width="320" /></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #fff2cc; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">I've been following the news of the tragedies happening in Syria and it's been breaking my heart to say the least. Since I have my journals back from the WanderLust! Exhibition I cracked open my Syrian Journal and had a good read today. I haven't actually read my books in ages and since Nick Bantock and his wife Joyce had spent some quality time with them before the exhibition went up, I also wondered what they had read! I never wrote these journals for other people to read, though I don't think there is anything too personal in them. But reading them is like having a visit with a younger version of myself. It makes me a bit sad I haven't kept journals of all the places I've been to, but at least I have these ones. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdmWRqBD0nOCioxYND8cEEyrnVvU26ppO0MzGHp8x3TWzX0U-JlpoCnxmDZCJCD-ue7Fo-S0CDC94Q6j3dUt0yrgObIXMraqYMXg0dYXLQ5MVzwZ_4IaXw-P6ctM4ViZhWFBiySxFEeZs/s1600/The+Near+East+Title+Page.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #fff2cc;"><br /></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #fff2cc; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">Rene and I went to Syria pre-9/11 in 2001. I seemed to remember it being a wonderful place with beautiful architecture and friendly people, my journals tell me things long since forgotten. It still is a beautiful place and I'm praying for a quick end to this nonsense over there. I don't want this blog to be political though, But I've decided in light of my frustrations I would publish the Syrian part of my </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #fff2cc;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">journal here. I don't have my pictures though. They are in a box at my parents</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"> house in slide form, waiting for a day I find a good way to switch them to digital. But I will include the pages of my book to show you instead. </span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #fff2cc; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">This journal was part of a three month trip from Egypt to Turkey. My first time in the Middle East. I hope you enjoy it! I'll publish a day at a time for brevity. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #fff2cc; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">This afternoon we arrived in Syria. We changed money by going in the back of a news stand on the street and up several flights of stairs to a little office on the fifth floor. It seemed a little weird to be going upstairs to the store room to a little office in the back; I got the idea that the other business was just a front for the real moneymaker: changing travelers cheques. What we really didn't know then but know now, is that Syria has a serious black money market, and as we strolled through the souk a few hours later, we couldn't walk 10 feet without someone offering to cash travelers cheques, change money or even give us cash advances on Visa!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #fff2cc; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"> We had taken a taxi there, and though we really had no choice but to go with this taxi driver, (we were spoken for, no one else would take us) he turned out to be a bit of a shyster, especially when we figured out he set the meter at triple of the going rate! And while we were changing money, of course he left the meter running. This was just as I suspected, especially since he kept insisting we sit and drink tea with the moneychangers. Idle, idle, idle. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #fff2cc; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">Once we arrived at the hotel, we had a big problem as he wouldn't accept a 500 pound bill for 322 pounds. He had seen us change money and knew we had nothing smaller, and no one in miles willing to change it. A small scene ensued, and in a giant huff he took our 300 pounds and forgave our outstanding 22 pounds. And so he should have! The ride should have cost us about 100. We generally are careful not to get shafted but it was our first 2 min in Syrian public, and I guess no travel story would be complete without a scam or two. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #fff2cc; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">We checked into the Al Haramain Hotel, and thank God they had a room for us because according to our guidebooks everything else was the flea pit or a brothel in Damascus, and not a lot in between or better. After we dropped off our stuff we headed out to finally eat! We went to a little hole in the wall restaurant and ate like vegetarian queens, as both of us were afraid of the meat we saw hanging rock in the window. People (all men- I guess women stay home to eat in Syria) chomped away at chicken carcasses and rice all around us. I went for the hummus and pita once again after we finished, we went for a stroll in the souk. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #fff2cc; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">The Souk is like a large covered neighborhood huge market selling anything from spices to car parts. This day was Friday, and though most of the shops were closed, there was still a lively trade of all sorts of clothing and Max Factor makeup. Nae I walked through to the old city, checked out what we were going to do the next day and then went for ice cream back in the souk.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #fff2cc; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"> Apparently this place was famous and all of Damascus for quality ice cream. Nae and I ended up in the wrong line; we wanted to order, instead we got to pound the doughy looking ice cream with the really heavy wooden paddle. Of course we weren't as strong as the guy working there and our feeble attempts brought smirks from him and giggles from us and the other customers in the restaurant.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_RPof4_E0O-o2izI5NE21csWs589PW_1LUPa1LFDGFIxn_7ToHX6nu4WbtAQUy1c_OFrBHieCmtiWLIIkqKMBvjyPdURyrUyJRazF2bIrFb2m4MHlT0W77ldHNf5rZq9ZIgEnyEJ4n4c/s1600/Damascus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #fff2cc;"><br /></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #fff2cc; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"> The ice cream was a bit too slimy for my liking, but it was worth stop and the time to soak in some Syrian ambiance. The place was filled with families, all eating the same vanilla ice cream under two huge portraits of the late President Hafez Al- Assad, a gray-haired evil looking man with a comb over and his son, Bashar Al-Assad, who is the current president -an unattractive man who seems to be frowning behind sunglasses in every portrait we saw of him.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #fff2cc; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"> A happier portrait next to them showed our jovial Jordanian King Abdullah receiving his luscious portion of slimy vanilla ice cream. We missed our happy King! At least in Jordan Abdullah and his babe-a-licious wife smiled, welcoming you to Jordan. The late King Hussein was good looking enough to hang on the wall without his kingly status. But these two in Syria! Sheesh! Scary!!!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffd966;">-To Be Continued!-</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #ffd966;"><b>xxMelanie</b></span></span></div>
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</div>Melanie Mehrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16312745331022268324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-893141974239522867.post-237155363555724722012-01-08T12:19:00.000-08:002012-01-09T20:46:17.221-08:00Okanagan Originals: The Slide Show Experiment!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff6600;">There is a reason I surround myself with smart, creatively thinking people.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff6600; font-family: verdana;">Obviously this page is an experiment in progress! (Apparently I'll need to change the width of my blog to make this work properly, But I'm going to save that for another day.)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff6600;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/PGU7RjwwTtA" width="560"></iframe></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-family: verdana; font-size: 85%;"><b>I learned how to embed videos tonight. Hence the reformatting of my blog to fit the video format.</b></span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dy37DNXtyFH7LVdPp5Lxd4yQ9dINBDZiUzFAPGOhkYw75dpMYdz2GKW9Rh20Jj5fOviIY5qDEZylV3iUbyN8A' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-size: 85%;"><b>Eww, blogger, you need to work on your uploading of videos. This looks terrible!</b></span> </span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff6600; font-family: verdana;">As you know, my paintings have been pirated and can now be found for sale all through the tourist areas of Istanbul, and by more than one Turkish company. Obviously protecting my images is important. But setting up a new website is time consuming and expensive, and frankly I don't have the time right now.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff6600; font-family: verdana;">On another note, people have been asking which original paintings are still available after the exhibition at the Penticton Art Gallery and Cafe NeverMatters this past summer. I'd post them, but I am reluctant because I don't like the look of the watermarks all over my paintings. My friend Peter in the U.K agreed. So he suggested an idea worth exploring. Why not make a slideshow?</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff6600; font-family: verdana;">So here is my slideshow of original paintings which are still up for grabs. I admit, I did this through imovie and it's not as clear as I'd like it to be on blogger, so I uploaded it on to Youtube as well. (Seems to be an issue with blogger.) In the meantime, I'll keep looking for good slideshow software if it seems this is working out. Ultimately, I'd like my own website but this is something worth exploring in the meantime. </span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff6600; font-family: verdana;">I would love it if you would drop your</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff6600; font-family: verdana;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-family: verdana;">feedback/ advice/ brilliant ideas</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff6600; font-family: verdana;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff6600; font-family: verdana;">about the slideshow. Do you feel you get a good sense of the paintings? Is it annoying? Would you rather look at the watermarked images for the time being? Is it brilliant, creative and innovative and you wish you'd thought of it yourself? (Truthfully, I'm still not sure what I think.) </span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-family: 'trebuchet ms';">Thanks!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #00cccc; font-family: 'trebuchet ms';">xxMelanie</span></div>
</div>Melanie Mehrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16312745331022268324noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-893141974239522867.post-47166468847912988372012-01-06T14:48:00.000-08:002012-01-06T18:25:21.602-08:00The Last of the Turkish Prints!<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinv3JYTLDVAQZQaZtXUdX7wfKYqMRV-5so1zIQ5ZYu2v2WQOfGJ-_ccrrS3SBAsZBuqud6xx9mCn0hvReFpGLKnaDEiZyR94eVnPCtJj5pnMBl8tskTmbxSbm86og4wyewdIvLDlG8StI/s1600/281453_10150265936614756_232103744755_7280536_3906844_n.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirCKRXkPbSEQcbngjZATejMN28-kSeE-Pmo_RdkAx-4CWWSsz-71FBbIPA5NTzy43dYSPgIObhzzEEzZ7g2l-6QlkcYg6fVA6OBc8eDI73ASMLgIRuLToEQgnvhyphenhyphenlB_q2pT0SsmNMPugI/s1600/216703_10150265937034756_232103744755_7280545_7711975_a.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 180px; height: 312px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirCKRXkPbSEQcbngjZATejMN28-kSeE-Pmo_RdkAx-4CWWSsz-71FBbIPA5NTzy43dYSPgIObhzzEEzZ7g2l-6QlkcYg6fVA6OBc8eDI73ASMLgIRuLToEQgnvhyphenhyphenlB_q2pT0SsmNMPugI/s400/216703_10150265937034756_232103744755_7280545_7711975_a.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5694709301854482610" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255); font-family:'trebuchet ms';">The Hamam Ladies</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#33ffff;"><a href="http://creativecaravan.blogspot.com/2009_04_01_archive.html">Blog: New Paintings in Istanbul!</a></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:180%;color:#ff6600;"><b>Only Five prints left for Sale</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:180%;color:#ff6600;"><b>at Java Cafe, Sultanahmet, Istanbul!</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;color:#33ffff;">(And that is it for the 2009 Turkish Series!)</span></div></div><div style="text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;color:#33ffff;"><br /></span></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEpRvetyoG2BnDMui548f9VBmmfSSuZNvcOGoRWuaA9X4bod3Jc3A0pRREuQGb2VwK1Xmu5EE4EYbgKwVHYqEaN6tE3LHt9lTwhvowLmgNAM_7_g2Y_md1-yk-7pbMIOVc33I_cvRxhmw/s1600/IMG_3429.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEpRvetyoG2BnDMui548f9VBmmfSSuZNvcOGoRWuaA9X4bod3Jc3A0pRREuQGb2VwK1Xmu5EE4EYbgKwVHYqEaN6tE3LHt9lTwhvowLmgNAM_7_g2Y_md1-yk-7pbMIOVc33I_cvRxhmw/s400/IMG_3429.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5694666568504446434" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:85%;color:#00cccc;"><b>My sister and I and a few of our terrific friends at our first show in Istanbul!</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:85%;color:#00cccc;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#33ccff;">I had a really good summer.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#33ccff;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#33ccff;">After I collected my paintings and prints from the Wanderlust! Exhibition The Penticton Art Gallery, I took inventory of which paintings I had left. Strangely enough, I sold the rest of the Turkish series between the two shows I had this summer, but I still have a few of the Okanagan pieces. An employee of the gallery remarked, "Maybe we are too close to the Okanagan stuff. The Turkish series is far off and exotic, and beautiful. I'm not surprised you've been cleaned out." </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#33ccff;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#33ccff;">So it's great that the Turkish paintings are all gone, though I admit sometimes I feel a little sad when I think I won't see a painting again. I know it's the business and I'm happy to part with work for two reasons: It makes someone else happy to have it and I am inspired to paint more. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#33ccff;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#33ccff;">But the Istanbul series was painted at a really spectacular time of my life where I was surrounded by wonderful friends in a wonderful, inspiring city- a bit of a golden age for me, where I got back into art full time and did some hard thinking about what was really important to me and where I wanted to be headed in the future. Ironic that I'm hoping my future will lead me back to this fabulous city that has lost a few of the golden friends over this hiatus, but still contains some people I miss greatly. I'm really hoping that the stars align and I am able to return- there is still so much left for me to paint!</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#33ccff;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#33ccff;">Anyway, on that note, I have just received word that there are still a few Turkish prints in Istanbul for sale through Java Cafe at 55 TL each. If you are in the area or are going to the area, or knows anyone in the area, there are three prints left: Click the blog link under each picture to take you to the links where you will find more info about each piece. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#33ccff;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;color:#cc0000;"><b>Contact Virginia Lowe @</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;color:#ff0000;"><b> Java Cafe in Sultanahmet</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px; ">Peykane Caddesi, Su Terazisi Sok 9A.</span></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px; "><b>Sultanahmet, Istanbul</b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px; "><b>Turkey</b></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#33ccff;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#33ccff;">(Again, sorry for the over watermarking, but if you'd read my piracy blog you'll know why! </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#33ccff;">Still working on a solution for that one!)</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#33ccff;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#33ccff;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjizKKjg9ZyWK2i1jD4T2mI9fOKiGwa2chZcpmHKPYTrlqPwdyYsYJVY5SiM21lcVXH-NSekM_CyJwexG5G1f-fY47ZXu4aeqUmNxD5mqD0vZIUL_nbU4-3iPprO7JXFNVlEG7jfR9cYqo/s400/215141_10150265938319756_232103744755_7280571_4091281_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5694658459433968914" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 400px; " /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#33ccff;"> The Bosporus Ferry</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://creativecaravan.blogspot.com/2009/04/world-is-but-canvas-to-imagination.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#33ffff;">Blog: New Paintings in Istanbul!</span></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#33ccff;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#33ccff;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsWmiP3Vg1n22zCuFBWoH9G8i9XXsqmyHsbBzVWeBE4i5ppce2rtk1ikebdeF-h6zh0PyZcEbmM8n7PwoO6Lehs46e0siTXzLDf5kLUUVUexjxOOI2g_EG8Zg9gvVLzxXTTYMw2B3Lhmw/s400/%25C2%25A9Bird+Feeders+of+Sultanahmet.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5694658453369585202" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 400px; " /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255); font-family:'trebuchet ms';">The Sultanahmet Bird Feeders</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://creativecaravan.blogspot.com/2009/05/birds-birds-birds.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#33ffff;">Blog: Birds Birds Birds!</span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#33ccff;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#33ccff;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#33ccff;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqk30nZbv3Hu8UzJKhQgLOXVEDyt02-nyjignfz9Nj27TIbQ-rly6PMKXoLexWt8nRRQ3o4ol5MoJzdrsycW4JLIdHyi0TAnRbaaFRgPfBrIiJutaalNTEr6et1-xJm_S9NfMX9WWSl-M/s400/222440_10150265938204756_232103744755_7280569_6150649_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5694658462191874674" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 400px; " /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#33ccff;">The Umbrella Ladies</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://creativecaravan.blogspot.com/2009/04/world-is-but-canvas-to-imagination.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#33ffff;">Blog: New Paintings in Istanbul!</span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#33ccff;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#33ccff;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; font-family:Georgia, serif;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinv3JYTLDVAQZQaZtXUdX7wfKYqMRV-5so1zIQ5ZYu2v2WQOfGJ-_ccrrS3SBAsZBuqud6xx9mCn0hvReFpGLKnaDEiZyR94eVnPCtJj5pnMBl8tskTmbxSbm86og4wyewdIvLDlG8StI/s400/281453_10150265936614756_232103744755_7280536_3906844_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5694709304910627842" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 400px; " /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000ee;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255); font-family:'trebuchet ms';">The Fish Mongers of Kadikoy</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><a href="http://creativecaravan.blogspot.com/2009_04_01_archive.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#33ffff;">Blog: New Paintings in Istanbul!</span></a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#00cccc;"><b>xx Melanie</b></span></div>Melanie Mehrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16312745331022268324noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-893141974239522867.post-9417214785866847442011-12-29T09:50:00.000-08:002011-12-29T11:10:38.900-08:00Commitment-phobe: How not to be one in 2012!<div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:180%;color:#ff0000;"><b>Unless commitment is made,</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:180%;color:#ff0000;"><b>there are only promises and hopes; but no plans.</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;color:#ffcc33;"><b>Peter Drucker</b></span></p></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDnJmRCzNunUBN4If3gwB1YCyLWzhyymS7iM4dI26P4M5YTZHwAVco1VuDPFzCbB1_PTeGIfCZ-dyqmJeJFHAo3yqM1merdE7UgUputouXPTOTNVfT5_Lwu8EFXfB7y7XikLtOlVl09Og/s1600/HNY.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDnJmRCzNunUBN4If3gwB1YCyLWzhyymS7iM4dI26P4M5YTZHwAVco1VuDPFzCbB1_PTeGIfCZ-dyqmJeJFHAo3yqM1merdE7UgUputouXPTOTNVfT5_Lwu8EFXfB7y7XikLtOlVl09Og/s400/HNY.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5691614682464788290" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:85%;color:#ff0000;"><b>Damn! New Year's is happening in China right now and I'm missing it!</b></span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;">Commitment. It’s so final. You make a decision that feels like you are taking yourself out of the good life and putting yourself in commitment purgatory. The future looks dismal and bleak, like a tattered sepia photograph from the Depression era. The thought of the commitment being so forever, so final, and you get the sweats. Your stomach churns. Panic. Then comes the negotiating- your mind with yourself. One more little fling won’t hurt. Just one, then I’ll commit to my commitment forever. And then the next thing you know, the whole pack of cigarettes has been smoked, that bag of Oreos that was full twenty minutes ago is now empty and no, you didn’t go to the gym everyday like you’d promised your 2010 self.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;">Yes, it’s the time where New Year’s resolutions are upon us. I, like everyone else, probably didn’t stick to my commitments I made to myself last year. I think I wrote them down but somewhere in the three full house moves I made this year (yes three!) they were thrown out with the trash, which is where they belonged, because I didn’t commit to them anyway, it seems.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;">But in July, I decided I wanted to be a little more proactive about my health. One thing I could do is cut out sugar. Sneaking a Starbucks cookie in with my afternoon coffee had become a bad habit. But cutting out sugar forever? It seemed so final. So not fun. Because sugar is in everything. Sauces, soy milk, breakfast muffins. Everything. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;">At the time, three things things happened.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#ffcc33;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>One, I watched a Ted talk: "</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Try something new for 30 days"</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> by Matt Cutt: (It’s only three minutes, worth the watch!)</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;">Two, My friend Keveen Gabet of Korakor launched his own 30-Day Challenge. (I guess Keveen watched the same TedTalk!) And here I decided to join Keveen’s 30-Day Challenge and I cut out sugar for 30 days. I put a calendar on my fridge and marked off the days one by one. Truthfully, I stuck to it and the month flew by. And I felt great. I even kept it up for quite a while, though Christmas has certainly killed that! (Time to cut out sugar again.)</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;">Three: I was working in a language school in Gastown and I was teaching a lesson on future tense in a grammar class. I like to tie my lessons into something that involves the Vancouver community so students can learn as much as they can about their social environment and since Lululemon originated in Vancouver, and yoga pants are everywhere, I printed off Lululemon’s goal setting worksheet for homework in preparation for the next lesson. I told the students I would do it too, so we could all see what each other’s goals were.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;">Boy, was it hard! The students furrowed their brows over the sheet, not because the English was difficult, but because none of us had sat down and tried to figure out our 1, 5 and 10 year goals. We couldn’t finish in class time, but we all agreed it was a good idea to take it home and finish it as a general exercise in whatever language worked best.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;">But Lulu’s goal setting sheet wasn’t a 30-Day Challenge, nor was it a New Year’s resolution. Instead, It was a way to check in at different times of the year to make sure you were on top of your goals. After all, the person you are today is a direct result of the person you wanted to be in the past. So wouldn’t it be a good idea to get a very strong and positive picture of the person you’d like to be five and ten years from now?</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:180%;color:#ff0000;">So here is my 2012 New Year’s Resolution: </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#ff6600;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;"><b><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> </span></o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">I’m not making any New Year’s Resolutions.</span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;">New Year’s resolutions are too big, too broad, too final and simply, too restrictive and boring. Instead, I challenge myself to fill out Lulu’s goal setting sheet in my sketchbook- something I have with me all the time and won’t lose. And I will do this four times a year when the seasons change. Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter, because these are times of renewal, just like New Years.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;">And second of all, I am going to start with monthly challenges- Which means my challenges will be 28, 30 and 31 days long. Otherwise, I may fall off my track and not start a new 30-day challenge for a few weeks. Just being honest here! I’m not perfect! This way, if I do fall off my track, I have a definite date to start again.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;">So here is to 2012! And to goal setting all year round. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ff6600;"><b>(Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to cram all the chocolate in I can before January 1<sup>st</sup>. Juuuust kidding!)</b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#33ccff;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnfBXjWm7hc">Link to Ted Talk</a><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#33ccff;"><a href="http://www.korakor.org/en/">Link to Korakor</a><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#33ccff;"><a href="http://www.lululemon.com/education/goalsetting">Link to Lululemon goal setting</a> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;">(PDF goal setting sheet found here. I challenge you to fill it out, even just once!) </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ff9900;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; "></span></span></p><div style="text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ff9900;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large; "><b>We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day.</b></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ff9900;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms'; "><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; ">~Edith Lovejoy Pierce</span></b></span></span></span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;color:#ff0000;"><b>Happy New Year!</b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;color:#ffcc00;"><b>xxMelanie</b></span><o:p></o:p></p> <!--EndFragment-->Melanie Mehrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16312745331022268324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-893141974239522867.post-58218794222479285812011-12-28T10:03:00.001-08:002011-12-28T10:20:28.478-08:00Yarn Bomb Victoria!<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:180%;color:#ff0000;"><b>Improving the Urban Landscape </b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:180%;color:#ff0000;"><b>one stitch at a time!</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;color:#ff0000;"><b>(Except this one is at the beach, so not purely urban.) </b></span></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqP5eFpGybsSo2qa0uBQ2EyVt02zbVJvDh-uZKU2UNHOMYC5cdTA7LUGEDo7sG2eBMnT4BgZSvMvAvfKOqsKo4R8kJx3ef1Hecu1pHLhYx-UNEeGLPWO1Y2MNbwuEkNCJdx69M7DKzF8k/s1600/IMG_2875.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 299px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqP5eFpGybsSo2qa0uBQ2EyVt02zbVJvDh-uZKU2UNHOMYC5cdTA7LUGEDo7sG2eBMnT4BgZSvMvAvfKOqsKo4R8kJx3ef1Hecu1pHLhYx-UNEeGLPWO1Y2MNbwuEkNCJdx69M7DKzF8k/s400/IMG_2875.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5691241886001121394" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#ffcc33;">Just before Christmas I took off to Victoria to visit friends for the weekend. After a lovely coffee at Ogden Point with my friend Kelly (after a lovely breakfast with the Morley-Brucker family! Oh how I love this vacation thing!), I found this bee-yooo-ti-ful yarnbomb on the beach at Dallas Road. Oh Victoria, I really do miss you! </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;color:#ffcc33;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;color:#ffcc33;">One of the coolest yarn bombs I'd ever seen with my own eyes. Kelly had never heard of yarnbombing, but had seen one before so she was also quite happy to have stumbled across this little gem. I'm sure if I had been able to spend more time in Victoria I would have found them everywhere, as it seems like a very Victoria thing to do. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;color:#ffcc33;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;color:#ff6600;">xxMelanie</span></div>Melanie Mehrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16312745331022268324noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-893141974239522867.post-49287047616353496672011-12-04T14:47:00.000-08:002011-12-04T15:18:25.041-08:00Introducing Naramata Chronicles!<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;color:#ffcc33;"><br /></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;color:#ffcc33;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUfXmH_DBdcSk8AewF28Ivt3aez-9eD5si3Ihdkh8YSUUz2ouHhXc3-h9OsR1ICLH3ivwJz-QA2CotJQscXcYrqk2Ev_GrngrKc1YsRAQKYMyUA4-opMs2Qonjg-1QjYfzg1PP-6rq8js/s1600/IMG_2780.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwoqy5eEotR-WTuknbXuJPhXLup_ZiKrSNEu_aAjl78Cli9ck5obHVEZME-riY726DcMOau8QZn6QCngdFgE-Cii13O6Q-HxFyYFyHC3RHkwxPoeVgPrv8gK1Zdl59fqbpj6oyY-kTmyg/s1600/Nara_Chron-little_cover_only.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 294px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwoqy5eEotR-WTuknbXuJPhXLup_ZiKrSNEu_aAjl78Cli9ck5obHVEZME-riY726DcMOau8QZn6QCngdFgE-Cii13O6Q-HxFyYFyHC3RHkwxPoeVgPrv8gK1Zdl59fqbpj6oyY-kTmyg/s400/Nara_Chron-little_cover_only.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5682412259319790786" /></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ff9900;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:130%;"><b>Congratulations to MyNaramata and</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:130%;"><b> Craig Henderson, Author of <i>Naramata Chronicles</i></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:130%;"><b> on a job well done!</b></span></div></span><div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;color:#ffcc33;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;color:#ffcc33;">Craig Henderson is the hard working journalist/writer behind MyNaramata, which over the years, has become the indispensable go-to website for anyone remotely interested in all things Naramata. Lucky for me, Mr Henderson is also a fan of the Creative Caravan and I'm honoured not only to be included in this book about Naramata, but my artwork is on the front, back and middle of the book as well! Yay Craig! Yay me! </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;color:#ffcc33;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;color:#ffcc33;">Craig took some time out of his schedule to send me my own personal copy last week and I am really amazed at how great it looks and what a fantastic job he did choosing articles and essays that reflect the spirit of Naramata, past and present. Certainly a few of you will be receiving books from me for Christmas! </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;color:#ffcc33;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;color:#ffcc33;">I'd tell you what was written about me inside, but I'll let Craig tell you himself. Here is the link to the book along with the Url to where you can buy it through Pay Pal. there is also a great little video that visits all of the great people of Naramata who are included in the book.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;color:#ffcc33;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;color:#ff9900;"><b>Links: </b></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;color:#ffcc33;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;color:#00cccc;"><a href="http://www.mynaramata.com/show70b/Naramata_Chronicles">Naramata Chronicles</a> (The book!) </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;color:#00cccc;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;color:#00cccc;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BdsGfpGrGs">Naramata Chronicles Youtube </a>(The Movie!)</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;color:#00cccc;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;color:#00cccc;"><a href="http://www.mynaramata.com/cgi-bin/show_map.cgi?TOPIC=0&ID=undefined&S=undefined">Naramata Chronicle's Link to PayPal</a> (For the hopelessly impatient!)</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;color:#ffcc33;"><br /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUfXmH_DBdcSk8AewF28Ivt3aez-9eD5si3Ihdkh8YSUUz2ouHhXc3-h9OsR1ICLH3ivwJz-QA2CotJQscXcYrqk2Ev_GrngrKc1YsRAQKYMyUA4-opMs2Qonjg-1QjYfzg1PP-6rq8js/s400/IMG_2780.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5682413344278736242" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 334px; " /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;color:#ff9900;"><b>Look I'm in print! Just like Edna Ferber!</b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;color:#ff9900;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;color:#ffcc33;"><b>Thanks again,Craig! </b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;color:#ffcc33;">xxMelanie</span></span></div></div></div>Melanie Mehrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16312745331022268324noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-893141974239522867.post-46921975499090507312011-11-07T22:22:00.000-08:002011-11-10T11:59:07.293-08:00Happy Halloween!<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCnxrYFhGb0m-ua0hROhDFjn94G0FzPbU-SEGaAvKXdBENkz-Rt40K-XEVUIG1_UgCQAoFmtW2u7bcO_0wXe3uTxIVL9cRqZStRv_3p5akELCTtPOH9gvEXjiJSCGwz758IJFIcpmqM9o/s1600/halloween+costume.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNhGJDkTUVDN7Wo_37da_j47BE8QPwQr5o7gee55EaucH_1w_1ubJdVlVY75UpXO530ayf9rFFDGkT_EEqNYrq8Y0u8rpm6E_NmmxhM3KE2CBXz9QuCS5JjI7KRMzhV34FtdY16Cq6D5g/s400/IMG_2725.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5672517293466152114" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px; " /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDR_mf1bU429jJEYvdeo3r4_mohEbGxW239S360RFwM9cs9QW-ewdriATsaxQXG_T0BAVU8mUlJN9SY8G6yMurrPwXEyhRkW6Rrif_OK7Mx2j9J0GcnuXncOIyWjbzM7hESxXv2gV0rls/s1600/3+ghouls.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"></a><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;"><b>There are few who'd deny, at what I do I am the best,</b></span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;"><b>For my talents are renowned far and wide, </b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;"><b>When it comes to surprises in the moonlit night,</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;"><b> I excel without ever even trying. </b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;"><b>With the slightest little effort of my ghostlike charms </b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;"><b>I have seen grown men give out a shriek, </b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;"><b>With the wave of my hand and a well placed moan</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;"><b>I have swept the very bravest off their feet! </b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;color:#ff9900;"><b>~Jack, the Pumpkin King</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;color:#ff9900;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ff6600;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; font-family:Georgia, serif;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCnxrYFhGb0m-ua0hROhDFjn94G0FzPbU-SEGaAvKXdBENkz-Rt40K-XEVUIG1_UgCQAoFmtW2u7bcO_0wXe3uTxIVL9cRqZStRv_3p5akELCTtPOH9gvEXjiJSCGwz758IJFIcpmqM9o/s400/halloween+costume.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5672514521094846354" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 242px; " /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; font-size:85%;color:#ff6600;"><b>One of the only non-scary Halloween costumes I've ever had, made from scratch! In High school. I made all of those beads from white flour dough baked in the oven and painted. It weighed a tonne! I didn't win this costume contest because I refused to walk like an Egyptian. I was too shy. (Which is pretty funny, considering!) </b></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ff6600;"><br /></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#ffcc33;">Yes, I know I'm a week late, but that's just the way these two months have been. </span></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;">Halloween is by far my favourite holiday, and since I don't usually spend Halloween in Canada, I decided that I would go all out celebrating my favourite holiday with style. Usually, I am a witch year after year, which is pretty boring for a creative type like me, I know. However, I only seem to have fun when I'm really really unrecognizably ugly. And this year, I felt like I wanted to switch things up and be some kind of nameless zombie. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; font-family:Georgia, serif;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG5tELjbPQZIhDAJIg2CB_qqs44l-Lj2GNiMtqwEcHHBXAaR1EWzkHRHB6cd15J-Q8xucdbwdVQ5SfB2MlX0KZNn0nmpYL-MUdHIzgi3ENzi4bzsMYmuNi46w9p11eywMegU_9NhPv1oQ/s400/IMG_1122.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5672515892652945442" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 298px; " /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:85%;color:#ff6600;"><b>My first attempt at being a ghoul with big help from my sis, the queen of ghouls. Together we transformed my friend Kevin from a Blues Brother (Lame!) to the beauty he is here. Kevin recently admitted hehad the best time being scary. (He was Captain Kirk this year. I tried to talk him into dead Captain Kirk, but he didn't go for it.) </b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;">So I eschewed the homework and went to Value Village sometime in Early October. I don't know Vancouver very well, but I know there is a Value Village out on infamous East Hastings. So off I went, trucking from ritzy Kits to Value Village East Hastings. The staff were in costumes, the customers too tired of waiting for dressing rooms donned costumes over their clothes. I was in search of a cheap white nightie that I could rip up and roll in the dirt. But sadly, there were none to be had. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; font-family:Georgia, serif;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYx5RVbCw8aSKCavd8p75pCn7i9tfJkH0Y_xdxcJsA_kbRhpv4HieUB40zo-VweAWNP9SKOENygO6M-chRVWFTjH0WseNbrWMEwCY7XV74AY97BxtThxuYxxnQEL3124b4r3S-5AGkEcQ/s400/Halloween+MandR.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5672514524576274178" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 261px; " /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:85%;color:#ff6600;"><b>My sister Rene cutting my head off many years ago! But don't worry, I'm immortal. It's hard to kill me. </b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;">I started looking at old crappy stained wedding dresses, but all the dresses were too expensive for my tastes or strapless, and since I would be going to high school in this, I figured I'd better cover the boobage up. I did find a hot pink merangue dress though, which was so hideous I decided I could do something with it, but it wasn't really what I wanted. But the price was right and I didn't have time to keep looking. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; font-family:Georgia, serif;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDR_mf1bU429jJEYvdeo3r4_mohEbGxW239S360RFwM9cs9QW-ewdriATsaxQXG_T0BAVU8mUlJN9SY8G6yMurrPwXEyhRkW6Rrif_OK7Mx2j9J0GcnuXncOIyWjbzM7hESxXv2gV0rls/s400/3+ghouls.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5672514485471745282" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 260px; " /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:85%;color:#ff6600;"><b>Considering this was Halloween in Taiwan, I think we pulled together some great Costumes. Rene was te Queen of death with her Skull crown. We made kids cry! And we loved it! (One of the secretaries kept my black tooth goo for me and gave it to me a few days after Halloween becuase she was afraid would use it all up on Halloween, hence the clean teeth here. I still don't understand her logic of not giving it to me on Halloween!)</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;">As I stood in line, I saw a man with stringy long hair wearing a big frilly wedding dress over his clothes. He was tall and skinny and the dress actually fit him quite well. What a costume! He looked absolutely ridiculous in it. He saw me admiring the dress so I gave him a thumbs up. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;">"I totally want your dress!" I called over the tills at him.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;">"Really?" He shouted back. "I found it in the alley in a box. I'm trying to trade it in for some warm clothes over the winter." </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; font-family:Georgia, serif;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje5zEQMDkDG7wG-zPVAl-o6uc-TLi55TKfXkNVE3Zoh6lMj495SMp9WrS3UmXPoW78OMJigEU7PrasBghhweyXwneptR7w0eu8LJLtPX7SN5D2-E-7OvK4yiiO4cDsfvm1D9xqjU_xxmY/s400/IMG_2718.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5672517277962011778" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 400px; " /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:85%;color:#ff6600;"><b>The UBC costume contest labelled me, Old Zombie crow bride. I don't like the bride bit, I don't think it looks like a wedding dress anymore. I took it in myself with some real Sally Nightmare before Christmas stitches!</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;">Before I knew it, I was in negotiations over this dress. The guy was happy to sell it to me if I bought him some warm clothes. Our deal was almost made until the Value VIllage people stepped in. They wanted the dress. It had beautiful beading and lace sleeves. "This one won't go for cheap," The employee told me as she unzipped the dress down the homeless man's back.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim2oXoKnwLj_XUFzD8pQxs1YcHezyJxA5vS3jvqqmKemD5ehTWmHnfhb31OKwx0TrvLrSDH46C3ogmAI5LVXkrE6nYqRUBcy6VX0QgD6tZbC-o-6P0Ri6OQptW784C40KbUE5NMm74wbA/s400/IMG_2712.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5672517267474091666" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 298px; height: 400px; " /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:85%;color:#ff6600;"><b>I met this guy on the bus! He says he knit the helmet and beard himself. </b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:85%;color:#ff6600;"><b>Man after my own heart! </b></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000ee;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;">But honestly, the dress stank, and was ripped up one of the seams, and was missing a few beads. So for shits and giggles, I asked her to ask what the dress would cost as is. Ten minutes later, I'd bought my first and only wedding dress for 40 bucks with tax. Before I left the store, I found the homeless man searching through the coat section. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family:Georgia, serif;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEZtw70HdrynENRBD8dcCDdPW-npsWoJJJdQHvrMRDziegkBzGMdcrEJHtRYQN4qmWfZFi29p06QlwmrrBTckECm1xUSVyuZQNSF_ZPjVxoRedosg5HCI4TxI_xyGc7HgKMfaFrg-dvso/s400/IMG_2729.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5672515906875880530" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 299px; " /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:85%;color:#ff6600;"><b>Japanese girls in the boat bathroom! We had good times. </b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;">"I just paid forty bucks for your dress," I told him. "Make sure you get your money's worth!"</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;">I took the dress home, threw it in the wash machine and once it was clean, I dirtied it up again. By the way, Coffee grounds stain up a dress to make it look dirty quite nicely! Though you need to keep the dress out of your bedroom for the first week if you have any plans to sleep.</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgydZ9-NrTFuqXo0YowdOC0JzF6_C9PA_C1iw9A7SOi14eI7hd5VFwHifqKJuvEGblATFO5AZFmhFfRh-jIMDEO8Mxc7iX4UBtmW2K4XS500SY2kOhQsUa_qiYyQmS3YgS3rmdVt-MXL80/s400/IMG_2727.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5672515892229172674" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 208px; height: 400px; " /></span><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:85%;color:#ff6600;"><b>The whole Enchilada!</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;">I wore this dress once to my practicum high school, once to a boat cruise with the language school I worked at this summer, and again to UBC where I tied for first place in the Education department's Halloween Costume contest! (I won a twenty dollar gift card! Woo hoo! Thanks, ESA!) When it was time to put the dress away, I was kind of sad not to have a reason to wear it again till next Halloween. (Or unless I get married this year! I've already got a dress!) </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; font-family:Georgia, serif;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPD6LthbB2xCrxF1A_h1UYIK9EJEN8IdtBw6glo5s3RDqgbXtKHqUDLQTr4xEbmfI8O72GyQZ05p3OxUdanaSWFDjhG468Eawo1bXyyvlUM2oZz6d89-Hg26uBKPwUGxVJvJSrDmdLZgg/s400/IMG_2785.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5672517294038311554" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 400px; " /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:85%;color:#ff6600;"><b>I'm Jack! The Pumpkin King! And I just can't wait until next Halloween,</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:85%;color:#ff6600;"><b> I've got some new ideas that will really make them SCREAM! </b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:85%;color:#ff6600;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;">And I carved probably one of the scariest pumpkins I've ever made. So sad to see them rot over the next few days. My Jack-o-lantern was so scary my roommate said he had to turn the face away while he ate dinner. Yes! Success.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; font-family:Georgia, serif;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj9Fi0_4YvGFbYvf-1Io3JHet3NvSGNJC-IjDU_D9THHl2aeyYhHxpeIa3sgzu7Axkw4qORmrwo4kJ3mgICXtuxWZryqL7FH4Z7z82LSHDa6YVEfe3lOd6zmHZdcF3Jx8mB5CYdbbgjWc/s400/IMG_2730.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5672515913710494962" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 299px; " /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:small;"><b>One of my favourite pictures! Mainly because my friend here has no eyes. </b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;">I'm not sure where I'll be next Halloween. But you can be sure that if I am still in Canada, the old Zombie with the crow will be out haunting the streets of some town, this time next year. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:180%;color:#cc0000;"><b>And I just can't wait until next Halloween,</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:180%;color:#cc0000;"><b>Cause I've got some new ideas that will really make them SCREAM!</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;">Happy Halloween!</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;">xxMelanie</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; font-family:Georgia, serif;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6VCGBqPOzQbwPXX3oW4uf6rasvH2f13FaETXAhsQj6QMyEdm1xgdXhYxNyAHY2Pi_OvSgbbwDzIsPj9JYbcZAyFjk1XSIMwqsTdMhmMnHjEeZnM1KeBBoSGvMNwBiNOxXeBHa5fWMx8U/s400/IMG_2758.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5672515923303830642" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 400px; " /></span></span></div></div>Melanie Mehrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16312745331022268324noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-893141974239522867.post-1158820105931967792011-10-10T16:27:00.000-07:002011-10-10T16:34:13.193-07:00Kitsilano Yarnbomb Spotted!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8_dn7xgsD4OPBh2S8pS2hZgqO7mhQY4l4D5L5PtWV3OB0hMPOkxJqhNOy0tIC3JxY_NiBgy6yxGbBNaN1I_2DuFe3Pj4Vp5-h4JN24H6AjQxeaHmcwIZsUG6fjSsTvSVT4WXFRl7CDns/s1600/IMG_2619.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 241px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8_dn7xgsD4OPBh2S8pS2hZgqO7mhQY4l4D5L5PtWV3OB0hMPOkxJqhNOy0tIC3JxY_NiBgy6yxGbBNaN1I_2DuFe3Pj4Vp5-h4JN24H6AjQxeaHmcwIZsUG6fjSsTvSVT4WXFRl7CDns/s400/IMG_2619.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5662010044132285218" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 204, 51); font-family: 'trebuchet ms'; "><b>As you know, though I am a pathetic knitter, I love a good yarn bombing. And I especially love yarn bombers who yarn bomb trees across the street from my house, in the yard of Kitsilano Community house!</b></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); font-family: 'trebuchet ms'; "><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:130%;">Happy Thanksgiving~!</span></b></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-family: 'trebuchet ms'; "><b>Melanie</b></span></div><div><div><div><br /></div></div></div></div>Melanie Mehrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16312745331022268324noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-893141974239522867.post-76903914570501129852011-09-20T17:46:00.000-07:002011-10-12T13:46:40.810-07:00Post Wanderlust: Where to now?<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 204, 51); font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Melanie Mehrer: Wanderlust!</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;color:#ffcc33;">September 16- November 6th, 20011, </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;color:#ffcc33;">Penticton Art Gallery</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;color:#ffcc33;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Times;font-size:180%;color:#ffcc33;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><b>It's fall and it feels like a turning point.</b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Times;font-size:100%;color:#ffcc33;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:small;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#ffcc33;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZuErxqbovTEXR4DeL-K7n0lHTCoJ2xbEXYq8R-QAMIj5UrVz963tmBTj6l61v3v6zLTX6gqa19QebDd1U4kwixDbmCA0bp3xHH5AqB-o7egtwBv6LMAI2HfZuH8IIFqRXfJo26JvD77I/s1600/IMG_2451.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoOT0VYkLL9JmSMZcmuEuQyg7A1CFaklSLPc4dNTSIIajOMrHJmnDrtOjjOFe_2tN7E7NSUyPiOR0UWq1_LYcE-Itb02hG9ktUcrtO7cEZqVfDY-efYJpYhI8NyaOAAm6hKh3vtZvJ3U0/s1600/IMG_2455.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="text-align: center;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 299px; " src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoOT0VYkLL9JmSMZcmuEuQyg7A1CFaklSLPc4dNTSIIajOMrHJmnDrtOjjOFe_2tN7E7NSUyPiOR0UWq1_LYcE-Itb02hG9ktUcrtO7cEZqVfDY-efYJpYhI8NyaOAAm6hKh3vtZvJ3U0/s400/IMG_2455.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5656002254902668130" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "></span></span><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:85%;color:#ff6600;"><b>The closest thing to having my name in lights! </b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:85%;color:#ff6600;"><b>But the question is, What's next? </b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;">Quick recap: This weekend I attended the opening of my first public art gallery show at the Penticton Art Gallery alongside an artist I would list as one of my inspirations, Nick Bantock, whose retrospective took up residence in the Main Gallery. We had an extremely successful opening, And Director-Curator Paul Crawford said it was the second biggest turnout ever in his history of working at the gallery. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; font-family:Georgia, serif;color:#ffcc33;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCdszgF7ezx2L-wDcE2VcWBWV3Qlnw2RlWupnXk8sWw5l8l4f4HZ2riEVQYAes0IXm3eBqYs5lYdPHbXZ8lV2Oz0meT_pyOzYM_ghZT-ildwD8jtlVVXPadkBQmjFfbsYb0D-gUvS2BeQ/s400/IMG_2447.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5656000937563676354" style="text-align: center;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 299px; " /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:85%;color:#ff6600;"><b>My Travel journals on display: The first time they've seen by the public. </b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:85%;color:#ff6600;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;">"The only opening to beat you were the Tibetan Monks." He informed us over dinner. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;">Nick, Joyce (Nick's wife) and I decided we were okay with being beaten by Tibetan Monks. (Which if you think about it literally, is a pretty funny visual.) </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; font-family:Georgia, serif;color:#ffcc33;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV9D5AA8ETU17oCc7P2O0Mkfcw-W-eEXk_D3hs6PG33Qrinq0d5k3X_JsrRvoYpRADO7O350nxfDuhecmMxZw2rcuM7NK9CVqwXYrCv0KR_SZdNP8BnYMyd5OdNt8oud6epU4OtiW5b-Q/s400/IMG_2462.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5656000940385000194" style="text-align: center;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 220px; " /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:85%;color:#ff6600;"><b>The Wanderlust exhibition in the Toni Onley Gallery: </b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:85%;color:#ff6600;"><b>Nick's retrospective is behind the right wall in the main room.</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:85%;color:#ff6600;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;">Sometimes when I find myself in bizarre situations, I like to stop and take a mental photograph of where I am and thing of all of the experiences, moments, turn of events that brought me to these moments. Sitting with the Bantocks, at my favourite restaurant in Penticton, talking about art and yarn bombing and Tibetan Monks seems all absurdly natural. I told NIck that when I went to University in Victoria I worked in a tourist gallery that sold his stationery sets. Even though I barely had two nickels to jingle in my pocket, I bought myself a set and poured over the images. When the letters were written and the postcards sent, I put all of my important letters and postcards in that Griffin & Sabine box. If you told me back then that one day I'd be breaking bread with the Bantocks I would think you were absolutely bonkers. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; font-family:Georgia, serif;color:#ffcc33;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihisQNvnPX3GjIJ438tMk_idNzwnjupm-iXl7zCs9DPmWnnnpFHVBfVb4uHznaIudE7n56dRAfQzyyJ3fC7lGthfi59ifL7AvmCV3jesi0sG9WBrC21ZhTHHcxOtveh7gnm5JLcvVoEWc/s400/IMG_2445_2.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5656000934057473890" style="text-align: center;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 298px; height: 400px; " /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:85%;color:#ff6600;"><b>Artist Melanie meets Nick Bantock. Oodles of fun! Nick and Joyce are super. If I had money to burn and knew where I'd be next September, I'd jump on their artist's retreat in Spain. (Link at bottom of the page)</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:85%;color:#ff6600;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;">Anyway, at the dinner table Nick and I chatted a lot about his alter egos, the characters in the books he writes, Griffin and Sabine and the new WasNick Blog he's been writing. He is like an animated version of his own books, slipping in and out of character as he retold stories, and shared his insights with me. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Georgia, serif;color:#ffcc33;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRSpEfponBGWsi3G2k8k4CYlOu8MzFs1GPAIdAH6xhg3f9c36YkmZYA6EkMbitGpeTpxju1tLRYst9tY0jg942bYXP8nT2AlnESQF8wCZZnjC4t14OrjKqjEbE-tPqlbMXMRtgx5dJNvU/s400/IMG_2437.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5656000925956954962" style="text-align: center;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 298px; height: 400px; " /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:85%;color:#ff6600;"><b>High school art student Melanie tracked down my high school art teacher and invited him to the opening. It was great to see him after all these years. I'm now four years older than he was when he was my teacher. When I was in his class, my goal in life, oddly enough, was to be a high school art teacher and have a show at the Penticton Art Gallery. </b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:85%;color:#ff6600;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;">So over the course of the next few days, I started thinking about myself and my alter egos. We all have them, and truthfully, I've never given them much thought. But the opening on Friday night for me was very much a time where I slipped into a very old character- one I haven't seen in years, as I had my old classmates, my parents, my relatives and my high school art teacher all in attendance- I was the 38 year-old version of my 18 year-old self. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Georgia, serif;color:#ffcc33;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; color:#ffcc33;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEUbdNSc-0RR9q1gINpOJhDOOsiqXr1SXQz-gjG017Ztgb2Il5VNCGLjgEl-qTZsnCrwuPZQCAhfaiG2hCxW5KOYwjVmy51lydWgjkE56H1VXYpgWlPqK8Gv3p8YcBchbJx65o6fIX_wQ/s400/IMG_2432.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5656000907862167026" style="text-align: center;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 298px; height: 400px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:85%;color:#ff6600;"><b>Cousin Melanie, Niece Melanie, and Daughter Melanie with my family. </b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:85%;color:#ff6600;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;">And then there is my exhibition itself, hanging on two parallel walls, facing each other like dance partners waiting for the music to begin. Someone told my mother that if you stood in the middle and looked at both walls, the left with linocuts of Taiwan comics and the other side with paintings of Turkey and Canada, you might think there were two different artists, yet they are both me at different times of my life when different things were important and parts of my character and understanding of the world were different too. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; font-family:Georgia, serif;color:#ffcc33;"><br /></span></span></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtanc8MCNFDwtItBog6rb_DSTf8B9_miTPX2PTWOajC1RqU8Wghmrhbw8n2PgoiXZHU32gYAfzwQMzWoX7zzNFExtUOs1BBFanooebpAjX0kMxa5XtE5oWqvFrIgYI7cT2RcVUbGoFaV4/s1600/IMG_2452.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#ffcc33;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4VScpoqaWzlY-xxhFzjP4aWC-DpOkQiYkV1Kfnuh_u-r18Vw1jBEJVZhlSrk4Ay2u34VaoUZS50uvhfxpCqozt2UmvYfItVIJUcbvdzwRJIu_voArJUPV2fZW1wk08pQg7jmsehQ0RUc/s400/IMG_2440.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5656002244831881410" style="text-align: center;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 299px; " /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:85%;color:#ff6600;"><b>Abu Dhabi Melanie was represented! My good friends and former coworkers Maureen and Rachel happened to be in the right hemisphere at the right time. These two were an amazing support team for me when I was really down in the Emirates and I will never forget their willingness to put up with me at that time. Cheers to you both! </b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:85%;color:#ff6600;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;">It's hard to put words to it but looking at the art there on the walls made me realise that what I do is interesting and appealing, but it's also very safe. I don't usually start anything until I've thought it al the way through to it's successful state. What was that? Safe? Not usually an adjective you would associate with someone who has travelled the world over like me. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#ffcc33;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhln37lyMb2llNyXs-DkRyXz6jS6Gm0wNRFRHWTNmTOrT77jAWEHKF88mejkrWBg4GxTq694oCt5hVQKxF5goCA4vyWUx8WRgqiKk9gly-EeAI-fin5jtWeEdoHk8vYcmUX-8JdoYTeseE/s400/IMG_2436.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5656003544364283362" style="text-align: center;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 299px; " /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:85%;color:#ff6600;"><b>Taiwan Melanie was also at the Opening with Taiwan friend/roommate Scott and his wife Ou. Scott had to gingerly step over most of the Taiwan prints which were drying in rows on the floor of our living room for weeks. He said it was really cool to see the same images hanging on the gallery walls 12 years later.</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:85%;color:#ff6600;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;">But if one were to look closely at my art, you'd notice that there is quite a bit missing from the UAE chapter in my life. What never made the artist's talk is that I left the Emirates at the lowest point of my life and safety and contentment is what I needed at the time. And Turkey handed that to me on a big Turkish tea platter complete with tea and sugar. And so my Turkish paintings were painted out of that necessity for safety and security. The Canadian paintings have been a big part of that healing process. It didn't really hit me until I was in the middle of my artist's talk.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:85%;color:#ff6600;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR45Q1nh3j0Sz5RVsYPbcewwXTQHoomxCFnD8a6-QUHmbH1zEk7HAe63kJ7YhRYsAu1QbSsxYWNGe7uiL1etYIUzDS3qL-rX5exzDqKllWj7MlpZR1Nbva5534E43_gWxumQ4gW1TJjvw/s400/IMG_2429.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5656012550099889922" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 299px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:85%;color:#ff6600;"><b>My high school classmates! Not only was it an opening, it was a reunion! </b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:85%;color:#ff6600;"><b>Very cool to see everyone and strange that twenty years have passed since I have seen some of these people. Once zitty teenagers, we are now teachers, artists, designers, wine industrineers, mature university students, scientists and computer software engineers. New versions of our past-selves. </b></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;">A friend of my mother's filmed the artist's talk I gave on Saturday, and in trying to edit it I have had time to watch myself answer on-the-spot questions in the gallery without too much thought and I've had time to think about some things. If I had to answer some of those questions again, a few days later, I'm not sure I'd be so quick to answer. I still don't have answers, if fact, I'm not even sure I have questions! But something is a changing. I feel like I'm going in a new direction, and I'm not sure if it's up, down or sideways, but it certainly isn't the linear left and right path I have been on lately. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Georgia, serif;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8LjAfQqRbpmJfs-3S0zeLCZJdFniHl_2-f6A6tj1hNof6gUM1T_XO-xiThyphenhyphenJ0bsDraCtSPzrBrx3Gs3irtH6uA2GoFjmRNuy1ien1pAIPz88yh5odr-1q2KLfUqX7pTYxRX0oVfjkA34/s400/IMG_2473.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5656002243115249266" style="text-align: center; display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 299px; height: 400px; " /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); font-size:85%;"><b>I can't categorize which Melanie I am around Paul- He knows them all. Paul Crawford, Director-Curator at the Penticton Art Gallery is also a close and personal friend who has infiltrated my university days, my Taiwan days, and is an honorary member of my family. We haven't always gotten along, and because of that, I think we have a really strong friendship. As Rumi Says, if you are irritated by every rub, how will your mirror be polished?" </b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); font-size:85%;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;">And then there is the present fractioning of who I am which really gets to the heart of my recent feeling of Schitzophrenia: Me as an artist, Me as a teacher, and me as a prospective Art teacher Candidate in the UBC education programme. I've been trying to imagine myself as this future art teacher, opening up students to different ideas, to be open, explore their creativity and get them moving in new directions they never thought possible. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia, serif;color:#ffcc33;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtanc8MCNFDwtItBog6rb_DSTf8B9_miTPX2PTWOajC1RqU8Wghmrhbw8n2PgoiXZHU32gYAfzwQMzWoX7zzNFExtUOs1BBFanooebpAjX0kMxa5XtE5oWqvFrIgYI7cT2RcVUbGoFaV4/s400/IMG_2452.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5656002251245639218" style="text-align: center;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 299px; " /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:85%;color:#ff6600;"><b>The wall of Canada!</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia, serif;color:#ffcc33;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZuErxqbovTEXR4DeL-K7n0lHTCoJ2xbEXYq8R-QAMIj5UrVz963tmBTj6l61v3v6zLTX6gqa19QebDd1U4kwixDbmCA0bp3xHH5AqB-o7egtwBv6LMAI2HfZuH8IIFqRXfJo26JvD77I/s400/IMG_2451.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5656002268636370130" style="text-align: center;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 299px; " /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:85%;color:#ff6600;"><b>The wall of Taiwan!</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;">Lucky for me, (The Grand Poobah of "Me"s,) knows that I've got time to figure out which path I'm going down next while I take this programme. Where I'll be this time next year is a giant question mark for me. Maybe I'll be teaching, maybe I'll be back living in my parent's backyard. Maybe I'll have spun off in a new direction I never anticipated. (I'm kind of liking that last idea.)</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;">Until then, I think I'm going to put the paints away for a bit, focus on school, draw inward, and see what happens when I stop being all the "Me"s I think I need to be. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><div style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); font-weight: bold; font-size: x-large; text-align: center; ">Hibernation is a covert preparation for a more overt action.</div><div style="text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:130%;color:#ff0000;"><b>~Ralph Ellison</b></span></div></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;color:#ffcc33;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;color:#00cccc;"><b>Links to Wanderlust! Videos on Youtube:</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzVaY7IfBZA&feature=related">Paul Crawford introduces Nick and I to the public at the Opening at the Penticton Art Gallery</a></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;color:#00cccc;"><b>Wanderlust Artist's Talk: </b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXIe4HSPizQ">Clip 1</a></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxBVKTsH8pE&feature=related">Clip 2</a></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8eSOv8iLNo&feature=related">Clip 3</a></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;color:#ffcc33;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;color:#00cccc;"><b>Links to Nick Bantock: </b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;color:#ffcc33;"><a href="http://www.nickbantock.com/Bantock_Tour.html">The Spain Workshop: The Trickster's Hat<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" "><span lang="en-ca">- </span>A Cocktail of Art, Intuition and Mischief..</span></a></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;color:#ffcc33;"><a href="http://nick-bantock.blogspot.com/">The WasNick Blog</a></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;color:#ffcc33;"><a href="http://www.nickbantock.com/">Nick's Website</a></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;color:#00cccc;"><b>xxMelanie</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="javascript:void(0)">Publish Post</a></div></div>Melanie Mehrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16312745331022268324noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-893141974239522867.post-81351983902996750802011-09-11T09:40:00.000-07:002011-09-11T10:10:38.776-07:00MyNaramata: World Travels in Gallery Exhibit!<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:130%;color:#ff6666;">Thanks yet again to MyNaramata & Craig Henderson for their article on my upcoming exhibit, </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:130%;color:#ff6666;">Wanderlust! At the Penticton Art Gallery. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:130%;color:#ff6666;">You can see the article in its original form here:</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.mynaramata.com/show2292a/World_Travels_in_Gallery_Exhibit_"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:180%;color:#ff9900;">MyNaramata: World Travels in Gallery Exhibit!</span></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#ffcc33;"><br /></span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;color:#ff6666;">Here is the article below. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;color:#ff6666;">Thanks, Craig! The show opens next week! See you there. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;color:#ff6666;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;color:#ff6666;">xxMelanie</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;color:#ffcc33;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwun0keclbpIAr1JnsODS2CnRcqk9sbn9WBvpAg1DwItrpZYMwGHAGyJ8XWkDB8E3yK8a37ZinpR__yRZ-XSgUqYaOnnXk0QZfvK18o1t0gqTypsao5VjTmo83_H6Ibt4KYp1t-JmuHJc/s400/SCAN0001.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5651144206683397250" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 332px; " /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; font-size:100%;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:100%;"><div class="ar_date" style="font-weight: normal; color: rgb(204, 102, 102); ">10th September 2011</div><div class="ar_title" style=" font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; font-family:'Copperplate Gothic Light', 'Copperplate Gothic Bold', 'Comic Sans MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#ffcccc;">World Travels in Gallery Exhibit</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(102, 0, 51); "> </span></div><div class="ar_by" style="margin-bottom: 10px; color: rgb(204, 102, 102); ">Editor</div></span></span></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:medium;"><i class="TINi" style="color: rgb(255, 204, 51); ">A Naramata artist is celebrating her first exhibit at a public art gallery.</i></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;"><br /></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#ffcc33;">Melanie Mehrer’s </span><i class="TINi" style="color: rgb(255, 204, 51); ">Wanderlust</i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#ffcc33;"> exhibit opens Friday evening September 16th ( 7 – 9 PM) and an artist’s talk has been scheduled for Saturday, September 17 at 1 PM at the Penticton Art Gallery.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#ffcc33;">Currently, Melanie divides her time between Naramata and Vancouver, where she is completing an education degree at UBC. Upon graduation she hopes to find placement as a high school art teacher. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#ffcc33;">In the past, Melanie attended Okanagan College as a visual arts student and later transferred to the University of Victoria where she completed an honours degree in art history with a focus on Islamic art history. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#ffcc33;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#ffcc33;">Before and after her formal education, she has been a consummate traveller and artist.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#ffcc33;">Melanie describes the upcoming exhibit:</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#ffcc33;">“This will be an overview of the work I have done over the past fourteen years. You will see LinoCut collages from Taiwan, Blankets from Shanghai, My travel journals from the Middle East, Thailand, Cambodia, Cuba, Dominican Republic and a few from India, mosques from the United Arab Emirates and my paintings from Turkey and Canada.”</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#ffcc33;">Read more about her background and upcoming exhibit:</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 18px; "><h1 style="text-align: center; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 18px; "><a href="http://www.pentictonartgallery.com/scms.asp?node=4&exid=89"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;color:#ff9900;">Melanie Mehrer: Wanderlust</span></a></h1></span></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 204, 51); font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:medium;">In recent years, her art has been featured frequently at Café Nevermatters, and at the Naramata Christmas Craft Fair. MyNaramata.com has featured several past articles on her Naramata scenes:</span></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;"><br /></span></div><div></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;color:#ff6666;"><a href="http://www.mynaramata.com/cgi-bin/show_articles.cgi?ID=1346&TOPIC=0"><b>Naramata Peacock fowl make Faire Debut</b></a></span></div><div style="text-align: justify; font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;"><a href="http://www.mynaramata.com/cgi-bin/show_articles.cgi?ID=910&TOPIC=0"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;color:#ff6666;"><b>Bears inspire artist</b></span></a></span></div></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;"><a href="http://www.mynaramata.com/go470a/Chasing_Geese_Captures_Naramata_Moment"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;color:#ff6666;"><b>Chasing Geese captures Naramata moment</b></span></a></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;color:#ff6666;"><a href="http://www.mynaramata.com/cgi-bin/show_articles.cgi?ID=2072&TOPIC=0"><b>Cafe Nevermatters Art Exhibition, July 2011</b></a></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 204, 51); font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:medium;">Recently, Melanie wrote on her blog about her curiousity of ancient paint mediums, perhaps inspired by some of the First Nations pictographs found in Naramata:</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 204, 51); font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:130%;color:#ff9900;"><a href="http://creativecaravan.blogspot.com/2011/01/in-beginning-there-was-ochre.html"><b>In the beginning there was Ochre</b></a></span></span></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia, 'Minion Web', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, 'New York', serif;font-size:100%;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; font-size:100%;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2NHCZvi8JddIFU_FJKHClh7QFd34h8Tz_zY_co4hCldY0DyUUXitmetVYmJicSDnIKcSrCxgK_OQ5HtJU6Wr8sIvoqXyS13IuN5Oxc13q9aW3qpXaAhzVSezC0dsutcY_mrtK9OqX8bU/s400/pyramid+melly.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5651144184483691170" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 305px; height: 400px; " /></span></div>Melanie Mehrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16312745331022268324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-893141974239522867.post-52747682381257842332011-09-01T10:11:00.000-07:002011-09-01T10:46:40.843-07:00Wanderlust! Exhibition opening at the Penticton Art Gallery<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0); line-height: 18px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:medium;"><strong>Penticton Art Gallery (</strong></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0); line-height: 18px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:medium;"><strong>Toni Onley Gallery)</strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0); font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Melanie </strong><strong>Mehrer: </strong></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0); font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><em>Wanderlust </em></strong></span></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0); font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:medium;"><strong><em><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">Artist talk Saturday, September 17 at 1 p.m.</span></em></strong></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:100%;color:#ff9900;"><strong><em>Opening September 16th </em></strong></span></div></div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-PSFTQn0bqk-3UryleFg6aB3fqLXC7RGHIpc8bh73S9ACWkZDZ2EXylQQD0aUYncl3UCF0knXkfpBr5z5wLzOCvVEH4N7uQWYh5d8MDQ0ybHK0IinGLvKwFg2dVXmYZZyM0PPt6b4QUc/s400/05_2.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5647443895563007922" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 304px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 18px;font-size:100%;color:#ffcc00;"><b><i>I'm very excited to announce my upcoming show at the Penticton Art Gallery! The Press release came out this morning and somehow it's all very surreal and real and exciting. </i></b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 18px;font-size:100%;color:#ffcc00;"><b><i>
<br /></i></b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 18px;font-size:130%;color:#ffcc00;"><b><i>You can see the press release/ artist statement from the</i></b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 18px;font-size:130%;color:#ffcc00;"><b><i><a href="http://www.pentictonartgallery.com/scms.asp?node=4&exid=89">Penticton Art Gallery Website here. </a></i></b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 18px;font-size:100%;color:#ffcc00;"><b>
<br /></b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW5p61PveF5cxbxhCmIh5CYW6-SbE-uo61W0m_EvvV2wa3hL7R6NWmFVaIbcBLF5JBSAlLkZNeAXvagKrjzGK-UkDtjehk6DYfivB62GFXfivRjHglNcIeEtKl7zjjyEjaH1MfrkJgevw/s400/COVER.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5647443889902111762" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 321px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; ">
<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 18px;font-size:100%;color:#ffcc00;"><b>I will be showing in the gallery next to Nick Bantock, who is the creator of the Griffin and Sabine Trilogy. I have owned all of his books and stationery sets and poured over his images in the past. I even have all of my special papers and postcards in a Griffin and Sabine box Somewhere in my boxes of things packed away for literally decades now. My travel journals, which were largely inspired by Griffin and Sabine will be on display as well. I never though tin a million years Nick Bantock would actually see them one day! </b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 18px;font-size:100%;color:#ffcc00;"><b>
<br /></b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 18px;font-size:100%;color:#ffcc00;"><b>This will be an overview of the work I have done over the past fourteen years. You will see LinoCut collages from Taiwan, Blankets from Shanghai, My travel journals from the Middle East, Thailand, Cambodia, Cuba, Dominican Republic and a few from India, Mosques from the UAE and my paintings from Turkey and Canada. </b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 18px;font-size:100%;color:#ffcc00;"><b>
<br /></b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMDkMUo2h0xiSxPoMH8jSM56jtEkuQxfBHqZ9XQGgP5kc2nnu96Df6trg2FE1u9dUFxXYqOUaNix6GxgPEsU51CIniCdnV0SzyRgHqOsJEEipSjOgZKO7WC2oL68qguUEePw1uutRBqi4/s400/SCAN0001.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5647443892872098498" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 332px; " /></div><div>
<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 18px;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;"><b>So with that, I invite you to come to the opening </b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 18px;font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;"><b>at the Penticton Art Gallery on </b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); line-height: 18px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:large;"><b>Friday, September 16th, </b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); line-height: 18px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:x-large;"><b>
<br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); line-height: 18px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:x-large;"><b>7-9 pm. See you there! </b></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; ">
<br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGxvczBBO6k8eHjWhyphenhyphenDP2ITjp8_KN05xOv1KG4-WDCpodhIpSgcRO3D4Fdp5pwDzVN6FJwdqN5CyHEWHsqiMjmCRw6T3jWMfBTjUMQ0ZmAD3-R52XuMdhduWz6_S2ms2BIOWELwRc275M/s400/making+books.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5647443892621002882" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 257px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; font-size:130%;color:#ff9900;"><b>xxMelanie</b></span></span></div>Melanie Mehrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16312745331022268324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-893141974239522867.post-17457699064426352872011-08-21T16:29:00.001-07:002011-08-22T16:39:56.418-07:00Little Bow-Wow Series: The Crying Girl of Kyoto!<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: large; "><b><a href="http://www.quotesea.com/quote/therereallyisaperceptionthatifyouknowth2" style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); font-family: 'trebuchet ms'; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; padding-right: 30px; padding-bottom: 4px; text-decoration: none; background-position: 100% 100%; ">There really is a perception that if you know the ballet studies, you know Degas. Actually, nothing could be further from the truth. Like Picasso, Degas was a relentless innovator in everything he did -- in drawing, in printmaking, in photography.</a></b></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;color:#ff9900;"><b><i>
<br /></i></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;color:#ff9900;"><b><i>~Edward Saywell</i></b></span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;color:#ff9900;"><b><i>
<br /></i></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFo9f0bPZOAOSO7rikxUKd0Y986HGJLI6ijHgOZi2nx7qOXW7WHcsOfmc4iPv5uqbggjEZEdMNfAiWwynnknyqLe0gJdxUCvn_mSr6xh9HqwEohrMkxbNd8r8EPZLC9jUieBkTWt65fC0/s400/%25C2%25A9crying+girl.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5643673787429551234" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 236px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; ">
<br /></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 204, 102); font-family:'trebuchet ms';">I'm gearing up for the big show at the Penticton Art Gallery in September. (More info to follow) but in the meantime, a month of cutting paper has finally come to an end for the "Little Crying Girl of Kyoto." It's a run of 20 artist proofs, 19 of them will hit the public soon.</span></span><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#ff9900;"> (I have to keep one for myself, don't I?)</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;color:#ffcc66;">
<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:130%;color:#ff9900;"><b>Here's how she was created:</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;color:#ffcc66;">
<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;color:#ffcc66;">First, I carved this block in Taiwan about ten years ago, but never had the time to print it properly. I even brought this block to Shanghai where it sat in my shelf for a few years, then in a box in Canada for a few years. When I was offered a show at the Penticton Art gallery, I went to the Okanagan, went through my boxes, and found the plates I had never printed. (More to follow! She's not the only one I haven't finished!)</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;color:#ffcc66;">
<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;color:#ffcc66;">So I printed her, and began collaging coloured acid-free paper over her. The pieces will be printed over one more time so it's best the colours bump up against each other instead of overlapping, because the ink has more of a change of getting where it needs to go. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;color:#ffcc66;">
<br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;color:#ffcc66;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBTjxcDHC5AC78wB8oj9w-JLJKCURtRaKyB1l6UqUzGEsJ2aIpiBmRO4uTxdAAWf0Q7gejippWvn00NcO0NwshkrIbDmKSNo_MGGF8EoeHYt-DohSsDQBxl6bEumANu_mcbZUGgAKYA2U/s400/cry1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5643457211358734050" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 299px; " /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;color:#ffcc66;">Prints ready to be glued on! </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;color:#ffcc66;">
<br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;color:#ffcc66;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvkZKbpCeoanxWy2JVB2YuGJE8AMIszfrWhUuufUISvtq7Jn5y4LqoEpZw4jdhBleRsq9Zj0eanJaKEunCoBnlNgCSHb3GvT0KzdrWrDDCxHyvwOSeZWkdjoqdwjMne_GhxYO6HjYazqA/s400/cry2.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5643457215140173634" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 299px; " /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;color:#ffcc66;">This is pretty much how it's done. Yes, it's tedious. </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;color:#ffcc66;">
<br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;color:#ffcc66;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS8ftzi73-AcEjV08qw1HHKfON3Csrcnln8gQdkbzSoZvWqGMMymRMOSDv2cMglzZfBp2bXX8TnrVaD6Og7RBwovrG8JGolf9VWDavITYGViS7DbmFgY7jTtarx2ZGoEkcpHyTWGL9zXI/s400/cry3.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5643457219072778466" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 299px; " /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;color:#ffcc66;">Some pieces are reallly small! </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;color:#ffcc66;">
<br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;color:#ffcc66;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUgpMv5pL8DAp8T49KzqUalZf6ms-HNYQ9R7LXyj3pcRFqsiboTG_bSluN2jSRvFIYvgxJMs3gJiGGGr3rEZ6604IM-gHhtLBLq92CqD-g71T2LyVvN1U8jv3kgNTr9vuGH0Qe4OOm0zw/s400/cry4.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5643457219413098178" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 299px; " /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;color:#ffcc66;">I made twenty four collages, so to get to this stage took me about a month. Still, I have no idea how it's going to really look until I print it. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;color:#ffcc66;">
<br /></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivb5WZ_WsrX34X6iMDlJO59CIQdE8_4_n7zkVOwTaSFPGFc1j7uNspZOMhVkg8zvz2d3flVT4EDiJ7hyphenhyphenVpRJaDhwZYz4e8Miy7pdlKI_iYnHmBzinKNjXO4I2tWNDxCfCTx1Ry5cBteL4/s400/cry.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5643828779885466610" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 336px; height: 400px; " /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;color:#ffcc66;">Time to bring the plate out again! </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;color:#ffcc66;">The plate itself took me a few weeks to carve out. </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;color:#ffcc66;">
<br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;color:#ffcc66;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP2tnKO48yjLzYJMZreoHtxwSZZO9pEJ6-bOfmTeR-ZnId_iXuXZ0nDLpLovMFuHzjgYJOVgsLnZlvDSnBziUILmL7C4kmwp79CweFDtTnSVhtGdC1php5FygLTMxRPqvQwudnqQUn0B8/s400/cry7.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5643457425032406018" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 400px; " /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;color:#ffcc66;">A non printed and a printed version.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;color:#ffcc66;">
<br /></span></span></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioStz3fyg9lBOMck_DvLmjwv8D172ccxHVwhxnC876R6jjvKzLLdg3SXfoj8Hh5QunkvXQX1EA3wvA5GH7DoDuEu91mTXA8WmwVIYrvaj6iw_lF5OjZL4ocFkieZHKmkJr3ClBa_1FB48/s1600/crying+girls.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;color:#ffcc66;"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 269px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioStz3fyg9lBOMck_DvLmjwv8D172ccxHVwhxnC876R6jjvKzLLdg3SXfoj8Hh5QunkvXQX1EA3wvA5GH7DoDuEu91mTXA8WmwVIYrvaj6iw_lF5OjZL4ocFkieZHKmkJr3ClBa_1FB48/s400/crying+girls.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5643458944163284226" /></span></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;color:#ffcc66;">Twenty four prints later, I have twenty nice ones and lost four. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;color:#ffcc66;">This is to be expected with printing!</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;color:#ffcc66;">
<br /></span></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh3VAGn_SyTKYBKtw-oRGoJSKjYVUx0ZyyiBH-xWRWXqQAlYHHFsZ2VpZsxlBWDdMikHwK_PLVOF9JJzta0OBqi9NweKL0YihLgb2iGldEk3JMCjbb_gzq-3p72KLNnL8_iL5N4W_JkY0/s1600/cry9.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;color:#ffcc66;"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 299px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh3VAGn_SyTKYBKtw-oRGoJSKjYVUx0ZyyiBH-xWRWXqQAlYHHFsZ2VpZsxlBWDdMikHwK_PLVOF9JJzta0OBqi9NweKL0YihLgb2iGldEk3JMCjbb_gzq-3p72KLNnL8_iL5N4W_JkY0/s400/cry9.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5643458941860662466" /></span></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;color:#ffcc66;">I love pulling prints off the plate. It's like Christmas! </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;color:#ffcc66;">After such a long wait Did it work? How does it look? </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;color:#ffcc66;">Yay! I like it!</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;color:#ffcc66;">
<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;color:#ff6600;"><b>Only three plates to go! But I assure you, I won't be printing 20 this time!</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;color:#ffcc66;">
<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:180%;color:#ff6600;">The Penticton Art Gallery opening is September 15th.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:180%;color:#ff6600;"> I hope to see you there!</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:180%;color:#ff6600;">
<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;color:#ff6600;">Previous Blog Post on Linocuts...<a href="http://creativecaravan.blogspot.com/2010/03/prints-from-past-1994-2001.html">Click here!</a></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;color:#ffcc66;">
<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;color:#ffcc66;"><b>xxMelanie</b></span></div></div>Melanie Mehrerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16312745331022268324noreply@blogger.com2