We touched down safely last night in Albany after 15 hours of traveling. It is nice to be home, but the Istanbul trip was a huge success both professionally and personally. It was so valuable to experience a different culture, both to understand its differences as well as its similarities to our own. At the time of our departure, the Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was featured in a local newspaper slamming greedy capitalism due to the “rapacious drive for profits that is driven merely by personal interest and material gains and is not a sustainable economic model.” He quoted the famous Native Indian proverb: “Only when the last tree has died, the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will the white men realize we cannot eat money.” He further mentioned that Turkey is a nation that “values gratefulness and protecting the poor. We are members of a civilization that does not separate the economy and morals but places morality in the foundation of economy.” At the same time, I was impressed with the juxtaposition of Istanbul being a city of twelve million where capitalism is flourishing and materialism is interwoven into the fabric of everyday life. Nevertheless, it is refreshing for a major politician to feel free enough to address these issues in the way he did. Another major issue noted in the newspaper related to how much food is wasted in the hotel and restaurant business. Ironically, our California friend, Scott, was talking about how he was working with a California non-profit, which was working with hotels and restaurants to transfer unused food from these establishments to organizations that feed the poor. It just goes to show you how important international cross fertilization of ideas are necessary for us to improve the human condition, enhance economic opportunities for all of us, and reach a more sustainable planet.
My final takeaway from our trip is a full recognition of how hospitable so many Istanbul residents are to foreigners. Even the many who could not speak English seemed to go out of their way to help answer a question. Turkey has many challenges ahead of them including the role of women in society, corruption, and the need to elevate the rule of law in a modern society, and my strong hope is that they do so brilliantly. Turkey is such an important country on our globe; being a bridge between east and west. The Prime Mister indicated that “lasting changes are realized where external and domestic dynamics intersect and as much as a society accepts and are in accord with them.” Good luck to Turkey and the rest of us in meeting this necessary alignment.
Mark
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Friday, March 16, 2012
We know how to play this game
From Mark...
We had a very interesting day today. We started at the Spice Bazaar and due to my love of food, I purchased $200 of spices. (...that'a spicy meatball!) Now Cindy thought that was a bit much but kept it to herself except for her one subtle response... THAT'S A BIT MUCH! We then started walking with our new Norwegian friend Siri and we were approached by a Kurdish carpet salesman who gave us an excellent suggestion on where to have lunch and asked us to return to his upscale carpet store. We decided not to go while eating some terrific kabob but somewhat to our surprise, he appeared at the exact moment we were paying the bill. I was just amazed at the coincidence! We decided then not to be rude American and Norwegian tourists, so we accompanied him to his five floor showroom, where we had some nice Kurdish coffee. Siri had already provided us with some wise carpet shopping advice, which was first to do your homework at home, learn about the different carpet styles and of course don't buy spontaneously. Armed with this important carpet-buying strategy, Siri buys a 150 year old Kurdish carpet for as much as I bought my second automobile. Cindy, not wanting to be upstaged, begins to show that "twinkle" in her eye. Knowing how Cindy helped me negotiate her last car (she asked the car salesman, "why is this car so cheap!"), I stepped up to the plate and successfully shredded $300 of the price of a Turkish carpet that of course cost nearly as much as my third car! Having been so successful at saving money, we decided to go find a place for a drink. On our way, we run into our new Canadian friend Dave and we preceded down to the Bosphorous, where a man standing outside a seaside restaurant, tells us that if we dine at his fine restaurant, he will give all four of us our first drink free. We could not believe our good fortune and immediately said "well, I guess so." We honestly did not realize how expert we needed to be in math, due in large part to how they charged for their seafood in liras by the pound of fish that they brought to our table. Fortunate for us, Dave has a Masters in Finance so he responds, "I'll have meat!" We take some time and finally order our dishes, and to our surprise, the meal was splendid and we had to spend some of our remaining liras anyway. With this incredible day behind us, I can't wait to see what is in store for us tomorrow when we travel to Asia.
We had a very interesting day today. We started at the Spice Bazaar and due to my love of food, I purchased $200 of spices. (...that'a spicy meatball!) Now Cindy thought that was a bit much but kept it to herself except for her one subtle response... THAT'S A BIT MUCH! We then started walking with our new Norwegian friend Siri and we were approached by a Kurdish carpet salesman who gave us an excellent suggestion on where to have lunch and asked us to return to his upscale carpet store. We decided not to go while eating some terrific kabob but somewhat to our surprise, he appeared at the exact moment we were paying the bill. I was just amazed at the coincidence! We decided then not to be rude American and Norwegian tourists, so we accompanied him to his five floor showroom, where we had some nice Kurdish coffee. Siri had already provided us with some wise carpet shopping advice, which was first to do your homework at home, learn about the different carpet styles and of course don't buy spontaneously. Armed with this important carpet-buying strategy, Siri buys a 150 year old Kurdish carpet for as much as I bought my second automobile. Cindy, not wanting to be upstaged, begins to show that "twinkle" in her eye. Knowing how Cindy helped me negotiate her last car (she asked the car salesman, "why is this car so cheap!"), I stepped up to the plate and successfully shredded $300 of the price of a Turkish carpet that of course cost nearly as much as my third car! Having been so successful at saving money, we decided to go find a place for a drink. On our way, we run into our new Canadian friend Dave and we preceded down to the Bosphorous, where a man standing outside a seaside restaurant, tells us that if we dine at his fine restaurant, he will give all four of us our first drink free. We could not believe our good fortune and immediately said "well, I guess so." We honestly did not realize how expert we needed to be in math, due in large part to how they charged for their seafood in liras by the pound of fish that they brought to our table. Fortunate for us, Dave has a Masters in Finance so he responds, "I'll have meat!" We take some time and finally order our dishes, and to our surprise, the meal was splendid and we had to spend some of our remaining liras anyway. With this incredible day behind us, I can't wait to see what is in store for us tomorrow when we travel to Asia.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Learning the old and new life here
Today we had a really knowledgeable guide who knew about 7 or 8 languages take 10 people from our group on a boat cruise on the Bosphorus in the morning. We cruised up the European side and down the Asian side. The European side is the older side - more small castles, older homes and a fortress. The Asian side has "newer" homes. A home on the water is anywhere from $10-$50 million.
In the afternoon we went to the Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sophia (means divine wisdom) and the Topkapi Palace. Constantine's son had the Hagia Sophia built and after the conquest it was turned into a mosque. They wanted a bigger structure so the Blue Mosque across from it was constructed. It is called the Blue Mosque because of all the blue tiles covering the walls and ceilings and for many centuries the columns were painted blue until they decided it was too colorful - like a church- and they stripped all the blue paint. When they turned the church into a mosque they took the cross down and erected 4 towers on top. Many of the Sultans wives were taken from Europe as slaves and when they became wives they wanted the Christian art preserved so they simply covered it up instead of destroying. At the Topkapi palace we spent most of our time at the harem which was added on and has over 300 rooms. The women brought in could have been from all status' in Europe' but started at the lowest level at the harem in the beginning. The Sultans mother picked a few to be invited to parties and they may have been invited to stay with the Sultan afterwards. Once they had children they would become wives. They put black male eunuchs in charge of the harem and had their penis' cut off so they couldn't impregnate them. Many of them died from this but if they lived, once in a while they started to produce sperm and a black baby would be born. This is why they used black men, so they would be identifiable and they would kill the mother and baby. The women in the harem were sterilized and retired at age 30 and would be released and get their own places and be supported by the palace.
Things got really interesting on the way back to our hotel. There were only 4 of us including our guide who tried to get a cab and was denied because he is Turkish. They have an organized scam going on where they charge more for ignorant tourists. So Mark asked the next cabbie and he let us in and when our guide got in trouble started. The other cabbie stopped our car and said it was his turn and our driver said he refused us so he was taking us. The guide and the driver started talking very loudly in Turkish and the driver said the other cabbies were following and going to beat him up so we quickly got out. Apparently it is run by the mafia and the police are in on it. Our guide taught us how to use the metro and rode back with us, so now we are going to use that and not leave our hotel. So he taught us ancient history and current culture in one day!
In the afternoon we went to the Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sophia (means divine wisdom) and the Topkapi Palace. Constantine's son had the Hagia Sophia built and after the conquest it was turned into a mosque. They wanted a bigger structure so the Blue Mosque across from it was constructed. It is called the Blue Mosque because of all the blue tiles covering the walls and ceilings and for many centuries the columns were painted blue until they decided it was too colorful - like a church- and they stripped all the blue paint. When they turned the church into a mosque they took the cross down and erected 4 towers on top. Many of the Sultans wives were taken from Europe as slaves and when they became wives they wanted the Christian art preserved so they simply covered it up instead of destroying. At the Topkapi palace we spent most of our time at the harem which was added on and has over 300 rooms. The women brought in could have been from all status' in Europe' but started at the lowest level at the harem in the beginning. The Sultans mother picked a few to be invited to parties and they may have been invited to stay with the Sultan afterwards. Once they had children they would become wives. They put black male eunuchs in charge of the harem and had their penis' cut off so they couldn't impregnate them. Many of them died from this but if they lived, once in a while they started to produce sperm and a black baby would be born. This is why they used black men, so they would be identifiable and they would kill the mother and baby. The women in the harem were sterilized and retired at age 30 and would be released and get their own places and be supported by the palace.
Things got really interesting on the way back to our hotel. There were only 4 of us including our guide who tried to get a cab and was denied because he is Turkish. They have an organized scam going on where they charge more for ignorant tourists. So Mark asked the next cabbie and he let us in and when our guide got in trouble started. The other cabbie stopped our car and said it was his turn and our driver said he refused us so he was taking us. The guide and the driver started talking very loudly in Turkish and the driver said the other cabbies were following and going to beat him up so we quickly got out. Apparently it is run by the mafia and the police are in on it. Our guide taught us how to use the metro and rode back with us, so now we are going to use that and not leave our hotel. So he taught us ancient history and current culture in one day!
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
From Mark...
I traveled here with high expectations of Turkish hospitality and my experience has been surpassed tenfold. They have an interesting culture. Much emphasis is placed on food so naturally I fit in very comfortably! Professionally, I am enjoying my experience as well. Turkey is attempting to implement a comprehensive restorative process dealing with criminal offenses where they involve the victim, community and offender in attempting to repair the harm caused by crime. At a minimum, they intend on using victim-offender mediation on cases that would otherwise involve a five year prison sentence in addition to negligence cases when the victim and offender agree. This process is being used in many European countries and in some communities in the US. They want to resolve the underlying causes of crime to promote a more peaceful and safe community and country. I worked with 250 judges and prosecutors from every province of Turkey. Legislation has already been adopted and they are now involved in its implementation.They are aiming high and we all should watch carefully.
International Relations
Istanbul has a population of 15 million, and most of them drive it seems. The traffic is crazy. We are staying in the "newer" section of town. Old Istanbul has all the ancient classics and is a good 40 minute trip. We may move to the old section later in the week if we can - we'd like to be able to walk everywhere. I went to The Grand Bazaar yesterday for a few hours. Kind of like Canal Street in NYC only about 1000 times bigger. The merchants are fairly aggressive and have numerous ways to try to lure you in. It's kind of amusing but I was really ready to leave after a couple of hours.
Today is the last day of the conference. The Turk Ministry of Justice has been wining and dining us since we arrived. Last night they hosted a dinner at this great restaurant on the Bosphorus, the body of water that separates the European side from the Asian side of the city. Spectacular view and dinner. The people they are hosting whose company we have been enjoying are from all over the world: Italy, Belguim, Brazil, Scotland, Norway, Spain, Canada and the US. Most of the people know English. The Americans are the only ones who only know one language! Most of them are following our political primary going on and have a hard time figuring out Rick Santorum. Yeah, well we do too. Some of them have different "day" jobs - like a bio-ethicist and college professors. Makes for very interesting conversations, from cognitive behavior to philosophy and religion. The Turks are trying to introduce victim offender mediation in their court system and are eager to learn.
The dinner was all different fishes - the entree was a sea bass covered in salt and they poured liquor over it and lit it on fire. They had 5 musicians who were quite entertaining. Mark was one of the "chosen" to do the traditional dance.
Today is the last day of the conference. The Turk Ministry of Justice has been wining and dining us since we arrived. Last night they hosted a dinner at this great restaurant on the Bosphorus, the body of water that separates the European side from the Asian side of the city. Spectacular view and dinner. The people they are hosting whose company we have been enjoying are from all over the world: Italy, Belguim, Brazil, Scotland, Norway, Spain, Canada and the US. Most of the people know English. The Americans are the only ones who only know one language! Most of them are following our political primary going on and have a hard time figuring out Rick Santorum. Yeah, well we do too. Some of them have different "day" jobs - like a bio-ethicist and college professors. Makes for very interesting conversations, from cognitive behavior to philosophy and religion. The Turks are trying to introduce victim offender mediation in their court system and are eager to learn.
The dinner was all different fishes - the entree was a sea bass covered in salt and they poured liquor over it and lit it on fire. They had 5 musicians who were quite entertaining. Mark was one of the "chosen" to do the traditional dance.
Monday, March 12, 2012
Rumi
"The minute I heard my first love story
I started looking for you,
not knowing how blind that was.
Lovers do not finally meet somewhere.
They are in each other all along."
I heard Rumi was buried in Turkey but found out today the gravesite is a nine hour drive from Istanbul. I won't be experiencing that, but he is on my mind here. There's a whirling dervishes and Sufi music concert I may go see.
I saw the Topkapi Palace and my first Mosque today in old Istanbul. The palace was the home of many Sultans for centuries.
We went to the rooftop bar at the hotel tonight which is all glass. Impressive sight - especially the bridge over the Bosphorus which separates Europe and Asia.
I started looking for you,
not knowing how blind that was.
Lovers do not finally meet somewhere.
They are in each other all along."
I heard Rumi was buried in Turkey but found out today the gravesite is a nine hour drive from Istanbul. I won't be experiencing that, but he is on my mind here. There's a whirling dervishes and Sufi music concert I may go see.
I saw the Topkapi Palace and my first Mosque today in old Istanbul. The palace was the home of many Sultans for centuries.
We went to the rooftop bar at the hotel tonight which is all glass. Impressive sight - especially the bridge over the Bosphorus which separates Europe and Asia.
First full day
Mark is @ the conference all day. It is rainy and about 38 here today. Back home is much warmer which is unusual. Breakfast is a big deal here - lots of cheeses & olives. When the Turkish delegation came to NYC a couple of weeks ago, they asked Mark why don't you have olives at breakfast and he said we save them for our martinis!
Going on a tour this afternoon to the Ottoman relics.
Going on a tour this afternoon to the Ottoman relics.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
They Might Be Giants
Istanbul was Constantinople
Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Now it's Turkish delight on a moonlit night
Every gal in Constantinople
Lives in Istanbul, not Constantinople
So if you've a date in Constantinople
She'll be waiting in Istanbul
Even old New York was once New Amsterdam
Why they changed it I can't say
People just liked it better that way
So take me back to Constantinople
No, you can't go back to Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Why did Constantinople get the works?
That's nobody's business but the Turks
Istanbul (Istanbul)
Istanbul (Istanbul)
Even old New York was once New Amsterdam
Why they changed it I can't say
People just liked it better that way
Istanbul was Constantinople
Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Why did Constantinople get the works?
That's nobody's business but the Turks
So take me back to Constantinople
No, you can't go back to Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Why did Constantinople get the works?
That's nobody's business but the Turks
Istanbul
Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Now it's Turkish delight on a moonlit night
Every gal in Constantinople
Lives in Istanbul, not Constantinople
So if you've a date in Constantinople
She'll be waiting in Istanbul
Even old New York was once New Amsterdam
Why they changed it I can't say
People just liked it better that way
So take me back to Constantinople
No, you can't go back to Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Why did Constantinople get the works?
That's nobody's business but the Turks
Istanbul (Istanbul)
Istanbul (Istanbul)
Even old New York was once New Amsterdam
Why they changed it I can't say
People just liked it better that way
Istanbul was Constantinople
Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Why did Constantinople get the works?
That's nobody's business but the Turks
So take me back to Constantinople
No, you can't go back to Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Why did Constantinople get the works?
That's nobody's business but the Turks
Istanbul
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