Sunday, May 31, 2009

Cold Goal--Revised

OK. Sorry. This post was a load of crap, so I revised it now. I couldn't be cold even if I wanted to. I was in a bad mood when I wrote it a couple weeks ago. Blah blah blah. You know how that goes.

In reality, I'm a veritable ball of enthusiasm most of the time (not being sarcastic). I mean, I can find shampoo exciting. How many people can do that?

But.
But, there's nothing wrong with trying to be graceful or dignified. Seriously.
Just skip all that cold aloof crap.

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Day 1: Istanbul in the Locals Quarter

We spent the first night in Istanbul, just passing through on our way to Syria. We had half a day to look around before our flight, and discovered that our hotel was in a neighborhood dominated by locals, not tourists, which was very interesting.
The kitty below is the first of many. In Turkey and Syria, cats were everywhere, and although most of them appeared to be homeless, everyone fed them, and they were friendly and happy.
Not sure which mosque this was, as we had no idea what neighborhood we were in, but it was a big one.
Cool ancient aqueduct.

We found a market and restaurant area that was definitely for the locals. We didn't know what this vegetable was called, but people were walking around eating it.

Dried eggplant.


Cute little goats resting in the shade. But it gets more ominous.
This is what they were resting under. Let's hope those weren't their relatives hanging skinned above.

I forgot what this was, but I think it's dried carob.
Ancient graveyard near the mosque.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Last Day ın Istanbul

Tonıght was my last nıght ın Istanbul. Now that ıt's over, we fınally fıgured out how to get around vıa publıc transportatıon, and how to get along. Today, we vısıted Galata Tower, whıch was wıthın walkıng dıstance of the hotel and awesome, and Topkapı Palace, whıch had an amazıng amount of jewels and artıfacts. Istanbul ıs a super cool cıty.

Laugh of the Day:
As we were leavıng the hotel thıs mornıng to begın our day, my dad turned to the front desk attendant and fırst asked ıf there ıs a bus nearby that goes to the aırport (reasonable questıon), but then, after that was affırmed, asked ıf there was a taxı that could take us across the street to the bus stop. ???? I exclaimed, and then the front desk attendants tried to hide laughs. My dad has arthritis in his hands, and the street is very busy with barricades across the middle, so pedestrians have to use an underpass to get across which adds to the distance he would have to pull his suitcase. But still. That was the silly event of the day, but harmless and funny.

A Word on Turkish Boys:
A large percentage of them (much larger percentage than American ones) are hot. Not as high a percentage as Spanish boys, but a close second. And, they even make eye contact with fat, messy, little me. I like that. As I said before, most of the them are frickin hot. Who knows what could have happened if I had been on my own (or traveling with female friends), and actually bothered to brush my hair, dress nicely, and put on makeup. I might have had a little Turkish travel romance!
(Sidenote: found THE cute Turkish boy on Facebook, but judging from his photo, he might be married and have a baby daughter. He looked so young though! And he's still in school! I suppose they could be siblings or relatives or friends or something, but I strongly suspect they are the wife and daughter. Oh well.)

A Word on Food:
I am SICK of kebab. I am also sick of Turkey's version of bagels. And don't get me started on Nescafe. Bleh. But I found an Italian coffee shop near the hotel, probably a chain but whatever, and we had breakfast there the last two mornings in a row, and probably will tomorrow too. The same barista was there today as was yesterday, and he remembered me, and remembered what I ordered last time, which was nice. The coffee is very good.
Tomorrow night, I'll be eating a German dinner. I suspect that there is a lot of good food here, but I haven't experienced it. I saw many beautiful, non-touristy restaurants, but unfortunately, never set foot in them. We mostly ate in what are called "cafeterias," which are good, and fresh, but not especially exciting. Thinking back, I now realize that the best food I've experienced while traveling was in Germany and Switzerland, believe it or not. It might just be that we tended to eat in fancier restaurants during that trip, but it was all really good and thoughtfully prepared. Not all of it was wonderful: in Kochel am See, Alex and I experienced pasta that was salty to the point of hilariously inedible. But overall, I ate the best in Germany.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Daıly Report

My dad dıd very well today, and dıdn't complaın about anythıng or cause any trouble. We saw the archeologıcal museum and Haıgıa Sophıa, both of whıch were quıte ınterestıng. At the archeologıcal museum, I kept on starıng at the male torsos of the statues. They were so beautıful, guys' chests just don't look lıke that these days. I would lıke to hang out wıth a guy very much, any guy would do, but I have to waıt untıl Frıday, and whoever ıt ıs probably won't have a chest lıke an ancıent Turkısh statue.

Monday, May 25, 2009

Istanbul, or the Trıp that was Almost a Thrıll

I'm ın Istanbul rıght now, and ıt ıs an awesome cıty. Very lıvely, excellent nıghtlıfe...but I'm travelıng wıth my dad, so I'm not able to experıence all of ıt--specıfıcally the nıghtlıfe. It's kınd of lıke travelıng wıth chıldren: he complaıns, he fusses, causes trouble, and you can't take hım to bars or go out at nıght, whıch ıs a total bummer. I haven't had anyone to talk to sınce May 13th--that ıs--untıl tonıght, brıefly. Whıle the douchebag on the computer next to me looked at gırls wıth bıg boobs on the ınternet, I sort of found a frıend: a gırl from Toronto, approxımately my age, travelıng alone. It was so relıevıng to have a normal conversatıon agaın! It was great!

Another hıghlıght ıncludes the very cute Turkısh boy who helped us make our way vıa bus from the aırport to our hotel. He was so cute, so sweet, and so helpful; probably smart too--he's studyıng mechanıcal engıneerıng at the unıversıty here. But then my dad trıed to ınvıte hım to lunch. Ugh. That was very embarrassıng. I mean, serıously, who would go wıth a couple of strangers to lunch? I wouldn't. He polıtely declıned, and we had exchanged emaıl addresses earlıer, so hopefully I wıll wrıte to hım or fınd hım on Facebook or somethıng.

We saw the Blue Mosque, the New Mosque, the park surroundıng Topkapı Palace, the Spıce Market, and the Grand Bazaar. At the Grand Bazaar, after I had managed to talk a guy down ın prıce on a pendant I wanted, my dad proceeded to ınsult the shopkeeper about some turquoıse that he dıdn't even want. What was the poınt of that? Serıously? I quıckly paıd and wandered off before my dad's nonsense could cause the shopkeeper to raıse the prıce. Ugh.

Today we went on a Bosphorus cruıse. It was nıce, but uneventful.

Last week I spent ın Syrıa. Syrıa had a lot of potentıal ın terms of a formerly beautıful landscape, but every outdoor surface was lıttered wıth garbage. I have never seen so much garbage ın the street before ın my lıfe. Also, ın Latakıa specıfıcally, all of the beautıful old buıldıngs are left vacant to rot, or are torn down to make way for ugly, generıc cement condomınıums EVERYWHERE. It's on the Medıterranean Sea, but many of the seasıde promenades were fılled ın wıth cement and turned ınto warehouses for shıppıng. I really don't know what people were thınkıng there. It's just messy and a waste of a beautıful locatıon.

Slunfeh was nıce, though. It's a mountaın resort town, very green and leafy, wıth a bıg, fancy hotel at ıts core. There are stıll a few remaınıng hıstorıc homes there, whıch are very pretty, but the ugly concrete condomınıums are encroachıng there too. They need to be stopped.

I guess that's all for now. Thıs has been a mentally exhaustıng trıp. I would lıke to come back to Istanbul wıth my frıend and be able to experıence ıt fully.

Monday, May 11, 2009

Sunshine Soon


I finished my last final Friday, and my first school free weekend was great. Wednesday, I leave for my big trip. First stop: Latakia, Syria, pictured above. Then, four days in Istanbul, Turkey (photo below). I can't wait! I really prefer being on vacation.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

I Thought This Was Interesting

Studies say 'hobbit' previously unknown species

Studies say 'hobbit' previously unknown species AFP/National Geographic/File – A photo from the University of Wollongong in Australia shows an artist's impression of a human species …

PARIS (AFP) – The tiny ancient humans dubbed hobbits, whose remains were discovered on an Indonesian island in 2003, were a previously unknown species altogether, according to two new studies.

Debate has raged in the scientific community since the fossils were found on the island of Flores, with some experts insisting they were descended from Homo erectus and others saying evolution could not account for their small brains.

About a metre (three feet) tall and weighing 30 kilos (65 pounds), the tiny, tool-making hunters may have roamed the remote island as recently as 8,000 years ago. Their fossils are about 18,000 years old.

Many scientists have said Homo floresiensis, as the creature is now formally known, was a prehistoric human stunted by natural selection over millennia through a process called insular dwarfing.

Others countered that even this evolutionary shrinking, well documented in island-bound animals, could not account for the chimpanzee-sized brain -- just a third the size of that in a modern human being.

The only plausible explanation, they insisted, was that the handful of specimens found had a genetic disorder resulting in an abnormally small skull or that they suffered from "dwarf cretinism" caused by deficient thyroids.

Two new studies in the British journal Nature go a long way toward settling the debate.

A team led by William Jungers of Stony Brook University in New York tackled the problem by analysing the hobbit's foot.

In some ways it is very human. The big toe is aligned with the others and the joints make it possible to extend the toes as the body's full weight falls on the foot -- attributes not found in great apes.

But in other respects it is startlingly primitive: far longer than its modern human equivalent and equipped with a very small big toe, long and curved lateral toes, and a weight-bearing structure closer to a chimpanzee's.

Recent archaeological evidence from Kenya shows that the modern foot evolved more than 1.5 million years ago, most likely in Homo erectus.

So unless the Flores hobbits became more primitive over time -- considered extremely unlikely -- they must have branched off the human line at an even earlier date.

For Jungers and colleagues, this suggests their ancestor was not Homo erectus "but instead some other more primitive hominin whose dispersal into southeast Asia is still undocumented."

Companion studies published by the Journal of Human Evolution bolster this theory and conjecture that these more ancient forebears may be the still poorly understood Homo habilis.

In any case, Homo floresiensis would be confirmed as a separate species.

But what still has not been explained the hobbit's inordinately small brain.

That's where hippos come into the picture.

Eleanor Weston and Adrian Lister of the Natural History Museum in London compared fossils of several species of ancient hippos found on the island of Madagascar with the mainland ancestors from which they had evolved.

They were surprised to find that insular dwarfing -- driven by the need to adapt to an island environment -- shrank their brains far more than had previously been thought possible.

"Whatever the explanation for the tiny brain of H. floresiensis relative to its body size, our evidence suggests that insular dwarfing could have played a role in its evolution," they conclude.

While the new studies answer some questions, they also raise new ones sure to spark fresh debate, Harvard professor Daniel Lieberman said in Nature.

Only more fossil evidence will indicate whether the hobbits of Flores evolved from Homo erectus, whose traces have been found throughout Eurasia, or from an even more ancient lineage not yet found outside Africa, he said.

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Foggy Morning





Pretty, huh? Less than a week until the fog of finals has evaporated and the sunshine of relaxation beams in!

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Summer

After I return from vacation, my plan for the summer is:
  1. Relax
  2. Work on my tan
  3. Read all the books I bought during the school year but didn't have a chance to read
  4. Watch the latest season of "Lost"
  5. Get regular exercise
  6. Cook
  7. Have as much fun as possible
  8. Keep my apartment clean
  9. Plant and grow interesting vegetables
Thankyouverymuch.

Friday, May 1, 2009

Two-Pronged Test for Finals Success

Studying is going well--a million times better than last semester, but I don't think I'm going to take my unscheduled final tomorrow. In terms of timing, it just doesn't make sense. If I spend all day tomorrow working on Civ Pro, which I would have to do in order to be ready to take the test at 6, then I'll probably be too tired to do well on it, and I'll end up not having enough time to study for Contracts and Constitutional law, which actually do have scheduled exam dates. So I'm going to put down Civil Procedure for now, and take up Contracts, and work on that tomorrow and Sunday, so I'll be ready for that test Monday. And on Monday, I'll start on Constitutional Law, so that I'll be ready for that on Wednesday. Then I could take the Civil Procedure test Thursday, Friday, or Saturday. Yes, that's a week later than I hoped, but I think it will all work out better this way. I spent all day today studying. The only time I went outside today was to pay rent and get my mail. I'm frickin tired.