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Ten Reasons Why You Should Go To Turkey Next Spring

INTD 350: Ancient Civilizations and Modern Aspirations

Spring 3-week, 2011.

INSTRUCTORS: James Thompson and Uğur Aker
MEETING TIME AND PLACE: Hinsdale 203, W 6:30-8:30
OFFICE: Garfield Institute and 113 Hinsdale
OFFICE HOURS: Posted on our doors
OFFICE PHONE: 5155 and 5142
INTERACTION: Our e-mails are thompsonja@hiram.edu and akerus@hiram.edu. This syllabus and other notes will be posted in the web site: http://thehiramcollege.net/econ under Turkey-Greece 2011.
I. COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course will attempt to prepare you for the intense cultural experience you are about to embark. The more we know about the history, culture, literature, arts, and politics of a place the better we can appreciate the encounter. Because these aspects of the area are rarely studied in depth in the American K-12 experience, we have to get ready to relate and to be thrilled with what we will see, hear, touch. It is impossible to compact the soul of a place into a course no matter how long, comprehensive and rich it is. We would like each participant contribute to this learning experience through reading and presenting different sources. Our hope is to provide some benchmarks, stepping stones, reference points to feel more comfortable, more knowledgeable and more connected in Turkey and Greece.
II. GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

This course satisfies the Team-taught Interdisciplinary requirement for General Education.

Through observing the terrain the texts were written at and refer to, through the clash of our expectations and reality we face during our travels, through a challenge to our own smug physical and intellectual comforts we aim to impart the complexity, richness and depth of the past and current societies we study.
III. COURSE EXPECTATIONS
Discussion of the readings, research on places and history, pre-journal expectations write-up, journal entries read at meetings in Turkey and Greece, and site report will be a major portion of the grades. During the actual trip, community-mindedness will also get graded.

TEXTS:

Plato, Symposium, http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/symposium.html.

Economist, Turkey Special Report.

Orhan Pamuk, My Name is Red Notes; My Father’s Suitcase; Who Do I Write For?

Richard C. Martin, Islam, A Cultural Perspective

Zeynep Oral, “A Practice for Developing Relations Between Turkey and Greece: WINPEACE” Voices for the Future: Civic Dialogue Between Turks and Greeks

Halis Aydintasbas, “The Role of NGOs in Relations between the Two Countries and Turkey-Greece Friendship Association” Voices for the Future: Civic Dialogue Between Turks and Greeks

Halil Inalcik (ed.) An Economic and Social History of the Ottoman Empire Volume I: 1300-1600; “Empire and Population”

Hercules Millas, Do’s and Don’ts for Better Greek-Turkish Relations, “Body Language Symbols and Paraphernalia.” “Literature as a Mirror of National Prejudices and Stereotypes: The Greek and Turkish Cases in Comparison.”

John Freely, Classical Turkey

Alan Richman, “Edifice Complex” and John McDonald, How to Explore Istanbul’s Great Mosques,” in Barrie Karper (ed) Istanbul, The Collected Traveler: An Inspired Companion Guide

Plato, Symposium

Pericles “Funeral Oration”

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War

Jennifer Neil, The Parthenon: From Antiquity to the Present

Stewart Perowne, Hadrian

Robert Browning, Justinian and Theodora

ASSESSMENT:

There will be no tests. Assessment will comprise of journal readings, presentations, homework completions, class and field-trip attendance, and participation.

READINGS:

Week 1: First half of Plato's Symposium

Week 2: Second half of Plato's symposium

Week 3: Pericles' Funeral Oration, from Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War, and Jenifer Neil’s' The Parthenon: from antiquity to the present, chapter 2.

Week 4: Stewart Perowne's Hadrian, pp. 17-35, 101-117, 180-183.

Week 5: Robert Browning's Justinian and Theodora, pp. 9-53

Week 6: Browning, pp. 54-100

Week 7: Ottoman Empire and Orhan Pamuk

Week 8: Islam

Week 9: Greeks and Turks

Week 10: Istanbul

IV. ASSESMENT AND EVALUATION
1. GRADE DISTRIBUTION:

95 - 100 A 91 - 94 A-

87 - 90 B+ 83 - 86 B

79 - 80 B- 75 - 78 C+

71 - 74 C 67 - 70 C-

63 - 66 D+ 59 - 60 D

55 - 58 D- 0 - 54 F
2. HOMEWORK

There will be assignments. Completion of these should give you an idea of complexity of the history and culture.

ASSIGNMENTS FOR INTD 350

This is not an exhaustive list. There will be other questions added. You should start keeping a journal that will be your best friend until the end of May. Your journal can have as many answers to these questions as you wish. We require ten to get the full grade. You may submit the ten items separately and include them in your journal afterwards. For the following items tell us a story about when, where, who, why, how the fact can be given color, life, emotion.

Thales of Miletus is called “Father of Philosophy.” He is also credited to have used an option for olive presses. Find out about Thales, Miletus, option trading, his philosophy and his significance.
Alexander the Great may not be that great but he did influence history in a great way. Trace his conquests, his major battles, his times, his foes, his significance.
St. Paul traveled through the lands we will visit in three separate journeys. Show us where he has been and the major settlements he went and also wrote letters which are reproduced in the Bible.
The seven churches of antiquity are established in Anatolia. What are their names, their places, their references in the Bible.
Who was Ataturk? How his prominence shone during WWI?
Tell us about Ataturk and Turkish Independence War?
Tell us about Ataturk and the reforms to transform the new Turkish Republic from an eastern society to a western society.
Tell us about the first two hundred years of the Ottoman Empire?
How did the Ottomans structure their military and bureaucratic organizations?
Constantine had declared Christianity as state religion. Tell us about him and his times. Show us a picture of Constantine.
Nicene Creed is still used in Christian services. It is usually called Lord’s Prayer. Tell us how and where it was adopted.
Follow the expansion and contraction of Ottoman Empire and the impacts to the peoples of the conquered lands.
Justinian is one of the more important Byzantine emperors. Why? Tell us about him, his wife and show us pictures.
Agamemnon was one of the major figures of the Trojan War. Tell us about him, his land, his family.
Tell us about the Trojan War.
Tell us about Odysseus and the recreation of one of the stories in his journey back home on a relief in Ephesus. Show pictures.
Artemis was a major deity in Anatolia. Tell us about her. What is the connection to St. Paul?
What are the seven wonders of the Antiquity? Pictures, please.
Tell us the rise and fall of Ephesus.
Tell us how the shoreline changed from antiquity to today and trace the fortunes of cities.
Catalhoyuk is a major prehistoric site. Tell us about it. Pictures, of course.
Why do we regard Athenian political system as the dawn of democracy?
Tell us about the conflict between Persians and Athenians and the wars that were fought.
Tell us about Xerxes and Darius.
Tell us about Ayasofya (Hagia Sophia).
When Istanbul was first established? What names were used for the city? Why did the names change?
Tell us about Blue Mosque.
Tell us about Suleymaniye Mosque.
Tell us about Yeni Cami.
Tell us about the Parthenon.
Tell us about Delphi.
Tell us about Corinth.
Tell us about Pergamum.
Tell us about Myceneae.
Tell us about Nafplion.
Tell us about Tenedos Island (Bozcaada in Turkish).
Tell us about Topkapi Palace.
Tell us about the Archeological Museum of Istanbul.
Tell us about the Archeological Museum of Athens.
Tell us about the Mosaic Museum in Istanbul.
Tell us about the Turkish-Islamic Art museum.
Tell us about the WWI in Gallipoli (Gelibolu).
Tell us about Asklepion in Pergamum (Bergama)
Tell us about St. John Basilica in Selcuk.
Tell us about the new Acropolis Museum in Athens.
Tell us about Parthenon.
Tell us about the Petrified Forest in Lesbos.
Some classicists regard Artemis (Diana) as a continuation of Mother Goddess cult in Anatolia. Find about the connection between Cybele worship, Artemis and devotion to Virgin Mary.

SITE REPORTS

Everyone will prepare two site reports covering the places, monuments, museums we will visit. These reports are to be given before we enter the site so we do know what to look for. The reports should be between 10-15 minutes. Before we leave Hiram, please submit the reports for approval and grade to JT and UA. Make sure to prepare a one page handout (preferably a map) for the rest of the group to follow while on the site. There may be some items not to be missed in your handout. You may append the report to your journal for posterity.

ATTENDANCE:

Attendance is mandatory. Absences or missing part of the class will lower the grade since a great deal of learning takes place through informed discussion.
5. JOURNAL: Ten years down the line, your journal along with your photographs will be the most cherished memories of your trip. Treat the journal with care. Your first journal assignment is to write a reflective essay on your expectations. This will be a vehicle of self-evaluation at the end of the program when you read what you wrote before the program. You will be graded on this.

Your essay should answer the following questions in as much detail as possible (minimum length 600 words). (1) What expectations do you have from this trip? (2) What kind of weather, smells, tastes, atmosphere, colors, and geography do you expect to see? (3) What do you expect to learn, to feel, to think at the conclusion of this trip? (4) What kinds of people do you think you will meet? What will they look like? What will they wear? How will they behave?

Please write the essay in legible longhand in the journal you will take along. You will attach or paste other things in this journal. So make your journal notebook a reliable one.

During your stay abroad keep a daily journal on your observations, encounters, emotions, etc. The journal should be a truly private, personal experience that you can revisit in the future. We will not collect the journal; you can write all your private thoughts. We will ask you to read a passage of your choice every time we have a debriefing meeting, about half a dozen times. Please do not put entries like “Today we visited Hagia Sophia. Awesome!”

The following questions may be used as a guide for entries in your journal during the trip. You might want to cut out these questions and attach them to your journal before leaving.

A. - What is my gut reaction to the people I meet, the places I see? How do I intend to pursue the new interests sparked by my experiences (if any)?

B. - How did I get along with the members of the group? How did I get along with people outside of the group? What were the instances, and perhaps reasons, for harmony and discord?

C. - Have there been aesthetically pleasing or offensive events or sensations? Can I delineate why?

D. - Were there instances where my values were different than others? How did we deal with the “conflict?” With hindsight, what do I think about my values and others’ values?

E. - How can I relate the conclusions I make about this place to life in the U.S.?

F. - What problems have I noticed? What kinds of suggestions can I offer for these problems?

G. - Based on my observations, what conclusions can I make about life in these foreign places?

H. - Have I been moved to tears of agony and/or ecstasy in any of my experiences? Do I want to convey my feelings to others? How do I fulfill this wish?

- Was I able to communicate my ideas, my concerns, my frustrations, my exhilarations, my confusions, etc. to the members of the group, to resource persons, to natives?

Date	Day
14-Apr-11	Thu	Flight
15-Apr-11	Fri	Istanbul	Hippodrom, Blue Mosque, Cistern, Turkish Islamic Art M
16-Apr-11	Sat	Istanbul	Aya Sofia, Topkapi Palace
17-Apr-11	Sun	Canakkale	Gallipoli
18-Apr-11	Mon	Canakkale	Local University, Troy
19-Apr-11	Tue	Akcay/Altinoluk	Bozcaada (Tenedos)
20-Apr-11	Wed	Akcay/Altinoluk	Edremit and open market, Antandros
21-Apr-11	Thu	Akcay/Altinoluk	Mt. Ida
22-Apr-11	Fri	Akcay/Altinoluk	Visiting local villages, Olive oil museum, Ethnographic Museum
23-Apr-11	Sat	Akcay/Altinoluk	Assos
24-Apr-11	Sun	Ayvalik	Cunda, Taris Cooperative
25-Apr-11	Mon	Izmir	Pergamum, Asklepion, Museum
26-Apr-11	Tue	Izmir	Ephesus, Selcuk, Mary's House, St John Basilica
27-Apr-11	Wed	Chios	Mesta
28-Apr-11	Thu	Boat
29-Apr-11	Fri	Athens	Acropolis
30-Apr-11	Sat	Athens	National Archeological Museum; New Acropolis Museum
1-May-11	Sun	Evia
2-May-11	Mon	Corinth	Delphi
3-May-11	Tue	Nafplio	Corinth, Mycenae
4-May-11	Wed	Boat	Epidauros
5-May-11	Thu	Lesbos, Molyvos	Mytilini, Molyvos
6-May-11	Fri	Lesbos, Molyvos	Molyvos, Petra
7-May-11	Sat	Lesbos, Eressos	Petrified Forest, Eressos
8-May-11	Sun	Lesbos, Mytilini	Agiassos
9-May-11	Mon	Istanbul	Boat-bus
10-May-11	Tue	Istanbul	Archeological Museum, Mosaic Museum, Museum of Ancient Orient
11-May-11	Wed	Istanbul	Suleymaniye, Covered Bazaar
12-May-11	Thu	Flight


V. DISCLAIMER Plans are wishes. Not all wishes do come true. Those with the wisdom of ages warn us about the curse of wishes that do come true. We may change parts of this syllabus as we see fit in the course of the semester. For the sake of participatory democracy, I promise to include the class in the decision-making before I make any changes.

RESOURCES

202 Jokes of Nasreddin Hodja (Minyatur Yayinlari)

Brosnahan, T., Masters, J., Masters, P. Turkish Phrasebook, (Lonely Planet, Australia: 1999)

Belge, T.U. Voices for the Future: Civic Dialogue Between Turks and Greeks. (Istanbul Bilgi University Press, 2004)

Cameron, R. A Concise Economic History of the World Oxford University Press: 1993) Ch.1 and 2

Downey, G. Constantinople in the age of Justinian, (Dorset Press, New York: 1960)

Fields, N. Troy c. 1700-1250 BC, (Osprey Publishing, Oxford, UK: 2004)

Freely, J. Istanbul, the Imperial City, (Penguin Books, London: 1996)

Freely, J. Blue Guide: Istanbul, (W. W. Norton, New York: 1991)

Freely, J. Inside the Seraglio: Private Lives of the Sultans in Istanbul, (Penguin Books, London: 1999)

Freely, J. Classical Turkey (Chronicle Books: San Francisco, 1990)

Haldon, J. Byzantium at War, AD 600-1453, (Osprey Publishing, Oxford, UK: 2002)

Harl, K. Great Ancient Civilizations of Asia Minor, 24 lectures; video (The Teaching Company)

Istanbul and Northwest Turkey, (Alfred A. Knopf, New York: 1993)

Lewis, R. Everyday Life in Ottoman Turkey, (Dorset Press, New York: 1971)

McDonagh, B. Blue Guide: Turkey, The Aegean and Mediterranean Coasts, (W.W. Norton, New York: 1989)

McDonagh, B. Blue Guide: Turkey, (A.C. Black, London: 1995)

Millas, H. Do’s Don’ts for Better Greek Turkish Relations (Papazissis Publishers: Athens, 2002)

Millas, H. The Imagined ‘Other’ as National Identity (Civil Society Developmeent Programme)

Nesin, A. Turkish Short Stories from Four Decades (Three Continents Press: Washington DC, 1991)

Nicolle, D. Constantinople 1453, (Osprey Publishing, Oxford, UK: 2000)

Reddy, N. M. Twenty Stories by Turkish Women Writers (Indiana University Turkish Studies, 1988)

Rice, T.T. Everyday life in Byzantium, (Dorset Press, New York, 1967)

Sunar, I. State, Society and Democracy in Turkey (Bahcesehir University Publication)

Turnbull, S. The Ottoman Empire, 1326-1699, (Osprey Publishing, Oxford, UK: 2003)

Villers, J. Jr (ed.) Travelers’ Tales: Turkey, True Stories (Travelers’ Tales, San Francisco: 2002)
VIDEOS:

Troy, Artemision, Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Footsteps of Suleyman, Suleyman the Magnificent, Janissaries, Crusades.

BOOKS recommended by Professors teaching courses related to Turkey:
Nazim Hikmet, _Human Landscapes_. New York: Persea, 1982. An abridged translation of Memleketimden Insan Manzaralari, an epic poem about Turkish Independence War 1919-1922.
Jeremy Seal, A Fez of the Heart, Harcourt Brace, 1995
Works by Nobel Literature Prize winner Orhan Pamuk.
Works by Yasar Kemal
Works by Elif Shafak.
Latife Tekin, _Berji Kristin: Tales from the Garbage Hills_. London and NY: Marion Boyars, 1996. A very short novel chronicling the life of a gecekondu, written in a magic-realist style. Evokes a lot of the social and political issues surrounding rural-urban migration in the modern Middle East. Latife Tekin's _Dear Shameless Death_involves striking depictions of poverty, urban development, religion in society and such. It is available in translation by Saliha Paker and Mel Kenne (2001).
Donna Lee Bowen and Evelyn A. Early (eds.), Everyday life in the Muslim Middle East (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1993)

Simple Etiquette in Turkey, 2nd enlarged edition, 1999. Kent: Paul Norbury Publications, UK.
dissertation by Cengiz Kirli submitted to the Binghamton University in 2001 is about the coffehouses in Istanbul. The title of this dissertation is "The Struggle Over Space: Coffeehouses of Ottoman Istanbul, 1780-1845". It includes stories and events told in the coffehouses of Istanbul
Ozdemir NUTKU, "Original Turkish meddah stories of the Eighteenth century", in I. BaSgOz-M. Glazer

(eds.), Studies in Turkish Folklore (In Honor of P.N.Boratav), Bloomington, Ind., 1978 (Indiana University

Turkish Studies No. 1), 166-183.
Bernard Lewis's _Istanbul and the Civilization of the Ottoman Empire_ (Norman: U. Okla. P.,

1963) and John Freely's _Istanbul: The Imperial City_ (London/New York: Viking/Penguin, 1996, 1998),

Eldem / Goffman / Masters's book The Ottoman City Between East and West, Aleppo, Izmir and Istanbul, Cambridge, 1999.
Kinross' "The Ottoman Centuries" and Bernard Lewis' "The Emergence of Modern Turkey" seem still to be the easiest to use.
Daniel Goffman's book from Cambridge University Press called The Ottoman Empire and Early Modern Europe, runs up to the eighteenth century. It is first rate, quite the best broad guide to the first part of the period, incorporating the most recent research and yet successfully presenting a sense of the whole without diminishing the particular or the local.
New Approaches in European History - by Donald Quataert: The Ottoman Empire 1700-1922 tackles the often difficult issues in this period head on and with refreshing honesty. He has a neat way of gently undermining settled attitudes that makes it a very good text with which to work.
Modern literature in the Near and Middle East 1850-1970_ ed. Robin Ostle, includes three essays by Saliha Paker (from the beginnings till 1914), Geoffrey Lewis (1914-1950) and Cevat Capan (1950-1970). These are short and very useful, the book itself especially the introductory article by Yapp is excellent for classroom usage.
Also you may check the bibliographical web-site http://courses.washington.edu/mtle/mtle2000.html
Modern Turkish Literature class at the University of Washington http://faculty.washington.edu/selims/
Prof. Suat Karantay of Bogazici University, Istanbul, is heading a web-based project on translations from contemporary Turkish authors' works.

This website invites you to explore the rich diversity in style and subject matter offered by contemporary Turkish literature at http://www.turkish-lit.boun.edu.tr Those of you who do not read Turkish will have the opportunity to acquaint yourselves with many of the developments and achievements in the prose, poetry and drama published since the middle of the 20th century, with the majority of the selections representing the last quarter of the century and the first years of the new millennium.

Contemporary Turkish Literature in translation:

http://www.turkish-lit.boun.edu.tr/frameset2.asp?CharSet=English
Turkish proverbs and links to other sites related to Turkey: http://www.columbia.edu/~sss31/Turkiye/proverbs.html
Pictures of Istanbul: http://istanbul.potomya.net/english/
http://www.nettleberry.com/
http://www.turkuaz.us/
An arts magazine. http://www.pdergisi.com/english/index.htm
Website of one of the many museums in Istanbul. This one is a virtual museum. http://www.sanalmuze.org/sergilereng/index02.htm
Turkish shadow theatre (roots go back to hundreds of years). http://turkgolge.sitemynet.com/english.htm

http://turkshadowtheatre.sitemynet.com/introduction1.htm

http://www.karagoz.tv/
Turkish Oral Narrative: http://aton.ttu.edu/
http://aton.ttu.edu/Chronicle_News.asp
http://hiraml.hiram.edu/search/a?N{227}az{184}m+Hikmet%2C+1902-1963
http://www.turkishliterature.boun.edu.tr/homepage.html
The following website entails some secondary literature that may be of use to you: http://courses.washington.edu/mtle/reader.html
http://www.ottoman-links.co.uk/
Many practical and historical coverage: http://www.turkishembassy.org/start.html
The following two movies might be of some use:
America, America by Elia Kazan, Pascali's Island based on a Barry Unsworth novel.
WHAT TO TAKE TO TURKEY and GREECE (Prepared by Charmaine Kepes)

Sweatshirt (Some days will be chilly; layer clothes)

Long-sleeve shirt/sweater (Men/Women: also to cover up when visiting Church/Mosques)

Jeans/pants Few

Shorts Couple

T-shirts Not more than a handful

Tanks Couple

Socks half dozen pairs

Underwear ten pairs

Skirt (for women if want to dress up)

Scarf (for women when visiting mosques)

Windbreaker/raincoat

Hat

Bathing suit

Beach towel (will not be able to use Hotel towels)

Backpack

Pocket dictionary/language book

Map/tourist guide

Journal/pen/pencil

Personal music Charger for MP3 player

Shoes 2 pairs: sandals, tennis shoes

Laundry detergent to do laundry in hotel sinks; just a couple of small packs

Sunscreen

Shampoo/conditioner Most hotels will provide this; some might not

Toothbrush/Toothpaste

Comb/Brush

Razors

Medicine (Advil/Tylenol/Vitamins)

Camera w/ extra batteries, SD cards, charger (Europe is 220v compared to US’ 110v; most appliances can charge in both cases; if not a converter will be required. The plugs are different, though: round instead of slits. These adaptors are cheap.)

Sanitary products (for women)

Books To read on long bus trips/boat rides

Passport Vital to travel

Scanned copy of your passport e-mailed to yourself: in case the passport gets lost

Sunglasses

Know that if you forget anything it is not the end of the world. You will be able to purchase anything from underwear to t-shirts, from nasal decongestants to cough drops, from sunscreen to towels.

Ten Reasons Why You Should Go To Turkey Next Spring

Any Study Abroad program in Hiram is a life-changing, unforgettable experience that will stay in your memory most vividly.

The INTD 350 course fulfills one of the college graduation requirements.

When your friends at Hiram line up for lunch at Miller and see the same old thing, you would be looking at a variety of new palate experiences. Even if you don’t like every single adventure in food, you can be sure that none of them are frozen, pre-cooked institutional meals – unless, ofcourse, McDonald’s beckons you with its familiar, comfort-instigating golden arches. To have beer or wine with your meal will not be an illegal activity that requires fake IDs and devious plans.

You will walk the streets of poor neighborhoods as we visit museums and ruins that harbor artifacts from two to four thousand years ago. Little kids will swarm around you, their mothers will call them home, and an occasional smile will connect you to them. You will not feel the despair and hopelessness and fear that envelops some of the poor urban neighborhoods of the US.

As you meet more and more Turkish people you will realize how different and silly their ways of doing things are and how shocking it is when people don’t behave the accepted, normal way you have grown to expect. You will wonder why they can’t do the things the way we do back home and you will get an illumination of your own culture.

You will spend a month in a non-Christian country. The image of Moslems as fearsome fanatics will dissipate as you meet hundreds and see thousands during your stay in Turkey. Everything you see, breathe, taste, hear, smell will have an Islamic tint. Yet it will be hard to depict the “real” Islamic tenets of the culture. The culture is molded with Western values or in reaction to them. It is transformed in response to industrialization. Both Islam and modernization are reinterpreted and idealized to make sense of the hustle and bustle of an urban metropolis where migrants from rural areas see their identity, familiar support structures and their sense of security crumble into dust. You will experience the confusion of knowledge.

While your friends go to any of the malls around, where similar shops, similar salespeople, similar merchandise reduce the chances of unexpected encounters and they feel confident in their impersonal transactions with the cashier, you will be invited to a variety of shops. There will be tiny shops that accommodate only you and the salesperson, there will be larger shops that can hold forty people, basement shops you descend from the street, second story shops you climb through stairs in an apartment building. You will be shown dozens and dozens of jewelry, leather jackets, carpets, copper goods, clothing, etc. depending on the shop you were allured to. But the show will not be a replica of a car dealership. The salesperson will offer you drinks, sometimes food, will try to teach you how to tell quality in his merchandise, sometimes will ask you to dine with him later on.

When your fellow Hiramites are all bundled up to face the chilling air, you will sunbathe under the bright rays of the Mediterranean sun and swim in the clear, turquoise waters of the Aegean, just like many of the heroes and heroines that lived thousands of years ago did. You read about them or maybe saw the movies: Ulysses, Agamemnon, Helen of Troy, Paris, Hector, Achilles, Homer, Aristotle, Xerxes, Alexander, Herodotus, Pliny, Cleopatra, Mark Anthony, St. Paul, St. Nicholas (Santa Claus), Richard the Lionheart and on and on and on. Ofcourse, you also will visit the places where they lived and loved and fought.

You will see the blue-green tiles of Blue Mosque that gave the word turquoise its meaning. You will inhale the magnificence of Hagia Sophia even after 1500 years after its construction. You will visit the Roman amphitheaters still in use, awe-inspiring Greek temples, Troy and artifacts from Troy, the first peace treaty signed 3300 years ago, the palace complex of Ottoman Sultans, the first cities planned according to a grid plan, the religious sites shared by pagans, Jews, Christians, Moslems.

You will meet many people who speak English but many more who don’t. In the effort to bridge the language gap, you will realize how easy it is to communicate on some basic level using gestures, body language. You will get a new appreciation for the similarity of the members of the human species regardless of culture, language. As you establish a connection with smiles and laughter you will feel an unconditional love for that stranger and notice a swelling of confidence, empowerment, and sense of independence growing from inside you and spilling over. You will know that your life has changed

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