In the interests of making the voice of one group of individuals heard, another voice has been wholly and unilaterally stifled. And this is democracy?

For all of you that have wondered, the answer is yes, I do eat turkey in Turkey. Right now in fact. Mmm mmm good.

This is the life

I'm on a bus from Istanbul to Ankara with wireless internet access and watching the Federer-Nadal Wimbledon final live on tv. Not bad, Turkey, not bad. Varan: 1, Shortline: 0.

The Turkish Kiss

By now one would think I'd be used to the air kisses so common to Turkish greetings and farewells. It seems pretty simple. Air kiss to one side of your companion's face, retreat, and repeat on the other side. Simple, right? Not quite. There's major, major, potential for awkwardness and embarrassment. Why? Obviously there's the need for at least some cooperation and coordination. If both parties, let's say, decide to go for the same side, that no longer becomes just an air kiss--no, no. That, my friends, has the potential for imminent disaster of utter awkwardness as both parties realize the impending headbutt and steer in the opposite direction. This in turn becomes a perpetual side to side dance just in an effort to get that damn air kiss on its rightful path. And since both parties are mirroring each other and move in unison, the problem is not solved, and sometimes the side effect of what many call the eskimo kiss might occur. Confusion in such close proximity is never good. Not fun. And as for me, why is this difficult? Because I always bear left. Never bear left! I'm not quite sure of what my predilection for the left side is, perhaps I'm just always closer to the opposite party's right side (aka my left) and just shoot for what's closest. Actually no, even if closer to their left side (my right), I still go for the left. Every time I have that momentary indecision as I close in on the person trying to gauge which of my cheeks the person is going for so I can go for the same on their side...and I always gauge wrong. Ugh. Bear right, my friends. Bear right!

Holy Moly!

I saw the pope today, totally unexpectedly, upon visiting Vatican City. Mind you, one normally does NOT see the pope in Vatican City. He was out in St. Peter's Square giving some sort of program, and let me tell you, this guy is a serious rock star. It was kind of like an AIESEC conference too, truth be told. There was a "roll call" for all the different orders present at the gathering, and each time one was called, everyone belonging to it would get up, scream, wave flags, etc. My favorite part of it was watching all the giddy nuns chatter amongst themselves. And I really mean giddy, like they were seeing their childhood rock star crush. Totally awesome. Oh yeah, did I mention I saw the Sistine Chapel today too? I'll have to describe that more later, but it definitely lived up to my expectations. You just need to be patient, let the story being told unfold, and just watch it. It's amazing, and truly seems to come to life as you stare at it.

God Bless

I just sneezed and some American walking outside on Via S. Anna yelled "God bless you!" I live two floors up. Clearly I find this hilarious. I replied with a hearty "Thanks!"

By the way, the rain has now stopped. It's like it was never hear at all--the accordion and the saxophone that make their nightly duets outside my window at the restaurant below have returned and resumed their take on Love Story and many other romantic songs that should be expected to accompany an al fresco dinner in the streets of Rome. The chatter of pedestrians is back, too. And the smell of smoke from many cigarettes (this is Europe, after all), no longer under threat of being extinguished. One would never know it had even rained. Except for the sound of rubber against water as cars drive by, and the inevitable post-rain cool as the water begins to evaporate on a warm summer night.