Hey everyone. I don't know how to put this, but... well, I've been getting bored lately...and...well...I really like the Green Bay Packers...so...so I went and made another blog.
http://jonbobs.blogspot.com/
Make no buts about it. Despite the silly name, this is a very, very serious blog. If you have any interest in sports, I encourage you to follow it. It's a joint venture between me and some colleagues at school. We want to make it big, like "make money off it" big. I'm going to need to put a lot of work into it.
Unfortunately, there are just so many hours in a day, so I don't know if I'll be able to contribute much on here anymore. Besides, I only have 3 weeks left, and things are getting kind of boring anyway.
Let's not think of this as goodbye, but as a new beginning!
See you over at JonBob's!
July 12, 2010
July 07, 2010
Half way there...
After today, it's official. I'm halfway done with my 7 week summer program. Three and half weeks remain until I'm home. Not too shabby.
Oh, I forgot to fill you in on my 4th of July celebration. Well, for some strange reason, America's day of independence is NOT a national holiday here in Egypt. And even the holiday occurred on a Sunday this year, that didn't mean much for me considering the Egyptian weekend consists of Friday and Saturday. So with classes the day of the 4th, plus early ones the morning after, I ruled out any excessive, late-night celebrating. I considered going out to a great burger place with some friends, but my money grubbing ways prevented me. Instead, I made myself a tasty three egg omelet, fried up some potatoes, and then proceeded to watch two episodes of the WWII miniseries, "The Pacific." No fireworks or parades, but I think it was a proper celebration of my country and it's freedom, and least given what I had to work with.
This is for sure though: being away from home sucks, especially on the 4th of July. Here's hoping I'm in Pequot Lakes a year from now.
Oh, I forgot to fill you in on my 4th of July celebration. Well, for some strange reason, America's day of independence is NOT a national holiday here in Egypt. And even the holiday occurred on a Sunday this year, that didn't mean much for me considering the Egyptian weekend consists of Friday and Saturday. So with classes the day of the 4th, plus early ones the morning after, I ruled out any excessive, late-night celebrating. I considered going out to a great burger place with some friends, but my money grubbing ways prevented me. Instead, I made myself a tasty three egg omelet, fried up some potatoes, and then proceeded to watch two episodes of the WWII miniseries, "The Pacific." No fireworks or parades, but I think it was a proper celebration of my country and it's freedom, and least given what I had to work with.
This is for sure though: being away from home sucks, especially on the 4th of July. Here's hoping I'm in Pequot Lakes a year from now.
July 02, 2010
Inititate the countdown...
33 days until WeFest. 38 until I'm back at Notre Dame. And, perhaps most importantly, just one month until I'm home sweet home in Breezy Point, Minnesota.
It's been a long five months, but believe it or not, my time in the Middle East is coming to a close. I won't use this post as an opportunity to share some cliche reflections and cheesy theories on life...but don't fret, I'm sure the time for all that will come at a later date.
So what exactly is this post about? In truth, not much has occurred over the past week, at least in the way of blog-worthy material. Fort the most part, my days of traveling are over (a trip to Alexandria may still be in order, and there's definitely more to see in Cairo itself). The novelty and peculiarity of Cairo and the Middle East itself has more or less worn off, at least to the point where I don't feel like sharing all of my daily observances over the internet. And the reality is that I'm quite busy and focused on my language program, a positive development but certainly one that doesn't provide a lot of fodder for intriguing blogposts.
Let's face it. I don't have much to write about, and you, probably enjoying a beautiful Midwestern summer, have much better things to do. So, I'll make this simple. Here's a brief round-up of the mention-worthy happenings of the past week and a half:
- I won 130 LE in a Texas Hold 'Em poker tournament.1st out of 10. I'd like to say it was all skill, but given the fact that I don't remember some significant stretches of it, I don't think that's the case.
-I'm reading the Brothers Karamazov. I'm 300 pages in. For some reason, I had braced myself for a work that I thought would be extremely dark, complex, and difficult to get through. I was expecting it to sacrifice storytelling for the sake of philosophical discourse. Instead, it's been an excellent and intriguing story thus far that has kept me highly interested...and Fyodor hasn't even been murdered yet! I'm sure once I've finished the book I'll want to return to the meaty bits and explore their meaning with a little more depth, but as for now, I'm just really interested in seeing what happens next.
- My interest in the World Cup more or less ended with the US team's defeat at the hands of Ghana last week. But it is worth mentioning that, despite my relative disinterest in soccer, I was pretty invested in how our national team performed. Thus, it isn't a huge surprise to note that I became very agitated when some Egyptians started heckling us after it became apparent the US was on the way out. Fortunately, an all out brawl then and there in the lobby of McDonald's was avoided, but probably just barely.
-Oh and last, but not least, Ms. Robin Soukup correctly identified the cost of the groceries purchased in last week's contest. 25 LE for 3 boxes of cereal and 10 packs of pasta? Not too shabby, if I do say so myself. Congrats Rob! Hope you're looking forward to your tourist trinket!
It's been a long five months, but believe it or not, my time in the Middle East is coming to a close. I won't use this post as an opportunity to share some cliche reflections and cheesy theories on life...but don't fret, I'm sure the time for all that will come at a later date.
So what exactly is this post about? In truth, not much has occurred over the past week, at least in the way of blog-worthy material. Fort the most part, my days of traveling are over (a trip to Alexandria may still be in order, and there's definitely more to see in Cairo itself). The novelty and peculiarity of Cairo and the Middle East itself has more or less worn off, at least to the point where I don't feel like sharing all of my daily observances over the internet. And the reality is that I'm quite busy and focused on my language program, a positive development but certainly one that doesn't provide a lot of fodder for intriguing blogposts.
Let's face it. I don't have much to write about, and you, probably enjoying a beautiful Midwestern summer, have much better things to do. So, I'll make this simple. Here's a brief round-up of the mention-worthy happenings of the past week and a half:
- I won 130 LE in a Texas Hold 'Em poker tournament.1st out of 10. I'd like to say it was all skill, but given the fact that I don't remember some significant stretches of it, I don't think that's the case.
-I'm reading the Brothers Karamazov. I'm 300 pages in. For some reason, I had braced myself for a work that I thought would be extremely dark, complex, and difficult to get through. I was expecting it to sacrifice storytelling for the sake of philosophical discourse. Instead, it's been an excellent and intriguing story thus far that has kept me highly interested...and Fyodor hasn't even been murdered yet! I'm sure once I've finished the book I'll want to return to the meaty bits and explore their meaning with a little more depth, but as for now, I'm just really interested in seeing what happens next.
- My interest in the World Cup more or less ended with the US team's defeat at the hands of Ghana last week. But it is worth mentioning that, despite my relative disinterest in soccer, I was pretty invested in how our national team performed. Thus, it isn't a huge surprise to note that I became very agitated when some Egyptians started heckling us after it became apparent the US was on the way out. Fortunately, an all out brawl then and there in the lobby of McDonald's was avoided, but probably just barely.
-Oh and last, but not least, Ms. Robin Soukup correctly identified the cost of the groceries purchased in last week's contest. 25 LE for 3 boxes of cereal and 10 packs of pasta? Not too shabby, if I do say so myself. Congrats Rob! Hope you're looking forward to your tourist trinket!
June 25, 2010
June 23, 2010
بكم - GROCERIES?
Recently while out shopping for foodstuffs, I came across a deal I just couldn't pass up. Well, actually two of them. The end result was 3 boxes of cereal and 10 packages of pasta obtained at a ridiculously low price. For those of you that like numbers, that's 750 grams of corn flakes/honey flakes/chocolate puffs and 3500 grams of macaroni/spaghetti.
Your task is simple. Guess the combined price of all these goodies, and win a prize, which will actually be a legitimate tourist trinket from Khan al-Khalilee. If all this talk about pasta and cereal hasn't gotten your mouth watering, maybe that will. As always, leave your guesses in the comments.
June 18, 2010
June 17, 2010
Welcome to the big leagues...
I've just finished my first week at the Hedayet Institute. Instead of detailing how it went, I'll just share with you the things I feel like doing at the moment:
Watching Teletubbies
Curling up in the fetal position
EEating chocolate ice cream and crying
Watching Teletubbies
With that, I think you have a pretty good idea of how the first week went. It's been pretty intense and extremely challenging. To be honest, it really doesn't have anything to do with the rigor or anything like that- it's the material itself. For some reason, they've placed me in classes that are well beyond what I've covered in the past. This should push me and challenge me to go beyond my comfort zone, for sure, but at the same time, I don't want to miss out on some of the fundamentals and grammatical rules that I'll need to build a solid foundation. We'll see how it goes. For now, I'm going to put my nose to the grindstone and make the most of it- which means no more Googling images of Teletubbies.
June 14, 2010
Apartments and Classes and Eggs, Oh My!
Well, I don't think I'm going to get around to writing a recap of my week in Turkey. Failing to do something I said I would- that's definitely not a first. But I have updated the last blog post with some of the highlights of the trip and, of course, pictures.
Moving on. After getting back to Cairo this past Thursday, I finally moved into the apartment that Shannon and I had originally picked out. The apartment is somewhat simple and spartan, but you know what, I like it. Instead of dryly describing it to you, I did the next best thing: I shot a video, uploaded it to YouTube, and embedded it here.
The movie is admittedly a little cheesy, but there you go. Anyway, what I'm most excited about in the new apartment (aside from the lack of cockroaches), is that awesome open living/family room area. It's literally got nothing but big, open windows on half of its surfaces. Now, that may not be great for privacy and keeping the apartment cool, but it does provide a fantastic refuge in which to curl up and read a book. I've taken advantage of this and read two: The Caveman's Valentine and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Both were of the murder-mystery variety, but they were both very well written and extremely engaging. I actually surprised myself at the frenetic pace in which I read them (about a day and a half for both). I don't often get the chance to read outside of school anymore, so it was good to see that it was still an enjoyable pastime for me. Next on the list: The Brothers Karamazov.
I've also taken the opportunity to try my hand in the kitchen. Not that I never had chances to help cook or prepare food before, but it's a little different when you're the one who not only has to make the food, but has to buy it as well. Given my deficiencies in both areas (lack of cooking knowledge + money), I've stuck to pretty basic recipes, primarily involving some combination of eggs, pasta, and/or rice.To the right is one of the very first dishes I whipped up. I call it "Eggs a la Hot Dog." If you couldn't guess, the main ingredients are fried eggs and hot dog pieces. There's also a bit of cheese, a healthy does of salt, and a pinch of pepper. Not the most exotic stuff in the world, but it gets the job done. The gold colored substance in the funny looking glass on the left is actually apple tea that I brought back from Istanbul. It's fantastic stuff, and I had about five glasses in one sitting. Anyway, I'm looking forward to doing some more experiments in the kitchen, so if anyone has any solid recipes they can offer that involve relatively cheap ingredients and not a lot of culinary expertise, please send them my way. You may get a prize of some sorts if I like yours...
I've also finally started my summer courses at the Hedayet Institute...well, more or less. Yesterday, we had our placement tests, with a rooftop reception following. For some reason, I had this overwhelming fear that I would do so poorly on the exam that I'd end up repeating material I've already covered in classes. I tried studying for a couple hours beforehand, but there was a lot of material to go over. Going into the test, I really wasn't sure how I'd perform. First was a written portion. It included some grammatical exercises, reading comprehension, as well as a brief essay. I actually think I ended up doing pretty decently on it. Following this was an oral exam with Dr. Nagwa Hedayet, the director of the institute. Now that might sound intimidating, but it wasn't. Ms. Hedayet is an awesome lady who really makes you feel comfortable.This portion of the testing actually went probably as well as it could've, as I was able to utilize a lot of the Egyptian colloquial I've picked up since January. Anywho, classes were supposed to start today, but it seems they don't have the scheduling finalized, so I'm just hanging out here and stealing their internet. We'll see what happens...
Oh and how about that World Cup game? I'll be the first to admit that I'm not an ardent soccer fan (I'm 10+ years removed from days on the Sun Prairie Sparks), but anytime you have the Red, White, and Blue competing on an international stage, it's hard not to get excited. The same can definitely be said for the Olympics. Do you think people would normally give even a passing thought to speed skating or swimming? Heck no! But when it involves the USA v.s. the World, it tends to get our patriotic juices churning. I watched the game at a nearby restaurant and was pretty satisfied with the outcome (a 1-1 tie to England, the 4th best team in the world, in case you missed it). I'll definitely be tuning in to the rest of our games if able.
Moving on. After getting back to Cairo this past Thursday, I finally moved into the apartment that Shannon and I had originally picked out. The apartment is somewhat simple and spartan, but you know what, I like it. Instead of dryly describing it to you, I did the next best thing: I shot a video, uploaded it to YouTube, and embedded it here.
The movie is admittedly a little cheesy, but there you go. Anyway, what I'm most excited about in the new apartment (aside from the lack of cockroaches), is that awesome open living/family room area. It's literally got nothing but big, open windows on half of its surfaces. Now, that may not be great for privacy and keeping the apartment cool, but it does provide a fantastic refuge in which to curl up and read a book. I've taken advantage of this and read two: The Caveman's Valentine and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Both were of the murder-mystery variety, but they were both very well written and extremely engaging. I actually surprised myself at the frenetic pace in which I read them (about a day and a half for both). I don't often get the chance to read outside of school anymore, so it was good to see that it was still an enjoyable pastime for me. Next on the list: The Brothers Karamazov.
I've also taken the opportunity to try my hand in the kitchen. Not that I never had chances to help cook or prepare food before, but it's a little different when you're the one who not only has to make the food, but has to buy it as well. Given my deficiencies in both areas (lack of cooking knowledge + money), I've stuck to pretty basic recipes, primarily involving some combination of eggs, pasta, and/or rice.To the right is one of the very first dishes I whipped up. I call it "Eggs a la Hot Dog." If you couldn't guess, the main ingredients are fried eggs and hot dog pieces. There's also a bit of cheese, a healthy does of salt, and a pinch of pepper. Not the most exotic stuff in the world, but it gets the job done. The gold colored substance in the funny looking glass on the left is actually apple tea that I brought back from Istanbul. It's fantastic stuff, and I had about five glasses in one sitting. Anyway, I'm looking forward to doing some more experiments in the kitchen, so if anyone has any solid recipes they can offer that involve relatively cheap ingredients and not a lot of culinary expertise, please send them my way. You may get a prize of some sorts if I like yours...I've also finally started my summer courses at the Hedayet Institute...well, more or less. Yesterday, we had our placement tests, with a rooftop reception following. For some reason, I had this overwhelming fear that I would do so poorly on the exam that I'd end up repeating material I've already covered in classes. I tried studying for a couple hours beforehand, but there was a lot of material to go over. Going into the test, I really wasn't sure how I'd perform. First was a written portion. It included some grammatical exercises, reading comprehension, as well as a brief essay. I actually think I ended up doing pretty decently on it. Following this was an oral exam with Dr. Nagwa Hedayet, the director of the institute. Now that might sound intimidating, but it wasn't. Ms. Hedayet is an awesome lady who really makes you feel comfortable.This portion of the testing actually went probably as well as it could've, as I was able to utilize a lot of the Egyptian colloquial I've picked up since January. Anywho, classes were supposed to start today, but it seems they don't have the scheduling finalized, so I'm just hanging out here and stealing their internet. We'll see what happens...
Oh and how about that World Cup game? I'll be the first to admit that I'm not an ardent soccer fan (I'm 10+ years removed from days on the Sun Prairie Sparks), but anytime you have the Red, White, and Blue competing on an international stage, it's hard not to get excited. The same can definitely be said for the Olympics. Do you think people would normally give even a passing thought to speed skating or swimming? Heck no! But when it involves the USA v.s. the World, it tends to get our patriotic juices churning. I watched the game at a nearby restaurant and was pretty satisfied with the outcome (a 1-1 tie to England, the 4th best team in the world, in case you missed it). I'll definitely be tuning in to the rest of our games if able.
June 10, 2010
Retracing my steps in the land of disciples and sultans...
This will be just a brief recap of my time in the fantastic country of Turkey. I'll break it up in a day-by-day fashion to keep it easy on the eyes.
Tuesday, June 2
I took the metro to downtown Cairo in order to defray the cost of a taxi to the airport. I flew out in the early afternoon aboard a Turkish Airlines flight. We were in the air for only two and a quarter hours but we were served a pretty impressive lunch. Two thumbs up for Turkish Airlines.
After landing in Istanbul, I made my way through customs and then attempted to locate my father, who had arrived at the Ataturk International Airport a couple of hours before me. I panicked a little when I couldn't spot the restaurant where we had agreed to meet, but I finally saw him lounging on some couch, eating a cheese sandwich and drinking Turkish coffee. As I told him at the time, he looked like a "hippie statesman." He was wearing a blue blazer and slacks, but his hair was long and somewhat unkempt, and it seemed like he'd dyed it with some blonde highlights or somethings. Anyway...
Our hotel provided transportation from the airport, and soon we were on the road, driving along the Sea of Marmara. My first impression of Istanbul was highly favorable, as I saw more green and blue than I have in four months in Cairo. There were nice looking parks, fish markets, beautiful stucco buildings, and the transportation infrastructure was top-notch. People stayed in their lanes, obeyed traffic signs, and even used turn signals! How refreshing!
We arrived at the hotel (Antea Hoteal, a fine place) and checked in. We were both fairly beat, as I hadn't slept the night before and my father had just endured trans-Atlantic travel, so we rested for a bit before venturing outside in search of dinner. We wandered around a bit before finding a nice seafood place called Agop. Here, we enjoyed some mezze, fresh bread, fish, and of course, some raki, the licorice-flavored liquor that I mentioned in a previous post (by the way, the bottle was 34 Turkish lira, so Robin wins the prize!). After dinner, we strolled around the cobblestone streets, adorned with all kinds of pretty lights and lined with packed restaurants. The breeze coming off the sea was cool and refreshing and their was a kind of vibrancy in the air. I wasn't in Cairo anymore.
(Oh, and of course it was William's 20th birthday).
Wednesday, June 3rd
On this day, our aim was to cover most of Sultanhamet, the area of Istanbul that houses most of its well-known attractions. Our first stop was the Topkapi Palace, a huge royal complex that served as the Ottoman sultans' primary home from 1465 to 1856. Today, Topkapi serves as a museum and recreational area for many Turks. It's sprawling lawns and beautiful flower beds were finely maintained. The buildings of the palace complex were also pretty impressive, including the esteemed harem, which we paid a separate fee for admittance into. The Topkapi Palace also houses some of the most impressive items remaining from the Ottoman treasury, including golden swords and diamond encrusted crowns. Conveniently enough, there was also an exhibit featuring royal treasures from Imperial Russia being displayed at the time, so we were also able to check that out. As we left through the Gate of Felicity, there was some sort of traditional performance going on, which involved reenactors gathering around some guy who was banging on a big drum. Given the a church like building to the left, the crowds gathering around it, and the quad like grassy expanse it was performed in front of, it's no wonder this display struck me as Istanbul's version of ND's Drummers Circle.
Following Topkapi, we retraced our steps and entered the grounds of the Hagia Sophia. The Hagia Sophia is quite simply put, an amazing, historically-laden building. Constructed in 532 AD by Emperor Justinian it was the largest church in Christendom until it was converted into a mosque, following the 1453 conquest of Constantinople at the hands of the Seljuq Turks. It served as Istanbul's primary mosque until it was dedicated as a museum in 1935. The place is pretty astounding. I can't recall ever being in a place quite as vast and architecturally impressive, yet simultaneously so old. How did the Byzantines construct this nearly 1500 years ago? The beams of light filtering through the darkness gave the place a sort of mystical vibe, making it easy to imagine what some sort of Christian Mass would've been like back in the day. Also of note were some of the impressive icons still remnant from Byzantine days. Interestingly enough, the Turks had incorporated much of the preexisting artwork in the building when they converted it into a mosque, but had painted over images of human faces. As Muslims, they were prohibited from having art that depicts the human body.
I considered Hagia Sophia to be one of my must-see-sites during my time out in these parts. I've been fascinated with the building itself, as well as the rest of modern day Constantinople, since the good ol' days of Age of Empires. It's one thing to read about something and see it on a computer game- it's something completely else to actually experience it.
After the Hagia Sophia (or Ayasofia as the Turks call it), we traversed beneath the streets of Istanbul into the other-worldy Basilica Cistern. The Basilica Cistern was also commissioned by Justinian, and served as Constantinople's primary water reservoir, capable of holding 2,800,000 cubic feet of water. It's name is derived from the fact that it was originally beneath a basilica, which was subsequently dismantled when the Turks took over. The Basilica Cistern is an eerie place. It's a half submerged room, completely dark except for some dim lights that illuminate some of the pillars holding up the ceiling. Visitors make their way through the forest of pillars via long, wooden walkways, allowing for unobstructed views down the length of the cistern. Pretty neat. One of the main attractions within the cistern itself are the two Medusa column pillars. These are basically what they sound like: the bases of pillars carved in the shapes of Medusas. One of them is tilted at a 90 degree angle, while the other is tilted upside down. They're kind of way back in a corner so I'm not really sure why the Byzantines decided to chisel them into the shape of Medusa heads, but they're still pretty cool nonetheless.
I'll update this more in a bit...
Tuesday, June 2
I took the metro to downtown Cairo in order to defray the cost of a taxi to the airport. I flew out in the early afternoon aboard a Turkish Airlines flight. We were in the air for only two and a quarter hours but we were served a pretty impressive lunch. Two thumbs up for Turkish Airlines.
After landing in Istanbul, I made my way through customs and then attempted to locate my father, who had arrived at the Ataturk International Airport a couple of hours before me. I panicked a little when I couldn't spot the restaurant where we had agreed to meet, but I finally saw him lounging on some couch, eating a cheese sandwich and drinking Turkish coffee. As I told him at the time, he looked like a "hippie statesman." He was wearing a blue blazer and slacks, but his hair was long and somewhat unkempt, and it seemed like he'd dyed it with some blonde highlights or somethings. Anyway...
Our hotel provided transportation from the airport, and soon we were on the road, driving along the Sea of Marmara. My first impression of Istanbul was highly favorable, as I saw more green and blue than I have in four months in Cairo. There were nice looking parks, fish markets, beautiful stucco buildings, and the transportation infrastructure was top-notch. People stayed in their lanes, obeyed traffic signs, and even used turn signals! How refreshing!
We arrived at the hotel (Antea Hoteal, a fine place) and checked in. We were both fairly beat, as I hadn't slept the night before and my father had just endured trans-Atlantic travel, so we rested for a bit before venturing outside in search of dinner. We wandered around a bit before finding a nice seafood place called Agop. Here, we enjoyed some mezze, fresh bread, fish, and of course, some raki, the licorice-flavored liquor that I mentioned in a previous post (by the way, the bottle was 34 Turkish lira, so Robin wins the prize!). After dinner, we strolled around the cobblestone streets, adorned with all kinds of pretty lights and lined with packed restaurants. The breeze coming off the sea was cool and refreshing and their was a kind of vibrancy in the air. I wasn't in Cairo anymore.(Oh, and of course it was William's 20th birthday).
Wednesday, June 3rd
On this day, our aim was to cover most of Sultanhamet, the area of Istanbul that houses most of its well-known attractions. Our first stop was the Topkapi Palace, a huge royal complex that served as the Ottoman sultans' primary home from 1465 to 1856. Today, Topkapi serves as a museum and recreational area for many Turks. It's sprawling lawns and beautiful flower beds were finely maintained. The buildings of the palace complex were also pretty impressive, including the esteemed harem, which we paid a separate fee for admittance into. The Topkapi Palace also houses some of the most impressive items remaining from the Ottoman treasury, including golden swords and diamond encrusted crowns. Conveniently enough, there was also an exhibit featuring royal treasures from Imperial Russia being displayed at the time, so we were also able to check that out. As we left through the Gate of Felicity, there was some sort of traditional performance going on, which involved reenactors gathering around some guy who was banging on a big drum. Given the a church like building to the left, the crowds gathering around it, and the quad like grassy expanse it was performed in front of, it's no wonder this display struck me as Istanbul's version of ND's Drummers Circle.
I considered Hagia Sophia to be one of my must-see-sites during my time out in these parts. I've been fascinated with the building itself, as well as the rest of modern day Constantinople, since the good ol' days of Age of Empires. It's one thing to read about something and see it on a computer game- it's something completely else to actually experience it.
I'll update this more in a bit...
June 07, 2010
Bunun fiyatı ne kadar? - RAKI
Well, as I can't bring myself to actually write a blog about my travels here in Turkey just yet, I figured I'd do the next best thing and have a "guess the price" contest. And since I'm in Turkey, I can't ask you "بكم?"; I have to ask you "Bunun fiyatı ne kadar?", which means "How much is this?" in Turkish.
The subject of our contest is raki, Turkey's national drink (which is a little odd considering it's alcoholic and, well, Turkey is made up almost entirely of Muslims). Anyway, it's a clear liquor made from distilled suma mixed with ethanol (what the heck? I'm just writing what wiki tells me). When mixed with chilled water (which is how one drinks it), it takes on a cloudy consistency. It's anise-flavored. In other words, it tastes like liquid licorice- the black kind. I'm not a big fan of it.
Anyway, our first night in town, we ordered the small bottle that you see above to accompany our seafood dinner. I think we got five or six drinks out of it. My question for you is, how much did this sucker cost us? Yah, same old same old right? But now with a twist! Instead of guessing in Egyptian pounds, you have to guess in Turkish liras! The going rate right now is about 1 lira to every 60 American cents. So 2 lira is a little bit more than 1 dollar. Easy enough, right?
And finally, here's the last little Turkish twist, one you might like quite a bit. Instead of some crappy Egyptian cookies, the winner of this contest gets their very own box of Turkish delights! Yes, that's right, that mysterious candy that Edmund from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe can't get enough of! The best part is you don't have to betray your siblings to get them! All you have to do is guess, in Turkish lira, how much did our bottle of raki cost? Closest guess wins. In the event of a tie, the person who guessed first will be the winner. Answer in the comments, and if you don't have an account, you can just enter your name.
Alright, get to it! You know you want those Turkish delights just as much as Edmund...nasty little kid.
The subject of our contest is raki, Turkey's national drink (which is a little odd considering it's alcoholic and, well, Turkey is made up almost entirely of Muslims). Anyway, it's a clear liquor made from distilled suma mixed with ethanol (what the heck? I'm just writing what wiki tells me). When mixed with chilled water (which is how one drinks it), it takes on a cloudy consistency. It's anise-flavored. In other words, it tastes like liquid licorice- the black kind. I'm not a big fan of it.
And finally, here's the last little Turkish twist, one you might like quite a bit. Instead of some crappy Egyptian cookies, the winner of this contest gets their very own box of Turkish delights! Yes, that's right, that mysterious candy that Edmund from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe can't get enough of! The best part is you don't have to betray your siblings to get them! All you have to do is guess, in Turkish lira, how much did our bottle of raki cost? Closest guess wins. In the event of a tie, the person who guessed first will be the winner. Answer in the comments, and if you don't have an account, you can just enter your name.
Alright, get to it! You know you want those Turkish delights just as much as Edmund...nasty little kid.
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