After a few very angry and agitated days, I am alone and relaxed. Turkey has entered a 9-day official break. An ultimate statement of a lazy society. The occasion is Ramadan Bairam or Şeker (sugar) bayramı. Naming the bayram is an ideological act- oh i begin to be agitated again. For a person like me who fasted all Ramadan, all of the month, it feels like a Ramadan bayram. But sensibilities play a role. Our secularist citizens would prefer the latter. Attempting to ignore the religious connotations. Understandable at that level and I don’t care really. Nobody can ignore the other at this stage.
But whatever the case, Erkan has a plan. This is a 10 day writing camp for me. In the end, on the evening of October 6, I intend to submit the very first full draft of my dissertation! I now postpone all other anxieties, tasks, duties until Oct 6. I intend to forget huge credit card debts, failed relations, annoying people around me.
Last week was the first day in the classes.
I have met with my new first year students. We will be together all year. My first impression is positive. It wasn’t so last year. Among 18 students there is not a single Beşiktaş fan or Heavy Metal listener. This is not good but i can survive with that.
Because a huge break was about to start my Friday afternoon course was not very eventful. Half of the class did not show up and thus missed the beginning of my lecture on Enlightenment. I intend to lecture on Enlightenment for three more weeks though.
Just an hour later I passed through there:
Strong winds topple Istanbul minaret, 1 killed – International Herald Tribune
"We won’t be Bush’s dog"
Turkish court acquits British artist over portraying PM as US poodle
A Turkish court acquitted Michael Dickinson of criminal charges despite citing "some insulting elements" in his depiction of Erdogan as a dog attached to a
Radikal offers here a gallery of anti-Erdoğan cartoons.
PM Erdoğan is frequently subject to pejorative cartoons. Still, his attempts to stop them was one of the biggest mistakes he made, I believe….
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ne yani artik bayram da mi diyemiyoruz, bayrama? iyi valla.
sen basladin madem calismaya, ben de baslayayim o zaman. ben de bu 10 gun icinde o zaman 5.chapteri bitireyim. nasil olacaksa….
nasıl böyle bir sonuc cikardin yavru? biz hersey diyebiliriz, ama her yil tekrarlanan seyden bahsettim. hadi yaz. ben ilk gun sictim, yarin daha guzel olacak:)