Happy May Day!

I was in the middle of a post about the Aya Yorgi festival (by which I mean I uploaded pictures and was too lazy to actually write anything) and decided to switch gears. May Day, which in many countries is a celebration of workers, spring, good thing etc and so forth...is a little different here in Turkey.

In Istanbul it means that, at 11 AM, people a few neighborhoods over are being evacuated due to the extreme tear gas already infecting their neighborhood. It means that shops are closed, streets are empty, people are finding other places to park their cars so they don't get damaged, several modes of public transportation have been closed, and there are roughly 40,000 police officers deployed in strategic Istanbul neighborhoods.

So I'm not going out today. Which is a real pity because for the first time in over a week there's sun. And it's warm. So since the city is going nuts I'm going to stay in today, stream How I Met Your Mother and Orphan Black on Amazon, and post pictures of pretty flowers.

Which is an appropriate thing to do in Istanbul. Pretty much the entire month of April is dedicated to Istanbul's tulip, or lale, festival. There are accounts of tulips being cultivated in Turkey as early as 1000 AD but it was in the 1500s during the Ottoman Empire when tulip mania exploded.

Gulhane Park

Most people hear "tulip" and think the Netherlands. Or if you're from West Michigan like I am, you think Holland, MI. Home of its own windmills, wooden shoes, tulip festivals, lots of people whose last name begins with 'Van', and a phenomenon known as "West Michigan Dutch".

Gulhane Park

What most people don't know is that The Netherlands didn't get tulips until later, not until the 17th century. While both countries rivaled for a time to lead the tulip craze (and for a bit Turkey was on top) the impact of the flower has had far-reaching effects beyond commerce, particularly in art. In Turkey, the tulip (followed by the carnation) is the most common floral motif found on ceramics, mosaics, materials, jewelry, and so on.

Reproduction of an in museum Iznik vase

And while The Netherlands may hold the crown for tulipy things, I kinda have to wonder about a society in which a single flower bulb set you back more than 10 times your annual salary. And people paid that. 

Also that vase I bought, 240TL sticker price. I got it for 100TL. I'm not Barney Stinson awesome but it's close.

Greetings From Serbia - Kosovo Declares

At about 3:00 this afternoon Kosovo declared its independence and sovereignty. The United States and the EU are expected to recognize their move on Monday.





Not surprisingly, shortly after Kosovo’s declaration, Serbian prime minister Kostunica broke into most TV stations declaring Kosovo’s declaration null and void.

"Kosovo's unilateral declaration of a false state is the final act of a policy that started with the NATO aggression against Serbia in 1999," the prime minister said.

"Never has the truth about why Serbia was savagely destroyed by NATO bombs been more clear," he continued, and added that "NATO's military interests lie behind the proclamation of this false state."

"The United States have also humiliated the European Union, and forced it to trample on the principles it is built upon," Koštunica added, and warned that Europe, "which has lowered its head", will be responsible "for all the serious consequences that Kosovo's independence carries with it." (from B92)

This evening on my way to dinner I came across a large group of men with Serbian flags, marching en masse towards what I presume to be the Slovenian embassy where yesterday’s protest was held. I do not think I have ever eaten dinner so quickly as the constant wail of police sirens and a text message warning me to stay off the streets made me nervous enough to not enjoy my tagliatelle al quattro fromaggio.

On my way back I pass by one of the main squares which was fringed with police to hold back the protesters. Elsewhere in the city were protests in front of the American embassy during which two policemen and several protesters were injured and McDonalds and several cafes got a bit banged up.


(courtesy B92)


(courtesy B92)


(courtesy B92)

The story right now in Kosovo is much different.


(courtesy The Washington Post)


(courtesy The Washington Post)


(courtesy The Washington Post)

Tomorrow I am confining myself to my hotel. Maybe it’s not entirely necessary but better safe than sorry.

Greetings From Serbia - Protest

Ahh Saturday. I give myself one day a week off here and this week it was today. I slept in, watched the Beast Master (TV show not movie) on B92 and did not leave my room until about 12:30. I bundled up against the cold and bitterly sharp winds, grabbed my camera, and headed off for one of my favorite parts of the Old City, Kalemegdan.

On my way to the fortress I passed a small van blaring Serbian folk music and a small gathering of people with flags and realized that this must be the protest I'd been reading about. Interestingly enough, to me at least, the protest was taking place in from of the Slovenian embassy. I am not at all certain what the Slovenains have done to piss off the Serbs. I mean, I understood the big protest last spring in front of the American embassy, but Slovenia? By the time I'd have enough of being buffeted this way and that as I meanered around the fortress the small group of men had grown and there were multiple flags waving, banners, and more and more people on there way. I snapped a few pictures but beat it out of there pretty quickly.





I think my friends' paranoia is catching and combine that with the skitishness I developed after my last protest experience I beat it out of there pretty quickly. Sunday is already being called Independence Day for Kosovo and my friends have advised me to stay indoors as much as possible tomorrow and while outside, to pretend that I am Russian. This is definitely an interesting time to be in Serbia and while I know what could happen tomorrow from minor protests to full-blown riots, if my Serbian were at all better than 'cheese omlette' and 'strawberry jogurt frappe' I would be out there with them. If Kosovo actually declares tomorrow and is recognized by the international community then it will be a day for the history books. Granted it would be a paragraph in American history books if it even makes it in since history at Coopersville grades 1 through 12 ended with the Allied victory in World War II, it will nonetheless be a day. Kosovo has been trying to gain independence from Serbia since even before the breakup of Yugoslavia and the war in the 90s. The general international community including the United States and the EU are for it while Russia remains Serbia's last voice of protest. Of course Russian only protests because independence for Kosovo could likely mean independence for all the Russian satellite nations who have been trying to free themselves from Russian control.

Like any city there is grafitti everywhere here but what I find really fascinating is all the political grafitti:


This for example says: Never EU


This would be the Hammer and Sicle of the former Soviet Union, spray painted, no doubt, by somone nostalgic for the old days who is too young to remember them if he was even alive for them.


Appropriate for this weekend, this one says: We will never give up Kosovo


The top line of this one is common slogan in Serbia and is actually part of the flag. Loosly translates to something like 'Only unity will save the Serb' I guess can also mean somehting about a Serb killing another Serb with an axe (don't ask). The bottom says 'Slobodan (Milosevic) or Death.' Also no doubt written by one of those nostalgic people.

I'm glad I caught the protest as early as I did since later in the afternoon I recieved a text message warning me to stay away as the gathering had swelled so dramatically that polica vans were being sent in for crowd control. Yeesh.

And It's Back to Serbia!

Just a heads up to everyone that I'm off to Serbia again next week so look for continuing adventures of 'Greetings from Serbia.'



It'll be full of me trying to have a meatless Lent in a country which diet is meat filled with meat wrapped in meat (seriously), lots of Absinthe cocktails, and me waiting (and meanly hoping) that Kosovo will unilaterally declare independence and sovereignty thus plunging Serbia into turmoil and maybe I could catch another protest in front of the American Embassy.