Postcards from Egypt: Temple of Amun at Karnak

Greetings from Egypt! Well, not really from Egypt right now, since I'm no longer there, but greetings to you, readers, just the same, as I retell the story of the highlights of my trip through Egypt last fall. Karnak Temple was one of the first stops on our journey, and probably one of my favorites. Though, who am I kidding, I think they were ALL my favorite! So here we go!

Around the time of the emergence of the New Kingdom, circa 1500 BCE, the Karnak Temple was dedicated to the Pharaoh Amun, and was where he and his wife Mut and son Khons would have worshipped.  And though it's hard to tell by the pictures, the site itself is enormous, covering 1x2 miles in area. Construction on the temple took place over 1300 years, sponsored by more than 30 different Pharaohs who gave the temple its 25 chapels, various shrines, and the 134 massive columns of the largest hypostyle hall in the world, one of the worlds greatest architectural acheivements. 

At one point, these sphinxes lined a road covering the two mile distance from Karnak Temple to the Temple at Luxor.  

It's difficult to capture the immensity of this place. Everything is absolutely huge, and even though much of the temple is in ruins, that does not detract from the sheer magnitude of everything which surrounds you. Think about it this way, this temple stood for two millenia as the ancient Egyptian-religious equivalent to the Vatican today. If you've ever been to the Vatican, and you remember how enormous the site is, this is exactly how Karnak makes you feel. 

There are 134 of these columns. They measure about 45 feet in diameter, and stand more than 70 feet high. As it was known that this section of the temple, the hypostyle hall was begun by Seti I, and finished by his son Ramses II.

 I found myself thinking about the movie the Prince of Egypt when I wandered through the columns:

I imagine that Moses might have walked through these them as well, in their full-color glory! Can't you just picture him among the columns and incense here? You can see that some of the color remains, even after all this time. 

This was definitely a great way to start off my trip, and again, Karnak was one of the most impressive parts of it, for its sheer size and historical significance. I was impressed far more by this temple, than by the Pyramids of Giza, which were also fantastic. When planning your trip to Egypt (and you must!), this location is a definite must for your list of things to see. 

Oh the Ups and Downs...

I am acclimatizing more and more to living in Istanbul and I have a routine now and am settling into life here. However I am also still experiencing a few ups and downs.

I finally figured out my washing machine. Don't get me wrong, I am really happy to have one but there are so many settings and words that are not in English that I just couldn't figure out how to run the thing. The washing machines in my building in DC basically had: cold, warm, hot, and on.

Seriously, who needs this many washing choices?

I spent a lot of time running from the washing machine to my laptop so I could Google translate (which so far as proved pretty decent for the Turkish). The first load I washed took over three days to dry and I had to wring gallons of water out of each article.

And what's with all the numbers?

However after yet more Googling I realized that all those numbers were the spin cycle! Subsequent washing has gone much better and things take hardly any time to dry since the 1000 setting there practically dries everything in the machine. Which is a good thing since, in place of a dryer or drying rack, I run a line from some pipe to the shower, wrap it around the shower frame, then run it to the other side of the bathroom to the towel pegs. It's really disruptive to my make up routine to try to apply it all while peering around drying socks and underwear.

Not pretty but it works well

And while I'm all happy about finding the spin cycle the universe says, "No, no you cannot enjoy that triumph," and I fall down. Usually I save my falling down stories for my other blog,but I really just don't like drawing stick figures. It's a lot harder than you'd think. Anyway, I fell down. I was walking from the tram back to my apartment and since the weather was so nice I was wearing a skirt. So when the universe pushed me down I left most of my skin on the sidewalk.

Glad I wasn't wearing tights; they'd been destroyed

It was a pretty good fall too; I went from vertical to sprawled across the sidewalk with all my things spilled around me in a matter of seconds. I guess the good thing about an injury like this was that all I had to do was walk, well limp really, into a pharmacy and point at my leg. No language skills needed.

Apparently this wasn't enough for the universe though. The next day I was limping to a meeting with official US government personnel when it happened again. Luckily, I didn't actually fall this time; I just did that swimming in the air dance you do when you try to not fall. I may not have made it if I'd actually fallen. I was on the busiest pedestrian street in the entire city and may have been trampled. While I saved my skin from further removal, I tore the muscle in my right calf that I had strained a few weeks previous. Unfortunately I still had to limp my way down the entire street to get to my meeting and was completely flummoxed as to how one limps when both legs are injured. I totally took a cab home.

A few days later, a friend from my Turkish class introduced me to a local, independent coffee house, Cherrybean Coffees. Absolutely fantastic. I have never used the word 'luscious' to describe coffee before but it is a well deserved adjective.

Hidden gem!

This is now my Sunday post Mass hangout where I do my homework. I also bought some of the beans and make coffee at home. And sometimes I just take it out of the freezer to smell it. It is THAT good. My only wee little complaint is that people here don't seem to understand how a French Press works and grind the coffee for me in a grain almost fine enough to make Turkish coffee. My mom is totally bringing me a coffee grinder when she visits next month. Little does she know!

And lest I should think I came out on top of the universe, it struck again. I think I have fleas.

Universe - 2
Andrea - 2

Kofte With Garlic Yogurt

Since moving to Istanbul I've had to relearn how to cook. Mostly I make pasta because it's simple, versatile, and doesn't require more than the one pan and one pot that I have. However I do want to learn to cook Turkish food. While in the long run that means getting my rage repaired so all four burners work, buying more pots and pans, and figuring out all the spices, I thought I could at least do something simple with what I had on hand.

I'm always so wrong about these things.

You'd think you could never go wrong with garlic

I can't cook. I'm not sure I ever could? Pretty much anything and everything I have made in the past has been at least 80% done in an oven. I am flummoxed by the range. Although this time I think I can only blame it for a small part of the failure. I was trying to recreate a deceptively simple recipe I had while in Gaziantep and it did not go very well.

This was not such a good idea.

Since I no longer have an oven, a Dutch oven, or a convection oven I was momentarily stumped as to how to do one of my very favorite things-roast garlic. So I turned to that arbiter of all knowledge, Google, where someone had posted that you could "roast" garlic in a microwave.

This didn't work for me. I followed the directions and drizzled a little olive oil on them, wrapped the cloves in paper towel, and nuked 'em for about 30 seconds each side. By the time I'd done all the cloves (doing only 3-4 at a time) and was prepared to chop them all for the yogurt they had all shriveled and hardened. The only good thing that came out of this experiment is that I now know how to make my own garlic powder.

At least I don't have to buy garlic powder now.

My second mistake was the eggplant. I tried to dry roast it on the stove. It actually worked semi well. However I should have peeled it first I think. Scraping the eggplant meat out of the skins was not a pretty process.

The final failure in attempt number one was the meat. I bought ground meat at the grocery, I'm still not sure of it was beef or lamb frankly, and sauteed it with salt, dried red pepper, and my new supply of granulated garlic. When I put the dish together it looked pretty much like what I ate in Gaziantep. It did not, however, taste anything like it was supposed to.

It might look like it's supposed to-it did not taste like it though

Not to be defeated I tried again. This time I thought that, instead of just frying meat I'd also try my hand at making kofte, traditional Turkish meatballs. Wisely planning ahead I put out bread slices the night before so they could dry out. I then crumbled the bejeesus out of them. It worked pretty well until I got tired of smashing hard, crusty bread with my fingers (as a rolling pin is one of the many kitchen tools I now lack).

I also decided to take the garlic yogurt integral to the recipe in another direction. Rather than trying to roast garlic I decided just to use it in its raw and awesome power. So I smashed a bunch of cloves and chopped them all as finely as I could (I also do not have a garlic press anymore). This time I also remembered to add salt. A lot of salt. I don't think the salt here is as salty as it is in the States.

I also decided to save myself the mess of roasting eggplant and just pre peeled and chopped them for a good saute in a little oil. Way much easier.

Of all the tools I don't have I do seem to have a vegetable peeler

And then the kofte. Since the spice stalls all sell "meatball" spice I thought I'd give it try. It didn't work too well. I may not have added enough frankly. Since I have no idea what makes up "meatball spice" I was a leery of using too much so I think I erred on the overly cautious side with not nearly enough.

Obligatory tea back there

In addition to the "meatball spice" I added dried red peppers, salt, chopped garlic, the bread crumbs, and an egg and mushed it all together. I really hate the feeling of raw meat. It's just so gross. And sticky.

I really just needed half an egg...

Kofte are traditionally grilled, I think, but I don't have one of those, or an oven and a broiling pan, so I tried my hand at frying the kofte. Which did not go well. They got a little burned on the outside and I don't think they ever got quite done in the middle. And any part of the meat that wasn't touching the pan got cold. I really have to figure this out.

I need to find a lid to fit the pan

In the end I just got tired of waiting and decided to risk the kofte be they done or not. I'm really not sure at all if they were (I'm thinking not though because there were a little gooey on the inside and meat shouldn't be gooey) but they sure were not well seasoned. At least that's a fairly easy fix if I decide to try these again.

Ahh the victory of partial success!

In the end, the tastelessness of the kofte was saved because I at least got the yogurt part right...so as long as I got some yogurt in every bite it wasn't too bad. I will try my hand at kofte again-but probably not very soon.

The kofte didn't work out at all so I'm not going to bother with that; and I'm not even sure it's worth writing the garlic yogurt recipe since I measured nothing...but here we go.

Recipe:
Garlic Yogurt with Eggplant

• Plain, thick yogurt (maybe Greek?)
• Chopped, crushed, pressed etc garlic. I used about half a head for a cup and a half of yogurt.
• Salt to taste
• One medium sized eggplant, peeled and sauteed

Mix it all together and enjoy! I think next time I'll use at least half again as much garlic in the yogurt. Although likely I'll just stick to pasta for the time being!

Customs is Evil

Since I am in Turkey for work I managed to insist on a shipping allowance. So while I was packing up my apartment in DC I organized everything into 'things my parents get to send me' and 'things my parents get to store'. Lucky them.

Unfortunately my allowance only got six of the eight boxes I wanted shipped to me; but at least those last two I had labeled 'send only if there's enough money'. The six that made it to me were the boxes I really needed: my clothes, shoes, DVDs, hair products, etc. FedEx assured my parents that all was good with the shipment and that they had taken care of all customs details and forms.

Big fat liars.

Last Monday I got a call from FedEx cargo here in Istanbul saying there was a problem with my shipment and I needed to contact their customs office. Over the next two days I called the customer service number and asked to be connected to customs; where no one ever picked up. Then customer service gave me the direct line to customs, which was an invalid number. I finally called customer service US, explained my problem, and asked if they had a directory of numbers for global offices. It didn't help, btw, that three of the six tracking numbers I was given in the original call were incorrect. 

I finally got hold of the FedEx customs office (through no help of FedEx US) and was told I needed to go to their office to sort out the shipment. So on Friday I grabbed a cab and got to the office at 8:45 AM. I did not leave until 4:30 PM.

When I got there they explained that the problem was the hair products, lotions, and makeup I had packed. Apparently these are restricted items and even though some of the things had clearly been used and were definitely not for resale, they were still prohibited. Okay, that's fine. I should have read the customs regulations more closely (although I still blame FedEx US because they have a handbook outlining restricted items in every country to which they ship). Let's toss the stuff and get everything else delivered.

Nope. I had to wait for the customs guy to show up. When he finally did around 11:30 the very helpful FedEx guy, Cihan, explained the situation to him. I was all set to go to the warehouse and dig through my boxes, cry a little as I saw my Curls Rock being trashed (oh the future bad hair days!) and go home.

Still no. Apparently customs guy had to leave abruptly for some important meeting and would be back around 2. Sigh. I was so glad I brought my Kindle. I managed to finish the less than thrilling book club book I'd been slogging my way through.

Around 1:30 Cihan said customs guy was back so we hurried to the freezing warehouse. Where I waited, shivering, for another half an hour. Suddenly there were like six people gathered around my boxes digging through my clothes, underwear, cosmetics, and random other things. I managed to rescue my contacts and, oddly I thought, contact solution but everything else was purged. I was proud of the stoicism I maintained while watching my conditioner and hair product be tossed. It's hard to find that stuff in the US and I have no hope of finding it here. I was a little nervous when they opened up the CD storage books in which were packed all my DVDs. I was prepared to fight for the death for my movies. Taking away my hair product is one thing; leaving me with only Turkish TV to watch is a crime. Thankfully customs guy just grinned at me when he saw the roughly 600 DVDs and put them back in the box.

Sigh of relief and now we're done. But no.

Next I got to go to the main customs office at the airport and fill out some forms. Cihan didn't think anyone there spoke English so he wrote a note for me and told me to just show it to anyone and I'd be directed to the correct person. Happily the first person I gave it to was not only the person I needed, but he also spoke English. He sat me down to wait while his colleague filled out the paperwork for me. Once that was done I had to take it to someone else to get signed, then brought it back to the original guy. They did some more signing and stamping, took the original copy and gave me two copies and sent me back to the manager to get yet more stamps and signatures.

I then rushed back to FedEx hoping to take care of everything in that one day. While the customs forms were done I still had to pay FedEx a surprise ransom for "storing" my boxes. The fee was about $250...and of course they didn't take credit cards.

Monday morning I got yet another cab to go back to FedEx with all the necessary cash to ransom everything. Cihan took me back to the payment office where three different people shuffled through my paperwork for like 15 minutes. They gave me the new ransom price (about $280) and I was just handing it over when the office boss noticed a mistake on the customs paperwork...the paperwork the head customs office filled out for me.

I thought I was going to scream when they said I'd have to wait for the customs guy again. Thankfully I once again had remembered to bring my Kindle.

An hour or so later Cihan, I think at his manager's prompting, said that he'd just take me to the customs office rather than waiting for the guy. Once we fought through the ridiculous Istanbul traffic and got to the airport we were in and out of the office in under five minutes. As soon as we got back to FedEx we went to the payment office where I expected them to note the correction on the paperwork and take my money so I could leave.

Oh poor naive me.

I think we were in the payment office for another 30-45 minutes while several more people shuffled through the paperwork, signed and stamped it all some more, and then created five separate invoices (which also had to be signed and stamped by several people). I made the payment and then Cihan, after making copies of everything, took me to another office where yet someone else signed and stamped all the originals and copies. Then we went back to the warehouse where I stood around in the cold for no reason I could figure, then it was back to the main office; where I sat some more while Cihan ran around.

Finally at, what was surprisingly only about 11:30, Cihan handed me the papers that I got to keep and told me that everything would be delivered that day. Which it was at about 5 PM.

Lessons learned:

• Thoroughly read all customs regulations to wherever you might be shipping something. 
• Do not assume that your shipment carrier will know anything; even if they have all the information available to them.
• Live in the same three shirts and pack everything that might be prohibited in your suitcase.
• I am sooo glad I left my alcohol collection with my parents.
• Screw it and buy everything new when you get to your destination.

I'm just so glad that this over now and I finally got all the things that survived the customs purge. I'm still bummed about all my future bad hair days but have decided that the fee for staying with me will be to bring me Curls Rock-so as long as I can make what I have last until my first visitor comes I should be okay. I'd also like to thank Cihan and the staff of FedEx cargo in Istanbul for making the process less horrible for me.

Also-before I leave Turkey I'm just going to burn anything that doesn't fit in my suitcases.

Learning the Ropes in Istanbul

Since Lauren just moved back to DC from Baghdad it seemed a good time for me to abandon DC for a change of my own. So, as of two weeks ago I am a resident in Turkey! Well technically right now I'm a visitor because I don't have my resident permit yet but hoping the application for that will go smoothly and I don't get kicked out after 90 days. That would be pretty inconvenient in light of my new lease and all.

Only two weeks and already it's so completely different from my move to Taipei. That was supposed to be for four months and ended up being a year and I easily found an apartment on the school bulletin board. And it came, not only furnished, but with everything an apartment needs, like dishes and cutlery. Thankfully my apartment hunt here was not nearly as painful as I feared, in fact it was easier than finding a place in DC. The difficult is trying to figure out how to live in it!

My place came fully furnished and I'm even borrowing (with permission no less!) WiFi from a neighbor. But it didn't have any kitchen or bathroom things. I got dishes, silverware, good knives, and one pot and one pan...but still need to find things like a cutting board and kitchen utensils. And while my apartment in Taipei may have already had those...at least here I just put my trash out in the hall and someone gets it. I don't have to chase the garbage and recylcing trucks down the street and toss in the bags as they drive by (totally true story-also why I can't listen to Fur Elise anymore).

Kitchen. No oven = me sad

Dining/living room

Guest bedroom

Half bath

Hallway leading to my room

Full bath-with washing machine!

My room

Not really imaginatively decorated but I'm hoping to rectify that soon. And speaking of imaginative...that's what my cooking attempts are going to be like for a while! One pot, one pan, no cooking utensils, and random ingredients purchased from the nearby market... I can't seem to find the salt in the market. I found random other spices but salt, flour, and sugar continue to elude me. I suspect they may be bulk items and will use Google Translate to find out what those words are and hopefully, by repeating them several times to people in the store, will figure out where they are.

However, one of my few Turkish words is the one for 'cheese' (peynir) and where there's halloumi, all is well!

My first attempts are making dinner with a two burner stove I have to start with a lighter and hope my hand isn't engulfed in flames in the process was simple-because I'm not capable of more than that right now. Pesto and sauteed mushroom pasta.

And I'm glad I cooked way more pasta than necessary because one of those little items I don't have yet is a drainer so I'm afraid I lost half the pasta to the sink while trying to pour off the water. I hate scooping noodles out of the sink. They feel so icky.

However a few bumps and bruises later I managed. Mushrooms sauteed with butter, fresh garlic, and pesto sauce over the noodles that didn't fall in the sink. I'm not sure if it tasted so good because it was good (other than being a little flat because of  salt issue I'm having) or if it was just the triumph.

Speaking of food in the market though. One thing that I don't think I will ever get used to, is milk that's not refrigerated pre opening. How is that possible?

And while the water in Turkey won't kill you, it doesn't taste especially good. Kind of like DC water to the 10th power. Which arguably may actually kill you. 10 liters of water is really freaking heavy, doesn't fit in the fridge, and is a little difficult to pour.

My kingdom for a Brita

And while I am happy to discover that I will not have to do without my fourth favorite food (cereal), I was a little bummed to see that all I could really get at this market was Special K and the European version of Cocoa Puffs. I don't really like Cocoa Puffs, never have. I'm a Cocoa Krispies girl. But this seems to be one of the most internationally available cereals. Better than nothing I suppose.

Also apparently here you're not obligated to leave a place in good condition when you leave. Good to know. My point though is that you do not want to see the inside of my microwave. I'm wondering how long it'll take me to clean it. In fact, I'll probably warm up my pasta dinner in the frying pan tonight.