A historian could talk for weeks about the Turkish city of Mardin, located in the country’s southeastern corner not far from the Tigris River. But in this post, I only want to say a word about one of its more recent inhabitants. Her name is Reyyan, and when we met in 2017, she was three […]
A Calm Evening In A Turbulent City (Diyarbakir, Turkey)
Seen from the moon, Diyarbakir must look small, like every other city on Earth must look small. Located in southeastern Turkey, a little more than 900 miles from Istanbul, the ancient heart of Diyarbakir has a wall around it — a relatively famous wall in fact, as far as city walls go. It stretches 5.8 […]
Before Disembarking, They Gave Me Chicken, Bread, And Cheese
Out the window, on the train traveling from Luxor to Cairo, civilization looked tired. Palm trees were brown with dust, and litter floated in canals. Crosses and crescents rose above neighborhoods of broken, mud-brick walls, and it was impossible not to think of the tension between Christianity and Islam here. Donkeys trod past machines in […]
A Snowman Architect In Istanbul
In the historic Sultanahmet district of Istanbul, in that open space between the Aya Sofia and the Blue Mosque, I have many memories. My first time backpacking — a three-week trip through Turkey and Greece in 1997 — ended here. So did a 14-month trip from Beijing to Istanbul in late 2004. And in between […]
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