Tag: Manisa

Extraordinary Vagobond – Tarzan of Manisa

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One of the things I never expected to find out was that Tarzan was real…and that he was an Iraqi who lived in the Turkish town of Manisa.

One of the things that made me decide this was a great place to live was that when I got here, I looked around and everywhere I saw Tarzan.

I grew up reading the Edgar Rice Burroughs books of my grandfather and most of them were Tarzan (though a few were about John Carter on Mars). As such, I have a lifelong connection with the fictional Lord of the Apes.

Seriously, the last thing I expected to find in Turkey were statues, restaurants, stores, and memorials to Tarzan! But to my surprise, they are here in plenty.

The Manisa Football Club celebrates their goals with the Tarzan cry. Seriously, the Johnny Weismuller jungle scream can be heard from my apartment when they make a goal.

So, what the fuck is Tarzan doing in Manisa? I did a little bit of research to find out why there are so many Tarzan businesses and why the statues of Tarzan all look like some bearded hippie.


Tarzan of Manisa was actually named Ahmeddin Carlak. He was born in Samarra, Iraq in 1899 and he fought in the Turkish War of Independence and then moved to Manisa during the Republic period.

He was a different kind of guy and saw planting and growing plants as something holy. He became the assistant gardener for Manisa and spent his life keeping the city green.

Whether from shell shock or holy devotion, he never wore anything but rubber slippers and black shorts just like some Hawaiian surfer.In fact, the old pictures of Tarzan remind of Duke Kahanamoku.

I’m told that winters in Manisa are damn cold but that he never wore more than shorts and rubbah slippahs. Every day at noon he would fire the Manisa municipal cannon.

He took it as his duty to offer flowers to any young woman visiting Manisa and it is said that he wandered the beautiful Sypil Mountain and lived in a tent there. He would spend his salary on candy to give to children and then give the rest to the poor of Manisa. He was treated as a prince of the city and would attend cinema for free since he never had any money as a result of giving all his salary to the poor.

He was the first environmentalist in Turkey and was a key figure in the reforestation of Sypil and the Manisa National Forest. Some people say that Manisa National Forest was made the first national park because of the efforts of Tarzan.

He died May 31, 1963 and since then the city has erected numerous monuments, statues, and kebap shops in his honor.

Sadly, the statue in Fatih park, seems to have had it’s arm broken off by vandals. I hope that it will be repaired soon.

Sypil Magnesia aka Tantalus – The Magic Mountain of Manisa

Posted on by vago

We moved here and both had  this strange sense of being drawn to the mountain. At night I look at the gorgeous shadow of it and I have this sense of power pulsing in it. Those of you who have read a bit of my published work, may be familiar with my idea that God (aka Allah, Creator, IS) is actually the strong forces of the universe: Magnetism, Electricity, Gravity, and Strong (atomic) Force. To me, this idea fits well with the idea that God holds the universe together, is everywhere (omnipresent), knows everything (omniscent), and has all the power in the universe (Omnipotent).

Throne of Pelops
All of this fits well within just about every major religion and I find that particularly, Quran and the words of Christ take on new meanings when you read them with this insight. In fact, I think that this is the missing key which obviously could not be explained to B.C. shepherds or 7th century nomads in scientific terms. The fact is, we know that these forces exist, we sort of know what they do, but we really don’t know why they exist or how they came to be. Just like God.

So, what does this have to do with the magic mountain of Manisa? Well, in fact, the ancient name of Manisa was Magnesia, the name comes from the magnets which come from Sypil mountain, also known in ancient times as Tantalus. The entire mountain is, in fact, one huge magnet. Stories of magnetic gold being found here, and stories of the Olympian Gods struggling with humans also come from this amazing mountain.


Cities here date back as far as 5000 BC and some researchers have postulated that it was a highly advanced city on Sypil that was swallowed into a great lake during a large earthquake. The great lake no longer exists, except as a minor body of water, but geologic evidence shows that there was one, it did exist, and there is some evidence to show that this was actually the site of a civilization of which we know very little. What was the name of this city?

Atlantis. And of course, with stories growing and changing it is more than likely that from a relatively advanced civilization being destroyed in a large lake that the story could grow to a continent sinking into a sea. Not unlikely at all.

Atlantis in Turkey

Tantalus was named after the first King of this region. Tantalus, the son of Zeus. Keep in mind that Homer came from the nearby city of Izmir and he is the first one to write of ‘magnets’ in historical records.

It should also be mentioned that many of the sages of ancient Ionia said that the word magnet actually meant spirit. And the name Sipylos comes from greek and means ‘Gate of the Gods’.

Tantulaus in Manisa

All of this, leads me to wonder if I was drawn here like some piece of iron drawn to a magnet. I’ve found myself in this life living in many ‘power spots’ on the globe and certainly the circumstances which brought me to Manisa are not exactly run of the mill.

Gate to the Gods - manisa, turkey

While I haven’t had the chance yet to climb up the magic mountain of Manisa, I know that once Hanane gets here, we will begin to do some exploration of it. For now, I wonder if I am living closer to God than I ever have before.

Places I’ve Lived #20 – Manisa, Turkey

Posted on by Vagobond

Throne of PelopsWe went to Manisa on our honeymoon and since I’d blogged my way out of a pretty good job in Fez, I turned it into a job interview with a school there. I’d been emailing the director and he had said to come anytime and he would show us around. So we did.

The bus ride there from Istanbul was long and beautiful. We passed mountains and streams and finally came to a city with a large mountain behind it. It felt good to me. I called the director and he gave us directions.

We got to the school and met with the director. Manisa is primarily a business city and so it doesn’t have all the cheap or luxurious options for travelers that other cities in Turkey have. Otel Emirhan was fine and offered us a/c, television, breakfast, wi-fi, hot water showers, and a decent bed in a clean room. Once we had settled in a bit, we went to a great little cafe where we met with a second director from a different school.

I  had the interviews, but we both ended up getting jobs at the school with the second director! We moved to Manisa, Turkey!

There were plenty of shops, movie theaters (that even sometimes have films in English), big green parks, a beautiful old mosque, and a lively souk filled with fresh fruits and vegetables, cheese, and more. Manisa is also home to the famous “Tarzan of Manisa”

It’s  in the mountains, has plenty of hiking nearby, wild horses, it’s a 30-minute bus ride from the beach city of Izmir, and in ancient times Manisa was where Turkish Sultan’s used to undergo their Sultan Training. Furthermore, Manisa was named one of the best cities to do business in for all of Europe. So,it all seemed pretty great to us.

We went back to Morocco for two weeks and then I returned to Manisa. I was there for almost two months before my wife came to join me. The school was good. I loved my students and I got along well with all the other teachers and the directors. They helped me get a residence permit, a bank account, and to get all the things I needed. When my wife arrived, things got more complicated. Since she was Moroccan, it was more difficult to get her a residence permit. She felt like the school was cheating her. Our relationship with the directors and some of the other teachers took an adversarial turn.

She had to make a visa run to renew her visa so I booked her a flight to Morocco. Then we found out she was pregnant. She wanted to take two weeks to a month back in Morocco but was needed in classes. I was suddenly feeling like papa bear and things turned ugly when they wouldn’t agree to let her have the time off. I felt like it was important – it was Christmas and she was pregnant – she needed to be with her mom. They threatened to fire her. I gave them an ultimatum that if she couldn’t have the time off, they would have to fire me too. So they did.

She flew home and I started looking for a new job and a new place to live since I’d been renting our apartment from the school. I loved Manisa but figured I would have more luck and a better life in nearby Izmir.

Manisa, Turkey – Ancient Tantalus and Magnesia

The ancient name of Manisa was Magnesia, the name comes from the magnets which come from Sypil mountain, also known in ancient times as Tantalus. The entire mountain is, in fact, one huge magnet. Stories of magnetic gold being found here, and stories of the Olympian Gods struggling with humans also come from this amazing mountain.

Cities here date back as far as 5000 BC and some researchers have postulated that it was a highly advanced city on Sypil that was swallowed into a great lake during a large earthquake. The great lake no longer exists, except as a minor body of water, but geologic evidence shows that there was one, it did exist, and there is some evidence to show that this was actually the site of a civilization of which we know very little. What was the name of this city?
Atlantis. And of course, with stories growing and changing it is more than likely that from a relatively advanced civilization being destroyed in a large lake that the story could grow to a continent sinking into a sea. Not unlikely at all.

Atlantis in Turkey
Tantalus was named after the first King of this region. Tantalus, the son of Zeus. Keep in mind that Homer came from the nearby city of Izmir and he is the first one to write of ‘magnets’ in historical records.
It should also be mentioned that many of the sages of ancient Ionia said that the word magnet actually meant spirit. And the name Sipylos comes from greek and means ‘Gate of the Gods’.

Tantulaus in Manisa
 

Niobe: Manisa’s Lady of Sorrow

Posted on by vago

Near the foot of Sypil Mountin in Manisa, Turkey sits a stone ediface that has been written about for ages and which has inspired some of the world’s greatest art and music.

Just a short walk from the Manisa city center in the Karakoy part of the city is the natural stone monument variously known as Niobe Rock or The Crying Rock. This simple outcropping has inspired literature, music, and painting through the ages. For those interested in historical tourism, Ancient Greek tourism, or cultural tourism – the Niobe rock is something that should be seen, touched, and meditated upon.

The rock itself resembles the head of a wavy haired crying woman complete with eye sockets which have been carved by the natural processes of erosion.

First written about by Homer, the story of this tragic lady has it’s roots in the ancient Greek Mythology of the region. Niobe, the daughter of the great king, Tantolos (Tantalus) was a proud woman who had seven beautiful sons and seven beautiful daughters. In a moment of ill conceived conceit, she bragged of her fortune to the goddess mother of Artemis and Apollo, Leto (Not to be confused with Judge Lance Ito).

Soon after, in a terror of motherly rage, Apollo and Artemis were dispatched to kill all the children of Niobe with poisoned arrows. They succeeded in their task and Niobe was destroyed with sorrow and remorse, she sat on the slopes of Sypil Moutain surrounded by the corpses of her children and cried until the Gods took mercy and turned her to stone. The water which still seeps from her eyes is the tears she still sheds.

Pausanius wrote “I saw the rock known as Niobe when I went to Sipylos Mountain. This rock resembles neither woman nor rock when looked at from near, but when it is looked at from far, a person dreams that it is a crying woman with bended head.”

Homer wrote in the Iliad “Today on Sipylos Rockies over desolate summits, along with the banks of the Akheloos River where there are beds of elves. Just there Niobe has become a stone on the orders of the Gods and she digests her sorrows still, deep in her heart.”

Sophocles wrote of her, Shakespeare mentions her in Hamlet’s Soliloquy “like Niobe, all tears” and she was the inspiration for renaissance painters, classical composers, and even today continues to inspire and bring forth music and art which is tinged with sadness.

Sunday Hiking in Bozdag, Turkey

Posted on by vago

I feel very fortunate to have found and joined the Manisa Tennis and Mountain Club. This club meets every Sunday for adventures in Manisa. Many of the members are mountaineers and this Sunday I joined them for my first mountaineering adventure in Manisa!
Every day I’m in Turkey, I find that this country and these people suit me more and more. Turkey is an incredibly beautiful country and the people are warm, friendly, and have a hearty zest for life that really suits my nature.
hiking in Manisa
Of course, part of what led me to living in Manisa was that the city’s mascot is ‘Tarzan’ and finding the Manisa Mountain and Tennis Club was a great thing for me. This Sunday, since Hanane felt a little under the weather, I went to join them for a hike, not really knowing what to expect. I wasn’t too prepared for a big adventure, just a pack with water and a few pieces of fruit. I thought it would be a hike of a few hours on nearby Sypil, boy was I wrong!
hiking in Turkey
They had a bus waiting and we drove about two hours to the mountain town of Bozdag. On the way we passed the ruins of Sardis which is where money was first invented, one could say that it is the place where the root of all evil emerged into the world, but the ruins looked quite serene from the bus. Our first stop was a little mountain bazaar where we had tea and breakfast. In addition to the resident mountaineer, Fuat, two other members spoke great English and befriended me. When I went to pay for my breakfast (tea and a sort of burrito made of spinach and cheese) I found that the president of the club had already paid for mine! It was just the first of many acts of generosity and kindness I experienced through the day.
mountain town Turkey
After this we went to Bozdag where we split into two groups, those who wanted to explore the town and those who wanted to climb to the 2600 meter summit. I joined the climbers.
Turkey hikes
There were about ten of us climbing and perhaps 20 who stayed to enjoy the town. The hike was a beautiful 15 km stroll with a little bit of scrambling, but no technical climbing. On the way we found wild apricots, juniper, and plenty of chestnuts scattered on the ground.
At the top, I was surprised to find that we had climbed to the peak of a ski mountain from the back side. The chair lift wasn’t running though, so we had to hike back down which was, of course, not a problem for any of us.
lunch on Bozgar
At the summit the other climbers shared a delicious meal of bread, cheese, cookies, tea, fruit, dolmoths, and other Turkish goodies with me. One new friend told me that in Turkey the rule is that if you see food, you eat and if you get punched, then you run! I really love the way Turkish people share food. If you are going to eat, you share what you have. My orange and pear didn’t go very far, but were appreciated none the less.
I love hiking in Turkey
Along the way we met other hikers and there was always a true sense of warmth and as we hiked, it made me feel good to hear the hearty laughter of my companions. I’ve been starting to think that Turkey is perhaps the most civilized nation on the planet. The hospitality and caring people show for one another is reflected well in the sharing of tea and the good natured companionship one finds here.
Old man in Bozgar
After the hike we sat and enjoyed tea before climbing back on the bus and coming back to Manisa. It was a wonderful Sunday and I’m so happy to be back among people who love the outdoors and appreciate nature and culture for the wonders they are.

Ancient Travelers – Footprints from 25,000 BC

Posted on by vago

Travelers have been coming to Manisa, Turkey for a long time. Ancient Greek, Roman, and Lydian travelers voyaged through the area and in some cases set up homes.

The oldest evidence of such ancient vagabonds are the fossilized footprints from 28,000 years ago from the nearby Sindel village. The footprints were preserved by ancient volcanic tuff which filled the original tracks with basalt cinder and thus preserved them until the present day. One can only wonder about the person who made the tracks, no doubt as they high tailed it to someplace further from the volcano!
ancient traveler footprints
The later civilizations which inhabited the area included the Yortan-Bostanci culture, the Hittites, and the Yortan culture- each of which exhibited a degree of nomadic traits while having semi-permanent sedentary villages. While the traces of the ancient vagabond footprints (they’ve discovered about 50 of them!) don’t reveal much, there has been a lot of significant finds about the other culture with Bostanci burials, vessel tombs of the Yortans, and a magnificent Idol workshop which dates to the neolithic age.

The ancient Niobe statue which I discussed last week and the stone statues in the mountains which I will discuss in upcoming Manisa Monday features are undetermined in age or influence, though since Niobe is a natural feature, we are more concerned with the stories about her.

What is it about the geography, geology, and natural life around Manisa that has drawn so many for so long? In part, it is the interruption of the sea by the mountains, the Mediterranean climate, and the fertile soil which supports wild pears, junipers, and many varieties of apples, cherries, and vegetables.

Snow Hiking in Turkey – Izmir – Bornova – Manisa

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Bornova Snow Hike

Our time in Turkey was some of the best that we had anywhere. We will always look fondly back on adventures like this one.

Adventures in foreign countries can be complex or they can be simple. One of the reasons I loved living in Manisa was because of the Manisa Tennis and Hiking Club. They made hiking adventures simple.

I met up with the club at the usual location in Tarzan square on a Sunday morning. As usual, everyone there was healthy, happy, and ready to get hiking and eating. Part of the fun of this club (and probably all Turkish clubs) is how much emphasis is put on the food. The packs were loaded and this wasn’t just going to be a normal outing in the snow. This was going to be a good old fashioned snow hike/sausage roast over an open fire in the mountains.

The club had arranged a bus to take us to the highest point in the mountains between Izmir and Manisa. It was going to take us higher but since there was quite a bit of snow and ice, the road was closed down. The driver let us out at the bottom and we began carefully working our way up the mountain road. More than one hiker slipped and fell but no one was seriously hurt.

Bornova Snow Hike Along the way we stopped to drink tea and have breakfast. The location was pretty but not very good for those of us who hadn’t brought something to sit on! It was a cool ass place! Ha ha.

Further on we came to a small village where the snow had trapped the inhabitants in. They didn’t seem to mind a bit. One problem did seem to be sewage leaking from somewhere though as the smell of urine was incredibly strong throughout the village. I’m not sure why, but I watched where I stepped.

We hiked up into the hills further through virgin snow and past woolly cattle who didn’t seem to mind the snow drifting in the least. They ran in a small herd. I don’t know why, but there aren’t all that many cows in Turkey which makes beef incredibly expensive. In fact, all meat is expensive in Turkey in comparison with North Africa or North America or Europe. I haven’t really figured out why.

Bornova Snow Hike Finally reaching what seemed to be a peak of sorts, we started to gather wood for our weenie roast. Once again, the choice of spots wasn’t the greatest for those of us without pads to sit on, but since my Turkish is minimal I went with it, even though a more comfortable spot was not very far away with places for people to sit.

After a few misguided efforts to start a fire with large or wet wood, finally wiser heads prevailed and we managed to do things the proper way with small dry tinder, small dry twigs, and plenty of room for the fire to breathe. After that, it was sausage time.

Turks love sausages. Obviously not pork, mostly sheep or some of the more expensive ones are cow meat. We roasted, we ate, we drank tea, and then we covered up the fire with snow and set off back down the mountain.

Down the hill, through the village, down the road, and with only one injury that caused some tears, we made it back to the waiting van. On the way we passed plenty of Turks who had come up from either Manisa or Izmir playing in the snow. Snowmen, plenty of picnicking, and as I smiled at two senior citizen couples enjoying the snow, one old man nailed me with a snowball! I wasn’t the only one laughing. His wife looked scared at first that I would be mad, but how could I be!

Bornova Snow Hike

What am I doing here? Manisa #2

Posted on by vago

The life of a solo traveler can be great, but I have to admit I’m very happy that my wife has arrived. Suddenly this house doesn’t feel empty and today, Sunday, we set out for a nice walk through our new hometown of Manisa, Turkey.
After a late morning and some pancakes for breakfast, we set out walking just to see a little bit of Manisa together. Of course, I’ve already had plenty of long walks in Manisa, so I took us in the general direction of some things I wanted her to see and to see for myself.
We strolled through Fatih park, past the statue of Tarzan of Manisa (still with a broken arm) and then up past the mosques where I told her about Mesir, the spicy candy for which Manisa is quite famous.
The museum of Manisa is still closed for renovations, so we couldn’t go in, but we did get a peek in the courtyard and saw quite an astounding number of Roman, Greek, and Lydian sculptures.
Kids playing in Sypil Mountain From there we strolled towards the signs that point the direction to Sypil Mountain Park and Niobe (which I will talk about tomorrow for Manisa Monday). Manisa is really an amazing place. It has one of the only protected forest parks in all of Turkey, there are hot springs in the mountains, it has a huge number of historical buildings, ruins, and structures, and it is clean, beautiful, and safe. On top of that it has a thriving Industrial Free Trade Zone, plenty of agriculture, and friendly warm people. So, with all of that, why isn’t Manisa a tourist draw?
Simple. Manisa sits surrounded by the cities of the Aegean Coast, the ruins of Sardis and Ephesus are close enough to draw historical tourists, and the city of Izmir is a metropolis seaside playground. If Manisa were not surrounded by so much, it would be one of the top places in Turkey.
View of Manisa Of course, the way things stand, I like this kind of city. It’s why I prefer Bellingham to Seattle, Kailua to Honolulu, and Sefrou to Fes. Everything you could want and the shitty tourists get drawn into the surrounding vortex zones.
Anyway, we took a small hike up into the mountains and were astounded by the quick change in environment from urban to wilderness. A herd of goats sat on a steep mountainside, they were too far away to tell if they were wild or domestic.
Manisa is beautiful.
From the mountain we strolled along the high road taking in the view and seeing the more traditional way of life when one gets outside of the city center. Sadly, what you would expect was true, the poorer areas had more garbage which probably translates to less government services like garbage pick up. Still, people looked generally happy and healthy. Manisa Turkey is Fun
We saw three little guys riding a tiny tricycle down a steep hill and about twenty older guys taking turns riding a mule two at a time. We found a couple of cafes which offered stunning views of the city and then hiked back down through the city center to my favorite restaurant (so far) Konya Mutfagi. I had the pide (Turkish pizza) and Hanane had the chicken wings. Lucky for me, she liked the food too, so we can keep eating there. For both of us the total was 20 lira which included pide, salad, chicken wings, two sodas, two waters, and tea. That translates to about $13 which is a pretty great price for such a delicious meal.
From there, it was time to go home. The house, as I said before, actually feels like a home now that Hanane is here and despite the fact that I thought it was pretty clean, she insisted on cleaning it again and I can see the difference easily.
Hiking in Manisa
Yeah, it’s nice to have her here. To hear the television, to have the Arabic conversations with her family going on in the living room (via Skype) and to be able to play and explore together.
Tomorrow, I will tell about Manisa’s patron saint of remorse. Niobe.

Sunday in … cyberspace!

Posted on by vago

Does anyone actually use the term cyberspace any more? Or just us old geeks?
I admit it. I’m definitely a geek. All this travel stuff led from being a teenager in the 1980’s and expecting the nuclear warheads to drop on us at any moment. My mom’s 1960’s flashbacks and back to nature hippie ethics didn’t help. In 6th grade I got my first computer, a Commodore 64 with a tape drive and then in 7th grade I stopped reading dog stories when some kid told me I should read Riverworld which led to Tolkien, Heinlein, and every other geek genre I could get my hands on. Maybe some people mistook me for a ‘cool’ kid, but I knew that at night I would stay up until 3 a.m. reading space operas and end of the world apocalyptic stories. Yes, I’ve been hoping that civilization would crash since I was 13. Never mind all the fantasies that go with it.
geeks and the end of the world
Anyway, those fantasies led to me becoming a pretty damn good ‘man meets wild’ kind of survivalist. I can do just about anything with anything. The problem was though that the world just keeps keeping on, so I started testing myself in other ways, by say, becoming homeless and living in the northwest by choice. That led to doing some ‘rough travel’ overseas and of course, I kept playing with computers all along the way. Then I got interested in why civilization was such a bummer which led to an interesting but fairly worthless degree in Anthropology.. And of course, I kept the geek mentality through all of that, hell I even wrote a Sci-Fi novel, but only about ten other geeks read it.
So, here I am. A geek with a computer who managed to find a fairy tale wife who also believes in fairy tales (especially the one we live) and this Sunday, I just didn’t have the energy to go wander around in Turkey, like I’d planned on doing. I’m a little depressed because I’m starting to think that civilization as we know it…WILL SURVIVE. Shit.
What some would consider hope has me a little bit in despair, so I spent the day geeking out. Improving my SEO, link building, and once in a while going to Yahoo News just to see if things might fall apart after all…but it’s not looking good folks. This mighty old ship of human errors keeps continuing and seems to duck every potential death blow.
I did find this though: New Muslim Superhero Comic
. I’m slightly disturbed though that they are making him disabled though the story explains that. At first I thought it might be because people are scared of Muslims, unless they are disabled.
I was surprised to ask my students over the last few days what is more important, Love or Money and to have them ALL answer with no hesitation that money is more important. Shit! It’s not going to get any better with people thinking that.
I still know the answer is love, but with those kids coming of age, it’s not looking good for romantics, so I figured I better spend the day improving my chances of making enough money to get my wife the caravan of her dreams and a big dog to scare the greedy little fuckers all off when they come to rob us. (See, that’s a geek dream leaking out in an otherwise straight narrative.)
Of course, my day in cyberspace did lead me to some fun places. Ex officio underwear, geek gadgets, and a nice story of how money was invented and was never really real in the first place. Meanwhile the Turkish ice cream trucks wander up and down the streets, the politicians and business creeps keep taking advantage, and life goes on.
Frankly, I’m glad I’m a geek. My geekness, sci-fi, end of the world, technomad, survivalist, romantic mentality has led me to some places that are beyond anything I could have read about. And besides, I haven’t had to grow up. Lucky for me I married a woman who doesn’t seem like she will ever grow up either. It will be nice when she gets here so we can go out and play on Sundays together.

What am I doing here? Manisa, Turkey

Posted on by vago

I live in a small Turkish city called Manisa and while it is an interesting place with lots of interesting stories to tell, I don’t really want to be here all the time.
One thing I’ve learned in years of wandering around is that if you don’t take the time to appreciate and enjoy the time when you don’t really have anything to do, you end up looking back on it with some regret. Sure, I’m bored now, but that could change at any time and so I need to just let myself fall into the zen-like state of slack. I have almost done that. And while I still find myself wishing that my life were more exciting, I’m actually enjoying the sensation of boredom.
the Street in Manisa Turkey
I had kind of expected that I would have friends here that would be willing to show me around, share insider knowledge, and maybe teach me some things about Turkish life, but that hasn’t really happened. The teachers I work with are either busy teaching or just disinterested. The students are busy with work and classes. And the expats, well, as soon as I arrived the one I was going to share a house with split.
So, here I am. In Manisa and my days are fairly simple. I wake up, try to force myself to do some yoga and go running (about 50% successful) and then I head to work. I teach for a few hours and then I have a few hours during the hot part of the day so I come home, make lunch and study a little Turkish, check my email, and perhaps do some online work. Then I go back to work and at around 10:30 I come back home, make some dinner, watch some TV on the computer, and maybe read a bit before going to bed. I usually talk with Hanane a little bit either in the afternoon or before I go to bed and we sometimes play battleship on Skype. That’s my life, six days a week.
Since I haven’t had a camera and since I sort of want to save most of my sight-seeing for when Hanane gets here, I’ve sort of avoided checking out the old mosques or doing the other sight-seeing kind of things.
But, now, since I got my Samsung Star semi-smart phone, I have a camera and today was my one day a week off. Sunday. So, without further ado…I introduce a new feature here at Vagobond. Each Sunday, I will try to do a little exploring or will just document my rather humdrum day. If I go somewhere else it will be Sunday in…wherever but since I am in Manisa, Turkey, here it is.
Sunday in …. Manisa.
My roommate left the house with no gas for hot water and no light bulbs aside from one or two in the room he was in.
I told the school and they told me they would have gas delivered. They didn’t tell me I would have to pay the toothless boy who brought it. In addition, he couldn’t make the gas water heater work and neither could I. I’ve been with nothing but cold showers for my time here, which isn’t awful since it’s warm and Hanane isn’t here.
When the boy arrived, I didn’t have money but luckily the guys who run the little market across the street loaned me 20 lira. Natural gas here is expensive. 54 lira for a canister. This all happened last week. I told the school about my cold showers but nothing happened, so I told them again and they told me that the landlord would come either Sunday or Monday. They didn’t tell me which.
So, I woke up on my day off not knowing if I really could go and do anything at all or whether I had to stay at the house. I called the school and they told me ‘Oh yeah’ the landlord will come on Monday. It didn’t make much difference to me.
Since I had the camera and the day off though, I decided to walk around and take random pictures. This is the little store that loaned me 20 lira.
Manisa, Turkey
Here is the view up the street.

The other direction are the train tracks. Crossing them, I saw this little ruin and thought it worth a picture.
Manisa, Turkey
Then I found this beautiful old locomotive. I climbed up in the engineers cabin, but someone had taken a big dump in it, so I didn’t stay.
Manisa, Turkey
I walked around a big stadium and one of these horse drawn wagons built on an auto chassis that I love in both Turkey and Morocco came down the street. My camera was out too late though to capture the big peasant ladies who were driving it.
Manisa, Turkey
Back across the tracks, I encountered what I think was a wedding since there were lots of women waving scarves out the window. The wedding procession is led by a big traditional band playing in the back of a flatbed truck. This is the same as the circumcision parade for young boys but since I didn’t see any horse and carriage with little boys dressed up like fairy tale princes, I knew this wasn’t one of those.
Manisa, Turkey
I walked up to the Manisa museum which is under construction so I couldn’t go in but I did get to see lots of marble columns and architectural pieces that are probably around 2000 years old through this gate.
Manisa, Turkey
I took a couple of pictures of the mosques. I didn’t go in though. Not today.
Manisa, Turkey
The statue in the roundabout is Merkez Effendi who was an ancient doctor who created the famous candy/medicine of Manisa which is called Mesir and which I will write about in detail in a future post.
Manisa, Turkey
From there, I went to Fatih Park and took a few pictures of the Monument of National Sovereignty which was decorated with wreaths today and since I saw a lot of military guys in dress uniforms as I wandered around, I figured it must be a holiday of some sort.
Manisa, Turkey
The Monument of National Sovereignty was built in 1985 by the sculptur Tankut Oktern. It symbolizes the public, army, and youth working together with the founder of modern Turkey, Kamal Ataturk. To me, it looked like a statue of Daniel Boone in shorts and the world’s tallest man with his normal sized family.
Manisa, Turkey
In fact though, the Daniel Boone figure and the two warriors are ‘Zeybek’, an ancient Turkish word, meaning a wise person. The zeybek were like the samurai of Turkey.
Manisa, Turkey
After that I bought some mesir and went to the Hollywood Cinema where I watched “The Expendables” which was in English with Turkish subtitles. It was an incredibly bad film. Bad writing, bad acting, bad everything. Awful. The mesir on the other hand was delicious spicy stickiness.
Then I walked around taking pictures of Tarzan who I will detail tomorrow in Manisa Monday. Yes, I figure one day a week devoted to the town I live in for the next year is a decent amount of time to spend…after all, what else am I going to do with all my time here?

Living in Turkey – Working in Turkey

Posted on by vago

[ad#Link share in post google replacement]Getting a job in Turkey and living the expat life in Turkey will certainly present some challenges.

Once again, I feel like things are moving up. As I mentioned on facebook (what? you didn’t see me on facebook? here http://www.facebook.com/vagodamitio ), I felt like a returning son coming to Turkey. I had new friends cheering my arrival, friends offering to help me figure life out, and best of all – when I arrived in Manisa I already had an apartment waiting for me!
That’s one of the advantages of taking a job. The apartment and utilities are all paid for. Of course, time will tell how things go. At the moment, I’m sharing the apartment with just one other teacher. If they load it up like the staff room at a hostel as time goes on, then it might be an issue.
living in Turkey, working in Turkey, Manisa
I didn’t come here with much, but teachers who have already gone left plenty in the way of clothing and even a couple of books. My roommate told me that I could take what clothes I wanted and surprisingly, I found quite a few things that fit me and looked like they’d never been worn. On top of that, I actually liked the clothes! So, my wardrobe has nearly doubled just by arriving.
The house is furnished and has everything that Hanane and I need in terms of a refrigerator, a stove, a washing machine, satellite TV, and wifi internet. Of course, back when we were living in the casbah we got by with no shower, no hot water, no stove, no fridge, and not much else, so in truth we don’t need much. All of this is luxury for us, but completely unessential.
The one thing that is missing is Hanane. I came as an advance scout to make sure everything is on the up and up and see if we can live here. So far, so good. I am just anxious to see her again. In truth, I’m a bit bored without her company. Last night there was a big carnival concert thing not far from the apartment, but I had no desire to wander up there on my own. If I were 25 and looking to get laid though, I think that’s exactly where I would have gone. Although, from what my new roommate has told me, it’s a celibate life for a single non-Muslim in Manisa. Sounds frustrating and I’m glad that I don’t have to experience that frustration any more. It’s funny, so much of my life was defined by that constantly looking for love, sex, or affection that I missed out on a lot in the process. Anyway, it was nice to recognize that and just know that I’m missing my wife.
As far as I can tell there are only four native English speakers in this city of 300,000. Two of those are going to be leaving. I’m not one of those, at least not as far as I know.
So, the apartment is good. The work is good so far. Manisa is also good. It’s a quiet city, the people are friendly, it feels safe. There aren’t a lot of bars or party places which means there aren’t a lot of drunks wandering around or fighting in the streets. The apartment is situated near a Turkish army base, looks like an officer housing complex to me, because these aren’t uneducated 18 year olds, nor grunts I’m seeing. Somehow the fact that I pass a bunch of sentries in helmets carrying machine guns just feels good to me as I walk to work.
I also pass by the police station where a guy in a flak jacket with a mean looking sub-machine gun paces back and forth. From our fifth floor front balcony that is what is on the left. On the right is an Imam school of some sort. I don’t really see these guys, but they practice the call to prayer and while some of them are good, man, some of them sound like two cats with their tales tied together and slung over a clothesline. They really shouldn’t let those guys use the PA system. Further down is the train station.
I love hearing the whistles and grinds of trains. It’s funny how often I end up living near train tracks. Fairhaven, Raleigh, Fes, and now Manisa.
From the back balcony which is off of our bedroom, there is an amazing view of Mt Sypil. It’s massive and as the moon rises, the sun comes up, or the sun sets the mountain exerts a pull, an attraction. In fact, I think it was the mountain that brought me here, but I’ll write about that later.
Manisa is a healthy place and it is filled with parks, outdoor workout stations, and lots of trees, green space, and scenic spots. there are no shortage of interesting statues and places to see. While I wait for Hanane, I am mostly walking around and just getting the feel of the place in my spare time. It’s easy to find a healthy meal for 1-2 lira ( about $1.50 will do it), the food is pretty cheap, and if you want to splurge, there are plenty of ways to do it. There are at least three movie theatres and I’ve already watched one film at a matinee for about $5 U.S, (8 lira).
There are libraries in Manisa. I’ve visited one of them already and found that they have a few English language books that are scattered over the shelves. When I say a few, I mean a few. I found a book about chicken embryology, a book from the 1800s about the pillars of European history, a book about ‘the Armenian question’, and a few plays. Still, it’s nice to have a public library and they provide free wi-fi as well.
I’ve done little shopping. Mostly buying food in the open air market on Thursdays and some regular groceries like pasta, milk, and rice in the supermarket. I also paid a visit to the Turkish version of Walmart, called ‘Migros’ and bought a pair of trainers so I can do some running for 25 lira (about $18). My next purchase is probably going to be a semi-smart phone with a camera since my phone is pretty shot and my camera is broken and gone.
I’ll be writing quite a lot about Manisa in the coming days. It’s a fascinating place with rich history and a lot happening. for now, I just wanted to sort of catch up with myself (and you) here at Vagobond.

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