a country that shoots down every anti muslim US stereotype. Country is 98% muslim.
I was in the 3rd largest city, Izmir, which is on the western coast (about 3M people).
Observations:
1. I see more women in fully clothed strick muslim attire on the streets of Delaware than I did on the streets of Izmir. Women were free to wear anything (and thankfully they did, Izmirian women are beautiful), go anywhere, drive, drink, smoke, etc.
2. I saw more alcohol in the Izmir bars/restaurants than I did in USA. You can actually walk down the street with an open beer can, I can't do that here.
3. I went to an academic conf. and met with many students. Their students are much more politically aware and voice their opinions more strongly than US students. In the conf., there was a lecture to students from Turk biz leaders, the students angrily voiced their opinions (freely and w/ no retribution) to these leaders. It was pretty cool to watch.
4. Turks recognize that the future of their country (which has a huge population of young people) lies in education. Massive gov't spending going on to build new schools/universities and train their teachers better. They get it!
5. If you are ever in that part of the world, work Izmir into your plans. Just a beautiful city, tons to see, easy to get around by int'l standards, food is unbelievably good.
Aside, travelled to the ancient Roman city of Ephasus. Truly amazing place. Also saw the house of the virgin mary, the Temple of Artemis (1 of 7 ancient wonders of the world) and the tomb of St. John. US history is cool but this stuff was going back to BC times in some places.
This post was edited on 11/2 12:50 PM by novaclassof90
This post was edited on 11/3 8:20 AM by novaclassof90
This post was edited on 11/3 8:22 AM by novaclassof90
This post was edited on 11/3 10:59 AM by novaclassof90
I was in the 3rd largest city, Izmir, which is on the western coast (about 3M people).
Observations:
1. I see more women in fully clothed strick muslim attire on the streets of Delaware than I did on the streets of Izmir. Women were free to wear anything (and thankfully they did, Izmirian women are beautiful), go anywhere, drive, drink, smoke, etc.
2. I saw more alcohol in the Izmir bars/restaurants than I did in USA. You can actually walk down the street with an open beer can, I can't do that here.
3. I went to an academic conf. and met with many students. Their students are much more politically aware and voice their opinions more strongly than US students. In the conf., there was a lecture to students from Turk biz leaders, the students angrily voiced their opinions (freely and w/ no retribution) to these leaders. It was pretty cool to watch.
4. Turks recognize that the future of their country (which has a huge population of young people) lies in education. Massive gov't spending going on to build new schools/universities and train their teachers better. They get it!
5. If you are ever in that part of the world, work Izmir into your plans. Just a beautiful city, tons to see, easy to get around by int'l standards, food is unbelievably good.
Aside, travelled to the ancient Roman city of Ephasus. Truly amazing place. Also saw the house of the virgin mary, the Temple of Artemis (1 of 7 ancient wonders of the world) and the tomb of St. John. US history is cool but this stuff was going back to BC times in some places.
This post was edited on 11/2 12:50 PM by novaclassof90
This post was edited on 11/3 8:20 AM by novaclassof90
This post was edited on 11/3 8:22 AM by novaclassof90
This post was edited on 11/3 10:59 AM by novaclassof90