A Building in Cihangir

A lovely ex-Greek apartment building in Cihangir, Istanbul's expat capital. Before its gentrification and the current wave of affluent, trendy, foreign urbanites, Cihangir was full of peniless Kurdish immigrants, a sizable community of transvestites, anarchists and local punks. Before even them, it had a Greek population that held on until the 1970's.

Festival Fever, Circa 2006

Since last weeks's post on the Radar Live festival got so many views, I decided to dig into my hard disk to bring you one of the largest Turco-festivals of last year. Here is the 2006 incarnation of Rock'n Coke, which is not a festvial of relentless cocaine orgies. Instead, it is a three-day gathering of musicians and fans on a vast, muddy field, organized by Coca Cola of Turkey. Last year's line-up included Placebo, Muse, Kasabian and load of other bands I didn't care about. Here, my cousin and my brother are lining up with their tents and supplies at the entrance of the festival.

The long queues at the entrance were pretty annoying, as these two girls can attest.

When bag-men attack: A brief shower in the first day forced everyone to don their hoods and wallow around in mud for the next two days.

Yet the view inside wasn't so bad when you got used to it... What's that strange red blob in the background?

Oh, it's a big red balloon you can ride up and down to ease the boredom of standing around, doing nothing!

If you can't stand waiting in another queue for the balloon, food, drinks, toilets or any other human need, why not make your own fun by dancing around in the mud like a rasta-swinging shaman?

The dancing goes on to the night as the tired masses huddle under a great big techno tent for warmth, protection and a chance to meet girls like these.

These guys had the best costumes I'd ever seen in any festival in Turkey. Despite the many dissapointments, Rock'n Coke 2006 was actually a good time.

The Gumbets of Bodrum

A gumbet; one of the tiny, dome-shaped water cisterns native to Bodrum and surrounding regions in the Eastern Aegean.

Another gümbet, this time near Ortakent, Bodrum. This is an even older one. Such structures may also be seen in some of the Greek islands.

And here is the beautiful view of the Ortakent bay from the top of the gümbet's dome.

The TUBITAK Headquarters

A crashed airplane? The headquarters of the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) is one of the most infamous modernist landmarks of Ankara.

My Old High School

Two weeks ago, I visited my old high school to help my brother register for the next year of classes. Except from its distance from the city, I believe that the American-curriculum Koç High School is among the best in Turkey.

An Aliens-esque glass pyramid pokes out of the school's center. This structure wasn't built when I first started Koç. Instead, there was a courtyard full of trees, bushes and benches.

The same pyramid, seen from the inside. It's like a Turkified O.C. in there!