Ramazan River Walk

Ramadan, or Ramazan as it is pronounced in Turkish, ran from May 26th to June 24th of this year. This can be especially brutal with the combination of summer heat and an empty stomach. However, across the Muslim world, as soon as the sun goes down, the cannon fires and the last call to prayer rings out, the Iftar is celebrated. The Iftar is a breaking of fast meal that usually brings together the entire family, apartment building or neighborhood in a massive dinner. The cool of the evening air and the heaps of food seem to breathe life back into the city as soon as Iftar begins.

In our city a new river walk was recently constructed. Admittedly, when I heard they were building this, I strongly doubted we’d ever see it come to fruition. Paddle boats, riverside storefronts and swans didn’t exactly sound realistic for our little town. But sure enough, this summer, the river walk was unveiled. And it’s beautiful. True to it’s promises, little yellow paddle boats glide across the water, black swans sit along the shore and food vendors have set out their bistro tables to welcome the summer crowds.

This year, the city decided to host it’s annual month of Iftar festivals at the new river walk rather than the big park in town. As the sun went down the city’s inhabitants swarmed together to feast on potatoes on a stick, ice cream cones and Turkish tea. Loud music sounded from the performance stage, children pet ponies and played on the playground and traditional Turkish tea pourers walked around offering a traditional spiced fruit drink. The quiet of hungry, fasting heat dissipated to reveal the life and vibrancy of the city once more.

We loved going to this new beautiful place and watching the lights burst into bright colors across the water in the dim dusk. It felt like we were a part of our city. Participating int he joy and excitement of the evening, running into friends around the park and keeping our baby out way past her bedtime was akin to going to a county fair. It felt familiar and yet exciting and new. While the summer month of Ramazan can be long, dull and brutal, the life that springs forth after dusk always makes the season all the more fun to observe. We look forward to many more walks along the river this summer and are grateful for a lovely city community to be a part of.

An American Tale

We are freshly returned from our big summer American adventure. In case you were unaware, we had a baby. And our families really needed time with that baby! So to America we went! And for a whole month at that.

 

 

 

We spent so many wonderful days just lounging about with our families. As previously mentioned we purchased a new camera for work. And we received enough baby clothes and toys to fund a whole army of babies.

It was such a joy to indulge in the things we missed from home. From Mexican food to road trips, from BBqs to nights out with old friends, we had an extraordinary time.

But, like in Greece, there was still something pulling us back home. Turkey home. We even missed Turkish food. And I’d say that was a good sign that we were living where we needed to be.

Photo Credit Above: Kayleigh Dhiman

And while we ache for our families and the familiarity of our home country, we also relish every second we had at home with them. The life we’ve chosen for our little family is nomadic and at times rather lonely. But deep down, even after seeing our homeland again,I think we’ve come to love the adventure. For now, there are still more treks to take, more mountains to climb, more language to learn. And as long as we have each other, and the ability to Skype our loved ones, we are satisfied with this exciting journey we find ourselves on.

Stick with us to see what more Turkey has to offer our little family as we photograph all of the beauty that surrounds us.

 

Grecian Retreat

What a treat, a Grecian retreat! In mid-April we ventured across the sea to the island of Lesvos for a week. The town of Mytilene was quiet and desolate for the Easter holiday, with the exception of the bustling restaurants along the sea shore.

Our little apartment was nestled along back streets, paved with cobblestones. We hugged the corners tightly while we walked, to avoid mopeds with little old Greek women or cars with young Greeks teens gearing up for the big holiday.

We visited nearly every open restaurant in the small town, feasting on anything we could not find in Turkey. It brought tears to Jason’s eyes. Over cups of espresso that we kept away from Jane’s reaching fingers, we enjoyed talking about the future in Turkey and the exciting things we are looking forward to in the coming year.

For the Easter holiday we offered skewers and skewers of meat! The kind Greek people were eager to share and were joyfully celebrating the end of Lent with ample meat, something they had avoided during the fasting season.

The Greek culture was strikingly similar to Turkish culture and the island had strong similarities to Cunda and Ayvalik. We hiked around castle ruins along the Agean sea and watched older Greek couples dive beneath the waves by the cliff side. The weather slipped seamlessly between bright Mediterranean sunshine to cloudy April skies. On the cooler days we poked our heads into some of the prolific Greek Orthodox architecture and drank more coffee while pursuing the little shops.

The trip across the sea was a lovely retreat, but by the end of the week we were anxious to be home. Turkey home. We loved the variations and the change of pace, but there is truly no place like home. It was the perfect reminder of how Turkey had become the place we truly call home now.

I say this every time….

But for reals, the blog is back. I know, I’m kind of a terrible blogger. But here we are, with a six month old baby, a trip to America under our belts and a new season upon us. It’s time to start rolling again. I hope to start bringing you weekly photo updates from Turkey. These pieces might include adventures abroad or around the country, musings on raising kids overseas, or photos from our day to day lives.

We’ve invested in a newer anymore portable camera and we are on the hunt for new outlets for our work. The magazine we worked for previously seems to have entered a lull and are no longer publishing much, so we are truly freelancing in every sense of the word.

I hope you will stick with us and enjoy the exciting roller coaster of freelance photojournalism in Turkey.

I say this every time….

But for reals, the blog is back. I know, I’m kind of a terrible blogger. But here we are, with a six month old baby, a trip to America under our belts and a new season upon us. It’s time to start rolling again. I hope to start bringing you weekly photo updates from Turkey. These pieces might include adventures abroad or around the country, musings on raising kids overseas, or photos from our day to day lives.

We’ve invested in a newer anymore portable camera and we are on the hunt for new outlets for our work. The magazine we worked for previously seems to have entered a lull and are no longer publishing much, so we are truly freelancing in every sense of the word.

I hope you will stick with us and enjoy the exciting roller coaster of freelance photojournalism in Turkey.

It’s been awhile!

Well, it’s certainly been awhile since we’ve blogged! So much has happened in the last six months! Our biggest news is that we are pregnant with a baby girl who is due in December! We are over the moon about it and our home has been a whirlwind of stuffed animals and baby proofing ever since.

We’ve also had the joy of traveling over the last six months. Our most exciting trip was a romantic getaway to Paris. We spent a whole week there celebrating our third wedding anniversary and taking in the sites before our little one comes. If you’ve ever wondered why so many people are in love with Paris, you will have to go see it for yourself. I feel like I finally understand why people flock to the city of lights every year. There is so much to see in that big, expansive city. Old gothic churches on street corners, lovers huddled together in the park, artisans along the Seine….. it was everything the movies portrayed and more. And the food! Num, num, num. I could have eaten all day, every day there. It’s certainly a city I’d love to visit again.

We also enjoyed a few trips around our own country of Turkey over the last few months. We were able to spend a whole weekend celebrating a friend’s engagement in the small seaside town of Burhaniye, which was just gorgeous. Watching the loving couple sail in on a tiny boat at the golden hour of sunset while sparkling fireworks went off was a perfect celebration of love.

We also went trekking about various cities when our family visited us! Bursa, Istanbul, Cunda and Ayvalık all had the distinct pleasure of our presence in the past few months. 🙂 Turkey is sincerely an incredible country and it’s such a joy to explore and photograph this country. If you ever have the opportunity, you should visit this amazing place.

Work at home has not been sparse either! Between language learning and travel writing, there is never a dull moment! We have had a story or two published in the last few months, as well as taken our own maternity photos and some photos for friends here. Be sure to check out our social media sites and Ethnotraveler.com for more!

We look forward to one more big travel trip before the baby comes! We get to go to Cappadocia next month, a city we’ve been dying to see for a year now. Cappadocia is famous for it’s underground rock cities, it’s fairy chimney formations and it’s hot air balloons across the sky. We can’t wait to photograph this magical place before we settle in for the winter with our sweet baby girl.

Stay tuned for more adventures! And hopefully less space between blogs. 🙂

 

Ethno Travler: Cunda

On a Turkish Isle, Cat Paws on Cobblestone

 

Jason’s latest photo piece on EthnoTraveler!

Newborn Shoot

We had the distinct pleasure of providing a newborn photoshoot for some great friends of ours here last month. Their sweet little boy was born at the beginning of February and we are so excited to see him grow and flourish with such loving parents.

This was our first real newborn shoot. We had done a variety of photoshoots for families, many of whom had young children or babies, but had not yet done a shoot for a two week old. We certainly could not have asked for a better family for this new task! Their baby boy was such an easy subject to shoot. He never cried, rarely fussed and even, I really believe, he modeled for the camera. He was a natural.

We loved the end results and are so excited to see him grow up and change into a ball of energy and personality in the coming years. It was such an honor to be a part of this family’s first real photoshoot together.

Check out some of their adorable photos!

A Cold Quick Flurry

What a busy and extremely cold start to the new year! My many apologies for the lack of blogging. January has been a fast paced and exciting month. I joined a gym and started reading Harry Potter, so right there, you can see all the free time going out the window.

No, but seriously, this last month was a whirlwind. Our most exciting work development came through the Best of Bursa. We were invited to contribute three pieces to the site and were thrilled to hear that our stories actually had quite a few reads. It’s always a great feeling when people are excited about your work without even knowing you. I’ve included the links to the three pieces below, so if you haven’t read them, be sure to check them out. And should you be considering any travel through Turkey, Bursa is an excellent city to explore! For tips and ideas, go to thebestofbursa.com.

January has also been a quick month for us, with Jason’s birthday and bolstering our language study to include an extra 5-10 hours of Turkish a week. And of course, there has been the snow. Visiting us off and on has been the dreaded snow. For a California girl it’s been a new learning hurdle, but for my Washingtonian husband, he seems to impervious to all forms of cold. I on the other had, have opted to stay indoors whenever possible, cuddle with the cat and drink all the hot cocoa.

However, with the weather ebbing and flowing between cold and less cold now, the excitement may begin again! We look forward to having family visit in the next few months and the hope of a few trips outside of the city. So, we should be acquiring plenty of blog content in the coming spring season!

Thanks again for your patience in our blogging absence! And don’t forget to check out the Best of Bursa! Stay tuned for more adventures……. as soon as the snow leaves forever.

Through the Lens

Discovering Bursa

The Whirling Dervishes

 

Bursa through the Lens of Jason and Kaela

Bursa is a rich cultural and historical center revealing centuries of Ottoman history and Islamic heritage. These are evident in the city’s architecture, historical sites, and enduring ways of life. All of this makes Bursa somewhat of a living museum and a fantastic place to spend a few days exploring culture and snapping photos.
Here are a few favorite photos from our couple days wandering the streets of Bursa. These images reflect important aspects of Bursa’s culture and history.

To see more, go to the Best of Bursa at thebestofbursa.com