Monday, December 26, 2011
No Hair, don't care...
So hair is a huge thing, I guess. When I was younger I sometimes hated dealing with my hair because I never learned to do it myself. My older sister did my hair the majority of the time in braids or my mother would pull it back in a big ponytail, big braids, or the dreaded puffs.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Daily Tune Day 3: Remain Nameless by Florence + The Machine
This is one of my favorite songs off of Florence + The Machine's second album, Ceremonials.
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Turkish Lango Lesson
So although I learned the bare minimum amount of Turkish I could while living in Istanbul for 2 months, all those words were absolutely vital for getting around. I want to preserve the amount that I did learn. So I'm writing all the words I learned just in case I one day make it back there!
First word I learned was 'merhaba' which means 'hello' and the second was teşekkürler (te-shek-yu-lar) which means 'thank you.' So obviously it's like my third day
there and I think 'yeah, cool. I'm a pro at this' so all of school mates go down to this local corner store to check
it out and buy snacks and I'm the last person to purchase anything(standard). And as I'm pick up my bag I say
'hello' to the cashier rather than 'thank you' and I try to correct myself and apologize (in English like he knew
what I was saying)before anyone notice except the whole family that owned the store heard my blunder even
the baby and my schoolmates and everyone busted out laughing. Humiliated, I booked it out of there, so that
was cool.
Hmm other words that came in handy? 'yok,' pronounced 'yoke' which means 'no,' used that a lot to ward
off creepy men. 'Evet' (ev-vet) which is 'yes.' And random but we ate a whole lot of bread with is a huge com-
ponent of Turkish meals and I couldn't get enough especially with oil and ground pepper and my kids loved me
for whenever I got it for them for lunch, is 'ekmek.' Water, which I'm not a huge fan of but had to get in special
places since their tap water is not very clean is called 'su'(sood). And then 'food' is 'yemek' and whenever we order
online which saved our lives we would have to call down to the gate and say 'yemek geliş' (gili-yosh, s' with tildaes
make the 'sh' sound) which means 'food is coming' to the security guards and then we would feign like we knew wh
-at they were saying back and say 'EVET' and then hang up the phone. 'çok' means 'very' which we use from time to time especially when they didn't think you understand Turkish like 'çok sexy' they ate that up, thought it was hilarious. Also, I learned the word 'öldü' which I figured out the translation without much help , it means 'died,' can guess how I figured that one out? Two words, Amy Winehouse. I was eating in a mall and it was turned to their Turkish CNN and it kept flashing her face on the news and the word 'öldü' and I turned to my friend and said 'I think Amy Winehouse is dead' which she didn't believe until we got back to campus. Oh and soup was 'çorba' (chorba) which is the same as in Arabic but with a 'sh' sound and that was always served with dinner, I don't know if that was the school tradition or a Turkish one either way, I liked it. And chicken was 'tavuk,' and 'fried' was 'kızarmış' (ku-zarmish, the Turks have to 'I's in their language one with a dot and one with it and the 'i' with the dot is pronounced like the English but the one without sounds more like a 'u.')
Also, the Turks speak in non-verbal ways which is normal in a guess in Eastern traditions especially in the Middle East. The kids would do this a lot instead of saying 'yes' or 'no,' they use their movement of their eyes, head and tongue. For instance, if you ask them a question like if they want something to eat, in response they might blink their eyes very quickly which means 'yes.' Or, if they don't want anything to eat they will nod their head up very quickly and cluck their tongue like their sucking their teeth which is taken as rude in the U.S. but just means 'no' and is a culture norm. After a while the kids had me doing too, thought it was awesome like a secret language but at the same time it confused the shit out of me at times.
First word I learned was 'merhaba' which means 'hello' and the second was teşekkürler (te-shek-yu-lar) which means 'thank you.' So obviously it's like my third day
there and I think 'yeah, cool. I'm a pro at this' so all of school mates go down to this local corner store to check
it out and buy snacks and I'm the last person to purchase anything(standard). And as I'm pick up my bag I say
'hello' to the cashier rather than 'thank you' and I try to correct myself and apologize (in English like he knew
what I was saying)before anyone notice except the whole family that owned the store heard my blunder even
the baby and my schoolmates and everyone busted out laughing. Humiliated, I booked it out of there, so that
was cool.
Hmm other words that came in handy? 'yok,' pronounced 'yoke' which means 'no,' used that a lot to ward
off creepy men. 'Evet' (ev-vet) which is 'yes.' And random but we ate a whole lot of bread with is a huge com-
ponent of Turkish meals and I couldn't get enough especially with oil and ground pepper and my kids loved me
for whenever I got it for them for lunch, is 'ekmek.' Water, which I'm not a huge fan of but had to get in special
places since their tap water is not very clean is called 'su'(sood). And then 'food' is 'yemek' and whenever we order
online which saved our lives we would have to call down to the gate and say 'yemek geliş' (gili-yosh, s' with tildaes
make the 'sh' sound) which means 'food is coming' to the security guards and then we would feign like we knew wh
-at they were saying back and say 'EVET' and then hang up the phone. 'çok' means 'very' which we use from time to time especially when they didn't think you understand Turkish like 'çok sexy' they ate that up, thought it was hilarious. Also, I learned the word 'öldü' which I figured out the translation without much help , it means 'died,' can guess how I figured that one out? Two words, Amy Winehouse. I was eating in a mall and it was turned to their Turkish CNN and it kept flashing her face on the news and the word 'öldü' and I turned to my friend and said 'I think Amy Winehouse is dead' which she didn't believe until we got back to campus. Oh and soup was 'çorba' (chorba) which is the same as in Arabic but with a 'sh' sound and that was always served with dinner, I don't know if that was the school tradition or a Turkish one either way, I liked it. And chicken was 'tavuk,' and 'fried' was 'kızarmış' (ku-zarmish, the Turks have to 'I's in their language one with a dot and one with it and the 'i' with the dot is pronounced like the English but the one without sounds more like a 'u.')
Also, the Turks speak in non-verbal ways which is normal in a guess in Eastern traditions especially in the Middle East. The kids would do this a lot instead of saying 'yes' or 'no,' they use their movement of their eyes, head and tongue. For instance, if you ask them a question like if they want something to eat, in response they might blink their eyes very quickly which means 'yes.' Or, if they don't want anything to eat they will nod their head up very quickly and cluck their tongue like their sucking their teeth which is taken as rude in the U.S. but just means 'no' and is a culture norm. After a while the kids had me doing too, thought it was awesome like a secret language but at the same time it confused the shit out of me at times.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Quote of the Day (2): Her life changed dramatically...
"Her life changed dramatically when she decided to break the rules and find beauty where she'd been told there was none."-Couldn't Make It Out
Tune of the Day (2): Coming Closer by Sub Focus featuring Takura
This song plays everyday at work and each time I gotta dance.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Quote of Day(1): So we were told
"So we were told to put on their make-up and wear their short skirts. Instructed to give our lives, our bodies, our dignity for the cause of being pretty. We came to believe that no matter what we did, we were worthy only to the degree that we could please and be beautiful for men. So we spent our lives on the cover of Cosmo and we gave our bodies for advertisers to sell.
We were slaves, but they taught us we were free. We were their object, but they swore it was success. Because they taught you that the purpose of your life was to be on display, to attract and be beautiful for men. They had you believe that your body was created to market their cars.
But they lied."-Yasmin Mogahed
We were slaves, but they taught us we were free. We were their object, but they swore it was success. Because they taught you that the purpose of your life was to be on display, to attract and be beautiful for men. They had you believe that your body was created to market their cars.
But they lied."-Yasmin Mogahed
Sheryl Sandberg On Why We Have Too Few Women Leaders
Sheryl Sandberg, the COO of Facebook speaks at TEDWomen about why the leadership of men and women in the workforce is disproportionate even though more women are graduating from college than men. Gives 3 pointers, (1) Sit at the table-have the confidence to reach for opportunities, (2) Make your partner a real partner--share responsibilities at home so you and your partner can both pursue careers; and (3) don't leave before you leave--challenge yourself at work so that when you have a decision to make, there are compelling reasons to comeback or stay. Amen!
Daily Tune Day 1: Lights-Ellie Goulding, Bassnectar Remix
One of my passions is music and no, I don't mean making it. I mean discovering and listening to it and starting now I will present to you (as often as I can) music that inspires me. Songs may be current, recent or old but one thing they'll have in common is that it's good shit. I don't discriminate, I love music, simple as that whether it be hip-hop, dubstep, rock, indie, rap, pop, alternative, you name I listen to it. I may post a song, music video and maybe a description of some sort. So sit back and press play.
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