Turkey 2012: Chicago to Istanbul

Kennedy Street, Istanbul

My avid interest in geography, history, anthropology and cultures all melded in Istanbul this year. This spring, I made my first foray to what I learned in the history books as Asia Minor when I was growing up. It was so exciting to begin that exploration from the center of the confluence of so many of my interests in the famed and old, yet modern city of Istanbul.

The direct flight from Chicago O’Hare International Airport directly to Istanbul Ataturk International Airport aboard Turkish Airlines was smooth. I would say however that I did a double-take when I first walked into the plane to see how small the seats were comparative to America based airlines that I usually fly. The narrowness of the seats and confining space and shorter legroom for an 11-hour flight took a while to absorb.

Bold Green Door, Istanbul

As I arrived the Chicago airport about three hours ahead of time, I took time to saunter around the international departure lounge. When I finally headed for the Turkish Airlines counter, I first met a young smiling lady close to the counter whom I thought was among the check-in crew, but she was disappointed I was not heading her way to board her United Arab Emirate airline that had a counter next to the Turkish Airlines. She was so pleasant I promised I will fly her airline when I schedule a vacation trip to that region of the world.

The counter help at the Turkish airline were very polite and welcoming and it took me less than 5 minutes to check all in.

Dusk by Galata Bridge, Istanbul

Aboard the full flight, I was lucky to have a loquacious young Turkish man sitting next to me. He was from Istanbul but had been in the United States for some kind of company training for a few months in the East Coast. When that ended he went to California to see the other side of the US and was then heading home back to Istanbul via Chicago. He spoke good English, which made him a good traveling companion. He gave me crash orientation about Istanbul and the chick places to visit while I was in his city. These were mostly tourist attractions, great restaurants, bars, museums and other places he figured would best convey the Turkish pride to a foreign visitor. I urged him to pencil in the Midwest region of the US when next he returns to America so he could experience how non-coastal regions, especially the Midwestern portions of America live and play.

We enjoyed our conversation while awake amid sips of wine, tasty Turkish dinners and deserts that the flight attendants served and the various online movies and music that one cares to select.

We eventually touched down in Istanbul about 5.00pm Turkish time amidst just ended evening rain showers that made for a wet welcome. After claiming my baggage, I joined the line for a visa to enter the country. As an American, the visa fee was just 20 dollars, which you paid to the official on the other side of the counter who pasted the visa stamp on a page of your passport and briskly welcomed you to Turkey.

Watch the hour-long Video of Magical Istanbul made an narrated by Martigen Entertainment. I am not the narrator and was not involved in making the video but I visited most of the places featured in the video and will be writing about them in my future reports on my trip to this magical and enchanting city that spans different eras.

Rock and Roll Forever: A Musical at St. Andrew the Apostle School, Gladstone Missouri

I had the pleasure over the 2012 Mothers’ Day weekend of watching budding talents that may grow up to be musical icons that will rock our world in the up future.

Completing a conference I was in Kansas city for a few days for mother’s day and to socialize with my young nephews and nieces. While I treated them with my avuncular goodies and company, they invited me to their soccer games and their school Rock and Roll Musical performance they were performing in and had been rehearsing for months.

The venue of the performance, St. Andrew the Apostle School’s gym was packed to the brim with enthusiastic and proud parents and relatives of the kids, and the passionate teachers and administrators of the school who each felt especially proud of their students and their school programs. The parish priest as well as the school principal in his casual blue jeans pants and red t-shirt were among the cheerful hosts, milling around, exchanging pleasantries and warmly greeting visitors to the school.

Pre-performance, the pupils could not contain their excitement as they playfully stomped about on the stage and interacted with each other as would siblings of the same household, which indeed they were by dint of the seemingly cordial family atmosphere of the school. As the musical director hinted that the program was about to commence, they wasted no time in assuming their positions on the elevated three angled-platforms flanking the elevated stage. Their discipline in assembling without effort and staying poised for the first chord of the musical surprised and impressed the adults in the audience.

Heralding the melodious rendition, some of the featured artiste’s impressionists strutted through the stage as they were introduced to welcome applauses…Little Richard, James Brown, Elvis Presley and the Beatles!

At the conductor’s instance, these young talented kids beautiful belted out the lyrics to the songs effortlessly without missing a beat.  This was accompanied by beautifully choreographed hand waves, dips and flow that gave sass and verve to the performance.

The joy the kids radiated belting out their numbers was so infectious that the adult audience and other kids caught the melodic fever, clapping along and bobbing their heads in full enjoyment of the performances.

The appropriately designed props accompanying the performances of the Beatle songs, the Beach boys and the great costumes for those that played Elvis James and Ed Sullivan brought smiles to the faces of the audience that I was sure reminisced on those days of great music that every baby boomer enjoyed. I was immensely enjoying the musical and artistic parts of my nephews Nnamdi and Ekene, that I don’t see often leaving so far away. They were dressed in jeans, white shirts and street-cool leather jackets as they rocked and rolled like the original artistes intended it to be. My niece, Chi-Chi, a natural performer and dance enthusiast was clearly in her element wearing a period puddle skirt and red ruffle scarf over her neck and a white dainty blouse. She looked every inch the part and sonorously belted the tunes as she swayed, jigged and stretched to the beat in unison with the wonderful choreography.

After an hour, the program was done with but the memory will linger on for a very long, long time. Watching my young family members perform in public with great confidence and self-assuredness while having the fun of their lives tells me that they are fully ready to claim their future and would make the best out of it. Thank you St Andrew the Apostle School and the entire student body as well as the patient and tireless staff for making my Wednesday May 9, 2012, evening a fun time in Kansas City area and for starting mothers’ day weekend on a very positive and cheerfully musical note.

No Where Else to Go: Stop Forced Evictions in Nigeria

Celebrating Nigeria’s 51^st Independence anniversary on October 1, 2011 may not bring beaming festive smiles and cheers to the millions of Nigerians that have had their homes and business locations bulldozed and rendered homeless by government agents.

More than two million people have been forcibly evicted from their homes in different parts of Nigeria since 2000. Most were already marginalized and many had lived for years without access to clean water, sanitation, adequate health care or education. In 2006, Nigeria was named one of the three worst violators of housing rights by the Geneva-based Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions.

On World Habitat Day 2009, Amnesty International called for the end to forced evictions in Nigeria. A forced eviction is the removal of people against their will from the homes or land they occupy without legal protections and other safeguards.

Forced evictions are continuing throughout the country. Since 2003, an estimated 800,000 people have been removed from their homes in the capital city of Abuja. Between May and July 2008 forced evictions took place on an almost weekly basis in Lagos, with some communities facing their third forced eviction.

In April 2005, bulldozers demolished houses, churches, and medical clinics in the community of Makoko, Lagos. About 3,000 people lost their homes. They said that they had not been given prior notice, were not consulted on the planned evictions, and were not given adequate alternative housing. Some of them, including children, were beaten and injured by law enforcement officials, and others had all their belongings destroyed.

In Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers state and the most populous city in the Niger Delta, wide scale demolitions were carried out along the city’s waterfronts, despite earlier state government promises that no evictions would take place.

The Rivers State government claims the demolition of the waterfronts is necessary to implement an “urban renewal”. However the plan that was the basis for the urban renewal was developed without adequate consultation with the communities affected and the plan was not made publicly available. Most residents were opposed to the demolitions, which they knew would ensue. Thousands of people were eventually forcibly evicted from their homes.

In one community, these preparatory stages for demolition were accompanied by excessive use of force by the Nigerian security forces. At least 12 people were shot and seriously injured in Bundu waterfront community on 12 October 2009 when armed security forces opened fire on a crowd of people peacefully protesting against the proposed demolition of their homes. It has been two years now, yet no serious investigation has been initiated by the Nigerian authorities.

Months prior to the assault on the Bundu waterfront community, government agents demolished structures at the Njemanze waterfront community, so that the land could be passed on to a corporation to construct an entertainment plaza. It was estimated that in the Njemanze community 13,800 to 19,000 people were forcibly evicted from their homes. These people including children, women and the elderly were left homeless and vulnerable to other human rights violations. Apparently the State government has not shown any empathy or provided justice for the uprooted inhabitants of these communities that have nowhere else to go.

Eyes on Nigeria: Amnesty International acts to stop harmful gas flaring in Nigeria

The level of political violence foreshadowing the general election in Nigeria this month has once again focused the world’s attention on Nigeria. That focus got even sharper following the botched National Assembly election for Senators and Representative on April 2, 2011, which was canceled midway because of what was said to be logistical problems and late arrival of election materials to many states and polling stations.  For Amnesty International, the focus never really went away as concerns about extrajudicial executions, forced evictions, death penalty and the environmental and human conditions in the Niger Delta area have been raised repeatedly by the organization and other human rights organizations.

Reflecting on its 50 years of human rights activism, which was observed in March 2011, its US section, Amnesty International, USA launched a pioneering campaign project using satellite and geo-spatial technologies to expose and fight rights abuses around the world.

The focus on Nigeria through a program Eyes on Nigeria (http://www.eyesonnigeria.org)  is aimed at visualizing and exposing human rights abuses and situations in which human rights are at risk throughout Nigeria, including active monitoring of harmful gas flaring in the Niger Delta region of the country.

For many years, residents of the Niger Delta have complained that gas flares seriously damage their quality of life and pose a risk to their health, yet to Amnesty’s knowledge, neither the government nor the oil companies have focused attention on specific studies to look at health and flaring.

Given the human rights implications on this wanton human and environmental degradation, Amnesty International hopes others will join the organization in calling on the government and the gas and petroleum related corporations in the region to shut down the estimated 75 unchecked gas flares, which for decades have been a cause for concern regarding the health of the population and the environment in the Niger Delta.

Dr. Scott Edwards, the director of the Science for Human Rights program at Amnesty International, USA confirmed, “The Eyes on Nigeria project is a comprehensive view of the most pressing human rights issues facing the people of Nigeria”. And he hopes that people around the world will be inspired by what they learn through this new project to act in concert with the Nigerian people in demanding basic human dignity.

The Eyes on Nigeria project locates and maps each gas flare occurring in the region and estimates the impact on surrounding communities of the high temperatures, fumes and elevated sound levels caused by the flares. Also mapped are evidence of forced eviction, excessive use of force, police brutality, death penalty distribution among various states, communal conflicts and conflicts in the Niger Delta. Satellite images can be peeled back with a cursor to make a ‘before’ and ‘after’ comparison. (http://www.eyesonnigeria.org).

It should be noted that Nigeria has prohibited gas flaring since 1984, (unless a ministerial consent has been issued) according to Amnesty International groundbreaking 2009 report, Petroleum, Pollution and Poverty in the Niger Delta. The problem persists though. When oil is pumped out of the ground, the gas produced is separated and in Nigeria most of it is burnt as waste in massive flares. This practice has been going on for almost five decades and has been long acknowledged as negatively impacting human health and damaging the environment.

Amnesty International is a Nobel Peace Prize-winning grassroots activist organization with more than 3 million supporters, activists and volunteers in more than 150 countries campaigning for human rights worldwide. The organization investigates and exposes abuses, educates and mobilizes the public, and works to protect people wherever justice, freedom, truth and dignity are denied.

Dry and Dark In Cote d’Ivoire: Ratcheting Up the Hostilities

As the world watches, the hostilities resulting from the November 2010 elections in Cote d’Ivoire keeps escalating and moving into the vast civilian population far beyond the group loyal to Laurent Gbagbo, who has refused to concede the election and the New Forces loyal to Alassane Ouattara, the presumed winner.

Recently security forces loyal to Laurent Gbagbo shot dead at least six women among a large group of women holding a peaceful march in support of Alassane Outtara in Abidjan. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12646355)

As if the various atrocities against the citizens of Cote d’Ivoire who dared to be out in the street exercising their fundamental liberties was not enough, the government loyalists since February 28 cut off power and water supplies to the central, northern and western areas of the country; plunging a major part of the country into darkness and water-starvation. While majority of the affected areas are loyal to Mr. Ouattara, areas loyal to Mr. Gbagbo are also affected. Ultimately, the citizens of Cote d’Ivoire, men, women and children are being punished over control of political power.

The power and water shutdown is having immediate and devastating consequences among the populace, triggering what could be an uncontrollable humanitarian crisis. According to information and eyewitness accounts gathered by Amnesty International, the affected areas are said to be suffering from poor sanitation and disrupted medical services,

The Ivorian electricity company denied any responsibility for the power cuts, which began on 28 February, instead stated that officials loyal to outgoing President Laurent Gbagbo had made the cuts "for national security reasons".

Gaetan Mootoo, the Amnesty International West Africa Researcher has warned that the whole sanitary system in these areas is being affected and is stopping medical personnel from carrying out their work which could lead to the spread of diseases.
A senior doctor in the town of Man in the west of the country, told Amnesty International: "It's nearly impossible to carry out surgery as we only have one electric generator, we are running short of fuel. This will have dramatic consequences for people needing urgent care. This is particularly true for pregnant women needing emergency obstetric care including caesarean sections."

While the political issues are sorted out, the world must not sit idly by as a devastating medical crisis blows up in an already difficult environment. The already sick and injured cannot wait for the political crisis to be resolved and power turned on to get the medical services they urgently deserve. The rest of the population should not be deprived of sanitation or subjected to the outbreak of cholera and other diseases as portable water is being withheld from the citizenry.

President Laurent Gbagbo and his loyalists must restore power and water supply immediately. Keeping the people in the dark and dry would not resolve the political conflict. Those perpetrating this cruelty must be held accountable.

The right to safe water and sanitation is recognized by international law. Amnesty International insists that the government is obliged to ensure continuous access to water and ensure that the right to health and right to adequate housing is not jeopardized by power cuts.

Segobriga: A well preserved Roman City that thrived in the heart of Spain

Just imagine a fully functioning and well developed city, that seem to have everything a nice city would crave; theater, houses of worship, instructional halls and fori, craft centers, sewers, race tracks, gymnasium, amphitheater sitting over five thousand spectators, mansions, regular homes, swimming pool and bath houses, high city walls and imposing city gates etc. Then, all of a sudden, the residents of the city pack up and leave, forever! If you imagined this, you would be picturing Segobriga, a roman city in the heart of Spain., then part of the Roman Empire.

Segobriga is in the current Cuenca Province of the Catilla La Mancha region of Spain, just an hour south east of Madrid. It is one of the few most complete, well preserved cities built purposedly as a Roman city when the Romans defeated the Carthaginians in the first Punic war and went ahead to colonize the Celt-Iberian people in the peninsular and began the Romanization of the area. The city thrived for centuries but was believed to have been abandoned when the Moors and the Moslems invaded and occupied Spain. However, while Segobriga fell into ruins, the structures all stand strong today that virtually every facet of the city is vivid and tangible today, presenting a compelling picture of what life was like in the area over 2000 years ago.

The city, which was deliberately and strategically built on the highest point of the sloping landscape looks majestic on approach. One obvious cultural practice noticed right away is how the entrance to the city, outside the city wall was lined with graves. For some cultural reasons the people buried their dead outside the city walls, not sure if it had a religious component to it as some current cultures bury their dead as a protective force around their town. The graves, though hollow now, still retain the stonewalls with which they were constructed. Both individual, pair and family graves all lined up the entrance to the city. There were also further well developed cemetaries (necropolis) that lie a few yards away from the road entrance, with several graves numbering in the hundreds. Further away from those were another set of cemetaries and basilica that were built by the Visigoths when they defeated the Romans and became the main power brokers in the city for 200 more years before it got abandoned when the Moslems invaded.

The Theater

Once inside the city walls, every direction you looked had a familiar structure which you can easily walked up to for closer detail inspection and could actually recreate the event the structure was built for. In the gladatorial arena (the amphitheater), I walked into the area the gladiators waited their turn beofre a fight or performance, a room the size of half a standard room today and wondered what may have been on their mind as they prepared for a life or death battle. Just not too far from their waiting area were holding areas for the wild animals that performed or fought in the arena. Surprisingly the circular arena itself is as big and wide as today´s baseball field, with the surrounding concrete bleachers running as high around the arena as today´s sitting arrangement in a baseball diamond.

Amphitheater: I just wrestled a lion and won

Across the street from the gladiator´s amphitheater was a very imposing theater, complete with a large stage, orchestra pit and a stack of audience area that again ascended in the order we are familiar with today. The backwall doubled as the city wall because of its height, as the entire city was surrounded by 1300 meter wall with several gates, This theater was built in the first century and was where what would be classic tragedies as well as comedies were performed. Remarkably, class distinctions were very sharp then as even the sitting arrangements were marked by social standing and in fact the theater sitting arrangements were concretely marked off to separate the classes.

Watching a play in the theater

Perhaps the politcal and social behive of activities of the city was at the forum, which was a very large rectangular space with huge columns lining its side. It must have been the seat of power and where the major decisions concerning the city and its political life was conducted. It lies on the eastern side of the city and was constructed in the Augustan times as part of the urbanization program of the city..

What would be today´s city swimming pool was the baths in Segobriga. These were located between the the Theater and the street that runs close to the city wall, and not too far from the Amphitheater. It perhaps was for hygenic purpose as well as served a social and business networking function in the community. The changing rooms were like today´s locker rooms in most gyms, with individual stone etched row of niches where bathers could lay their clothes and possessions while lounging in a dry circular sauna in the center. The varied temperatured baths lay to the north of the room.. The sewer system and latrines were not too far from the baths, as you could still see the tunnel with stone-slab covering, as it snakes down the slope and away from the city where the waste is emptied.

The Bath and Sauna Locke

The historical influence of Segobriga as a Roman municipality and regional and administrative power in hispano-roman Iberia was well documented in the museum that is built on the grounds of the city. Objects and important carvings from the city are preserved in the museum to prevent them from further deterioration.

Unfortuanately but understandably, the public is not allowed to photograph any of those objects or the intricately exquisite sculptures that bring to life some of the movers and shakers of the Segobrigan society. Fittingly though, the ancient citizens of this city did not build right on the ruins of the city they abandoned for what ever reasons, but moved down the road about a mile to establish a current city named Saelices. I picture SEgobriga rivalling any modern city in beauty and organization but also recognize that life for the ordinary citizens must have been full of drudgery to maintained all that, and also maintained their place in a very stratified society.

Teruel: The home of Mudejar Architecture

Due south from Zaragoza was another Aragon province called Teruel with its seat located in the city of Teruel as well. This town was founded in 1176 by Sancho Sanchez Munoz and Blasco Garces Marcila and later became a cosmopolitan center with significant Jewish and Muslim population amoung its Christian inhabitants. Teruel is not a typical tourist hotspot but no one could resist its local history and culture and its place as the epicenter of the Mudejar architecture in Spain. This was the medieval period when the Christian rulers commissioned Muslim architectural pieces, which is distinct from the Mosarabic influence when Christians lived under Muslim rule.

One of the numrous Mudejar style towers

The city lies almost a thousand meters above sea level with a rough and sometimes harsh climatic conditions. That got turned into an asset as Teruel became famous for its naturally cured ham, called Jamon Serrano. They also uniquely have abundance of dinosaur remains in the province, which even prompted a dinosaur theme park that is unmistakeable as you drive into the city.

With the mudejar architectural influence, many of the buildings and towers were wonders to behold in their intricacy and bright ornamental detailing. Some of the towers are now attached to museums or cathedrals while others stand alone as the buildings they were connected to had fallen out of use or even destroyed in the several battles that took place in Teruel in the Spanish civil war years.

A significant symbol of the city is the bull. The main plaza of the city is adorned with a monument that depicts a tall column on top of which is mounted a small statue of the bull, locally referred to as El Torico or the little bull. In fact the city center is now commonly called Plaza El Torico. Teruel also boasts of high quality pottery which you can purchase in the numerous gift shops around the central plaza.

El Torico

Touring San Pedro, one of the many mudejar influenced churches, whcih was built in the 16th century, it was moving to see the mausoleum housing the mummified bodies of Isabel Segura (a wealthy lady) and Diego de Marcilla, a poor guy who battled at Crusades to earn some money with the intention to return to get married with Isabel but the happy ending tragically never materialized. Envision Romeo and Juliet. The lovers of Teruel or Los Amantes de Teruel is a significant lure that is now part of the legend of this city that is at once not widely known but also nurtures its distinct history and attributes in Spanish life and culture.

My one day tour of the city was well worth it, especailly freely gallivanting all over town, checking out cathedrals, museums, chatting with students of a college of Arts and Craft right in the city center and an irony of all ironies, having lunch in a Chinese restaurant also in the downtown area. But that was after gorging myself with the Teruel local pasteries from centuries old recipes..