Busy but Kool

Another semi-lazy day.....tons of E's to tend to, and a trip to a half dozen stores. But in the end the ability to post these pics of Indian Mary Park I took yesterday made it all kool.

Three children killed in flash floods in Turkey - Hurriyet Daily News and Economic Review

Three children killed in flash floods in Turkey - Hurriyet Daily News and Economic Review

Tending to Brother Ass

Love Story from the West Coast to the Silk Road

During the last years of the life of St. Francis of Assisi he asked his body, whom he had named Brother Ass, to pardon him for the hardships he had put it through. Looking back on a life of sacrifice, starvation, solitude and poverty St. Francis realized that while our souls and passions run deep and strong....the physical body can't always keep in step. The last few days Ann and I have been trying to let Brother Ass take it easy....Frankly, that is something that we have not taken the time to do, nor is it easy for us. We feel the call of the East and can't wait to get our boots back on the ground on the Silk Road. But before we can do that....there are a few things we need to learn and do that will give us the stamina and ability to keep Brother Ass healthy while we live, travel and wander on the far side of the world for the next 4 years.

Bishop Creek...Sierra Nevada's

Mount Tom....Sierra Nevada's

Our monthly sponsorships have been lower than we expected which means we are continually pushing the date to return to Turkey farther and farther back. Since our ability to stay on the Silk Road and exploring the lost and forgotten villages requires monthly sponsors....we are in a holding pattern until we have enough income to launch off again. That alone adds quite a bit of tension as our Istanbulu family and friends tear at our hearts to return home.

We are still waiting to see if anyone will step up to the plate and help us get a corporate sponsorship for outback gear for hiking the St. Paul Trail.

With those distractions and a bucket load of desideratum in our hands.....we are forcing ourselves to unwind and make my folk's deck our sanctuary for the next week or so. Yep...we admit that we are fighting a bit of discouragement these days. That's life.

So, this is day 3 of spending our afternoons and evenings in front of an outdoor fire, leaves falling like snow around us, cups and cups of good Turkish coffee and stacks of good books...trying to get the big picture of our lives and not the ups and downs of the moment.

If I wax over-emotional in these next few weeks please chalk it up against a tired Brother Ass who needs to vent without oversight. Remember....there are plenty of well written blogs that will delight you...you are free to roam as you please.

Its Been A Good Long Run...

Me & Mine

Living the adventurer's life that we do there have been a few occasions where we (our crew of four) wondered if we would make it out in one piece. Crashing airliners, roadside bombs, riots, war zones etc.. Ann and I coined a phrase that really got to the heart of what we do....

No Regrets

No Retreats

No Reserves

When we have one of those "just missed by inches" moments we have often looked at each other and said "27 years has been a good long run". No, we are not planning on dying or anything like that but a year or so ago as I was being led away as a captive in a deep dry canyon teeming with tension, (unnamed country)....as the militants pushed me in front of them at gunpoint and took me out of sight of Ann and the kids, I looked back one last time to see Ann staring my direction. We smiled at each other and said "hey, 28 years has been a good long run".

Home in Oregon

Obviously nothing permanent came of that encounter with our buddies with the guns. But the sentiment experienced between us has deepened our appreciation for each day we have together.

In just a month and a half we will mark our 29th year together....just wanted to say what you have heard me say a thousand times. I am pretty damn blessed to have gotten this chick to marry me and then stay with me as I have led her and our crew across the seas to live, travel and wander on the far side of the world.

Smoke, Leaves and Solitude

Some of the color from my deck

I have been spending the last few days sitting under the leaves of an oak tree that is raining its bright yellow foliage around and on me as I sit, ponder and chew over the years we have spent living in Asia and how, while we are thoroughly enjoying our time at home....our heart longs to be back in Istanbul.

Funny how life works that way.....our family, particularly the Steward Clan...has a restlessness that has caused our ancestors to immigrate and then move about the states for hundreds of years. I am back in the loop now with penning my poor and pathetic ponderings to a website that, lets be honest, is not of much interest to anyone, nor will it ever make us any income. This is just a space for me to allow the phony-writer in me to have a place to expound on the current state of, or rather, the lack of the state of the thoughts and experiences that keep me awake at night.

I miss living in Asia...I miss my Istanbulu family, I miss the sites and smells from my tiny balcony in Istanbul, I miss the door bell ringing 50 times a day with friends and neighbors who stop in to chat, fill us in on their trip to the market or just check in and have a glass or 20 of tea with us.

I had hoped this time at home would allow my soul...maybe a better word, is my spirit to rest. But instead I am continually occupied with the list of supplies I have to buy, the number of new monthly sponsors we need to be able to return and continue our research and exploration of the forgotten villages along the Silk Road and a mosaic of other issues related to getting our boots back on the ground of Turkey.

Nope...this post isn't going to ring your bell or cause you to link this to a friend due to its winsome prose. These are just the thoughts of a guy, lonely to be back in his adopted country to hang out with a people and culture that have captured his and the hearts of his family.

For now....some vignettes of our days in Oregon.. A few more snapshots of my day.

Coming to Grips with Life Abroad

Views from the Steward Outpost....Oregon

So we have finally come home....to our stateside home anyway. Arriving in Grants Pass late last evening we have several meetings scheduled along with some final doctor appointments to get clearance to return to the Silk Road. But in the meantime we hope to be able to clear our heads a bit...overcome a little discouragement over how slow the process is going and frankly, the reception of our love for Asian culture. And....take a few hours of each day to relax and try to find our heads.

Being at my folks place in GP gives us some emotional and literal space....maybe I will bore you with some of my deeper thoughts during this time. But for me, the significance is that I have finally got to a place where I am ready to write again. Therapy for me, and an ordeal for you. I know...one man's pleasure is the other's pain.

I was asked by a woman I love, (no not a blood relative) how my years abroad had changed my perceptions on life, religion and the mess the world is in general. My response was simple. I know, now, what it is like to be an American living in a Muslim world in a time when the West in general, is not highly thought of in the East.

And yet, I was accepted and loved for who "Stan" is by virtually every Turk, Kurd, Iraqi or Iranian I met. I was pampered, protected, tolerated with my out of culture fubars and still brought into an Islamic family and neighborhood as one of their own. What that all means right now I can't explain. Only...that what I experienced from my Musilm brothers....I want to enlarge my capacity to do the same to those I have fundamental shifts of ideology, lifetstyle, and religion that would normally put up walls in our relationships.

I miss our Istanbulu family and friends terribly and we are hoping to be able to return on schedule in February or March 2010. Want to help send us back? Yeah....I thought so):
My Sweety of 29 Years and Me

My View as I Write Tonight

Returning to Writing

Stanley Heading West...

So I am finally back to writing.....(I know MM, I am a hack...YOU are a writer). It has been a while since we were able to sit in one place for more than a day or two. With another road trip coming up this week, we played hooky this week and had a fire two days in a row, sat and read and tried to figure out life.

We will be boots up again this weekend and on the road for about 3 weeks. I have the writing bug so things should start to flow soon. I have lots of thought...just none I think you would be interested in.

The White Mountains...Sierra Nevada

Lazy Retreat

We have an important announcement.....we as a Crew have voted to take today off and play indolent, sluggish and remiss. Sorry if that happens to grieve you. As the younger members of our Crew like to say....SIU. (suck it up)

Istanbul Ozledik

We are still living the crazy life with another road trip......this time to the Sierra Nevada's. We are missing Istanbul big-time. Please send us home:)

Beach Days

The small stuff of our California days......

Between Ouch and Boing

Moving Thru The West

The last few months have whizzed by....rather ARE whizzing. We still have not been in one place for more than a few days at a time. This week we are checking out mentally at the beach. Yep, one of our friends who have been on deck with us for the past 5 years loaned us their beach house in Surf City USA. We are just a half hour from Brea and are just yards from the Pacific.

Before we get to that though we will run you thru our 7000 miles of road trip in the last 10 weeks. California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, back thru Indiana, Illinois to Missouri. Then Iowa, Minnesota before turning west to South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, Nevada and landing in Brea a few weeks ago.

Wyoming's Skies

Waiting Patiently

Our car is toes up in the shop...broke down in LA a week ago and everyday they seem to be calling with a list of additional problems as they tear apart the tranny. So far we are between "ouch" and "boing" in repairs and are praying it will all wash out in the end.

I am probably a little tightly wound to be baking on the beach right now...but the downtime for the kids is needed and a joy to watch. They have been body surfing and boogie boarding for hours each day. I have a stack of books waiting to be read and we are finally getting our heads around life. We are missing Turkey terribly and are looking forward to being back in Kazasker with our Istanbulu kin.

More later....for now we gotta give our dermatologist something to freak out about.

I am amazed you are still sticking around...we haven't been home now for 4 months and are still on the road in the Midwest. Tonight....Mitchell, South Dakota.
We will finally be moving into a house this coming week...back to the same haunts as our last cycle at home. We are driving the baristas at Starbucks batty (where is Dutch Bros. when you need 'em?)....they (SB) are rebelling against our 8 shots of espresso we order in our Coffees of the Day, good help is SO hard to find.
Back to LA and normal life just as fast as we can scoot thru the Midwest, Wyoming mountains and then down the 15 to home.
Thanks for staying around...we promise that more of our award winning blogging will resume soon. Maybe.

My Buddy Rowing Across the Rogue

Thought I would give you a window on my view today from the deck of the Steward Outpost in Grants Pass. Hanging with my parents in Southern Oregon has been a great place to base out of the last few weeks. Today we took some time to swat skeeters and chill on the deck....using the time to bring you up to speed on the Steward Crew.
Out of the last 21 days we have had meetings on 17 of them. Supporters, sponsors and friends have taken time out of their lives to hear reports and stories of our one thousand and forty-something days of wandering Asia. Our schedule for the next two months is much of the same...Oregon to SoCal, on to Iowa, Missouri, Ohio and back to SoCal.Oregon's Amazing Coast
The last few days we were able to carve out a slice to spend a day or two traveling between meetings on the Oregon Coast and then yesterday to have our buddies D&J take us down the Rogue River and hang out, decompress and try to clear our heads. My buddy rowed across the Rogue and then they fed, tended and forced us to rest for the day before rowing us back to civilization. First day in many that we had a chance to chill....its good to have friends.
Our equipment list for our return to Istanbul is growing and we are fully booked for fall of 2010's Silk Road Expeditions. If you want to book a date to get together and chat...holler. We would love to hang with you for a bit before we return to the far side of the worldView from the Steward Outpost

A SoCal View from my Window
Wow!.....I am surprised you are still checking in with us. Yep...we know who you are and appreciate the several thousand times a month that you stop by to peruse our thoughts and mental meanderings as we wove our way across the fabric of Asia...and are now crisscrossing our memleket....our own little edge of SoCal.
Since missing a crash landing by moments on February 24th as we headed from Istanbul to LAX we have been to the Midwest twice, the northwest once and up and down California on almost a daily basis. In fact this last week has been the first time since touchdown that we have stayed at home for more than two days in a row.Benedict Castle, Our Temporary Digs

We are missing our Istanbulu family terribly, we talk almost daily via Skype and have been keeping up with the stuff of life in Kazasker. Yesterday a pipe ruptured in our Istanbul flat and the whole building came to the rescue to stop the leak and repair the damage.
The coming days have us in central California and south to San Diego County and then off for a few weeks in Oregon and Washington spreading a little love and our passion for the people and culture of Central Eurasia.
We still have a few mid-week evenings free on our calendar if you want to hook up before we head back to Istanbul in 2010. Holler....we would love to hook up.

Eating Our Way thru the Midwest

Stanley Helping with Chores in Ohio


Life is still whizzing past us as we get down to the business of visiting family and friends in the states. After we arrived 5 weeks ago we hit the ground running. First to Los Angeles then on to Grants Pass, Oregon, Seattle, and then to LA again. A few days later we were in the desert near the California/Arizona border and for the past 5 days we have been in northeastern Ohio hanging with the Amish and Mennonites and have been force-fed more meat and potatoes in the last few days than we have eaten in the past few years.
We will get back on the ball in the next few days and bring you up to speed on our little vacation in the states. Stanley and Elle are in heaven and enjoying the call of the wild as we live, travel and eat our way thru rural Ohio.

Wrapping Up Life in Turkey

Kazasker Camii

We are down to the wire with just 7 hours before we leave for the states. This last week has whooshed by with a never ending stream of food, invitations to çay, and visiting with the locals.
Today we are covering all the furniture with sheets and emptying the fridge, cupboards and samovars and things are just weird with so much of our life in flux.Stanley with Metin Bey and our Imam

Stanley and I went to our last prayer at our local Mosque and spent the afternoon saying goodbye to all the friends on our street. Ann and Elle are visiting the women in our building and even now the doorbell is ringing.It just Keeps Coming

It will be a few days before we have any wireless service in the states...as soon as we are up and running we will let you know.

Sins of the Gulttonous

Murat & Samet...Masters at Work

The battle to keep the weight off has opened up a new front as more dinners and teas are on schedule as our departure approaches. Our last update had us heading upstairs to Murat Bey's home for homemade çiğ köfte, patlican (egg plant) and kebaps.
Stanley and I tried to help out with massaging the bulgar and ground sirloin but gave up after a quarter of an hour. Samet, Murat's son took the lead and continued to finesse the mixture of meat, spices, onion and peppers to a smooth consistency. Over an hour of work was needed before he announced it ready.Samet & Stan

Samet Takes the Lead

Following traditional Ottoman hospitality our plates were loaded for us and when they were too full to hold any more the food was placed in stacks on the table next to our plates...waiting patiently for their turn to be funneled into our distressed mid-sections.The First Course

We gave a valiant effort and were rewarded with Turkish coffee, followed by a Mastic pudding and Ice Cream, all washed down with a final set of scalding hot çay. While I was terribly uncomfortable with all we had to eat...it will go down as one of the most delicious meals I have ever eaten....simply an amazingly succulent mixture of flavors and spices.
The next morning Stanley asked if he could have the remainder of the Çiğ Köfte for breakfast. I am going to miss that kid.
Here it is 6 days later and my hands are still stained red and smelling of onion, spices and garlic...a morning scent-memory of the sins of the gluttonous.
In just a few hours we head upstairs again...this time to another neighbor's apartment for whatever their definition of a "light meal" is. May God help us all.

City of the World's Desire to City of Angels

Down to just 18 days till we leave the City of the World's Desire and land in Los Angeles...and things are going pretty smoothly with the transition. Much of it is easy because we are keeping the attitude that this move to the states is just a "trip".
We will keep our apartment, truck and the stuff of life in Istanbul. Plans are made to return for the month of July to visit our Istanbulu family and take care of tax payments and vehicle inspections.
Our permanent return to Istanbul is scheduled for January to March of 2010. The kids are already having separation anxiety issues with leaving Turkey...mainly with friends and food. Tomorrow evening, Murat Bey, our neighbor, (who makes the world's best Ciğ Köfte) is having us up for dinner and a crash course in how to make the spicy raw ground meet delicacy. It is a huge issue for Stanley who is famous in our neighborhood for his ability to eat the stuff in amazing quantities. He wanted to learn so he can make it while in LA.
Our calendar is still filling up...if you or your friends want us to visit your neighborhood to chat about the great nation of Turkey and the tribes and peoples who live along the ancient Silk Roads, send us a note...we would love to hang out with you and tell you the stories of life as we live, travel and wander on the far side of the world.

A Short Walk in the States....Insallah

We are just 3 weeks away from heading back to the states for a year. Our days are full of visiting, trying to figure out what "20 kilograms" per person of baggage merits making the list of things to take and trying to get in our last minute goodbyes.
We arrive in LA on February 24 and will spend the next month between LA, San Diego, Bakersfield, Grants Pass and Seattle. Our house in Brea will be open in June and then we can settle down and get back to the business of making some money to return to Turkey and visiting our family and friends.
Our return to Istanbul will hopefully be quick...we are keeping our flat and truck in the care of our Istanbulu family and have tentative plans to return in August to lead a tour and celebrate Ramazan with our neighbors. We are already missing Turkey and we haven't even left yet.
If you want to hook up with us while we are in the states give us a hoot...our calendar is filling fast. For more on the August tour head to Silk Road Expeditions.

Back in the Saddle

Shopping With Ercan & His Posse

Yep...we are back in the saddle and thanks to SRJ's comment we are now expected to produce something other than sympathy and whines for our vast contingency of 6. We arrived in Istanbul about 10 days ago and were immediately smothered in love and affection from our Istanbulu family and neighbors.
Since we had been away for 4 weeks we all needed to catch up and make up for the "visiting time" that we had lost. Our first few days our friends were inseparable, even to the point of hanging with us as we went grocery shopping to fill our empty cupboards.
Before we knew it New Year's Eve was upon us and we were expected to be at Levent's house for a celebration that started at 6pm and ended somewhere around 5am New Year's Day...we bailed about 3am after exhausting our Turkish and dancing skills.
New Year's Eve at Levent's

Things have now settled back to normal and we are grateful for the chance we had to turn our Turkish off and power down for a bit in the UK.
Now, we are busy preparing for our first trip to the states in almost 3 years and keeping up with our normal schedule of hanging with the locals. Yesterday we pounded out an agreement with our landlord that allows us a discount if we keep our Istanbul apartment while we are in the states for 2009...the neighbors said we needed to keep the apartment while away...otherwise, they worry we would never come back.
Even though things get pretty smothering...it kinda nice to be loved to death sometimes.Levent and His Anne

Walking Across Wales

With just a few days left before our return to Istanbul we are still spending our days wandering the dunes, beaches, hills and valleys of Wales. We have kept track of our rambles and in our few short weeks here we have walked or hiked over 80 miles...and yet I have managed to maintain my robust 12 stone frame with pub meals and roasted beef baps.
We are simply longing now for good Turkish food and the cheeses and olives of home. Thanks for letting us take some down time.

Welsh Report

My Babe, Navigator, Boss Lady

Just a few windows into our week...

Elle & Stanley at Dyfi Estuary


Furnace Falls

Elle at Bird Rock

The Summit of Craig y Aderin

Dysini Valley

Talyllyn

Merry Christmas

Hey thanks for the gift you are giving us this year! A whole month off from updating our blog....How did you know?
We are not yet halfway through our month in Wales and are spending our days hiking through the rain and sleet and getting lost in the mountains and hills.
We will keep you updated as whimsy dictates......

Welsh Christmas

The Rooftops of Coastal Wales

With Christmas fast approaching we Stewards are heading off to our ancestral homeland for our annual kilt refit.
I know that the holiday season in the states has some of you weary with its commercialism and cost...but when you live in our little corner of Istanbul it comes early every year.
With our first vacation in a year just 10 days away we are full of Christmas spirit, the decorations went up weeks ago and Bing and Bob have been singing their way through our flat and into the hallways of our building all week.
We will box up the Christmas decorations in a few days so our flat will be Christmas free when we return from a month in our little cottage in Wales.
Just a few pics from last year to fire up our daydreaming. Thanks for allowing us to bring the season into the mix a few weeks early.
Aberystwyth


Steward Christmas Hideaway

Vacation on the Horizon

Just a note from the frequently absent hippie posing as a writer....we are pretty whacked after a busy and difficult year. BUT....our annual get-away to Wales is just a few days away and excitement is in the air. This time a full month in our hidden cottage in the "suicidally desolate village" on the coast. Why is that good? No phone, no internet, no interruptions....just our crew of four and the Christmas Season.
We will get some updates to you within days and lay out our schedule for the rest of the year soon. The Steward Travel Organization thanks you for your loyal readership.