Breakfast and Turkey..I was hungry.

This morning I was quiet hungry and I decided to look up Turkish foods and recipes. Mind you I am always hungry no matter what time of the day, but anyways I found quite a variety of food. Well, since it was in the morning I immediately was looking for breakfast foods first. The first thing I found was this type of bread called simit which is ring-shaped bread covered by sesame seeds. I suppose that everywhere in Turkey one can find it being sold since I found it was a popular kind of food. The next food I found was called gözleme, which is a kind of pancake that is often the basis for the light dinners at home. This food is generally served with spices, yogurt, and many more. As for coffee they really do not have coffee, but they have something like it called kahve. Historically kahve it was the Ottoman Empire that brought the coffee habit from its possession. All in all I was thinking just about food and not exactly coffee but more like a cappuccino and really wanted some breakfast food. I did find Turkish food interesting and appetizing. I really would like to visit Turkey and try the food one day.

A Great Movie

Hey there, I am a first time blogger and I probably would have never written one if we didn’t have to do it for class. Well anyway, I have recently seen the movie, Slumdog Millionaire. This was an excellent movie that probably goes on my top ten list of favorite movies. It takes place in India in the slums of Mumbai. To try not to ruin the plot, it is about an 18 year old orphan who gets the chance to be a contestant on the TV show, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. He is accused of cheating from doing well in the show. He then tells his journey which includes his brother and the girl he falls in love with. His experiences from his childhood and how he grew up helped him answer the questions. He falls in love with a girl and loses her and won’t stop till he finds her.

            The movie won 8 Academy Awards and I was glad the movie did so well. So, get out and go see the movie. You will not be disappointed. Here is the trailer from youtube, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIzbwV7on6Q. Hope you enjoy the movie.

Tuition

I was paying some bills and looking at my Saint Xavier University Tuition statement debating how I was going to be able to pay it off. Different payment plans entered thought, along with various methods of earning money which led me to the idea of selling myself to the University. I would think there is some way in which the University could utilize my talents so that I may work off my debt. Maybe I could be a concubine, just like in the Ottoman Empire, for one of the people in charge of the administration. If so, I would REALLY prefer to serve a female over a male. Hopefully I have a say in that decision.

I have to produce $4800 dollars and pay St. Xavier University so I may register for the up coming semester. I do not have loans, and I do not have grants. This is coming out of my pocket. Ouch! When I thought about it, SXU is running somewhat of an encomienda system. The Spanish Crown would entrust the conquistadors and soldiers with the responsibility of teaching the Indians in Spanish and Christianity. In return, the Indians would provide tribute. The Spanish settlers could not own the Indians, but they could own the land they lived and worked on. This led to the forced labor of the Indians. When you think about it, SXU is forcing labor out of me to pay them a “tribute” or as they call it a “tuition” for instructing me. They are entrusted with providing knowledge and faith to the students in return; the student has to pay a “tribute” or as the University calls it, “tuition”. So just like the Indians were fearful of what the Spaniards may do, I too am fearful of what SXU may do to my credit rating if I do not pay in a timely fashion. So I am forced to work as much as I can in order to pay this “tribute” so that I may register for further classes. Does anyone else feel this way?

The Kids Are Alright

Looking at today’s Tribune, I came across an article which talks about the upcoming election in India. It concentrated on the fact that the youth will play a part in the election with 51% of India’s 1.15 billion people younger than 25. That is a HUGE portion of the country and if you can get those votes, it could swing the election. I found it amusing that the likely incumbent running is a 76 year old named Manmohan Singh, who recently had heart surgery. And the man running against him is a 81 year old man named Lal Krishna Advani . Talk about geriatric politics. There is also Rahul Gandhi, a 38 year old, whose name has been mentioned, yet his party doesn’t think he’s ready yet. He is being sought out by the youth to run as he has a better handle on society, being that he is young. The youth vote was not what politicians targeted for so long, but Barack Obama took it into account, and it is a serious force to deal with now. You can say that these men have a lot of experience and that they understand the situation more, or that they have been subject to more corruption being in politics for so long. Either way, I don’t want an old man who is senile, who could fall ill at any moment, who doesn’t recognize change running the country. Neither do these kids in India, as they want someone that they can relate to. The article also states that Advani has a blog, where he talks about his party’s politics. (He at least embraces new technology) But it isn’t enough as you have to embrace the public, not bore them to death with lectures. A new generation is becoming more involved in the election process, and if politicians don’t change the way they present themselves, they most likely will end up losing.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-india-young_barkermar09,0,1049032.story

Genocide in Istanbul?

Today, I was looking on the New York Times website, and I came across something dealing with a genocide in Turkey from nearly a hundred years ago.  I’m not usually one who would jump at the opportunity to read about death, but I decided to look a little more into it.  Apparently, between 1915 and 1916, almost a million Ottoman Armenians living in Turkey happened to disappear from records.  This mass disappearance of people is not something that is not openly talked about in Turkey, and in the rare occasion it is mentioned, it leads to an unhappy populace.  Why you may ask is this happening?  A shared belief is that because such a huge number of people were involved in this mass genocide, people don’t want to talk, think, or hear about it because it is just too much to take in.

This is something that has been hidden from people for almost a hundred years, with no mention of this occurrence in books or anything, in the hopes of it being forgotten.  The article goes on to discuss people signing a petition to apologize for this happening.  This is where President Obama gets thrown into the mix.  He is supposed to be visiting Turkey within the next month, but the foreign minister told him he should not recognize this happening as genocide because it might hinder relations.  Who knows how many were actually killed or if it was a genocide or a deportation of Armenians.  People have different beliefs, and that’s the way it stands.

There is a little more in the article that goes into peoples’ thoughts and statistics. There is some hard evidence that leads only to a few possibilities. It’s a pretty good article, check it out, and see what you think.

Oh! By the way…
Hope everyone is having a few good days back from Spring Break.

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