4th Annual Holiday Trip Part 2--Cave Dwellings and Military Visits

Destination two of our holiday trip was the Turkish region of Cappadocia. Cappadocia has the most unique landscape I have ever seen. Due to two volcanic eruptions in the region, the dwellings are made out of tuffa—volcanic rock.
We flew into the snow filled city Izmir and took a bus to our hotel in the little town of Goreme. The Kelebek Hotel is literally comprised of caves. It was beautiful.
I felt like I was in a ski bungalow yet the scenery was even more beautiful then I could imagine. Our room had a wooden door with two two-by-fours for a lock. There was no phone or television in the room which forced community in the lounge upstairs. The first night we were there, I inquired about “wake up calls.” Instead of calling the Kelebek staff came to our door and knocked. Too funny.

The first day we headed to the Open Air Museum. The Open Air Museum highlights the remains of Hittite civilization.

The home dwellings all made out of the tuffa looked like caves with large angular domes on top. Inside the dwellings were remnants of kitchens and inhabitants. As we walked through the city I was amazed to see that the churches still had frescos
on the ceilings and walls depicting different biblical stories.

After walking through the Open Air Museum we headed down to the heart of the city of Goreme. Because of the snow the city was pretty quiet. We went to several souvenir shops and sent postcards back to the States. We walked past the Turkish Army office on our way back through the city. All of a sudden one of the officers poked his head out of the office and said to my dad, “Excuse me sir. Our commander would like to have a word with you.” Fear washed across all of our faces. My dad said, “Ok” and headed into the office. Right before he entered my dad turned to Rochelle, Laura, and me who were all standing dead in our tracks and said, “Come on ladies.” I thought to myself, no!!! Oh Jeffrey (my dad’s name). Unlike the United States, the military and police walk around with machine guns. It takes a little while to get used to that idea in general. Even more awkward is having your presence requested by a commander in the Turkish army...

But we followed my dad into the office. The commander had us sit down and they asked us how we were enjoying our time in Goreme. We all answered with his questions positively. Laura asked the commander if we could take a picture with them, and they obliged. The pictures broke the ice thank goodness. As we posed for the picture, one of the officers put his beret on my head.
By now we were all laughing. The officers simply wanted to chat with guests in their town...nothing to fear. We had a wonderful meal in the town and then walked up the hill to our cave hotel. Our next day would be a tour of the entire region...

4th Annual Holiday Trip Part 2--Hagia Sophia & The Grand Bazaar

After the Topkapi Palace, Rochelle, Dad, Laura, and I headed to the Hagia Sophia. The Hagia Sophia will likely be crowned one of the new Seven Wonders of the World this summer. The building is significant because it was originally a Christian church that was converted into a mosque during the Turkish conquest.
Rather than destroying the Christian mosaics and symbols, the Turks simply plastered over them—preserving them. As we walked through the Hagia Sophia, which was enormous, it was amazing to see Islamic and Christian symbols side by side. There were also pictures of U.S. Presidents and other heads of states visiting the Hagia Sophia.

We walked through the rain over to one of the most prominent landmarks in Istanbul, the Blue Mosque. Unlike the Hagia Sophia which is now a museum, the Blue Mosque is a mosque that Muslims currently use. As a result, as portion of the mosque is open to tourists. The inside of the mosque was a gigantic open room with a large dome. The architecture was truly impressive but I felt like I might be intruding on those who were worshipping in the mosque.



After the Blue Mosque, we changed our pace and headed to the Grand Bazaar—the world’s largest market. The Grand Bazaar has over 1000 stores that carry shoes, clothes, leather goods, jewelry, spices, souvenirs, and more. It was literally a maze in there. A person could get lost in the Grand Bazaar in no time flat. Bargaining is the name of the game at the Grand Bazaar. Rochelle, Laura, and I were enjoying the shopping experience. My dad on the other hand, was not a fan. Eventually we let dad go back to the hotel so we could do take our time shopping. Our time in Istanbul was great, but it was time to head to our next stop: the region of Cappadocia…

4th Annual Holiday Trip; Part I --Istanbul

In late December my father, little sister Rochelle, and family friend Laura embarked on our fourth annual holiday trip. Four years ago my father decided he was tired of the commercialism of Christmas. And so dad planned on an Australian holiday. Why Australia? Because Australia equals cricket, and every Trinidadian appreciates cricket. Australia just happens to have the best cricket team around right now. But due to some technical difficulties and the great distance between Arizona and Australia, we ended up in London that Christmas. With the intent of going to Australia every year, we have now been to London, Italy, and Greece. This year, we headed to Turkey and Egypt (neither of which is Australia, but both are special in their own right.)

When I told my friends that I was headed to Turkey and Egypt, they were alarmed at the prospect given the current social climate. I must admit that their concern made me a little nervous about spending Christmas and New Year’s in two Islamic countries. But I was ready for the experience.

Rochelle and I flew home to Arizona from Nashville and Austin, and two days later headed out. (Fortunately, I was released from my jury duty obligation.) We flew to Turkey on British Airways through Heathrow. When we arrived to Turkey it was late at night. We were picked up by the Apricot Hotel shuttle and headed to our hotel. At the Apricot, we were introduced to the Turkish delicacy, Apple Tea. Now I call it a Turkish delicacy, but I learned that no one drinks it but the tourists. Sigh. Apple Tea is like unsweetened apple cider. It is served all day long and it tastes divine!


From my hotel room I could see the Blue Mosque, one of Istanbul’s greatest sites. This was the first time I had seen a mosque up close. We woke up the next morning and enjoyed a homemade breakfast at the hotel. Then we set out to see the sites: Topkapi Palace, Aya Sofia, and the Blue Mosque.


Topkapi Palace is now a museum with amazing relics including thrones, gold and jewel encrusted items, and Islamic artifacts. As we walked through the palace and learned about the former sultans, I was surprised to learn that Topkapi Palace holds John the Baptist’s hand and Moses’ staff. The staff was not on display, but John the Baptist’s hand was… It was in that moment that I realized the amount of history in Turkey.

There were many school children touring the Topkapi at the same time. The children were more interested with my family then the history—they waved, said hello, and took pictures of us as we walked by. It was then that I realized there aren’t many black people in Turkey—we didn’t see more than ten during our entire trip.


Off to the Hagia Sophia . . .
-RXW

BET Hip Hop Awards--Part II

After enjoying the prevent festivities, the morning of the Hip Hop awards was work time. I had the honor of doing red carpet interviews for BET. I must admit I was nervous and excited about interviewing the artists because this was my first experience on the other side of the carpet. When I arrived I found my spot on the carpet: right after the print photographers and between MTV and CNN. I acclimated myself with my crew, got ready for the big event, and did a stand up (a quick and fun into for the footage, describing the event). As soon as the red carpet announcer announced the arrival of the first celebrity, I knew it was game time. As the celebrities walked the carpet with their publicist, BET handlers, and their entourage, the energy grew. Everyone on my side of the red rope was vying to get the biggest named talent to stop for a quick interview. My crew and I worked as a team to get our targeted celebrities over to the camera.

Soon, I could barely hear the celebrities I was interviewing. I interviewed TI, Ludacris, Jermaine Dupri, Busta Rhymes, Flava Flav and his girlfriend Delicious, Evander Holyfield and many more. With the recent death of Gerald Levert I asked the biggest names in hip hop about the legend’s passing, in addition to questions about the significance of the first annual Hip Hop Awards. I have to admit that my biggest personal treat for me was interviewing Keisha Knight Pulliam aka Rudy Huxtable. It was a treat to meet the actress who played Rudy; after all I grew up thinking I was Rudy from the Cosby show.

My experience at the BET Awards taught me a lot about interviewing. I am looking forward to getting out there again.

-RXW