Nohutlu dürüm and a cup of ayran

Nohut are garbanzo beans (chick peas), and they make great filling for a dürüm (burrito-like sandwich). Ayran is the drink made from yogurt, salt, and water.

Stumbling into a Syrian refugee camp

Today I was walking through the village of Nizip. I saw what I thought was a very lively-looking market. The colors were very bright. There were lots of people. “I will definitely check that one out,” I thought to myself. As I walked in something seemed...

Descent to the Euphrates

This is the town of Birecik, a town of about 50,000 people about 60 kilometers east of Gaziantep.

A tree geek photo

Hi Dad, many of the orchards east of Gaziantep mix olive trees with pistachio trees. Most of the ones that do plant the two in alternating rows.

Today is for Justin Bagley

Justin is a friend of mine from Progressive International Corp (not the insurance company) in Seattle. Justin, sometimes I think of that trip we took to China for work in 2011. There’s a particular image from that trip that sticks out in my mind, of us having a...