Greece: Crisis Averted?

During my most recent stint of travel, I had the opportunity to spend a day in Greece. While this country has not been in the news for a few weeks, I still feel it necessary to put in my two cents regarding the economic situation there. Admittedly, I was only there a small amount of time. However, I was immediately impressed upon my arrival at the contrast between the amount of private wealth in the area, and the obvious signs of a bankrupt government. Once you leave the old town of Rhodes, there is new construction everywhere. Many of the cars are luxury brands. On the other hand, almost all of the government run historical attractions on the island were closed until further notice. Many ancient ruins which are falling into unceremonious disrepair.
While the closed, dilapidated historical attractions did suggest the imminence of a debt crisis, it is important to remember that much of the private growth is being propped up by public spending. Any meaningful attempt at austerity would mean a great reduction in Greece' s standard of living. As a result, it is easy to see why there have been in the past, threats to recall any Greek member of Parliament who votes for such measures.
Since my visit, the Greek government did finally manage to obtain some agreement regarding austerity, in return for an EU relief package. However, it remains to be seen whether the government will follow through with their promise of responsible spending.
Even though an imminent debt crisis seems to have been averted for the time being, it has been my experience that people from euro zone countries have stopped trusting Greece, and in many cases the euro. Many either do not trust Greece to follow through on it's obligations, or have expressed regret that their country in the euro zone.
With the economic issues I had seen exemplified on the island of Rhodes still fresh in my head I left the Mediterranean for Krakow. Shortly after my arrival I found myself discussing the situation with a Slovak woman over dinner. "The dollar was so strong that we were happy to get the euro" she told me in Polish " Now Slovakia must pay for Greece's spending.

Traveling through Turkey

I am currently in Poland and it has been a while since I have had time to blog. So before I forget some of the things I did while in Turkey I think it best to write them down and post.

On the first day in Istanbul, I set out to see the Blue Mosque with my family. It was here that we got our first introduction to how creative pushy salesmen can be in Turkey. Upon entering the mosque we were immediately accosted by a carpet salesman. He told us something about the history of the place and then insisted multiple times that we buy one of his carpets, even after we outright refused. This type of behavior was a problem throughout most of Turkey. It was impossible to stop at a restaurant or souvenir shop without being accosted. They only other place where I have encountered this type of hard sales technique has been in China. In my opinion this method of advertising can backfire, as we made a point of going only to the few restaurants that did not hassle us.

After while in Istanbul we also toured Hagia Sophia and many of the other mosques in the Sultanahmet area, as well as the Topkapi Palace.

The next stop on the trip was Cappadocia. It was a rather quick change of pace going from the bustling city to the the contorted fairy chimneys of Goreme. In many ways the small town was the exact opposite of Istanbul. The locals realize the tourists are their livelihood, and treat them with general respect. Even pigeons, which are considered to be nuisances in most major cities, are prized in Cappadocia for their soil-enriching droppings. It was interesting to see the plethora of different kinds of tourists that pass through this part of central Turkey.

During the next part of the trip we traveled down the so-called Turkish Riviera, starting near the world heritage site of Ephesus. As a Catholic it was an amazing experience to go to holy sights, In this part of Turkey, including where St. John wrote his gospel, and the last residence of the Virgin Mary. We continued down the coast in searing heat, stopping to look at many ruins, to Bodrum, where we decided to go scuba diving. While the cargo plane we dove on was interesting, the reefs on the Turkish cost are rather dead, and thus don't attract many fish.

One of my favorite places on this trip was the small fishing village of Turunc, near Marmaris, a mess of a commercial tourist town. Turunc is popular with Polish and Russian tourists, so I had fun practicing with them while there. during this time we also spent a day on the Greek island of Rhodes. The old town was amazing. After having this experience I hope to go to Malta or some similar location.

From this point we continued south along the Mediterranean coast to Kas. While here we took a kayaking expedition over an ancient sunken city, one of the most interesting things I have ever done. The tour ended in a small, very undeveloped town. While the Lycian tombs in the area were interesting. one of the most amazing things I saw were the children stationed throughout the town, peddling various bracelets or articles of clothing. When someone was even remotely interested in the merchandise, other children who were previously on the other side of the town would quickly appear to compete for business. I have no idea how they know when someone they cannot see is interested in buying. Many of them also need a lesson in western business, as they seem to think that "getting there second" is a good selling point.

After a night in Antalya, we returned to Istanbul. There was an opera festival going on there. I decided to avail myself fully of the Turkish state opera's offerings. The first opera we saw was Rossini's "Mehmet the Second'. While the music was rather pedestrian, the spin that the Turkish opera put on it was quite impressive. The opera had the largest cast I have ever seen, complete with horses. The staging was unmatched insofar as sheer grandeur. I found the decision of the directors to stop the scored music, and have the Sultan make his entrance the way he actually would have, accompanied by the actual guard and band from the Topkapi palace, to be quite interesting. It was well the trouble to see this opera, in an outdoor amphitheater, during a rainy night. I also saw a Modern Turkish opera, in the Topkapi palace. It was interesting to see how the composer reconciled the conventions of western music composition with the technicalities of the Turkish language.

On our last day in Turkey, we found ourselves returning to the Blue Mosque. I found that after a month in this unique country. I looked upon it with greater appreciation.

At-A-Turk

About three years ago I spent some time working in the Maldives, an Islamic republic where alcohol is forbidden and dogs are banned from the entire country. So, on my first night in Turkey, another largely Muslim nation, I was supprised to find myself on a roof terrace admiring the Blue Mosque, sipping a glass of wine, while the puppy on the roof next door howled in harmony with the sounds of the call to prayer. During my time in Turkey I learned that I could have this experience in the Turkish republic thanks to the country's founder and first president, Ataturk.
Apparently Ataturk founded the republic with the vision of a secular Muslum nation with strong ties to the west. While this may seem like somthing of a contradiction in terms, in practice the country runs rather well. In general people seem to have the freedom to be as devout or as casual about religion as they choose. On the streets the result is clearly visible; women covered in burkhas or wearing hijabs brush elbows with women in western dress, and Biblical relics that are also revered by Christians are displayed in Topkapi Palace alongside artifacts of the Muslim faith.
That said, Turkey still has its Muslim priorities. Most of the beer for sale is made by Efes, a tightly held beer monopoly, and all other forms of alchohol are heavly taxed. There seems to be a priority in the entire country for restoring Islamic holy buldings, while letting Greco-Roman and Christian ruins fall to dust. UNESCO and other organizations have stepped in to help restore some of the more prominent Byzantine attractions such as Santa Sophia, this is not the norm in the entire country. In Goreme, an old woman even showed as a medieval church with decaying frescos, which was being unceremoniously used for grain storage. At first, I questioned the wisdom of this attitide, but then I remembered that many European countries from hungary to Spain, have been slow to restore mosques that were converted into churches.
I heard many Turks speak of their loyalty to the principles of Ataturk, the founder of the Turkish Republic. A hotel owner in Capadoccia told us that he made political decisions based on how much the polititians keep the country "on the way of Ataturk." It is also illegal to speak negatively of Turkey's first president in public. During the month I spent in the country I learned that this law is actually quite intelligent, as it seems to be in place with the aim of catching extremists and other dissenters before they can do violence. From what I observed, most of the country appears to genuinely respect Ataturk.
On our last day, in Turkey, we visited the bedroom where Ataturk died, at the early age of 57. When we asked the cause of his death, the tour guide simply told us that it was "too much smoking and drinking." There was no hint of malice in his voice.