November 2011 Archives

The Phrygian Valley is full of rugged mountain scenery and wonderfully obscure monuments like this one, a rock-carved chamber tomb. Just don't trust the guy who wrote this chapter in Lonely Planet when he says there are Afyon-based tour companies willing to take you here. You're on your own! (We hired a taxi two days in a row, once from Eskişehir and then from Afyon--that seems to be the only feasible way to sightsee in this region.)

We don't know a whole heck of a lot about the Phrygians, but we do know they were Thracian seafarers who ventured into Anatolia (between 1200 and 800 B.C.) and conquered the Hittites, who inhabited the region at the time. What's left of their stonecarving (see third photo here) is pretty darned amazing. (You might say they had a thing for lions, but then so did the Hittites.)




The yazilikaya ("written rock") at Midas Sehri, associated with the king of legend. (The carvings date between the 8th and 6th centuries B.C.)

Below, photos from the circular walking route at the same site.
 






Next Turkey post: YARN 'N AMMO!

I seem to be making a habit of visiting Minnesota and Wisconsin in the autumn. This trip was even better than last year--not only did I get to spend QT with Jill, Sarah, and Maggie and her family, but I also got to meet my cousin, Brother John, who teaches Spanish at a Catholic boys' school, St. Lawrence.

Brother John's colleagues invited me to speak to the English and creative writing classes, which was TONS of fun. You would not believe how nice and friendly and polite these kids are. I may be a grown woman, but I'm still afraid of teenage boys--every time I pass a group of them on the street my inner 14-year-old whimpers oh no, they're going to make fun of me!--so you can imagine how surprised and delighted I was when boys kept coming up to me to shake my hand. "You must be the author! I'm so-and-so. Welcome to St. Lawrence! I'm looking forward to hearing your talk tomorrow."

Yup. Seriously.

The students came prepared with questions, so once I'd gotten the preliminaries out of the way (and shown them the engagement portrait that inspired Mary Modern, mentioning that Anna and Paul are Brother John's ancestors too) we spent the rest of each class period doing a Q&A. I think I'll answer some of them again here on the blog, since they're questions I get asked a lot. (How long does it take you to write a novel? How do you choose a point of view? Do you outline?)

I got to chat with several of the boys after class too, and they kept asking me for autographs (haha)--even on their jack-o-lantern!

Then I came home, and this was in the mail:

I opened the card, and literally gasped. I'm amazed they could fit this many signatures.

My experience at St. Lawrence really cemented my desire to teach. I don't know that I'll necessarily end up teaching creative writing at the high school level, but I can say for sure that I can't think of anything more rewarding than helping people discover and appreciate great literature while nurturing their own voices.

(You hear that, universe? I WANT TO TEACH!)