Bodrum Day Two

After the french fry fiasco the previous night, I was a little wary of the plans for the day: take a boat cruise. Because the boats leave between 9 and 10, I was dragged out of bed at 7:30, so we could make the trip down to the docks on time. Not wanting to have a bad stomach on the water, I ate lots of bread for breakfast. We took a dolmus down to Bodrum and walked down to the marina. There are several boats belonging to a cooperative that you can buy a seat on. It cost 25YTL for a 8 hour ride, which I thought was a deal. We walked down the marina towards where the boats were moored and were told that the first boat leaving was full. We waited until a second boat started taking passengers and placed our things on board. While waiting for it to depart, we got Cay at a cafe across the street. It ended up being the worst tea we had ever tasted. Oh well, at least I was able to get this photo...

So, here is how the boat trips work. The cruise lasts about 8 hours during which there are 5 stops for about 30-45 minutes each for swimming. At each stop, there is a feature that is fun or interesting about it. The first stop, named the aquarium, has inredibly clear water for it's about 50ft depth. Fish normally are swimming about but not the day we visited, or so I was told. I didn't enter the water until the second stop, bceause of my fear of swimming in anything but pools.

At the second stop, we moored up to a dock which has been built to shelter a cave who's mud is supposed to contain some sort of purifying qualities. Not being the type of person that likes rubbing random mud on them self, I decided to go swimming with Canan. We walked over the rocks and crawled in. The water was really warm in parts. The water temperature gradients in pools, lakes, and oceans have always fascinated me. You can swim a few feet and the temperature changes a good 5-10 degrees F. Anyways, at this point I decided to look underwater with my eyes open, and ended up losing my contacts. It was ok since I can see pretty well without them anyways. We climbed back in the boat and laid out on the top deck to dry off and tan.

The third stop features a deep hole that is supposed to have been made by a meteor. I'm pretty sure this isn't true, but I found it entertaining none the less. I hope in and swam around. This time I had snagged the goggles that Mert had brought along. We swam out to the hole, which is located right next to a cliff that you can climb. At the moment, there weren't any jumpers, but a group later managed to climb up there and a few of them jump off after much yelling and encouragement. The hole is interesting because near the edge, the water is only about 3 feet deep, and then plunges about 200 feet. I dove down to examine the sides of it. I was rewarded by seeing many silvery yet striped fish and a sea urchin. I had never seen one of these outside of an aquarium. It was a deep shade of burgundy. I swan back to the boat where I found lunch waiting for me.

Because of the giardia, I had brought along some of the simit we has bought the day before to eat for lunch. They ended up serving grilled chicken, with pasta and salad along with bread. I felt that since the chicken was plain that I should be able to eat it with the bread. After several helpings of bread (by stealing Canan's) the chicken was all gone, and I felt refreshed.

After laying out in the sun for a bit, we arrive at the fourth stop which was located on a narrow shelf before the bottom dropped off into the channel. Our cruise was actually between a long island and the Bodrum coast. The channel was probably pretty deep, making these shelves ideal places to swim with fish because of the clear water. We played around for a while before I climbed out. Onur wanted a picture of him and Canan, so I decided to jump in so we could take a group photo. The other Canan had some along, so she decided to take the picture for us.

The fifth stop made me laugh. The name of the location was Bunny Island. Now the first thing I thought of (which probably isn't a surprise to those who know me) was Playboy Bunnies. :) When I asked about this, everyone thought it was hilarious. We have no idea why it's called Bunny Island other than maybe there is a large bunny population, but we didn't see any. At the other stops, the bottom had been mostly rocky with maybe a little sand. At Bunny Island, the bottom was covered with bunches of long grass. It kinda creeped me out a little, but I found it fun trying to pick out the fish that were living amongst it.

After climbing back into the boat, we headed back to Bodrum. We got back around 6pm to the dock. The sun hadn't started to set yet, but the lighting on a lot of the boats was stunning. I was able to capture the following photograph of a sailboat, which I think might be one of my best ones yet.

Upon reaching the docks, we set out in search of a birthday cake for Canan, as it was her birthday. After much searching, we ended up going back to the bakery we had been at the day before. Exhausted, we took the dolmus back to the house. Canan's family's house was relatively close by, so she went home to shower while we made dinner. She came back later to celebrate the other Canan's birthday. Sorry, I know all the talk of Canan is probably pretty confusing. What makes it worse is that they are both now blonde. I ended up falling asleep sitting up after having my dinner of bread and water. They sent me to bed and I fell instantly asleep. It had probably been one of the best days I have had all summer.

Bus Trip and Day One in Bodrum

On Tuesday of last week, Mert and Canan convinced me to go stay with them in Bodrum even though I wasn't getting better. I reluctantly agreed, knowing that I would be seeing the doctor only a few hours before leaving. Fortunately, everything turned out alright though. The best way to get to Bodrum is a 12 hour bus ride. The buses here are different that Greyhound which are normally old and cramped. Here they use charter style buses, and the experience is more like one you would have on an airplane. On every bus there is a driver and a steward. The steward comes around, just like an airline steward, and bring water, drinks, and snacks. You can even get ice cream if you want. The bus terminal becomes crowed around the top and bottom of every hour, as the buses leave every thirty minutes. You can see families waving good bye as the buses back out of their spots and depart. It's a scene that's missing in airports these days.

I was able to sleep for most of the 12 hour ride. That is, after I finished writing an abstract that was due that Monday. The seats are pretty comfy but still aren't great for sleeping. With my weight loss, the padding on my butt has gone away making it harder to sit for longer time spans. Having left at 9:30pm, we made stops at 1am and 3am. These stops are at places that resemble truck stops in the US. There is always a cafe and a few stores. Most of the time, there is a candy shop with lots of yummy stuff to buy.

I arrived at the Bodrum Otogar (bus station) at around 8am. Canan and Mert couldn't come pick me up for atleast an hour, so I got some Cay and sat down to proof my abstract. They arrived by dolmus about an hour later, and we headed down to the water after putting my bag in let luggage. Bodrum is a small town of around 30K during the winter but explodes to a population of close to a million during the winter. There are several developments of summer houses strewn on top of many of the hills overlooking the bays near the town. It is a resort town that is popular with Turks and Russians. Everyone there speaks English which made everything easier. Near the water is a marketplace with probably close to a hundred shops. Each is selling some sort of knock-off clothing, bags, or accessories or jewelry. The one trick to shopping here though is looking like a local, or atleast a Turk. If you let on that you're a tourist the price instantly goes up. When we bought me a swimsuit, Canan had me say nothing until they gave us a price. :) I even added a good "Evet" or Yes for good effect when she asked if I liked it.

There is one shop that is very much worth seeing. There is a bakery that has been located there with 1876 and is very famous. They had all sorts of breads and desserts. We ended up buying a birthday cake for Canan there the next day. Because of the giardia, I could only eat bread, so we got some simit(pronounced see-meet), which is the ring shaped bread covered in sesame seeds that I used to have for breakfast when I first got here. They got some other breads for breakfast, and we headed back to the otogar.

We got back to Mert's house, and everyone started making breakfast. It included cheese, sausage from the night before, cucumber, tomatoes, olives, and bread. This is the typical Turkish breakfast. A lot of times they also have hard boiled eggs as well. We out everything out on the porch table to eat our breakfast with an view...

Amazing?!? Yes, that's what I thought too. After breakfast, I got settled and changed into my new swim suit to head down to the beach. We headed down to the beach to swim around and sunbathe. The other Canan joined us after a while, and then we went to the small cafe located on the beach for some sodas and for Canan and Mert to play backgammon. As Football is the national sport, backgammon is the national game of Turkey. You can find people everywhere playing it over cay. We lounged around for about an hour, and then Canan wanted to head back into the water while the other one had to rejoin her family for a volleyball game on another beach.

Getting tired, I returned to the house to work on my abstract a little more. Needing to hook up to the internet, Canan, Mert and I headed down to another beach's cafe which was supposed to have internet. Unfortunately, their connection was down along with the rest of Bodrum for the weekend. I should have followed the first unwritten rule of the IREE program, always let your advisor know where you are at all times. When I got back on Monday, I had 6 emails from Valeria wondering where I was. Unknown to me, Yoshino had left for Capadoccia the day after I left, so she didn't have internet to tell Valeria where I was either. I had assumed I could get an internet connection in Bodrum, so I hadn't worried about it, but I will in the future.

We returned back to the house to make dinner. Well, we started snacking, and I ate some peanuts coated in sesame seeds that I had bought earlier in the day. I had got them in anticipation of feeling better, but since I had been feeling fine all day I decided to give them a try. I ended up eating half the bag, which was mistake number one... Mistake number two was thinking that since I was in charge of making the deep fried french fries, that I should taste them as well. Well, this just ended up making me camp out in the bathroom for 20 minutes. A word of the wise, don't over do it while you have giardia. Exhausted, I turned in for the night shortly after. I fell asleep listening to the waves. It was an amazing day...

Many Updates!

I'm sorry it has taken me so long to post an update. With tomorrow marking three weeks since getting giardia, I think you'll understand. I will be updating over the next few days, as I have finally ventured out of Ankara and got to see Bodrum, a resort town on the Aegean. There are photos already posted if you're interested on my Picasa site.

As bad of an experience as getting giardia has been, it has revealed to me a side of Turkey that a lot of people don't get to see, mainly it's medical infrastructure. Their system is loosely based on ours, using health insurance, but there are marked differences. The first being, you don't need a prescription for anti-biotics. There are definitely pluses and minuses to this system. The most negative effect being that people here take anti-biotics whenever they are sick with anything. They sometimes just skip the doctor and take a random anti-biotic that they were given for prior illnesses. On the other hand, these anti-biotics are really cheap. Cipro is 3YTL ($2.40) for a pack of 20 pills. The second is the difference between state and private health care facilities. The hospital that I went to when I first contracted giardia was one that is run by the government. It's facilities were not as clean, and doctors were much fewer and far between. When I didn't get better, I went to the health center here on campus. All students are able to get health care here at and minimal cost of .8YTL per visit. If you are an undergrad, it is free as health coverage is provided as part of tuition. They have their own microbiology lab here on campus which provided the necessary tests for me for free. If I had been in the US, I would have had to pay at least $200 dollars and that's with health insurance. Here, I haven't had to show anything but my student ID and over all it has cost me maybe 100YTL ($80) without ever showing any insurance information. I was able to find a doctor here that speaks english which helps a lot. And today, I finally started eating foods other than bread and potatoes without any problems. I have been put on a new medication who's generic name is Ornidazol. It's a newer drug not yet available in the US, but it seems to be from France and apparently working. After only eating bread for the past week, I am craving anything with flavor. Thankfully, Turkish food is known for that, but I'll have to ease in as most of it is very oily.

Everyone here has been amazing. It's a little weird having people ask you about the intimate details of your bowel movements, but I can't complain since they have been taking me to get my health checkups and translating when necessary. Canan even brought me to her house two Saturdays ago to take care of me when the first medication had completely worn me out. It was really comforting to eat home cooked food, however bland from lack of butter. I was able to lay on her couch and watch American TV. (I have discovered Men In Trees is my new favorite show.) Mert and Canan also insisted I go to Bodrum with them to take a break since I have been working like mad to get everything done. I'll post about that trip tomorrow as it will be long.

I guess the one good thing is that I weight less now... At 155 pounds, I am 60 pounds lighter than I was this time last year. 1/3 of that has happened since coming to Turkey. The first 10 pounds I have lost was due to the diet change and running on hills. Unfortunately, the last 10 comes from not eating a whole lot. I tried running a few days ago realized how much stamina I have lost due to lack of my normal caloric intake. Now that I think I am getting better, it'll be nice to eat good tasting food and again start running at full power. Anyways, I need to crash as I worked for 12 hours today and have to tomorrow as well.

33 YTL

If you were wondering how much it cost me for the Emergency Room visit, then that would be your answer. Yes, I know I was astounded too. I really want to go on a rant about how America's health care system is horrible, but I will refrain.

I finally found out what they gave me. One of the medications is Flagyl or generically called Metronidazol. Well after looking it up on WebMD, it seems that a lot of people are having a crappy time on it as I am having. Basically the cause of my symptoms from the other night are now being caused by the cure. Well, thankfully I have only one more day on it. The other is called Reflor or generically called Saccharomyces boulardii which is a yeast used to fight diarrhea.

It looks like this weekend I'll be going to Sofranbolu with Yoshino. More details to follow...

Just when I started to yearn for home...

After getting what I think is gardia, I started to become really home sick. With none of the food here sounding remotely palatable let alone good, I really started to miss all the little things from home. Good beer, Mexican food, hamburgers, tap water, cucumbers only in select dishes, and many other things. Well at this point, I decided that I need to go to the mall and eat something from McDonalds. I figured that eating something synonymous with home would hopefully do the trick. Well, I was right. I went to the mall just off of campus called CEPA (pronounced jepa). It is one of the newest in the area, so it is really nice inside. I took the Dolmus out to the gate, and walked along the highway to get there (Yes, it's normal). I walked around a little before heading to the top floor where all the restaurants are located. I got in line and tried placing my order in Turkish, but saying I would like a number 4 is a little hard when you don't know what order the words are supposed to go in. Well, the girl spoke English, so it worked out just fine. Apparently Quarter Pounder is the same in Turkish as it is in English.

My food took a little while to prepare, but when I got it I noticed one significant difference. The burger is inside a styrofoam container. Remember how that used to be the case in the US? I took a taste of the french fries and they tasted exactly like at home. The crunchy oily goodness that are McDonalds fries. I am pretty sure any American could pick them out in a blind tasting test. The Quarter Pounder was equally as delicious. The burger tasted just like it always does. The bun was soft and packed with preservatives. The cheese is the fake American cheese that we have all come to associate with American fast food. And the meat is the unseasoned ground beef that we eat in the US. Now, those might not seem like weird comments to make about something that has caused me such joy, but considering that all meat here is heavily seasoned, the bread here super fresh, and the cheese here vastly different from what we have the US, it is really comforting to eat something with those attributes.

Carbon Black

I don't know if any of you noticed, but I haven't posted once about the research that I am doing. I have been thinking about it for a while, but there was always something far more fun to post about. So, I figure that it's about time to at least mention what I'm doing. As most, if not all, of you know, I work with carbon and glass fiber composite structures. More specifically, I use various methods (ultrasonic waves, electrical resistance, etc) to detect damage to these structures. My work here involves using electrical resistance to detect damage caused by objects impacting a composite panel. Previous attempts have just used the conductivity of the carbon fiber to detect this damage, but I decided to also incorporate the abilities of the group here at METU to also make the plastic matrix (the part that holds the fiber weave together) conductive to increase the resolution and resistivity change before and after impact. Also, making the plastic resistivity will also cause it to be around the percolation threshold, which means that the plastic is just barely conductive, making the resistivity very sensitive to any stretching of the plastic. Measuring this resistivity change, one can determine how much a airplane wing is experiencing during flight.

Right now there are two methods that involve carbon to make plastics conductive. The first being Carbon Black which is basically soot. Carbon Black is created by a variety of means, one of which is scraping the soot out of particular furnaces. The other method uses Carbon Nanotubes. These little guys have been hot stuff for the past 10 years or so. They were supposed to be the answer to creating the space elevator and a few other extravagant ideas.

Well, I started making Carbon Black (CB) and Polypropylene blends and measuring their conductivity. Well, working with CB is very messy as it sticks to everything. They have used surgical masks in the past to keep from breathing it in, but I found out that they don't work. (See picture...) After creating the blends, I was told that the CB I was using was of a far lesser quality than the one they used in their journal paper a few years ago. So, I will be starting with Carbon Nanotubes this next week. The ultimate goal is to train an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) how to determine the size and location of impact damage only using a series to resistivity measurements inside a sample. An ANN works on the principle of how we and other animals learn which is based on neuron transport and so forth. If anyone is interested you can read about it at Wikipedia. With any luck, I'll be able to create a conductive polymer carbon fiber composite by the end of the summer that is able to be used to detect damage with in it.

One great benefit is that the conductive matrix also makes the composite conductive enough that it should act as a Faraday cage. This is how aircraft (and cars) are protected at the moment from lightning strikes. When the lightning strikes, the electrons within the material move to cancel out the change in voltage causing the electric field within the structure to be zero, protecting the electrical instruments, aircraft structures, and the passengers inside. Present carbon and glass fiber structures in aircraft have copper meshes incorporated in them to act as the Faraday cage. This mesh would be replaced, save precious weight on the aircraft.

By conducting this summer research, it will be give me some new techniques to use on my thesis research. This work has also given me a clearer path on which thesis topic to pick. So far, it has been a good research experience.

Özcan's Bday

Özcan(pronounced Er-z-jon roughly =) ) just earned his PhD and will be leaving our group this next week. Thankfully, he was still here for us to celebrate his birthday. We had bought a cake for him on his actual birthday, but the janitor locked the break room before we could take the cake out of the refrigerator. To celebrate, we ended up going to Drunk for dinner. Sertan's wife and Damla's boyfriend, Emre, were able to join us. After a few pints, we all went home.

The next day, we were determined to celebrate with the cake. Actually, everyone else was worried the cake would go bad because they weren't sure how long the cake had been in the refrigerator at the store. So we all gathered in Damla's lab, and at my urging sang happy birthday to Özcan. The funny thing is that their version is somewhat inverted. They sing"

Happy Birthday Özcan,
Happy Birthday Özcan,
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to Özcan

Afterwards, we at the Banana-Chocolate cake and drank tea. It was a blast!