Back in Turkey with fresher breath

I’m back in Istanbul now after a great trip to the States.  Here are some highlights:

• I had a wonderful time in Brooklyn catching up with my old friend Josh (we first met in elementary school).  He’s doing really interesting work managing curriculum and personnel at a new school in the Bronx.
• I hung out in Manhattan with the imam I got to know at ISAM this summer - he moved to the U.S. mid-October and has been having a very good experience so far.  He said that everyone told him Americans are cold and wouldn’t help if you asked directions, but so far he’s found the opposite to be true (and in New York City no less!).
• I attended an interesting conference on Islam in Turkey at Columbia University where I met some people whose work I’ve been reading for a while.
• Apple repaired the cracked top case on my MacBook (probably a design flaw - I know I’m not the only one) and replaced the melted power cord within a day - and at no cost.
• Josh and I saw the lead men and the next few hundred runners in the New York City marathon; the course passed within 100 feet of his apartment.
• I had lots of fun with great hosts in Princeton - Sofya and her son, and Pierre and Shirley.  I’m grateful for the hospitality and especially had fun doing magic tricks and playing games with Sofya’s son.
• I met with computer scientist David Blei to get help with a technique I want to use in my dissertation.  I sensed things were going to go well when I saw this picture posted outside his office, and indeed it was a very good meeting.
• I got lots of helpful feedback on my paper about god concepts in Diyanet sermons from everyone at the Cognitive and Textual Methods workshop run by my adviser.
• I got some items I’ve been wanting to buy, like a new digital camera and several books I couldn’t find in Turkey, and also stocked up on things that are either unavailable or too expensive in Turkey, like Clif Bars, Purell, and mouthwash (more than three gallons of it!).

I’ve got jet lag bad, but I expect it to pass by the weekend.  Tomorrow the mufti of Istanbul is hosting a seminar on sermon writing that I’ll be attending from about 9 AM - 1 PM…probably the worst hours for me to try to stay awake.