Festivus 2015

Happy Festivus for the rest'o'us everyone!

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Rucola - Rucola - Arugula - Rocket - Roka

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In the days before  Linnaeus things were easy for herb enthusiasts. If two herbs or spices looked and/or tasted the same, one would just add an adjective in front to make the distinction. It looks like radish, but it taste different? Call it horse radish. It tastes like Marjoram, but grows in the wild? Call it wild marjoram. This naming convention leads to many confusions to the modern food enthusiast, who suddenly, can taste items from across the globe in the convenience of  their supermarket alleys. One of my biggest confusions regards the bitter leaves of what I grew to know as "Roka" in Turkey. I'll try to clean this confusion with the help of Wikipedia and the great Carl Linnaeus. This is what I know as Roka in Turkish. Its species name is Eruca Satvia, and is known as Arugula or Rocket in the English-speaking world. In Italian its called the Rucola comune, i.e. the common rucola. I guess both Germans and Turks have taken the word from Italians. This on...
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PAOK-Besiktas and Turkey-Greece

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Our rivals Fenerbahce played PAOK in the European League Playoffs. Partly because of the rivalry with Fenerbahce, and partly because of the story that I've been hearing -but not able to confirm- that PAOK's founders included Greek Besiktas supporters from Istanbul there was a growing solidarity among fans of the two clubs. To the delight of PAOK and some Besiktas fans, PAOK eliminated Fenerbahce out of the Cup. I feel it was important to see that the passion for the colors or the emblem of the club -both clubs share Eagle as their emblem- could transcend nationalistic fervor kindled by the media on the both sides of the border. A similar feeling was to be felt in Ankara, where a handful of Greek supporters opened the banner above, in the Turkey-Greece game of the Basketball World Cup. This time to the delight of all Fenerbahce and Besiktas fans it was the red and white jerseys that came out victorious.
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The Sea Scent

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It is common for people living in two of the three major cities in Turkey that are on the cost, Izmir and Istanbul, to mock the other one, Ankara, just because the biggest body of water nearby is a 2km long 200 meter wide lake. From silly comments like "I can't imagine how it would be like to wake up without seeing the sea" to absurd arguments like it is impossible to "fall in love without being next to the sea", I've heard it all... I think they're all bullshit. I compare their situation with that of those people working in fragrance shops. Surrounded by stimulating scents of all sorts, I doubt if they can enjoy those fragrances when they go back home and smell them on their loved ones... Similarly, I can enjoy the mossy smell of the sea to the full extent, because I long for it for a year. It has some drawbacks too. This morning I woke up with this sweet smell in my mind, in another capital far far away from the sea, and I can't do anything about i...
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