[Expat] repatriation

Fri Jul 25 04:01:23 PDT 2008

I'm a super-lazy writer and when I do manage to string words together, I
usually blog them: www.inevitablebacklash.com

However. I'm in Turkey right now, travelling with Ozge. It is such an
incredible luxury to be travelling with someone who speaks the language and
understands the culture. Turks are very warm people but outside of Istanbul
there are few people I would have been able to communicate with on my own.

Ozge's depressed about the number of women she's seen in headscarves. She
thinks there are more than the last time she was here. She's been having
despairing conversations with other secular-minded Turks about it. I
didn't get her reaction at first, but basically there's a cultural war on
here, and she sees the headscarf as primarily a political statement, not a
simple religious preference. And if she sees a woman in a chador - well.

Also, the call to prayer would be more pleasant to listen to if it wasn't
amplified. Every minaret has a loudspeaker on it. Every one.

Apart from that: the treasures of half a dozen empires over the last 3000
years, fabulous food and drink, you know, that kind of stuff. Istanbul is
obviously one of the Great World Cities, and since I prefer cities to
beaches, Ozge had to drag me out. But I'll be back ...

Lukas

On 7/23/08, ken lynch <clothoid at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> mz kittenpantz has agreed to take the keys and allow me a backseat
> spot on this little traveling circus.  yeah!  so i'm happy that this
> little list will move forward, with us all in tow.
>
> lukas, we expect some updates from you, as i'm _sure_ they're quite
> interesting.  allow this list to let us travel with you.  same for
> everyone else here!
>
> of course, i'm in my heart, still and am always a traveler.  that
> archetype has an uncanny ability to dodge bullets shot at him, even if
> the trigger is pulled with my own finger.  but this part of my soul is
> just going to hang out in sf fantasy land for a while as his cacao
> crops grow just on the other side of some high himalayan border.
> lucas passed a mere 100 miles from those planted secret seeds, on that
> other side.  perhaps the next person to pass that way can sneak some
> harvest back to me?  i'll encrypt the coordinates for you to find that
> hidden, still unspoiled, place.  even if it's just somewhere found in
> your mind.
>
> love,
> ken
>
> On Mon, Jul 21, 2008 at 9:26 AM, judit <jpungor at gmail.com> wrote:
> > greetings my fellow wanderers, well-timedly from a small cafe in baja
> sur.
> >
> > maybe it's just the itching of the sand still between my toes, or the sun
> > still scorching my shoulders going to my head, but reading this made me
> cry
> > no no no!
> >
> > perhaps your days of flight are paused for the moment ken, and perhaps
> you
> > want to leave this list. while i feel that expats will sorely lack
> without
> > your insane waxings, i still don't think it should die! i, at least,
> think
> > of it often on my travelings, and have actually had some musings as to
> how
> > it might expand (perhaps in a more wiki-based less inbox-filling
> reference
> > kinda way).
> >
> > if people were wanting to see it continue, i would be happy to moderate.
> >
> > keep the spirit alive!
> >
> > corazones!
> > j
> >
> > On Wed, Jul 16, 2008 at 10:31 PM, ken lynch <clothoid at gmail.com> wrote:
> >>
> >> Dear Expats,
> >>
> >> As my expat days run dear, and I contemplate my repatriation, I
> >> wonder, what has been the use of this low traffic list?
> >>
> >> For me, as a marker for identity, and the knowledge that I've a few
> >> friends that stand with me no matter where I set foot, this list has
> >> been great.  And I'll always stand with you, no matter where you
> >> wander.
> >>
> >> But alas, the time was not ripe to set down a colony of our making on
> >> this other side of the globe.  Where ever I've been able to penetrate
> >> a baroo flag, I've found the soil perhaps too salted by bank loans to
> >> make it our own sovereign territory.  But more, my personal land of
> >> dreams (the grand himalaya) offers no safe longterm refuge for those
> >> not conforming to the ethnic nationalism that rages in our still
> >> historic times.  As a guest, I'm treated as God, but as a homesteader,
> >> viewed with both jealousy and suspicion.  Perhaps in a not so distant
> >> future, in another land, we can give it another try.  If this were the
> >> only chance to find a home in a far distant land, there's no way I'd
> >> have given up so easily.
> >>
> >> No matter.  For me, these years abroad have been of service, as
> >> perhaps you can judge from my sporadic though very long travel emails.
> >>  Ripping at these political borders, I've been able to uncover and
> >> travel down roads that lead more deeply into my soul, finding profit.
> >> as ken the expat, it's been essential for my understanding of self,
> >> and hope that your identification with it has helpful to you as well.
> >>
> >> To the issue of collective identity, one thing does seem clear to me:
> >> if one is to reject nationalism and ethnicism, you must fill this
> >> vacuum with something.  As we continue to struggle with these issues,
> >> solving the troubles with these ideas, one thing has become blazingly
> >> clear.  We are not just travelers.  When I look at you, (Eric, Jordon,
> >> Judit, Alison, et al), I see heroes.  Part of being a hero is that you
> >> must make this journey into the outer unknown, beyond the borders.
> >> some parts of this journey, you must make alone.
> >>
> >> I've chocolate brewing.  A secret smuggling society may emerge sooner
> >> rather then later, hellbent on poking holes in the normal day to day
> >> reality of dominant political-economics.  Ah this is sweet!  And
> >> dangerous!  Perhaps you're interested in building this fantastical
> >> imagined community with me?  let me know.  for now, kamakazi! And
> >> retirement.  I'm leaving this list.  Do you want to take over as
> >> mediator?  If not, I'm putting her down.  To be reincarnated when
> >> appropriate.
> >>
> >> With love,
> >> ken
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> --
> >> -- She who protects Nature will rule Humanity.
> >>
> >> clothoid.blogspot.com
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> expat mailing list
> >> expat at lists.false-profit.com
> >> http://lists.false-profit.com/mailman/listinfo/expat
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> >><((((º>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·...¸><((((º> .·´¯`·.¸. , . .·´¯`·..
> >> ><((((º>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·...¸><((((º>
>
>
>
> --
> -- She who protects Nature will rule Humanity.
>
> clothoid.blogspot.com
> _______________________________________________
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>
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