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The cruel mockery of interstate signage.

This is my second day sitting in the office. We came home through Chicago, to Wisconsin (Julie's family), and then to South Dakota (my family). This amounted to a 26 hour adventure on America's interstate highway system. Eating was not easy, or pleasant.

In the office, there are lots of people coming in to welcome me back. 52 voice mails to listen to and 40 cm of mail. But it's nearly done now, I'm starting to work on things again.

I know you'll need it.

And then, America. Fiddlesticks. I'm just trying to avoid becoming too fat to walk. It's a sorry state of affairs over here. I'm not one to pull a band aid off slowly, or venture into a cold swimming pool one toe at a time. Same goes for 'easing' into a culture. None of that for me. I went directly to Costco to observe America in action. I grabbed a foot long hot dog and 20 oz of Coca Cola (imperial units seem crude unless you're stuffing yourself with factory food, then they are completely logical)  and walked around inspecting the contents of shopping carts, conducting my personal inquiry into over-consumption. Highlights, as I recall, were along the lines of: "Wow, that's really a lot of toilet paper! You'll be set for months. Such advanced planning in this country!"

It's all got me a little blue. To combat culture shock, I think I'll go buy a giant box of bad California wine and drown my sorrows with it and an entire season of 'True Blood', or some other  American TV show. Apparently skin and violence go a long ways towards curing whatever ails you.

Taking in some of the culture helps

In any case, I think I've adjusted to the culture. I'm even participating; buying all sorts of things I don't need. For instance,  I got a smart phone. My smart phone is so smart, it's writing this blog. Moreover, we've got a lot of stuff to buy in America. And, it's pretty cheap. Participating is hard to avoid after a year of austerity, I can see my elbow through the taters of my long sleeve shirts. Still, I can't help feel a little exploited every time I swipe that piece of plastic. I bought a little piece of joy in South Africa, and I haven't found that on the shelves anywhere in America.

Consumerism aside, it's nice here in Montana; cool in the mornings, and warm in the afternoons. People are friendly, and it's quiet. I've continued jogging a little, and feel like a real activist riding my bike to commute and get groceries. Our kids wander off to who knows where, and I don't worry. There are plenty of clever, well traveled, well read, moderate, and healthy people.The stereotypical fat, ill informed, and angry America isn't so hard to avoid. It's funny, but when everyone overseas asks you about the ugly American, you begin to expect it yourself. As long as I don't study the newspapers too closely, or modulate the amplitude of radio waves, I don't know it exists at all. Our home is comfortable, and we were missed by our neighbors and co-workers. I'm always delighted to encounter something that I'd forgotten that I like, and occasionally shocked to encounter something I'd forgotten that I don't like. As a rule, these 'somethings' are people and not things. On the balance, its a pretty good place to come back to. I'm happy to be here.

Civillization

Temple of Hadrian, conqueror of the Brits.

I thought I'd begin this blog with the idea that we've just left one of the youngest civilizations, sub-Saharan Africa, and traveled to the world's oldest, Turkey. Before getting too far, I thought I'd better check something; civilization has the following definition (Oxford English Dictionary):

the stage of human social development and organization that is considered most advanced.

Entering the Blue Mosque.

Wow, I suppose this post is in trouble already, especially if I have to tackle  'considered most advanced'. Considered by whom? I think Montana may have just lost its status as civilization. In any case, I'm going to use it as a starting point; this big transition,  from Africa to Turkey. I'm saying it is big because in one case history is solid, hewn from marble. In the other history is ephemeral, and has been lost to the environment. I think that's fair to say.

Hagia Sophia

Given the large transition, have I gained any special insights? Well, Turkey is fantastic. It boggles the mind that some of these marvels of engineering and architecture are more than 2000 years old. And they are everywhere, setting the stage for modern living. When I think about this in relation to Africa (or the US), I have to ask why it is that nothing significant in terms of civilization emerged there. I should be careful though. There is the great Zimbabwe, and Ashante civilization has a long and complex history. Nevertheless, the general lack of documented civilization in Africa is probably worth considering as we try to understand our differences.

Zapiro lampoons Zuma's AIDS prevention method; showering.

I don't forget that people were living like animals in Northern Europe through most of the early Roman Empire. I suppose my ancestors would have been in their company; drinking from skulls, rubbing animal fat on their bodies, burning witches, whacking each other over the head...

So, who knows, maybe Zuma and company are building a new civilization in a circuitous way. These things don't happen overnight. Speaking of Zuma, I sure miss the news from South Africa. So much more entertaining that our loss of 'AAA credit rating'. Or the Iowa straw poll. Why can't we Americans have a president with a shower coming out of his head?

Once the third largest library in the world.

I should comment on visiting a stable, secular, progressive, economically viable Islamic democracy. There aren't really any others like it, but there has been all sorts of change in the Islamic world this year. I suppose my hope is that Turkey can demonstrate the way forward in these parts of the world. But I'm pretty ignorant about these things. There must be a million reasons that a government like Turkey's would never work in say, Egypt. Tribes, money, resources, education, etc. etc. But too bad, Turkey really seems to work well.

Hurray for Turkey!