Visit Turkey - Completed 5/30/09

A need for a last-minute vacation, lead Heather and I to plan a trip to Turkey while our good friend, Esra, would be there. We flew through Paris and had 7 hours to take the RER to Notre Dame and have a picnic on the Seine with my relatives.

We arrived in Istanbul on May 30th.

We stayed in Sultanahmet, the historic part of town, at the Hotel Nomade. This little hotel was fantastic. The staff was so kind and attentive and the breakfasts on the terrace with views of the city were divine.

We toured all of the historic sites. Heather, Esra, and

I are checking out the fabulous tiles in the Blue Mosque.

We then went to Hagia Sophia to admire the mosaics and the way Christians and Muslims used the same building as a place of worship.

We met Osge and Golam and

the famous cat, Glee, who was petted by Obama and has been a star ever since.

We visited Topkapi Palace, the Cistern Basilica, and other mosques and museums.

We also went to a lovely neighborhood called Ortakoy, right on the water with stores and cafes to try some Turkish Coffee at House Cafe.

Omer and Esra took us out to dinner and introduced us to Raki, the Turkish shot. You should always have your Raki with feta and melon. It tastes like liquid licorice. We also dined at Hamdi, where we tried all kinds of Turkish specialities while enjoying a view of the city.

We also put our vegetarianism on the side and tried Kofte, turkish meatballs at one of the most famous restaurants to get them, Tarihi Selim Usta Sultanahmet Koftecisi.

We also did some shopping and serious bargaining at the Grand Bazaar, a huge covered market where they sell everything from gold to turkish carpets.

We took one afternoon to have high tea at the Ciragan Palace (now a hotel) and pretend we were royalty.

Then we hopped a flight to Cappadocia, the eastern central plains region of Turkey. Where we stayed in a cave hotel called Elkep Evi in Urgup, carved right out of the rocks, overlooking the town.

We spent several days in the area, checking out restaurants, hiking

and touring the ancient cave homes, horseback riding, visiting a carpet

making factory and a pottery factory (where I tried my hand a

t the wheel), seeing a cultural show, and drinking Efes in the local bars in Goreme and Avanos.

We headed back to Istanbul for our last few days. We stayed in Beyoglu, right near Istiklal Caddesi, a pedestrian shopping and dining area, at a wonderful hotel called 5 Oda (which means 5 rooms). We found baklava at the fabulous and famous Karakoy Gulluoglu baklava store, went to the Spice Market to buy tons of turkish delight and other goodies, rode a ferry along the Bosphorous, walked up to Galata Tower and down to Taksim square, had wine at a posh club called 360, and partied and danced all night on Nevesade street. It was a wonderful vacation!

(Added to list: 11/22/05)

See the Grand Canyon - Completed 12/19/08

Over the holidays, my parents and I stayed in Flagstaff for a few nights and explored the area. We got to see the Grand Canyon with a light dusting of snow from the Southern Rim. It was beautiful! Next time, I need to come back in the springtime and do some hiking here. (Added to list: 11/22/05)

Try Parasailing - Completed 12/13/2008

I went to visit my parents in Thailand and spent a weekend at the beach. We decided to rent a boat and go out to Koh Lan, an island close to Pattaya, for the day. On the way we took a quick stop at a floating parasailing station. I climbed up on the platform and was immediately whisked into a harness, attached to a parasail, and one of the guys there said "run," so I ran! I really didn't need to, because the wind picked up very quickly and I went right up into the air. The flight was very quick...no more than 5 minutes...and then they gently dropped me back down on the platform. I was ready to land in the water, but they had this maneuver down to a science.

Check out the video to see what it was like:




Added to list: 11/22/06

Fly a Cessna Cardinal - Completed 9/7/08

My cool uncle, Tom Benenson, helped me make this one a reality. He owns a Cessna Cardinal and on a recent trip to NY, I was able to go flying with him and my dad. So we drove over to the Columbia County Airport in Hudson, New York.

First, I learned how to pull the plane out of the hangar and onto the runway. These airplanes, although small, still take some upper body strength to pull.

My dad got to be a back-seat pilot and my uncle was co-pilot.

I did get help with the take-off and landing, but got to do some turns, climbs, and descents. It was pretty darn cool! The hardest part was getting myself to stop focusing on and stressing out about the instrument panel. Once I focused on the horizon, I was able to loosen up a little and enjoy flying.

The view of the Hudson River from the airplane was spectacular.

Women Fly!

Go to Blues Alley in Georgetown - completed 6/25/08

Visited Blues Alley with my mom, brother, sister-in-law, and nephew. We heard the Redd Brothers perform jazz piano and vibraphone. Cool stuff!

That's me with my brother outside of Blues Alley!

Go to Trapeze School - Completed 5/30/08

I flew up to NY for a weekend with family and made plans with my cool cousin Katrina to go to Trapeze School. I was as little nervous and so glad to have a buddy to try this with. We spent the first 30 minutes getting an introduction to the basic "knee hang" technique on the ground on a low bar.

Our goal was to jump off the platform, holding the bar, swing forward, lift our legs up over the bar, drop our arms (hanging from our knees), then reach back up to the bar with our arms, drop our legs, and then let go to fall on our backs into the net.

We climbed up a very tall ladder to a tiny platform. The hardest part was jumping off the platform. But once you were swinging, the rest was much easier to do.

After doing this several times, they added the hard stuff - the catch! The goal was to let the other person "catch" you when you swung up and out with your legs. I came very close...but apparently gave him the slip.

This is my cool cousin Katrina with our instructors- Randy and Manny.

Go to a Georgia Tech Dance Association Event - Completed 4/25/08

My friend, Dave Taylor, came to visit for the weekend and we turned it into a weekend of dance. On Friday, we went to Georgia Tech's Student Center Ballroom for Lindy Hop lessons. Me met another friend, Kelly Holton, and her friend, Dave at the dance. There was a great turn-out and 4 lines of dance partners weaved back and forth across the ballroom. For the lesson, we had to switch partners to practice the moves. The men stayed where they were standing and the women, moved along the line. After the lesson, the Peachtree Jazz Edition began playing old 1930 and 1940 swing standards. The band was fantastic! We danced until close to midnight...and to preserve my feet, I took my shoes off and danced barefoot for the last couple of songs. The music, the warm and open atmosphere, and the fabulous setting were inspiring. Dave and I began inventing a new dance step. We haven't named it yet...but you'll see it out on the dance floor soon! Friday night was also the first time I'd seen "The Big Apple", which is a group dance that spun off of Lindy Hop. It was very cool and something to aspire to.

The Georgia Tech Dance Association sponsors a dance event every month...and I'm likely to keep going to others. Let me know if you'd like to join me.

Visit Angkor Wat - Completed 1/4/08

My parents and I planned a trip to Siem Reap, Cambodia to visit Angkor Wat and several of the other temples in the area. It was an amazing and inspiring experience. These temples were built close to 1000 years ago...out of lava stone, sand stone, and lime stone. The carvings are intricate and amazingly clear...and the structures have withstood the elements all these years. For more information: Angkor Wat










My dad and I standing in front of the famous Angkor Wat, built in the early 12th century, the temple complex covers 200 hectares and is the world's largest religious monument.











Bayon temple was built in the 12th to 13th centuries and is known for the 54 towers, each with the 4 faces of Buddha on them.











That's me peaking out a window in the Bayon temple.











Banteay Samre was built in the early 12th century and is known for it's pink-colored sand-stone and detailed carvings.











Neak Pean was built in the late 12th century and was an island temple, that you could only get to by boat. The entire temple centered around water and people would bathe themselves at the fountains at certain parts of the temple for good fortune and blessings. Here I'm standing under the "human head" fountain pretending to bathe.











This last temple is called "Ta Prohm," built around 1186 and was made famous by Angelina Jolie in "Tomb Raider." They actually filmed some scenes on site. It's been left as close to it's discovered state (by the French) with trees growing over it. That's my mom under one of the giant trees covering a wall of the temple.

Learn to Scuba Dive - Completed 12/28/07

I completed my PADI Open Water SCUBA certification through Mermaid's Dive Center in Pattaya, Thailand. The course was 4 days, one in a classroom, one in a pool, and 2 days in the open water in the gulf of Thailand. My primary instructor, Russ, was from New Zealand and had been diving for years and was quite the pro around the dive school. I also worked with Rich, a British diving instructor doing an internship at the school, and Frank, a Belgian diving instructor. Everyone at the school was friendly, helpful, and encouraging. It was a very international group of people. We sailed out to some islands about 1-2 hours from Pattaya beach, where we could do some coral diving. The boat provided lunch between dives and gave us a chance to relax. The most exciting part of my dive was when I stepped on a spiny sea urchin. Luckily none of the spines were embedded in my foot, but it sure did hurt!











Our tanks lined up on the boat.











Fish (probably Sergeant Majors) playing off the side of the boat.












Getting ready to go with my BCD (Buoyancy Control Device) vest on and lifting the tank from the rack.











Getting encouragement from my instructor, Russ (from New Zealand).











Giving the "OK" sign after jumping in the water.











Post dive celebrations with my other instructor, Frank (Belgian), and some Scottish instructor who jumped in our photo.

Get on Stage with a Band - Completed 12/18/07

Okay, so this is not exactly what I had in mind, but I did it...and maybe I can revisit this one again sometime. My parents rent a condo at the beach that has a marina and a seafood restaurant downstairs. The restaurant has a 3 piece band that performs each evening. They play and sing all sorts of songs and often will invite the few people dining in the restaurant to come up and sing a sort of live-karaoke with them. So my mom and I got up and sang Christmas carols.

Attend at least 2 showings at the Atlanta Celebrates Photography Festival- Completed 11/28/07

Click here for more info about the festival: ACP

On 11/18/07, I went to Après Diem with Marty and Steve Remis to see an exhibit of work by Juliet Marateck, called "What If Jack Kerouac Had A Camera?" Inspired by the writings of Jack Kerouac, she documented through her photographs, a road trip across America. Here you can see Marty and I carefully contemplating the photographs.













On 11/28/07, Marty Remis, Ben Park and I went to check out an exhibit at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Global Health Odyssey. It was especially convenient since we all work at CDC! The exhibit, called "The End of Polio: Photographs of Sebastião Salgado" documents the global effort to eradicate polio.



For more information, visit End of Polio






It's all about finding solutions...

Try Kayaking- Completed 10/20/07

I finally got to try out Kayaking. I went to Charleston, South Carolina with Heather, Theresa, and Michele for a girls' weekend. We booked a kayak tour with Coastal Expeditions, a company that organizes kayaking, canoeing and other types of explorations of the coastal waterways.

The four hour tour was a lot of fun, but also a lot of hard work. My arms, shoulders and back were exhausted at the end of the day. Heather and I shared a kayak and had to learn how to coordinate our paddling and steering. We took a break from all the paddling to stop on a little island and search for shark's teeth.

The tour was very interesting and we got lucky with perfect weather for our trek. I think I'd still like to try white-water kayaking, but next time I'll get my arms in better shape and do a little training first.