I took this photo in the Summer of 2002 just a short distance from my favorite Turkish mosque, the Fatih Cami. I passed these shops everyday heading to TEGV, where I volunteered as an English teacher for the summer. How often do you get to see brick roads and sidewalks in a major cosmopolitan city? I love Istanbul. … [Read more...] about Turkish Shops
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Aya Sofia
When I first visited Istanbul, Turkey, in December, 1999, the first place I wanted to see was the Aya Sofia. My hotel was in the Fatih district but I was able to catch a taxi to this building. I saw it at night but it was so beautiful. I arrived just in time for the evening call to prayer which ended the Ramadan fast for the day. In the summer of 2002, I was able to spend … [Read more...] about Aya Sofia
Mosque in Chau Doc
A surprise trip during the Vietnamese New Year (Tet) in 2007. Originally a friend and I wanted to visit Nui Ba Den in Tay Ninh but due to a mispronunciation, we found ourselves in Chau Doc. It was a fun filled day trip visiting pagodas, and to my surprise, some mosques. One of the largest community of Cham Muslims in Vietnam reside in Chau Doc. A small community lives … [Read more...] about Mosque in Chau Doc
Karatau Mosque Today
I found this image of the completed Karatau Mosque today at Picasa: https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/5bp5zl2bu5rpC3QBTKQ99A … [Read more...] about Karatau Mosque Today
Karatau Mosque – 1997
When I lived in Karatau, Kazakhstan, as a Peace Corps Volunteer, there were two mosques in the town. With Saudi funding, the townspeople started to build a new mosque to replace the smaller older one. Unfortunately, roughly a year before I came to Karatau, money ran out for the project. It was never completed. In 1998, with money from the local community, the Muslims closed … [Read more...] about Karatau Mosque – 1997