Only one week away!

This morning I received a more detailed itinerary. I spend the first three days in Austin, Texas as a guest of UTA's Center for Middle Eastern Studies for the Pre-Departure Orientation (PDO). In addition to meeting the program organizers and learning about the curriculum project I will develop upon my return, I will be attending classes and lecture on the following topics:

• Turkish Language Study
• History of Roman/Hellenistic period in Turkey
• Intro to Islam & Islamic history
• History of the Ottoman Empire

We will taking a dinner cruise in downtown Austin to see the famous Mexican free-tail bats take their twilight departure from the Congress Avenue Bridge, have dinner at Z-Tejas Grill and Threadgill's, and hopefully hear some really good music before departing for Ankara on Saturday morning!

Once I get to Ankara, I again resume an academic schedule of classes and lectures:

• more Turkish lessons
• Political Modernization in Turkey: Ottoman Legacy and the Republican Transformation
• Culture Logics of Turkey: Pitfalls in Intercultural Understanding
• Identity Politics: Current Issues in Turkish Politics. the Rise of Islamism, and Women's Issues
• Current Economic Crises from Turkey's Perspective: Homemade or Imported... Does it Matter?
• Contemporary Art in Turkey: From End of the Ottoman Period to Today
• Turkey's Educational System: Issues and Challenges
• Turkey in the World: Relations with Europe and Neighbors
• A Brief History of Anatolian Civilizations

But that's not all - we will get out of the classroom. While in Ankara, I will get to see Ataturk's Mausoleum, the Ankara Institute, Bilkent University, Middle East Technical University, an Ankara Women's Center, Samanpazari, and of course lots of time for shopping and dining! After this jam-packed week, we leave for the road trip portion outlined below. We don't have details for the third and final portion of the seminar in Istanbul yet, but if it's anything like the rest, I will be overwhelmed with the experience!

So now all I have to do is make it through this last week of Regents testing, final grades, classroom clean-up, and housepacking. Almost there!