Another earthquacke! Yikes! I'm glad I delayed my trip to Van. In the aftermath of the two earthquackes, some people have expressed hope for greater solidarity between Turks and Kurds. Elif Şafak just wrote a column to that effect, mentioning that Turks and other minorities died as well in the first earthquacke. That all sounds good, but I'm not convinced. Given the protest held the other day, and the violent police reaction, tensions are clearly high. Also, this is not just an ethnic issue, but also an issue of regional neglect. Those issues have to be dealt with as well, empty words of solidarity are not enough.

In light of events such as earthquackes and violence, some of my friends and family have expressed concern for my safety. The real threat, however, is far less menacing yet much more pervasivc: food. First it was the microbe invasion. Now I'm dealing with the aftermath of Kurban Bayramı. Heavy food and sweets every day finally came to a head, I was so sick the other night I thought I was going to throw up. Sadice said that she used to make some dish that was so heavy it made everyone sick. If there's a food that can make these people sick, I don't even want to be in the same room as that dish!