Finding the Grey

2.15.2009

New Blog

Finding the Grey has moved to www. jonathanmakiri.com/blog/

You can subscribe for email updates to my new blog in the upper right corner.

I will no longer be updating this blog and it will be brought down shortly.

Thanks.

Jonathan

1.29.2009

Friends from Pakistan

Spent a few days in Istanbul with my new friends from Pakistan: Hafiz, Abdul and Atif. Amazing guys who like to walk, chat and eat....my kind of guys. I kept telling them they should start a boy band and they referred to me as their "American tourguide in Istanbul".

1.27.2009

Multimedia - Camel Wrestling

Larger resolution available at:

http://www.vimeo.com/2980491

and

http://current.com/items/89758519/camel_wrestling.htm

1.22.2009

Camel Wrestling - Selcuk, Turkey

My first few days in Turkey are going to be hard to top.

I traveled to the west coast for an annual camel wrestling event where camels, camel owners and fans descend upon Selcuk to watch male camels battle. The camels' aggression at this time of year is heightened due to female camels being in heat. My understanding of the rules is far from complete but I witnessed a spectacle like no other. Massive animals, delicious smells coming from thousands of grills, rowdy fans, dancing, music and lots and lots of camel saliva.

Never have I been to an event with such hospitality and generosity. I was fed food and drink all day long, met hundreds of warm Turks wanting to know how I ended up in Selcuk for such an event and somehow was invited to an exclusive celebratory dinner by my friend Yusuf with the owners of the camels (think golf club type dinner) where I was the only foreigner in attendance.

All in all one of the best few days I have had while traveling.

Below are some photos from the day before and the day of the event. I am working on a multimedia piece that I will post shortly.

Thanks for looking.