Here is a snapshot of me in Washington National. The book in my lap is The White Castle, by Orhan Pamuk. It is turned to chapter 1, page 1. After 24 hours of total flight time, I didn’t get much past that page. Why? Because I’m an obsessive compulsive idiot.

İt is 11am there, and 6pm here. Going to go see a performance of the Twirling Dirvishes this evening. Had dinner on a rooftop overlooking İstanbul and the Bosphorus last night. All the Mosques are lit up and are numerous along the shore.

As most of my fellow countrymen spend the day celebrating America and its independence, I’ve been making hasty preparations to leave it. On Wednesday, I depart for Istanbul (not “Naboo, but from this photo of Hagia Sofia, you’d never know). This trip was put together on very short notice: under a month. [...]