Pre-Pandemic: Letoon Turkey

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Letoon Turkey, was a sanctuary of Leto near the ancient city Xanthos in Lycia. It was one of the most important religious centers in the region. Leto was one of the female Titans, a bride of Zeus, and the mother of the twin gods Apollo and Artemis. She was the goddess of motherhood and, with her children, a protectress of the young. Her name and iconography suggest she was also a goddess of modesty and womanly demure.

The archaeological finds at the site, date back to the late sixth century BC. The foundations of the Hellenistic temple dedicated to Leto, and her children, Artemis and Apollo, have been excavated under the direction of H. Metzger from 1962. Archeologists have excavated much of the ruins; discoveries include the Letoon trilingual, bearing inscriptions in Greek, Lycian and Aramaic, which has provided crucial keys in the deciphering of the Lycian language; it is conserved in the Fethiye Museum.

The sun was beginning to set as I sketched among the ruins. I remember a cat wandering among the ancient collapsed pillars and an incredible army of tadpoles in a large puddle at the base of the temple. I could hear the evening prayers as they re broadcast from  the high minaret in the distance. Muslims across the country would stop what they were doing when this call to prayer echoed through he villages.

Thousands Gathered at Hagia Sophia

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Thousands gathered at Hagia Sophia for the first Friday Prayers when the former museum was opened as a Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey. Many wore masks and others chin straps in the blazing heat. Thousands of police were scattered among the shoulder to shoulder crowd to maintain the peace. People crowded up against police barricades hoping to get close to the mosque.

The building was a Christian Byzantine cathedral for 900 years before being seized by Ottoman conquerors and serving as a mosque until 1934. Inside are historic Christian mosaics on the walls and domed ceilings. In 1934 the building became a museum and remained so until just last month when a Turkish court annulled Hagia Sophia’s status as a museum. Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan immediately turned it back into a mosque. He was front and center at the July 24, 2020 first prayers. Erdogan, in power for 17 years, may have converted the museum into a Mosque to placate his conservative base whose support has eroding due to economic despair and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Inside, large scaffolding was erected in the middle of the structure and drapery hid the Christian mosaics. The conversion triggered fierce criticism from Christian church leaders, who said that exclusively Muslim worship risked deepening religious divisions. Turkey says the site will remain open for visitors and its Christian artworks will be protected.

I was shocked at how close people packed together to worship. Two hours before prayers started, areas outside the building were filled to capacity and the authorities had to deny entry over concerns about the spread of COVID-19.

Turkey saw its highest spike in new cases on April 11, 2020. To date the country has had 5,813 COVID-19 related deaths.  Since the opening of Hagia Sophia as a mosque, Covid-19 has spread fast in major Turkish cities according to Health Ministry data. Over the past few weeks, health authorities have been warning that citizens are acting as if the threat has disappeared, and daily new cases surpassed 1,000 for the first time in about a month on Tuesday August 4, 2020.

The government is discussing restrictions on movement or limiting social interaction in certain districts. Plans are not finalized. Police are conducting mass inspections looking to catch violations of rules put in place to stem the COVID-19 outbreak. Anyone found not wearing protective masks and maintaining a social distance of at least 1.5 meters (5 feet) were warned and fined. The strict measures are a consequence of concerns over a new surge in cases while some people are ditching masks and overcrowded has become common. An army of 250,000 inspectors found people conveniently tucking masks into their handbags or pockets, only to rush to wear them when seeing uniforms. Some claimed they would not be recognized while wearing a mask which is ironic since so many Muslim women cover their faces with a niqāb. A few women did worship at the opening prayers at Hagia Sophia from a hallway.

Turkey was one of the first countries to suffer in the first months of the pandemic and they do not want to experience a second wave. The ministry warned it would not accept any violations from anyone who didn’t wear a mask and maintain social distancing at gatherings such as weddings or circumcision ceremonies. Those who refused would face fines and temporary closures.

Pre-Pandemic: Hotel Bella

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Hotel Bella in Selçuk, Turkey is right down the street from The Grand Byzantine Fortress, which can be seen in this sketch. This is a view from the room of the street below. Storks had set up a nest on a pole right outside the window and I couldn’t resist sketching them as they organized the sticks on the perimeter of the nest.

The Grand Byzantine Fortress or Ayasuluk Castle, lies on a hill in the town of Selçuk, in the province of Izmir in Turkey. It is situated just a mile from the site of the ancient Greek city of Ephesus. Ephesus was initially a harbor city but the continually silting up of its harbor eventually made it an inland site situated about 3 miles from the sea at present. The fortress was built using stones from disused Greek and Roman buildings. Entry to the citadel from the south was through the Gate of Persecution, which first led into the Basilica.

Over the centuries, people from the harbor site gradually migrated towards the citadel on the hill as the harbor continued to silt up and residents battled malaria. By the end of the Byzantine period the harbor was abandoned, and Ephesus was centered around the fortress.

Inside the fortress ruins there are the remains of a small ruined mosque, a part of a former church turned into a cistern, a couple of Ottoman cisterns and ground plans of a couple of houses.

Turkey is one of the few countries that still allows American tourists to visit. Americans have become pariahs on the wold stage for their inability to control the COVID-19 virus pandemic.

Passengers arriving in Turkey will be required to complete an information form and will be checked for symptoms. Anyone suspected of having COVID-19 will be transported to a hospital for examination. If an individual on a particular aircraft/vehicle/vessel is found to have COVID-19, the information forms completed upon arrival will be used to identify others who have been in contact with them; those individuals will then also be subject to 14-day isolation/quarantine.

U.S. Citizens flying from the United States may only enter via CDC-approved airports and should follow COVID-19 restrictions in place at their final destination. Air travelers are advised to include their travel document (Passport/I-551) information in their reservations to help ensure they do not encounter issues when boarding flights. A list of approved airports along with arrival information for international travelers entering the United States is available here. U.S. citizens planning travel into and out of Turkey with stops in the European Union (EU) should check specific country restrictions on the EU website.

80th Sturgis Bike Rally

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On August 5,2020 South Dakota reported 89 new cases of COVID-19 and one death over the last two weeks. Kristi Noem the state governor never issued any state mandates to help curb the spread of the virus instead trusting in the citizens of her state to do the right thing to stay safe in the midst of a pandemic. Noem on July 28, 2020 said she will push for schools to stay open this fall, and disparaged any requirements for children to wear masks in classrooms.

The 80th Sturgis Motorcycle Rally will be expecting 250,000 bikers to descend on the South Dakota city. The bikers will assemble from August 7 to 16, 2020. This could become the biggest mass gathering anywhere since pandemic began. Sturgis, a city of about 7,000 residents, was hesitant to again host the week long event during a pandemic. Many worry that the rally might cause an unmanageable outbreak of COVID-19. To date Meade County where Sturgis is located, has reported 82 COVID-19 infections and 1 death.

In a survey of residents conducted by the city, more than 60% said the rally should be postponed. But businesses pressured the City Council to proceed. An attorney wrote to the Sturgis City Council reminding them that a judge found the city does not solely own rights to the rally and threatened to sue if the city tried to postpone.

The city will provide ppe to businesses that will be working during the rally, and recommend sanitizing stations and 50% capacity at bars and restaurants. However these are just suggestions which are not legally enforceable.

Organizers were emboldened by the President’s July 3 fireworks celebration at Mount Rushmore. Event organizers are counting on drunken attendees to politely social distance. Sturgis officials realized the rally would happen whether they wanted it or not. They decided to try to scale it back, canceling city-hosted events and slashing advertising for the rally. Others thing that this might be the biggest event in America since all others were canceled for public safety. This could be the bikers Woodstock of the pandemic.

After all the bikers leave the city of Sturgis will conduct a massive testing program hoping to catch and contain any virus that might be left behind. The bikers will ride back to their home states to share the experience and perhaps the virus with friends and family.

Pre-Pandemic: Church of Mary Ephesus

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On a rainy day, I sketched the Church of the Virgin Mary in Ephesus (Acarlar, 35920 Selçuk/İzmir, Turkey) which is an ancient Christian cathedral dedicated to the Theotokos. It was erected in the 3rd century within an earlier building. Architecturally, the structure can be described as a basilica with a nave and two aisles. Today, the best-preserved section of the structure is a cylindrical baptistery, located in the northern part of the atrium. In the central part of the baptistery, there was a pool, where the baptized people could be fully immersed in water.

Mary, the mother of Christ, was not the first woman honored in Ephesus. The city had a long tradition of religious worship of female deities. The first of them had been a local Anatolian goddess Kybele who was later merged with the Greek goddess Artemis. The temple erected to Artemis was once considered to be one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

According to the local tradition, the mother of Christ arrived at Ephesus together with Saint John and spent here the last years of her life. Although there is no decisive historical evidence to support this belief, there are some premises supporting it. The most significant one is the documented presence of Saint John in Ephesus, where he started writing his gospel. He was also buried in this city, and the basilica was erected in his name. As Christ entrusted him to take care of his mother, before dying on the cross.

Trump Envies Fauci

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I highly respect Dr. Anthony Fauci. He speaks the truth without watering down facts. His primary concern at all times has been to save lives. It seems the president envies the doctors popularity. Fauci was asked to throw out the first pitch at the Major League Baseball’s opening day, Thursday, July 23. The pitch was a bit of a tragedy but it was a much needed light hearted moment.

President Donald Trump announced that he would be throwing out the first pitch at the Yankees-Red Sox game at Yankee Stadium on Aug. 15, 2020 claiming he was invited by team president Randy Levine. The New York Times reported that “Mr. Trump had not actually been invited on that day by the Yankees, according to one person with knowledge of Mr. Trump’s schedule. His announcement surprised both Yankees officials and the White House staff. But Mr. Trump had been so annoyed by Dr. Fauci’s turn in the limelight, an official familiar with his reaction said, that he had directed his aides to call Yankees officials and make good on a longtime standing offer from Mr. Levine to throw out an opening pitch. No date was ever finalized.” In other words, he lied.

The White House has been undercutting Fauci, the country’s top infectious disease expert, by circulating anti-Fauci talking points to reporters. It is as if they want to paint him as the enemy of the people. People are tired of the social isolation caused by COVID-19 and want to return to life as usual despite the consequences. Fauci’s public health messaging runs contrary to the president’s priority that Americans should get back to work and open all schools fully in the fall. “Dr. Fauci is a nice man, but he’s made a lot of mistakes,” the president told Fox‘s Sean Hannity.

And aide told The Washington Post that “several White House officials are concerned about the number of times Dr. Fauci has been wrong on things.” The paper reported that the unidentified staffer delivered to them a list of about a dozen past comments Fauci has made that the official claimed were incorrect. Some of the Fauci examples were from early in the pandemic, when information was rapidly evolving. Other top health officials who have acknowledged changing their assessment as time went on, such as the surgeon general. For instance Fauci had advises early on that the public should not run out and start buying N-95 face masks since there was  a shortage of masks available for health care professionals at the time. As more was learned and supplies were re-replenished he advised everyone to wear masks to help stop the spread of the disease. Fauci had not had the opportunity to advise to the president since early June but has continued to make media appearances to discuss the COVID-19 strategy.

Trump retweeted former Wheel of Fortune host Chuck Woolery, who claimed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, many doctors and the media were “lying” about COVID-19. Fauci wasn’t specifically named in that tweet. Dan Scavino, the White House’s director of social media who was promoted in April to deputy chief of staff for communications, shared a political cartoon on his Facebook page that criticized Fauci‘s support of shutdowns and social distancing in order to slow the virus.

Fauci said to The Atlantic. “Ultimately, it hurts the president to do that. When the staff lets out something like that and the entire scientific and press community push back on it, it ultimately hurts the president. And I don’t really want to hurt the president. But that’s what’s happening. I told him I thought it was a big mistake. That doesn’t serve any good purpose for what we’re trying to do.”

Speaking with NBC News, Fauci said that the public should rely on its “respected medical authorities who have a track record of telling the truth … based on scientific evidence and good data.” He continued,  “That’s the safest bet to do: to listen to the recommendations from that category of people. But it’s entirely understandable how the public can get mixed messages and then get a bit confused about what they should do.”

Dr. Fauci is facing death threats to himself and his family and now requires personal security from law enforcement at all times, including at his home, a source confirmed to CNN. As Dr. Fauci’s public profile has grown, so has the concern for his welfare. Fauci’s guidance to Trump for the country to remain as locked down as possible to help control the virus spread has not earned fans among some fervent right-wing voices. Medical staff can fight the disease as hospitals fill to capacity, but they have a harder time fighting stupidity as people ignore simple health precautions. Social distance, wear a mask and wash your hands.

Eye of the Hurricane

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In the eye of a hurricane there is quiet for just a moment. As I painted this, hurricane Isaias was downgraded to a tropical storm as it churns off the coast of Florida. The latest projections show it hitting the coast of Central Florida about 8pm tonight with winds of about 75 miles per hour making it a category one hurricane. Orlando is under a tropical storm warning for now.

With hundreds of people dying every day in the Sunshine State from COVID-19, this hurricane just seems like business as usual, a sign of global warming that is another disaster that can be ignored by those in power.

The latest of the COVID-19 front from Dr. Deborah Birx of the White House coronavirus task force is that we are in a “new phase” in the battle against the virus. She is urging all Americans to wear masks and follow social distancing guidelines. “What we are seeing today is different than from March and April. It is extraordinarily wide spread in both rural and urban areas.” she said in an interview with CNN. FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb warned that the country could see 300,000 deaths by the end of 2020.

When you try to digest these huge numbers, then a category one hurricane seems just like a blip on the map of a far reaching tragedy. The death tolls will depend on how southern and western states respond to the outbreaks in the coming weeks. Birx pointed out that we need to stop super spreading events where the virus can spread like wildfire.

Testing facilities in Florida are being shit down because of the impending hurricane. Florida’s Division of Emergency Management said Wednesday in a news release that its testing sites simply can’t hold up to the threat of a potential tropical cyclone because they include tents and other free-standing structures. Orange county soon followed suit, saying all health department-run testing sites will also be closed into next week. Orange’s Health Department said sites there would be closed at least through Wednesday. So you can expect the case numbers to drop and politicians will use the lull as an excuse to claim all is back to normal. It is not.

Florida Governor Ron Disaterous signed an order Friday declaring “a state of emergency in every coastal county of Florida’s east coast, from Miami-Dade to Nassau counties,” he said. This is business as usual for him as he seems incapable of even admitting Florida is experiencing a health crisis that could surpass what New York went through in April. Floridians are more likely to die from COVID-19 than a tree limb breaking.

Pre-Pandemic: Selçuk Turkey

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Tourists relax in the upstairs lounge of Hotel Bella in Selçuk Turkey. Selçuk is a town near Izmir, in western Turkey. It’s the gateway to Ephesus, a vast, ancient city with the remains of a large theater and the Library of Celsus. South is the House of Virgin Mary, a domed chapel and religious shrine. Near Selçuk, a marble column is one of a few remains of the Temple of Artemis. The Ephesus Museum has more items from the temple, plus other artifacts excavated from the Ephesus site.

Hotel Bella is just a 3 minute walk to the Basilica of St. John. The Basilica was constructed by Justinian I in the 6th century. It stands over the believed burial site of John the Apostle and was modeled after the now lost Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople.

Blip

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On July 14, 2020 Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said that “Florida has a COVID-19 BLIP.” He went on to say that Florida has had “a lot of different blips.” He stressed that “despite increased positivity rates, Florida was not comparable to other hot spots, like New York.”  However Florida has surpassed New York in the number of cases per day. On Friday July 30, 2020, 253 people died from the virus in Florida, a new single-day record for the fourth day in a row.Half of all the reported deaths in Florida happened in July. That is NO BLIP!

A blip is defined as “an unexpected, minor, and typically temporary deviation from a general trend.”  Physicians and nurses however are besieged by the surge of new cases filling the hospitals. Experts and medical staff fear the worst is yet to come.

Florida was one of the first states to relax COVID-19 restrictions and the results are becoming abundantly clear. DeSantis refuses to issue a state wide mandate that would require the use of masks when out in public. On Sunday, July 12, 2020 the Sunshine State recorded 15,300 new cases—more than all of Europe. The number of cases per day have continued to hover around 10,000 per day. Dozens of the state’s intensive-care units are at capacity. Miami has become the new Wuhan.

Memorial Hospital West hospital CEO Leah Carpenter said, “Our ICU capacity is beyond 100 percent.”As of Friday July 10, 2020, At least 52 Florida hospitals had no ICU capacity left at all. Rebekah Jones who created the Florida Department of Health COVID-19 dashboard was fired for not manipulating data to help in the re-opening plans. She said,  “Hospital staff have the hardest job in the world right now, more so than any of us scientists,” she said. “That most hospitals in Florida are at or near capacity frightens me. It should frighten everyone.” She now runs her own COVID-19 Community Dashboard which is meant to more accurately reflect what is actually happening in Florida. In Brevard County patients are being treated in the hallways. Some hospitals that are full are having to send patients to other hospitals.

The Harvard Global Health Institute recommended a number of states, including Florida, Georgia, Arizona, Louisiana, and South Carolina, institute a mandatory stay-at-home order to curtail severe outbreaks.

Carlos Migoya, president and CEO of Jackson Health System in Miami-Dade, said “You have people who are aggressively saying they don’t have to wear a mask and don’t have to do social distancing,” he explained. “Those are the kind of people spreading this disease. If we don’t get this under control and have too many more infections, we are going to have problems.”

At a ceremony in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington on July 24,2020 DeSantis discussed, an initiative – called One Goal One Florida that “encourages” the public to follow four guidelines: Protect the vulnerable, practice proper hygiene, practice social distancing and wear a mask if in close contact with another person. This is a BLIP of a service announcement, too little too late.

300

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300 Brevard County, Florida students of an outdoor graduation ceremony ere told to quarantine for 14 days after an attendee was diagnosed with COVID-19. Each student could invite 2 guests, so overall 900 people could be affected.

Bayside High School in Palm Bay, Florida, held an outdoor graduation ceremony for seniors last Saturday, an event that appeared to mostly adhere to safety guidelines. Students wore masks as did attendees in the bleachers and seats were placed almost 6 feet apart on a football field. When students walked out to the field however they clustered tightly together in a line. After the ceremony the students then clustered together in tight groups to chat which could be another chance for the airborne virus to spread.

The health department didn’t confirm whether the person who tested positive for COVID-19 was a student or adult. About 30 adult school and district staff were present at the event as well. Faculty wearing gloves and masks handed students their diplomas as they walked across the stage. Only speakers removed their masks when they took the podium. Anyone who attended the graduation ceremony was advised by letter from the Florida Department of Health, to self-quarantine and monitor their symptoms for 14 days. On student interviewed mentioned she had invited both her grandparents and her mom and dad. It would seem the two guest limit was just a suggestion.

Florida continues to set new records in COVID-19 cases and deaths as the state passes 450,000 cases. Over 6,300 residents have died, and this week, child COVID-19 hospitalizations rose 23%. Brevard County has a total of 5477 Cases of Covid-19 with 108 deaths. 13 people have died today July30, 2020. I am shocked that Florida school officials thought an in person graduation ceremony was a good idea at the height of the pandemic. Faculty and students around the country are finding creative ways to celebrate virtually. If only that creative spark existed here.