Yenifoca is a quiet little town in Turkey — lots of fishing, few tourists. The beach and Aegean sea are beautiful, and the sea is very cold. However, it’s very hot here, so a nice daily dip is refreshing.

It’s Ramadan, but it’s clear that we have moved even more into the secular part of Turkey. That is, there is no evidence of fasting during daylight hours. Also, we actually had to search for the mosque in this little village, something we have not had to do since coming to Turkey. It seems the secular vision of Ataturk, Turkey’s modern father, is well entrenched in this part of Turkey. For more on Ataturk and the 20th century political/social/religious history of Turkey, see “Crescent and Star: Turkey between two worlds” by Stephen Kinzer.