Before leaving Frankfurt, Germany, I asked my "virtual" students for driving route suggestions. Only a few predicted my route over the Alps and down to Brindisi in southern Italy to catch the overnight ferry across the Adriatic Sea to Igoumenitsa, Greece. From there, I drove the Chevy Blazer to Turkey where I spent a week holed up in sweltering Istanbul waiting for the techno-bits and the staff from GlobaLearn, a Connecticut-based educational company, to arrive.

In the meantime, videographer Jerry Vienneau flew in and we gathered equipment for the upcoming Turkish learning expedition. We attended meetings in ornate buildings. Jerry filmed street life. We even picked up a few Turkish words in the process. The rug shop "sales consultants" we met by the daunting Blue Mosque suggested ways for us to remember basic vocabulary that would help us during our stay in Turkey.

They explained that the Turkish word for "no" is hayir (pronounced higher) and "yes" is yavet, pronounced like the French name Yvette. It was more difficult to master the word for "good bye". . . Allahismarladik. Never mind that one.