Response to A Fez of the Heart by Jeremy Seal

a.) The passage from the reading that I found most interesting is when the author first describes the very beginning of tourism in Pomegranate and then the immense change to the city that was a direct result of tourism. Pomegranate citizens start of allowing a few foreigners to stay with them in their homes and even stone visitors that wore bikinis on their beaches. I think around twenty years later, the author visits the city and it's quite obvious how tourism has taken over the people and the culture of this once small farming town. Shops were selling hats and postcards with essentially naked women, breasts exposed and wearing G-strings, with the slogan "No problem in Turkey". He beings the search for a fez, a part of old Turkish culture. However, these fez hats were now illegal to wear on an every day basis, but it was okay for someone to wear a fez to attract tourists. Halil a hotel owner says, "'Life used to be fun,' Halil told me. 'Now it's just business'" (7).

b.) There were multiple passages from this reading that demonstrated the interaction between economics and culture. At the start of the story, Halil's father was a simple orphan turned farmer as was most of the town. When foreigners came to visit, the people of Pomegranate realized that these visitors were willing to pay money to see their beaches and old ruins. So, by the end of the story, Halil is now a hotel owner unlike his farmer father, and the town has lost most of it's cultural heritage. It now aimed more at pleasing the tourists than sticking with actual Turkish culture. Shops were selling friend fish, french fries, and would advertise their town with pictures of naked women, all in the hopes of making more money off of tourists. It was the same story with the fez hat. The fez was illegal for a Turk to wear on just an every day basis, but a restaurant owner had his employees wearing these hats to attract tourists and potentially make more money. 

c.) The big cities such as Melbourne and Sydney have museums, shopping, restaurants, and national parks relatively close. Sydney has the famous Opera House and Darling Harbour. Australia is home to the Twelve Apostles and The Great Barrier Reef. What draws people to these national park locations is their magnificent beauty, some of which are like nothing else in the world. The big cities have a wide range of activities for during the day coupled with a notable nightlife.