Kimse Yok Mu, STV, Kuzguncuk Armenian Church

On our last full day in Istanbul we had a chance to visit an NGO, Kimse Yok Mu, formed around 1999 following a major earthquake. In this earthquake, a woman buried in rubble kept screaming “Is anybody there?” thus the name; Kimse Yok Mu. They are a disaster response organization with 14 thousand volunteers and 80 paid staff. Their aim is to be there first. Their focus is to fight poverty, provide medical supplies, assist in disasters, micro financing, and woman focused issues. To learn more go to their web site http://www.kimseyokmu.org.tu/

We then traveled to a private TV station, STV, where we were given a tour of the facility and got to meet their famous cooking channel chef from the program, Yesil Elma; Green Apple! In 1993 they became a private series of channels for families. They call it responsible broadcasting and receive their news from CIHN Network, which we also visited. They reach 140 countries, targeting Turkish families mostly in the Middle East. They have channels like the BBC/CNN, cultural educational programs, children channels, and many more. Their funding comes from advertising. They have been rated by Nielsen as #5. They have a channel is the US in New Jersey. It can be watched on line by going to ebru.tv. Ali became our genuine “fake” but FAMOUS anchor!!!

Later on this day we visited an Armenian Church that is on land donated by the Turkish government. Since that donation, the church divided the land and donated half for the establishment of a Mosque and they now stand side by side.

Fatih University and Zaman Newspaper

Again we visited a beautiful educational facility, Fatih University in Istanbul. Dr. Caksu gave us a thorough briefing on the curriculum with emphasis on law, economics, medicine and languages. They have 700 international sutdents from 70 countries with over 10,000 students attending the University. Most classes are taught in English and the University provides the textboooks. 1.5 million young people take the enterance exam each year. More information can be gotten from www.fatih.edu.tr. Dr. Caksu did encourage sister university programs.

Zaman Newspaper was an exciting visit. Our briefing was conducted as we watched the news reporters preparing for publication. They do investigative reporting and sell their news to newspapers through out the Middle East. TODAY'S ZAMAN comes out in an English version and was read by all of us whenever we could get one of them. And of all things the brother of our dear friend in Tacoma, Turan Kayaoglu works at ZAMAN. Everytime Jessie saw someone who looked like Turan, she would run and embrace them with hugs from Washington. We made a lot of friends that way but no brother. Finally he showed up, looking so dapper and showing so much resemblance to Turan. Everyone had a good visit with him.

Capadocia

Before flying back to Istanbul on our last day in central Turkey, we left our host families and ventured into the surreal land of Cappadocia.

It contains several underground cities largely used by early Christians as hiding places before they became an accepted religion.

Wikipedia's description comes far from capturing the magic of this place, but at least it gives you a little history behind this awe-inspiring grandeur:

Cappadocia (pronounced /kæpəˈdoʊʃə/; also Capadocia; Turkish Kapadokya, from Greek: Καππαδοκία / Kappadokía) is a region in central Turkey, largely in Nevşehir Province.
The name was traditionally used in Christian sources throughout history and is still widely used as an international tourism concept to define a region of exceptional natural wonders, in particular characterized by fairy chimneys and a unique historical and cultural heritage. The term, as used in tourism, roughly corresponds to present-day Nevşehir Province.
In the time of Herodotus, the Cappadocians were reported as occupying the whole region from Mount Taurus to the vicinity of the Euxine (Black Sea). Cappadocia, in this sense, was bounded in the south by the chain of the Taurus Mountains that separate it from Cilicia, to the east by the upper Euphrates and the Armenian Highland, to the north by Pontus, and to the west by Lycaonia and eastern Galatia.

A few of us ventured into the vast catacombs that span 8 known floors beneath the surface. The ceilings and tunnels were so low in places that we had to reduce ourselves to hobbit stature in order to squeeze through the passages. Once back in the sunlight, we continued on to visit churches within other caves and the renowned fairy chimneys.

Aspendos Theatre and Duden Waterfalls on our drive to Konya

We joined up with Semra Ozdemir in Antalya for our drive to Konya. Semra has lived in Washington for two years and met up with us for the rest of the trip before staying in Turkey with her family for several more weeks. On the way, we stopped at Aspendos to see the Aspendos Theatre. Its spectacularly well-preserved theatre is one of the best examples of Roman theatre construction in the world. The theatre is still used today.

We also stopped at a restaurant on the Düden Waterfalls. The place has the appearance of a botanical heaven thanks to the rich variety of plants. We were surrounded by the waterfalls and other trout restaurants.

Antalya on the Turkish Riviera

On June 20th we flew to Antalya, the seaside resort capital of the Turkish Mediterranean coast. In Antalya, with its one million people and considered the Turkish Riviera(used mostly by Russians, Germans and Romanians), we visited the Hanedan Carpet Gallery which was very educational. The carpet Master explained all the different kinds of rugs and the values associated with the quality of the rugs. He also gave a lot of treatment suggestions for the care of the rugs. He said that if you ever got a burn on the rug to gently rub it with sandpaper. He also said always wash the rugs with soap and water, never send them to the drycleaners.

In the identification of rugs, white tassels on rugs means they are made from wool/cotton. Grey tassels mean wool/wool and white mixed with brown/beige identify the rug as silk. Braided tassels means the weaver was not married while braided tassels tied together mean the weaver was married.

Pictured in the post: Fluted Minaret at Antalya; our group overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, and Michelle doing some rug shopping

RUMI and the MEVLANA MUSEUM, NIGDE

Here it is the 7th day….Summer Soltice…and we are in the city of RUMI, Konya, where 9 thousand and I mean NINE THOUSAND years ago, the Selcuk Sultante of Rum ruled. The Sultan’s first name was Alaaddin. (Remember Adaddin and the beautiful carpet?) The Sultan established a beautiful mosque which is one of the oldest in Turkey.

We walked through the Mevlana Museum where Rumi established a sect of universal love and where the “whirling” dervishes lived and practiced. Rumi is considered one of the world’s greatest mystics. It is considered a sacred Muslin place and was full of visitors from Turkey and from around the world. It is beautiful and peaceful and surrounded by beautiful gardens!!

We traveled on to visit a Konya private high school and join them for lunch. Again the faculty stressed the annual examinations which had just been completed. As a private high school they are evaluated on where their students land in examination results. They have 500 students selected from 2000 applicants annually. 180 live in dormitories, 320 commute. They run a regular government dictated curriculum for 375 students and a Science High School for the rest. (like a gifted program). This was an all boys school. The girls go to a different school and are extremely successful in their academics as well. The school has the goal of educating the people. Yes, they would like to educate and train the future leaders of Turkey but aim toward love and moral values for all the people.

Driving to Nigde took about three hours over hills and meadows. The countryside was beautiful with small villages scattered throughout. We arrived in Nigde at the Sungurbuy High School to be greeted by our host families with whom we would be spending the night. The Founder, Mr. Celal Avsar, greeted us and escorted us into the school. We were introduced to our host families and given a briefing on the high school. They have a dormitory for 45 boys and teach a focused curriculum of Math Science and English. There we had our first GAZOZ, bottled in Nigde and tasting like Raspberry Sprite. We had a great dinner at the high school before going over to the home of Mr. Avsar for dessert, the fabulous Cay (tea), and dancing!!! Did I say DANCING???

Yes, with a number of guests and our hosts, we were entertained by a young couple going through a henna ceremony prior to a wedding ceremony. The young woman was dressed in beautiful red fabrics completely covering her face. The ritual of painting both of their hands and dancing around them in celebration, was followed by all of us dancing around the couple and then dancing in aboundment throughout the room.

Each of us went home exhausted with our host families: Beth, Kevin and Ali spent the night with the Aydn Demircan family. They are blessed with a young son and a beautiful daughter. Beth slept in the daughters room which was so very cute. Kevin and Ali slept in the young son’s room. We all sat in their beautiful living room eight floors up in a very large condo. We continued to eat, having delicious ice cream and fruit.

Linda, Jeanette and Yavuz spent the night with Ibrahim and Sinem Oz and their two beautiful daughters. They live in a large condominium in a tall building. We very much enjoyed their warm hospitality. The next morning after Linda and Jeanette helped feed the baby (!) we dropped their older daughter at day care on the way to breakfast.

It truly is sad to leave our host families and the budding relationship we have formed with our new friends. Their generosity of sharing their home and the generous gifts are overwhelming and very touching. We hope to stay connected with these new friends. Our morning breakfast was amazing. We walked in the orchard at the lovely farmhouse and picked cherries off the trees, eating as we walked. We ate, melon, cherries, yogurt, olives, honey/butter, fabulous breads, cheeses and drank copious amounts of cay. Mr. Afaar and the hosts talked to us in a beautiful room made especially for these visits.Waving Waving Waving in farewell but in hopes that we will reconnect at some time.

Turkish Tea

Tea Brewing

During our dinner with the Art Ceramics owners, we were taught how to make the wonderful Turkish tea. By looking at the photo of the two tea pots on top of each other, you will see what I mean when I describe the process.
• Begin by boiling water in the lower larger tea pot.
• During that time soften some loose tea in the upper pot and place it on top of the larger pot.
• Once the lower pot water is boiling pour it gently over the softened tea in the small pot
• Place the small pot on top of the larger pot again. The larger pot will will be filled with water and set to boil
• Once the larger pot begins to boil, the upper tea pot is ready for pouring
• Add a sugar cube and Enjoy!!!