Colors and Textures of Turkey

Breakfast

Turkish Pottery

 

Hiking high above Kas and Mediterreanean Sea

 

 

Antique Turkish Tea Service

 

 

Lovely views from the Lycian Way

 

 

She is asking us if we speak Russian, perhaps she is lonely to hear her native tongue as there are many Russian immigrants here in Turkey

 

 

Lunch!  Grilled chicken, eggplant and pepper, two types of salads and couscous, yum.  About $8 and tips are optional or just a little change if you have it, all quite exceptable here.

 

 



Cultural Differences

Merhaba from Kas, Turkey (pronounced like gosh but with a K)

I'm officially on vacation, hooray!  Cathleen and I arrived in Kas at Jeri and Curt's Spa for the Soul.  It is breathtaking here, the scenery, their home, everywhere you look is beauty, it is THE place to come for peace, rest and renewal.  I guess the stress of the last 3 weeks in Antalya got to me, because after arriving here I became sick.  I had a terrible stomach ache  that developed into chills, body aches and over all sense of yuckiness.  Today I felt much better even tho the stomach thing still lingers.  Now Curt is sick, we are hoping he will be better tomorrow so we can all go hiking in these beautiful mountains.

Some of you have already seen the next picture I'm going to post and there will be some you haven't seen following, but I'm putting it here because it was such a special time.  Jeri who lives here with husband Curt 8 months per year has relationships in this village and so she was invited to attend a fund raiser for a very conservative Muslim school.  So the three of us went.  We were treated like VIP's and escorted around to see the various projects going on to raise money.  Lots of food stands of local specialties, here is a fresh pan of baklava!

We bought 10 or so pieces to take home for around $3.  There were many handcrafts, the textiles here are exquisite.  I bought some homemade lace doiles and a scarf that the ladies decorate the edges of by hand.  In a separate area was where we came across a group of about 20 women of all ages on the ground with mounds of fresh yufka dough, rolling them, cooking them and turning them into the special turkish food called gozleme (gooz la may).

We stared at them and they stared at us!

Even though these ladies were somewhat isolated from the main attractions it was clear this was the heartbeat of the event.  The wonderful laughter and community that permeated from this area was palpable.  I wanted to join them but dare not say so!  So instead I turned to our escort and said that I was a cook too and as if she understood me a lady got up and started talking to him, Selcuk was his name.  "do you want to make one?" he asked me.  I didn't hesitate one bit, got down on my hands and knees and while the ladies watched I proceeded to make one mistake after another in rolling out my yufka!

Two days have passed now and one of Jeri's acquaintances was here this morning and he told us they are still talking about me in the village and wonder do I want to come back next year and help out with the yufka's!! 

I marvel at these beautiful women, denied of living up to their full potential and in some ways not even aware of it.  I'm grateful to be born American even though I am more and more discouraged with where the USA is headed.  But here in the Middle East women ARE treated differently.  My Iraqi friend who just returned from visiting her family in Baghdad told me being a women in Iraq is like punishment.  In one month stay she was only allowed out 4 times.  In church last Sunday we had an Iraqi man stand up and tell us in broken english that he fled Iraq otherwise he would have been killed for believing in Jesus Christ and that one and half million Iraqi believers have already been killed.  It was sobering to say the least.

Please pray for these lost souls, their culturals are marvelously different than ours, their thinking and their way of life too but in many ways they are the same as us.  They are much more warm and hospitable than we are.  Today Jeri's housekeeper is here and about noon we all stopped what we were doing, she called the neighbors over and we sat down and drank turksih cay tea and visited!  I thought I never do this at home!  I'm too busy!  But why don't I take the time?  Jeri admitted it was hard for her to adjust, it is hard for her, but she makes the time.  This is intentional living.

Learning so much here in Turkey! 

The last days of Antalya 2013

Posting date April 20, 2013

First of all I want to apologize for not writing another blog sooner!  We have been busy at the Cafe everyday with one thing or another, but I wasn't taking any pictures because I wasn't really doing anything that exciting, just making food all day and going back to my hotel room at night.

All of that changed last Sunday evening when my friend Cathleen Lawler stepped off the airplane in Antalya in her role as head of development for TEAM and to hang out with ME!  Here's a picture of her hard at work!

Seriously though she does work hard it's just that she does most of it online. 
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At St. Paul's Cultural Center (SPCC) we are hosting a group this week from the AICEME the Association of International churches of Europe and the Middle East, they are all pastors and their spouses.  They are an exuberant group, joyful and engaging with one another and with those of us who are working to make all things run smoothly.  More about that later!

Renata has placed on me a tremendous responsibility to oversee all the food preparation and service.  It has been very stressful and hard work but today Sunday is the last day and we end tonight with a Gala Dinner party.  I have a great team though and we are running like a well oiled machine:  Belgin the cook and 3 short termes, Eunice from Vancouver BC, Janelle from near Seattle and Daniel from Virginia.  

These three are gifted in so many ways and they keep me entertained and laughing.  Eunice shines in the kitchen and has a love for food plus great knife skills, she is my rock, Janelle is a pianist, dancer, singer and actress we can count on her to be goofy, Daniel is here working on his doctorate sings like an angel and also is a dancer and has boundless energy.  And then of course there is Belgin the cook who has treated me SO differently this year.  She smiles at me every morning, we laugh, we joke and we have become a team!  I also have tried not to take myself too seriously and just let her do her thing.  Anyway it's been a lot of hard work but these four people have made it fun for me and very manageable.

Tomorrow morning I leave for Kas to visit my friends Jeri and Curt who live 8 months a year here and 4 months a year in Sequim!  I have more stories and pictures to share then.

Day One April 4, 2013

It's late Friday afternoon here in Southern Turkey, it's sunny and about 75 degrees the first such day I'm told.  I put in a half day of work at the Center and am now off until tomorrow so I thought I would work on getting this blog up and running again.

First of all, I have to say what a blessing it is to be back here.  When I arrived in Chicago and was entering the International terminal I caught a glimpse of the plane sporting the "Turkish Air" logo and my heart literally skipped a beat.  I was excited and thrilled.  I do like it here very much.  When Renata first saw me she said "it's seems so normal to see you here." I have been warmly welcomed by one and all, it feels as if I never left.

The day after my arrival I was invited to join a group of 10 others to go and see the beachfront camp where every year for 9 years they hold a Youth Camp during 3 weeks of the summer.  Atttendance is generally 110 kids and 40 staff, it is a huge undertaking.  It's about a 50 mile drive west of Antalya.

It is an idyliic setting, covered trees for shade, plenty of land to run, the sea a short walk away and a citrus grove resplendent with blossoms that perfumed the air.  Here is Jim greeting one of the owners of the camp where they are housed and fed, one of the year round guests and a small sampling of how fat the blossoms on the trees were.

 

 

After a picnic lunch we left Jim and Renata alone to have a meeting with the owners and set out for the beach; a beautiful stretch of the Mediterranean, the waters of which are a captivating turquoise color.  Lovely!

 

 

 



 





 

 

Then we all went for a hike up the mountain behind the camp and in the shadow of 10,000 foot, snow capped Mt. Olympos in the Taurus mountain range to see the eternal flames.  At a crest of the hill we found the ruins of a monastery and evidence that this sight is very sacred.  With views of the Mediterrean in the background Jim proceeds to tell us some of the history of this area including how the natural methane fire pits were used for ship navigation as mariners could see the flames from their ships and know exactly where they were.  Spiritually this holy ground has seen many forms of religious ceremonies including human sacrifice some babies or young people marching up to their final resting place.  Jim's vision is for this ground to become fresh with the Spirit of the One true God as they bring more and more of His holy people to pray over and sing His praises here.

 

 

And if all that wasn't enough we then went to a restaurant, one of many that line one of the rivers that feeds into the sea.  Here they farm raise trout right in the river and upon ordering they end up on your plate!  The dinner was served family style with 3 courses: appetizers, salad and then the main course: TROUT and all served with their homemade bread hot out of the brick oven.  Food doesn't get much better, we drove home in the dark all quite happy about this unforgettable day.

 

My world in Turkey

I am feeling very emotional the last couple of days.  Each new day brings me closer to the time I have to say goodbye to the people I have come to care about so much and to the beautiful land of Turkey.  Some people here are praying that I'll be returning, but at this point only God knows what's in store for my future. 

Let me just give you a few snapshots of the world I live in here:

The Turkish Flag:

One small section of the water channel that flows down the middle of one of the major streets in Antalya.  This picture was taken about a month ago:

Luscious strawberries on sale at the market, yum: 

Birds on the balcony:

One of the flower arrangements Diny made for the re-opening festivities:

And here she is making said arrangements:

This is Aiya coveting every one of those pieces of chocolate cake for herself!  This dear lady is the warmest, sweetest person I've ever met.  She has that big smile all day every day, is warm and friendly to every soul who comes into the cafe.  She is pure sunshine, I will miss her so much!

The stained glass windows finished, installed and dedicated on May 5, 2012 during the Grand ReOpening Celebration.  Seven windows each one representing the seven letters to the seven churches found in the book of Revelation Chapters 2 and 3.

Mark Wilson and Jim will be teaching on them for the next seven weeks:

 Mark Wilson signing copies of his book "Biblical Turkey"

 This is Kyra, Belgin's daughter and the one who puts a smile on my face everyday!

 A hedge made of roses and jasmine that smells heavenly along my route towards home!

This is the street where St. Paul's Cultural Center is located:

Carla painting faces at the May Fair

Baptism's on Sunday May 13 in the Mediterranean Sea: an Iraqi woman, a Turkish woman, an Iranian man and an Azerbijanian man all baptized into the family of believers in Jesus Christ!  What a glorious day!!

A red hat turns everyone into a STAR

And so much more to tell and see, really my heart has been captured.

A welcome rest and now I begin the count down

I took a little vacation.  This time it was for rest and relaxation.  I got invited to a place called "Spa for the Soul" owned by Jeri and Curt Bidinger, located just outside of the seaside village of Kas (rhymes with gosh) in southwestern Turkey.  Here's a picture of the view from my room!!

The area around Kas reminded me so much of the property I lived in near the Napa Valley.  There are lots of stones so walkways, paths, walls and even homes are made of them.  There are olive trees, grapes, roses and a myriad other plants that grow in hot weather.  The one big difference is the very near presence of the Mediterranean Sea with its extraordinary cliffs, blue turquoise waters and white sandy beaches.  I was very happy in Kas!!  The weather was in the 80's every day and this tired, burned out cook needed the peace and quiet of a tiny village ablaze with warmth and comfort from nature and natural beauty.

My first night there was also this young couple staying at Spa for the Soul, Alex and Beth and their 2 month old son, David was asleep upstairs.  They are workers also on a weeks vacation from their duties in Ankara.

Jeri and Curt you might remember live 4 months a year in Sequim.  She really wanted me to see their home/retreat in Turkey and I was thrilled for the chance to get away.  I took a 4 hour bus ride to get there.  Their home is a place of solitude and beauty nestled in the foothills.  Jeri has an eye for beauty and simplicity reflected in every detail of their home.  Meals were delicious made to be not only fresh and healthy but beautifully presented as well, glowing candelight in the evenings set a peaceful atmosphere that made all my cares melt like wax.

Here's a picture of my two room suite and once again the unforgettable view off the balcony:

By the way the island in the top right of this picture is Meis (pronounced mace) you can get there by ferry and it belongs to Greece.

With Jeri and Curt I had some wonderful experiences represented here by the following pictures:  first dinner out with friends of theirs, this is my dinner lamb shish with veggies and potatoes; second picture Turkish breakfast out in a cafe owned by another friend of theirs Halil squatting beside me; third picture Halil's beautiful and percocious daughter Jasmine, shopping for rugs, pottery and lamps and lastly a picture of a blooming rose, so fragrant one can smell it ten feet away! 

My time here in Turkey is getting short.  I have two more weeks of work, hard work:  On May 5 we will be celebrating the grand re-opening of St. Paul's Cultural Center.  One thousand invitations have gone out.  The reception will be from 2-5pm and we are expecting about 500 people to come through the Center.  We're serving punch and about 14 different passed hors d'oeuvres.  We will be very busy this week preparing for it.  Then the following week we are having "May Fair" with a barbecue, book sale, used goods sale, kids craft center, music and other stuff open to the public.  That day Saturday, May 12 is my last official day of volunteer work for Renata.  

The Board of Directors for SPCC also arrives this week for a meeting and to participate in the re-opening ceremonies.  One of them is Steve Dresselhaus from TEAM headquarters and I hope he and I can have a discussion on where, when and if TEAM might send me next. 

I feel a little sad about leaving.  What a tremendous experience this has been for me!  I don't regret a single moment, even when things were the most difficult.  I have learned a lot about myself and about being a short term worker.  I have a little clearer picture of what that means, the sacrifices involved and the committment it takes. 

I will be very sad to leave the International Church which is just a small picture of what heaven will be like with "every nation, every language, every tribe, every people"  represented.  Above all as I have said before, it will be the people I've met who have impacted me the most and I will miss them:  so many smart, gifted and talented people desiring for the people of Turkey to come to know the "Hope of the ages", Jesus Christ;  and the dear people of Turkey themselves with their history and beautifully rich and strange (to me) culture.  Lord, may my time here not have been in vain!

Biblical Turkey

I never realized how much of Turkey, I mean actual land of Turkey is part of biblical history.  I'm sure that I cannot begin to name all of the places in Scripture where the locale is in current day Turkey but here is just a sampling:  Ur is said to be here where Abraham is from, Mt . Ararat in eastern Turkey where Noah's ark landed, Tarsus where Paul was born, all seven of the churches mentioned in Revelation, all three of Paul's missionary journey's, Phillip started a church here was martryed and buried here, John started a church here, lived here, died and was buried here,  Eden, Galatia, Laodicea, Colosse, Lystra, Iconium, Derbe etc etc....

I had the privilege of visiting just a few of these places and am astonished at the history that is buried here.  I'm going to post a few pictures but just want to say that all of the places I visited are just barely uncovered, there is hundreds of years of work to be done to uncover these ancient cities.  That work is reserved for the Turkish people by law with some limited exceptions for archeaologists and people in related fields.  Dr. Mark Wilson who is a member of Jim's congregation has written a book on the subject of biblical turkey and has a research foundation, gets to go on digs sometimes and can take friends!!   If you like jigsaw puzzles Turkey is the biggest puzzle in the world!!

The magnificent city of Ephesus, said to be the 4th largest city in the Roman Empire and guardian of the great goddess Artemis:

Below is the theatre mentioned in Acts 19 where for 2 hours the angry crowd chanted "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!"

In Laodicea (Revelation 3:14-22) below, we saw piles of excavated materials waiting to be fit together. The white mountain in the background left is Hieropolis where the springs produce hot water and Colosse where the water from it's springs is cold, is off to the right on one of those hills.  The three cities form a triangle.   

Below is Hieropolis (Colossians 4:13) hot water pours out from natural springs with such high mineral concentration it crystallizes forming beautiful terraced pools and this white mountain that looks like snow from a distance.  The church that Phillip started is here and he was martyred here.  The latest discovery is his burial site.  That area is closed off to visitors right now.