Turkish thoughts

   It is so strange to not be contemplating going home.  It is not like a vacation because our mind set is so orientated toward service and the people in general.
I guess it is home because Nori has purchased flowers and placed them on the table.  There is a little old lady that sells flowers on the corner and now every time we pass she thinks we should own more flowers.  It is so cool.
  We almost know the city by heart and it is such a great place.  Although at any moment we could get lost.  Every step offers something unique and special.   It makes us realize what a blessed people we are in the States.  We have no clue to the greatness of our country (even if the Democrats are in charge).

                                       Balik, fish right on the street for your personal selection.

The one thing we have truly discovered in our time here is that there is no limit to the needs of people and no limit on the kindness and compassion of other religions  Compared to them, we are just mere amateurs.  We cannot even compare our service efforts to the people we see dedicating their lives to service.  Simply dropping in and looking for an opportunity to contribute some for the aid of the people or the NGO (non-government organization).

Another point of interest is the daily calls to pray.  5 times each day starting at about 6 AM the muezzin call begins.  The sound is amplified from one calling tower to another and the delay in the speed of sound and the distance between towers makes the sound overlap and become a garbled sound that is almost impossible to recognize as words of any language.  It is an interesting concept that one should pray at least 5 times daily.  After all do we not say that we should always have a prayer in our hearts and to pray over every needful thing?

We have learned much about Islam, but it is a complex and varied religion.  In reality few people seem to attend mosque and we can see no real effort for people to stop what ever is going on and head to prayer.  Occasionally you will see a small shop closed for prayer, but that is rare.  Sundays are the most crowded shop days.  We have had to fight mobs to get home from Church.

Not Old Glory, but this flag has a most amazing story.  Just like the Stars and Stripes.  Also if you really want to understand amazing leadership, you should study the story of Kemal Ataturk.  He is truly an amazing man.  What he did for Turkey is hard to top.