New Mosque

Spencer and I visited Yeni Cami or New Mosque today. It was started in 1597 by Safiye, the mother of Mehmet III but was not completed until 1663 by Turhan Hadice, the mother of Mehmet IV.

Entering the courtyard the first thing that struck me was the men washing their feet before going in.  Only the men did this... not the women.

Every one has to take off their shoes to go inside.  Plastic bags were provided to carry your shoes around in.

this is a view of the ceiling

the men prayed near the front and the women stayed behind screens near the back.

close up of one of the wall tiles

Women prayed behind the screened wall on the left of the photo... the people walking around were tourists taking photos like me.

We exited from the side and came out to see more men using the fountains on that side of building to wash before going inside.

As we were leaving the call to prayer was sounding... which means we made it in and out before the crowd hit for prayer time!

Hiking on Heybeliada Island

Spencer and I went on a hike today through the woods on one of the Princes' Islands today. What an adventure! We spent time taking pleasure in the plant life, the cool sea breeze and following paths that gave us the views in the above pictures...enjoy!!

Thought for today

We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us.

Joseph Campbell

Celebrating Children's Day

When we went out for a walk on Friday we were a little too late to see most of the Children's Day excitement.

However, we did see this little guy still in costume on our street.  The next day he was outside again playing in the same suit.  It reminded me of when my sons were little and one of them only wanted to dress like Batman.

Visa update

Our documents are en route to Washington DC. I cannot remember what plan this is... but it is well beyond A or B. Hopefully, we will have visas in hand to make our flight on the 7th of May.

Please continue praying for us, we are hoping to be back in Krasnodar in time for Tom to walk a fatherless young lady down the aisle on my birthday.

And as we wait I will be counting my blessings... you can read about that here: 1000 Gifts

tragic actor and his sidekick

thought for today

The reward of suffering is experience. -Aeschylus

another visa setback

Our teammates flew to Madrid, Spain to expedite our visa process. Why Spain? The Russian Embassy there had been favorable to many other expats living and working Russia. So we thought this was a sure thing. NOT.

Our friends were told no. This is the first time in five years that an Embassy is denying us because the paperwork says DC and not Spain. What? Our paperwork has said either DC or San Francisco each time we have gone though this process and we have never needed to go to either one of those Embassies to get this done.


They are making another appeal today but we do have back up plans in place. We may have to go back on simple tourist visas. We had hoped to be getting on a plane on Friday... but it looks like we will have to reschedule one more time.

At least we are getting to enjoy extended time with their 4 kids. After two days out and about in Istanbul we settled in today for a Cartoon Network Marathon!

Keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we wait.

Greenhouse Bookstore, Istanbul

I sent an email to the kind people over at the bookstore and she sent me great directions! We started at Taksim Square, took a bus to Besiktas, and from there walked over to board the ferry to Kadikoy. After a 20 minute ride you land at this station. This is the front of that building. With your back to this building walk to the crosswalk.






















When you are standing at the crosswalk you will see this building directly across the street. Walk to that building and take the sidewalk to the left (just follow the crowd!)






















You will see this Starbucks after you follow that pathway to the next street over... cross to where the Starbucks is and walk to the right of it. Follow that walking street up one 'block'.
























When you reach the intersection you will see this church. Turn right at that street. The street name is Murhurdar Caddesi but knowing that didn't help as there was no street sign there... just turn right at the church!


















Walk up that street until you get to Burger King and turn left.

























And although this photo is shot from other angle you will see the bookstore on the right side of the street about 8 doors up from Burger King!


















Enjoy your time there and trust me it will be worth the effort!!

A write up of the bookstore is located here... It is on the Asian side of Istanbul, and they have the largest selection of books English that we have seen so far. The bonus for us was the wide variety of Christian books. After spending 5 years shopping at a Christian bookstore in Krasnodar with only Russian books to offer this was a real treat to our souls!

Griffin??

Tulip time!!

thought for today

Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint on it you can. ~Danny Kaye

Burqa style

I love that even though this gal has chosen to wear a burqa she is still showing her personal style with her purple leather jacket and red shoes!

Sharp Travel Trivia

What do these islands have in common?

Catalina Island
The Big Island in Hawaii, the Kona side.
Cyprus
Princes' Island, Turkey


A. places the family has been
B. places that we wish we never had to leave
C. places where Tom has taken a nap
D.places where we have been given a free meal

Finally, some good news!

Our letters of invitation are on their way here to Istanbul. We are finally one step closer to getting our new Russian visas. It will be a 90 day visa and by the time we get back to Krasnodar one month of the three will have been used up. But we are grateful to have an answer and to finally feel as if this never ending vacation is coming to an end!

Istanbul Modern

If you get a chance to go to this museum in Istanbul... take it! We had a great afternoon there. It was a bit intimidating because there was so much to see. The cafe is a great place to hang out. The view of the Bosphorus from there is breathtaking. There are also a few benches inside the gallery along the back where you can sit and contemplate the art as well as the waves!

Thursdays are free so we hope to go back again and see the things we missed the first go round!

thought for today

"I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant."
Robert McCloskey

Easter treats in Istanbul

It takes some leg work but you can find some goodies for kids and adults here to help make your holiday brighter.

We didn't try the chocolate bunnies...however, we found something very tasty and it reminded me of the bread and Easter eggs we had last year when we celebrated Russian Orthodox Easter with our friends Katya and Alexei!

it's Friday...but Sunday is coming!

I can hardly wait for Sunday! Happy Easter Everybody!!

strolling down memory lane

As we were out walking near Taksim Square we found a tiny shop selling old LP's. What a blast from the past!

thought for today

~ Easter says you can put truth in a grave, but it won't stay there. ~

Clarence W. Hall

from the bridges of Istanbul

Spencer and I went for a walk today across two different bridges. As we went over the top of the first bridge you can see how close the traffic is to the fisherman and the rest of us occupying space on the sidewalk.


















If you want a fresh grilled fish sandwich... here is the place! Don't worry there are tables on land in front of the boat where you can enjoy your meal.


















When we reached the second bridge we decided to walk on the lower level this time. Word of warning: there are cafes with aggressive waiters waiting for you to stroll by so that they can give you their pitch!!

praying for those in Moscow

Woke up to the news this morning of two bombings on the Metro in Moscow. You can read more by clicking here

Visa news

The news on our visas is: there is no news.

We are still waiting for the letters of invitation to arrive. We had been told to expect them this week. However, no such luck. Tom was able to reschedule our airline tickets today. Our new target date is April 11th.

Keep on praying for us!

don't try this at home...

Wedding guest severely injured at Russian roulette

MOSCOW – Russian television has aired a video of a wedding guest shooting himself in the head with a rubber bullet in a game of Russian roulette.

An excerpt from a wedding video airing on NTV television shows a man addressing the groom, then whipping out a pistol, pointing it to his head and pulling the trigger with a click.

The man gives the gun to another man who then shoots himself in the temple and falls to the ground.

The Komsomolskaya Pravda daily reported Tuesday that the victim in the December incident was hospitalized with a severe head wound. It says the man who gave him the gun has been charged with hooliganism.

The origins of Russian roulette are not clear, but Czarist-era officers are believed to have taken chances with revolvers that held one bullet.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100324/ap_on_re_eu/eu_russia_russian_roulette

thought for today

It's not that some people have willpower and some don't. It's that some people are ready to change and others are not.

James Gordon

nap time

family fun

Fountain of Ablutions at Aya Sophia

Basilica Cistern

thought for today

"What am I afraid of?" began Mack.
"Well I am afraid of looking like an idiot. I am afraid that you are making fun of me and that I will sink like a rock. I imagine that--"

"Exactly", Jesus interrupted. "You imagine. Such a powerful ability, the imagination! That power alone makes you so like us. But without wisdom, imagination is a cruel taskmaster."

excerpted from The Shack by Wm Paul Young


I realize that not everyone is happy about some of what is written in The Shack. However, coming from a recovery point of view that teaches 'take what you like and leave the rest' this is one thought that I will take with me:

"Without wisdom, imagination is a cruel taskmaster"

If I dwell too much on the past or on the future I will cause myself pain. If I focus on every 'what if' I can think of I will cause myself pain. I bring pain upon myself when my predetermined view of how life's events unfold fail or people do not react/respond to them the way I imagined they would.

My prayer is for wisdom to balance out my powerful imagination and lead me to the full life that was promised to me in John 10:10.