We all have a story.

I have two American friends who live here. One says that you have to be crazy to be an ex-pat who lives here. The other says that we are all misfits. Me, I say that we all have a story and I, like anyone have mine. It is that story that brings me here. So this will be the beginning for my next reflection

Here I am

You know, Istanbul was just such a great experience for me. It was one of those places that just struck me and it just stays with me. I am back in Bangkok three weeks and I feel that a part of me is still back there in Istanbul. Not very real?
The reality is here I am back in Bangkok and my life goes on. Istanbul remains more than a dream but it is a long way from a Bangkok. Actually anywhere could be a long way from a Bangkok. It is a huge Asian city, full of traffic and pollution but one that has its own charm and attractive qualities as well. A Bangkok can take you in while it is not one of the most liveable cities in the world. There is something about it? Or is it rather that there is something about Thailand while you see and experience so much of the anomolies of life.
I say all the time that Bangkok is a place where you life can change in 24 hours and that is something I experience so often. It is not an easy place to live with its harsh environment - the heat, the humidity, the lack of trees, the ever present traffic and the time you watse travelling - and it all takes its toll. It is a place where you constantly experience the extremes of humanity and life. In the same day, you can go on the rollercoaster of life, experiencing the very best and the very worse of humanity within the same day. All up life can get tiring.
You may ask then - Why do I live here?
The answer goes back to 2002, I was on sabbatical and I wanted to see the plight of refugees. So the closest and easiest place to do that from Australia as a Catholic priest, I thought, was to go to Thailand and connect with Jesuit Refugee Services. So I had two weeks here and went away knowing that this is where I wanted to be, where I needed to be in life. I fell in love with Thailand and felt this strong call to working with refugees. I went home and asked my Provincial about conming here and after three years of hard work and continually pestering my Provincial I finally made it, arriving in Bangkok on 5th October, 2005. I don't know why I remember the date but I have been here ever since. I never made it to the border and the refugees there but here I am where I need to be for now doing some good work, I hope, and trying to make sense of all that I see along the way.

Back to Reality

Well, Istanbul was a great few days in my life but my relaity is that I live in Bangkok. An Istanbul it is not. It might sound exotic or romantic to be living in a Bangkok but the reality is that it is a huge Asian city with pollution and traffic and it gets damn hot, or more importantly sticky. I have been here three and a half years and there is still much about here that just mystifies me or that simply I just do not understand. It is a place full of characters and stories. Over time, I will share some of these and you will come to understand why here attracts me and mystifies me, while I see it for what it is.
This is the place of all is never what it seems. There is always much more to what you see and experience and it is that other layer, what is happening underneath the perceived reality, that really matters and where you have to be looking to understand what is really happening. It all makes for a bit of an adventure.

Up the Bosphorus

While in Istanbul, I was told that an absolute must was to go up the Bosphorus. So I did. The Bosphorus is the waterway between the Mamare and Black Seas. It is a defining line between Asia and Europe and flows through the middle of Istanbul.
I was told where to get the boat for this trip and off I went. It was exhilarating going up the Bosphorus and seeing the beautiful coastline and towns along the way. Then ahead of us was the Black Sea. That was just amazing to think that I was here in this place. Then I found to my amazement that when we arrived at this town by the Black Sea on the Bosphorus that we were to stay here two and a half hours before returning back to Istanbul. Stay here? What is there to do, to see here?
As a good westerner who likes to be highly organised, I was just shocked and thought if I had known this that I would have stayed at Istanbul. You know what? I was wrong.
What had been unplanned for me; what had been something that I would never have chosen was to become for me one of the great experiences of my stay in Istanbul. Such is life! The best things in life are often unplanned!
Being stranded here for so long, I decided to take a walk up the nearby hill, with my fellow travellers, to see the old castle ruins. What I discovered was just the most stupendous view of the Black Sea. It was well worth the effort and the time. Even more worthwhile for me was what I discovered along the way to the old castle. We came across a local artisan who was making gifts out of glass. He was also selling products made from other local artisans. It was just a wonderful discovery to see such exquisite products of local people. I would never have chosen this route but I am so happy that I took it and it was a route given to me, not made by me.

A Message from Dolmabache Palace

The last palace of the Sultans in the Ottoman Empire, and the one then used by Ataturk, was Dolmabache Palace. It is on the Bosphorous and well worth the visit. You can only visit it as part of a tour.

Well, as my tour was going down one of the corridors of the palace, I was taking note of the pictures along the wall. They all featured wars the Ottamans had fought. I saw that they had fought in their time with Russia, the Balkans, Greece, Austria-Hungary, and maybe there were others. It just struck me there and then that Empires might be powerful and wealthy but there is a price they have to pay - they have to fight to protect and maintain what they have. Eventually, in paying this price, an empire will tire and collapse.

For me, this has a message for all of us. If we simply always be strong and powerful and act against others to protect our own interests in life, we will tire. However, if we show and share our vulnerability with others that may be a key to our becoming more human together.

Sancta Sophia

Under the inspiration of a new found friend, I decided to start a blog site. I have named it SanctaSophiaFan. A strange name? For me, NO; but for someone else to understand, YES. Let me explain.
I was just in Istanbul on my way back from Rome after having to go there for a meeting. I have never been to Istanbul and discovered just an incredible city. It has been the centre of three empires and today I found it to be a friendly and easy to use place with so much to see and experience.
I visited Sancta Sophia there. It is now a museum, having been wisely declared that by Ataturk, the founder of modern day Turkey. Well before being a museum, it had been the focus of faith for the three empires centred in Constantinople, now known as Istanbul - Roman, Byzantium, Ottaman Empires. It was built 1,500 years ago as the then Church of Christendom. It was built in six years by 1,000 master craftsmen and 10,000 labourers. The result, as I experienced even today, was a church that is just awe inspiring. You go in and see the massive dome and the wonderful icons, and it just makes you want to wonder at life and the dimension of the other. On entering, I just stood there and looked upwards and just felt inspried, touched by an experience of the other. It is hard to put into words.
So I am the Sancta Sophia Fan.