A Typical Christmas?

Nothing seems typical in Bangkok, Thailand - let alone Christmas Day. In a Buddhist country, Christmas Day is just another working day in the life of the people. Yes, they have the decorations, the silly music (which I love), the Santas and the shopping but apart from enjoyment and another shopping opportunity I don't know what it means to Thais. Maybe that is the same for back home.

The day had its highs for me. As a priest, I was pleased with myself as I gave a decent homily at mass on Christmas as a time to celebrate our humanity which is so intertwined with the divine. As a man, I was so happy to discover that soemone else follows my blogsite. Thanks Amy! Maybe that is why I am doing another entry today. I did all the right things - give presents to everyone, ring home and even pay the rent. All looked good for a perfect day but can anything or anyone be perfect in this world? I am sure we all know the answer to that.

So given the tasks of the morning, I was off for an afternoon of Australian Christmas which meant off to Australian friends in Bangkok for food, drink and a swim. As always with any Christmas gathering, there was to be added surprise but Thai style. The surprise was the unexpected but welcome guest for Christmas lunch.

Thai style came in the form of the young Laotian mother who asked to come along and see a farang Christmas. Her son was already coming to join my friends' son and mum wanted to tag along. So here she was at Christmas lunch.

Like everyone, she has a story. She was from a poor Lao background but had met and married a wealthy and older Swiss Canadian. THe husband died and left her with a son and lots of money. It is quite a typical story of this part of the world. The place is full of such couplings and it is a not so uncommon outcome.

The son goes to one of the most exclusive schools in Bangkok where there is no shortage of Thai parents who exude wealth and elitism. Mum remember is Lao and not Thai, and a simple one at that. This allows for a messy life situation for herself and her son as neither is really meant for such a robust and harsh environment. Despite how she got there, she may have money but she is out of her depth. So it seems that mum is not so happy and finds release in the bottle.

What really may seem so unusual at home in Brisbane is truly a typical Bangkok story. Bangkok is a place where one at times has to work hard to keep one's sanity or to stay in touch with reality. The end of this C hristmas Day was to give proof to this.

Very simply, after she left we discussed the harshness and loneliness of her situation. Noting that she at least had money, I named that she had options such as looking to another school which would be more friendly. The discussion with my friends continued a little further until I stated that it was her problem. This invited an immediate "You are just another uncompassionate Catholic priest". I don't want to dwell on this as this happened aat the end of a rugged Christmas lunch campaign. So it was time when anything may be said and not to be taken too seriously.

It did however make me think about me and here. I actually sit with owning not that I am uncompassionate. Rather I sit with this - living in Bangkok and seeing and experiencing all I come across in the area of love and relationships has the effect of making me cynical about love, life, relationships and people. That is a frightening realisation to own and name. A Bangkok can make one cynical about the very good and basic things of life. Understandable maybe but it mkaes one realise just how much we need sane friends to stay not only sane but also healthy and appreciative in approaching life. Thank God for my good friends of this Christmas Day who kick me when I need it and are just such good friends, such good foundations of reality in the midst of world that can be quite mad or unreal. As I said at the end of yesterday on leaving my friends, we need each other so much to keep sane. As was then pointed out to me, and how true, living here is like living in Graeme Greene novel - The Power and The Glory???

The el Prado

The el Prado Museum in Madrid is quite something and so accessible. My favourite was El Greco. Then to my delight, I discovered a Franciscan church near the cathedral that was painted by El Greco. So you can guess what I did. I would go to this church to pray and just to savour in the works of El Greco. It was all prayer. The works were just awe inspiring and I coiuyld just sit there and stare and wonder. It was an incredible experience.

Escorial

Escorial was the Palace for Phillip II of Spain. He was King during the 16th century and the Philippines were named after him. He was a devout Catholic and lived quite an ascetical lifestyle, or so they say.

Actually, as you go on the tour of this great palace, you are shown Phillip's bedroom and it is not grand at all, being situated right beside the high altar of the basilica within the palace itself. There is a door that opens out from Phillip's bedroom onto the sanctuary. The idea was that Phillip could stay in his room and just be there right beside the altar.

Yes, the palace includes a basilica and is used even today as an active place of worship and liturgical celebration. It is the church where novices in the Order in Spain make their first profession. It is all quite something.

Escorial today is a pleasant drive from Madrid. It is also the name of the modern town that sits beside it. It is a place for tourists to visit and get a taste of an empire but it is much more. It is a national treasure, being the burial place for the Kings and Queens of Spain, with every Spanish king since Phillip being buried there. It is a huge complex and much of it lies in the care of the Augustinians who were entrusted with its care 100 years ago by the then government.

So there the Order lives and ministers. There they have a college, a university and a novitiate for the Order, among other things. The overall impression is of a magnificent building complex that is grand and extensive, full of history and treasure but also full of present life, and there is the Order in the midst of it all. Everything in it is big - including the community room and the community dining room. Just amazing!

When do they sleep?

Well, as you know, I had my first taste of Spain and I did love it. On my first night in Madrid, I was there watching the Argentina-Spain game and then a movie with Domingo in the common room. When it all finished, it was midnight and I was ready for bed. So I think, off to bed but no way!

The invitation came from Domingo - Come a walk?
I think - It is midnight! Walk now?

So off the three of us go for a walk into the streets of Madrid. Guess what? It was now after midnight and the streets were packed with people all doing the same thing - walking after midnight.

My only question - When do they sleep in Spain?

A Lesson in Life

My three weeks in Europe included four days in Madrid. This was my first time in Spain and it proved to be an absolute highlight in my trip.

I will give some background to help an understanding. There are four Provinces of the Order in Spain - the Philippines, Madrid, Castille and Spain. This all speaks of the Order's history, strength and tradition in Spain. The Philippines Province is their missionary Province and was started under Phillip II when Spain went to the Philippines. The Order obviously has ties with the establishment of Spain and this is reflected in the Order's presence at the Escorial which was Phillip II's palace and to today serves as the resting place for the Kings and Queens of Spain.

I stayed at the Provincial house of the Spain Province. It is centrally located in Madrid. It is a community for 12 to 15 men of the Order. One of them is the Provincial and is named Domingo but then the community features three Domingos and I couldn't work out which one was which, especially with one being away.

So here I am a guest in this house in Madrid. I found the experience to be very positive as all were so friendly and hospitable. One of the three Domingos was just incredibly kind and attentive towards me. He responded to my every need. He saw to it that my appointments for my work were organised. He would take me on his nightly walks with the community. He would check that I saw what was inportant to see and took me on a day trip to the Escorial. If anything, he was just too kind and I just found it overpowering.

Then on my last day in Madrid, on our last walk, I asked Domingo,
"Who is the Provincial?"
He simply responded with
"I am"
I was just in internal shock. I was in internal 'O, my God' mode.

This man is the Provincial, responsible for a Province of 250 men, with parishes, schools and all other sorts of ministries here in Spain and elsewhere. This man has so much to do but yet he has given his past four days to me, he had just been so ever attentive of me and my needs. There was a huge lesson in this for me. It told me yet again, it reminded me about what really is important in life and that is simply making time for each other. No matter who we are keep the prespective on what matters in life - people, each other.

Without giving any class or sermon, this one of the three Domingos taught me so much and I am just so grateful. His way of teaching was just to be so kind and unassuming and just to be attentive to the other. In this case, the other was me. All I can say is "Thank you" and I have taken the lesson on board. Domingo, for you, I am most grateful. Muchas gracias!

Incredible

I look at the date that I last posted something on this site and I am just ashamed or else I think how incredible it is that time goes so quickly. I wonder what I have done in this time and just where have I been?

Well I did go to Australia in October for a quick visit as I was summoned home by my boss, Tony, for a meeting. I felt like I was a businessman rather than a priest, racing home for a week. I only got to visit my family for two days as then I had to return home to Bangkok for a week before going to Europe for three weeks on a Thai Church sponsored trip.

The main purpose of this trip was to go to Rome to attend the VI World Congress on the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Refugees run by the Church. It was then onto Spain and Germany to visit Caritas Thailand funding partners there. I also planned to visit my Order inthese places and let them know about me and Thailand. This trip proved successful on all counts and was even most enjoyable.

Still it served to reinforce my feeling that here I am being a businessman as I think that this is the lifestyle of a businessmand and not a priest. Maybe my thinking is too narrow and limited as it was all for a purpose and it was all part of my journey in mission here in Thailand. I guess I just have to open my horizons and broaden my sense of opportunity.

Anyway, now I am home again and happy to be in one place again. Now is the time to re-enter my blogsite. I must let my greatest fan, Carmel, my niece, know as I don't want her to miss out on reading the latest.

I might be able to share all that has happened in the last three months but I do have some stories to share on my return and it may be time to do just that.

We are connected

I harken back to a story that may seem old by now but it is from World Refugee Day. I only shared then the story through pictures but maybe now I can do it through use of word.


One of the key people in my life here is Ahmed from Somalia. His story is full of disaster and despair. Yet he so often appears as the one with hope still alive. My Province in Australia has been working for sometime to sponsor him to Australia. Then something happened in Australia that deomonstrated how we are all connected and how that connectedness can act against our interests, as much as for them.

Recently in Australia, four young men were arrested on terrorist charges. Three were Somali and one was Lebanese. They had been in Somalia where they had had experience with the al-Shabab terrorist group. They came back with some plan to attack an army base in Sydney. What does this have to do with Ahmed?

He is Somali and wants to go to Australia. Well? Because of the arrest and charging of these four men, all Somalis are looked upon with suspicion within various quarters of Australian society. This means it is politcal suicide at present to push a Somali cause within Australia. As I gave this news to Ahmed here in Bangkok, he just had this increduloud look upon his face as if to say, "How could this be? I am not one of those four!" For better or worse, we are all connected.

'Connection'

Now, my story of yesterday about visitng Ms N. at the Women's Prison featured a key symbol - waving 'Goodbye'. You may not realise it but it also featured for me a key word - 'connection'. I realised that only later on myself as I was grappling with how to name what that symbol meant for me. Earlier in the day, I had named it to myself as being 'physical contact'. I had said that this was the closest physical contact we had had but that did not really capture it for me as I was not yearning for physical contact and I can see that physical contact is not at the essence of what I was trying to capture. Connection was it. We all need and yearn for basic connections in life. To be disconnected is a real loss and sadness for anyone that can lead to all sorts of personal strife and discomfort. Hence yesterday's symbol was so powerful.

My Boss, the Bishop

Fr Pibul is my boss here at Caritas Thailand. As you know, he has been named as the new Bishop for Nakhon Sawan which is the diocese to the north of Bangkok. Since I first announced this news, I have found out some fascinating statistics of this diocese which are so typical of a Thai diocese outside of Bangkok or Tharae over in Isan.

Nakhon Sawan Diocese covers a wide geographical area that has a population of eight and a half million people. Within the diocese, there are only 16,000 (according to the Vatican) Catholics. My calculator tells me that the Catholic population is then .0018% of the total population. Most of these Catholic are ethnic hilltribe people. Those not counted are any Catholics that may be among the many Burmese who have fled Myanmar and live along the border in this diocese among the many camps or towns but then interestingly they are not included in Church statistics, let alone national statistics.

I think this is enough for an introduction. It speaks for itself. I am sure more will follow on Bishop Pibul and Nakhon Sawan Diocese.

jaam-nong

If my Thai is any good, 'jaam-nong' is the anglicised version for the Thai word meaning 'to aim'. This would be my new word for the day and the word that would keep me determined to face my chosen challenge for the day. What was my challenge? To go to the big prison in Bangkok to visit Ms N., a South African woman. Why was such a task so daunting for me? Because I was to go alone for the first time and not wait for some Thai companion to come with me. In doing so, I knew I would have to stand on my own two Thai feet in dangerous and unknown territory for what if I did not know a word or could not say it properly? Whatever, I was not going to be stopped from doing what I needed to do.

My first great hurdle came when I got on the bus and told the conductor where I was going in Thai. She just looked at me as I was stupid. I knew it was not her but me. She told me I was on the wrong bus but I kept at it with the help of the Thai woman in front of me and my map, and eventually I got the ticket I needed. When I got to the Ngam Wong Wan Road intersection, I got off the bus. I then had to check my direction before heading off and finally I got to known territory as I have been to the prison many times but always with a driver.

The next hurdle was filling out the prison form for making a visit. It was all in Thai. I can read Thai but so slowly and not easy. So I had a crack at it and did my best. Guess what? The prison Officer accepted the form as I gave it but I think it was because all there know the woman I was visiting as she has been there over 15 years and from South Africa. So how many would fit that bill?

So far, so good, but then they took my passport. My question then is - when do I get it back and from where? I have to have faith here as the officers all know what they are doing and, I must say, they seem so helpful and friendly.

So, yes, with some help from another westerner who was waiting also to see someone, I did get to see N. On elast hurdle was that I may have missed my call. So I did have to go and check with one of the officers if N.'s name was called out in the last round of announcements for calling visitors. The friendly officer told me to go and see her now! So success!!! (but with some help from friendly others)

I got to visit N. and complete my mission for the day. Yeah!! Did it!!! Good on me!!

This is my second time ever to visit N. The connection is my American friends who are trying to help her. They are both away and so I go in their place. I know that she has been inside a long time. She has done over 15 years of a 26 year sentence. She is there for a drug trafficking offence and the sentence was death commuted to life. Her story is a typical one for women here on this offence. Her boyfriend asked her to carry a bag for him and she did and she got caught. I realise how few people help her and how little her government is doing, if anything for her. So she lingers on in a Thai prison. How sad! Yes, she was involved in something wrong but to get such a punishment and be left so alone for so long??

As I left I felt so sad. Why? It was not her story but seeing her hand. As she walked away, N. had raised her hand up above the barrier that is between prisoners and visitors. The barrier is not only distance but also the wire and the glass in between. It makes it hard to both hear and see each other during the visit. She was waving 'Goodbye' and I waved back. It hit me that this is the closest physical connnection we have ever had over the two visits. It was just such a powerful symbol for me of connecting with another human being within difficult circumstances that I just felt overwhelmed. There are no photos for this story but just a powerful symbol - two hands waving 'Goodbye'.

I'm back

It has been a long time since I put something on this blog site. I guess I just got lazy or into a daily routine (or rut) where I became comfortable and that just does not include bothering about this site - even in Bangkok where life is never dull. Then today I got an email from a niece and she inspired me to get back into this site. So here I am. Where have I been?

Bangkok, doing my normal work. Most days, I come to the office at Caritas Thailand. I work on project reports and proposals that aim to help poor Thai farmers through applying sustainable agriculture and also help Burmese and other migrants (as they call them in Thailand). Then I also go to the Bangkok Refugee Centre where I meet people who have feld some of the most desperate hotspots in the world, like Somalia and Congo. They end up here but find no solution just more problems. My heart goes out to them. It is like what can one do but they give you the message - do what you can and that is enough. So I continue on.

Then Sunday my day was a little bit different. I went to Bangkok Cathedral for the Installation of the new Archbishop of Bangkok. This was a grand occasion for the Thai Church. To put it in persepctive, Cardinal Michael Michai has been the Archbishop here for 36 years and so this is the end of an era for the local Church. Cardinal Michai is a gentleman and has been a good leader for his people. So now we see a 'new day' here in the local Church with Archbishop Francis Xavier Kriengsak. He begins a new chapter for the Church in Bangkok. I was present for this bit of history and felt quite honoured to witness this great moment, this handing on of the baton. What I noticed or felt being there was the immense pride of Thai Catholics as they gathered for the occasion.

As result of this change in Church personnel. My thai priest boss at Caritas, Fr Pibul, is to be the new Bishop of Nakhon Sawan where Archbishop Kriengsak had been the Bishop. To give you some perspective, Nakhon Sawan Diocese covers a huge area in Thailand with a population of eight and a half million people but with only 10, 000 Catholics. That gives a typical look into the Thai Church. It is small and has never really tapped into Thailand as to be Thai is to be Buddhist. That is part of their culture. Still the Thai Church does its bit and makes its mark. In Nakhon Sawan Diocese, two vulnerable groups are the ethnic hilltribe people and the Burmese. The latter have fled an oppressive situation in Myanmar and live in refugee camps or on the edge in Thai communities. To the Thai Church's credit, they are there making their contribution to these people as best they can and will continue to build up their good efforts. Fr Pibul will be there leading this push to do good. Such is part of the story of the Thai Church.

So Carmel, thanks for inspiring me. Hope you enjoy this little contribution to the world.

There is a place for everyone

Well, it is now Monday 22nd June. Maybe World Refugee Day was just another day in the year. For me, it was a special day for two reasons. One was the experience of going to the Bangkok Refugee Centre and seeing the performances by the Congolese, the Somalis, the Sri Lankans and the Chinese. The other was learning the news that my Thai priest boss was just named a Bishop for a diocese that includes refugee camps for those who have come into Thailand fleeing the oppression of Myanmar.

If I could share something of my Thai priest boss, I know him to be a good and dedicated priest. He is a kind man and humble. These are not the chararterisitics that are presently highlighted within the local scene. Here, within in a culture that features patronage and that values prestige and status, he suddenly becomes the centre for much adulation by his peers and employees. Such adulation does not speak of him or his new role of leadership and service in the Church. It does however speak of his culture and how much it places the value on one's standing and position rather than who one is as a person, or this is how I see it from the outside. I know this is not him but he accepts it for what it is worth and goes on in his humble way. He does impress me.

I now want to tie this experience to the message of World Refugee Day. We, no matter who we are or where we come from, live in a world that so values what we have, what we do; that values how strong and powerful we are above simply who we are. Maybe if we took a lesson from my Thai priest boss and just valued each other for who we are as people, then our world would be a better place and have fewer refugees. In a world where we value each other for who we are, the powerful and strong, the dominators and the control freaks could not easily get their way at the expense of others, the little people, the gentle people. Our world hopefully would be fairer and more peaceful. In it, we could acknowledge that there is a truly a place for everyone no matter who we are. Would that not be a more preferable world that ruled by the obscure values of power, control, greed, status and prestige?

World Refugee Day

June 20 is World refugee Day, a good time to remember the 42 million uprooted people around the world who are still waiting to go home. They are among the most vulnerable people in the world. So says Antonio Guterres, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

One could lecture or preach or just sprout on. For now, I just share with you photos from my day here in Bangkok. I was at the Bangkok Refugee Center for their celebration of Refugee Day. It was a festival of colour, of song, of dance, of happiness among and with those who are so vulnerable and desperate in our world. For now let the photos speak. Take them in and just sit with the message for you. And let the words of the Center's Director also ring as he said - Refugees, Asylum Seekers, Displaced People are not the problem. Then what is?

Bangkok is a Hub!

This has been quite a week. It started with mygoing to Ratchaburi Province along the border with Myanmar. Then it continued from there with the Caritas Asia gathering and my meeting there Bishop Giorgio, the Catholic Bishop of Djibouti and Somalia. Even just to hear him tell me that he was the Bishop for Somalia literally blew my mind apart. On getting to know him, I discovered a man who was kind, easy going and so friendly. I could only imagine where he came from but his whole demanour spoke of a whole different reality - kindness and gentleness. Giorgio is an Italian Franciscan. The previous Bishop of Somalia had been murdered and so giogio has been the Bihop for the past eight years. He lives in Djibouti and has not been able to get to Mogadishu for the past 18 months as it is just too dangerous.

There was a cathedral there but part of it has long been blown up. When he was able to visit Mogadishu, he described how he was not met by Customs and Immigration but by the armed convoy sent by the then local Catholic Sisters. the convoy was made up of men armed with armalites. They were his passport to the then Catholic compound. This compound no longer exists as one of the Sisters was murdered and the others then withdrawn. Such is Somalia.

I took Giorgio to meet some Somalis I try to help here in Bangkok. He met with Ahmed whom my Province is trying to get to Australia. Their conversation was interesting and a joy for me to share. One conclusion was clear - the present situation in Somalia is not one where Muslim extremists are fighting for their version of Islam. Rather this is a new strategy being presented by the thugs, crooks and hungry power seekers that have been fighting in Somalia since 1990 in their greedy bid to grab power. That is the reality.

Like Thailand - all is never what it seems. We can be simplistic as we approach our world but we need to be wise as serpents. Thank God for the Bishop Giorgios of our world.

All is not what it seems

Here I am pictured in Ratchaburi Province in the midst of such beautiful countryside. All seems so peacful but the the reality out there speaks of a different truth. Not so far away is the Thai-Burma border and along that border so near to where I am standing is a refugee camp for Burmese who have fled a homeland where they only know war, fear and oppression. Life is so different from a countryside that is so beautiful and peaceful.

It's that sort of place

I never was into jigsaw puzzles even though I used to have a go at many. I guess I lacked the patience and could never really take the time to work out the total picture as there always seemed to be those last few pieces I just couldn't work out. Thailand is like that. You think you have it worked out and then you realise you haven't.

As I think of living in Bangkok, I think of a number of different lines:
-Ain't it amazing.
-All is not what it seems.
-Your life can change in 24 hours.
Bangkok is that sort of place. It is an unknown quantity.

Living in Bangkok, you see that not every Thai is always smiling while Thailand is the Land of Smiles. You see that not every Thai is always gentle and kind while we are told that Thais are a gentle people. So the list can go on. We all have our image to present and protect bnut that lead us into issues of identity - who am I? who are we?

That the people do not match up to expectation is okay for nobody does and what you see is that Thais are human beings like everyone else. They just have their own specific cultural context, with thier cultural strengths and weaknesses. Where they suffer is that they have been idealised to the world, and I suspect they have been idealised by their own inside forces. Such an image does not help anyone as when you are perfect you have a huge burden to bear. This has a message for me.

Maybe this reflects for me what becomes the basic question I face in living in Bangkok. It is not the moral agenda questions of right and wrong, good and bad but the more basic question of what is real and not real. In facing reality, whether mine or someone else's or that of a society or people, what I value is that we set our own agenda and not have it set for us by someone else. Otherwise we can go down the track of fantasy, down a track that leads nowhere. We need to keep in touch with where we come from and who we are.

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.