We enjoyed many plates of food and we learned about the proper way to enjoy Turkish tea. Walt and I had just poured the regular tea and did the traditional cube of sugar and lemon, but Mesut pointed out to us that our teas were twice as dark as his because we didn't realize that one only fills the cup with tea to about one third, the rest is filled with hot water. Once we sipped down the stronger stuff, we were able to enjoy tea the way it is meant to be.
(This was a photo taken earlier, but I'm including it here so you may see what it looks like.)
Once we had full bellies and well caffinated brains, we collected our luggage and headed back to the van. We were going to drive north to Izmir to visit a Gulan high school. Gulan is a type of belief, which seeks to establish a full, well rounded education for all. There are Gulan schools across Africa, the Middle East, and parts of Asia. The people who follow the belief system think that we should love one another because we are all brothers and sisters. The color of one's skin and the faith in one's heart should not make any difference at all. The education that the children receive in these schools academically is incredible and the lessons they learn to become well-rounded, open hearted global citizens is unquantifiable.
We met our guide at the lovely tables outside of the caffeteria before our tour of the incredible campus.
The students of the school have earned countless awards and recognitions for their academics and their sports achievements. Their alumni are found all over the world as physicists, professors, mathematicians, scientists, and atheletes. Many of their alumni teach at the most prestigious universities in the world, including Harvard, Berkeley, and C. For my San Diego/LA friends, zoom in at the bottom of this photo to see where one of their alumni has ended up:
We toured the library, which formerly was a mosque, and these two photos do not do it any justice, but I will upload the video that I took once I am able.
The school contained many high-tech classroom, but all of us agreed that our favorite was the room of biology. Their facilities were top notch and their collection of specimens was unbelieveable! The pickeled fawn in my bio class was nothing compared to the specimens they had available to them. We found ourselves probably having more fun thatn the students would with the animals on display.
Walt was singing a tune with the Turkish fox. But here was Walt's view:
After our tour we had a spontaneous meeting with one of the professors who shared incredible stories of wisdom and brotherhood. The conversation was timeless and I wish I could have documented it all, but here are two stories that I wrote notes on to share with you.
A man whose soul was considered very mean and bad walked out from a forest to see a well. The man was thirsty so he climbed over the top of the well, climbed down, took a sip of water, then climbed back up and out again.
The man was about to leave to return to his wicked ways, when he saw a dog circling the well. It was clear that the dog was hot and thirsty, but there was no way the poor creature could clamber down inside like a man. Without thinking, the man returned to the well, climbed back down, removed his shoe and filled it with water. He climbed back up and gave the dog the water in his shoe so that he could drink. God saw this act and said to the man, "I forgive you all your sins, for you have proven your worth."
The second story was this: a long time ago, there was a great fire that covered all the hills. Men and women were trying desperately to put out the fire by dumping buckets and barrels of water onto the flames. One man came running out with a tiny glass full of water. Another man stopped him and said, "What are you doing? The glass is too small to make any difference!"
The man with the glass said in return, " I want to help. I may not put out the fire, but this is what I can contribute, and this much will be saved."
The story was to demonstrate that while we may feel sometimes that problems are too big or too drastic for us to be of anny help, any effort can make an impacting difference.
The professor that we met was of different faith and background and culture from my group and he obviously recognized this too, but he said something that quite nearly brought me to tears. He said, "We are of different nationalities, but our hearts are the same."
I'll leave you with those words of wisdom and I'll write up the rest of this tale in the morning. I am beat!
Until then dear readers!
Your humble author,
S. Faxon
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