Judy A. - New York
May 16, 2004

Hi Rina and Suleyman....

So, this was definitely a calmer week....nonetheless infused intermittently with ongoing memories of our time with you both, and especially with Suleyman. I was wondering if Suleyman was available for "group management" on behalf of our contingent. We are equally unruly in the U.S. as we were in Turkey. As a matter of fact, it appears that we are grossly unmanageable in the world as reports would have it, although our family seems somewhat more benign. 

The first thing that comes to mind is that I am almost out of Ibraham's apricots. My co-workers think I'm crazy (which is not always debatable) as I manage my stressful moments by reaching into my black backpack for a dried apricot or two. It works better than valium and only has a few more calories. Please tell him at your convenience that our time with him was very special.... really not ever to be forgotten and his graciousness made us feel so welcome. We wish him well. While we have a few pictures that developed well at his hotel....we have a great picture of Suleyman managing a smile about ten minutes after balloon lift off.....and simply adorable pictures of our sweet time with Mustafa and his dear family. Mustafa was a hard act to follow but Nihat was so warm and considerate managing always to be at the right place at the right time. Rina, you and Janie look as great on the pictures as you behaved in person....loose, balmed and American style Turks. 

So what shall I say....from the little sweet hotel in Izmir where we fell in after 24 hours of flying, dinner in Kusadasi where we had to learn about how to be more of a group and less of our individual selves in order to fit in to our "new culture". ....ruins, caravansaries, camels, sheep and their shepherds, foods, whirling dervishes, shopping, pit stops, skies, disappearing lakes, palaces, mosques, people....such lovely people, hot potatoes on a rainy day, Janie on a donkey, caves, tunnels, food, more food, perfect hotels, drinking before dinner, fabulous Cappadocia and all it has to share with us, ballooning, exhaustion, exhilaration, wonders three times a day, mountains, my wonderful piece of pottery which did not disappoint me when I got home, that cheese and pastry thing that I even went running around the airport for the day we left...and found it!, meze, I'm now hooked on yogurt...(every day), your office and and sweet home, the tiles (great pictures coming for your friend), unbelievable space and beauty in the mosques for me and God, unique time with our children that we have been lucky to find once in our lifetime which could never happen in the same way again, coupons, white cliffs and hot springs, a lady and her family with whistles and a colorful spring, lunch way up somewhere in a school, the people who had lunch with us, the school kids on Childrens' Day, Konya, the WEDDING!, those lovely synagogues which preserve our history and of course, getting lost in the taxi in Istanbul, the bazaar, spice market, cistern, Topkapi palace, tea and Turkish coffee behind the palace, great lunch in that interesting school building where we filled up on great food and bought the local wine so that there was no chance of our ever having of a sober evening, always running into someone who loves either one of you or both of you, David's sword, the Bosphorous/ferry/museum, understanding more about the sultans' history and a million others things that we learned (sometimes despite ourselves), having all of the Bible stuff fall into a meaningful coming together of history, a perfect vase in that museum on the Bosphorous that was thousands of years old, and then.....there is Suleyman.....how you managed us with patience, just enough rope, not too much or too little, gentleness, perseverance, sharing of so much knowledge....fun, flexibility.....we feel much affection for you both....Rina ...asking the right questions....and planning this wonderful experience.....and finally spending time with us making us feel like family.....the words "thank you" don't do it ....but I guess it will have to suffice... please stay in touch...keep us posted....take good care of each other... and know that we all keep you close in our hearts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Love, 
Judy