Today in Ankara June 21, 2012



Hello friends,
Today, June 21 we talked about the Eastern tour, agreeing on logistics such as hotels, arrival dates of friends who want to join the adventure and what we can hope to do in each city. The Eastern tour will be a bit different from the Western one, because we cannot do the same things, but we count on the possibility of connecting with people and transmitting the special atmosphere which is the Message, radiating our experience. The tour requires greater flexibility and softness, but it will surely be an inspiring experience for everyone.
On July 5 we will go to Antep for 2 days. In the city there probably will not be a bookstore with the books so we’ll see what we will do there. On July 8 some of us will travel to Diyarbakir to welcome Eliana and Christophe, who will be arriving on July 10 and 12. Another part of the team will travel to Hatay, staying there for 2 days, to follow on July 11th to Diyarbakir arriving on that same day. We will stay in Diyarbakir until the 17th of July, day we will travel to Van. We have various possibilities of meeting friends in Batman and Diyarbakir as well. In Diyarbakir we have the book in a bookstore and we have a salita in Huseyin’s house. We will all be in a cheap hotel, but with Wifi and air conditioning there. For those who want to visit the temple of Gobleki Tepe, they can do it in a day. We must take into account that July is very hot in Diyarbakir with temperatures reaching 40°. We hope we have given an inspiring image with this small information report for our friends who are arriving.
 
At noon we met with Hulya of the Alevi association where she is an active member. We talked to the vice president about Tunceli and the Alevi festival there. It seems that it is easy to obtain permission for a stand. On arriving we must go to the council and express our wish to do so and that's it. We also talked about a possible presentation of the book in their association in October and connecting with Alevi groups in different European countries. Hulya gave each of us a book on the Alevi massacre in Sivia in 1993. We left one in the Ankara salita and another one in Istanbul. Hulya told us she will be attending the Tunceli festival so we will see each other there. 
 
At 19h, Handan arrived and we were very happy to see her, she just came back from Russia. She brought many good sweets. A while later, Yüksel and Huseyin arrived and right after Zeinep with two friends. Huseyin had met them on the streets and invited them to come. Mustafa also came. So the kitchen was full of people and we moved to the salita/living room to have chai and chaat. Soon Handan informed Zeinep’s two friends about the salita, the texts on the wall and the Message and Huseyin showed them the book. They were well at ease and Eduardo told them a little bit about the tour and showed them the calendar. They wanted to staye to do a ceremony but received a phone call and had to leave. They will come back tomorrow at 19h for the ceremonies. Zeinep stayed and another friend of hers arrived who stayed for the ceremonies. Huseyin explained a little bit how everything worked and before starting Altug arrived. He was just back in Ankara from another part of Turkey. Altug immediately included himself in the ceremony and Handan guided the Service and Well Being. We asked for Yüksel’s mother, Zeinep’s mother, Atila’s mother. Everything was very good and with a good atmosphere. Zeinep’s friend was very happy and wants to come back tomorrow.  
After that, Yüksel gave us a good Turkish coffee and talked about the tour. Handan and Altug will come with us to Antep and also to Hatay. Altug told us about the city of Erzurun and the small bookstore which has the book. He told us it is actually more of a café which also sells books.
Huseyin told us about his experiences in China where he travelled for work.
It was a beautiful day with old and new friends.
A big hug,
Judit, Huseyin, Yüksel, Handan, Mustafa, Nacho, Eduardo, Altug and Peter

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