Today, in Ankara, March 4 and 5, 2013

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Hello friends,
today, March 4th, Lory and Peter travelled back to Ankara from Istanbul. Lory arrived in Istanbul on Saturday, March 2th, together with Isabel and Donatella from Italy. We spent the night and a very beautiful day with  Eduardo, Huseyin, Ana and Jöntürk.

We arrived in Ankara at 6:00 pm and we found out neither the phone, nor internet were working. After some calls to Huseyin in Istanbul, he managed to make Telecom promise they would send a technician. We went shopping and prepared food, we sent some of our friends, messages in Turkish, one of whom was Zehra. At 8:30 pm, we decided to go to Hacibaba cafe to have çay, thinking of our friends. After a while we were looking at the entrance and Zehra and Huseyin arrived, very happy to see us. It was a beautiful surprise and a somewhat mysterious coincidence, reinforcing the fact that thinking of dear persons, they can appear where you least expect them. We passed some very nice moments. Huseyin translating to Zehra all the while. She was very happy. Huseyin reaffirmed the importance of his experience his participation in the meeting last week and confirmed he would be there tomorrow. At 10:00 pm we said good-bye and went back home where neither the phone, nor internet worked.
And we arrived today, March 5th, without internet. We decided to go out to buy gas for the heating which was about to finish. We didn't want to wait for the Telecom technician. But when we came back, at exactly 1:30 pm, two joyful youths appeared and introduced themselves as the Telecom technicians. One of them spoke English well. So we let them in and they quickly checked the phone and saw it was broken and that we could throw it away. We said we didn't use the phone but only used internet. So they showed us how to put the cable directly on the modem without passing through the phone. But it didn't solve the problem. So they explained that we had to go to the Telecom office close by, take the phone and modem and that they would fix everything. One of them writes some sentences in Turkish on a piece of paper ad tells us to show the Telecom people so that they will know what to do. They were very kind.

They leave happily and we go to Telecom but... arriving there we see the building is being renovated and it was closed. We saw two workers and a young couple. We ask if any of them speak English and the young woman starts speaking perfect English and tries to explain to us where we must go. We couldn't understand, so she said that she is going there with her husband and we can go with them. And so we went, walking all four of us and talking all the while, with a good mood and lots of jokes, we went our way. It was quite a long walk and it finished close to Handan's house, asking directions along the way.

The atmosphere was very nice and open, she told us she is an English teacher, as well as French, he told us he is in the army although he doesn't like it so much. She is of Greek origin but comes from Anatolia, from Izmir. They asked what we were doing in Ankara and when we said something about a volunteer project on a new spirituality and the meaning of life, the reacted very well saying it was very good. Arriving at Telecom we thanked them and they said we musn't thank them, that they had a good time taking us. We insisted it was important to thank them for their company and for having guided us to this place. We gave them a Message card with our contacts and web pages. She said that she will write us surely and to call her if we need help in Ankara. They helped us by showing the paper to the doorman, who showed us to a desk behind him. We said good-bye to our friends with lots of human warmth and we went to the table. The man received us very nicely and in a short time fixed everything. Another nice man came close and told us we must change the password so that the new connection will work. We talked for a while later and said good-bye amiably. It was like a guided experience that brought us to our destiny.

Coming back, everything worked perfectly, so the problem with internet is solved.
After a while, Yuksel came and we had çay and hugs and information on the internet connection. He stayed us for a while and said that he would be back tomorrow at six with Aylin to receive Isabel and Donatella.

At seven we talked to Mehdi and agreed we will see him at Hacibaba cafe at eight. It was another very nice meeting which gave us the chance to deepen the issues of the Message. We spent two hours together and before we left one of the boys who works there asked us what we did and we repeated it and gave him a card. We'll see how it goes.

Tomorrow at 2:00 pm we have a meeting with Huseyin, a student we met during the book tour in Antalya. He is happy to see us again. We are also in contact with Bertug, anothe student and contact from Antalya, who will try to come tomorrow to the meeting, or else this Friday.
We are well and inspired.
A big hug to all,
Lory and Peter