From this month's newsletter

MARCH/APRIL 2008

It is so nice to see nature bursting forth as Spring arrives. The shrubs and trees are well into bud and the sight of the early blossom and flowers is such a treat. The poem by Wordsworth always comes to mind at this time of year – “I wandered lonely as a cloud that floats on high o’er vales and hills, when all at once I saw a crowd, a host of golden daffodils……” While the daffodil isn’t quite so popular here of course the tulip is. It is always fascinating to think that the tulip was originally a wild flower here in Turkey and that it was cultivated by the Turks in 1000AD. The Europeans saw them and loved them and gave them the name tulip. In the 17th century the Dutch took bulbs back to the Netherlands where they now grow and export them all over the world.

Our events last month were very well attended and we started off with the Pot-luck Valentine’s Day lunch. Twenty six ladies enjoyed delicious food at Lee Boehr’s apartment. Lee had decorated her rooms beautifully with lots of red balloons and served us all strawberry champagne on arrival! Thank you Lee, for all your hard work on the day. It was lovely to see everyone’s wedding photo’s and guess who was who! We also found out who had been married the longest and who was the most recently married – can you guess?!!

Great decorations! Jenny, our newest wed!

Janita looking great after 35 years of marriage – well done!

Despite the Asian side coffee morning having to be rescheduled to the following week due to the snow, Claudia Turgut our host for the morning had a houseful of ladies! Jenny Maladain has very kindly written a review of the morning for the newsletter. Thank you, Jenny for your contribution and a very big thank you to Claudia for inviting us all into your new home!

”There was a large and very encouraging turn-out of Corona members to listen to Hughette Eüyboğlu’s talk on “Islam and Living in a Muslim Country”. Was this due to the fact that we are all concerned about the apparent increasingly Islamic influence into modern Turkish society, with the recent lifting of the “headscarf ban”, or more to see Claudia’s lovely new flat in Fenerbahçe? Difficult to say! But a bit of both, perhaps…. Hughette was a wise choice to give such a talk, as she has lived in Turkey for more than 30 years, is married to a Turk and so has the authority, experience and insider information to give credence to her words. She gave a very interesting outline of how the Muslim faith has developed through the ages and explained how the successors of Ali (Mohamed’s son in law, married to his daughter Fatima) broke away from the mainstream after his and his sons’ assassinations, and became the Shia branch of the faith, now comprising around 35% of believers, mainly in Iran and Iraq. Here in Turkey, the majority of the population belongs to the majority Sunni branch of Islam, with another large group of related Alevis making up a significant proportion, though their activities were curtailed and restricted here until 1978. It was interesting to hear that the Syrian ruling family and the family of Benazir Bhutto, so recently assassinated in Pakistan, are also Alevis. That perhaps explains their less strict approach to women, dress, and other religions. For many of the participants, this was a key step in beginning to understand Islam and the country in which we now live. For others, this talk has led to a more profound wish to deepen our knowledge about the faith that our neighbours and colleagues belong to. It is ever more imperative that we should indeed seek to understand each other’s perceptions and beliefs on a mutual base of informed experience rather than prejudice and suspicion, if we are to avoid the alarming prospect of the “clash of civilisations”. Thank you, Hughette, for giving us momentum!” By Jenny Maladain

Hughette Very informative!

Roz Kirton gave a very useful demonstration on CPR (Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation). While many of us think we know what to do in an emergency, it was good to be told exactly how and when we should use it. We were also able to try the technique on special dummies. We were all amazed at the pressure needed to pump the chest and what hard work it was. Let us hope it is one of those things we now know what to do, but never have to try it out. Thank you Roz for setting up all you dummies for us!

Roz and her ‘boys’!!! Getting ‘hands-on’ practice!

March events started off with a talk by Edith Heidelberger on ‘Health & Nutrition’. Edith told us lots of facts about what we should be eating and answered the many questions we threw at her. It was good to know that we can eat healthily here in Turkey and that the way the vegetables are cooked here with a little meat is perfect, apart from maybe too much oil – so remember that bit!!! Linda Harraghy supplied an array of healthy snacks from muesli yoghurt and fruit to organic bread with jams. Thank you Linda for welcoming us all into your home.

The Asian evening at Edi and John Benson’s home was a wonderful evening which we shared with our partner’s this time!

Ayse Yucel – our chef for the night! What a buffet!

Ayse Yucel worked so hard in preparing what was a very authentic Thai style buffet for us all. Everything was so delicious from her hors-oeuvres of spring rolls and ground beef and beans to her Thai green and red curries. All in all she prepared fifteen different dishes for us to try and the sea bass with spinach in coconut milk was especially tasty! Ayse had also decorated the tables with Thai candles and flowers to add to the theme of the evening. You did a fantastic job Ayse. Thank you so much for all your hard work ! A very big thank you also goes to our hosts for the night Edi and John Benson for giving everyone a warm welcome into their home. It was so nice to be able to get the husbands involved this time and they certainly all seemed to enjoy themselves!

The ladies – first to be served! The men can talk as much as us!!!!

Our cooking ladies have been very busy preparing marmalades and chutney. These have been on sale at all our recent events. Thank you to Filiz, Carol and their team in Zekeriyakoy and Janice, Dawn and their team on the Asian side. Also to Alyson for the delicious lemon-curd! We now have a lot of donated ‘new’ jam jars for these so there’s no need for you to save your old ones.

 

Please remember that the Bomonti Spring fair will soon be upon us! The date is May 24th. Annelies is still collecting bric-a-brac for her stall. So when you are spring cleaning please think of her! Please telephone.

The committee would also like to say a big ‘thank you’ to John Royce for all his hard work with the Corona website. John continually up-dates this for us, adding new photos and articles. If you haven’t checked it out you must as it is a great site www.coronaistanbul.org.

In this month’s notice board attachment you will find details of a job position on offer from the British Community Council and also news of a forthcoming book signing by Dr. Phillip Mansell, so don’t forget to download it.

And finally, if any of you would like to give a home to a puppy or know anyone that would, Jacqui Anderson has five of the cutest pups going! They have all been vaccinated and are very friendly with people. They are just looking for a good home with lots of love. If you can help please contact Jacqui.

“Please can you give us a good home with lots of love!”

 

 

Events for March and April are listed on our calendar page.

 

contact us : coronaistanbul@hotmail.com