The Feast of Saint Nicholas

I'm not a big fan of Santa Claus. I was, but I'm not anymore. I am, however, of the mind that remembering a person who those around him felt that he (or she) wholeheartedly and meaningfully participated in the life of his community is time and thought well-spent. And that is what happens at feasts. At Christmas dinner stories about my great-aunt and great-uncle always come up. For me and my family it would be impossible to think of Christmases Past without them and their home. Out of their love and generosity they have left us with some very special memories now that they themselves have passed away. In the same way, that's what the feast of St Nicholas is about: making room for stories and traditions to be reborn in ourselves.

The historical Good 'Ole St Nick was a fourth century bishop in what is now modern day Turkey (he isn't Santa Claus, but the present day Claus is a construct (maybe you could even say 'a mutation') of earlier characters that were inspired by the real deal...don't mix them up now). There are more than a few traditions surrounding his life, but there is one in particular that is better known than others. There was a family who had a daughter but no money to offer as a dowry so that she could be wed. Just like many places nowadays, once the daughter reached a certain age her family would shed their financial responsibility towards her and she would have had to find a means to live elsewhere. If she were to marry, her husband and his family would do this. But without a dowry this wouldn't happen. Life would have been quite desperate. And of course, desperate times call for desperate measures: if nothing else, it would have opened the door of possibility to a life of prostitution for the daughter. Seeing and understanding the girl's situation, tradition says Nicholas left three gold nuggets on the family's window one night so that with them the family had a dowry to offer for their daughter. A happy ending, right? If you have ever found or even gave a mandarin orange (or three) in a stocking and never knew why that sort of thing is done, now you do. It is the tradition of this story being kept alive. The mandarins symbolize the gift of the gold nuggets.

An example like his is a good one to keep in mind around Christmas holidays. Sometimes the holiday might look more like Stuffmas. Of course, the gold nuggets are the gift in the story, but they wouldn't have been if someone hadn't looked hard enough to really consider what was important to the daughter. Part of the gift was his involvement in her life, which is how Nicholas was probably able to become aware of what was important to the daughter and her family. When we concentrate (not just at the holidays) on truly being as fully present as possible with and for the people we love, what just-the-right Christmas gift for them would be should become clear.

Every year December 6th is St Nicholas' feast day. The date flies under the radar of most North Americans, but in Belgium it is a BIG day. When we were there every single chocolate shop in Brugge (and that's no small number) was filled with chocolate St Nicks. Though we weren't in Brugge for the 6th, by the stroke of luck, he came to visit us, along with Kevin and Vicky, so to get us really excited for his upcoming feast!

Happy St Nicholas Day!

p.s. Ho-ho-ho hold your breath...we will be back in Canada in just about two weeks!

The Two Advents

In 1948 Dick and Mac shut down their successful restaurant to make changes. Upon re-opening three months later, the hungry public found that the brothers had whittled their once large menu down to essentially one item: hamburgers. Since then, the restaurant franchise has become a globally recognized brand. The name of the restaurant? McDonald's.

Nowadays this type of drastic simplification is embedded in our daily lives. And food is hardly the only thing that has been turned into an easy-to-understand and uninteresting commodity. Many nuanced traditions have been thinned out as well. Advent is a case-in-point. A time to buy a Gaudily decorated calendar with twenty-five chocolates inside is the extent to which it is widely thought to be about now. As enticing as that might sound, no one could expect such an idea to actually capture and hold a person's imagination. But like many things, scratch the surface and we might discover something that compels us to think about its hidden layers and depths.

Look past the countdown chocolate calendars and you just might find your interest being piqued by the forgotten themes of Advent. This type of curiosity doesn't come from the usual loud and bright-colours (not to mention chocolately) sort of show that jolts you into a frenzy of activity. Its rather quite the opposite. Advent tells us to stop moving, be quiet and breathe deeply. It also says it is okay to wait because there are things worth waiting for. And not only are these things worth waiting and hoping for, but they rightly should be expected; from me, from you, from other people and from God. Even with only this most cursory mention of some of its larger themes it is clear why Advent can't and doesn't comfortably co-exist with the typical North Atlantic lifestyle. It really wouldn't be far off to suggest that Advent is a counter-cultural observance.

With our fifteen month adventure abroad swiftly coming to an end, we have been talking a lot about Advent in that context. It is exciting to countdown how many days until we fly home. We have certain expectations and hopes of what that will mean for us. Returning to Canada will require a transition period and it will probably be at least a bit demanding on us and on our family. Without going into any details, you might be able to see how this could give us a one-off framework with which to discuss and reflect on Advent this year. Our expectations, hopes and uncertainties about returning home fit right in with Advent.

It is important to add that with all this hoping, expecting and just generally looking ahead, we aren't forgetting to be fully present where we are. We can't thank Sonia (and Joel) enough for reminding us of this sage advice.

Alright, now you can go have today's Advent chocolate.

A Yabba Dabba Dooooo Time!

We've spent the last four nights sleeping in a cave. On purpose, not because we've run out of money. This isn't just any cave, either- it's the Flintstones Cave! How novel is that? Our cave is probably considerably fancier than Fred or Barney's though. We have two levels, the top one being a loft with two extra beds and a window from which we can watch the hot air balloons at sunrise, a heater, a comfy bed and a modern fancy bathroom. Our cave doesn't have wifi, but there is one in the common cave lounge...Cave life has never been so good! We are in Cappadocia, our second and only other stop in Turkey besides Istanbul.

Cappadocia is everything we need and want it to be right now, at this point in our trip. The days have been glorious and sunny- which is not only wonderful, but also necessary- because its even colder here than in Istanbul. The thermometer on the bus here varied between 2 and 4 degrees Celcius. Maybe you've missed this, but we've been sweating our buns off in Asia for the last year- we aren't really carrying around a lot of winter gear. Thankfully, with the sun, I can get away with layering on every single piece (no exaggeration) of clothing that I have in my bag, including my pyjamas, and be comfortably warm during the day. It also helps to get the blood pumping. Goreme, the town in the region of Cappadocia where we are staying is perfectly located amidst countless valleys and trails, great for both exploring, and taking in the stunning scenery. We spent a happy four days doing just that!

Its certainly not tourist season here- which means we pretty much have all the valleys, trails and lookouts to ourselves. It really adds to the adventure of it. I'm under no delusion that we are pioneers out discovering hidden cave-houses and -churches that have been lost to the world for centuries, but wandering through the deserted cave villages, with not a soul in sight- it feels like it. When we stumbled upon an ancient secret cave church, built back in the first century when Christians carved out the caves of Cappadocia to live in, out of sight of the Romans, I felt like Columbus discovering (so our history books say) North America. It was so cool. Of course, we had to climb up some pretty precarious sandstone footsteps, and teeter across a narrow ridge to get there- but it was so worth it. Right, J? The church had three rooms, carved enclaves and frescoes painted on the ceilings and walls. Much of the outside wall had fallen away affording spectacular views over the landscape. Now, this would be a great place to attend Sunday service....

Cappadocia has been a refreshing and relaxing stop for us. We are really happy that we made the effort to get here, and that we spent time getting to know the area. Tonight, we head back to Istanbul on the overnight bus (where they give you free cake and tea!) and in a few short days we'll be flying to Brussels, where our wonderful friends Kevin and Vicky (whom we met back in NZ) will be picking us up at the airport (luxury!!) and whisking us back to Brugge, their hometown, where they have promised us two full days of gorging on Belgium chocolate, waffles, Trappist beer and great company! Can't wait!

p.s We also have been munching on delicious Gozleme (kinda like a quesadilla) on the recommendation of Leone- SO yummy and cheap! Thanks for the suggestion, Leone!

p.p.s There are lots more pics on our Flickr- click on the picture badge to the right!

Its Istanbul, Not Constantinople

Why did Constantinople get the works? That's nobody's business but the Turks. Thanks to Sarah and Ed for this stroll down childhood memory lane.

Lovin' the 'Bul

We absolutely love Istanbul. Its more a collection of little things that we like so much about this city, rather than any one thing specifically.

Lets start at the beginning. Half of Istanbul lies in Asia, and the other in Europe. The cliche says it really is, physically (we wouldn't say culturally, though), where East meets West. For us though, Istanbul is a warm welcome back into Western life. First, at the airport, the quintessentially Western Starbucks chain greeted us at the gate. We don't even go to Starbucks at home, really (unless Airica was working). But it was decorated so festively, the red cups all had little ice skaters on them, and they were playing Christmas music. And... a cup of hot chocolate was more than our entire day's food cost in Sri Lanka. Yup, we were in the West. We swallowed hard at the price list and what it meant for us and our 12 days in Turkey. But we didn't buy anything-not at those prices.

Jonathan literally danced out of the airport. He had felt his first gust of cold November air in between the airport doors. He yelped in delight. Chilly, Autumn weather! People glanced over and pulled their winter coats tighter around themselves. I practically went into shock. What was this feeling, and why was I still wearing a t-shirt and flip flops? We went back in and borrowed some of Starbucks' cozy chairs to pull on our socks and shoes and I rummaged through my bag for the fleece I had, until this point had been wondering why I was carrying around for the last year. And my scarf. And my raincoat. Jonathan started dancing again.

I was not expecting it to be cold in Istanbul. Especially because in the Bahrain airport, where we had just had an overnight layover (uggh) had big screens advertising 'Weather in the Middle East' and claimed (repeatedly-all night long) that Istanbul was a 22 degrees Celsius. The high was 29 degrees and the low 21 the screen told us! I'm glad wherever they got their information from wasn't in charge of air traffic control. It was maybe 10 degrees, during the day, if the sun was out. And I'm not complaining. After we went out on a mini shiver-induced shopping spree and bought toques and mittens at the Grand Bazaar, even I found the crisp, fall days to be delightful.

Istanbul is a mosaic. There are so many wonderful things to see. For us, the city offers endless strolls through neighbourhoods as contrasting as ancient cobble-stoned streets jumbled around a mosque commissioned by a long ago sultan, to modern, fashionable, rooftop restaurants. Everywhere we look, there is something else to explore.

We spent a happy few hours strolling through the Grand Bazaar, bantering with the shopkeepers. 'Grand' being no understatement. I read that this is the largest covered bazaar in the world! Its a labyrinthine of over 4000 shops and kilometers of lanes. It contains mosques, banks, restaurants and workshops-its a city all on its own. Its fascinating- and a tourist trap extraordinaire: 'Come here! I can help you spend your money!' was a common greeting. It was all in good fun. I was in especially high spirits because many of the scarves that they had on offer were the exact same ones I had bought in China and Nepal- only I had paid less than a quarter of the price! If that doesn't put you in a good mood, I don't know what will. Next on my list was the Spice Market... or the Sampling Market, if you're me. 'Come! Try our Turkish Delight! Best in Turkey.' Free samples? Sounds like a free lunch to me! I like bazaars.

We are staying in a less touristy part of town, a neighbourhood called Beyoglu. This has more to do with the fact that we knew nothing about Istanbul when we booked the cheapest room we could find on the internet from Sri Lanka. It has turned out to be fantastic, and one of the things we like best about Istanbul. We are right around the corner from cheap, local food (chicken kebab = YUM), there aren't any pesky touts, shoe shiners, or roving men who have a brother/friend/cousin who would just looove to show us their carpet shop which rover could conveniently lead us to- they're free after all... not to buy, just to talk, of course, and have tea, conversation is free.... blah blah blah, you get the idea.

Even more wonderful about Beyoglu, is the wide walking street that runs for a couple kilometres down the city's main shopping district. At night, the lively promenade is strung with festive, white Christmas lights, there are chestnuts roasting on street-side carts, the air is fresh and nippy, and everyone is out for their evening stroll. Its a wonderfully atmospheric place for a stroll. Its the first time its felt like the holiday season for us in a long time.

Thus far, the Turks have been very friendly and helpful. When we first arrived in Istanbul and couldn't find our hostel, we asked a lady for directions. She didn't know, so she ran up to her office and printed us out a map of how to get there!

We love watching the fishermen on the big, main bridge that connects the old town to the upper town. The bridge, probably a few hundred metres long, is crammed with fishermen donning massive poles and reeling in seemingly endless amounts of small silver fish. All day, everyday, thousands of these fish are being reeled in constantly... how are there always so many fish- and why are they all so stupid? (J: Because they're fish.)

Another great thing about Istanbul- not once has anyone attempted to run us over while we were crossing the street! There are designated sidewalks to walk on and only once was there a motorbike driving on the sidewalk (he must have come from the Asian side of town). People don't huff and puff when they have to make change for larger bills, and there even appears that restaurants have some noticeable semblance to hygiene- some cooks even wear gloves when touching your food! Istanbul is home to countless stray cats, but they are all furry and fat and they don't even look as they have rabies! This is all good, in our books.

And now, the not-so-good. I have only two complaints. First, is that everyone and their brother smokes here. For non-smokers, it is pretty gross. Second, is the exorbitant visa fee that the Turkish Government charges Canadians. For Canadians, a standard Turkish visa is $60. Its not the fee itself that flew me into an angry frenzy at the visa counter- its the fact that Canadians, and Canadians ALONE pay THREE times the visa fee that any other nationality in the entire world pays. And no one seems to know why. Or if they do, its some sot of National secret grudge, and they certainly weren't telling me the reason. Most other countries, if they require a visa, pay $20. The next closest to what we Canadians pay is poor Moldova, who pay $30. And then its just us, hanging out at $60. Why? Don't even say 'reciprocity' because I will bite your head off and then go into the five point lecture that I originally had in mind for a blog I was going to write solely on this issue- I was that annoyed about it at the time. Consider yourself lucky that I've spared you from my rant. If you really want to get me going some time- just ask me about Turkish visa reciprocity when I get home-boy do I have a spiel prepared. Anyways, I like Turkey so much that I don't want to get all revved up again over $120 right now. Its a drop in the bucket at this point. Hey! There's something else that's not reciprocal. We love Turkey, but apparently they don't love us. Who would have thought? Not everyone loves Canadians.



p.s: It is against the law in Turkey to 'insult Turkish-ness.' Vague....

p.p.s: In case you were wondering, Lao doesn't like Canadians either, but I probably already complained about that.