Internet travel plans

So I wasted almost an entire day on the internet today. I did manage to do some exercise, get to the store and write some stuff in Turkish, but definitely the majority of the day was spent searching online for the purpose of making travel plans. I had to find some hotel options for my parents who are heading here in September (I'm happy about that!). That was quite easy though thankfully, plenty of sites that have photos, service details and prices listed.

The other travel plans however were not nearly so neat. I need to head out of Turkey to renew my visa soon as the one I currently have expires on July 20th. The trouble is that I'm going to be helping out at a camp near Mersin at that time so I'll have to go earlier and since the camp is in the southeast of Turkey it rules out the most logical options of Bulgaria or Greece (just a bus-ride away). My traveling companion and I decided that the easiest and quickest would be to fly to Northern Cyprus from Istanbul and then take a ferry from there to Mersin and from there travel straight to the camp. Pretty straight forward right?

Well, one airline quoted this amazing price but when I called it was more than double with the taxes. I tried some other sites, but some didn't go to Cyprus, some just didn't work once you entered all the info and clicked 'ara' (means-'search' or 'find'). Then I realized that once we flew to Northern Cyprus we'd first have to get from the airport to the nearest town of Ercan, then from Ercan travel to one of the seaside towns. That's alright, we'll figure that out once we get there, ask around, there's bound to be a bus or whatever.

But to which seaside town? The one with ferries that go to Turkey of course. Well it took forever to find the right site that listed locations, times and prices for ferries from the town of Girne. Great, but these ferries apparently only go to Taşucu which seems to be 90km from Mersin, or Anumur which is even farther.

Then I learned that there are ferries that go to Mersin (where we want to go) from the town of Gazimağusa but they apparently only run 3 days a week, usually at 8pm, the boat ride takes min. 2 hr and camp starts in the evening. Not so helpful.

So Girne it is. I then tried finding cheap pensions, once again, took forever to find anything but the massive, expensive hotels and holiday complexes listed on the internet. Once I finally did find a list, no prices were mentioned, and I did not have the energy to start phoning every single one on the list of 30 or so to get an idea of prices and room availability.

It is official, I do not enjoy making travel plans...especially on the internet. Isn't this why we have travel agents?

Just for fun, some shots of where I'll be heading in about a week. No, not mine, from the good ol' internet.

Prayer...

I've been having opportunities to engage in prayer in a wider variety as of late, some examples...

Prayer with eyes open...This city is so big that sometimes it's easier to meet people somewhere in the middle, at a cafe somewhere for example, rather than at a private house. Often we want to pray for one another or pray about some specific issues during those times. Closed eyes is not the typically understood sign that you are praying here (doing prostrations, facing a certain direction, hands out and open, repeating phrases, during the designated times...these are the recognized demonstrations here). As such, a group of people in a cafe with heads bowed and eyes closed would not necessarily be a witness to people who are praying together, it would just be odd. So I've found, you can still be focussed on God and united in prayer together even with eyes open.

Praying Scripture in Song...I just attended an all night prayer meeting and discovered a different way to pray that I absolutely love. We'd have a passage of Scripture, one person would read a verse then offer a short prayer in connection with that verse. All the while, 2 amazing guitarists were playing, then one guitarist would take a line or two from the prayer and/or the Scripture and would sing it out, then the other guitarist, or someone else, would harmonize and respond, everyone else around me would join in, harmonize and/or respond with new lines. It was beautiful, seriously beautiful...I couldn't help but join in with my own prayers and harmonies. We'd sing a bit, then move on the next verse and continue the process, time flew by.

Intercession in context (like prayer walking)...this is not new, it's just taken on new meaning for me here. I often spend time sitting on my balcony late in the evening looking out over miles of apartments filled with people who don't know yet--don't know that incredible love, freedom, purpose, life--and I pray for them. I ride the train crammed with people...I see different people with certain expressions on their faces, dressed in a telling way, or reading a telling book, and I pray for them. My surroundings, the structures I see (mosques, superstitious charms, ancient ruins, plaques, monuments, symbols of wealth/poverty), the people I see (their dress, mannerisms, eyes, possessions, etc.), give plenty of fuel for prayer. It's simple, and I'm discovering more and more, powerful. It is startling how many of those who have come to choose Christ here have done so because He met them personally in a dream or vision birthed out of their own cries or later discovered prayers of another.

Sitting still and taking in beauty...this is not new either, I include it though because it is my favourite and yet one I often don't make time for, or miss out on here. I love to just sit and be still with God, finding a spot where I can look out over things He's made that are yet untouched by us, marvel at the sights, the setting sun/a beetle crossing my path/a species of bird I've never noticed before/etc., listen to the sounds around me, rustling in the leaves/waves lapping/people laughing/etc., smell the ocean/rain/wildflowers/evergreens/etc., feel the warmth of the sun/crispness of the cold/breeze blowing/etc. Sounds cliche, I know, but I love it. As I do, I'm always refreshed, refocused...I want to worship, share my heart, chat with God, listen for Him, sometimes words, sometimes Scripture references (I later look up), sometimes just deep feelings.

Prayer is my foundation, weapon, and lifeline.

One reason I like this country...

Most definitely there are a number of things that can drive me nuts about this culture--the way guys feel free to stare openly or how easy it is to be cheated here for example--but thankfully there are pluses.
I love how helpful people are here. Yesterday I was in a little bookshop picking up some paper and I wanted to find a show repair place. I asked the shopkeeper if she knew of one nearby. The only one she could think of was a fair bit of a walk. There was also an older gentlemen in the shop at the time and he joined in, the one he suggested was also a fair bit of a walk but in the same direction I was heading anyways to pay a bill so I listened to his directions carefully and off I went. 15-20 min later after I turned onto the street I understood I was to turn onto, I came up to a 3 pronged fork in the road. Just as I was standing there deciding which prong to try first because I couldn't find the landmark the guy had told me, up pulls this same older gentlemen on his moped, he pointed me down the right street then turned and drove off.

A friend and I were off to visit one of the museums here and looked up bus directions on the internet. We had to transfer to another bus at a stop we'd never been to so when we got on the first bus we asked the driver to let us know when we arrived at the stop. He then asked where we were headed and we told him the name of the museum. He shook his head and said that if we went that way we'd have to walk aways and then informed us that he knew a better route. He took us all the way to the last stop on his route, got off the bus with us, waited with us until the bus that would 'take us right to the front doors of the museum' passed, he flagged it down for us and then told the driver to make sure he let us off at the right place.

Another day a number of weeks ago I had stopped a woman to make sure I was heading in the right direction to get to this major roadway. She said that I was and then offered to escort me the whole way and also help me get on the right dolmush as she was just out for an evening stroll anyways.

I was out for a run the other evening when a medic on a motorcycle passed (I know, odd, but they've got them here). Generally I'm bright red when I do any exercise and just as he was passing I was stopping to walk for a bit. I watched as he pulled up on the side of the road quite aways up and watched through his rear view mirror. As soon as I started running again he pulled off once more. Not too many women exercise here like that, definitely not to the point that they are sweaty and worn out, I'm sure he thought I would pass out right then and there! I thought it thoughtful to wait and make sure I was alright!

The helpfulness if possibly in part because I'm a foreigner but I know Turks who have the same experiences. One friend from Adana expressed that one of the major culture shocks she experienced when she went to live in England for a while was how unhelpful people were when she needed to get somewhere!

Hospitality and helpfulness, I appreciate these.

Picnic in the Park

Yesterday we went as a church together to a park and held our service there. Afterwards we ate together and spent the afternoon doing things that you do in the park. It was really a great time. We sang songs together in both Turkish and English and drew some spectators. In place of the sermon, a number of the Turks shared testimonies. It was encouraging for both the Turks and the foreigners involved. Apparently in other years when they held this church service in the park, a number of the Turkish believers would disappear periodically whenever someone in uniform came around but this year, they were boldly and publicly testifying to their faith. In one of the open prayer times between songs, one Turkish woman loudly recited John 3:16-17 and continued praying, declaring her deep love for God, and praising him for the gift of Jesus.
It was a very eclectic group, not just Turks and workers attend this church, also a variety of expats from all walks of life attend. One English woman I met on Sunday said she had come to believe after she came to Turkey!
We shared the food that we'd all brought (definitely more than enough to go around), chatted, and played games. I met a lot more people, discovered that there are a few who live in my same neighbourhood in Istanbul. I briefly flew a kite for the first time in my life! All in all a great day.