Thursday, September 06, 2007

our mailing address

Jediah and Sarah Tanguay
GGWO Büyük Lutuf Kilise
Dr. Zafer Tunaya Sokak No: 8 Kat/3
Turkdogan iş Merkezi
Beyoglu / Istanbul, TURKEY

LAUGHTER LIKE MEDICINE

Kids on the Old and New Testaments

This comes from a Catholic elementary school. Kids were asked questions about the Old and New Testaments. They have not been retouched or corrected (i.e., incorrect spelling has been left in.)... Enjoy!

* In the first book of the bible, Guinessis, God got tired of creating theworld, so he took the Sabbath off.

* Adam and Eve were created from an apple tree. Noah's wife was called Joan of Ark. Noah built an ark, which the animals come on to in pears.

* Lot's wife was a pillar of salt by day, but a ball of fire by night.

* The Jews were a proud people and throughout history they had trouble with the unsympathetic Genitals.

* Moses led the hebrews to the Red Sea, where they made unleavened breadwhich is bread without any ingredients.

* The Egyptians were all drowned in the dessert. Afterwards, Moses went up on Mount Cyanide to get the ten ammendments.

* The seventh commandment is thou shalt not admit adultery.

* Moses died before he ever reached Canada. Then Joshua led the hebrews in the battle of Geritol.

* The greatest miracle in the Bible is when Joshua told his son to stand still and he obeyed him.

* David was a hebrew king skilled at playing the liar. he fought with the Finklesteins, a race of people who lived in Biblical times.

* When Mary heard that she was the mother of Jesus, she sang the Magna Carta.

* Jesus was born because Mary had an immaculate contraption.

* Jesus enunciated the Golden Rule, which says to do one to others before they do one to you.

* It was a miracle when Jesus rose from the dead and managed to get thetombstone off the entrance.

* The people who followed the lord were called the 12 decibels. The epistleswere the wives of the apostles.

* One of the oppossums was St. Matthew who was also a taximan.
JEDIAH'S BIRTHDAY'S ON SUNDAY!

funny facts~!

Here are some peculiarities (is that a word?) that i have come accross or noticed in Istanbul. Hope you find them as interestering as i did!

RED SEA - amplified version

P Matti met a young man in the park not far from the church that actually lives in the park. They exchanged a long conversation and P. Matti promised to bring him some clothes the following day. One highlight moment of their conversation was when the lad offered his version the Exodus, that he strongly belived was the truth:
-"And the Prophet Isa (Jesus) opened the Red Sea and all the Muslims walked through!!!!"

EVIL EYE

Some Turkish people fear the 'evil eye'. (which brings bad luck) To protect themselves from it, they hang a "counter-eye" in their houses, on the back of their kids clothing etc, hoping to ward off evil spirits.

BODY LANGUAGE

Don't be mistaken: if you ask a Turkish bus driver if his bus goes to Sirinevler (or wherever else you wish to go) and he answers you with an upward nod of the head along with a simultaneous raising of the eye brows, DON'T get on his bus. It means 'no'!

Sunday, September 02, 2007

mosque on Asian side

(sorry no pictures!)
A few days ago, P. Jozsi, Jediah and myself visited the inside of a mosque. It was my first time going in a mosque. A sign on the outside wall indicated the regulations for visitors, namely that all shoes had to be left at the door, men must not wear shorts, women must wear a long skirt and have a scarf on their heads. (very short version) A little cabinet below the sign displayed a collection of scarves that could be borrowed for the occasion. The thought of how many people touched those scarves before me, did cross my mind, but my curiosity for the mosque exceeded that of the possibility of lice....
As soon as we stepped in I looked for the women's 'quarters' which was a tiny little room on the right. It was pretty awkward at first, but as soon as i sat down on the rug against the wall, i realized that only one young girl was fervently praying while the other women were just chit-chatting!! I sat there, mesmerized by the intensity of the bowing and standing and silent praying of that young girl (maybe 17) all covered with bright fabrics except for her face. I wondered what prayer she so desperately wanted heaven to hear and wished i could have asked her afterwards.
Then walked in, with no knocking or warning, 3 barefooted men, who proceeded to skip over the women in order to measure the room for apparently some renovations. Quite a scene I tell you.

The 'religious atmosphere' here is pretty light, (as you can tell:-) Considering that most of the population is Muslim and that we are a bunch of Christians actively involved with a church, we are rather 'free' to share our faith, of course we don't do the whole 'tract show', etc!! Yes there are a lot of active strong Muslim believers, but many Turks are nominal Muslims or even atheists, at least here in Istanbul. We trigger conversations with whoever we are sitting next to, either on the ferry, in a cafe, or in the metro. Every time we make a new friend, they or we ask to meet again to either learn English, teach us Turkish, visit our church, have coffee, play soccer, or go to the baths.