We visited a middle school today, grade 6. The visit was not a pleasant experience as the 5th graders were unruly. The new teacher was overwhelmed with these children and was trying to teach them English for the first time. Just last year the country made it compulsory to finish 12th grade (vs. 8th). They will begin English in 2nd grade. After the visit we traveled to a neighboring village where we met with the Muhtar (Governor) of the village of 266 people. This gentleman met with us, explained his duties and answered questions. He is the go-between of the village with the larger regional government. He trouble shoots things such as sewage problems. He keeps records of births, deaths, marriages, education issues etc. The village is made up of farmers and most young are leaving ... read more

Day 4 -- October 12 (Sunday) -- Today was a busy, busy day. We visited The Blue Mosque with the 6 beautiful Minerets, just outside of our hotel. It is called The Blue Mosque because of the beautiful blue tiles inside but frankly, we have seen nicer tiles elsewhere (later in the trip, at some smaller mosques). This mosque is HUGE and we got to go inside for the tour. It was built in 1609-1616 by Sultan Ahmet I. We also visited the Hagia Sophia, "the church of the Divine Wisdom". We can definitely understand why our brother-in-law, Michael Bleday, who recently passed away, loved visiting Turkey and this former Greek Orthodox Church. It was completed in AD 537 and is an architectural wonder. It was home of the Greek Orthodox Church for almost a thousand ... read more

DAY 2 -- We landed in Istanbul and spent the afternoon & early evening exploring the square that is surrounded by the Topkapi Palace, the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia. Ray and I were mesmerized by the beautiful sounds of the Call to Prayer which is via loud speaker from each minaret. We stood next to the beautiful fountain that dances tall streams of water and listened to the Muezzin's calling all to prayer with their poetic songs. The 2 mosques on either side of the fountain were seemingly calling to each other. 1 would make the call and wait. The other would do the same -- back and forth it went and we knew we were in another world. What a wonderful welcome. The Masselink's arrived just in time for dinner just down the ... read more

Packing for our trip. If all goes as scheduled, we should land in Kolkata, India at 10:25 pm on Sunday (Kolkata time). India is 11.5 hours ahead of EDT. On Monday, we will visit Mother Theresa's Missionaries of Charity as well as other sites in Kolkata.... read more