This was a small "relax" day. I was finally able to sleep in, which after ten hours of sleep was still not enough. Many of those traveling with us are sick or trying to recover from illness...not good news for Erock for as everyone knows, I'm a walking incubator for illness. I will add though that I brought tons of bandages to in case I was to do something stupid like fall while standing, but I haven't had to use them! I've been giving them to the others, most Adrienne. Yay!
We spent the afternoon watching influential Turkish movies, some that I could use in my classroom. We also had a change to meet with 72 Turkish high school teachers, which has been one of the most rewarding parts of this entire trip so far. The number of questions that we had for each other was huge! They wanted to know how we would teach about Turkey when we went back home. Would we show Turkey in a good light? What did we think of their country...and what did we think about the Kurds.
We had been warned, before we left the States, that we were not to mention the Kurdish issue in Turkey, even if we were sitting with people in a coffee shop! Even the most liberal of Turks would be critical of the Kurdish issue. It's like talking about the Armenians. So when 72 teachers are asking you its tough to avoid the question. We ducked the question at first, but after the fourth time we had to have a response. This is when you have to be diplomatic. We finally gave a true politician's answer: we decided to divert the question..."Our position? USA? We respect Turkey and her people....so did you hear about Oprah in Turkey?!?!?!"
That was enough to get them off the question. Phew! Yes, Oprah was in Turkey, on a cruise. Thank God for that!
Quote of the Day:
"Oh sharp scissors!" - Aurelia, a cute 65 year old woman participate in the trip with us. Doug is determined to make her swear at least once on this trip.
ok hypothical situation: lets say that a student is in a regular classroom at turkey, and they bluntly say alound " i love the kurds," can they be thrown in jail or punished for that opinion. Btw it sounds like a great vacation.
ReplyDeleteThey wouldn't be sent to jail, but they'd get the snot beat out of them and their family. It would be worse than jail, it would be a death wish. We, as American participates, can't appear to be sympathetic to the Kurds of they'll come after us. We're at their mercy in their country. Essentially, we have to be good!
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