December 18, 2012

New photo album posted today: Turkey - Part 1.

December 10, 2012 
New Photo Albums

I have posted two photo albums from our trip. Most of the photos are captioned. Here are the links:

Europe Trip-Part 1

Europe Trip-Part 2

I have also posted a complete set of photos of the Jewish cemetery ruins in Baimaclia, but these photos are not captioned.

I plan to post more photos from the trip including those taken in Odessa and Turkey. Andrea and I are working on a narrative account of our journey for JewishGen.org which we will also post here soon.

Home, but not home.

October 26, 2012

We've arrived home, safe and sound, back to rainy Oregon with many autumn colors, our family & friends, pets, all of whom we love and adore.  Our hearts are overflowing with more than we could have imagined from our short adventure and family research project.  Thank you for staying in contact through our blog. You have read a few tidbits, gazed at a few pictures, but know that we have thousands more stories and pictures from the many unexpected joys, surprises and sorrows of our discovery. And we are not done. In many ways we have just begun because we did not finish our ancestry work in Istanbul and now have many new connections and promises we've made to new friends to return to.  We saw the sun rise as the plane left Istanbul and gained altitude over the Black Sea. The sun set over the U.S. midwest about 21 hours later, during the final leg of our trip home. We gained 10 hours, in addition to the daylight advantage of flying due west. That makes for a very long day. There was ample time to reflect on the past month's adventures, but it will take many weeks or more to digest our experiences. We have follow-up letters and emails to write to the many friends we made. Our family research continues, and we have new projects to work on, too, like helping Pavel and Nikolay in Odessa with their holocaust museum and helping to improve the little school in the poor Moldovan village of Baimaclia. Furthermore, I left part of my heart in Konya, Turkey. We will have to return to many of these places, perhaps making Vienna a home base for shorter trips to these relatively nearby destinations. In the meantime Andrea and I are returning to our respective occupations. I know I will be integrating my new insights with the purpose of my work here. We look forward to writing the sequel to this blog in the foreseeable future. Our lives are forever changed. 

The green Bosporus will forever be calling us back. 

Home in time for golden leaves and the red stalks of pineapple sage. 

Cappadocia Magical Stone Formations

October 21, 2012

Uchisar, near Pigeon Valley.

Underground city (Derinkuyu) tunnel.

Stone gnomes carved by natural cycles of weather and earth tremors. 

Transition to Istanbul

October 23, 2012
After an amazing day hiking Pigeon Valley in Ushicar, Andrea's digestive system revolted. We made it to Istanbul thanks due in part to the best taxi cab driver in Turkey, Abdullah. Finally today, we feasted our eyes on the history of religion at the Aya Sofia, once an illustrious cathedral, then a mosque, and now a museum that inspires contemplation on the unity of religious ideals.

Schools in Turkey

October 21, 2012 - Turkey Schools

The last five days we have been in a whirlwind in Konya and Avenos, Turkey.  It is an understatement to say that the Turkish people are the most welcoming and generous as a culture than any we have met. Everyone offers a warm smile, handshake, or hug. Several people have taken us in, and we have lost count of the many cups of tea we have sipped with new acquaintances and friends.  Even during my short visit to a school in Konya I had tea with the assistant director.

Mustafa Buycle, Assistant Administrator at the Mahmut Shevket Pasha Ilkogretim Okulu. Mr. Buycle shared that his school's biggest need is technology equipment for the school of 1000. He also shared that he feels the most important thing educators can give our children is "edep" which means manners,  decency, politeness, and decorum. 

Welcoming party. 

English Language teacher, Fatma Sibel Telli, with enthusiastic students who will make bookmarks to send to students in Oregon …

… and more eager English Language learners. I think they are 4th graders. 

Sweet greeters at the school entrance.

These girls stopped me on the street. "Excuse me mam, may we ask you some questions?" They were practicing their English with tourists.  Dedicated and delightful!

Mehmet Mehmet Ucar, owner of the Dervish Hotel and carpet designer/merchant, was our volunteer guide and interpreter. He spent many hours taking us around and introducing us to everyone in Konya as he grew up there and knows everyone! While we were at the Konya Archaeological Museum we ran into a group of private school students from Istanbul doing research on ancient history. It was very heart warming to see many students out and about, always friendly and respectful.  

While on tour in Cappadocia we met 11 year old Adriana. She attends public school in Istanbul and shared that she is one of the best readers in her school. She reads about astronomy and science fiction. She reads translated books that her mother buys for her because she does not have a school library.  She also shared that she does not know any good Turkish children's authors and thinks there are none.  Anyone want to add to Adrianna's comments and update me about the state of children's literature in Turkey?

Stuck in the Odessa Airport

The Twelfth Chair and Other Concerns in Odessa at Michael's Journal

Odessa

October 15, 2012

We thought Odessa would be a rest stop but in this beautiful city on the Black Sea we have been on the move taking in the splendor and making new friends.

 Bhutan was the dog country. Odessa is cat city. You run into one every 20 feet or so. I  have quite a collection of cat pics for fans of the feline. 

No school visits in the Ukraine, but we saw many school children running through the streets in their  neat uniforms to historic monuments such as this statue of Alexander Pushkin.

Michael on the famous Potemkin Steps.

Nikolay Gorshkov served as a guide and translator.  I asked to visit  a library and we ended up at this branch of the National Library.  It took quite some doing to get in.  Forms to fill out, passports to register, and NO photos allowed inside.  Try the online catalog!

Michael, Andrea Nikolay & Pavel

We went out with Nikolay Gorshkov and Pavel Kozlenko. Nikolay is the project coordinator and Pavel the director of the Odessa Holocaust Museum, . The museum needs more support and dissemination.  Of immediate need is professional service to create an English/Russian website. If you are interested in getting involved, let us know. 

Optical illusion building - more to this story in our next post.

The Orthodox Cathedrals are open to the public. You may buy beeswax candles and actually light & burn them while offering  prayers before beautiful icons throughout the Cathedral. 

Village school in Baimaclia, Moldova

October 12, 2012

Today we went to a village in southern Moldova to stand at the place where we believe Michael's father was born. The village, like many in the Moldova countryside, is truly a step back in time. Chickens, horses, geese, mules, and horse-drawn wagons are the norm for this area. We had the surprising fortune of meeting a history teacher who has been retrieving archived information to write a history of the area. The teacher, along with the mayor's secretary and a high school boy, led us to the ruins of an abandoned Jewish graveyard.

Common form of transportation in Baimaclia.

Natasha, Michael and Alexandru review Alexandru's book of Baimaclia history.

Baimaclia high school math class.

Chess club.

Harvest exposition.

Harvest fest sunflower seed critter.

Alexandru, high school student, and mayor's assistant at Jewish cemetery ruins.

Exposed portion of Jewish gravestone, Baimaclia.

Wonderful schools in Chisinau, Moldova

Andrea had two days meeting students and dedicated administrators in two public schools in Chisinau, Moldova. Both are unique in that they have highly specialized programs. ORT is a public school that emphasizes Jewish culture, history and Hebrew Language studies serving 1st -12th grades. The other school is a public supported Waldorf school for kinder-12th. Both will have students make bookmarks to send to Oregon in celebration of reading!

First graders at the ORT Jewish School are enthusiastic readers! They also love legos, playing music,  drawing, dancing, video games and even playing in the garden. 

Director with visiting graduate of the ORT Jewish School.

Mural, ORT Jewish School. 

4th Grade, ORT Jewish School.

Parent  and school director  at Chisinau Walforf School.

Cafeteria, Chisinau Waldorf School. Warm family dining.

Chisinau Waldorf School library for Romanian, Russian, English and German studies. 

Snack time at Chisinau Waldorf  kindergarten.

We Are No Longer In Kansas

October 9, 2012

Yesterday we arrived in Chisinau (pronounced Kish-In-Now) Moldova. Clearly we are in the former Soviet Union. It is easy to imagine what life must have been life during the Soviet era. We drove into the city from the airport under a gray, rainy sky. The gray apartment blocks and other buildings, the gray streets and sidewalks, all seemed cast in a gray pall.

We were met at the airport by the Zgardens, Elena and Alexandru. They are both very active in the social and economic development of Moldova, the poorest country in Europe. When preparing for our trip I was surprised to learn that there are many US Peace Corps workers in this country. The Moldovans are struggling to rebuild (build is probably a better word) their economy and infrastructure. As we walked with Elena from our hotel to her office, we saw a bustling city with many electric buses and numerous cars, all with people going home from work, rushing from one part of the city to another, going about their business. Drivers honked their horns when cars in front stopped for inexplicable reasons (e.g., pedestrians), as if the loud noise was a laxative for stalled traffic. A British man we met at breakfast this morning told us he'd heard that all Moldovans look depressed because they walk around with their heads hanging down, but when he got here he saw the real reason they do this is to avoid falling into uncovered manholes or tripping on the decaying streets and sidewalks. We also assumed this cautious posture as we walked through the city for the same reason.

I've been taking photos of the view from each of the hotel rooms where we have stayed. Here is one from our room in Chisinau. The satellite TV dishes on the rusty metal rooftops speak to the contrast between the relatively modern electronic technology and some of the older structures here.

Sharing a delicious traditional Moldovan dinner with our new friends, Elena and Alexandru Zgarden, at La Plaçinta Restaurant in Chisinau. 

Missed school, night of art

Our flight was a day earlier so the Montessori school visit had to be postponed. Disappointed so we'll have come back to Vienna soon. Fortunate for us we were here for the night of the museums: one night that all the museums are open for one admissions fee. We attended with 450,000 other art lovers.

Our family history

October 7, 2012

It has been an extremely emotional and surreal two days. We found the location where Michael's mother's childhood home had been. We visited the Shoah memorial, and then the ultimate experience, we met Mary Steinhauser who escaped the Nazis by immigrating to a Jewish ghetto in Shanghai.

This apartment building stands where 22 Grosse Morengasse must have been. The plaque at Michael's feet (see below) memorializes Holocaust victims who lived in the building. 

(The text translation is from Google Translate and is less than perfect.)
HERE WERE 91 JEWISH MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN CONFINED SPACE APARTMENTS IN GROUPS OF LIFE, BEFORE DEPORTED BY THE NAZIS WERE ONLY 5 OF THEM HAVE SURVIVED.

IN MEMORY OF A GIRL IN 2nd FLOOR HAD LIVED AND WHOSE NAME WE DO NOT KNOW.

PATH OF REMEMBRANCE

Shoah Memorial, Judenplatz, Vienna

Mary Steinhauser in her apartment in Vienna

Mary's class in the Jewish school in Shanghai. Mary is in the second row, third from right. In the first row, far right, is Peter Finkelstein, better known to the world as Peter Max. Yes! That Peter Max.

History Curriculum in Prague for all students

Part of the curriculum for all schools is the study of the Holocaust. At Terezin Concentration Camp . We saw many public school students at all of Jewish historical sites, and student art inspired by the horror of the treatment of Jews during the Holocaust. My time touring Terezin was deeply moving and inspiring. I am impressed by the importance of teaching history accurately and truthfully less we repeat it.

Students on field trip. This tunnel ends at one of the execution locations used at the camp. 

Student art inspired by study of Holocaust.

Students on field trip to Terezin.

Student are inspired by Holocaust studies.

Grave marker in cemetery in Terezin.