Monday, March 21, 2011

Meeting in Athens, Feb 2011 by the Greek Team


Although many months have passed we still remember this meeting. End of 2010 beginning of 2011 Athens was on demonstration and strikes almost every day.  We were very stressed because we didn’t know if the participants could arrive to the venue because of the situation. Finally everybody was there although there were strikes and demonstrations the arrival day as well.

Our first meeting started with nice view from the tenth floor of the hotel. In front of us all the beautiful and historical monuments of Athens, Acropolis, Lycabetus hill,  Philopapou, Piraeus port. After our welcome/introduction meeting and the practical arrangement s we started our walking tour in Athens. Through Omonoia square we passed from the central food market and reached Monastiraki square under Acropolis, next to the roman bibliotheque, and to ancient agora.

After our traditional meal in a cultural centre we went back to the hotel to prepare our international fair. The fair was visited apart from some Greeks members of NGOs many young international volunteers who had their midterm evaluation meeting in the same hotel. So the meeting was very alive and it was nice to meet two generations there and learn the one from the other. One of the most impressive moments was the presentation of our Turkish colleagues who showed us their unique painting technique.

The next day in the morning we presented the portfolios and in the afternoon we visited Acropolis museum and the site around. Our guide’s description was very alive and we got a very good idea of the festivities in honour to Athena Goddess. Our coordinator’s meeting was held in the cafe of the museum.

Next day we visited some other cities near Athens as the archaeological site of Mycenae, Nafplion and the ancient theatre of Epidaurus. During this visit we had the opportunity to learn how many different tribes passed from Greece and the influences of each one.

On our way back to Athens we stopped for coffee over new Epidaurus village and there, enjoying the beautiful view of the forest over the sea and the small village hidden in the green environment we discover each ones’ secret friend.

The meeting for the greek participants it was a very nice break from the everyday hard reality which we live the last two years and we still remember it with happy and love.

Thanks to all the participants, thanks to the partners we have nice memories and enrich our knowledge and experience. 

Sunday, March 20, 2011

MOSQUES ARE SAD IN ATHENS.

There aren’t any people to perform  their praying and The mosques are closed.
Athens,the capital city of our neighbour Greece,used to be a small city like Ankara, it became a modern, cultural and developed city after the Republic.
We arrived in Venizelos Airport.(Venizelos is an important person for Greek people.) The airport is about 30 kms.far away from the city center and we had three choices to go to the center ;taxi,bus and tram and we decided to try the bus.It took about an hour.After we got off the bus we arrived at our hotel.The hotel is on the main street and very near to the Parliment buildin and other important buildings.
The hotel is very large and it had a lot of facilities for the guests;cafeteria,meeting rooms.The top storey is very impressive,you can see the whole city from the top floor.
If  I were in Konya today.I would participate an anniversary meeting but as I am in Athens ,it is not possible but my soul is in Konya.I send my best wishes to my friends.
I wanted to perform my praying but I din’t know which direction I should face for Mecce.I tried to guess the approximate direction and I performed my praying.
The next morning I understood that my direction was correct  when  the sun rose.In the morning we had our breakfast with our team.And we decided to see the city .
It was a different day for the native people,because there was a strike.All the officers,workers and police were in the streets.And most of the shops were closed and the main roads were blocked for traffic.
As far as we could observe the people were accustomed to such activities and they closed their shops and the poice were waiting at the corners of the streets.In democracy it is their one of their natural rights to protest and demand a better life for themselves.
We preferred to go to the touristic area.The shops were open here and the shop owners were waiting for their customers.The streets looked very clean and quiet.They kept the old buildings as it is,and they restored some of the buildings too.
While we were having a rest in a cafeteria, we saw a couple and we thought they are Muslim.Soon they started to talk to an old man sitting and reading books.As I am a curious person I approached them and introduced myself They saluted us.The couple came from Palestine .As the old man learnt that we are from Konya-Turkey he began to talk about Mevlana ,Konya,Islam,Prophets.and angels.After having a small talk we said good-bye and left them.
We decided to return to our hotel to perform our praying.When we approached the main street,everywhere was in a mess.There was a strange scent,it was very affective we tried to close our noses and eyes and hurried to the hotel.
As our host had warned us about the strike,we brought some food with us,in the hotel we met our friends in one of the rooms and had our lunch together.
In the evening we went outside and saw that everything was quiet.The workers were cleaning the streets.
The next morning we met our partners while we were having breakfast.After the breakfast we had a city-tour on foot and we had a chance to see the old part of the city.On the way we saw a music group performing a traditional music and some of our friends danced with the music.
As far as I can observe we have a lot of common cultures,products and habits with Greek people.
In the evening we had an international fair and a lot of people joined it.As Turkish group our participants performed a water marbling paint (Ebru) and I hope everybody liked it.
The next morning every country had a presentation about their parners’countries ,we liked it too.
We had our lunch in an old restaurant which looked like a museum,we had a chance to talk with the owner of the restaurant.He mentioned about himself and his family.As far as I understood he is an old member of  Athens Municipality.He loved music and painting.
We went to visit Acropolis in the afternoon.The building looks very impressive on the hill.The guide gave us a lot of information about it and the area,we went inside the museum and saw alot of impressive monumets and statues.
The guide told us that in ancient times they used to sacrifice animals for the new-born baby and this custom  is not only in Greece but also in Turkey,Italy and some Arabic countries too.
The next day we went to Troy to see some remains ,it was very amazing.
I left Athens with very good impressions.I hope the countries will have better relations in the future.









By Kasım Yazıcı