{"id":2749,"date":"2015-09-24T19:22:07","date_gmt":"2015-09-24T16:22:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dknolte.com\/?p=2749"},"modified":"2015-09-25T16:32:36","modified_gmt":"2015-09-25T13:32:36","slug":"trying-to-catch-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dknolte.com\/?p=2749","title":{"rendered":"Trying to catch up"},"content":{"rendered":"

I<\/strong> made a trip to Adana a few weeks ago.\u00a0 One of our favorite places to eat at noon is a second floor restaurant across the street from the Turkish airbase, with a very enjoyable and interesting view.\u00a0 Lately, due to threats against the Base, there is a curfew in place to limit the traffic going in and out.\u00a0 As a result, many of the establishments that cater to the people on Base shut their doors, as it would not be lucrative.<\/p>\n

So, we had to find other places to eat.\u00a0 With my Regional Security Tech, Aydin, we drove around looking for a place to eat.\u00a0 We turned down a side street in a warehouse district and came across several worth trying.\u00a0 It is like finding a truck stop to eat at, because truckers know the best places to eat for their money.\u00a0 Same here.\u00a0 The people who work at the commercial establishments and warehouses, know where to eat.<\/p>\n

We sat outside on a little table.\u00a0 It looked to me like it was on a sidewalk.\u00a0 Below are a few pics of the restaurant and the food.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_0046\"<\/a>\"IMG_0045\"<\/a>\"IMG_0050\"<\/a>\"IMG_0051\"<\/a>\"IMG_0052\"<\/a>Any meal is always complete with chai.<\/p>\n

____________________________<\/p>\n

I encounter many people that leave me in awe.\u00a0 Remember our dear friend Hiwot in Ethiopia?\u00a0 I find there are a great many “Hiwots” in life and I feel they alone are worth living life for.\u00a0 Let me tell you about a few I have met in Turkey.<\/p>\n

Selin is a beautiful young lady I have mentioned before.\u00a0 Meek and quiet.\u00a0 She wears her hair in a braid at times and with her glasses, she looks almost like a little old lady.\u00a0 Yet her passion in life is dancing.\u00a0 She has a tattoo on her waist that says, “Dancing is my life.”\u00a0 On the weekends and holidays, she travels all over Europe competing and teaching the art of salsa dancing.\u00a0 Just recently, she (and I would guess friends) opened a dance studio to teach.\u00a0 She is celebrating her love of life in ways many of us will never experience.<\/p>\n

Then there is Nadja and Camal.\u00a0 They come into the office several times a week and clean and empty trash.\u00a0 Camal is an older man who could pass for Nadja’s father.\u00a0 It is most interesting to watch the interaction between the two.\u00a0 Nadja is light-hearted and often sings while she works.\u00a0 Camal will at times get on to her for not working harder.\u00a0 She just smiles and continues singing with a twinkle in her eyes.\u00a0 Camal just moves on.<\/p>\n

Then there is a young Turkish girl who works in the Commissary store at the Embassy where we can buy minor things.\u00a0 She is friendly and always smiling.\u00a0 Visiting with her, I find she also is a dancer and competes at contests.\u00a0 She is a published author and has promised me a copy of her book, although it is in Turkish.\u00a0 Furthermore, she plays a concert cello.\u00a0 You would never know without taking the time to visit.<\/p>\n

I know a young Turkish woman who was raised in France and can speak that language better than her native tongue.\u00a0 Plus she knows Russian, German and Latin.\u00a0 Her mastery of the English language is such that I forget it is not her primary language.<\/p>\n

There is an office in the Embassy which employs people with more intelligence than I have.\u00a0 One day, I was visiting with a young lady from that office and asked her what her ancestry was.\u00a0 Thai, she said.\u00a0 Never been to Thailand, but she is Thai.\u00a0 I asked her what her schooling background was, and she said she has a degree in Physics.\u00a0 And a degree in Mathematics.\u00a0 I tried not to show my surprise that she had two degrees.\u00a0 Then I asked her if she was going to go back to school and get her Masters in one of those.\u00a0 She said, No.\u00a0 She instead decided to get a degree in Electrical Engineering.\u00a0 I found it hard to suppress my awe.\u00a0 After a few weeks, I was talking to her husband, and he stated his local band was in need of a bass guitarist and since his wife also was a concert violinist<\/em>!!,<\/em> he thought he could teach her.\u00a0 So, after a weekend teaching session, she is now the bass guitarist for the band.\u00a0 He told me he was afraid to teach her lead guitar, since she would probably play better than he can.\u00a0 And this little woman will bake cookies occasionally and will always bring me a dozen or so.<\/p>\n

I do not feel belittle with these good people I meet, but instead I become more in awe at humanity.\u00a0 You never know what is in the minds of people you meet.\u00a0 Likewise, you never know what people endure deep inside.\u00a0 What Life has shown me, is if you take the time to accept people as they are, you will understand why they do the things they do and why they say what they say.\u00a0 I am convinced, the gift of Understanding, is one of the most precious aspects of Life.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, it’s best to kick our own butts.\u00a0\u00a0 D.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I made a trip to Adana a few weeks ago.\u00a0 One of our favorite places to eat at noon is …<\/p>\n

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