Thursday, July 12, 2007
atheism
"When I was an atheist my argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust? If the whole show was bad and senseless from A to Z, so to speak, why did I, who was supposed to be part of the show, find myself in such violent reaction against it?... Thus in the very act of trying to prove that God did not exist--in other words, that the whole of reality was senseless. I found I was forced to assume that one part of reality--namely my idea of justice--was full of sense. Consequently atheism turns out to be too simple. If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning." - C. S. Lewis (Mere Christianity).
Monday, July 02, 2007
back from Turkey
actually, i've been back since last saturday, but who's counting? oh, you are. sorry.
my first flight(s) and airport experiences were pretty interesting. when we were leaving durham, we waited in all kinds of lines to check in, go through security, etc... nothing exciting. take-off and landing were really the only exciting parts to the first flight. the charlotte airport was a bit more interesting. you know, moving sidewalks, more stores, more food, etc. i can tell you this much - the folks working the ticket counters for lufthansa were just plain awesome. with typical german efficiency, they didn't even blink when lauren and i asked them to place our seats together. back at rdu, they acted like we asked for help moving a piano or something. anyway, thus began the 9 hour flight to munich. i have to say, it was no where near as bad as i thought it would be. i was ready to get off the plane, don't get me wrong, but it was ok. next time, we're requesting exit-door seats for more leg room. the hop from munich to turkey was no big deal. one thing i did notice was that the airports in munich and in izmir were ghost towns in comparison to rdu and charlotte.
so we were in turkey. we rode the tour bus back to the hotel, and that's when we all got our first glimpse of the city. it didn't look so incredibly different from what you might see here in america. the landscape was pretty neat, though. you've basically got a city hugging a sound off of the aegean which is then surrounded by mountains. i was pretty much ready for a good shower and some sleep at that point. sleep turned out to be rare in turkey. jon and i stayed in a room that faced the side of the hotel where the especially lively turkish wedding parties were held each night we were there.
sunday we toured ephesus, which was just awesome. we got to see old auditoriums, prisons, an amazing library, and a phenomenal stadium. however, possibly the most interesting thing we saw was the roman toilets. basically, it was just a marble bench in the shape of an "L" that had holes cut in them. they sat much like a regular toilet, with one interesting caveat: they were cold. now, this is particularly interesting considering that it was 100 degrees outside. the story goes that the wealthy men who used these toilets had their slaves sit on them first to warm them up when they were cold. ingeniously gross, i thought. we also saw the basilica of st john/the church of saint john and the ephesus museum. moving to the slightly more modern, we visited a turkish pottery joint and saw some of the most beautiful and expensive hand made pottery i've ever seen. a dinner set for 4 people was about $2500 (all hand made and hand painted). probably most impressive was the turkish carpet place. we saw how the harvest the silk from the cocoons, how they ladies actually hand-made each and every rug, one knot at a time, and we got a good education as to how each one is unique and special based on composition, design, style, etc. i was convinced that a person could not buy a better run than a turkish rug. i was actually thinking about buying one until the one i liked turned out to be $20,000. yeah, that's a 2 and then four 0's. twenty thousand. i'm not saying it's not worth it, but it's certainly not in my price range. all in all, a very good and tiring day.
monday through friday we spent mostly with the kids of the workers there in turkey. we took them to the playground, we did arts and crafts, we taught a lesson, and we showed them a movie. i was surprised at how normal the kids all seemed to be. i mean, if you consider knowing conversational turkish normal, or knowing more about the bible than several adults i know normal, these kids were normal. we had kids there from several different sending organizations (including, i think, an independent family). we even had an english family's four kids. the youngest daughter (anna) was the cutest litle thing i've ever seen! she wasn't always happy to be there, but when she does cute little brittish things like calling trash "rubbish" and referring to her blanket as her "snuggles" it more than makes up for it. there was a group of 5 brothers who had only been in turkey for a few weeks, and they were a handful, too. the whole experience of working with those kids was just amazing. i won't soon forget it.
we did get some time to see a little of the city during the week. we went up to teleferik, which is basically a cable-basket ride up a mountain to a few shops and restaurants. one of those was probably the coolest eating experience i've had in a while. basically, it was a meat market where you buy your steak, chicken, kabob, or whatever you want, and your veggies - all raw. then, you are brought a grill by a picnic table and you cook your own food. being the grilled food lover i am, i really enjoyed it. there were some pretty cool vistas from up on the mountain as well.
we also got to see a turkish bazaar, which was essentially a flea market. it was a cool experience, but it was also quite frightening at the same time. the shop owners are all shouting at you to come into their store or restaurant, and there was this little girl that followed us for about 10 minutes trying to sell us worthless trinkets. we did get some turkish apple tea and i picked up a puzzle ring, as well as some little trinkets and such from the turkish christian book store. if it weren't for the fact that i desperately needed a (normal) toilet, i would have enjoyed it much more, but i had fun.
the plane trip back was absolutely brutal, especially right at the end. danny figured out that it was the longest day of his life, mathematically. our last flight, the 24 minute hop from charlotte to rdu, was delayed by three hours. when you're than close to home, for some reason, that sort of delay just really frustrates you. anyway, i did eventually make it home for a much needed and well enjoyed shower and good night's rest in my own bed.
overall, the experience was unreal. the differences in the culture were enough to break down some of my preconceived notions about how everybody else in the world lives. i saw the kids who were brought there because the Lord called their parents to a place they had never seen nor heard of, and how they were living life in a strange place. i learned new definitions of "hot and sweaty" that just don't apply here at home. i was extremely thankful that lauren was there with me all week - she was my little piece of comfort and home. i'm really thankful for the opportunity, but i'm grateful to be home. i think i've more thankful for all of the things i have and the things that i take for granted, like drinkable water from the faucet and central a/c and (relatively) affordable gas. by the way, they pay for a liter what we pay for a gallon, so stop whining. all in all, i had a great time in turkey.
sorry it took me so long to update. i've got another update to do later about work-stuff, so stay tuned.
my first flight(s) and airport experiences were pretty interesting. when we were leaving durham, we waited in all kinds of lines to check in, go through security, etc... nothing exciting. take-off and landing were really the only exciting parts to the first flight. the charlotte airport was a bit more interesting. you know, moving sidewalks, more stores, more food, etc. i can tell you this much - the folks working the ticket counters for lufthansa were just plain awesome. with typical german efficiency, they didn't even blink when lauren and i asked them to place our seats together. back at rdu, they acted like we asked for help moving a piano or something. anyway, thus began the 9 hour flight to munich. i have to say, it was no where near as bad as i thought it would be. i was ready to get off the plane, don't get me wrong, but it was ok. next time, we're requesting exit-door seats for more leg room. the hop from munich to turkey was no big deal. one thing i did notice was that the airports in munich and in izmir were ghost towns in comparison to rdu and charlotte.
so we were in turkey. we rode the tour bus back to the hotel, and that's when we all got our first glimpse of the city. it didn't look so incredibly different from what you might see here in america. the landscape was pretty neat, though. you've basically got a city hugging a sound off of the aegean which is then surrounded by mountains. i was pretty much ready for a good shower and some sleep at that point. sleep turned out to be rare in turkey. jon and i stayed in a room that faced the side of the hotel where the especially lively turkish wedding parties were held each night we were there.
sunday we toured ephesus, which was just awesome. we got to see old auditoriums, prisons, an amazing library, and a phenomenal stadium. however, possibly the most interesting thing we saw was the roman toilets. basically, it was just a marble bench in the shape of an "L" that had holes cut in them. they sat much like a regular toilet, with one interesting caveat: they were cold. now, this is particularly interesting considering that it was 100 degrees outside. the story goes that the wealthy men who used these toilets had their slaves sit on them first to warm them up when they were cold. ingeniously gross, i thought. we also saw the basilica of st john/the church of saint john and the ephesus museum. moving to the slightly more modern, we visited a turkish pottery joint and saw some of the most beautiful and expensive hand made pottery i've ever seen. a dinner set for 4 people was about $2500 (all hand made and hand painted). probably most impressive was the turkish carpet place. we saw how the harvest the silk from the cocoons, how they ladies actually hand-made each and every rug, one knot at a time, and we got a good education as to how each one is unique and special based on composition, design, style, etc. i was convinced that a person could not buy a better run than a turkish rug. i was actually thinking about buying one until the one i liked turned out to be $20,000. yeah, that's a 2 and then four 0's. twenty thousand. i'm not saying it's not worth it, but it's certainly not in my price range. all in all, a very good and tiring day.
monday through friday we spent mostly with the kids of the workers there in turkey. we took them to the playground, we did arts and crafts, we taught a lesson, and we showed them a movie. i was surprised at how normal the kids all seemed to be. i mean, if you consider knowing conversational turkish normal, or knowing more about the bible than several adults i know normal, these kids were normal. we had kids there from several different sending organizations (including, i think, an independent family). we even had an english family's four kids. the youngest daughter (anna) was the cutest litle thing i've ever seen! she wasn't always happy to be there, but when she does cute little brittish things like calling trash "rubbish" and referring to her blanket as her "snuggles" it more than makes up for it. there was a group of 5 brothers who had only been in turkey for a few weeks, and they were a handful, too. the whole experience of working with those kids was just amazing. i won't soon forget it.
we did get some time to see a little of the city during the week. we went up to teleferik, which is basically a cable-basket ride up a mountain to a few shops and restaurants. one of those was probably the coolest eating experience i've had in a while. basically, it was a meat market where you buy your steak, chicken, kabob, or whatever you want, and your veggies - all raw. then, you are brought a grill by a picnic table and you cook your own food. being the grilled food lover i am, i really enjoyed it. there were some pretty cool vistas from up on the mountain as well.
we also got to see a turkish bazaar, which was essentially a flea market. it was a cool experience, but it was also quite frightening at the same time. the shop owners are all shouting at you to come into their store or restaurant, and there was this little girl that followed us for about 10 minutes trying to sell us worthless trinkets. we did get some turkish apple tea and i picked up a puzzle ring, as well as some little trinkets and such from the turkish christian book store. if it weren't for the fact that i desperately needed a (normal) toilet, i would have enjoyed it much more, but i had fun.
the plane trip back was absolutely brutal, especially right at the end. danny figured out that it was the longest day of his life, mathematically. our last flight, the 24 minute hop from charlotte to rdu, was delayed by three hours. when you're than close to home, for some reason, that sort of delay just really frustrates you. anyway, i did eventually make it home for a much needed and well enjoyed shower and good night's rest in my own bed.
overall, the experience was unreal. the differences in the culture were enough to break down some of my preconceived notions about how everybody else in the world lives. i saw the kids who were brought there because the Lord called their parents to a place they had never seen nor heard of, and how they were living life in a strange place. i learned new definitions of "hot and sweaty" that just don't apply here at home. i was extremely thankful that lauren was there with me all week - she was my little piece of comfort and home. i'm really thankful for the opportunity, but i'm grateful to be home. i think i've more thankful for all of the things i have and the things that i take for granted, like drinkable water from the faucet and central a/c and (relatively) affordable gas. by the way, they pay for a liter what we pay for a gallon, so stop whining. all in all, i had a great time in turkey.
sorry it took me so long to update. i've got another update to do later about work-stuff, so stay tuned.
Sunday, July 01, 2007
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
