Dear Friends,
Please take a few minutes to view some of our memorable moments during our trip to Turkey ( May, 2013).
Dr. Sherbini
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
May 29, Chicago ... Final Thoughts,
While my body is physically in Chicago, my heart is still in Turkey! And I strongly believe its not just me that feels that way, but the same for the members of my group.
This was truly an amazing and life changing experience for everyone. Despite the ups and downs, despite the bumps in the road, the stress and frustrations that went into planning for this educational project, in the end it was all WORTH IT. I met 12 great people, I formed new friendships, I learned a lot about myself and others, and manged to fulfill a dream for a all 12 members of my group. Everyone on this trip regardless of being a student or faculty member had a compelling reason for wanting to go. I am very proud, happy, and honored that I was able to fulfill this dream and give this group an experience that will forever remain in their hearts and mind. I also hope that our experience will be an inspiration for other faculty members and OCC students to ponder.
Thank you my very dear, loyal and beloved students:
Eleanor Lyon
Amber Antus
Jawad Sayal
Tom Burns
Remon Aguib
Chis Evaoxiadis
Neil Chiisholm
A special thank you to my dear colleagues
Nancy Ressler
Mary Ellen Lavin
Patti Interrante and her wonderful husband Razz Jenkins
A BIG thank you to our amazing guide Aysenur Coban, the tremendous support , organization/ planning by the Niagara Foundation, Chicago .
A sincere thank you to the President of Oakton Community College Peg Lee for her genuine support, guidance, and confidence in me.
Thank you for the support by my colleague and Dean of Division 4 Brad Wooten, to my Amazing Chair of the HPS department, colleague and dear friend Erick Mann.
And last but not least, a special thank you to the support of the VP of Academic Affairs Tom Hamel.
Thank you guys.
Until next time..... maybe a new adventure?????????
Dr. Sherbini
While my body is physically in Chicago, my heart is still in Turkey! And I strongly believe its not just me that feels that way, but the same for the members of my group.
This was truly an amazing and life changing experience for everyone. Despite the ups and downs, despite the bumps in the road, the stress and frustrations that went into planning for this educational project, in the end it was all WORTH IT. I met 12 great people, I formed new friendships, I learned a lot about myself and others, and manged to fulfill a dream for a all 12 members of my group. Everyone on this trip regardless of being a student or faculty member had a compelling reason for wanting to go. I am very proud, happy, and honored that I was able to fulfill this dream and give this group an experience that will forever remain in their hearts and mind. I also hope that our experience will be an inspiration for other faculty members and OCC students to ponder.
Thank you my very dear, loyal and beloved students:
Eleanor Lyon
Amber Antus
Jawad Sayal
Tom Burns
Remon Aguib
Chis Evaoxiadis
Neil Chiisholm
A special thank you to my dear colleagues
Nancy Ressler
Mary Ellen Lavin
Patti Interrante and her wonderful husband Razz Jenkins
A BIG thank you to our amazing guide Aysenur Coban, the tremendous support , organization/ planning by the Niagara Foundation, Chicago .
A sincere thank you to the President of Oakton Community College Peg Lee for her genuine support, guidance, and confidence in me.
Thank you for the support by my colleague and Dean of Division 4 Brad Wooten, to my Amazing Chair of the HPS department, colleague and dear friend Erick Mann.
And last but not least, a special thank you to the support of the VP of Academic Affairs Tom Hamel.
Thank you guys.
Until next time..... maybe a new adventure?????????
Dr. Sherbini
May 28... Istanbul Airport,
Woke up, had breakfast, checked out one last time from our hotel, hopped on the bus, on our way to the airport to catch our flight to Chicago.
Next thing you know, all 12 of us are on the plane, happy to be going back home to our friends and family, but with a heavy heart to be leaving this magnificent and amazing country.... Turkey!
Once in Chicago, we say our good byes, each goes their own way but with promises of continuing the bond of sincere friendships that developed on this trip and with a bigger promise of staying in touch with one another. After all, we had become ONE BIG FAMILY, with one major tie connecting us to each other forever... our beloved Turkey.
Dr. Sherbini
Woke up, had breakfast, checked out one last time from our hotel, hopped on the bus, on our way to the airport to catch our flight to Chicago.
Next thing you know, all 12 of us are on the plane, happy to be going back home to our friends and family, but with a heavy heart to be leaving this magnificent and amazing country.... Turkey!
Once in Chicago, we say our good byes, each goes their own way but with promises of continuing the bond of sincere friendships that developed on this trip and with a bigger promise of staying in touch with one another. After all, we had become ONE BIG FAMILY, with one major tie connecting us to each other forever... our beloved Turkey.
Dr. Sherbini
May 27... Back in Istanbul,
Checked out from our hotel in Bursa, hopped on our bus, then on to a ferry, back on the bus, and finally arrived were it all began... the exquisite Istanbul!
After checking in our hotel, we met in lobby ready to start our adventures in the famous Istanbul Grand Bazaar, the Mecca of shopping while in Turkey.
We divided into group, I went wit Amber and Nancy. The experience was just out of this word. The bazaar had four main gates, with shoppes in every corner, a maze if you will, but still easy to navigate. We conquered, we haggled, we laughed, we even took pictures with the shop owners, not to mention a "marriage proposal" for Amber. Amber wanted to buy a traditional Turkish tea set, the shoppe owner ( a handsome older guy) was so impressed with us and especially Amber, he not only gave us all great deals on our purchases, he even topped it off with a marriage proposal to Amber. It was hilarious! We laughed, took pictures of him and Amber, and continued our way through the bazaar, full of joy and happiness.
7:00 pm was our meeting time, By then everyone had finished their shopping and soon were regrouped and ready to go to our last dinner. As we headed into the restaurant, we realized that a table had been prepared for us ( beautiful setting). The food followed. We ate, laughed, recounted our adventures in Turkey, shared our reflection ( I recorded each one's on tape), as we enjoyed what was to be our final day in Turkey before departure the next day.
Dr. Sherbini
Checked out from our hotel in Bursa, hopped on our bus, then on to a ferry, back on the bus, and finally arrived were it all began... the exquisite Istanbul!
After checking in our hotel, we met in lobby ready to start our adventures in the famous Istanbul Grand Bazaar, the Mecca of shopping while in Turkey.
We divided into group, I went wit Amber and Nancy. The experience was just out of this word. The bazaar had four main gates, with shoppes in every corner, a maze if you will, but still easy to navigate. We conquered, we haggled, we laughed, we even took pictures with the shop owners, not to mention a "marriage proposal" for Amber. Amber wanted to buy a traditional Turkish tea set, the shoppe owner ( a handsome older guy) was so impressed with us and especially Amber, he not only gave us all great deals on our purchases, he even topped it off with a marriage proposal to Amber. It was hilarious! We laughed, took pictures of him and Amber, and continued our way through the bazaar, full of joy and happiness.
7:00 pm was our meeting time, By then everyone had finished their shopping and soon were regrouped and ready to go to our last dinner. As we headed into the restaurant, we realized that a table had been prepared for us ( beautiful setting). The food followed. We ate, laughed, recounted our adventures in Turkey, shared our reflection ( I recorded each one's on tape), as we enjoyed what was to be our final day in Turkey before departure the next day.
Dr. Sherbini
Hello From Chicago,
Due to technical issues with the Wi Fi connections in some of the hotels we were staying in, I was not able to post on the last couple of days of our trip. My group is all back safe and sound in Chicago, even though we were all rather sad to be leaving beautiful Turkey. Our consolation however, was that we are all positive we will be back again, and that this visit is the first of many to come. Turkey has so much to offer, no one can explore it in just 10 days.
Our second day in Izmir ( May 25) was just wonderful. It began with a visit to the ancient city of Ephesus, Virgin Mary's House, followed by a stop and demonstration at a local family owned ( for generations) pottery shop, and the same for a rug shop. We were also given an interesting demonstration of how Turkish rugs are made ( an old tradition) which is both fascinating as it appears so simple, yet is highly complex.
After a long and very interesting day, we went back to our hotel, were we got some rest. changed our clothes and headed for yet another scrumptious Turkish dinner!
May 26, it was time to head to our final city on this great tour throughout Turkey; the magnificent Bursa, the first capital of the Ottoman Empire. The day began with our usual breakfast buffet at our hotel in Izmir. When everyone was ready, we all hoped on our private bus and were ready and looking forward to Bursa. On our way, our wonderful bus driver, made a quick stop at a roadside fruit stand so that we could buy some local fruits in season ( cherries , apricots and green plums). We were really thankful for this simple but generous gesture. The fruits were ripe, sweet and delicious!
Everyone bought some fruit, hoped on the bus, and were soon on the road again. As was our ritual from the begin of our trip, stimulating and delightful conversation among the group members continued until we finally arrived at our hotel in Bursa. We checked in very quickly, as we were all looking forward to our lunch which was going to be in 700 year old ottoman village. No words ( except maybe through pictures) can express the beauty of this village and its people. We had lunch in a very primitive/local restaurant at the top of the hill. It was definitely one of the highlights of this trip especially for me, as well for the rest of the group.
After lunch we headed to the Grand Mosque of Bursa, one of the oldest Mosques built during the Ottoman era. Amazing architecture. This was followed by a quick visit to the Bursa Bazaar ( Bursa is famous for its silk) and hence, no visit would be complete without buying a traditional Bursa silk scarf.
But that was not the end of our day, for our amazing and wonderful guide Aysenur had planned a surprise for us. We were headed to a performance of the famous Sufi Twirling Drevishs. Now this is an experience you have to see to believe. Everyone was just in awe of the experience (while I managed to record it on video) again, its an experience that has to be seen and felt live.
Once the performance was over, we were once again on our bus, not heading to our hotel, or a restaurant for dinner, but this time to the house of a Turkish family who had prepared for us a traditional Turkish meal. Another amazing experience, the family was so excited to be hosting us, we were truly humbled. We sat together, the women in one room, the men in another ( this is a traditional family) plus they did not have a big enough room to fit all of us. Dinner was mouth watering. Dessert was delicious, and as if that was not enough it was followed with fruit ( fresh cherries that our male host ( the husband) and his son had picked specially for us from their cheer tree.
Time flew, and before we knew it ( even though it was closer to 1:00 am) it was time to leave this wonderful, kind, and generous family. We gave them our gift, but were not surprised that they too ( as many of our hosts had done before) prepared a going away gift for us too. Each one of received a beautiful hand printed cotton towel ( Bursa is also famous for its textiles).
We finally arrived at our hotel, a little exhausted from the long day, but still full of excitement and pure joy! Despite the sad fact that tomorrow would signaling the ending of our stay in Turkey.
Dr. Sherbini
Due to technical issues with the Wi Fi connections in some of the hotels we were staying in, I was not able to post on the last couple of days of our trip. My group is all back safe and sound in Chicago, even though we were all rather sad to be leaving beautiful Turkey. Our consolation however, was that we are all positive we will be back again, and that this visit is the first of many to come. Turkey has so much to offer, no one can explore it in just 10 days.
Our second day in Izmir ( May 25) was just wonderful. It began with a visit to the ancient city of Ephesus, Virgin Mary's House, followed by a stop and demonstration at a local family owned ( for generations) pottery shop, and the same for a rug shop. We were also given an interesting demonstration of how Turkish rugs are made ( an old tradition) which is both fascinating as it appears so simple, yet is highly complex.
After a long and very interesting day, we went back to our hotel, were we got some rest. changed our clothes and headed for yet another scrumptious Turkish dinner!
May 26, it was time to head to our final city on this great tour throughout Turkey; the magnificent Bursa, the first capital of the Ottoman Empire. The day began with our usual breakfast buffet at our hotel in Izmir. When everyone was ready, we all hoped on our private bus and were ready and looking forward to Bursa. On our way, our wonderful bus driver, made a quick stop at a roadside fruit stand so that we could buy some local fruits in season ( cherries , apricots and green plums). We were really thankful for this simple but generous gesture. The fruits were ripe, sweet and delicious!
Everyone bought some fruit, hoped on the bus, and were soon on the road again. As was our ritual from the begin of our trip, stimulating and delightful conversation among the group members continued until we finally arrived at our hotel in Bursa. We checked in very quickly, as we were all looking forward to our lunch which was going to be in 700 year old ottoman village. No words ( except maybe through pictures) can express the beauty of this village and its people. We had lunch in a very primitive/local restaurant at the top of the hill. It was definitely one of the highlights of this trip especially for me, as well for the rest of the group.
After lunch we headed to the Grand Mosque of Bursa, one of the oldest Mosques built during the Ottoman era. Amazing architecture. This was followed by a quick visit to the Bursa Bazaar ( Bursa is famous for its silk) and hence, no visit would be complete without buying a traditional Bursa silk scarf.
But that was not the end of our day, for our amazing and wonderful guide Aysenur had planned a surprise for us. We were headed to a performance of the famous Sufi Twirling Drevishs. Now this is an experience you have to see to believe. Everyone was just in awe of the experience (while I managed to record it on video) again, its an experience that has to be seen and felt live.
Once the performance was over, we were once again on our bus, not heading to our hotel, or a restaurant for dinner, but this time to the house of a Turkish family who had prepared for us a traditional Turkish meal. Another amazing experience, the family was so excited to be hosting us, we were truly humbled. We sat together, the women in one room, the men in another ( this is a traditional family) plus they did not have a big enough room to fit all of us. Dinner was mouth watering. Dessert was delicious, and as if that was not enough it was followed with fruit ( fresh cherries that our male host ( the husband) and his son had picked specially for us from their cheer tree.
Time flew, and before we knew it ( even though it was closer to 1:00 am) it was time to leave this wonderful, kind, and generous family. We gave them our gift, but were not surprised that they too ( as many of our hosts had done before) prepared a going away gift for us too. Each one of received a beautiful hand printed cotton towel ( Bursa is also famous for its textiles).
We finally arrived at our hotel, a little exhausted from the long day, but still full of excitement and pure joy! Despite the sad fact that tomorrow would signaling the ending of our stay in Turkey.
Dr. Sherbini
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