I met the couple informally at breakfast over tea, black olives,feta cheese and bread. I did not know where they were from but I did know that they spoke english as well as another language. While talking later in the day they told me they were on a holiday from Sweden. We commented on the weather and the beauty of the warm sunny days of perfect weather in Istanbul. The next thing I heard from them stopped me in my tracks. The were orginally from Iran. Their family of 6 left in the evening when she was 9 years old with just one suitcase and the photo album. There home was in Iran...Baghdad. The name George W Bush rang in my ears soon after and I held my head down and said I was so sorry. I felt uncomfortable for a few moments until they lifted my concerns with saying they did not blame nor hate nor think of Hannah and I as the people who changed their family, their future, and their forgiveness of war. They had gone shopping in Istanbul to buy treasures similar to their past culture. They said Istanbul filled there hearts with what they missed as close as possible to the culture they longed for. They bought a music instrument that I tinkered with as well as a mosaic box and other things.
I wanted to ask them why they went to Sweden but I did not have the opportunity. I wish I had more time to hear their story.
The other moment in the day was sitting on our bed in our room trying on a long piece of material that I saw was wrapped on Fatima during breakfast.Iknew that she was from Sudan and later learned that she was a darfurian(sp). She is a practicing journalist in the state area underneath darfur. Her beau was working in London as a bio chemist and they met in Istanbul at the same boutique hotel that we were staying. It was an opportunity to reach over, to dance, to talk, to share nutella as well as to hear her plea for her people's help with their unsettled government. She is traveling to Egypt today on the same day that we will leave for Dubai. After Dubai we will leave for Egypt and we hope to pass her again in Cairo.
