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IN THIS ISSUE

• This is the week for Kate Brookfield´s Turkish bath!
• Jean Sterling comments on the US real estate meltdown
• Dick Monaghan declares his innocence
• Jay sends information about the date of Easter this year
• Bill McNair describes a new word processing program
• Gerrit de Leeuw tells of a potential miracle
• Shirley Conlon sends a story of a unique tea party
• Bruce Galway, Tom Telfer, and Tom Williamson suggest websites

Kate Brookfield continues her description of

FOUR DAYS IN ISTANBUL

On the night of January 14 we booked a Turkish bath in the original baths used by Sultan Suleiman. A taxi picked us up and took us to the bath. After paying our admission, a young man in a colourful traditional Turkish costume, complete with a huge turban, escorted us to the change rooms. I was given a red and white cotton bikini. Well, the top was really just two triangles on tape! Mike had shorts of the same fabric. We were then escorted to the steam room by the same young man, who looked as if he should have had one of those large palm-leaf fans. The place was massive and we went through several different chambers until we were left in the central steam room. Floors and walls were of beautiful coloured marble. In the centre of the steam room was a large round marble table for relaxing. Around the perimeter were cubicles and small alcoves with taps and cups for pouring cold water over yourself. At the desk they had wanted to take my glasses, but I insisted that I needed them. However, they kept steaming up and another time, I would leave them. But I hate not to be able to see everything clearly!

We were left in this steam room for about 20 minutes. I thought we were going for a swim, but I soon came to realize that this was not a swimming pool. Eventually two young men came striding in with backpacks, looking as if they were off to a hockey game. They introduced themselves as the masseurs.

A few minutes later they arrived wrapped only in white towels and took us into the massage cubicle. We were asked to sit on a marble seats built into the wall and were doused with cold water. Next to the seats were two marble tables and we had to lie down on these slabs. The masseur had a big cotton bag like a huge pillowcase. He filled this with sweet scented soap and then gently blew into it so it looked like a long thin balloon. When it touched the body it felt soft as a feather and I was covered in bubbles. The masseur kept taking the cup of water and pouring it over himself and then I was rinsed with warm water, this time! First I was on my front and my whole body was washed, oiled, and gently massaged from head to toes and down the arms to the finger tips. He discreetly pulled my pants so even the buttocks got a good massage! The operation was repeated on my front. More dousing with water and it was over.

The masseurs exited and we went back to the steam room to relax until we were ready to go. The final room was the Sultanâ?Ts private bathroom, where we sat and admired the carved marble scenes on the walls. Finally we returned to the changing room and dressed. It was the best massage I have ever had. I felt like a new woman when I came out. I would like that every day! We slept well that night.

After loitering over breakfast the next morning, we made our way through the cold rain to the Blue Mosque. The marble and polished granite tiles look very grand in sunlight, but can be treacherous when wet. There was a film of ice on top of the tiles, so I took my time as I didnâ?Tt want this trip to end with a broken ankle, again!

I read somewhere that the Magia Sophia building influenced the structures of the many mosques that were built during the Ottoman period, and the Blue Mosque does have similarities, especially the spaciousness and the large dome. Inside the mosque is tiled with different types of blue tiles. As this is a functioning mosque, visitors are confined to the outer perimeter and the centre part has an elaborate railing around a large carpeted prayer area. During prayer time, the mosque is closed to visitors.

There seem to be hundreds of mosques in Istanbul, but we didnâ?Tt visit any other. On the other side of the city is the famous Suleiman mosque that we would have visited with more time. It is a landmark that dominates the skyline and we passed it on our city tours and saw it floodlit that rainy night when we went to see the Galata Bridge at night.

In the afternoon we went to the Basilica Cistern. This is one of several hundred underground water storage cisterns that provide the city with fresh water. Today, it looks more like a cathedral than a water tank! Massive marble pillars hold up the walls and this whole area would have been full of water. At the far end of the cistern there are two heads of Medusa from an ancient pagan site but they complement the pillars very beautifully and add a different taste to the building.

In the crevices of one wall there are displays of different places of interest in the city. There was also a refreshment area where you could sit and have a drink and admire the huge carved marble pillars. One wonders why they went to so much trouble carving pillars for an underground reservoir, unless they brought them in from another site.

That evening we went to see the Whirling Dervishes perform in a room at the Central Railway Station. The station itself is very grand and in its heyday was the final destination for the Orient Express journey made famous by Agatha Christieâ?Ts novel. The novelist was here and there are photos to prove it.

The performance of the Whirling Dervishes was a surprise to me. I really had no idea that this was a religious performance. It was a slow, serious and solemn presentation with a lot of ceremony preceding the actual whirling part. The performers are members of the Sufi religion and the dance represents a spiritual journey of complete detachment from the earthly world and finding true ecstasy in the presence of God. First the musicians came in and seated themselves on the stage with their various simple instruments, drums, recorders, and stringed instrument. I donâ?Tt know the names. All were wearing black robes with camel-coloured high cone-shaped hats that resemble tombstones. After a while, one of the dancers entered and placed red mats in a circle and the left.

After a while all the dancers walked in and took their places at the mats. They were also wearing the cone hats and long black robes with the white skirt just showing below the robe. Slowly they began to move in a kind of slow complicated weaving dance, the sequence of which is hard to describe. But they seemed to be greeting each other, taking it turns as the leader. It reminded me of a country dance, only it was slow and sedate. Each one took a turn at being the leader.

Finally, they removed their black robes and started the whirling part. This was such a contrast to all that had gone before. They started slowly and seemed to stay on the spot but their feet were moving rapidly in small circles. As they did this their long skirts spun out around them. As with the preliminary dance, there was a sequence to the movement. First one started whirling, then another, until all were whirling and moving in a complicated pattern. It created quite a draft on a cold night in a railway station.

They continued whirling for quite a long time and not one showed any sign of fatigue or any facial expression. When it was finished, they returned to their mats and put their black robes on again and filed out. Nobody clapped until they had left the room and they didnâ?Tt return for a bow! The musicians filed out and that was it. I still donâ?Tt understand why they perform this personal religious experience in public. I am glad they do, however, as it was an experience to watch.

ED. NOTE: There are photographs of this dance at http:// www.dankphotos.com/whirling/index.shtml For further pictures of Turkey, Zvonko Springer suggests this site:

http://www.pbase.com/dosseman/root

To be continued.

CORRESPONDENCE

Jean Sterling comments of Verda Cook´s story about the sale of their gardens, in which she wrote: "Early Monday morning, we had a phone call from our friendly real estate agent informing us our house was not sold. We have been caught in the backlash of the U.S. housing market crash."

Jean writes: The housing market in most of Florida is very dire indeed. Prices and sales have dropped and are still dropping quickly. Part of the problem is the result of speculators who forced prices up. A while back I mentioned that they planned to build four 25- storey condos near here on the Intracoastal Waterway. Well, two of them have been built, and they have only managed to sell 60% of the two â?" mostly to "non-residents", according to the paper. The two towers are completed now, and we drove past them a couple of nights ago. I would estimate there might be a maximum of four or five apartments occupied in each of these huge towers, which are mostly dark.

Another problem in Florida is homeowners´ insurance. The insurance companies are dumping a very large number of people all over the state. We were dumped (again) and our middle son was dumped too. He lives in the middle of the state, 180 feet above sea level. So most of the state is going to end up with Citizens´ Insurance, which is state run. If the "big one" comes, the state will be in deep doodoo financially. State Farm Insurance recently said that they will write no new policies in Florida. State Farmâ?Ts motto is "Like a good neighbour, State Farm is there." To which I say, "HA!"

Dick Monaghan sends this avowal of innocence to his anxious public:

STATEMENT

Many of you may have noticed the eerie parallel between my career and that of Gov. Eliot Spitzer of New York (crime-fighting deputy prosecutor, citadel of morality) and I want to make something absolutely clear in the wake of recent revelations about Gov. Spitzer:

Never, not once, have I spent $5,500 for an hour with a "seven- diamond" prostitute.

I knew you would all appreciate this reaffirmation of my ethical stature. Thank you for your attention.

Jay forwards this information about

AN EARLY EASTER

Easter this year is tomorrow, Sunday, March 23.

As you may know, Easter is always the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox, which is March 20. This dating of Easter is based on the lunar calendar that Hebrew people used to identify Passover, which is why it moves around on our Roman calendar.

Based on the above, Easter can actually be one day earlier, on March 22, but that is pretty rare.

This year is the earliest Easter any of us will ever see the rest of our lives, and only the most elderly of our population have ever seen it this early (95 years old or above). And none of us has ever, or will ever, see it a day earlier.

Here are the facts: The next time Easter will be this early (March 23) will be the year 2228 - 220 years from now. The last time it was this early was 1913, so if you´re 95 or older, you are the only ones who were around for that.

The next time it will be a day earlier, March 22, will be in the year 2285 - 277 years from now. The last time it was on March 22 was 1818. So no one alive today has or will ever see it any earlier than this year.

ED. NOTE: Only someone fascinated by dates and numbers would bother to figure out esoteric information like this!

Bill McNair forwards this information about

A NEW WORD PROCESSOR

Do you use Microsoft Office? Is it the latest version - 2002XP or higher? There is a new word processor made by Java that is open ended, just like Mozilla´s Firefox. This word processor is called OpenOffice and is located at http://www.OpenOffice.org/- and it is free. This program has the capability of the latest MSOfficeXP and also can handle AdobeReader 8.1 all at the same time.

Gerrit de Leeuw sends the story of

CATHOLIC GASOLINE

Sister Mary Ann, who worked for a home health agency, was out making her rounds visiting homebound patients when she ran out of gas. As luck would have it, a gas station was just a block away. She walked to the station to borrow a gas can and buy some gas.

The attendant told her that the only gas can he owned had been loaned out, but she could wait until it was returned. Since Sister Mary Ann was on the way to see a patient, she decided not to wait and walked back to her car, brainstorming another solution. She looked for something in her car that she could fill with gas and spotted the bedpan she was taking to the patient.

Always resourceful, Sister Mary Ann carried the bedpan to the station, filled it with gasoline, and carried the full bedpan back to her car. As she was pouring the gas into her tank, two Baptists watched from across the street. One of them turned to the other and said,

"If it starts, I´m turning Catholic."

Shirley Conlon forwards this one about

A YOUNGSTER´S TEA PARTY

One day my mother was out and my dad was in charge of me and my older brother. I was maybe two and a half years old and had recently recovered from an accident in which my arm had been broken, among other injuries. Someone had given me a little tea set as a get-well gift and it was one of my favourite toys.

Daddy was in the living room engrossed in the evening news and my brother was playing nearby in the living room when I brought Daddy a little cup of "tea", which was really just water.

After several cups of "tea" and lots of praise for such yummy tea, my Mom came home. My Dad made her wait in the living room to watch me bring him a cup of tea, because it was "just the cutest thing!"

My Mom waited, and sure enough, here I came down the hall with a cup of tea for Daddy. She watched him drink it up, then said, "Did it ever occur to you that the only place that baby can reach to get water is the toilet?"

THIS WEEK´S WEBSITES

Bruce Galway suggests this website about a dog, a cat, and a rat: The following link is a short video of a homeless man´s pets in Santa Barbara, California. These guys can be seen every week working State Street for donations. The man who owns them rigged a harness up for his cat so she wouldn´t have to walk as much as he and the dog. At some juncture the rat came along, and as no one wanted to eat anyone else, the rat started riding on the cat!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuuesBhOR9g

Tom Telfer writes: Here´s your chance to play a cello and hear the music as you play. You must keep the black circle inside the white circle:

http://philharmoniker.web-feedback.de/index.asp

Tom Williamson suggests this site for beautiful scenery:

http://www.mt.net/~atelling/SPECIAL_EDITIONS/JASPER_NATIONAL_PARK.html

To listen to a pair of superb singers upstaged by a graceful duet on ice, to go

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPsI-Yzz2o8&feature=related

"Any fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage - to move in the opposite direction." - Albert Einstein