Bairam Nostalgy

I was chating with Maarten on msn and he reminded me that today is Bairam!!!!!!!! God!!! I miss the "şeker bairam"! All this chocolate! I miss it so much that I decided to go to the store next to my office and buy some chocolates!!! And for those who don't really know or don't remeber what it is... here is a definition:

«BAIRAM, a Perso-Turkish word meaning "festival," applied in Turkish to the two principal festivals of Islam. The first. of these, according to the calendar, is the " Lesser Festival," called by the Turks Kiitshiik Bairdm (" Lesser Bairam "), or Sheker Bairam (" Sugar Bairam "), and by Arabic-speaking Moslems id al-Fitr (" Festival of Fast-breaking "), or Al-'id as saghir (" Lesser Festival "). It follows immediately the ninth or the fasting-month, Ramadan, occupying the first three days of the tenth month, Shawwal. It is, therefore, also called by Turks Ramadan Bairam, and exhibits more outward signs of rejoicing than the technically " Greater Festival." Official receptions are held on it, and private visits paid; friends congratulate one another, and presents are given; new clothes are put on, and the graves of relatives are visited. The second, or " Greater Festival," is called by the Turks Qurban Bairain, Sacrifice Bairam," and by Arabic speakers Al-'id al-kabir, " Greater Festival," or I d al-a4ci, "Festival of Sacrifice." It falls on tile tenth, and two or three following days, of the last month, Dhu-l-hijja, when the pilgrims each slay a ram, a he-goat, a cow or a camel in the valley of Mind in commemoration of the ransom of Ishmael with a ram. Similarly throughout the Moslem world, all who can afford it sacrifice at this time a legal animal, and either consume the flesh themselves or give it to the poor. Otherwise it is celebrated like the " Lesser Festival," but with less ardour. Both festivals, of course, belong to a lunar calendar, and move through the solar year every thirty-two years.»

in, http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Bairam


Arkadaşlar, iyi şeker bairam!!!

Miss u all
Natercia

What about the Reunion Istambul July 2007?

Heyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Guys, what about THE Reunion?! Let's begin to speak about possible dates so that everybody can manage to be there and get cheap plane tickets. And are we speaking about one or two weeks? I haven't taken my vacations for next year yet so I am quite flexible right now. But as far as I know, Basilio is going to be travelling through Europe so how is your «plan»? (GOD! What a word!!!!) Maarten and Aakash, are you flexible about dates (Once I know you have kind of a "serious job")? AND THE OTHERS?

Well, hope to have comments as soon as possible.

Hugs

..::Droops of Istanbul::..

Arriving...

Arriving in to the border i didn?t know that were waiting for me 6 checkpoints and several stamps!

Some tour in the Bosporus in tiny boat. Can you see anything interesting behind me?

Check it carefully!

? Cappy Karisik?

Late, but not dead

Some pictures of the Istanbul adventure, the stories will come later?

Cris!

!Back Again!

My friends, after 8 borders and 5 days driving I arrived in the most beautiful city in the world Istanbul?
Mission accomplished ( not totally.. I have to go back home?)

Hugs from Istanbul!

Peace!

..::Istanbul Conexion::..

Guys I'm leaving to motherland, Istanbul. 4000 Km of asphalt and 4/5 days of driving are waiting for me. No plans, No Hotels reserved just pure adventure!

Hopefully I will pass all the borders and I will arrive in Majestic and Grand Istanbul.

Sadly you will be not there, but for sure I?ll find our collective memories walking in Istiklal Cadesi...

I miss u all guys!

Hugs

Cris!

I, Sentinel

It's been a while since I participated in that sci-fi movie project I told you about, but I finally got the pictures this weekend... so, for your amusement, here is me, the retro-futuristic-mega corp-sentinel. Have a laugh

PORTUGAL! PORTUGAL! PORTUGAL!

Heyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!

I can't avoid it! I have to speak about it! WE ARE IN! We passed the quarter final! YEAHHH!!!

England played very very well, even better than us when we think that they were only 10 players. But we were lucky andHere are some photos of the man of the game, in my opinion: RICARDO!!!

Tuesday we play against France. So here is our hymne just in case you wanna sing with us!!!

«Heróis do mar, nobre povo,
Nação valente e imortal
Levantai hoje de novo
O esplendor de Portugal!

Entre as brumas da memória,
Ó Pátria, sente-se a voz
Dos teus egrégios avós
Que há-de guiar-te à vitória!

Às armas, às armas!
Sobre a terra, sobre o mar,
Às armas, às armas!
Pela Pátria lutar
Contra os canhões marchar, marchar! »

Hugs. Natercia

The real working life, not just chilling in some tropical place!

It took me a while to get started on this blog, but when I read about Martin supposedly working in between scuba diving, sunbathing and playing Golf, I had to give this blog a bit more sense of reality, as for most people, working life unfortunately does not sound like a vacation....
Although my debut to as a poster to this blog has been quite late, but I have been following it up, and its so great to hear what impact Turkey had on all of you! This blog such a great thing to stay connected so lets keep it up!

Since many of you don?t know what I have been up to since last summer when I left Turkey, a little update on my life since then. Getting back was hard at first, but you have experienced that yourself probably. Missing the life I had in Turkey I was contemplating of doing another traineeship in some exotic place, but out of money I decided to finally get real and get a proper job! Even though at times I was dreaming of doing something more meaningful, with my education and work experience I eventually ended up in banking after all. So since 3 months I am now in London, working my ass off for an investment bank (I crazily chose the worst team in terms of working hours ? M&A, 80h+, but its definitely the most exciting). But before I threw myself into this hell I was travelling for almost a month in India, rambling all over Rajastan, travelling the Golden Triangle and chilling out in Goa.
This summer I?ll be for 6 weeks in NY for training, last chance to living a fun life once more! Anybody around at that time? For the rest my life continues to be a lasting analogy to Istanbul. Crossing the Thames river on my way to work reminds me each time of the beautiful Bosphorus and Istanbul?s magic?
I am looking already much forward to the planned reunion, will be so great to be back! Actually I was in Istanbul in December and almost missed my flight back as a result of too much Tequila at Joker...

Hugs to all of you!

Sindy

My plan

Nothing much has change in my life since the last time I wrote. I have no more movie business related stories, or interesting trips to tell you about, but I have something else: I have a plan.
I realized a few weeks ago that planning is not so bad after all, at least when it's necessary. This enlightment came at the right time for me to start planning my next project, a project I called: 'Backpacking Europe 2007!'.

That's right, I finnally decided what I'm going to do next. Everything seems to indicate that this is the right choice for me right now for many reasons. I know very well that, as time goes by, I have fewer chances of making the backpacking trip I've been dreaming of since highschool. And why Europe and not some other exotic remote place?, you may ask. Well, because I realized I have quite a few good friends I would love to visit over there, and it would also get me close enough to Isanbul to be able to make it to next year reunion in Istanbul. So count me on that one too.

I'm going to start my journey between march and may 2007, when plain tickets are cheaper and weather is getting better. The idea is to visit anybody who would like to see me around for a couple of days... or weeks. I need to coordinate with each one of you in order to make my plan in the next few months. For how long and where I will travel will depend a great deal on what I talk with you, so it's more like a collective plan in which all your ideas are welcome.

I will be writing more about this here soon.

Looking forward to start planning with all of you.

quotes

i guess either basilio or aakash did this, but its really cool how the top of blogger has our different quotes whenever you refresh. just a comment!

exams of course...

hey all,

i just got back from the boston area, i went to see one of my best friends graduate from university. another 3 friends from high school came as well, so the 5 of us had a really great time, and yes freddie was with us the whole time! it was my first encounter with freddie since i saw him and maarten in amsterdam last september. its weird seeing people graduate though, i'm getting very nervous (although i have one year left), especially because i don't know what'll happen after... well you guys are all living proof of good and exciting things happening after university. it was also really good and sad to meet up with my high school friends, i hardly saw them in the last 3 years, and this time it felt like i really missed them for those 3 years all at once. i'll definitely be going to the washington dc & new york area over the summer, but will be in university doing research for most of the summer, and will be in bangladesh for most of august and september.

here's to a good summer!
bangli

Getting back to Life !

So here I am in India for the last 2 weeks and getting a taste of the craziness of this country again. Thank heavens that I am in the south where the temperature stays in control and doesnt go beyond 33-35 degrees during summer as compared to my home town where it hits 45-47 regularly. I am sure all of you have been through this phase of getting back to reality and it hits you hard.

After living in such a diverse environment surrounded by the crazy strikers its a bit difficult not to have different faces from all around the world and bitch about the world. Its difficult not to have the boshphorus around and it difficult not to have a good place that serves nargile. There are many little memories of Istanbul that make it special and not having anyone around to share those memories make it a challenge. I am going to meet all the AIESEC trainees here to see if I can provide them with any valuable services. Till then you can enjoy this snap from my farewell which deserves a different post.

G dub comes to campus

President Bush came to our campus last Friday, well he sort of came. He was supposed to go to this building on campus called the Hoover tower, but there were about 1,000 protesters and they refused to let cars on that street. He instead met with the people he had to at a professor's house on campus who happens to be one of his advisors. The guy with his arms folded in blue is my good friend Quinn, he was also my room mate my freshman year. It was pretty funny seeing Secret Service people on campus for the whole week; random helicopters, black government cars, agents in black suits and sun glasses with ear pieces acting sketchy... good stuff!

heineken goes light...

for the american market!

i'm sure maarten will have much to say about this...

A day in the life of...

hey everyone,

i have completely disappeared off the 603 map for a while, but now i'm back. i have updated myself with what everyone's been upto. and i just wanted to share with everyone what i've been doing. i'm still in school $*U#%@!!! i turned 21 earlier about a month ago, so am legal in every sense of the word in the US... i was attacked with water balloons by my friends as a gift.

so i was working for the last few months on getting a job over the summer at a bank, didn't work out so well, so am trying to do research in a clinical lab as a statistician over the summer, so i'll be on campus, but am planning to go home at the end of summer. we had spring break for a few days (like 2-3 weeks ago), and 5 of my friends and i went on a road trip around the south-west, we went to Las Vegas, Grand Canyon and San Diego, and around the Los Angeles areas. basically trying to figure out a way to get into graduate school (so i don't have to get a job!!!!). so yeah i'll be taking more exams over the summer and applying to universities again in a few months time (uggh!!!).

i think we really need to do this 603 reunion next year, it has to be crazy.

oh i forgot, there's this turkish restaurant that opened in palo alto (the town next to school), and we go almost everyday, the owners have become pretty good friends coz of my broken turkish, and they have pretty good iskender kebab!

peace!

Some hotel casino in Las Vegas

SEVILLA!!!!!

HEYYYYYYY!!!!


I have 5 minuts to tell you everything I want and I really don't know how to do it!!!

I AM IN SEVILLA!!!! FIESTA!!!!

Well... It is fucking hot here but the city is wonderful! This is the real south lifestyle! La Fiesta is the queen and the Cerveza the king of the city!!!! No doubt... SOUTH RULES!!!

Well I am living with a dutch girl and 2 italian boys... GOD!!!! I think not only I am going to learn spanish but I will also need to learn Italian if I want to communicate with them cause they are as good spanigh speakers as they are wonderful (!!!) english speakers!!! Can you imagine!!!

I promess I will write soon many many details!!!

Hasta luego!
natercia

Tsveti's anniversary: One year after...

A mail through the Istanbul Trainees List... I post it here cause I guess not everyone is still on the list! I love u!

Hi to all of you!

A bit more than an year ago I was watching the sunrise over the Bosporus at
Dolmabahce with Iva, after a totally crazy night in Sawady...
A whole year, and these times are still so fresh...
In this moment thousands of memories are going thru my head, of amazing
internationality, craziness, spirit and living for the moment. Istanbul and
my CEED there was the most intensive and unbelievable experience in my
entire life, as it was for a lot of people and still: it is my personal
number One! Thanks to everyone of u who I got to know and had fun with
during those 2 months. As time goes by, its really difficult to hold the
contact but i want to tell to everyone, i didntforget anyone, im still
thinking about those days and I still dont manage to unsubscribe from that
list, hoping for posts from someone i know in a slightly masohistic way
cause i sometimes really miss that times....

Tonight I was dreaming about the AIESEC song
AIESEC Istanbul, sani rakip yok.....

i loved that song isnt it incredible, I heard it in my dream, wow :)!
To all of u, who still know who I am: im so happy i got to know u, i wish u
all the best in or outside of AIESEC :)

I hope I will manage to come to the reunion 2007, i so much dont know where
I will be and what I will be doing...

With the departure of Aakash Istanbul will miss something but I am sure that
all over again, people will arrive and have fun and enjoy Istanbul to d
full, be amazed, smile, cry, live... But to all of us, the 603 experience
and spirit will be unique!
Aakash, u r too cool for this world, dont forget that and take care home :)

All the best :))))
Smiles from Tsveti
CEEDer Spring 2005

One year of 603

This day, one year ago, Istanbul603 was born.

The first 2 posts, which we wrote in the computer room of the bilgi dorms, represent where whe wanted to go with this blog at that time. It has become much more than we expected at the beginning, but the spirit remains the same.

What amazes me is how good this idea has worked in practice, not only by keeping us in touch, but also keeping the collective spirit we had in Istanbul. Think about it.

Thanks to everybody that has contributed to this blog and helps keeping it alive and healthy.

This is just the first year of Istanbul603, but I hope many more will come.

And to quote our very first post:
603 is not a number
603 is state of mind

My reunion with Ataturk

Not long after I came back to Venezuela I heard the rumor that there was an Ataturk statue, not only in Caracas, but just a few minutes from my neighborhood, in a park I have passed by many many many times in my life before. Ever since then I've been wanting to pass by one more time, see if it was true, and take some pictures... but it took me a little longer than I expected.

I don't know if it's just coincidence or what, but the neighborhood where the statue is it's called 'Santa Sofia', and I realized the connection with Istanbul just today when I saw the sign where it says 'Santa Sofia' just next to 'Plaza Kemal Ataturk'.

Maybe Ataturk is also near your house and you don't even know. Ataturk is really everywhere.

!Portuguese Reunion!

Natercia and I @ Porto

The Report will be done by Natercia ... soon hopefully