Istanbul, Turkey 06/20/06

Hi y'all!

Well, as many of you know, CBN, the company I work for, sent me to Turkey to do some training. So here I am in Turkey. I got in at 10:00am from New York. It was a 10 hour fligh. Right now, I'm at the TV Station (Turk 7) (in the Asian side) and so I was able to get a hold of a computer with a normal keyboard. I've already met some of the people that I will be training. They are very young. There are two or three Finish people and the rest are Turkish. This place is small, but some times that's how some big things get started. Remember how many people were fed with 5 loaves of bread and a few pieces of bread! Or remember David and the big guy Goliath! Anyway, we discussed in general this week's and next week's itinerary during my stay. We will discuss it more tomorrow. We're going to try to get in touch with a couple of people for stories to propose at CBN.

Pues bueno, como ya algunos saben, CBN, la compañía para la cual yo trabajo, me mando a Turquia a entrenar a un grupo de personas en una estacion de TV: Turk 7. Entonces aqui estoy en Istanbul, Turquia. En este momento estoy en el canal. Ya conocí a algunos que voy a entrenar. Son jovenes. Hay unos Finlandeses y los demas Turcos. El Canal es pequeño, pero asi es como algunas cosas grandes han empezado. Acuerdese de la cantidad de gente que comio de 5 pesces y unos cuantos panes. Acuerdese de David y el grandulon Goliath. Ya hablamos de mi itinerario de esta semana y la proxima. Mañana hablaremos mas. Tambien vamos a tratar de contactar alguna gente para unas historias que proponeremos para CBN.

Before getting here, I had learned that Istanbul had an Asian side and a European side. I was able to hang out in the Euro side because that's where the airport is located. I also went to the Finnish Consulate. Kari, the producer and the man in charge of this TV Station is Finnish and had to take care of some issues there. Well, the issues were related to his new daughter born about 3 weeks ago. Istanbul is a very huge city, so to go from point A to point B takes hours. Since he was already on that side of the city, he decided to go take care of business. It's normal to take about 1 1/2 hours to 3 hours just to travel 20 miles. It's incredible. I don't know if I'll complain about traffic ever again. Travelling around the city has brought flashbacks from my childhood when I used to live in Damascus, Syria and from the Arab neighborhoods in Israel.. It's awesome!

Antes de llegar aqui, ya sabia que Istanbul tiene una parte en el Asia y la otra en Europa. Ya estuve en el lado Euro porque el aeropuerto es alla. Tambien fui al consulado Finlandes porque Kari, el productor y el encargado de este canal, es Finlandes y tenia unos que haceres alla. Esos que haceres tenian que ver con su nueva hija que nacio hace 3 semanas. Istanbul es bien grande. Para ir de un punto a otro, facilmente se demora uno horas. Por ejemplo es normal tomar 1 1/2 horas a 3 horas solo por andar 20 millas. Es increible. No creo que me queje del trafico otra vez. Paseando por la ciudad me ha traido recuerdos de mi niñez cuando vivia en Damasco, Syria o de los barrios Arabes en Israel. Que chevere!

Anyway, I will be going to my hotel in a little bit. But I wanted to check in with you. I'll try to keep in touch.

Pronto me ire al hotel. Solo queria escribirles.

Tonight I will be experiencing watching a soccer (football) match at a local Turkish bar. Germany vs. Ecuador (go Ecuador!) and England vs. Sweden (go England!). We'll see how rowdy Turkish people are. I'm also trying to stay awake until tonight. There are 7 hours of difference. It's now 2:46pm in Istanbul and in Virginia Beach, it should be 7:46am. So I have to beat the Jetlag. So my adventure begins. To be continued . . .

Esta noche voy a tener la experiencia de ver un juego de futbol en un lugar local Turco. Alemania vs. Ecuador (viva Ecuador!) e Inglaterra vs. Suecia (viva England!). Vamos a ver que tan locos se ponen los Turcos. Tambien estoy tratando de quedarme despierto hasta esta noche. Hay 7 horas de differencia. Voy a tratar de ganarle a la diferencia de hora. Mi aventura comienza. Continuara . . .

take care,
cuidense,

ed