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Cumhuriyet Bayram Dinners 2008: We will celebrate the Bayram in nine (9) sites this year.  A couple of groups are joining with local Turkish organizations, and it will be interesting to see how they turn out.  Try to join us if you are near one of these cities, and consider organizing your own dinner if you’re not.  Buyurun.       Haven't had one in your area?  Why not organize one either at a home or in a local restaurant.  They can be very simple with the goal of getting Arkadaslar together to catch up on news, talk about old times....  You won't be sorry!  TurkeyDost@aol.com
 

Mosaic in Gaziantep Museum 
--Photo by Sandy Pfunder
More photos from Eastern Turkey

ÿ   We have just learned that Joyce Gurian Zarkin (T-15) passed away on Oct. 12, 2008.

Several of our members joined Anatolian Artisans for a cultural trip to Eastern Turkey in May.  For a sampling of some of the places they visited, check out Sandy Pfunder's 2008 photos of eastern Turkey.  You'll also find links to his photo albums online.

Finn, Robert (T-15) Just published Finn's translation of Orpheus by Nazli Eray. 
"Robert
Finn's translation of Turkish author Nazli Eray's Orphée makes available to the English-language reader a rewriting of the myth from the perspective of Eurydice, the wife of Orpheus. Eray's surrealistic version takes place in a hot resort town in contemporary Turkey. The setting of an archaeological dig gives a connection to the past and literally to the underworld. Found in the dig is a statue of the Roman emperor Hadrian, who proceeds to offer an unusual perspective on modern life and values through mysterious letters carried by a messenger pigeon. Eray also comments on modernity, as the city of Ankara emerges as a character in the novel's fantasy. Set in junta-ruled Turkey of the 1980s, the novel takes its place as a crucial slice of Turkish literary history."  More on the book and details for purchasing it.

Dora Glidewell Nadolski (T-1) is publishing a new book:
  The Etatist Turkish Republic and Its Political and Socio-Economic Performance from 1980-1999:  A Developing State Impacted by International Organizations and Interdependence.  More information and prepublication order information.



Robinson Sawmill History, a memoir from Harlan Green (T-5) of his Peace Corps training in Vermont including some photos.

Cumhuriyet Bayram Dinner Reports - 2007
Events were held in Wisconsin, New England, Florida, New York City, Washington, DC, Seattle, North Carolina, and Ohio.  We haven't received reports or photos from all, but reports are starting to come in.. People had a good time, made new friends, and remembered old feelings (warmth, satisfied tummies, stirrings of adventure ... ). If you missed one this year, try to attend one next year.  And if there wasn't one in your area, consider organizing one next year.

Messages of regional interest 

Photos from Sandy Pfunder's 2007 trip to Turkey.  See new photos from Istanbul, Cappadocia, and Konya.

Sandy Anderson's memoir of that fateful day during Peace Corps training in Austin, Texas, when gunman Charles Whitman began shooting randomly.

Peace Corps Library now available online.  It boasts the largest collection of Peace Corps related reference material in the world.

  New Buralarda Editors
Marcia Gnuse, who served as Buralarda's editor for more than ten years, has decided to move on to other things.  Marcia collected and published information through the years before we were really connected by computers and when publishing a newsletter was a tedious process of cutting and pasting--literally.  You did a great job, Marcia!  Thanks, for all the hard work, great newsletters, and your very important part in keeping us in touch.

Stepping up to take over in Marcia's place are our new editors:  Steve Poppick (T-10) and Peggy Hanson (T-1).   Both Steve and Peggy are accepting material for Buralarda so if you have anything new to report, reports of Bayram dinners, or other news of interest to our membership, please be sure to send it to them.  Photos are also gratefully accepted to accompany your stories or news items. 

Memories of Turkey: 
This note from Sandy Pfunder is a more recent event but relates back to our service in Turkey:

This past Tuesday night, our Turkish language class had its last "ders" of the "winter semester". As is traditional, we meet at a Turkish restaurant for the last class, and this time we gathered at  Atilla's Restaurant in Arlington, Virginia. A young woman who was waiting on our table told us that she was college student in Northern Virginia and was originally from Edirne. We mentioned that a couple of us (Linda Scheffer and I) had been Peace Corps volunteers in Turkey. The next words out of her mouth were: "Do you know Bob and Sylva Staab?" Of course, we said that we did. "My grandfather married them," she said, referring (we judged) to the famous village wedding that occurred some 43 years ago in a village near Edirne.

----Sandy Pfunder (T9)
 
                                               (More memories)

Our website: Explore and enjoy!
     Home: announcements of reunions, meetings, requests
     Archive: board meeting highlights, other items of interest
     Bulletin Board: messages of enduring or regional interest
     Contacts: board members, RPCVs by group, friends of Turkey
     Events: details about dinners, reunions, other scheduled events
     History: background of our organization & PC Turkey
     Membership: benefits and form
     Member News: news of interest about our members
     Memories of Turkey:  RPCVs' remembrances of life and events during PC service
     Photo Gallery: photos of and by Arkadaslar members, including reunions & bayram dinners
     Projects:  updates on projects we support
     Services:  listserv, newsletter, directory
     Books & Art:  works produced by Arkadaslar members
     Links:  Turkish-American associations, embassy, Turkish sites, books on Turkey...
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©Arkadaslar
11/12/08

 

 
Arkadaslar is a network of 1200 people who served as Peace Corps Volunteers or staff in Turkey between 1962 and 1970. Arkadaslar is committed to maintaining the network and fostering continued ties among our Turkish friends, ourselves, and our international communities.


Our membership is open to all former Turkey Peace Corps Volunteers and to all friends of Turkey.
 
Moved?  New e-mail address?   Please let us know your new contact information.

 
Board Meetings:
 6:00 socialize, 6:30 dinner and meeting.
Next Meeting:

Venue: 
   Atilla's Restaurant Columbia Pike
 Arlington

 
Request from Webmaster: Please send us information of note on yourself or other Turkey RPCVs that we can post on the website and put into Buralarda


Also, we'd like to pay tribute to those who also served in Turkey but who have passed away.  If you have an obituary of one of our group that has passed away and/or would be willing to write a memoir--not matter how brief--please do so and send it to Ellie.  It would be nice to honor our deceased with more than a simple listing on our Obituaries page.