Grass Roots Peacemaking!

"We are all one world"..."The right thing is the best thing to do"....
What to do on the 10th anniversary of 9/11. My Turkish-American cooking class taught by the ladies from Turkey who are also Muslims seemed like the right choice. This is my third class and I had the feeling all week that this was the right thing to do on this Sunday...and it was! Wonderful hosts, delicious food and stories and hostess Ezra who asks: "What do you think about a potluck in November" - potluck - we get to bring a Turkish dish! The chef today Neslihan spoke little English but we managed. Menu:" Dolma (Stuffed Grape Leaves), Kiymali Borek (Fillo with Ground Beef), Sutlu Irmik Tatlisi (Cream of Wheat Pudding)-yes, it was yummy!
An email from my high school friend Peggy soon had me walking a block from my house to check on the "Tom Burnett Rock" - only to find an outdoor service, mums, "the rock" and America the Beautiful playing in the background. He grew up in this church and his parents planted a tree and placed the rock several years ago and I often walk by it. Burnett grew up in Bloomington and was one of the passengers on United Flight 93 who battled the hijackers and prevented another attack - memorial is now in place in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Another great experience! This young Turkish woman who lives in Istanbul was visiting her aunt (one of the hosts) and I started chatting with her in her near perfect English. She said had just been in Vancouver Canada for two months "learning English"; asked why there and she said because there aren't many Turkish people there so she would have to converse in English! - she said there were people from Mexico in the class of 20 so they taught each other Turkish and Spanish. She also said she spoke only a little English prior to this. She showed me on her smartphone where our hotel was in Istanbul for next month, wrote down things to see, foods to try and told me how much we will love it. I asked her why she decided to visit Minnesota: "Shopping", for what? "Shoes"!!!!...for her whole family back in Turkey, favorite store? "Macy's". She was so excited it was contagious.

The food table - lovely - no paper plates, we all eat together. We helped to stuff the grape leaves and it brought back memories of the 1980s with my college friend from Lebanon spending the day with me to do this same thing.

I wish I was better about remembering names but this is the young woman and her aunt who lives here.

So after all the coverage of events, speeches and politics - I spent the day doing what I love - going to church and making new friends and eating good food...and maybe creating cultural bridges to people who are reaching out to do this same thing.

Next on the agenda: I have my hour by hour itinerary for having Alex and Lucy for 11 days while Amy and Chris join her family in Normandy, France. A day after they return we head for Paris and then Istanbul - no tours for us as I love doing it on my own...well, with the help of Ferhat, Vladimir, Kamer and Neno plus a few others across the sea and with me today helping to plan this trip!

GUZEL BIR GUN ICIN TESEKKUR EDERIZ!

THANK YOU FOR A LOVELY DAY!