Now it is summer in Istanbul and as usual I will have foreign guests in. We already have a guest family in our house now and it is a unique experience for the whole family. There are 2 guest kids at home and elder one can speak Arabic, Tamil and English. The younger one can speak English and my son can understand English and my younger daughter can just speak and understand Turkish! Yet, they communicate somehow and spend a great time. I think they meet on the basic needs such as playing games, eating, running and sometimes making a lot of noise! This family is from United Arab Emirates, the mother is American and the husband is an Indian.
I have Turkish friends in America and they work with Niagara Foundation. Therefore they help a lot people to get to know about Turkish Culture and Islam and they come to Turkey with their American friends. So I have the chance to travel with them or to host them in my house. I always encourage them to visit Uskudar.
The guests are mostly non-Muslim people who are curious about Turkish-Islamic culture and they read and get a lot of information about Turkey and Islam in advance. They have amazing questions and so I need to read more and more!
Our guests are academicians, pastors, students, professors, senators and so on. When you meet senators, it does not take a long time to see that they have great communication skills!
Sometimes some American friends come from America to Turkey on Holiday and it happens not on the behalf of Niagara foundation. However I am informed about their trip in advance and I assist them in Istanbul and help them have a nice time. Sometimes they would like to see a Turkish family and we have dinner in my house.
I plan to write my observations about these guests, my travels with them and other activities we share with our guests.
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