Life in Turkey

Family life in Izmir, the Aegean coast, Istanbul and other places we love in Turkey

Visiting Kuşadası, a coastal tourist town in Izmir

Life in Turkey

We surprised our 4yo with a visit to Kuşadası, a coastal tourist town that means “bird island” in English. I think she kept imagining a literal island full of birds and was a bit let down that it was just a beach, and a cold one she couldn’t swim in.☹️

Because I welcome any trip to the seaside, I didn’t read up on Kuşadası beforehand…and wow was I surprised–it’s HUGE! Massive hotels and resorts line the rocky coast, and blocks of smaller bed and breakfast places and summer houses (a popular thing here) build up to the city center. There’s also a short elevated beachwalk next to a sandy beach called Ladies Beach, which Koray says was popular for topless sunbathers back in the day.⛱️

Exploring coastal developments in Turkey always makes me wax romantic about the what ifs of Philippine coastal towns. With 7,107 islands one would imagine the average Philippine lifestyle to be coastal, but we have yet to really build cities by the sea back home.

Here in Turkey, we’re on the Western side, facing the Aegean Sea, and the beaches pale in comparison to Ph beaches, but they’ve been developed to be liveable and with enough economy to sustain lifestyles on and off season.

💡Lots to learn!

Easter in our favorite Holy Place ✨️🙏

Life in Turkey

So thankful to live 1.5hours away from the sacred mountain where pilgrims visit Meryemana, the house of Virgin Mary. Since we moved to Turkey 🇹🇷 six months ago, we’ve headed up the mountain four times to give thanks, recenter and pray for blessings and special intentions.

On Easter Mass this year, I cried within the first five minutes upon hearing the words “Hope after death”. There was just an overwhelming feeling of joy to be alive. And to experience this rebirthing energy with the backdrop of Spring…just wow. ✨️

Hope you’re all feeling renewed and ready for what’s next, friends! Passing around deep, warm hugs with the beauty and colors of Easter and Spring ❤🧡

The Donkey Around Us

Life in Turkey

This year I celebrate Holy Week in a Muslim country for the first time.

Growing up, Holy Week was special for extended family reunions and long beach holidays in Bicol, my dad’s home province in the Philippines. I’ve always been a spritually curious child, and what I most remember were the candlelit processions at night, with devotees walking barefoot next to their clan’s dressed up santo, adorned with flowers, lights and recorded music of the pasyon. I loved naming all the saints passing through our house, and always wondered about life back in biblical times.

Now that I’m in Turkey, everyday I see sheep with their shepherd grazing on the hills and my lingering thoughts always bring me back to imagining those biblical times. Being in similar terrain, the resonance with the Christ experience is immense, almost like a deep remembering, and it helps that we’re within driving distance to Ephesus and the house of Mary.

Palm Sunday is the start of Holy Week, when Christ, the Sun-being, entered Jerusalem on a donkey and its foal.

There is a fairytale about a prince who was born as a donkey. The king and queen, his parents, accept and love him. But they are skeptical about the donkey’s ability to fulfil his desire to play the lyre. Yet, despite his obvious handicap, he does.

Our physical nature is like that donkey. It is the part of us that belongs to a particular family, a particular tribe, nationality, or language group. It represents the earth, out of which our physical nature is born. For most of us, it takes tremendous spiritual effort to “learn to play the lyre”, that is, to rise above the limitations of our physicality, our family origins, our national inclinations, and our language’s thought patterns.

by Rev. Cynthia Hindes via Craig Wiggins

This meditation hits home most especially because Leadia, our life and passion project, is about building that safe, empowering and supportive environment where we can be who we truly are, and build whatever we’re crazy enough to imagine.

Here’s to diving deep into who we are this solemn week, through the darkness & all the way to a lovely rebirthing on Easter Sunday!🌈

#holyweek #iam #rebirth

Read the full meditation here.

Bahay-bahayan aka playing house Turkey-style

Life in Turkey

In six months she’s conversant in Turkish and everydays are spent hanging out with her babanne (“mom of dad” or grandmother) and dede (grandpa). Really, it’s amazing to see her brave new sentences with the courage I struggle with. Meanwhile I’m plowing through barok Turkish and asking Su to be my translator. 🤣