Hi All,

Well we finally have a decent internet connection so I will have to spend sometime getting the blog updated. Kiyikishlajick is a little country town near the Aegean sea. It is rocky and lots of Olive trees everywhere. The community is a mix of local farming people who still live in the "old ways" and people from other countries who have summer homes . So you have all the sounds of roosters,chickens, sheep, cows, dogs, cats(always lots of cats) and donkeys. Plus 5 times a day there is the call for prayer from the Minaret(a small tower adjacent to the Mosque ) although normally reserved for religious things, apparently they have used it here to remind folks to pay the water bill or be shut off at the end of the month LOL.

We Arrived on the tenth and were treated to a wonderful lunch by Angelika and her friend . We were then invited as was the whole village to a Muslim circumcision celebration ( called a Sunnet). The locals wait until age 8 to 10 to do this. The entire village turns out for food, music, celebration, etc. It is like a Bar Mitzvah with family, friends and everyone attending. They invited us in with great warmth and kindness. It was obvious we were outsiders, but shook our hands, welcomed us and the few who spoke a little English chatted with us. They brought out trays of food, good too, and bottles of Raki, a Turkish liquor that tastes like anise(apparently some partygoes overindulged and fight broke out later on that night, Darn we missed that!!) It was really cool to see the dancing and musicians. Its not your regular band! they play the Ne, Mai, and others I can't spell. check out the following videos. Plus all the locals dancing was pretty cool too.