A Tragic Story

I read through this book almost without putting it down. It is the beautiful but sad memoir by Turkish human rights lawyer Fethiye Çetin on her grandmother.

Here is the description from the cover:

When Fethiye Çetin was growing up in the small Turkish town of Maden, she knew her grandmother as a happy and universally respected Muslim housewife. It would be decades before her grandmother told her the truth: that she was by birth a Christian and an Armenian, that her name was not Seher but Heranuş, that most of the men in her village had been slaughtered in 1915, that she, along with most of the women and children, had been sent on a death march. She had been saved (and torn from her mother’s arms) by the Turkish gendarme captain who went on to adopt her. But she knew she still had family in America. Could Fethiye help her find her lost relations before she died?

There are an estimated two million Turks whose grandparents could tell them similar stories. But in a country that maintains the Armenian massacres never happened, such talk can be dangerous. In her heart-wrenching memoir, Fethiye Çetin breaks the silence.

Another Week...

… has gone by – time goes too fast sometimes. I have been busy with several things, particularly with a new website I’m creating for an elementary school. The principal is a member of my former church, and as obviously none of the teachers or parents at the school is able or willing to create a site and I have also created the church’s website he asked me if I was willing to do it. Of course I said yes! I don’t know what I will get for it (not much to be sure, schools in Germany usually do not have a very high budget, and they’d rather spend it for the children), but that is not something I care about. I enjoy creating websites, especially when it is for a good cause :)

Movie Evenings

The carnival season is in full swing now and therefore Hermann has to spend many evenings at the various events for the newspaper he is working for. This means that I’m alone at home all those evenings which gives me the opportunity to watch movies that Hermann wouldn’t want to watch – like the Jane Austen adaptations, for example. In his opinion, nothing ever happens in those movies *lol*

Yesterday I watched “Pride and Prejudice”, the famous BBC adaptation of 1995 with Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth. It is so beautifully made – just right for a romantic evening on one’s own ;)

Winter Continues

Since last night it has snowed a lot and it got colder again, and this weather is supposed to continue at least for the rest of this week and for the next. Of course, I did not really expect spring yet…

Here is something for all who are longing for it – enjoy :)

What Kind of Intelligence?

I did this test a while ago – the results didn’t really surprise me ;)

Your Dominant Intelligence is Linguistic Intelligence

You are excellent with words and language. You explain yourself well. An elegant speaker, you can converse well with anyone on the fly. You are also good at remembering information and convincing someone of your point of view. A master of creative phrasing and unique words, you enjoy expanding your vocabulary. You would make a fantastic poet, journalist, writer, teacher, lawyer, politician, or translator.

What Kind of Intelligence Do You Have?

More Visitors

Yesterday there were two more families looking around our house. Quite honestly, I hope we do not have to go through this procedure too often before the house is sold. I was exhausted afterwards. Not that I was involved a lot, but the mere presence of so many strangers in my home is rather stressful for me.

Snow and Visitors

Meanwhile we have got even more snow and everything looks lovely outside – I like it when the snow covers all the dark winter colours!

Yesterday we were visited by two families who are both interested in buying our house. Things are looking good at the moment and we hope to be able to move to our new place within the next six months.

Holidays Over

So here am I again - hopefully more often in 2010! This is not a resolution, as I never keep resolutions ;) We spent the holidays with the family at my father’s house and we had a lot of fun. Anyway, now we are back in the daily routine, even though it is still a little calmer than usual. The Christmas holidays at the schools are lasting one more week and even though we don’t have children we feel it, too.

We are enjoying cold and sunny winter days at the moment, just the way it should be :) I only wished that Hermann would not have to drive so much in this weather, especially on those winding roads along the Danube Valley. He is a careful driver himself, but unfortunately there are people who think they can drive fast on icy streets and by this put others into danger.

As always at the beginning of a new year I’m very curious what lies ahead of me in the coming twelve months!

Between the Holidays...

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas time :)

During the past weeks I have been a lazy blogger, as I must admit – apart from posting the Advent Calendar songs and occasional comments in your blogs. Of course I also posted on Facebook and Twitter.

Our house is now online for sale and so we are expecting a very busy and exciting year 2010!

Advent Calendar Song No. 22