Street cats in Adana (Turkey)

Posted on June 3, 2015 by wordpressgrethe

street cat in adana Street cats in Adana
Yesterday I wrote about the street cats in Cyprus; that they are somehow loved, although the fact that they exist in such large numbers shows that the Cypriots do not deal enough with this problem: https://grethevangeffen.nl/2015/06/02/street-cats-in-cyprus/. For street cats in Adana, however, the situation is worse. It can be seen from t street cats in adana - kitten he street cats’ behaviour, they are afraid. It was almost impossible to take pictures of street cats because they would run away immediately like this very small and sad kitten. It really panicked, terrible; it did not think ‘hey here is a friend that will give me some food’. The only cat I could photograph quitely was a sick cat, also quite sad:
If we think that animal behaviour is an expression of local values, there is quite some development work to do for street cats in Adana – they can learn from Cyprus or from Istanbul where things have developed better already for street cats: https://grethevangeffen.nl/2012/03/03/istanbul-and-its-street-cats/.
When cats are either afraid or ill, local values need reflection!

A blog about the great documentary Kedi that follows street cats in Istanbul.

Street cats in Cyprus

Posted on June 2, 2015 by wordpressgrethe

street cat in cyprus 2

Street cats in Cyprus
Cyprus is not a poor area in the world. People in Cyprus do have their struggle with daily life but they could do better with cats and dogs than we see them do now. In this case, the North and the South of the island (Turkish or Greek Cypriot) are alike. They are kind to the animals, for sure, and that is nice. One can recognize gentle people from the fact that the cats and dogs are not afraid. The street cats in Cyprus as well as the dogs see mankind as their friends, although the responsibility mankind in Cyprus takes is only partial.
street cat in cyprus 3 Street cats in Cyprus ats freely approach people for food, and everywhere around houses we see plates with foods or bowls with water for cats and dogs. This is the nice side. There are projects, usually cooperation of private citizens/asylums and local governments, to sterilize and castrate the animals in the street to stop the overpopulation of cats and dogs. This is very nice too. But, strange enough, private owners of cats and dogs refuse to invest in sterilization and castration. Their animals gets youngs and the young ones are sadly left and abandoned in fields, forests or faraway streets: just like that. This is such a shame! And it means there will be no end to the efforts of the asylums and local governments, because new animals keep appearing in the streets street cat in cyprus 1 …
A few years ago I wrote this in a blog about Istanbul street cats: ‘Changes can sometimes be perceived in small signs that function as a symbol for deeper lying norms and values. Being valued as a human means that one can value an animal as an animal and embrace animals in their very existence close to mankind. Once the concurrency for food and survival is gone, care can be deployed”. https://grethevangeffen.nl/2012/03/03/istanbul-and-its-street-cats/
What could bring Cypriots, Turkish and Greek alike, to value these animals and take the measures necessary to prevent this endless row of new cats and dogs in their streets? Do we need peace between the North and the South side before further care for animals can be deployed? Or is this a conviction rooted deeply in Cypriot culture, that cats and dogs don’t matter and that you throw them in the street whenever it suits you?

A blog about street cats in Adana, Turkey
A blog about street dogs in Famagusta, Cyprus

A blog about the great documentary Kedi that follows street cats in Istanbul

Museum of the history of Cypriot coinage

Posted on June 1, 2015 by wordpressgrethe

cypriot coinage museum Go to Nicosia, Cyprus and this museum with a spectacular overview of Cypriot coinage. It looks like a small museum in terms of square meters: just one room within the Nicosia headquarters of the Bank of Cyprus. This one room however houses a most interesting mixture of historic overview and coins. Starting from the 6th century BC, every window shows a period of life in Cyprus with its own rulers and coins. The explanation is clear and quite complete without being too much and the coins reflect both financial habits and general culture. We see Cyprus divided in cities and Cyprus as a united kingdom and how Cypriot coinage developed all over those periods. And it all ends up with the Euro of course 🙂 To be honest, I am not interested in the Euro but I found the large collection of different very old coins amazing. Learn not only about the ancient times in Cyprus but also about the city of Amathus in the 5th/4th century BC with its own writing that was never deciphered so far… See coins with the word ‘Wroikos’ on it without having a clue who or what ‘Wroikos’ is… cypriot coinage - coins of amathus Here is a job to do for someone who likes puzzles; one of the last undeciphered languages!
Modern times alas tend to make me sad. In 1976 the Central Bank of Cyprus issued commemorative coins for what is called on the Greek Cypriot side the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974: it shows twice a mother and child, in front of a destroyed house and in front of a tent. cypriot coinage

For the rest, the ‘other’ side of the island Cyprus does not exist in this exhibition; Cyprus is either the past, or Greek Cyprus. However, that past is shown so brilliantly here that I highly recommend this museum! The entrance, by the way, is free but worth a price.

Other blogs about museums with coins:
Money Museum Tunis
Money Museum Gaziantep

Elections in Turkey

Posted on May 31, 2015 by wordpressgrethe

elections in turkey 0 Elections in Turkey are coming up and it is impossible to overlook them! I went to a trade mission in Adana and Mersin last week with the Dutch ambassador, his team and other entrepreneurs and we saw and heard the elections everywhere. Cars with loudspeakers shout out their messages: ‘Hey Adana’ and then the text of their campaign follows in a volume that forms an interruption for your conversation – just wait untill they passed to continue.
There are flags and banners everywhere, on the houses, over the street, over the river… think of a spot and the politicians did too.

Here some interesting pictures:
elections in turkey 2

CHP relatively modest on a roundabout;

elections in turkey 2

The ruling AK party: ‘Now I can go to university with my veil; they just talk, AK party acts‘;

elections in turkey 3

A big flag from the MHP party (grey wolves, a big party in Adana) and smaller – below the flag – a sign of the Saadet party: ‘not the European union but Islam union‘ (union is the same word as unity in Turkish);

elections in turkey 4

A big flag of the MHP over the road – busses and bigger cars can not go under it without touching the flag so it is damaged on the lower side but the effect is there I guess. In most countries this would be forbidden;

elections in turkey 5

Not everybody is good in flags: the wind has frustrated the Salih Demir message here…

In the Netherlands it happens that people forget to vote. I don’t think that can happen here. Nevertheless it does not make politics more popular in Turkey than in the Netherlands; most people that I asked did not like the overall political presence.

Loin des hommes

Posted on March 29, 2015 by wordpressgrethe

Loin des hommes

I was withholding my breath all the time while watching this movie: Loin des hommes. Algeria 1954, the colonial war or freedom war or however you want to call it, is about to begin. A teacher who’s school is in the middle of nowhere in the Atlas mountains gets involved. He is not looking for that but fate is looking for him. He ends up in several unexpected half war half peace situations. The mountains in the middle of nowhere are much more populated than you’d think: they are full of life, love and fights. Both the rebels and the French find their way over the invisible mountain paths. Will he have to give up his dream, to teach the children how to read? The teacher is also confronted with issues of culture, religion and identity. His parents were from Andalusia, he himself has always lived in Algeria and now others see him as French. There is so much actuality in this movie, it is not just a historical picture. And there is lots of deep warm friendship from man to man in this movie, too. The pictures are stunning. Go there, if you want to see something different!

You can find interesting books about Algeria in this blog and in this blog.

You might also like this blog: When inclusiveness met apartheid

Turist and the myth of heroism

Posted on February 21, 2015 by wordpressgrethe

Turist is a great movie with many layers and enough humour not to make this too serious a movie. The maker of this movie, Ruben Östlund, has thought a lot about the psychology and behaviour of survival in sudden extreme circumstances like disasters. Statistically, he says in an interview in Het Parool (Amsterdam newspaper) 18/2, most men run away and do not save the women and children. Still, we stay with the myth of heroism in extreme circumstances. It interests Östlund why we do that and we can see that in this brilliant movie Turist. The difference between the myth of heroism we believe in and the confrontation with reality is a fundamental theme in the movie: how to face, how to deal with that reality?
We follow a Swedish model family on their ski holidays in France. Confronted with an avalanche, the father of the family runs away leaving his wife and two children behind. Lots of stories arise from that split second. You won’t be bored. The pictures in Turist are very beautiful. You won’t be disappointed there either. Also, you will learn why to never fly your drone inside the house.

Other posts about movies you might like:
Quand on a 17 ans
Banana pancakes and the children of the sticky rice
Taxi Teheran

Jewish museum Warsaw context

Posted on January 13, 2015 by wordpressgrethe

Like most tourists I walked in the streets of Warsaw-Center and visited shops like a souvenirshop and a antiquitiesshop. Well, that was quite a surprise.
In the souvenirshop it was possible to buy magnets with symbols of Poland, like one finds magnets with canalhouses, tulips and wooden shoes in Amsterdam. One magnet was a yellow ‘Jewish’ star that mentioned ‘ghetto Warsaw’. I couldn’t believe my eyes, stood there thinking for some time considering whether I should buy it as proof.
But I did not want to buy and thus encourage such souvenirs so I ended making a secret (and not well succeeded) photograph. I am sure that this yellow star would not be sold in the Netherlands but maybe this had a different meaning for the Polish people. I asked in the Jewish museum, showing the pictures but they reacted in a very neutral way, telling that they couldn’t read that it said ‘ghetto Warsaw’ which was true of course 🙂
In the antiquitiesshop it was possible to find all kind of symbols and pamphlets from the last century: communist and anti-communist posters, lots of stuff. I even found a poster in Dutch mentioning ‘Indonesië moet bevrijd worden’ showing an Indonesian guy in chains resisting against a Japanese soldier. As said it was in Dutch and not in Indonesian, this is a real historic thing as Indonesia was freed from the Japanese but then subject to a colonial war with the Netherlands, this poster maybe symbolized that already. The shop also offered Nazi objects. The picture on top and the one below were made secretly in this shop. Maybe it was not necessary to make them secretly, I didn’t know; as a Dutch person I had the feeling that it was a risk to take those pictures but maybe it wasn’t in the Polish context.
All together this tourist street gave me many reflections about the context of the new and beautiful Jewish museum in Warsaw, Poland.

My other posts about the Jewish museum in Warsaw:
Jewish Museum Warsaw dilemmas
Jewish Museum Warsaw beauty

Jewish museum Warsaw dilemmas

Posted on January 7, 2015 by wordpressgrethe

Creating a completely new museum comes with lots of opportunities (that the Museum for the history of Jews in Poland discovered well) and also with dilemma’s. From my visit to this museum I remember two of them.
1. How do you present your history when it has got possibly unfavourable elements? Especially in the light of a history where others have tried many times to present your people as bad people and that this had fatal consequences. The first image of the Jews in Poland happens to be one that connects them to trade of slaves. It was by the way for the first time for me that I learned that the word ‘slave’ is actually connected to the Slavic people, that they were the slaves of the Middle Ages.
The image shows Jews trading slaves and a bishop protesting against it; not because he was against slavery as such but because he was against the trade of Christians as slaves. Slavic people were already Christians by that time. Jews are recognizable with a 2-pointed hat. Could this image make actual prejudices increase? Is a scientific approach ‘this is the very first image and thus reality’ the correct one or should the museum be more careful and avoid a possibly bad image? The museum chose to show the 12nd century reality…
2. During war, the Polish were the only people to have an organizational structure to help Jews and this shows their heroic side. Opinions differ on the scale of effectiveness of the organisation. How small or large should that part of Polish resistance take in the presentation of the 2nd world war part of the museum? You can imagine the discussions…
Most probably there were many more decisions to take that were a dilemma. What I like about this museum is that the makers are not afraid of decision making and also not of discussing the decisions made afterwards.They are transparent and they are accountable; a great sign of modernity that one can only appreciate!

Two other posts about the Jewish Museum in Warsaw:
Jewish Museum Warsaw context
Jewish Museum Warsaw beauty

Jewish museum Warsaw beauty

Posted on December 31, 2014 by wordpressgrethe

28 October 2014 Warsaw could open the doors of the brandnew Museum of the History of Polish Jews and for certain, that museum is a beauty.
First of all it is a beauty from the point of view architecture. The size of the museum is enormous which offers opportunities for spectacular projects like: telling the story of the Jews coming to Poland 1000 years ago with moving images on glass walls; rebuilding an old wooden synagogue with all its special paintings; and redesigning a street in a Warsaw Jewish neighbourhood in the 19th/20th century with all its cultural and political activities, see these 3 pictures for an impression.

Apart from the special projects you can find interactive expositions for all centuries (I loved the medieval ones), and learn a lot about Polish history in general, too. The way the partition of Poland among other countries in the 18th/19th century was symbolised by a big and empty throne, overlooked by foreign rulers is impressive. Of course many people like to have their picture taken at the throne so it is never empty for a long time. The museum allows this kind of jokes and activities which is very nice.
This is a museum that deserves your time, wandering from one room to another through 10 centuries of history. It is different from other museums: it is an impression, not an explanation. It is an atmosphere and a way to live the lifes the Jews in Poland lived since the Middle Ages. If you visit Warsaw, remember to go there!

My other posts about the Jewish Museum in Warsaw:
Jewish Museum Warsaw Context
Jewish Museum Warsaw Dilemmas

Warsaw Christmas lights (make the world a better place 3)

Posted on December 30, 2014 by wordpressgrethe

Warsaw Christmas lights make the world a better place. Some cities are good at special Chrismas lightning, some are less good. Amsterdam for example is not so good, not very creative in Christmas street lightning, but they also have the Amsterdam Light Festival (which is not the ordinary street lightning but specific enlightened art objects) and that is rather spectacular. Warsaw in Poland has very good designers for Christmas lights; look at the beautiful pictures. It gives class and style to the city and makes it a real joy to walk around:

What amused me in Warsaw is that they also have this:
Some wouldn’t call it class or style but the Polish citizens probably do. At least Warsaw is not afraid to combine these styles in the same street. And the children are happy with it!

Two other blogs in the theme ‘make the world a better place’
Lisbon pavements
Lisbon walking

Naziha’s spring – an outstanding IDFA documentary

Posted on November 23, 2014 by wordpressgrethe

It was a coincidence that I went to an IDFA documentary, I never have / take time for things like that but in this case the maker of the documentary was the daughter of a friend with whom I participate in a Turkish litterature club – yes, all Turkish spoken so you understand I do not speak a lot, however I do read all the books (in Turkish) while not every participant does 🙂
I have to say that Gülsah Dogan presented an outstanding documentary that should be obliged learning material for any organisation involved in the problems of Amsterdam-West families. She has succeeded to make an inside picture about one of the (former) most problematic Dutch-Moroccan families Amsterdam-West has known. And anyone in the public can recognize and feel the characters, the conflicts, the existentialist problems that occur in this story. It is very moving – there were many tears – and the complexity of extreme family situations is revealed. This is a documentary that deserves a price and I hope it will win.
See http://www.idfa.nl/industry/tags/project.aspx?id=5273991f-70a3-431d-836f-264b6b41bce6, for more info and also times to visit next wednesday, thursday and saturday 26/27/29 November. Don’t miss this one! For me, it will still be on my mind for many days; it is really, really impressive!

Find another documentary made by Gülsah Dogan here: The hunt for my father

Vlinderado: creating your dream (2)

Posted on August 18, 2014 by wordpressgrethe

Vlinderado is an entrepreneurs’ dream, and it is beautifull: www.vlinderado.nl . It started with the cultivation of the Anthurium plant in special variations in a place that most of the readers of this blog never heard about I guess: Waarland, a small village to the north of Alkmaar or for the non-Dutch readers: 40 miles north of Amsterdam. As a hobby, bouquets were made with the different species of Anthurium; and then the bouquets became an important part of the business itself. Isn’t the best business the business that starts because it has the love of our hearts and the focus of our minds? It is interesting, yet inspiring to see how businesses develop in the hands of passionate people.
And then the next step was made, another entrepreneur’s dream was realised: Vlinderado, a garden full of butterflies. It is guaranteed that you see many, very beautiful varieties. Visitors come from different countries, all tourists suddenly discover where the village of Waarland is. Go there too and enjoy!

Entrepreneurs creating their dream make us happy because we can enjoy what they create. They also inspire us to do the same: to make our own dreams come true!

Other blogs about creating your dream:
Efteling: creating your dream

Grethe van Geffen

culture and diversity