Istanbul-Europe

Modesty dressed and ready for Islamic Turkey.

Istanbul has a population of almost 21 million people and the 3rd or 4th largest Airport in the world.

Some pics in airport.

Interestingly,  sections of this exotic city falls into two separate Continents, Europe and Asia.

The European section is larger, with around two thirds of the population living in  that huge, bustling city.

Huge crowds in the Grand Bazaar.

The European side also attracts the vast majority of visitors, so traffic jams are the order of the day.

Incidentally, we paid around twenty Euros more from the airport to the city, than when we were returning. The explanation for this anomaly was that airport taxis use toll roads while regular ones don't. 

I don't believe tolls make such a big difference though!😡

To tell the truth, I can't see why so few people travel to the Asian side, as while there may not be as much to see over there, I find it calmer and the food is just as good.

On the ferry, heading to the Asian side.

 The bridge joining both sides is visible behind me.

And talking about food, the Turks treat their stray dogs and cats as well as the Greek do, so you don't see any mangey, skinny animals in either country, as all are friendly and well fed.

This cat had dinner with me.

 There is no difference with how people are treated on either side of Istanbul (whether Europe or Asia) for all are Turks, regardless of where they were born or live.

(I have a separate blog on the Asian side at :https://joan-myviews.blogspot.com/2024/04/istanbul-asia.html?m=1.)

 Below are pictorial memories of the European side.

They seem to be very patriotic, as huge flags are on buildings all over the city.

We melted in with the crowd😁

Whoever is delivering the 'message ' in the mosque each day, stands atop the stairs 

Mosques galore all over the city. Loud recordings from the tower remind Muslims of their prayer times. 

 It's 5 times per day.

Everything under the sun is available at the Grand Bazaar.

I must say I was pleasantly surprised that things are not as restrictive in Istanbul as the western media implies about Muslim countries.

Women pray behind this partition

In Istanbul women are active in every profession from the army, police, taxi drivers immigration, everywhere, and they don't have to be modestly dressed or covered from head to toe, unless they wish to or are attending prayers. 

So I saw lots of women roaming around skimpily dressed. No problem at all.

The Sultan who built the famous Blue Mosque and his family are buried in this special area next door.

Hot, freshly roasted corn is very popular there.

A favorite of mine😊.

The guys selling ice cream cones made it into an hilarious ritual🤣

Everyone entered the Grand Bazaar here. I guess giris is Greek for entry . We thought it was girls and wondered why men were entering through that side.😁

Check this blog for further info.

https://joan-myviews.blogspot.com/2024/04/proud-of-turkish-women.html?m=1

Political bankruptcy

 Sometimes politicians seem so overwhelmed by the problems they face that their solutions make no sense at all. 

Or maybe they just say things when they are drunk.😫.

I am not implying that Prime Minister Andrew Holness is a drunkard. Not at all, I don't even know if he drinks, but I couldn't help wondering what part of his brain conjured up the idea of establishing a new ministry in his government! 

 This he threw out at the recent JLP conference as a possible solution to the increasing violence in the country!

 When did increased bureaucracy ever solve a problem in the world Mr. Prime Minister?

 In my book, more bureaucracy only opens up other avenues for more corruption. 

Poor Auditor General. Poor Jamaica!

 Already this little country of under three million souls has some sixteen ministries plus a bag of junior ministers without portfolios operating out of the Prime Minister's office. 

Only God knows what they all do!

 At a recent function in Mobay, the highly respected Chief Justice had to reiterate a well known fact.

 Harsh punishment cannot solve crime if people are not being caught and convicted.

For if people know their chances of being caught and convicted are zero, what's the deterrent?

That's when he exposed the shocking fact that Jamaica has the LOWEST CONVICTION RATE IN THE REGION. 

LESS THAN A 30%! 

We already have large, expensive Justice and Security ministries, so shouldn't he be concentrating on  how to get the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution and the Police  within these two ministries, to become more effective, rather than piling up another bureaucracy?

If we head into 2024 with this type of bankrupt thinking, we are really in serious trouble! 

Whats with Montego Bay?

It’s a pretty well-known fact that Jamaica has more Christian churches than most places in the world. In fact, it has long been reported that the Guinness Book of World Records has Jamaica recorded as the country with the most churches per square mile in the world.

And  now google too has confirmed this.

Even a  hotel in Portland has a private chapel!

I have always wondered how a ‘churchified’ nation such as ours could also consistently be among the top five most violent and murderous countries in the world!

While it is only my opinion, I feel this violent and murderous nature of ours has a lot to do with of our unquestioning belief and support of  the viciousness promoted in the Old Testament. 

But I am no sociologist. 

However I have never been able to get a better explanation anywhere!

There also seems to be a special problem with churches in Montego Bay, one of the most violent crime spots in Jamaica.

 I only  brought up this topic of churches and crime once again on reading the article in the Gleaner on Sunday July 2nd headlined “Authorities raid MoBay church compound.”

For wasn't it less than two years ago that we saw similar headlines coming out of Mobay?

 Then it was concerning the Kingdom Restoration Ministries.

In case you have short memories, that was the church in Mobay led by the late Dr. Kevin Smith.

Granted Smith was more extreme as he was actually performing human sacrifices at his church, whereas the charges against the church referred to in the Gleaner report, though extremely concerning, have not been reported to involve bloodshed.

This latest controversial church in Mobay is ; Bayith Yahweh, Paradise, Montego Bay, St James.

According to the report, the raid by the military, officers from the Area One headquarters, the Centre for the Investigation of Sexual Offences and Child Abuse and the Jamaica Fire Department was based on reports that massive child abuse was taking place there.

The report states that several adults were arrested and children rescued from the church’s compound.

While all are innocent till proven guilty and we must await the actual charges  based on solid evidence, aren’t we just getting too many weird reports out of Mobay re religion?

Something stinks to high heavens in that area which seems to have unusual church controversies and an alarmingly high murder rate.

Do we need to do a special study into the relationship between religion and crime in Jamaica in general and especially in St. James?

Island Gully Falls

Well it will certainly go down as one of the most interesting marriage rituals I have ever seen. For while we Island Gully Falls on Sunday 28th June 2015, a groom fully decked out in his wedding suit and led by a most competent guide, walked slowly

were at

down the falls  then jumped into the deep, beautiful blue 

pool below. 

Next came his new bride,  also fully  decked out in her lovely white lace wedding dress and she jumped in after him.  The maid of honour and best man then followed in single file. Someone laughingly commented that it was clear that if you couldn't swim, you could not be a part of that bridal party!

The ritual was intriguing and certainly got our attention. The couple were east Indians who live in Virginia, USA and had traveled down to Jamaica for the important event which the bride laughingly told me was her best wedding yet.

The tour guides there are superb swimmers and divers

We had been  at the falls as our riding group had decided to spend the day there. Three courageous riders, Johann, Omar and a new lady named Ann  rode all the way from Kingston, a distance of some 58 miles I hear. Most others rode from Agualta Vale and a few others mounted at Port Maria.

I decided to hike on this trip for when I went to scout out the property with Chuck, Simpson and Ayatollah, I had seen far too many hills to ride over.

We started walking from Prospect in St. Mary and as usual, we initally walked in the wrong direction for about a mile before a local man we met disabused us, so we had to trek back.

It was in Prospect though that I  met the only nice policeman that I can recall ever meeting in my life. His name was Sergeant Hanna and he was in charge of the Prospect Police station. Three of us wanted to use the bathroom facilities and from we walked into the station we were met by his most welcoming  and accommodating smile.

 And would you believe the bathroom had a fresh smell and was spotless too. Really a great experience for me in at a police station!

One of the "Blue Holes" below the Island gully Falls

When we left the police station, we started walking in the wrong direction and only realised this when we met a young man walking in the opposite direction  and prevailed on him to confirm our path. This added an extra mile to our trek which Chuck said was a distance of 6 kms, turned out to be 6 miles  instead. I was disgusted to see that the residents in  the area were using the entire stretch along the river bank as their dumping ground for all the garbage in the area. It is really disgraceful and the St. Mary parish council needs to become more environmentally proactive.

We stopped at Wata World which was not yet open but the very pleasant man in charge of security, cheerfully allowed us to enter and use the bathroom facilities and buy some water. This is a new attraction on the White River where they have water slides etc and the entrance free is Ja$1200. Wata World is on St. Mary side of the river but once you take the bridge going west, you arrive in St. Ann and it is that parish that Island Gully Falls is in as the White River separates both parishes.

To find the falls, after leaving the JPS hydroelectric plant, you pass the two beautiful blue holes and head to Breadfruit Walk. It is wonderful to see how enterprising young people have now discovered this beautiful area and are now renting river shoes and life jackets as well as selling souvenirs, snacks and even "angel" muffins (made from ,ganja)

As my motto is "never pass up an AC vehicle when the sun gets hot,"  when Gail drove up in Simpson's car as I was getting really hot and tired, I jumped in, much to chagrin of my fellow hikers.

We had just barely arrived before Kim came barreling in closely followed by Howie and Bernadette. They had been among the group which  started riding in Agualta Vale.

Once we arrived, it was immediately into
the fabulously, clear, cool water in a pool below.

 That attraction which was developed by a wife and husband team named Hines, is really fabulous and in my book much better than Dunns River Falls.

The entrance fee is $500 but as we had a large group we got it for $250. And they prepared the most delicious breakfast for us and plenty to boot, as ace organiser Ayatollah was loudly inviting everyone to have seconds.

There was a sad aspect to this outing though as it is the last one for one of our dearest riders Pat,  as she is migrating to Sweden next month. I will certainly miss her as she is one of the most pleasant and cheerful persons I have ever met.

Apart from that it was a great day which went off without a hitch as we have now become accustomed to expect from our miserable but competent organiser extraordinaire Ayatollah aka. Charles Williams.

Photos compliments of Bernadette Frankson.