Carmen Horrillo's testimony of her experiences in the book presentation tour of Silo's Message in Turkey

Trip to Turkey – June 2012

From June 9-23, 2012 I travelled to Turkey. It is the longest trip I have ever went on outside Spain, after the trip to Punta de Vacas on April 2011 where I spent 16 days in different conditions and characteristics.

Now I was going to accompany the presentation of the book of Silo’s Message in different places of the Western part of the tour: Izmir, Antalya, Ankarra and some days in Istanbul.

Before the trip, I read with real emotion the “reports” of our dear friend Peter, where he described each day in full detail, with lots of warmth, softness and feeling, all of the events, avatars, joys, enthusiasms and situations he experienced there. Each morning when I arrived at work, I would open the blog to satiate myself of what was going on there. My mind, my body and my heart absorbed it like the most delicious treat. I felt like part of this team who already had started their journey and I counted the days missing before I could join them.

The first city was Izmir, which I am bound to by very fond and warm memories of my passage there in October 2009 during the World March. In my memory is recorded the generosity of its people, how they took care of us with their affection, kindness, closeness and warmth. I want to see these friends again to whom I am so thankful. At least I met one of them and the joy was enormous.

For me it was the first city of the tour. I must say that I met some wonderful friends, always willing to give their best, with lots of joy and enthusiasm to transmit and connect heart to heart with the Turkish friends who might be waiting for us. This enthusiasm was contagious and was recorded as the best of aromas. There were Peter, Nacho, Álvaro, Eduardo, Judit, Ariane, Zoë, Aurora, Isabel, Ismael, Salva.

The day of contacts in Izmir (I stayed there for 2 days instead of 3) I felt very happy. I didn’t stop giving flyers all day: on one side the address of the bookstore and the explanation of the book of the message, on the other some cards of the path and of the principles. “Merhaba, Hello”, the best of smiles and the flyer changed hands to those who wanted to take it.

Soon, after the end of the day, ceremonies, in unforeseen place who came up at the last moment. They would tell us about a place, it looked like that’s where it would be, but soon another one would come up: a place where they store carpets. This was my first day of ceremonies, with these new friends I started meeting. One person does it in Turkish, the other in Spanish. We start in Spanish to set the times. Peter explained in English what a service is, he talked about force, energy; explaining well being, and talked about good feelings, of feeling the best and sending it to those dear to us. Simply. How many times have I done a ceremony, how many times have I heard these words? And why now that I am listening to Peter they sounded in a new way inside me? After the ceremonies we looked at each other and something different had occurred there. The look of our new friends changes, our look changes. Something else in our friends, something else inside of us. What is this atmosphere that irradiates all that it touches and transforms it?

Our stay in Izmir ends and our stay in Antalya begins. We arrived and there was no bookstore. There is the possibility of doing the presentation in an Alevi center and the next day this possibility disappears. Our good friend Yüksel arrives from Ankara and we find a bookstore. And here I want to talk about apparently is and then isn’t and where apparently there is not and can be. I am referring to the instability, our friend Alvaro talks about in his impressions of our trip. You start getting used to things occurring in real time, unforeseeable. And here I want to thank again our friends with the usual tone, with the best of dispositions. One didn’t know what was happening there: was the current of the Message taking us where He wanted? Is it our enthusiasm who puts this current in our favour? In any case, I have lived through these things like something magic.

At the last minute of the second day we could have the books in a bookstore but with little time to contact. Really the contact was on the third and last day. One very hot day. The place was not adequate because not many people passed and we had to move some meters over. I really thought: today there will be just us in the ceremony and nobody will buy the book. We did our part we divided the flyers. In the bookstore itself they help us with a place for the ceremonies, in front, a very beautiful place. 8 new friends come. And one asks himself: where did they come from? What happened? And this magic surrounding everything? After the ceremonies, our friends talk about what they have felt, in their own way, in their words, simply, without knowing what happened, but feeling that something good passed through them and telling, sometimes, about inspiring experiences. Again, the current of the Message acts like it will.

The next day we started a new phase, Ankara, with four friends less, Ariane, Zoë, Aurora, Isabel. Now we were 8 and we were all staying iin the house, coexistence intensified and the intensity of good moments lived. Here I met new friends: Mehtap, Zehra, Bülent, Olçay, Mustafa, Aylin; I saw Yüksel again, who had travelled to Antalya, and I saw again Hulya and Yusuf I had met during the world march. I was surprised by the force and joy of all our friends here.

And again the instability. Here there was the bookstore, but we couldn’t contact until the last day. Maybe police control and security, since it is the capital, is imposed, the fear of having problems, one’s image. But the Message continues its path arriving to the hearts of those who make room for it.

Before starting the tour I took some time asking the guide: why was I born? What is my mission? What did I come here to do? What is the meaning of my life? Travelling to Turkey I saw friends with un unmoveable faith, a deep certainty of wanting to transmit a life experience. What inner motor moves them? What lever brings their body, mind and heart vibrate in unstoppable harmony? I saw them dance to the sinuous rhythm of the Message. Unstoppable, relentless, in a ship with a compass pointing to Sense.

In the last trips I had been in, which were meaningful to me, from my interior surged a word which identified them. In April 2011 in Punta de Vacas, I called it the “trip of thanking”. And this has been the “trip of releasing”. I had never felt so good during a trip. Very well with all our friend. We all gave our best and felt the best. I felt that this disposition was in everyone. When, in some moments, some tension wanted to appear, it immediately disappeared because it couldn’t find any heart to settle in. Everything was fine. I thanked for what I lived. I felt that this disposition was alive in everyone, in looking for the best in the other.

Futhermore, these trips need logistics: looking for a hotel in the next city, buy bus tickets, gathering money for the steps, keeping notes, doing photocopies of the flyers, updating flyers with the address of the bookstore of the next city, having a table to record the new information, updating these tables, shopping for the house in Ankara, cooking, cleaning. All sorts of hidden labours which don’t attract attention, quiet, still but necessary for everything to go well. Thank you friends for helping with these chores.

There were also magic coincidences: similar places in different cities, how situations tie together in time and flow into each other, without knowing how. How circumstances follow one another in order to plan with us. So many coincidences one after another I couldn’t help asking myself: what force beyond space and time, is luminously making its way?

In some moments, difficulties were more evident: excessive heat in those days, food which was too spicy and destabilized my intestine, language, because, although slightly less in Istanbul, we often met people who only spoke Turkish. Thank you friends who helped us communicate.

Friends who met there came from different countries, different habits, ways, cultures, looks, although all were tied to the mast of Silo’s Message. This was very enriching for me. I could learn from each friend: their warmth, force, goodness and joy. I felt loved and taken care of. We laughed. We enjoyed ourselves. Each one was a present in my life. I felt like I was in the best of places. How I wish the atmosphere I lived there were always present in my life.

I came home and continue asking myself: what moves what we do? What force beyond understanding, maybe of another space and time, manifests with such potency?

In the next few days the Eastern tour will begin. I won’t be able to be there physically. But I will accompany in my askings and my heart will be moved with Peter’s reports.

Thank you all. Teşekkür ederim.

Today in Ankara, June 24, 2012

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Hello friends,

Today we cleaned house from top to bottom to leave it in good conditions. Huseyin was in charge of the kitchen and cleaned it all, Nacho downstairs and Peter the living room, also cleaning the carpet. After our joint work we went to eat Tombis in Kizilay, where we met one of Zeinep’s friends, she had brought home on Friday. He had chai with us and we talked a little, inviting him home where we also expected Handan with a friend.

Again there was lots of heat and we managed to take a short nap to freshen up before Handan’s arrival with her friend, called Mehmet who is a professor and teaches at university.

We also called Altug, Yusuf, Mehtap & Aylin. We couldn’t reach Mehtap and Aylin but we talked to Altug and Yusuf and they wanted to pass by, but much later if they managed.

At 18h, Yüksel arrived and aat 19h Handan and her friend Mehmet who brought some delicious things to eat.

We set the table in the salita/living room to have chai and the wonderful things Mehmet brought. We talked about things in general and this part ended with Huseyin and Mehmet talking among themselves things that Nacho and Peter couldn't understand but were there with Yüksel and Handan as spectators. In the meantime went to look at the sky and discovered dragons fighting and a very big face shaped by the clouds. It was a bit of a surreal situation. Until Handan looked at Peter and said "how boring these two talking" and the situation changed with laughter. We took the chance to ask Handan if she had told Mehmet something about the place he was in. So quickly the Book and Comentaries materialized on the table and Huseyin explained some things. In the meantime, Nacho put the video about the ceremony of Well Being in Bolivia with thousands fo people on his mobile and we all saw this beautiful and moving video, explaining what it was about and translating the moment of the ceremony. We imagined a future with many situations such as these in the world and in Turkey and a very good climate was created. Huseyin asked Mehmet to choose one of the cards with the principles and Handan proposed to do a ceremony with the Force. Huseyin again gave some explenations to Mehmet so that he could prepare a little bit and inviting everyone to sit up and showing how. We asked Handan to leave plenty of space between the sentences and she did it superbly, giving everyone time to deepen their experience. In the end something very bright and light was suspended in teh air and Mehmet thanking us from the heart.

At this point, Handan and Mehmet had to leave and we said good-bye and see you in Antep to Handan.

At 21:30 Yüksel and Huseyin wanted to continue with the Well Being ceremony. We asked for Mehtap, Jonturk (his shoulder), Huseyin's sister, for Zehra and her husband Huseyin and for a friend of Huseyin's who is recovering from cancer and has heart problems. We asked and sent everyone lots of inner peace, reconciliation and luminous force. Yüksel guided the ceremony standing up. Very beautiful this ceremony and we were well.

After Yüksel wanted to cook and he and Huseyin quickly went to buy something. In the meantime, Yusuf arrived who was very sporty and relaxed.

We ate spicy soup like Yüksel likes it and a equally spicy paste with yogurt. Everything very good. Yusuf very happy of being with us and laughing a lot.

Well friends, this is the last report from Ankara from our part. Tomorrow Nacho and Peter will travel to Istanbul. We will pick up our reports again when friends from abroad arrive in Istanbul in the following days.

A very big hug to all and thank you for all who accompany us from afar in this adventure which is the tour.

Nacho, Yüksel, Huseyin, Handan, Yusuf and Peter

Today in Ankara, June 23, 2012

Fotos

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Dear friends,

Today Zehra invited us to see a movie about the massacre and deportations of the Alevi population in Darsem (Tuncelli) organized by an Alevi association in charge of looking for the children forcibly adopted by Turks in 1938 to reunite them with their families. So at 17h, Yüksel, Huseyin, Nacho and Peter to Batikent, a new satellite city in Ankara 45 min away by metro. Huseyin was very good-looking with new clothes he had bought in the morning. At the metro’s exit, Zehra was waiting for us and took us to the place. A movie theatre in a very modern building. There were lots of people and Zehra introduced us to various men and women whom we didn’t know but were very amiable. And of course we met Leyla, Zehra’s friend who was organizing the event. Everyone in the hall was very warm and welcoming, greeting each other, with hugs and more. Really the Alevis are our brothers and sisters. They have a special sensibility.

The film was centered on interviews to very old people who told their experiences of the time. With good music and and images of actions against the Alevis, especially old pictures. We heard some persons crying but in general the atmosphere was light and smooth. After the movie, of which of course, we didn’t understand anything, there was a debate but we went out and joined Leyla to talk a little. We gave her a book of the Message for the association and she was thankful.

We talked about Tunceli (she insisted in calling the city Darsem) and told us that she has a house there and will attend the festival. We asked whether it was easy or difficult to find accommodation in the hotels and she said it was impossible. Already all full. But she offered a room at her house. With Zehra and Leyla we continued talking about how to find places to sleep for our friends who are going to Tunceli and Huseyin, Zehra and Leyla agreed to fix this issue for us. Zehra will be in Tunceli as well. So we already know there wll be 3 friends of ours there Zehra, Hulya and Leyla.

Leyla offered to be a guide to visit the important Alevi places. Caves were they did their semas when it was forbidden, tombs of the Alevi Masters, etc. It is a beautiful places, looking at the pictures in a brochure they had at the entrance of the theatre.

We invited Leyla to come home do some ceremonies and she was happy. She asked that we wait a while because she was still working. So Zehra and Peter sat in a bar and had chai and Huseyin stayed with Leyla. In the meantime we had lost Yüksel and Nacho but they called and at the end we all met at the bar’s terrace. We set off for our house and at the entrance of the metro there was a ballet by a group from Kars, Gurdjeff’s hometown. Very beautiful. We arrived home at 21:30. We did 2 ceremonies aand everything very well in a very good atmosphere while from the open windows the mosque called. In the salita reigned Peace and human warmth, while outside there was lots of noise. It was a very special experience, as if they were parallel worlds.

After the ceremonies we had a good chai with fruit and biscuits and we talked about the ceremonies and Leyla’s experience. We could deepen a lot and we also talked about the profound meaning of the sema and the Alevi dances and Leyla told us many Alevis had lost contact with the experience of the profound spaces. It was a beautiful moment and we all felt very close.

At 23:00, they said good-bye. Yüksel will come tomorrow and we’ll see what happens. In the meantime, the house and the whole building where without water. But miraculously at 23h it came back. So, all was good.

It was a very hot day. So now, Huseyin, Nacho and Peter will go out to chill out in the Ankara night.

A big hug to all,

Nacho, Yüksel, Huseyin, Zehra and Peter

Alvaro Orus's Testimony

Trip to Turkey

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It had been feeling for a while some kind of closure in Madrid. It wasn't just if I comunicated with people or not, but more that even though I went out and participated in different things, they all tasted like something known, repetitive and an act of searching for new things was growing inside me, which didn't complete itself with anything I had around me. Gurdjeff used to say that the soul fed on new impressions and with this pretext I take long trips from time to time to feed on new information. I think he is very right in this sense, this presentation tour of the book of Silo's Message in Turkey fit perfectly.

But it had been a while since I had last travelled and it took a while to adapt. The trip, the food, hotels, heat produce some sort of vegetative instability. Added to spending pratically all day with people, the difficulties with the language... and finally the instability of the tour itself because we never knew what would happen the day after.

Finally, after two or three days, I adapted. I believed to have understood that living unstably, not knowing what to do, produce an emptiness of references and situations which brought me at first to give more importance to my touchiness and things like that, to my problems. In some moments I thought the trip would be too long.

Already since the first days in Istanbul the project of the tour constantly changed, what we would do, where we would go. In some moments it seemed that everything fell through. But we went on with what stayed, improvising solutions according to the changing circumstance. We contacted people, new opportunities arised.

A process took place which seems to me, more or less, happened in all the cities. In a first moment we didn't really know what to do or if we would do something. Then we see possibilities and start putting together a plan. We put it in march, slowly at first. Then we continue to do things but it seems like nothing will happen. It's a kind of slow accumulation. Once in a while some whirlwinds or sparks occur, moments where good things come together, people come close, enthusiasm, anecdotes, inspirations... We continue accumulating and finally, there is a general transformation of the situation, normally coinciding with the ceremonies at the end of the day, attend by our new friends.

I realized that, really, the good and bad things I believed happened to me personally, happened to the team as well and my uncertainities resolved themselves in enthusiasms because that is what happened in general. This fact, brought me to reflect on the limits of my capacity o choose, since everything that happens to me and my possibilities is refered to the ambit where I am moving in. In other words, you can hop on a ship or another, but once you're on, the possible movements you can do, refer to the boat.

Ceremonies were daily and very intense. To me, they had special sense for what we were doing. It is as if the Message makes itself known in Turkey to give possibilities to contact persons who are looking for it or who need it.

The persons participating for the first time where very different. People with a definite interest, to a man who was there selling carpets. In almost all cases, I saw people were moved, things arrived inside and there was a change, even though they could really explain it, we felt like brothers.

Eduardo put an image to describe what happened which fit right in. He said that we were light the ones in the movie "The Concert". It is an orchestra who goes on a crazy trip to celebrate a big concert in Paris. Thousands of problems and surreal situations happen to them, but at the end the do the concert and everything is solved in moving harmony.

Another think which impressed me was the relationship among ourselves. For my part, I already participated in many trips and this kind of relationship wth the others isn't easy or at least, some things don't fit. In this trip, it's not that there weren't difficulties, there were, but everything was solving itself. All the problems, I am aware of, were converted. Maybe it is due to the general sense of our trip. I value this very much because it talks to me about the levels we reach in our teams and groups. Personally I felt gratefully friendship and how my being welcomed once in every while the good will of the others.

For the rest, in the environment, it didn't seem to me there was the crisis we were living in Spain now. But there are other problems. There are conflicts among different groups, ethnic groups, parties and religions and we notice that everything is moving underneath, like a background tension. Somethimes there is the police pressure, the repression of the system and one can perceive fear when we left the personal ambit to do public demonstration. I think the people there know all these things well, but we, as you can imagine, go with our trademark light tone and sit at the same table of opposing factions as if nothing was happening and we were all friends.

Ours is a need.

Today, June 22, 2012, in Ankara

Fotos

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Hello friend,

today was a very interesting day. Many new friends came to the house, all of them coming to do ceremonies. Zeinep, our great and dear friend, again brought new friends of hers and Menekse who was also at the meeting yesterday. So we were with Zeinep, Yüksel, Handan, Menekse, two new friends fo Zeinep's, Umit and us 4.

Zeinep arrived at 16h with some delicious cherries of her village. Mustafa also came before the meeting and together with Yüksel, Mustafa, Judit, Eduardo, Nacho and Peter we talked about the Eastern tour with the interest of lightening the load on Yüksel who has given a lot of himself, also economically and needs to work to recompose his business's finances. So all well and Yüksel very happy and relaxed.

When Zeinep's friends arrived, Huseyin gave them lots of information on the Message, the book and the ceremonies. They were well disposed and had time to talk and look at the book and the book of the Parks. When finally everyone was there, we were 12 persons totla, we did the ceremony of the Force and after the one of Well Being. We were very happy Ümit had come whom we had not seen yet. He will stay in Ankara all summer working in the airport to save for his next year studying. He is doing very well. Before starting the ceremonies there was chai and crackers as usual and the people said what they wanted to ask for.

The Service was guided by Judit in Spanish and Ümit in Turkish. A very beautiful and intense atmosphere was created, new people included themselves easily. The Well Being was guided by Peter in Spanish and Ümit in Turkish. In the end people expressed themselves and one of Zeinep's friends, Turker, said that never in his life he had had the experience of having had a moment of total relief and lightness, without noise in his had or bad thoughts. So we could say that by repeating the ceremonies regularly this moment grows and takes over more and more internal space. Also Menekse expressed her experience saying she felt very happy and that she could not come before because she worked too much, although Zeinep had invited her many times. Now she see how important it is to free some time to connect inside herself. So everything very beautiful with people showing a heartfelt interest.

After these expressions and an interchange again with chai and cracker, Judit showed Handan, Ümit and Yüksel the videos of the Eastern tour they hadn't seen. There was a very fun and light atmosphere with lots of laughter and everything. At 22:30 we decided to go eat something. Handan went home but Ümit stayed with us and Yüksel took us to a café of some friends of his in Kizilay telling us we could eat there.

We were received with lots of warmth, all of Yüksel's Kurdish friends and the owner who is a teacher and is a special friend of Yüksel. From there we slowly entered a surreal world which seemed of another time, with comunist musicians mixed with Latin American music of the time of Che Guevara and other things. In the meantime waiting for more than an hour for the food. We were well and happy, having fun like kids and laughing a lot, passing a long time together and finally the food arrived. And what food. It was marvellous and served with the elegant, soft and good behavior of Yüksel's friend. It was a fantastic night saying good-bye to Eduardo and Judit who are going back to Istanbul tomorrow morning to continue to Attigliano.

Now we are back home looking at the small videos done by Eduardo and dances we did in Antalya and in Ardiz café in Ankara when Carmen, Salva, Ismael and Alvaro were still here. We laughed a lot of the fantastic climate there was among us.

Tomorrow we are going to a presentation of a documentary about the Alevi genocide of 1937, invited by Zehra. Peter, Huseyin, Nacho and Yüksel are going. Handan will also come home tomorrow and we are thinking of asking Zehra too invite some Alevi's home after the documentary, when everything will be pretty sad, to do some ceremonies. We'll see how it goes.

It was a very special day and something very subtle was in the atmosphere and in people. Again we believe the Message is accompanying us, producing elevating and light inspirations.

a big hug,

Handan, Zeinep, Huseyin, Ümit, Yüksel, Mustafa, Judit, Nacho, Eduardo and Peter

Today in Ankara June 21, 2012

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Hello friends,

Today, June 21 we talked about the Eastern tour, agreeing on logistics such as hotels, arrival dates of friends who want to join the adventure and what we can hope to do in each city. The Eastern tour will be a bit different from the Western one, because we cannot do the same things, but we count on the possibility of connecting with people and transmitting the special atmosphere which is the Message, radiating our experience. The tour requires greater flexibility and softness, but it will surely be an inspiring experience for everyone.

On July 5 we will go to Antep for 2 days. In the city there probably will not be a bookstore with the books so we’ll see what we will do there. On July 8 some of us will travel to Diyarbakir to welcome Eliana and Christophe, who will be arriving on July 10 and 12. Another part of the team will travel to Hatay, staying there for 2 days, to follow on July 11th to Diyarbakir arriving on that same day. We will stay in Diyarbakir until the 17^th of July, day we will travel to Van. We have various possibilities of meeting friends in Batman and Diyarbakir as well. In Diyarbakir we have the book in a bookstore and we have a salita in Huseyin’s house. We will all be in a cheap hotel, but with Wifi and air conditioning there. For those who want to visit the temple of Gobleki Tepe, they can do it in a day. We must take into account that July is very hot in Diyarbakir with temperatures reaching 40°. We hope we have given an inspiring image with this small information report for our friends who are arriving.

At noon we met with Hulya of the Alevi association where she is an active member. We talked to the vice president about Tunceli and the Alevi festival there. It seems that it is easy to obtain permission for a stand. On arriving we must go to the council and express our wish to do so and that's it. We also talked about a possible presentation of the book in their association in October and connecting with Alevi groups in different European countries. Hulya gave each of us a book on the Alevi massacre in Sivia in 1993. We left one in the Ankara salita and another one in Istanbul. Hulya told us she will be attending the Tunceli festival so we will see each other there.

At 19h, Handan arrived and we were very happy to see her, she just came back from Russia. She brought many good sweets. A while later, Yüksel and Huseyin arrived and right after Zeinep with two friends. Huseyin had met them on the streets and invited them to come. Mustafa also came. So the kitchen was full of people and we moved to the salita/living room to have chai and chaat. Soon Handan informed Zeinep’s two friends about the salita, the texts on the wall and the Message and Huseyin showed them the book. They were well at ease and Eduardo told them a little bit about the tour and showed them the calendar. They wanted to staye to do a ceremony but received a phone call and had to leave. They will come back tomorrow at 19h for the ceremonies. Zeinep stayed and another friend of hers arrived who stayed for the ceremonies. Huseyin explained a little bit how everything worked and before starting Altug arrived. He was just back in Ankara from another part of Turkey. Altug immediately included himself in the ceremony and Handan guided the Service and Well Being. We asked for Yüksel’s mother, Zeinep’s mother, Atila’s mother. Everything was very good and with a good atmosphere. Zeinep’s friend was very happy and wants to come back tomorrow.

After that, Yüksel gave us a good Turkish coffee and talked about the tour. Handan and Altug will come with us to Antep and also to Hatay. Altug told us about the city of Erzurun and the small bookstore which has the book. He told us it is actually more of a café which also sells books.

Huseyin told us about his experiences in China where he travelled for work.

It was a beautiful day with old and new friends.

A big hug,

Judit, Huseyin, Yüksel, Handan, Mustafa, Nacho, Eduardo, Altug and Peter

Ankara, 20062012

Photos

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Hello friends,

Today many things happen we will try to convey.

Early in the morning we said good-bye to Carmen, Salva and Ismael who went back to Istanbul to continue their trip back to Madrid.

At 9:00 we took alvaro to the bus for Ankara airport. He also went back to Madrid.

We want to thank once more our 4 dear friends for their radiant presence in the Western tour of Turkey. Their presence and company gave a great contribution to the high spirits of the team. We also want to remember the equally radiant presence of Ariane and Zoë, Isabel and Aurora who travelled with us until Antalya. Everything was so wonderful and it was great being in each others’ company.

At noon Eduardo went to the bookstore to see if the books were there and none of them was.

So we waited for Yüksel to come home and also Huseyin’s arrival and we asked for help translating. It seems that Yüksel went to the bookstore a little bit later to understand what had happened yesterday. According to them, they had done us a favor and normally they don’t do that kind of presentation. Since everything had been done in a more or less irregular way, the personnel wanted us to finish at 19:30. They said they were sorry for the brusque and abrupt way they had taken down the books. Nacho went later to the bookstore to check and confirmed the books were once again well in view. The whole situation stayed a bit strange and gives us the impression they are not saying everything. But, we’ll leave it aside and go on.

In the afternoon Mustafa came, the editor of our book and started talking to Eduardo about looking for land for a future Park in Turkey. Since Huseyin was there, Eduardo could explain in detail what we’re looking for. The type of land and the minimum conditions. Mustafa offered to look for land. It was a very animated conversation and at 19h Aylin arrived. We decided for the moment to look for land close to Izmir, in an area were there are many Alevis and people have an open mentality.

We had also planned to do a presentation of the Book in the salita at 19h, but we were pretty late. At 20h Bülent and Olçay came with two friends and at 20:30 we started the presentation, while Aylin left because she had another appointment.

Since all those present had already participated in the meetings of ceremony, we decided to do personal testimonies tied to our experiences with the Book. Yüksel, Eduardo, Judit, Nacho and Peter did their testimonies and soon Bülent had to go, and since he had to leave, his friends also said good-bye very aimably and with hugs. It was a bit of a surreal moment, but we are all used to it and we continued with the others Yüksel, Huseyin and Mustafa. The situation transformed into a beautiful situation, Mustafa telling about his experience in a very connected way. After he had some fundamental questions which gave us the opportunity to deepen our experiences. Everything very beautiful and meaningful. A situation we really hope will repeat itself many times with all our other friends. Especially thanks to Huseyin’s translations we had the opportunity to really interchange experiences with our Turkish friends. Everything was very good.

After we entered the issue of the July tour in Turkey and many problems came up. We are still talking. We hope that tomorrow morning everything will be clearer so that we can communicate changes to our friends coming from Europe and Chile.

A big hug,

Eduardo, Judit, Nacho, Huseyin, Yüksel, Mustafa and Peter

Video Ankara, 19 June 2012

Carmen Horrillo’s Testimony June 19, 2012 - Ankara

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Tomorrow we are travelling to Istanbul after sharing this week and a half of a very inspiring trip. I wanted to thank all our friends for the experiences lived these days. Thanks to Ariane, Zoë, Peter, Eduardo, Judit, Aurora, Isabel, Alvaro, Nacho, Ismael, Salva. Thank you to all the Turkish friends I met these days Zehra, Yüksel, Mustafa, Mehtap, Hulya, Olçay, Aylin, Bülent, Yusuf, Harkan and many others. Thank you for feeling joyful, for being happy, for everything you have taught me. I feel that we gave everything good that we had to give. Thank you for helping me recognize meaning and connect with others from heart to heart. Thank you for your warmth, for your disposition that everything go well, for your joy. With you I felt like I was in the best of places. I would like to live like this, to feel like this always.

Thank you for having been the best of presents in these days.

Today, June 19, 2012 in the IMGE bookstore in Ankara

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Hello friends,

Before starting the report of what happened today at the IMGE bookstore in Ankara, we would like to inform you of two wonderful news. Altug called to say he saw the book in a bookstore in a city in Northern Turkey, called Erzurun, where he is working as an interpreter these days. He took some pictures we included in today’s package.

La otra linda novedad es que Murat, el proprietario de la libreria en Antalya, llamo a Yüksel para comunicarlo que habian vendidos 10 libros. Todos despues de nuestra salida de Antalya, y que mandaba saludos a todos nosotros. Pensamos que algunos amigos que participaron en la reunion de experiencia y algunas mujeres alevi les compraron, pero claro, no sabemos por seguro.

The other beautiful news is that Murat, the owner of the bookstore in Antalya, called Yüksel to tell him 10 books were sold. All of them after we left Antalya, and that he sent greetings to everyone. We think that some friends who participated in the meeting of experience and some Alevi women bought them, but, of course, we can’t be sure.

The day began with a meeting with Hulya and a friend of hers in the café/garden of the IMGE bookstore at around 14:30. Hulya wanted us to go to the Alevi association where she is an active member which is in the center. But we didn’t want to get distracted from our imminent action so we asked her to meet them another day.

After eating something with Zehra at 16h, at approximately 17h arrived Mehtap, accompanied, Aylin, Bülent, who brought a friend, Olçay and Mustafa, a young musician. Our friend Mustafa also arrived, who edited the book and who was going to organize with the bookstore owners a small table in the bookstore. We also asked to put a poster on the window. We agreed yesterday that we could have the table in the bookstore until closing time (21:30).

In 2 hours we gave away 300 flyers to passersby, with the participation of Aylin, Zehra, Bülent and Olçay, who spoke to the people in Turkish. Two girls took the flyer, found out that there were Spaniards there, started talking Spanish, so Carmen and Salva could talk to them about the book.

Many people came to the table, accompanied there by us or because they were in the bookstore and many beautiful situations were created around the table. Mehtap was there, with her function of interpreter in the conversation. A number of people left their contact information and we invited them tomorrow to the salita to attend the book presentation and participate in the ceremonies. One of them, a comedian, gave us a present – an delightful song played with an harmonica – bought 2 books, one for himself and one for his friend who lives in Istanbul, he also left his friend’s contacts so that we can call him when we are in Istanbul.

Everything went well, Alvaro filming and interviewing Mehtap who gave a beautiful testimony, our Turkish friends giving flyers to passerby and talking to many of them, Peter taking pictures of everything and Eduardo and Mehtap at the table taking care of those who want to come in and read the book and answering questions and everything.

At around 19h, Aylin brings to the table a middle-aged many who asked for a flyer on the streets. He sat down and stayed for a while reading everything, also parts of the book. In the meantime, he also talked to Mehtap at times and she sumarized that the man said that the book was not interesting. The man left, but stayed outside the bookstore, observing those of us who were distributing flyers. His face was impassible at all times. He seemed a bit strange to us.

At 19:30 everything totally changed. The bookstore personnel told us to leave immediately, cutting abruptly the book presentation. Furthermore, with a bad attitude.

What happened? We don’t know. The mystery continues because nobody wants to say anything...

As usual, pictures tell the story with images.

Our spirit stays high and happy.

A big hug,

Carmen, Alvaro, Nacho, Judit, Eduardo, Salva, Ismael, Peter,Yüksel, Mustafa, Bülent, Olçay, Mehtap, Aylin, Zehra,

First days in Ankara of the presentation tour of the book Silo's Message in Turkey, June 16, 17, 18, 2012

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Hello friends,

on June 16th we travelled from Antalya to Ankara where we arrived at 17h. Yüksel was waiting for us when we arrived at home and together we fixed some things, for example, buying a double bed so that our 8 friends could all sleep in the house. Yüksel helped us to find something good and cheap and that was settled. Yüksel started to prepare one of his tasty foods, at 21h, Mehtap also arrived and stayed to eat with us. We showed her the video of the tour and she was very impressed and happy.

Thanks to Mehtap's help translating into English, Yüksel explained that Sunday there was nobody at the IMGE bookstore and that we would meet Monday at the bookstore to agree on some sort of presentation. So we had Sunday free and some friends took the opportunity to go to the Archaelogical museum in the morning. In the meantime Nacho prepared some good food and afterwards we all went to Kizilay, in the center of Ankara which is close to home to have something to drink in a terrace of a café. From there we called Zehra who came right away and she called Bülent and Olcay to invite them. Bülent invited us to a cultural center close by and we all went. There was a kind of memorial for a musician who had day. The place was nice and we asked Bülent if it was possible to do a book presentation there. He went to talk to the owner and they agreed that he will first read the book and then decide if he is interested. Zehra told us that her husband is trying to organize a presentation in the Alevi center but it seems that there are few people going there because in the summer most people leave the city. We'll see what happens.

Going back home we did ceremonies and asked for the well being of various friends.

Today, Monday, Yüksel and Aylin arrived in the morning and we proposed them to do a book presentation in the salita this wednesday and if they could invite all their friends and family, as many as they could. And they started calling everyone.

After we went to a bookstore and thanks to Yüksel and Aylin who talked to the owners, it was clear that we could not do action like in Izmir and Antalya. Ankara is more difficult and has more rules. But we will have a table tomorrow at the bookstore's café from 17h until 21h. Tomorrow we'll see what happens. Zehra, Mehtap, Aylin, Yüksel, Bülent and Olçay will be with us. We also need to have the flyers stamped or we can have problems.

We went back home where Nacho was preparing some good food. After Carmen gave us a dance in the kitchen, dancing to the song Alvaro sang to us while he was washing the dishes.

We ended the day with ceremonias and a special asking for Yüksel and his mother (who has problems with her knees) to send them lots of force and peace, we put the stamps Yüksel gave us on the flyers for tomorrow.

Even though there are many hitches and we have to adapt things, are group spirit is high and we are having lots of fun.

a big hug,

Carmen, Salva, Nacho, Judit, Eduardo, Ismael, Alvaro, Yüksel, Mehtap, Aylin, Zehra, Bülent, Olçay and Peter

Meeting with 30 Alevi women in Antalya June 16, 2012

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Hello friends,
I hope you have arrived well in Ankara. Many thanks for this inspirational tour.
Here is a short report about the experience with Alevi women.
As we had agreed, Sultan came at 11:30 and brought us to the Alevi Center you all know.
There Sultan had to organize some things so she left me for a while with some friends of hers who only spoke Turkish. So, instead of talking to them I let the Message talk directly to them... of course I mean the pamphlet with the principles etc... observing the moment when they connected most especially with a specific sentence... which is so clear looking at their faces when suddenly they are illuminated.
Soon Sultan was back to take us to the place we supposed they did their activities, as well as, our presentation..
We arrived at an enormous conference hall, for 200.300 persons at leat, with a podium, a table for speakers, etc. that is a very big and bery formal space for the 25-30 women who were there. I explained that our work would be better in a more humble space, with the chairs set up in a circle, but it seemed it was not possible to change the format, so we adapted.
After Sultan's general presentation, there was a conference by a woman prsesenting a book on Alevi culture and soon it was my turn. Actually, I didn't say much because Sultan took the initiative of giving some context and, anyhow, whenver she said something (to introduce the ceremony of well being, we were about to do) she translated what she said but seemed to add her own things because she talked for 5 min. or more after each small sentence of about 5 words :-))... so we decided to cut and do the experience directly.
We did it with Sultan, standing up, I spoke in German and she in Turkish, paragraph by paragraph and she did it very well, I could feel how she connected more and moe.
At the end I proposed if anyone wanted to make testimonies. So the women of 40-60 started expressing themselves, who until them were quiet and listening to the speakers.
It seemed that they liked it very much, we could tell by their faces. They wanted to know how to get the book and Sultan distributed the pamphlets we had with the address of the bookstore.
They also wanted to know how I saw them, what impression I had of them. I said that I felt a lot of goodness and force in them, but that surely their internal joy could grow. They started laughing confirming I was right. So I proposed another small experience: thanking (when you find a big force... give thanks inside yourself...).
And then something quaint happened (because apparently it is unusual): some women got up on the podium to hug me (the group picture was with these women) and then they hugged each other and some of the women in the hall (not all of them, but many).
Soon they had to get back to their activities and I said good-by, but before leaving they took me to the president of chief (I don't know his title) to introduce me and tell him what we had done which they had liked very much.
It was very good for them and very good and inspiring for us...

A very big hug,
Ariane

Vidéo, Antalya 15 Haziran

Day 13 of the presentation tour of the book Silo’s Message in Turkey, June 15, 2012

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Today, June 15^th, we will start the report with an anecdote on coincidences.

The café inn Kadiköy, Istanbul in front of the IMGE bookstore where we had our drinks is called Babil. The bookstore in front of the bookstore in Antalya where they sell Silo’s Message is also called Babil and has a beautiful space with chairs and small tables at the back of the bookstore. This morning Judit asked Murat from our bookstore if we could use that space to do the meeting of ceremonies at 20h. Murat went to talk immediately to the owner of Babil who is a friend and he said that we could use the space without any problem. And if we want to use it every day he will be very pleased. Babil, Babylonia, means door or entrance… What strange things happen with the Message.

Today there was a 25 year old girl who also works in our bookstore and is called Ayça and speaks English very well. She had read parts of the book and then on her own started talking about the book to the clients coming in.

We had many people over at our table with the books and everyone reading the book and talking with other, asking questions and telling things about themselves. Among them two young men who study in Ankara and will go back in September. We have one of their contacts and will connect by email and facebook. A young guy who works at the restaurant where we ate last night also came. His name is Rahim and he also started reading the book. After asked to give him flyers at 18h when he starts working at the restaurant because he wanted to help us distributing it to Turks passing by. So Peter went to give him the flyers at 18h.

At a certain point there were 4 persons reading the book around the table and after talking to us and to Ayça. Many women also came and read the book and the Commentaries. In the meantime we were inviting everyone to the meeting of ceremonies at 20h in the café-bookstore Babil on the other side of the street. We gave away many flyers but nobody came from them. Murat from the bookstore came and we invited him to read the two ceremonies to understand their contents a bit more, and he did so with great concentration. He is very sensitive and amiable. Also the two owners of Babil came to read the book. So many people reading the book during the day. It was very interesting being able to talk calmly and with time with so many people and this created a very special atmosphere.

In the meantime, some of us had gone to eat or buy sweets, ice cream, all happy and in a good mood. It was a very hot day so it wasn’t so easy to stay in such good condition. But it helped a lot being with 12 friends that everyone could take some time to rest a little.

Yüksel went back to Ankara at 14h and we will see him there tomorrow.

At 20h there were only Murat and Ayçe from the bookstore wanted to go to the meeting. Others also said they wanted to make an effort but didn’t come. But we saw some people there and we decided to go do the meeting. There were 5 young people and we asked if they had come for the occasion. They said they didn’t know anything about the meeting so we showed them the book and explained we were going to do some ceremonies of experience. They were interested right away. We prepared the ambit by putting the chairs in circle and everyone sat down. One of them went to look for a friend who spoke English because Ayçe had to stay in the bookstore which was still open. So we started giving some explanations about what it was about and Ayçe was back at 20:30 so we started with the ceremony of Well Being. Ayçe was willing to read the Turkish text and Peter in Spanish. All went well and easily and the 8 participants were very well after their first experience. Some talked about what happened to them translated by Ayçe. We announced that there was another ceremony where in the end we ask for ourselves, what one deeply needed. Murat immediately said he wanted to do it and the others too. The service was guided by Alvaro in Spanish and another Murat (young boy) read it in Turkish. Again it was very smooth and with a good tone. At the end everyone was thankful and the ambit was charged with joy. We said that if they buy the book they can continue with the ceremonies by themselves and their friends and family. And that if they invite us we are willing to come back to Antalya. They said they would buy the book. On leaving the place, the conversations continued on the street, on both sides, our new friends didn’t want to leave. So we discovered that one of them is from Tunceli and that he will be in the Alevi festival there. So we will look for each other there because we will be in the festival with a table with the books. And he was very glad.

We ended the day with very good food in a small restaurant close to the bookstore, accompanied by Murat and Ayçe. In the restaurant Alvaro made interviews to Eduardo, Murat and Ayçe so you can expect the third edition of the video of the tour soon. Since there wasn’t a lot of light, the owners put more light bulbs in the lamps, that was funny,

Murat and Ayçe want to stay in touch and there is a very close relation with them. It was also special that all of them come from the same neighbourhood and know each other. So it will be easy to meet again to do ceremonies.

This is it for today. The pictures speak for themselves and reflect the images written in this report. Tomorrow Eduardo, Judit, Peter, Nacho, Alvaro, Carmen, Ismael, Salva are travelling to Ankara where our friends are waiting for us. Isabel and Aurora are going back to Madrid and Ariane and Zoë will stay another two days in Antalya.

Tomorrow Ariane has the meeting with the women in the Alevi center and will send us her report and the pictures.

A big hug,

Ariane, Zoë, Nacho, Aurora, Isabel, Judit, Eduardo, Alvaro, Peter, Ismael, Carmen and Salva

Day 12 of the presentation tour of the book Silo’s Message in Turkey June 14, 2012

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Hello friends,

Today, June 14^th was a day of good surprises.

Yüksel had a date with Tufan in the morning at the Alevi Center, but we couldn’t understand why. Anyhow they are becoming friends. We knew that a package with 25 books had arrived at the Alevi center and we thought that Yüksel had agreed with Tufan that the books could be sent directly to the center’s address.

Later in the morning, Yüksel came back to the hotel with part of the books and told Eduardo that we had a bookstore in the center of the city that wants to put the books in their bookstore and the two of them went there to meet the owner, called Murat who is Kurdish. After having put 15 books in the bookstore they went back to the Alevi center to pick up the 10 remaining books and brought them back to the hotel. In the meantime, we had agreed to meet in the bookstore 17h to start actions inviting people to come see the book and talk to us.

In the same period, Peter called Mehtap to ask her to reserve a double room in a hotel in Ankara close to the house/salita. After having fixed that, Peter, Carmen and Salva went to the bus terminal to buy 8 tickets to Antalya-Ankara for Saturday morning and Ariane called Sultan, the German-speaking Alevi woman, to stay with her in the afternoon to get to know each other and talk about the meeting of women where Ariane will make a book presentation and ceremonies with the women of the Alevi Center.

Carmen, Peter and Salva arrived at 17h in the bookstore and soon after also Eduardo and Yüksel and we started preparing a table with chairs, displaying the books that were already in the bookstore. Murat is a very amiable person and had no problem that we set up a table with chairs in front of his bookstore, which he gave us himself. We could also put a big poster in the window. Later he organized two benches for us and a table inside the bookstore close to the entrance so that we could rest if we wanted to. A while later the other friends arrived with the rest of the materials, to proof of the new pamphlet with the address of the bookstore, Judit and Alvaro went to look for a photocopier to make 400 copies.

We must say that in the morning we didn’t know if the bookstore would welcome us or not. So everyone was very happy and thankful to Yüksel to fixing right away this pending issue.

Soon we started talking to the first passers-by, but we didn’t have a lot of time to make invitations with the pamphlet, since the bookstore closed at 20h. But tomorrow we will have all day since we will start at 11h.

At 19:30, Ariane arrived in the bookstore from her meeting with Sultan and told us everything that had happened in the meeting. It seems that Sultan was very touched by the book and by the ceremony of Well Being that Ariane read with her, proposing to do it during the meeting with women. They became friends and Saturday Sultan will go to the hotel to pick up Ariane so that they can go together to the Alevi Center. She also have the name of another bookstore in the center, ABC, saying that she is sure it will be interested in the book. Tomorrow Yüksel will check.

After the bookstore close we went for a walk in the center of Antalya, ending in the old part of the port. After a small and pleasant walk we went to a very nice restaurant to eat together in good company. We decided to walk back to the hotel and it was also a good moment and everyone was happy.

At the hotel we did our daily ceremonies to ask that the Message also advance in Antalya and that tomorrow give us new and good surprises. And of course we asked again for some friends and for their health and mental well being.

It is very hot and humid but our spirit is high and full of good humor and happiness. We are doing really well!!!

A strong and joyous hugs from Antalya,

Isabel, Ariane, Zoë, Alvaro, Nacho, Yüksel, Eduardo, Judit, Carmen, Salva, Ismael, Aurora and Peter

Day 10 & 11 of the presentation tour of the book of Silo’s Message in Turkey, June 12 and 13, 2012

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Hello friends,

Yesterday there was no report because we were travelling all day from Izmir to Antalya, arriving at 19:00 hours at our hotel. There was a problem with the internet connection, so we couldn’t update the blog.

Anyways, we went that very same day to the Alevi Center to see if we could meet somebody. We had to take a taxi since the center was pretty far away from the hotel. Eduardo, Alvaro, Judit, Ismael, Salva, Carmen and Peter went. The taxi driver spoke English well and went with us inside the building. There was a man guarding and after introducing ourselves with the help of the taxi driver, he went to look for another person who introduced himself as the vice president of the place, named Ayhan. He gave us the impression he didn’t know who we were and he called Tufan, the president of the Alevi association who confirmed they were waiting for our arrival and that there would be a meeting on the next day. So everything went well and they offered us chai and water and we talked about the book and showed them the book, the Comments and the press kit. He invited us to visit the building and showed us various places and the hall where they do their Semas, their ceremonies. He told us that they were still moving into a new and bigger building they had just finished building.

After beautiful conversations translated by the taxi driver, Ayhan offered to take us with his car to the hotel and we set a date for tomorrow at 11:00. He also told us that Tufan would be there and an English-speaking person.

In the meantime, Yüksel called Eduardo announcing he would be arriving at 6:00 a.m. from Ankara bringing books. So we reserved a room in the hotel so we could sleep a little bit until the date with Tufan.

We finished the day with a beautiful seaside walk, talking among ourselves and before going to sleep we did a service and a well being ceremony for our loved ones.

Today, June 13th, we went to the Alevi Center at 11:30 with Eduardo, Judit, Aurora, Yüksel and Peter. We were received by Ayhan in his office were there was also his secretary Sultan and another woman behind a table. They offered chai and sweets and a very animated conversation started, books in hand and also looking at the book on the Parks. While they read passages of texts they continued repeating that it was very similar to what Alevi’s say and v alue. So quickly a friendly atmosphere was created. We didn’t have a translator, so dictionary in hand we did what we could, but all went well. They gave us 2 objects with the small statue of Haci Bectas Veli and we gave them the book. Ayhan told us he had read the booklet of the Commentaries the night before and liked it very much. They told us that there are 300.000 Alevis living in Antalya, one third of the total population.

In the meantime we were waiting for Tufan who was late but arriving. At a certain moment, around 13:30 they arrived and we went to another office, Tufan’s. There we met the vice president of the Haci Bectas association, his wife and 2 kids, one of them spoke some English. We sat down and the son translated the conversation. A while later, another woman arrived, also called Sultan, who spoke German perfectly. So we continued with her and the wife and two kids said good-bye. Sultan tells us about the present situation of Alevis in Turkey, which is not so good due to the obstacles put upon them by the government. In this report there is no room for going into detail but the conversation was very long, we were listening and once in a while introducing something from our side. It was clear that they were worried and that they want to divulge the existence of approximately 20 million Alevis in Turkey, 25% of the population, of whom the Europeans are not even aware of. Sultan also affirmed that there is affinity in thoughts between the Alevis and Silo’s Message and that she wants to collaborate with our message.

Finally Tufan arrived, a very amiable and calm man, always in a good mood. Until that moment we hadn’t talked about a possible presentation of the Book in his center. It was clear to us they needed a lot of time to explain their situation and their worries. They were very happy because we already have good relations with other Alevi centers in Ankara and Istanbul and were delighted we would attend the Alevi festival in Tuncelli at the end of July.

We also gave Tufan a book and a press kit and showed them to book of the Parks. He arrived with another person who spoke English well. So we continued with English translation which was easier for everyone.

Again, lots of tea and sweets, we were very well treated once more and are very thankful. Other men also arrived, all of them had duties in the association.

They also finance their things by themselves and buy their buildings with voluntary donations of their members, who are more than 2.000.

Finally, it seems that for them it was very difficult to organize a book presentation in 2 days, because they want all their members to be informed and invited and they want to receive us according to the good customs of hospitality, with social dinners and more. So we agreed to do a presentation at the end of September or in October, staying in touch for more details.

At 16:15 we said good-bye and Tufan and another person took us to our hotel in two cars. Yüksel had a date with Tufan tomorrow at 10h to go to the bookstore in the center which appears to belong to a friend to see if he is willing to display the books in his library. If this goes well, tomorrow and Friday we can do an invitation action in front of the bookstore. We hope it will work out. A big box of books from the Alevi center also arrived for this bookstore. We think that Tufan and Yüksel talked a lot about this issue.

As you see, everything goes as expected, but many things happen and it was a real pleasure to see so many people interested in the book of the Message.

There is another possibility for this Saturday offered by Sultan who speaks German. She has a meeting with a group of women at the center each Saturday and wants us to go to interchange about the book and ceremonies with them. So Ariane and Zoë will stay in Antalya for two other days. So tomorrow we will call Sultan to confirm Ariane and Zoë will be attending the meeting.

At night, after eating together in the hotel restaurant we went for a walk on the beach and spent some beautiful moments of happy companionship. Back to the hotel we did another service and well being. In the service, we asked that Silo’s Message expand from city to city in our tour, awakening the hearts of people. In the well being we asked again for dear friends who need it.

We are all well, with a luminous spirit and lots of friendship. It is a great pleasure living together this adventure with all the unforeseen events and surprises. It seems that obstacles are unable to influence our mood negatively.

From the beautiful and sweet Antalya we send you a strong and happy hugs,

Yüksel, Aurora, Isabel, Carmen, Salva, Nacho, Ismael, Judit, Eduardo, Ariane, Zoë, Alavro and Peter