Как у вас дела?

ինչպէս էք?

Τι κανεις;

Gearing up. It's language learning/refresher time. Maybe, with some new Turkish, brushed up Armenian, Greek, and Russian I can communicate in something other than English next February.

Unlike Spanish, written Turkish gives me no clue on where the accent goes. I am adjusting to the i without a dot over it (ı) having a schwa sound. I popped the first CD in and listened to the first conversation with introductions. This is going to take a while. I cannot use latinate roots to help me along.

Possibly the only time I ever heard Turkish was when Roxie and Jack were chatting and did not want their children to understand. I was in the same class as their son Charlie. He and his sister Susan did not speak much Armenian but understood it when their parents spoke, so "adult" conversations were in the language the kids did not know. But if I heard any Turkish fifty years ago, I do not really remember. The sounds and rhythms of Armenian are familiar to me, whether I understand the words or not.

My conversational Greek is limited to about five phrases. Not really a lot more in Armenian.

I know I could travel in Turkey using English alone, but what's the fun (or challenge) in that? And where is the effort to open up to another culture? That, for me, is one of the most important reasons for traveling abroad.

The Blessing of Our Relatives tomorrow! Fr. Anskar, my Swedish priest teddy bear, will join us to bless the animals on the feast of St. Francis. My friend Jan rides her horse to church and we have a hitching post. I imagine she and some of her friends will have the equine contingent there for this event. Rhonda+ will preside over the Blessing, though we will share the individual blessings, and I will preside at the Eucharist. I anticipate a bit of chaos. Par for the course. In communities that trust God and one another we can all ride with untidiness.

May Francis and Clare intercede for us all. Blessings on San Francisco, the see city of my canonical diocese, and ongoing prayers for my bishop, +Marc.

--the BB