1978

The Islamic equivalent of Thanksgiving occurred on June 11 this year. The Kurban Bayram, as it is called in Turkey, is a day of families getting together, of great feasts, and really a time of thanks for good health and prosperity. Poor families are treated to expensive meals; wealthier families meet together at their favorite waterside vacation area. The losers in this massive eat-a-thon are the sheep that have been carefully fattened for the previous months, often in my backyard. On the morning of the first day of the Kurban Bayram, an amazing thing happens all over Turkey. Right before my eyes, right on the street, these sheep are butchered and hung to drain. It's an incredible spectacle. All through the towns and cities (I happened to be in the capital city of Ankara), the sheep are slaughtered with a short ceremony and then usually hung on the most convenient telephone pole. Often there are two or three per pole, and the streets are red with blood. By noontime, everything is quiet again, and the sheep have disappeared to the cooking area. Just like that. And then I disappeared. The next day I was in Virginia, and five days later at Fenway Park taste-testing my favorite Fenway Frank and cold brew with Christina Hughes, SteveThompson, and Chris Riley. What a difference 7,000 miles can make! Unfortunately, die Sox lost a rather ineptly-played ballgame.

And then it was on to Reunion and a taste of the Hanover Plain, just one more time. For me it was a chance to enjoy, as always, the great scenery of the hardwood forests of Southern Vermont and New Hampshire. A chance to enjoy a plush green environment, and as luck would have it, few black flies, mosquitos, and other flying pests. The sun managed to break through the clouds often enough to keep things pleasant, and the rain held off until most of us were asleep in our favorite dorm room after hanging out at the tent behind Heorot. For my friends and classmates, the days were filled with talk and visiting, tennis and golf, swimming and picnicking, climbing Moosilauke, and perhaps wandering downtown to see what changes had been wrought over the past five or ten or, for some, fifteen years. And, yes, P.C.'s still serves the best soups, salads, and sandwiches.

It appeared to me that most people were enjoying themselves, a weekend with their kids and their friends' kids, and the general ambiance of a fine New England summer. Some things never change. For making all this happen, and for keeping it pleasantly low key, thanks to Jay Brown and the rest of the reunion staff for a memorable weekend. Glad I could make it. Hi to Athena Moundalexis, who could not make it because at the last minute a long-awaited job with the Peace Corps, as health director for the organization in Cameroon and the Central African Republic, came through. Hope everything works out!

I'm back in Turkey now, back to my reality. This trip was much too quick. The sheep are all gone, but the vacationers are still here in Akcay it's a crazy place in the summer. For the most part, it has been a pleasure to crank out these columns over the past five years. Apologies to those who have been slandered, misquoted, or ridiculed. And also to those whose notes to me were ignored or completely distorted (no, it was not the editor). I will still be here (at least until the end of the year), so you can still write, and you can be guaranteed that I won't print what you send. I may even write back.

Tunus Cad 76/5, Kavaklidere, Ankara, Turkey

Advanced Chemistry

Chemistry Professor Russel Hughes (right)gives Margie mid, John Nairn '77, BruceChasan '67, and Drew Desky '87 (fromleft) a tour of the new state-of-the-artfacility,Burke Hall, which will open in September.