How cute is Malik?

Very cute.

Autumn in Istanbul

The Blue Mosque

Istanbul may seem an unlikely meeting place for family who live in Bosnia, Canada and London but that's where we met the other Mattus last week. Istanbul is one of my favourite cities because of the beautiful buildings, hectic streets, mix of modern and old, great food. At first thought, not top of the list for an easy trip with small kids but it was, in reality, great fun.

We all rented flats round the corner from each other, spent lots of time together and explored the city en masse. Here we are having a break in the Spice Bazaar.

Apple tea, Turkish coffee and formula

The kids played well together with the Blue Mosque and Topkapi Palace as their backdrop. I wonder if they will like travelling when they're older?

Who cares about history when there is a puddle: Kirin with his cousins Yash and Suran

Malik soaking up the atmosphere

Other higlights: Hagia Sofia, the view from our balcony across the Bosphorus to mosques and Topkapi, the court yard of the Blue Mosque at dusk, Kirin and Suran dressing up as the king and queen of Istanbul (with belly dancing accessories), Chandra's first birthday cake (everyone loves chocolate!).

Chandra, Malik and I check out the fruit and veg truck

Amazingly none of us bought any carpets or Turkish delight but we did eat a lot of kebabs.

What an amazing day

I don't really do politics on this blog but today has been the kind of day that I want my sons - mixed race, British, Canadian, European, Indian, urban... - to understand for the change and power it represents. This is the most important political event of their short lives and I want them to recognise the significance of today's vote. We always teach them that anything is possible and could there be any more powerful a symbol of that than the election of an African-American as US president, especially after the horror of the Bush/Cheney years?

Kirin and I have been getting ready for the big day by watching some videos. This is him watching "Yes we can", the viral video by Will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas.


If you haven't seen the original yet, check it out below. He put the words of one of Obama's early speeches to music, published it on his blog and the word spread like wildfire. Kirin liked it - though, that may well have been as much because he likes watching videos as the content, I kind of figure it will get through to him by osmosis.


This morning, Malik decided to wake up Johanna and me at about 4am. I decided to see if the dream had come true and it had. I sat down to watch Obama's victory speech and the boys humoured me with this picture. I think Kirin was more excited that I let Malik sit on his lap than with the book I asked him to hold. Well, you can't ask more of a three year old.


Ok, the last politics of this blog. Check out Obama's victory speech.