Turkey - April 17th & April 25th 1914

Diary entry from April 17th 1914

Isabel visited Turkey in both 1908 and 1914. It was during her visit in 1908 that the idea of her setting up or taking over a girls’ school in this country first arose. Due to the evasiveness of the Turkish government and later the Balkan war, it was an idea that was put on the back burner for some time, though it continued to occupy Isabel’s mind. During her visit in 1914 the idea was revisited.

In this first extract, Isabel reflects upon her feelings while contemplating the prospect of running a school in Turkey. Once again, she expresses her fear of leaving the world that she knows and is comfortable with. She also alludes to the dangers of undertaking such as position. During this period, Turkey would have still been a difficult place for one with such liberal ideas and aspirations as Isabel, particularly if that person was a woman.

Transcript: "April 17. These days are gloomy and cold my mind is fiercely occupied with the problem of whether or not I can (in every sense of the word) do the job that was before me. The problem reveals to me the fact that I have a quite morbid fear of things. I see every possible disadvantage, difficulty, danger, with a vividness which would be almost admirable (from one point of view - say the novelists) but which is distracting from a practical one. It makes me horribly ashamed sometimes, and yet I don't think that is justifiable. I don't think it is possible to get rid of the fear, but it is possible not to give in to it."

Diary entry from April 25th 1914

In this second extract she considers some of the more practical difficulties of taking over the position of headmistress at a Turkish school. She considers the fact that it will be difficult to run a school in a country where both the language and customs are foreign to her.

Despite her misgivings, Isabel would eventually resolve upon taking such a position in Turkey; however, due to the continued evasiveness of the Turkish government and the outbreak on the First World War, this scheme would never come to fruition.

Transcript: "Also I got Dr. Adnan to tell me various points that needed a scientific point of view - a rare thing among my friends here. The whole work presents very diffcult problems, among these perhaps most prominent are, the gauging of requirements of a school of which I know almost nothing, the household management and arrangements, and the accounts, and the language problem."