On the bright side, the hostel we booked was right in the middle of 'old town' Istanbul, up the block from the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, the Basilica Cistern¸ the Grand Bazaar. All of this historical sites so close together was like Turkish Disney World, but was so reminiscent of DC; we took to calling the area “the Mall”. We were also pretty close to the Bosphorus river, which separates the Europe side from the Asia side. The country is split between the two – about a quarter of the country consists of a peninsula to the west of Istanbul and then, once over the Bosphorus, the rest is in Asia. Things I would have known had I done my research... Still, it was a great couple of days.
The first day consisted of your typical Istanbul tourist activities – we walked “the Mall” to get a feel for the area and put our map into perspective. We located the important places we wanted to visit and proceeded to consumed our weight in kabob, baklava and Turkish coffee.
The Grand Bazaar was overwhelming and expensive, and not quite what we expected. And their sales tactics are quite... forward. Not unlike some experiences I had in Israel and Greece, the gentlemen selling their wares, be they scarves and jewelery or ceramics and tea, literally jump in your face and don't let you walk away. Also, they are fascinated with Americans. And whether or not we had boyfriends. And we were told we were beautiful every 10 minutes, at least. I swear, if ever an American girl is suffering from low self-esteem, take a trip to Istanbul. They will work you down until you know you are the hottest thing that ever walked on the planet.
After the Bazaar, we headed over to the Blue Mosque, a gorgeous place which looks more like a palace than a place of worship. But then again, I suppose that makes sense. The construction was started in 1609 by Sultan Ahmet I at the age of 19, when he started digging, according to the guidebook. Apparently this process was significant because his officials proceeded with his digging work and 7 years later, in 1616, the 28,900 sq ft domed prayer space, plus the Sultan's mausoleum and a myriad of other chambers was completed. It's a really magnificent building and unfortunately, explaining how beautiful it is on the outside as well as on the inside, is really beyond my capability. We had to take off our shoes and cover our heads/shoulders to go inside. The building itself is not blue, persay, but inside, at least at dusk when we made our way there, the light reflects off the inlaid tiles and produces the most serene blue you've ever seen. Just beautiful. It felt weird taking pictures in a place like that, but I just had to. We only got a few minutes inside because people were beginning to gather for evening prayers and all visitors had to leave. I wish we were able to go observe prayers in session, but according to the security guard, who's English was very broken, that was not possible. We found a rooftop restaurant at which we smoked hookah and overlooked, rather, got us almost level with the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia.
Day two began with a trip to the Turkish Bath – CAUTION – read with digression. This part is not for children, nor for my dad to read, so just skip ahead, Garrett. I don't know what you've heard about the bathhouses, but I can attest its probably true. We showed up, were shown to the women's side (men and women are completely separate at most bath houses, and ours has totally separate facilities), we were given a towel and a pair of standard issue panties, and were led to the very steamy marble bath room. I'm not sure how the baths work, that is, how they get it so hot – if they pump hot water though the room or what, but it was a sauna in there, with a large marble platform on which you get your massage, or just lay until you feel like leaving or taking a dip in the hot tub, or the even hotter tub (yeah it didn't make sense to me either, and personally, by the time I was in there for 30 minutes I needed an ice bath). If we hadn't bonded before the ladies I was traveling with and I were tight now. You would think it might be awkward stripping down mostly naked with a room full of strangers and awaiting your 'bubble wash' and 15 minute massage by the also mostly naked (I would be too if I had to work there; it really was so hot!), large, though very lovely Turkish ladies who work at the bath, but it totally wasn't. It was relaxing and refreshing and we were all compelled, although this was not the original plan, to spring for the added 30 minute oil massage. BEST decision ever. As I received my head-to-toe rub down by a woman who spoke zero English, I felt all the stress of school and preparation for the trip just melt away. I have never gotten a professional massage, but I can see now why people do it. Simply amazing.
We left refreshed, albeit a small miscommunication over the cost of our added massages, and enjoyed the rest of the day. We visited the Basilica Cistern, which is part of an ancient water system two stories underground, and the whole thing is held up by dozens of columns, two of which are supported by heads of Medusa. You know, the mythical character with snakes for hair. We learned about the cistern during our Environmental Health as a prime example of water storage and were very excited at the idea of sending pictures to Dr. LaPuma. While there were tons of tourists down there, it was really lovely. It was 15-20 degrees cooler than the outside temperature, dark and echoey, and a welcome break from the hot sun and crowds in the city.
That evening, Jenn Mendoza (another girl in my Masters program who met up with us) and I went to see the Whirling Dervishes. It was a must on my Turkish to-do list. I didn't know a lot about Turkey, but I was aware of the Dervishes, even if only mildly. I knew it was something I could only do there, so I made a point to find out where it was and actually get to do it. Things work very differently in Turkey, and really everywhere outside of the US. I found a website for a place which held a Dervish ceremony – they make it very clear – they are not performers – Dervishes are an ancient order of Sufi who, according to Rumi, the founder of the practice, believe that movement, specifically spinning in circles, to put it simply, brings one closer to the higher power in which they believe. The directions on the website were vague to say the least – no street address, just a poorly detailed map which brings you down somewhere behind the Blue Mosque. I wrote down the directions I saw as best I could – first right, second left, and so on. We left the hostel way later than anticipated and had only 10 minutes to get there by the time we made it to the Blue Mosque, and really had not idea as to how far it actually was. We wound around through the streets and what looked like back-alleys and when we got to a part of the road at which we had to cross under train tracks, I forced myself to stop and ask for directions. I only knew a part of the location's name, but apparently we were close enough that the guy we stopped was like, “It's right over there”, across the train tracks. Sure enough, we found it and were in our seats within minutes of the presentation. Oh man, am I thankful for my sense of direction! The first 20 minutes was a Sufi music concert, played by a 4-piece band on instruments I had never seen before. I wish I had more time to look these things up, maybe I will make an addendum later, but it was beautiful music and very reminiscent of some music to which we used to do Israeli dancing at camp. During the concert, a Powepoint presentation of Rumi quotes and Dervish pictures was projected onto the wall behind the musicians. Now, Rumi's material is deeply rooted in religious faith, and discusses his faith as an act of ecstatic love. Needless to say, it can be pretty trippy. Char was telling me that she had friends in college who would get high and read Rumi. Now I can see why.
“This is love: to fly toward a secret sky, to cause a hundred veils to fall each moment. First to let go of life. Finally, to take a step without feet.”
and
Love is from the infinite, and will remain until eternity.
The seeker of love escapes the chains of birth and death.
Tomorrow, when resurrection comes,
The heart that is not in love will fail the test.
...just to name a few. Needless to say, I am just a little obsessed with this writing. Got to find myself a book of his stuff when I get home!
Anyway, after that, the Dervishes appeared, and began their ceremony by removing the long black robes they wear over their traditional garb – the tall fez-like hat and white jacket and skirts – and each piece is symbolic of the death of the ego and pledged service to G-d. They begin with their arms crossed and in each part of the ceremony a different one has a different responsibility – sometimes they all begin to spin together, and sometimes one starts before or after. Sometimes one puts on his black robe and does not participate. Sometimes they start and stop all at different times. Unfortunately they did not explain the significance of each, but it was fascinating nonetheless. They spin so fast, and with their eyes closed. Once they begin, with their arms outstretched above their heads, they seem to go dead from the neck-up, but their feet are going crazy! The guidebook said it takes over a year for them to just learn the steps and how not to get dizzy. It was a lovely ceremony to observe and I am so glad I got to go.
We had very elaborate plans to get up the next morning early to make it to the Hagia Sophia, one of the largest churches in the world, which now, in part at least, is an art museum, and go on a cruise on the Bosphorus. However, we decided to go out that night to Taksim Square, which, for you DCites, is like AdMo on crack. The bars doesn't get pumping until well after 1am, even though it was packed when we got down there at 9:30. It was so interesting to see, and it was our first time leaving “the Mall”. After much debate over where to go, we found a few fun places. The down side to this part of town were all the club hustlers. They approach you on the street and say “Hey, come to my club”. They try to lure you in with cheap drinks (which they never are) and good music (which it never is) and it end up being a) a fourth floor walk-up smoky bar with a ton of men – zero women, b) a basement pub with terrible techno music and rude staff, or c) a bar with stand-up comedy. In Turkish. By strike three, it was almost 3am and I was outta there.
We got a few hours of sleep before it was time to try to squeeze in everything we left for the last day. We never made it to Hagia Sophia, but thankfully we did make it to the river cruise. We sat at the back of the boat with out legs dangling over the edge and enjoyed the sunshine and the architecture. We spent most of the cruise talking about the houses and about the kids who were cannon-balling into the water from the public parks which backed up to the river banks. The river runs between the Europe and Asia sides and from the boat, out on the water, you can see where it meets the Black Sea. Just lovely. It was only an hour and a half, but it was the perfect last-activity to close out our trip. We stopped for lunch at a café overlooking the water, took a quick spin through the spice bazaar and made our way to the airport.
Goodbye Turkey, hello India!
*I will post pictures soon!
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