Excursion throughout Turkey is over now. I wrote this blog sitting in an airport in Madrid, waiting for the plane to Casablanca. Where of course I met Humphrey Bogart. I'll add that to my list of movie magic times abroad, right up there with seeing the Troy horse Brad Pitt touched. Epic.
We did a lot of touring around the Turkish countryside, and looked at a lot of ruins. Although listening to the history of the country while seeing the physical remains of those stories was a very visceral experience, the scenes all tended to blend together in a jumble of broken rocks towards the end of the trip. Because of that, I will give you highlights only of the best parts of the last week.
On Saturday the 19th we went to Pergamum (Bergama in Turkish). The ancient city is at the top of a large hill/mountain that our bus wound its way up, hugging the sides of the road and scaring the girls who are afraid of heights. The best part of Pergamum was the temple of Athena, situated on the highest part of the mountain overlooking the city and hills below. The temple was still very well maintained and majestic, mostly because we knew that in the ancient world it had commanded respect.
That day we also went to the ruins of Assos, located on a hill right by the sea. Here the temple overlooked the wide ocean and small blue bays where fishing boats were anchored, backed by the cliffs and hills of Assos. This site was the most peaceful to be at.
On Monday the 21st we went to Ephesus, where I got extremely sick. Despite that, Ephesus (Efus in Turkish) was my favorite set of ruins. The city is one of the most intact sites I've seen, perhaps even more well preserved than Pompeii. There was an entire area devoted to excavating the houses of the rich, which were decorated with elaborate frescoes and intricate tile mosaic floors. The downtown area of the city was still extremely complete, and because there were so many tourists in Ephesus that day, it was very easy to imagine the ancient city bustling with Romans and locals. It was easy to imagine John the Evangelist walking among the people, encouraging the church of Ephesus to grow despite persecution by the Roman power. Going to Ephesus is truly like stepping back in time.
On Wednesday the 23rd we went to Cappadocia, where there is an area of calcified land turned snow white. The local government pumps thermal water into man-made pools in this area once every few days, and the pools are crystal clear with a tint of blue against the calcium white of the land. It looks like winter there, but the calcium deposits are warm and so is the water.
Our Turkish excursion was very fun and extremely informative, but I'm ready to be in Morocco. Jill (my freshman and sophomore year roommate) is my roommate again for our homestays, and I'm happy to be with someone familiar. Truthfully I'm a bit nervous about the homestay. It will be interesting to adapt to the language and cultural routines of the people in Morocco, knowing as I do how different they can be from Western lifestyles.
Eh. I'll have fun. No matter what.
Wish me luck! All my best.
P.S. I edited the settings of my blog to let viewers who do not have a gmail account post comments as anonymous users. Just so you know...
Monday, September 28, 2009
Saturday, September 19, 2009
i suck at this.
So...a lot of cool stuff happened between the last time I posted and now. But I'm just going to pick up from yesterday and add the cool things from the last week in later.
Yesterday marked the first day of our excursions around Turkey. Our tour guide wanted us on the bus by 7 in the morning, which was not funny. However, the fact that she completely color coordinates her outfits is funny. She was wearing a purple shirt, purple pants, purple socks, and purple jewelry. Today she was in all grey. And she absolutely adores yogurt. Whenever we stop for food she points out all the places with yogurt. Turkish yogurt is disgusting, FYI.
Anyway. 7 in the morning. We left Istanbul on a tour bus, and not much more but sleeping happened until we arrived at Edirne to see one of the most amazing mosques I've been in. And that's saying something. Because we've seen a whole lot of mosques. This one was built by Sulehman (that's probably not how you spell his name... whatever) who was a really famous Ottoman architect. The inside of the mosque was huge. The point is to make the believer feel really insignificant. It worked. Just saying.
There's something extremely elegant about the pews and stain glass of a church, but the intricate carpets on the floors of the mosques and arching domes with detailed paintings of flowers and geometric shapes certainly hold their own beauty. Mosques are comfortably overwhelming in a way that old European churches can't easily imitate. As a non-Muslim, I can still appreciate how wonderful the architectural design of the mosque at Edirne is. I can still fell a sense of reverence for Allah in the building - a reverence to a God who is my God too.
After Edirne, we traveled on to a World War One memorial. The site was absolutely gorgeous, bordered on one end by the deep blue sea and on the other by yellow cliffs and hills with short bracken and shrubbery. It was refreshing to sit on the beach and watch the sea, but also hallowing to know that thousands of men had died on the same beach. Turkey is relatively overlooked in our history class discussions of WWI, but the same sorts of horrors seen by the British, German, French and American soldiers that we normally hear about were seen by the Turks as well. There was a memorial at the sight that shared the words of Ataturk, the founder of the Turkish Republic - the inscription read something like, Those sons that died on our land are now our sons. They rest in honor as sons of our country.
...or something like that. It was much more elegant that I remember...
After the war memorial, we went to Troy. Wait backtrack. First we saw the Trojan horse that was in the movie Troy. BRAD PITT WAS ON THAT HORSE. No worries, I have pictures to prove that I saw it. It was a thing of beauty.
And then we went to Troy.
The actual Troy was pretty generic as ruins go. There were the remains of houses and temples and shopping areas. What made the visit so exciting was my previous knowledge of the legend of Troy, having read both the Iliad and the Aeneid. It was fun to imagine the stories of Priam, Paris and Helen, Agamemnon and Menelaus, Achilles and Patriklus play out in the ruins.
And of course I quoted the movie. Because I adore that movie. And I know the best quotes by heart.
The Turkish countryside is breathtaking. It reminds me strongly of the tiny bit I've seen of Tuscany, only the colors are more muted. The mountains are framed by blue sky and are covered with pine trees. The sea shore is rocky and the islands are green. The water is varying shades of turquoise. There are deltas and peninsulas that jut out into the seas and channels.
...this is hard to explain. I'll post pictures.
I hope you are all well, and continue to stay healthy and happy. All my best!
Yesterday marked the first day of our excursions around Turkey. Our tour guide wanted us on the bus by 7 in the morning, which was not funny. However, the fact that she completely color coordinates her outfits is funny. She was wearing a purple shirt, purple pants, purple socks, and purple jewelry. Today she was in all grey. And she absolutely adores yogurt. Whenever we stop for food she points out all the places with yogurt. Turkish yogurt is disgusting, FYI.
Anyway. 7 in the morning. We left Istanbul on a tour bus, and not much more but sleeping happened until we arrived at Edirne to see one of the most amazing mosques I've been in. And that's saying something. Because we've seen a whole lot of mosques. This one was built by Sulehman (that's probably not how you spell his name... whatever) who was a really famous Ottoman architect. The inside of the mosque was huge. The point is to make the believer feel really insignificant. It worked. Just saying.
There's something extremely elegant about the pews and stain glass of a church, but the intricate carpets on the floors of the mosques and arching domes with detailed paintings of flowers and geometric shapes certainly hold their own beauty. Mosques are comfortably overwhelming in a way that old European churches can't easily imitate. As a non-Muslim, I can still appreciate how wonderful the architectural design of the mosque at Edirne is. I can still fell a sense of reverence for Allah in the building - a reverence to a God who is my God too.
After Edirne, we traveled on to a World War One memorial. The site was absolutely gorgeous, bordered on one end by the deep blue sea and on the other by yellow cliffs and hills with short bracken and shrubbery. It was refreshing to sit on the beach and watch the sea, but also hallowing to know that thousands of men had died on the same beach. Turkey is relatively overlooked in our history class discussions of WWI, but the same sorts of horrors seen by the British, German, French and American soldiers that we normally hear about were seen by the Turks as well. There was a memorial at the sight that shared the words of Ataturk, the founder of the Turkish Republic - the inscription read something like, Those sons that died on our land are now our sons. They rest in honor as sons of our country.
...or something like that. It was much more elegant that I remember...
After the war memorial, we went to Troy. Wait backtrack. First we saw the Trojan horse that was in the movie Troy. BRAD PITT WAS ON THAT HORSE. No worries, I have pictures to prove that I saw it. It was a thing of beauty.
And then we went to Troy.
The actual Troy was pretty generic as ruins go. There were the remains of houses and temples and shopping areas. What made the visit so exciting was my previous knowledge of the legend of Troy, having read both the Iliad and the Aeneid. It was fun to imagine the stories of Priam, Paris and Helen, Agamemnon and Menelaus, Achilles and Patriklus play out in the ruins.
And of course I quoted the movie. Because I adore that movie. And I know the best quotes by heart.
The Turkish countryside is breathtaking. It reminds me strongly of the tiny bit I've seen of Tuscany, only the colors are more muted. The mountains are framed by blue sky and are covered with pine trees. The sea shore is rocky and the islands are green. The water is varying shades of turquoise. There are deltas and peninsulas that jut out into the seas and channels.
...this is hard to explain. I'll post pictures.
I hope you are all well, and continue to stay healthy and happy. All my best!
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
hello, i am embarrassing american
So...where did we leave off?
Saturday was Make Everyone In Minnesota Jealous day. Otherwise known as Beach Day. The crew all went to Askari Beach, located in Asia. That's right, Asia. The continent on which 95% of Turkey lies. Shocker: it doesn't look any different than the European side of Turkey.
The beach was gorgeous. The there wasn't a cloud in the sky. The wind, even though it was a bit annoying, provided just the right amount of releif from the heat. The water was perfectly clear and a lovely shade of blue out to sea (the Black Sea, to be exact). There were tons of people on the beach, almost all locals. Of course we found one American to talk to (which happens everywhere we go - you'd be surprised how recognizable our St. Olaf Abroad tags are), and she told us all about her experience in Turkey. I wasn't there for the majority of the conversation. I was in the water. It was much more interesting.
Fun fact: most of the girls on the trip brough one-piece swimsuits on the trip because we were told modesty was going to be a big deal in all of the countries we went to. However, we looked like grandmas at Askari Beach. Every girl there had a bikini on. Even women who probably shouldn't have had bikinis on had bikinis on. I'm glad we brought our one-pieces for Morocco and Egypt, but we definitely stood out in Turkey. As if we didn't look embarrassingly like tourists already.
Sunday was a really full day. Bright and early in the morning we went to a Greek Orthodox Church service. The Greek Orthodox Church is really interesting - they're pretty much Catholic except for a few fundamental differences. If you asked me what those differences were I couldn't tell you. The Greek Orthodox Church is also really into icon worship. Basically that means that Orthodox Christians worship relics of the church, pictures, symbols, etc. They kissed the pictures of Jesus, Mary, the Prophets, the Apostles and other important religious figures in the church. They kissed the coffins of saints that were also there. They kissed boxes and bibles and candles. They kissed pretty much everything, and crossed themselves after each kiss. Extremely different from my Baptist upbringing. We don't kiss. We shake hands.
The service was conducted in Greek (it was three hours of very beautiful but nonsensical chanting) and there was a lot of kissing and bowing and crossing and displaying of icons. A really important guy was there, but I don't remember why he is important. I think it's because he's like the pope of the Greek Orthodox Church in Istanbul. Either way, there was a lot of bowing to him and kissing his hand and crossing towards his general direction. The Church itself is really beautiful, and completely covered in gold. The altar is behind a wall which the layman is not allowed to go behind. I don't really know what goes on near the altar - it's all very mysterious. And there are very few seats for the people to watch the service. Probably because there are so many annoying tourists in the Church at all points in time. Ahem.
After the church service, a group of us attempted to navigate the streets of Istanbul to find an ancient church named the Chora (the code name for Mary. I don't know why it's in code. They could have just called it 'Mary'). We got a bit lost and had to ask for directions. A local with a stool and shoe shining tools said he would show us where the church was. We trekked up this ridiculous hill (I pretty much died half-way up) to find the church, which was located in a very suburban area very removed from the typical tourist track. This was one of the definitive points about the church - at one time, it would have been entirely outside of the city limits. In fact, you could walk to the old city wall from the church.
The Chora is absolutely gorgeous. It was covered with priceless mosaics, in such intricate shades and textures that they looked like fine paintings from afar. We didn't have a tour guide so we used Annika's 'Rick Steves' guidebook to figure out some of the more interesting mosaics. I would say that the Chora is probably the prettiest church we've been too, and the most off of the beaten path. The ancient idea of biblical stories is so interesting to see expressed in art, considering our modern idea of the same stories is tainted by modern artistic movements. The concept of representation through mosaic is something so wonderful, it's a shame it's not en mode now. My favorite painting (because there were frescos too) was of an angel holding "the cosmos" on its back. The cosmos looks like a sea shell, and has a sun and a moon. It's gorgeous.
After the church, we went to a Roman cistern that was built in the 3rd century or so. Acutally...I'm probably making that date up. Anyway, the cistern was a huge cavern with a bunch of pillars where they used to store the water that would go to the city. It was lit up very artistically with red lights, and there was fish in the small amount of water left for atmospheric effect in the cistern. The colums were stolen from parts of the conquered Roman Empire, so they were a hodge-podge of architectural designs. There were two Medusa columns in the very back, which basically means that there were two stolen blocks with a depiction of Medusa's face underneath two seperate columns. One face was upside down, the other face was on it's side. Good stuff. All in all a fun experience, if only because I felt like I was in the Mines of Moria from the Lord of the Rings. Embarrassing.
After the cistern, a few of us went to the Turkish and Islamic Art Museum, which was really just a collection of ancient artifacts from around Turkey. It was really cool, but I think I might have had a bit too much of history these past few weeks. Things start to look really similar, and the interest quickly faded on my part. There was, however, a really interesting ethnographic display at the museum detailing the life of Turkish women in the past, from nomadic tent dwellers to upper class women living in luxury. It was really fun to see the kind of living and working conditions of Muslim Turkish women from the 14th century on. Rick Steves, who is pretty much the guidebook god, led us through the entire exhibit. We were baffled by his omnipotence.
After the Turkish and Islamic Art Museum, Annika made our group (which consisted of Annika, Colin, me, Katie, Kat, Elaine and Jill) take the most ridiculous picture at a gaudy costume shop in Sultanahmet. While we were putting our costumes on, a huge crowd gathered around the stand to watch us. We looked completely silly and were laughing so hard, I'm not surprised people stared. They most likely thought we were stupid Americans. That particular adventure would fall under the non-successful cultural expreience category. Alas.
I hope you've all been having a beautiful fall in the states. I miss the colors of autumn. And sugary cereal.
Allahaismarladik!
Saturday was Make Everyone In Minnesota Jealous day. Otherwise known as Beach Day. The crew all went to Askari Beach, located in Asia. That's right, Asia. The continent on which 95% of Turkey lies. Shocker: it doesn't look any different than the European side of Turkey.
The beach was gorgeous. The there wasn't a cloud in the sky. The wind, even though it was a bit annoying, provided just the right amount of releif from the heat. The water was perfectly clear and a lovely shade of blue out to sea (the Black Sea, to be exact). There were tons of people on the beach, almost all locals. Of course we found one American to talk to (which happens everywhere we go - you'd be surprised how recognizable our St. Olaf Abroad tags are), and she told us all about her experience in Turkey. I wasn't there for the majority of the conversation. I was in the water. It was much more interesting.
Fun fact: most of the girls on the trip brough one-piece swimsuits on the trip because we were told modesty was going to be a big deal in all of the countries we went to. However, we looked like grandmas at Askari Beach. Every girl there had a bikini on. Even women who probably shouldn't have had bikinis on had bikinis on. I'm glad we brought our one-pieces for Morocco and Egypt, but we definitely stood out in Turkey. As if we didn't look embarrassingly like tourists already.
Sunday was a really full day. Bright and early in the morning we went to a Greek Orthodox Church service. The Greek Orthodox Church is really interesting - they're pretty much Catholic except for a few fundamental differences. If you asked me what those differences were I couldn't tell you. The Greek Orthodox Church is also really into icon worship. Basically that means that Orthodox Christians worship relics of the church, pictures, symbols, etc. They kissed the pictures of Jesus, Mary, the Prophets, the Apostles and other important religious figures in the church. They kissed the coffins of saints that were also there. They kissed boxes and bibles and candles. They kissed pretty much everything, and crossed themselves after each kiss. Extremely different from my Baptist upbringing. We don't kiss. We shake hands.
The service was conducted in Greek (it was three hours of very beautiful but nonsensical chanting) and there was a lot of kissing and bowing and crossing and displaying of icons. A really important guy was there, but I don't remember why he is important. I think it's because he's like the pope of the Greek Orthodox Church in Istanbul. Either way, there was a lot of bowing to him and kissing his hand and crossing towards his general direction. The Church itself is really beautiful, and completely covered in gold. The altar is behind a wall which the layman is not allowed to go behind. I don't really know what goes on near the altar - it's all very mysterious. And there are very few seats for the people to watch the service. Probably because there are so many annoying tourists in the Church at all points in time. Ahem.
After the church service, a group of us attempted to navigate the streets of Istanbul to find an ancient church named the Chora (the code name for Mary. I don't know why it's in code. They could have just called it 'Mary'). We got a bit lost and had to ask for directions. A local with a stool and shoe shining tools said he would show us where the church was. We trekked up this ridiculous hill (I pretty much died half-way up) to find the church, which was located in a very suburban area very removed from the typical tourist track. This was one of the definitive points about the church - at one time, it would have been entirely outside of the city limits. In fact, you could walk to the old city wall from the church.
The Chora is absolutely gorgeous. It was covered with priceless mosaics, in such intricate shades and textures that they looked like fine paintings from afar. We didn't have a tour guide so we used Annika's 'Rick Steves' guidebook to figure out some of the more interesting mosaics. I would say that the Chora is probably the prettiest church we've been too, and the most off of the beaten path. The ancient idea of biblical stories is so interesting to see expressed in art, considering our modern idea of the same stories is tainted by modern artistic movements. The concept of representation through mosaic is something so wonderful, it's a shame it's not en mode now. My favorite painting (because there were frescos too) was of an angel holding "the cosmos" on its back. The cosmos looks like a sea shell, and has a sun and a moon. It's gorgeous.
After the church, we went to a Roman cistern that was built in the 3rd century or so. Acutally...I'm probably making that date up. Anyway, the cistern was a huge cavern with a bunch of pillars where they used to store the water that would go to the city. It was lit up very artistically with red lights, and there was fish in the small amount of water left for atmospheric effect in the cistern. The colums were stolen from parts of the conquered Roman Empire, so they were a hodge-podge of architectural designs. There were two Medusa columns in the very back, which basically means that there were two stolen blocks with a depiction of Medusa's face underneath two seperate columns. One face was upside down, the other face was on it's side. Good stuff. All in all a fun experience, if only because I felt like I was in the Mines of Moria from the Lord of the Rings. Embarrassing.
After the cistern, a few of us went to the Turkish and Islamic Art Museum, which was really just a collection of ancient artifacts from around Turkey. It was really cool, but I think I might have had a bit too much of history these past few weeks. Things start to look really similar, and the interest quickly faded on my part. There was, however, a really interesting ethnographic display at the museum detailing the life of Turkish women in the past, from nomadic tent dwellers to upper class women living in luxury. It was really fun to see the kind of living and working conditions of Muslim Turkish women from the 14th century on. Rick Steves, who is pretty much the guidebook god, led us through the entire exhibit. We were baffled by his omnipotence.
After the Turkish and Islamic Art Museum, Annika made our group (which consisted of Annika, Colin, me, Katie, Kat, Elaine and Jill) take the most ridiculous picture at a gaudy costume shop in Sultanahmet. While we were putting our costumes on, a huge crowd gathered around the stand to watch us. We looked completely silly and were laughing so hard, I'm not surprised people stared. They most likely thought we were stupid Americans. That particular adventure would fall under the non-successful cultural expreience category. Alas.
I hope you've all been having a beautiful fall in the states. I miss the colors of autumn. And sugary cereal.
Allahaismarladik!
Sunday, September 6, 2009
a little bit of spice, a little bit of nudity...
Okay, so apparently blogging is hard to do/keep up with when you don’t have regular internet access. No worries, however – I’m stealing internet from a wireless router located somewhere near me in the SuperDorm. Thank you tsunami, whoever you are. Sorry my friends and I have made your internet connection mysteriously slow as of late.
Ritual update:
Wednesday was Spice Bazaar day. We walked across a bridge to get to the Bazaar, which, considering Istanbul is located on both sides of the Bosphorus, is a daily occurrence – crossing the water I mean. The bridge provided a beautiful view. And smelled like throwup and fish. It was a strange and confusing combination. The Spice Bazaar on the other side is infamous and smells much better. I’m sure it was used at one time mainly to sell spices, but it has fallen prey to westernization and tourism and now sells whatever the hell you want + spices. Surprisingly enough, I had a conversation with a local merchant in Spanish. He tried to tell me that his Spanish wasn’t great considering he had only been taking classes for six months. Not only was his grammar better than mine but his accent was better too. I declined to tell him that I have been taking Spanish classes for a cumulative 7 years.
After the Spice Bazaar we went to a local café for dinner and promptly got ripped off. We were not shown a menu upon entering but told the selection of food we could purchase. The selection was small. Not a big surprise considering we were told the costliest food on the menu. Ouch. We are the worst kind of tourists and it shows. Here at TIME we like to have what we call SCEs, or Successful Cultural Encounters. This was of the unsuccessful variety. Ah, hard life lessons…
Thursday was the most epic and most nude day of the trip. For the followers who don’t know me so well, I’m sorry, but you’re officially about to get a healthy dose of TMI. A group of girls decided to go to a Turkish bath. What is a Turkish bath? Come with me on an awkward journey dear reader…
We walked into the bath and decided to screw frugality in favor of having the full service bath experience. We were shown to a room after we paid and told to take off our clothes and wrap ourselves in a thin piece of cloth. We were given little wooden shoes with a strip of leather – kind of like a poor excuse for a flip flop - and guided to the bath room. The room is heated to a slightly uncomfortable temperature, sort of like a sauna, and is square with a domed top. In the middle of the bath room there is a marble table, and all around the four walls are faucets with water basins underneath. We barely had time to look at the room before large Turkish women in underwear came and yanked off our towels. So here we were, ten girls who knew each other to varying degrees, suddenly completely naked in front of each other. All we could do was sit down next to a basin and pretend to keep what was left of our modesty. Which was just not possible. Because the big Turkish women called us over to the marble table to scrub us down with an exfoliating hand towel one at a time. Goodbye modesty! Hello full frontal flash! The best we could do was grin and bear it. Or strip and bear it?
The Turkish women talked to each other while they were scrubbing. Probably about how blindingly white I am. And about how I totally hit one of the women's boob on accident. Then we got a bubble massage. And finally we got our hair washed. I felt cleaner than I have in…my entire life. After the exfoliating scrub and bubble massage and hair wash, in typical girl fashion, all ten of us congregated on the marble table and has some good old girl talk. Entirely naked. Surprise of the day? I COMPLETELY loved the experience. Women and men alike: if you ever have the chance, GO TO A TURKISH BATH. You will not regret it. And you won’t feel so awkward about asking people to check your butt for grass stains, considering they will have seen much more than your clothed tush by then.
Friday was relatively uneventful, as far as this trip goes. We had a progressive dinner in our dorm. My room was in charge of the vegetable entrée, which consisted of chopped vegetables, cream cheese and iftar bread. More iftar bread than strictly necessary, actually. When we asked the guy at the super market for “beş ekmek lütfen”, he looked at us like we were insane for asking for five loaves of bread. I didn’t think we were crazy at the time, but when 18 of us consumed only 2 of the loaves I had to reevaluate that thought. Double ouch.
Everyone here in Turkey is still really nice. Classes are still really cool – we’re learning about the political history of Turkey, which is a turbulent and radical one. To give you a sampling: Turkey was previously a Muslim state ruled by a sultan until a man named Ataturk came and completely revolutionized the broken system in the late 20s. Not only did he make the state officially secular, but he also reformed many of the institutions that had been dominated by Turkish tradition for hundreds of years. The man was truly radical and he’s immortalized in statues and monuments across the nation, but one has to wonder, with a population that’s 99% Muslim, if his extreme ideology is truly appreciated or even respected by the majority of the Turkish population. Kat and I think discovering the answer would be a cool sociological project. Minus the impossibility of conducting any sort of survey. Alas.
I won’t write about Saturday or Sunday just yet, because I think that might be overload. Know that I am still really enjoying my trip. I highly encourage traveling abroad at any stage of life. And going to a Turkish bath. Just saying.
Allahaismarladık!
Ritual update:
Wednesday was Spice Bazaar day. We walked across a bridge to get to the Bazaar, which, considering Istanbul is located on both sides of the Bosphorus, is a daily occurrence – crossing the water I mean. The bridge provided a beautiful view. And smelled like throwup and fish. It was a strange and confusing combination. The Spice Bazaar on the other side is infamous and smells much better. I’m sure it was used at one time mainly to sell spices, but it has fallen prey to westernization and tourism and now sells whatever the hell you want + spices. Surprisingly enough, I had a conversation with a local merchant in Spanish. He tried to tell me that his Spanish wasn’t great considering he had only been taking classes for six months. Not only was his grammar better than mine but his accent was better too. I declined to tell him that I have been taking Spanish classes for a cumulative 7 years.
After the Spice Bazaar we went to a local café for dinner and promptly got ripped off. We were not shown a menu upon entering but told the selection of food we could purchase. The selection was small. Not a big surprise considering we were told the costliest food on the menu. Ouch. We are the worst kind of tourists and it shows. Here at TIME we like to have what we call SCEs, or Successful Cultural Encounters. This was of the unsuccessful variety. Ah, hard life lessons…
Thursday was the most epic and most nude day of the trip. For the followers who don’t know me so well, I’m sorry, but you’re officially about to get a healthy dose of TMI. A group of girls decided to go to a Turkish bath. What is a Turkish bath? Come with me on an awkward journey dear reader…
We walked into the bath and decided to screw frugality in favor of having the full service bath experience. We were shown to a room after we paid and told to take off our clothes and wrap ourselves in a thin piece of cloth. We were given little wooden shoes with a strip of leather – kind of like a poor excuse for a flip flop - and guided to the bath room. The room is heated to a slightly uncomfortable temperature, sort of like a sauna, and is square with a domed top. In the middle of the bath room there is a marble table, and all around the four walls are faucets with water basins underneath. We barely had time to look at the room before large Turkish women in underwear came and yanked off our towels. So here we were, ten girls who knew each other to varying degrees, suddenly completely naked in front of each other. All we could do was sit down next to a basin and pretend to keep what was left of our modesty. Which was just not possible. Because the big Turkish women called us over to the marble table to scrub us down with an exfoliating hand towel one at a time. Goodbye modesty! Hello full frontal flash! The best we could do was grin and bear it. Or strip and bear it?
The Turkish women talked to each other while they were scrubbing. Probably about how blindingly white I am. And about how I totally hit one of the women's boob on accident. Then we got a bubble massage. And finally we got our hair washed. I felt cleaner than I have in…my entire life. After the exfoliating scrub and bubble massage and hair wash, in typical girl fashion, all ten of us congregated on the marble table and has some good old girl talk. Entirely naked. Surprise of the day? I COMPLETELY loved the experience. Women and men alike: if you ever have the chance, GO TO A TURKISH BATH. You will not regret it. And you won’t feel so awkward about asking people to check your butt for grass stains, considering they will have seen much more than your clothed tush by then.
Friday was relatively uneventful, as far as this trip goes. We had a progressive dinner in our dorm. My room was in charge of the vegetable entrée, which consisted of chopped vegetables, cream cheese and iftar bread. More iftar bread than strictly necessary, actually. When we asked the guy at the super market for “beş ekmek lütfen”, he looked at us like we were insane for asking for five loaves of bread. I didn’t think we were crazy at the time, but when 18 of us consumed only 2 of the loaves I had to reevaluate that thought. Double ouch.
Everyone here in Turkey is still really nice. Classes are still really cool – we’re learning about the political history of Turkey, which is a turbulent and radical one. To give you a sampling: Turkey was previously a Muslim state ruled by a sultan until a man named Ataturk came and completely revolutionized the broken system in the late 20s. Not only did he make the state officially secular, but he also reformed many of the institutions that had been dominated by Turkish tradition for hundreds of years. The man was truly radical and he’s immortalized in statues and monuments across the nation, but one has to wonder, with a population that’s 99% Muslim, if his extreme ideology is truly appreciated or even respected by the majority of the Turkish population. Kat and I think discovering the answer would be a cool sociological project. Minus the impossibility of conducting any sort of survey. Alas.
I won’t write about Saturday or Sunday just yet, because I think that might be overload. Know that I am still really enjoying my trip. I highly encourage traveling abroad at any stage of life. And going to a Turkish bath. Just saying.
Allahaismarladık!
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
let me show you...
Merhaba!
So I don't have too much of an update this time around because we haven't gone anywhere too extravagant - everyone was busy studying for our Turkish test, which was today. And which was not hard at all. Basically, what I'm trying to say is I'm fluent in Turkish now.
Went to Bebek to study yesterday at a coffee shop. Bebek is a little part of town right along the coast where a wealthier part of the population live, and it shows. The women there look like they belong on 90210. I actually felt scuzzy. I saw only one female with a head scarf on the entire day. Quite the contrast to Sultanahmet, the neighborhood where the Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque are located. Istanbul really is a modern city of extremes. Kind of like our own American cities...
Anyway, to orient you I figured I'd post a few pictures of Turkey. I don't have a large variety because I am extremely technologically handicapped and had to battle with my camera for a few days.
The pictures of the Blue Mosque during the day and at night, the picture of the inside of the harem, and the picture of Hagia Sophia belong to Jill Humble. She took them. I did not. They do not belong to me. So please don't steal them.
P.S. The food is absolutely wonderful. I am having no problem at all gorging my face away.
P.P.S. Turkish peanut butter is better than American peanut butter. Heresy! you may shout. However, it is the truth.
Allahaismarladik!
Side street near campus
Inside a market looking up into the street
Overlooking the Bosphorus - the land on the other side of the water is Asia
Looking down onto Bebek
A quad-like area on campus
Inside the harem at Topkopi Palace - the Sultan's Mother's apartments
Hagia Sophia
The Blue Mosque at night. The Muslims are celebrating their Imam (whose name is in lights) because of Ramadan.
The Blue Mosque
So I don't have too much of an update this time around because we haven't gone anywhere too extravagant - everyone was busy studying for our Turkish test, which was today. And which was not hard at all. Basically, what I'm trying to say is I'm fluent in Turkish now.
Went to Bebek to study yesterday at a coffee shop. Bebek is a little part of town right along the coast where a wealthier part of the population live, and it shows. The women there look like they belong on 90210. I actually felt scuzzy. I saw only one female with a head scarf on the entire day. Quite the contrast to Sultanahmet, the neighborhood where the Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque are located. Istanbul really is a modern city of extremes. Kind of like our own American cities...
Anyway, to orient you I figured I'd post a few pictures of Turkey. I don't have a large variety because I am extremely technologically handicapped and had to battle with my camera for a few days.
The pictures of the Blue Mosque during the day and at night, the picture of the inside of the harem, and the picture of Hagia Sophia belong to Jill Humble. She took them. I did not. They do not belong to me. So please don't steal them.
P.S. The food is absolutely wonderful. I am having no problem at all gorging my face away.
P.P.S. Turkish peanut butter is better than American peanut butter. Heresy! you may shout. However, it is the truth.
Allahaismarladik!
Side street near campus
Inside a market looking up into the street
Overlooking the Bosphorus - the land on the other side of the water is Asia
Looking down onto Bebek
A quad-like area on campus
Inside the harem at Topkopi Palace - the Sultan's Mother's apartments
Hagia Sophia
The Blue Mosque at night. The Muslims are celebrating their Imam (whose name is in lights) because of Ramadan.
The Blue Mosque
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