Turkey

Friday 29:           

This morning we woke up at 5:30 AM to see the sunrise as we sailed through the Bosporus Strait. It was quite beautiful and well worth the early morning wake up! Everywhere along the coast of Turkey we saw their country’s flag. Nationalism makes up a big part of their culture and it is even against the law to speak out against Turkey or to criticize Mustafa Kemal, also known as Ataturk or the “Father of Turkey.” After watching the sunrise, we went back to bed for a few more hours before getting up to explore the country. Before heading out, we looked out of our cabin window to see the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque. What an amazing view to have right from our own room! We put on our conservative clothing and then headed out. We noticed that many of the women were dressed in the full head to toe burkah and several women only showed their eyes. Right when we got off the ship, we were immediately taken aback when we heard a loud noise. We soon realized, however, that it was the Islamic call to prayer that happens five times a day. As we continued to walk down the street we saw everyone kneel down and press their head to the ground in prayer.

We then entered the Grand Bazaar, which was huge! With over 4000 shops you can literally buy anything and everything there. From jewelry, scarves, rugs, knockoff purses, shoes and watches, the Grand Bazaar was endless. Bargaining was fun but then it just got kind of annoying. They always start off with ridiculously high prices and you have to waste so much time trying to get them to lower it. Plus everywhere you went, vendors would tell you how beautiful you are, that you are an angel from paradise. Hahaha It was quite an experience and we got some good purchases! Afterwards we stopped to eat some Turkish Delight, which is this gelatin like snack with pistachios, honey and powdered sugar.

We went back to the ship to catch our FDP to see the Sufi Whirling Dervish ceremony. These practices date back to the 13^th century and are indigenous to Turkey. In these ceremonies, the so called “Whirling Dervishes” use their mystical music and dance to spin in circles, representing a union with God and reaching a state of spiritual ecstasy.  It was very special to have a look into this spiritual ceremony. The ritual was hypnotizing and almost put several people to sleep. You could tell that the Dervishes were really feeling a connection and a few of them had their eyes roll to the back of their head as they spun. When the performance was over, we had the opportunity to ask questions to the wise man about the ritual. Afterwards we met up with the rest of our friends to go out to Taksim, which is the square that is filled with bars and clubs. Today our friend Genny turned 21 so we went out to celebrate!

Saturday 30:           

We started off our day by heading to the Topkapi Palace, home to Mehmed II’s court and the center of Ottoman government. The complex is made up of three courtyards and includes the Sultan’s harem. It was filled with beautifully designed buildings and courtyards. One room that we went into featured objects from the Sultan’s treasury. Everything in there was so elaborate and ornate. Even the Sultan’s water pitcher was covered in emeralds and rubies. What I was most blown away by, however, was the jewelry. There was a ring with an 86-carat diamond that was surrounded by 49 more diamonds. It was bigger than the palm of my hand! Then we toured the harem, which is the enclosed quarters where all of the Sultan’s women, children and other female relatives would live. The interior was beautifully decorated with tile walls. We spent much of our day there exploring the grounds before heading back to the ship to meet our professor at 2:30 for another FDP for my Modern History of the Middle East and North Africa class. We traveled to the Istanbul Bar Association to learn about women and the law in Turkey from practicing attorneys and judges. We visited the association’s headquarters and met with the president and other leaders of the Bar Association’s Women’s Rights Centre, along with a family court judge. They spoke to us about women’s roles in Turkish society and answered all of our questions on legal issues affecting women and their families. We learned that since 1923 women’s rights have become a major priority in Turkey and there have been many laws passed to improve their condition. Later on in the evening we went to the Hookah District to smoke some nargileh and have Turkish tea. The place where we went served you cherries, apples, apricots, watermelon and all kinds of nuts while you smoked hookah. While we were there, the call to prayer played once again and it was such a cool cultural experience.

Sunday 31:

Today we decided to knock out a bunch of sight seeing. One of my professors has been to Turkey three times and is very knowledgeable about its sites so let us tag along with him and his family.  It was great because he could fill us in on all of the history of what we were viewing. Our own private tour guide! First we went to the Basilica Cistern. Constructed in the 6^th century, this underground area was used originally as a water reserve for Istanbul. You may recognize it from the season of the Bachelorette that Ali and Roberto were on, where Ali had a date there. Afterwards we went to the Blue Mosque (more formally known as the Sultan Ahmed Mosque). When we entered we had to take off our shoes and completely cover our head and shoulders. Built to outdo the Hagia Sophia (the mosque we would go to next) it was beautiful with its blue tiled walls. Next we headed to the Hagia Sophia. For over 1000 years it was a church before being converted into a mosque in 1453 when Constantinople was taken over by the Ottoman Turks under Sultan Mehmed II. It has now been turned into a museum. Inside you could see uncovered Christian mosaics that had been covered over with Islamic writings and paint from when it was transformed into a mosque. After we finished touring the Hagia Sophia, we left our professor and went to lunch where we had hummus and chicken crepes. When we finished eating we went to the Galata Tower, one of the oldest towers in the world. It was built by Byzantine emperor Anastasius Oilozus in 528 as a lighthouse. We took an elevator up to the top where you could look out and see the whole city of Istanbul. It was a pretty spectacular view and we could even see our ship!

Monday 1:

First we went back to the Grand Bazaar. We needed to purchase more conservative clothing since we have to be covered everyday here and will have to dress the same when we go to Morocco next. I got some really cool Aladin pants. Something else cool was that Ben Afleck was in Turkey today preparing for his new movie. He was in the Grand Bazaar plotting his scenes and my friends Amy and Genny saw him! Supposedly no one was even bothering him though. None of the locals knew who he was so he was just walking around the Grand Bazaar like any other person.

Turkey is split between two continents, Europe and Asia so we decided when we finished shopping to take a ferry over to Asia. We had lunch there and walked around for a while. It pretty much looked just like the Turkey side in Europe but at least now we can say now that we’ve been to another continent!

Ramadan started today so many of the locals have been fasting all day long. At sunset, when they can eat again, they all rush to the Hippodrome (an old stadium used for horse and chariot racing) to grab food that vendors come out to sell. It is kind of like a little festival and there are a bunch of stalls selling all sorts of things, not just food. There is jewelry, artwork, candles, and spices among other things. The surrounding mosques were all lit up and there were flags and balloons everywhere. When we arrived to the Hippodrome, there were hundreds of people sitting at little tables, waiting with their food for the signal to eat. As soon as the call to prayer played they all devoured the food. What a cool thing to be a part of! Afterwards we walked around the Hippodrome a little while longer, eventually stopping to observe a street artist make paintings using a technique called ebru, or marbling. It basically entails using glue, wall paper and oil paint to make paintings. For 5 Liras you could make your own, so we all made our own Turkish street art painting. When we finished we walked to the Backpacker’s Area behind Topkapi Palace which is this cute little area with lots of restaurants. We found this awesome place to get drinks and we sat on the floor on pillows all night and had hookah once again.

Tuesday 2:

Today was quite an experience to say the least. We had heard so much about Turkish baths so we decided to go to a Hamami called Cemberlitas. Basically what happens is you walk into a huge steam room and lay down on this marble slab wearing nothing but some underwear that they give you. You just lay there on the slab sweating with all of these other women while you wait to be scrubbed down. Then a big, fat burly Turkish woman comes over to wash you. They are literally some of the ugliest women with huge saggy boobs that are falling out of their bras and they are essentially naked too except for their bra and underwear. So basically what happens is they throw water on you, literally chunk a bucket of it at you. And then they have a rough loofah and scrub your whole body, and I mean they scrub everywhere. When they want you to flip they slap your arm and you kind of feel like a piece of meat. Then they rub you down again before splashing more water all over you. Next they take you over to a sink to wash your hair and then you could sit in the jacuzzi for a while. Afterwards I was led into another room where I received an oil massage that was pretty rough. I left feel very relaxed but at the same time a little violated. It was a great experience though and for sure one that I will never forget! We hit up the spice bazaar for a little bit before heading back to the ship. It was very similar to the Grand Bazaar but no where near as big and instead sold lots of different types of teas, coffees, spices and candies. Vendors would call out to us as we passed their store that they had poison for our mother in laws and aphrodisiac for our boyfriends. Haha

I was really bummed when the ship finally pulled out of Turkey. I absolutely loved it here and am so fascinated by the country’s culture and people. I also realized that from the day we arrived to Spain (June 27) to the day we left Turkey (August 2) we have only had 6 full days of class. Not bad!

Pictures: 1. Grand Bazaar 2. Topkapi Palace 3. Hookah bar 4. Basilica Cistern 5. Blue Mosque 6. Hagia Sophia 7. Grand Bazaar 8. Turkish street art 9. Ramadan sign in front of Hagia Sophia