Well, I've officially crossed another thing off my list. I'm in Turkey! The flights over were pretty easy- I finally watched Frozen and a couple of other decent movies- and sleeping in the Ataturk Airport wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It wasn't awesome but it wasn't hellish either. This morning, I got a few hours sleep, especially after I snagged a bench for a bit, and then headed out to the Air BnB place I had booked. I had to make change for the cash I got so bought a little nectarine juice which was just what I needed as I took the metro, the tram, and the funicular up to the Istikal/Taksim Square area. After borrowing a cell phone from a kindly couple on the street, I met Tugba, the very friendly and kind woman I'm staying with, changed my clothes, and headed out for the day.
The original tentative plan had been to go do the classic stuff today- the Hagia Sophia, Suleyman's Mosque, etc. but since I was right there on Istikal Street, I walked down that, following the Rick Steve's New District guide book. I popped into a few beautiful churches- St. Anthony's and St. Maria's. Both are Roman Catholic churches, rare in the seat of the foundation of the Eastern Orthodox Church, but both so beautiful. St. Anthony's was in the middle of a service and the ceilings at the latter were just stunning. There were also a few cool art exhibits I popped into and one that I made a note of to come back to later in the week.
I bought tickets to see the Whirling Dervishes at the monastery and then headed down to the Galata Tower. The view is apparently incredible but the line was way too long for me to stand in so I wandered down the steep streets back to "sea level" and the Galata Bridge. This place smells like fish and it's no wonder- fishermen congregate both on the banks of the Golden Horn as well as both levels of the Galata Bridge, and fish all day long. Restaurants and little shops line the bridge and you can get a great view of the Old Distrcit skyline as well as the Asian side of Istanbul.
I debated going into the Topkapi Palace and decided instead to go to the Archeological Museum. I got a TON of pictures for next semester, including some shots of things we've specifically talked about in class before. The Archeological museum has three parts- the archeological stuff, the Asian and Oriental Museum, and the Tile Kiosk, which is all ceramics. Some of it was just gorgeous. A lot of the museum was under repair so I"m not entirely sure I saw everything I could have seen but I certainly saw a lot. The museum is right across the path from the old mint which now houses an exhibit that gives an overall look at the history and development of Turkey, which is definitely relevant to what I've been teaching this last semester.
I wandered through Gulhane Park and didn't realize there were so few exits and entrances in the park so made my walk back across the Galata Bridge and up to Istikal Street again. The uphill hike at the end of the day was NOT fun and when I got to the Galata Dervish Monastery, there was already a big crowd. However, I was lucky enough to get a front row seat so I'd have good views of the show. The Whirling Dervish- or Semanzencauses- ceremony represents a "mystical journey of man's spiritual ascent through mind and love to the Perfect." The dervish with his head-dress and his white skirt, is spiritually born to the truth, by removing his black cloak, he journeys and advances to spiritual maturity through the stages of the Sema ceremony. The ceremony began with a eulogy to the Prophet, followed by a drum sound symbolizing the Divine order of the dreator. The dervishes were accompanied by a wooden flute player, a drummer, and an oud player, all whom chanted at various times. There was also a leader dervish who was much older and never whirled and another one who never took off his cloak but the other five all greeted each other three times in a circular walk and saluted each other. and God. The whirling is pretty hypnotizing. They all go at different speeds but spin in the same drection. I have no idea how they don't get tired or want to throw up. I also had to admit that the second I sat down, I knew I was in for it because there was certainly some dozing off on my part. Disappointing because it was kind of expensive....
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