Choice.

Sultan Ahmed Mosque, or The Blue Mosque.

The following is an entry from my journal that I've been keeping. I've been taping in my ticket stubs, receipts and random handouts in it, all as trinkets of my random adventures so far. Yesterday I ended up wandering off alone and sat down in a walled garden to write this entry:

7/7/11
I'm lost. That's typical at this point, but what is also the standard is the fact that I'm perfectly content. Today I decided to be anti-social again and took off on my own into Istanbul. As a city filled with history, Istanbul was sure to provide me with some great adventure of learning. That was definitely the case. 


I began by going to the stationary store that we had gone to earlier in the week. Last time I went and got tape so that I could start taping things into my journal. This time I was in search of pens. I ended up buying 2 pens for 1 lira, roughly 62 cents. Later I realized that neither of the pens actually worked. My fault, 62 cents lost. Later on I bought a pen (this very pen I'm writing with in fact) and I made sure to test it out beforehand. Obviously it's functioning. 


After the pen failure, I decided I would go to the Blue Mosque since I hadn't been yet. Just as I was arrive the call to prayer sounded. I watched as hundreds of Muslim (mostly Muslim tourists) filled into the mosque.  They crowded into the entrance, bubbling out into the marble courtyard and slowing they removed their shoes and disappeared into the darkness of the mosque. A few non-Muslim tourists tried to get in, but a man in a blue uniform kept them out and pointed them to the entrance around the corner. I waited for a while, listening to the drone of the chants over the loudspeakers and watched as the bubble of men and women slowly trickled in. It was interesting to observe the differing levels of piety. Some women wear full black body coverings, their hands and eyes as the only skin visible. I find their cloaks mesmerizing, the way that the fabric billows behind and falls is absolute elegance. Other women had head coverings that differed in design and colors, some floral and pastel colored. Men mostly wore slacks, and short-sleeved collared shirts, but I was surprised to see that some of the younger men wore shorts. A number of men had on small fabric hats as well. 

A little boy and his sister peeked in to watch the praying men too.

Eventually I went around to the visitor's entrance and peeked through the window at the front to see rows of men and boys standing side by side in prayer. They would genuflect every so often and touch their heads to the ground in front of them. I sat and waited in the shade of the mosque on the marble steps while the chants of the main cantor (called the imam) wafted out of the mosque. 

The blue tiling gives the mosque its name.

After prayer ended, I was able to go inside. I removed my shoes as is customary, and walked in, picking up two flyers on my way. The Blue Mosque is beautiful. The multiple domes were more impressive than any of the other mosques I had been to prior and the tiling was stunningly gorgeous. When the mosque was made under the rule of Sultan Ahmed in the early 17th century, there was controversy because it was designed with 6 minarets instead of the usual 4 or less. People thought that Ahmed was being too ornate in his plans and ran the risk of trying to out do Mecca's main mosque. He spared no expense with the Mosque and I see why it is considered one of the most important religious structures in the world. 

Charms to protect against the evil eye.

I eventually wandered out of the mosque and headed to the Calvary Bazaar located behind the Mosque. One the way I wanted to visit the carpet museum, but it seemed to be closed. I continued on to the Bazaar and wanted to see the Mosaic Museum, but had some trouble finding it in the bazaar. A few shop and restaurant owners were happy to help me out and I found it after a while. 

Mosaic Museum. 

The mosaics were, as all things here are, amazing. Made for the Grand Palace, the art depicted a variety of scenes of animals and people. There were also satyrs or some mythological creature of that sort. I read about how the mosaics were saved in a painstaking process of restoration by replacing the original cement/mortar. 

My tour guide and new friend.

I finished up with the museum and went down the street hoping to run into Little Hagia Sophia. Eventually I wandered into an area that felt really local and found a small mosque. Lo and behold I'd found the Little Hagia Sophia. As I went in, a old man greeted me and struck up a conversation. At first I was hesitant, but I decided to go along with it. What followed was the most comprehensive tour I have ever gotten. The man guided me through every tiny part of the mosque, revealing all of the history, including origins of the stones. He told me stories on the differences and changes that had occurred over the years, such as the transformation of the structure from a Orthodox Christian church to a mosque and its restoration. Literally he led me through everything from the different seals on the columns to the nails and the carpet. He also came with me through the cemetery out back and explained to me the grave structure of the Ottomans and many of the tombs.

Little Hagia Sophia.

77 different types of turbans found on Ottoman tombs. Styles reflect professions.

In the end he asked for 30 lira, around $20, and I happily obliged. [Today I went to a few more mosques with my teacher's brother-in-law and he was impressed/surprised that I knew so much about the mosque structure and the Islamic faith.] The man emphasized that we are now good friends, saying that I could come back anytime for any kind of help. He gave me directions to the fish market and other churches I should visit. He also cautioned against all different sorts of traps at the clubs in Taksim. We are headed there tonight so his advice will definitely be put to use. 

Orothodox church I stumbled upon. Chanter in center.

After walking along the water, I made it to the fish market and peeked around. I decided I didn't want to buy expensive seafood, having been warned earlier by a fellow Yalie who got food poisoning. I ended up walking back up the hill through many local neighborhoods and stopped in a small Orthodox church just in time to catch the end of a prayer. I sat in the back of the totally empty pews while a man in religious garb stood at the front chanting. 

Cats and dogs roam the streets everywhere. I found sleeping kittens at the church.

Now I'm resting in a random courtyard I found. It appears to be a tomb place. More adventures always. This city is brilliant. Taksim tonight!


------

We never made it to Taksim last night, thankfully. One of the girls had her 20th birthday, so we wanted to celebrate by doing wine and going to the clubs. Before the nighttime festivities, I had a hilarious run in with a baker when I strolled in to buy some Birthday Bakalava, and got 34 lira worth of different sorts of bakalava for the 29 lira that people had collected.

Afterwards I wandered to find dinner. Again, I keep getting into interesting situations. This time I was herded into a restaurant that we had ate at a few days earlier. A Turkish man around 55 with peppered hair took the 3.5 lira that I had and gave me a great meal that was certainly more than that. "As [his] guest" I was also treated to apple tea, a famous drink here that is basically hot apple cider. Afterwards he asked if I wanted to see his leather shop. Turns out the man didn't even work at the restaurant, he was just there because he helps out his neighbor every night after work. I was hesitant to go with him because I was alone and I was supposed to go start the birthday festivities soon, but again I figured we not. He directed me around the the corner and up a shady staircase. I was the tiniest bit nervous, but once I saw the door labelled Leather Fashion I realized he wasn't going to mob me. Inside were three huge rooms of leather coats. He had me try on a few, they were beautiful, but I had literally spent all the money I carried on the dinner and there were a million other reason why I didn't/don't need a leather jacket. I was finally able convince him that I wasn't searching for a jacket by saying that I came from a place that was too hot for leather jackets.... New Haven's hot right? He shook his head and laughed realizing that he wasn't going to get a sell out of me. I thought he was going to shoo me out of the store, but instead we sat and talked. We sat in his room of leather, talking about everything from his other shop in Austria to relationships. He wanted to actually know about me, asked me if I had a girlfriend(s), if I was looking for a Turkish girl etc. I told him that I was single but assured him that I was not looking. At one point, he brought up how he had run into two French boys in the week prior. One had girlfriend and the other had boyfriend. His eyes went wide when he recounted the story. "How can this be?" he said, "I don't know, but you know everyone has different choice. Some people have other choice. You have your choice, I have my choice, he have his choice. Not bad, just different choice. Everyone has choice. It is okay."

Our conversation covered a whole host of topics, and by the end of the half hour I realized I was so lucky to have stumbled on this new good friend. He offered to go to a bar with me and get a beer, but I had to get going at that point. He has invited me over for a beer tonight, and I'm going to bring a few of the other students and visit him after he gets off work.

The night time festivities were ridiculously fun. Again we had wine on roofs and this time with Turkish Delight and Birthday Baklava. Eventually we headed out, hoping to go to Taksim, but instead our teacher's husband found us as we were leaving and suggested that we go to a nearby bar. It was a much better decision, because Taksim can be dangerous for tourists and we hadn't been before. Yeni Rakı is a Turkish drink here. You add water to the alcohol and it becomes cloudy and tastes like licorice. Not my favorite, but I'm glad I tried it.

There are so many stories and so much to experience here. I wish I could just record it all, but I guess I have to save some of them for the telling. I've learned so much about the Islamic faith and Turkish culture. I haven't even touched on how amazing archaeology is. The work that goes into excavation is filled with problems that I never even thought to consider. From politics to preservation, there is so much to learn and I'm astounded at how complex it is. Apologies for the long post, but it's all too exciting not to share.