I will explain this link as it appears chronologically in my story of today, but in case you don't actually read the whole post (which you should!)...click on that link!!
What a day! I am all smiles. It started off with a ride on the tram to the glorious Hagia Sophia, which for those of you who don't know was originally an Orthodox church, then a Roman Catholic Cathedral, converted into a Muslim mosque, and now it is a museum. The most interesting part is the combination of Christian and Muslim symbolism throughout the building. When the Muslims took over the Hagia Sophia, because they respected the historical value of the Christian artwork, they did not destroy the paintings, but merely white-washed over them, so that in the future they could be restored. I absolutely love this because it makes such a bold statement about the Muslim community going against every negative stereotype we are fed in America. The building itself was gorgeous. Arabic is such a beautifully written language. I like the fact that it is so far removed from our Latin alphabet that we can't even begin to decipher it. While Arabic is not the spoken language of Turkey (which would be Turkish), there was a great amount of it painted throughout the Hagia Sophia.
After the Hagia Sophia, we headed over to the Tokapi Palace, where half of us split off and went inside and the other half stayed outside. I opted not to go inside, as it was expensive and on Tuesday I am doing a field practicum entirely focused on palaces, and I didn't want to get palaced-out. The gardens surrounding the Tokapi Palace were beautiful, and we relaxed in the shade. Since our next stop was going to be the Blue Mosque (where women have to have their heads covered), I began a failed attempt at properly putting my new pashmina on as a headscarf. There was a group of older Turkish women nearby, and watching my struggle, they came and taught me how to do it. It was a wonderful moment. They didn't speak English, I didn't speak Turkish, but we had this connection. It meant a lot to them that I was trying to experience their culture, and it meant a lot to me that they took me in as one of them. Moments like this one are the reason why I'm here. It was so real and so pure. While it may seem simple and trivial, it truly touched me.
As a small social experiement of my own, I decided to wear my headscarf while I was in the park. I didn't need to have it on there, none of my friends did, and most tourists did not either. I wanted to see the reactions I would get. I was very surprised to see the amount of judgment. Even though we were in Turkey, where wearing a headscarf is completely the norm, I got so many looks (mostly from other non-Turks). I could tell exactly what was going through their heads. Why was I wearing a headscarf? I'm not Muslim. I'm not Turkish. That is THEIR culture, not mine. It was so interesting to experience. Something I thought was also rather surprising, was that I received comments from my own friends about how I didn't need to be wearing the headscarf then and that I looked silly. Silly?! It blows my mind how brainwashed we are in America. As I keep saying, this concept of Islamaphobia has been so horribly ingrained in our minds after 9/11. It's tragic really.
When we finally did arrive at the Blue Mosque, it happened to be during the call to prayer, so it was closed to visitors. We happened to run into a rather persuasive carpet salesman who convinced us to come check out his family's store while the mosque was closed. We agreed and followed him down the street. Upon arriving at his family's carpet store, we were treated like royalty and escorted upstairs to a viewing room, where we met his nephew, Anil, who interestingly enough goes to school in Santa Barbara. First, they provided us with some traditional Turkish apple tea, which is incredibly delicious, and I need to buy an enormous bulk package of it to bring back with me. Anil gave us a very detailed history of Turkish carpet making, and it was surprisingly fascinating. He really knew his stuff. He told us about the different styles, and how each kind is differently handmade. He showed us the different kinds of carpets, and they were gorgeous. After about an hour long presentation, of course Anil was the world's best salesman, and convinced me and Caroline to get some small carpets. Mine is literally maybe 2 square feet. It's very small, but it's handmade, and will make a great wall hanging that I can have for the rest of my life. Not to mention, that it will forever remind me of the ridiculous carpet salesmen and our experience in their store. It was a great time.
After leaving the carpet store, we finally headed back to the Blue Mosque. Since it is still a functioning mosque, unlike the Hagia Sophia, we had to cover up and take our shoes off to go inside. It was beautiful. It is called the Blue Mosque because there were thousands of blue tiles used in the design of the inside of the mosque. From the outside there was nothing blue about it. It was only when you go inside that you could appreciate it's name. The detail of the architecture and the artwork was stunning. I can't wait to post pictures from today.
After the Blue Mosque, we took the tram back to the port and got on the ship for dinner. I decided to go down the street to Starbucks (authentic Turkish culture) for some wifi. It was then that I found a WONDERFUL surprise! (this is where the link at the beginning of the post comes into play) There was an excellent article written about me in the Beacon Times (a Chicago-area newspaper). I am absolutely THRILLED with it. Thank you so much, Al Benson, for your kind words and for taking an interest in my story. I love the article and appreciate it greatly. I hope to get ahold of an actual copy of the paper so that I can frame it. I've had the biggest smile on my face since I discovered it.
And...because as always, I'm Alissa and my life is ridiculous...I've got an excellent story. I was walking back to the ship by myself after discovering the article, absorbed in my 15 minutes of fame and glory, and consequently paying a little less attention to my surroundings than normal. I was walking down the street toward the ship terminal when all of a sudden I found myself ON A MOVIE SET...oh, and not just any movie set...RUSSELL CROWE'S MOVIE SET. My life is so ridiculous all the time!! The best part is...I was so absorbed in how ectastic I was about the article that I didn't even realize it was Russell Crowe! When I got back to the ship I told somebody about it, and they said, "Oh yeah, I heard that Russell Crowe is filming a movie here." Ridiculous. Welcome to my life--I accidentally crash A-list celebrities' movie sets.
Great article, I agree.
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