But first--I had to make a friend.
HEY THERE, BUD.
Hundreds of stray cats and dogs roam the streets of Istanbul. They're often very friendly and well-fed, as bowls of dry pet food and of water line the corners of the streets. It's so cute--it's like the city of Istanbul has its own pets (: But back to the mosque:
WOAH.
All alone... Humbling experience
Beautiful, right? The Hagia Sophia used to be a church in the Byzantine time but was converted into a mosque in the Ottoman period. I enjoyed sitting on the marble steps soaking in the history and the two religions that have graced these halls.
Next up--the Basilica Cistern. This underground water source provided the fresh water for dozens of wells around the city. It was a cavern right out of Indiana Jones, and it was probably my favorite place in Istanbul!
Catfish swimming around the columns!
Me and the columns! Woo!
Medusa statue on which a column rested. The Medusa head was purposely turned sideways as a symbol of Christianity's victory and quashing of the pagan Roman religion. Cool!
After the Cistern was a trip to a Turkish bath. No pictures of that, since it was a spa, but wow--it was like being transported back in time! My two friends are I were the only non-Turks in the bath, and there were only, like, three other girls under the age of 50 in the bath. It was so relaxing and so exotic. I adored the soothing massages and the steaming water to loosen my tense muscles. Highly recommend this experience to all! There was also something beautiful about this calm and quiet gathering of women. Most women walk around Turkey covered at least in headscarves and often with hijabs. It must be so freeing to release one's body from the folds of fabric in the warm, affectionate, and comfortable atmosphere of the bath.
We made our way back to our hostel using public transportation--boy, what an experience. I stood on a crowded subway and felt people pressing in on all sides of me. Then--I kid you not--I felt somebody CUPPING my BUTT.
Oh HELLLLLLL NO!
I turned around in shock and saw this pathetic middle-aged man hastily pulling his hand away. I smacked him and said "Don't you DARE," then gave him my most withering look of disgust. He tried to look innocent, but he probably wasn't used to women calling him out--they don't have much of that firey Creole spice in Turkey. And the worst part? His 7 year old daughter was hanging onto his waist the whole time!!! I was revolted. How can a father of a young daughter grope a teenage woman in front of her?!!! As you might guess--not my most favorite of male-female interactions I've encountered thus far. But I think I taught this guy not to mess.
Anyways, that night, my friends and I explored the suburbs of our hostel with a few Scottish girls we met. We find a nice pizza place that took FOREVER in getting our food. We had terrible service and were barely paid attention to. Probably because the waiter's salary don't depend even the slightest on tips. So there's one benefit to the American custom--waiters and waitresses have smiles on their faces!
We went to sleep, then woke up the next morning after some sleeping in. We decided to explore some of the lesser known mosques away from the touristy parts of the city, and we found some absolute gems, my favorite being the Rustem Pasha Mosque.
Stunning
The walls are blue and white, meant to represent the reach of the heavens. The carpets were red to represent the earth. I felt close to the same peace and calm in this church that I'd experienced in Christ's jail. I really did love this mosque!
We then visited Suleymayine Mosque, which is said to rival the Blue Mosque.
I loved the grandeur of this mosque. It was heavenly. My friend and I, though, both felt a similar severe disillusionment when we saw the grand emptiness of the main mosque as the men prayed--and a woman in a back cell wearing full hijab praying even further from the main altar than the tourists were. It left our stomachs in knots for reasons we later articulated. If nothing else, this culture of a combined religion and state inspired incredible conversations about culture, religion, sexism, human rights, and God with the other girls I was with.
From the mosques, we visited the best silversmith in the world as well as a man whose family has melted gold into jewelry for the last few centuries.
Standing in front of the silversmith shop
What a guy!
Melting the gold!
From these two shops, we headed back to the hostel to change into some nice slothes and walk to the Harvard Networking Night in Istanbul. The view was stunning--
artsyyyy
--and the drinks were flowing. At least, until the Istanbul Club president left--then the bills came out to all of the recent graduates and alumni. LOL. Classic Harvard, I've gotta say. One of the incredible alumni, whom my friend and I had been talking to for about a half hour, covered our frappuccinos, so we were pretty stoked. We stopped at a beautiful chocolate place where we continued to discuss our opinions and beliefs. By the time we returned to our hostel, it was about 11 PM. We headed to the airport shuttle, which dropped us off at our airport around 1 in the morning. Since we had to check in for our flight around 4... We decided to sleep in the airport!! Felt just like the movie The Terminal.
Hehehe.
We made it to a Starbucks on the top floor and flopped out on the couches. Our dear friend Ahmed watched out for us as he cleaned the Starbucks area. We slept for about 2 hours then sat there in slightly delusional exhaustion. We made it onto our plane and crashed for the hours it took to get back to Israel. After a few hours, I arrived back at my home. It was so exciting to walk up the steps and open the door. I started gushing right away to my host mother, who said the whole family had missed me--probably not as much as I missed them!! And when I finally walked into my room--I started crying!!! It was bittersweet, I think. Slightly bitter, because all I wanted to do was speak with my mom and dad. But incredibly sweet, because I felt like I was home. After three weeks here, this house on Nordau Street has become my home. How lucky am I?!
If you can believe it--my four day trip cost me less than $200 including my hostel and souvenirs. The flight was $167. It's amazing how cheap this vacation was! I plan on spending the next day and a half catching up on sleep--and on the show The Americans! I love you all!
Happy to be Home,
Aubrey Noelle
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