Istanbul

When I planned my trip to Istanbul, my greatest worry was flying by myself (because as everyone knows, flying is one of my least favorite things to do in the world). I realized that I have only flown completely alone one other time in my life. It helped that my parents were also flying out of Cairo that day around the same time, so it was easy for me to get to the airport and find my gate with their help. When I got to the airport, it was easy for me to check in, but it took my parents some more time. By the time we went through Egyptian Immigration, we had just enough time to walk downstairs to my gate. It soon became clear that I would be the only American on the flight. After a few minutes, they called us up to go through security to wait at another area of the gate. I said goodbye to my parents and wished them well on their long journey back to the US and headed toward this area. We (me and all the Egyptians on my flight, I don't think there were even any Turks) were kept in this area for only a few minutes before we boarded buses that brought us to the plane (there was no gate ramp, we walked onto the runway and up the steps). I boarded the plane and found my seat. It was a big plane and pretty nice. We waited on the plane for a while and then taxied for what seemed like forever before finally taking off on the two hour and ten minute flight. It was a pleasant flight. The highlight was probably when the steward coming around handing out breakfast said to me, "You're not Turkish are you?" I am guessing this was his reaction to me because it was clear that I was not Egyptian and also fairly clear that I was not Turkish. I responded that I was not. I was actually American, and studying abroad this semester in Cairo. He became very excited and told me that he was going to America next month. I asked if he was going for work, and he said yes. I told him I was going to America next month on the Cairo-JFK flight, and he said that, yes, this was the flight he would be working. I told him the date I was flying, but he was not sure if he would be working that day. We exchanged telephone numbers (I was a little skeptical about this. Honestly, I think it's an innocent, nice thing and as a nervous flier it will be great to have a contact on board for my long flight home, but as an American especially you can't help but be nervous about these sorts of things. I made sure to tell him that I would be flying with three of my friends, two of which are boys. And he seemed fairly receptive to this). He told me to contact him closer to the date we're leaving.

We landed right on time and that is when it hit me that while I was worrying about the flight I probably should have been worrying about landing in Turkey (where they speak neither Arabic nor English as their primary language) alone. I basically followed the crowd to obtain my Turkish visa and make my way through Turkish immigration. I then tried to exchange some money because I had been texting my friends (who arrived in Istanbul from Cairo several days before) and they wanted me to meet them at the Palace in Sultan Ahmet. I did not know what any of this meant, but I knew I needed to take a taxi and I knew I would probably need some form of currency other than Egyptian pounds to do this. I tried to exchange my pounds for Turkish Lira but was told that I could not exchange Egyptian pounds because (and this is a direct quote), "Turkey is part of Europe." This is interesting on many levels. England is part of Europe also, and I am assuming that they, along with other European nations, such as France, Italy, Switzerland, etc. would be able to, as the US is, to exchange any and all kinds of money. Also, certain European countries, specifically France, may have their own opinion on whether or not Turkey is "part of Europe." But I will say more about that later. Right now, thankfully, I did have some American dollars that I was able to exchange for Lira. After walking outside the airport, I also took some Euro out of an ATM. Considering I had just been told how "European" Turkey was, I figured it might be a safe thing to have.

I then quickly found a taxi and took the twenty or so minute ride to Sultan Ahmet. It was a great ride. The taxi was clean. Turkish roads are modern, and there are traffic laws, lights in appropriate places, and beeping only when absolutely necessary. It looked like there was little to no pollution in the air. We drove along the water, which the taxi driver told me was the Sea of Marmara. There were lots of ships out, many parks around the sea, and even a running route along the sea. It made me want to run outside! After marveling at all this during the ride, I was dropped off by a cafe, of which I texted my friends the name. They told me they would be right there. Unfortunately, in that time the cafe owner came to talk to me. He tried to have me tell my friends I would meet them at the Four Seasons instead, where his daughter worked. Apparently, he could also sell all of us carpet there. I warded off his pleas for just long enough before everyone arrived. I had my luggage still with me, so we divided that up among us (which meant the boys had to take turns carrying my Vera Bradley bag. I felt bad about this, but only slightly so, because it was also quite funny).

After meeting with my friends, we went headed to the palace. To do this we walked through the Hagia Sophia square, so we saw the exterior of both the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque (they are across from each other). They were gorgeous. The palace was also quite impressive. It was huge and there were many exhibit type rooms. My favorite room was the room filled with the clothes of the Ottoman Sultans. Their clothes were huge. I can't tell if they were actually that big as a people (because their thrones, which are also on display) are huge also, of if they were just swimming in their clothes. Either way, most of the garments were made of silk, and one was even made of velvet, and were absolutely beautiful. The clothes dated back as early as the 16th century and as late as the 19th century, so it was also interesting to see the evolution. We also saw countless swords and jewels. Then came one of the most interesting sections. In one of the exhibits, we saw the "Staff of Moses," "Sword of David," "Footprint of the Prophet," and "Hair from the Prophet's Beard." All of us doubted the validity of these claims, but then again you never know. In this room also, were various pieces of the Karbala in Mecca, which we thought to be legitimate and very interesting.

After touring the palace for several hours, we went to an early dinner at a Turkish sort of diner. It was empty and they were not offering much of their menu because it was still during the Eid Holiday. On Sunday apparently, things would be more open and running normally. It was decent however, and over the meal, everyone filled me in on what they had been doing in Turkey in my absence. The highlight apparently had been Friday when they took a ferry to Asia (apparently part of Turkey is in Europe and part is in Asia) where they wandered around a fairly residential district. They were quite lost at one point and were having little luck with their map, so they asked a nice Turk to point them in the right direction. He told them they were probably lost because the map they were looking at was of Europe, not Asia and he helped them find their way back to the ferry. During their time in Turkey, they had also sampled the various types of street food and they recommended several types to me, including bagels, chestnuts, corn, fish sandwiches, and Salep (a kind of milk drink with cinnamon). They also raved about the Turkish Delight and Apple Tea. And they filled me in on the transportation situation. We were lucky enough to be staying at a Marriott because one of my friend's dads used to work for them, but it was quite far from the sights and cabs were getting unbelievably expensive. So they had figured out the train and trolley system, which was efficient and inexpensive. They said I would learn quickly that small change was a life saver, as each ride was 1.50 Turkish Lira. (The exchange rate between Lira and USD is 1.45, the dollar being stronger). After dinner, we went out for ice cream, and I got the chestnut flavor. It was very good.

The boys then decided to stay out to go to some bars, while the girls headed back for an early night. I was definitely fine with this because I was tired from traveling and I was excited to get up and out early the next day to see the Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque.

Unfortunately, when we woke up the next day it was raining. Actually it was pouring. We decided to save the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque for the next day when the weather would be better. (The weather in Turkey was cold as it was and in the rain it would have been miserable). We went to a breakfast place by our hotel. I had Menemen, a traditional Turkish breakfast with eggs, cheese, and vegetables in a sort of tomato sauce. It was very good. After breakfast, it had stopped raining some, so we decided to go into the city. The boys went on a hunt for a Turkish Bath and the girls shopped. We bought scarves, boxes of Turkish Delight and Apple Tea, and lamps. The scarves I bought were beautiful and I love the lamp I bought as well. Shopping took us a few hours and afterward we returned to out hotel for a while before heading back into the city to meet the boys for dinner in Taxim, a 'posh' region of Istanbul. We had dinner at a fish market. I had the salmon, which was delicious. We then went to a bar on 'French Street' where the boys had been the night before. We sat at an outside table (a lot of bars and restaurants still had outdoor seating options even though it was cold; most provided heat lamps for those seated outside). We stayed for a bit and then caught the train back. It was a nice night.

The next morning I woke up early to go to the gym in the Marriott and although I had to be up very early to do this, it was one of the best decisions I have ever made. The gym in the Marriott was beautiful and the treadmills overlook the pool which overlooks the Sea. The sun doesn't rise in Turkey until about 7:15AM, so I was lucky enough to see the sun rise over all the ships on the sea. It was a great sight and a great way to start the day. Every time I looked at the Sea in Turkey, I couldn't help but think of my grandfather. When he was in the Navy, on the USS Albany, he was stationed in Turkey. I am not sure if his ship was on the Sea or not and I don't think that now there is much of a military presence of the Sea, but seeing the ships on the Sea did remind me of him. It's amazing to think that so many years ago he was experiencing some o of the same things I am experiencing. When I asked him about Turkey, he told me it was beautiful and very clean. I would agree with him about this. He also said it was very religious. This is something very interesting that I will talk about more at the end of this post.

We started our day by heading to a breakfast buffet in town. After breakfast, we went over to the blue mosque but it was closing for noon prayer, so we went over the the Hagia Sophia. This was the big downfall of the trip. The Hagia Sophia is closed on Mondays. We were incredibly disappointed but there was nothing we could do and it was no one's fault. We took some pictures outside and then wandered around for a bit, sampling more traditional Turkish food, such as Potato pancakes, which we were lucky enough to watch them make for us at a cafe. At about 1:30PM, we went back to the Blue Mosque and were admitted (though not through the Turkish entrance, where we first tried to be admitted. I think it could have worked out for me. My head was covered. But the blue eyes of the other three girls I was with were a give-away. It was no problem, we just had to be directed to the appropriate entrance, which someone was happy to do for us. On the whole people were very nice in Turkey). The mosque was incredible inside. It was most interesting to watch the people there praying. After we spent some time there, we went to the tower, which has a great view of the entire city. I took some amazing pictures there. The tower is near the water so after we left, we walked along the water a bit. It was very interesting to see the people fishing there. After walking around the coast for a while, we headed back into town for dinner. (I had a Spinach pancake, which was great!) After dinner, we bought some Baklava and Turkish Delight and planned to enjoy it over a movie at the hotel, so we could call it an early night before having to be up early the next day to travel back to Cairo.

The next morning we took an early shuttle to the airport for out 12:30PM flight. Having been in Turkey, we were a bit disheartened to return to Cairo, where there is pollution, traffic, inefficiency, and much less modernization and development, but we were comforted by the fact that we have only three weeks left in Cairo. (And we were also encouraged by the fact that though we would return to Cairo, we would not return to AUC. In true Egyptian fashion, classes have been cancelled nation wide until December 6 because there is a fear that the return from the Eid Holiday would accelerate the spread of swine flu. By AUC's schedule, we are only missing two additional class days, Wednesday and Thursday, but we now have four days off in a row, Wednesday-Saturday, before classes re-assume on Sunday. In some ways it's good, we're planning a sight-seeing trip to the Step Pyramid. In some ways it's frustrating. But most of all it's something we're all coming to expect and becoming accustomed to. TIE.) Regardless, we were all tempted by the 11:30AM flight to Chicago. We kept each other strong though, and we are currently back in the Zamalek dorms ready to tackled these last few weeks.

I enjoyed my short time in Turkey a lot and I am glad that I went there. Besides incredible sights, it was an interesting place to consider, considering its current involvement in international politics. It is trying as hard as it can to be "European" because it desperately wants EU membership. Our consensus opinion is that it is almost there. We said it needs about five to ten more years to perfect its development. I'd say it is maybe just a step behind Israel and leaps and bounds beyond Egypt and Jordan (if I were judging it against the rest of the Middle East). It is interesting also to consider that France is the country most instrumental in blocking its entry into the EU. The reason for this is obviously because of the huge Muslim population in Turkey. (France has taken various anti-Islamic measures over the past few years, the most controversial being its attempted ban on the head scarf, which it considers an 'bold or ostentatious statement of religion' or something similar to that). Turkey is 98% Muslim. However, we did not know this until we read it in the guide book while we were waiting in the airport. It is clear and it is interesting that Turkey is successful, whether intentionally or unintentionally (and I think it is probably at least a little intentionally) at hiding this fact. Although saying 'hiding' is a little strong. It might be more appropriate to say making this fact not instantly recognizable or at the forefront of Turkish life, society, and culture. For example, Egypt is 90% Muslim, but Islam is much more central to Egyptian life. There is no doubt that this approach to religion in Turkey is based on Kemal's secular development of the country (as Kemal is still revered to the utmost in the country), but I can see how this approach might have become even more embraced when Turkey began its campaign to gain EU membership. From the perspective of someone interested in International Relations and Middle Eastern Studies, Turkey was definitely and interesting, important, and insightful country to consider. For this reason, as well as many others, I am glad that I was able to visit Istanbul during my time studying in Cairo. As with most of everything else about which I have posted, it is an experience I will never forget.