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Published: June 18th 2013
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We arrived into the city via the metro/light rail. Public transport is unbelievably easy here. The language however is not. It
took a while to get our bearings on the city but once we did (relatively), we were so proud of ourselves. The city is slightly
hilly going down towards the water, which is everywhere: The Bosphorous straight on one side and the Marmara Sea on the
other. Our first day we took a boat along the Bosphorous between the European and Asian side, as directed to by many
traveler friends. The warm breeze combined with the view of the city and all the bridges from the boat made it undeniable
that we had arrived in Turkey. The Turkish flag flies everywhere and there are a lot of mosques, towers and minarets. The
boat turned around at the wall dividing the old city from the new. Afterward we headed up the hill to look for the spice
market. It took us a while because we got lost in all the narrow cobblestone streets and shops literally and figuratively. I am
so happy we got lost. We saw lots of lamps, ceramic plates, Turkish
tea sets and every single household item for sale. Each
shop owner stood outside his door asking the passerby’s to look at his merchandise. When we eventually found the spice
bazaar I was frozen. Every single one of my senses was overwhelmed. First of all there were a bagillion people that all
seemed to be trying to walk in a different direction so it was very noisy. It smelled like all the spices of the east mixed
together. The light shone in to show the painted arched ceilings of each hallway. Gabriel asked me if I was hungry and it
took effort to say, “I don’t know.” We pushed our way through the crowd and found ourselves among lots of tourists unlike
when we were lost. The next day we hit the grand bazaar, which is like a small city. Just like a lot of places in the non-
western world all prices are negotiable and based on what you look like. We’ve noticed that the shop owners are not very
pushy though, which is nice. They speak lots of languages and try all of them until you respond. Every one has
a cousin
who lives where ever you are from. But if you keep walking they just shift their attention to the next person walking by.
As we sat at a café in the middle of the bazaar for some Turkish coffee the shop owners began
to line up prayer rugs and bow then kneel then touch their head to the ground then get up again and do it again. The
walkway facing east continued to fill with people to the point where no one could cross. The westerners watched and waited
taking pictures as inconspicuously as possible until the ritual was over. Prayer happens 5 times per day. You can hear when
it’s time because the mosques blast the sound of a man summoning the people to pray. The main event in Istanbul is the
Blue Mosque and Hagia Sofia directly across from each other and surrounded by lots of other monuments. The Hagia Sofia
is much older but it is bigger and took less time to construct. Apparently it was built before Muhammad was even born.
Before we left we were monitoring BBC news for updates on the protests and
demonstrations happening in Taksim Square.
Now that we are hear you would never know there was something happening. First of all Taksim square is across the water.
It's also a strong reminder of how much the media sensationalizes everything. They focus on the negative when there are
so many examples of non-violent protesters, most of which are educated people and families.
We've learned a lot about Turkey's history after Ataturk established the Republic. He wanted a secular nation and the
young people of Turkey today, which make up 70% of the country, want to make sure it stays that way. The prime
minister is at the end of his term and he is trying to act like a tough guy for lack of a better term. He has started making
changes that our in the opposite direction of secular. Before the demonstrators started protesting the destruction of their
equivalent of central park to build, he banned the sale of alcohol during the night. Not a big deal in the eyes of an
American because we already have that, but to them it's a slippery slope. Alcohol is forbidden if you are
a practicing
Muslim. It's beautiful to see how much pride the Turkish people have in the republic. They fly their flags everywhere.
Next stop is Troy, Channakkale and Izmir.... Te-shay-ku-lar (thank you, phonetically spelled) for reading
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