Dances with Lawyers, Turkish Nightclubs and Vogue

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Whirling Dervishes

This morning, I was exhausted, but I managed to get up at seven and see the sunrise. The humidity created a mist that the hot sun burned through as it rose, and it created a beautiful and peaceful start to the day. Then it was off to meetings - we had two speakers this morning, followed by our break-out sessions, one of which I was leading. All went well, except for a couple of the lawyers who were giving me a hard time about not doing things that we are in fact doing. Fabulous.

So anyway, after that, it was off to yet another meal - a few people skipped the lunch today because we've all been eating so much, and everyone feels that we just about finish eating when we're off to another meal! Today's lunch was at Vogue, which again surprised us as we entered the dining area - we drove up to an unassuming building and exited our bus. After riding up in a tiny elevator, we walked into the main dining room and again were rewarded with a panoramic view of the Bosphorus outside - it was spectacular yet again. Vogue was a fairly swanky place, with tall, thin and appropriately disinterested-looking waiters and lots of modern furniture. We sat outside, unfortunately in metal chairs, and I was sure my right arm was going to be burned by the end of the meal because the sun was catching it. But it was really beautiful out, so we quite enjoyed the sparkling water and view of the palace. Lunch was a buffet, so I managed to have some salad and bread with a little bit of lasagna (weird to find in Turkey), and finished up with some profiteroles. Delicious.

After we returned from lunch, I decided it was time to use my free afternoon to enjoy the hotel's pool. I wandered downstairs and lounged on a deck chair, enjoying the cool breeze off the water and reminding myself of how much I'm looking forward to living at the beach someday. I didn't do any swimming, but passed the time reading and enjoying the view, as well as hoping for a little peace and quiet, which I got. Since I was in pursuit of finishing the list of things I wanted to do in my free time, I managed to get a taste of everything - I sat by the pool and relaxed, and then I returned to my room, where I relaxed on my balcony with a book for about half an hour. I wanted to take some photos of the palace part of the hotel, which was so beautiful when we were there for dinner on Thursday, so I took a nice walk around the property a little and took a number of photos. I also managed to get in a little bit of internet time, hiding out in the conference area and keeping an eye out for any of the NBA players wandering around.

Then, it was rush time to get ready for the evening's Gala Dinner. The Gala Dinner is supposed to be the best part of the conference, a truly spectacular send-off for all of the delegates and companions. We like to leave everyone with a warm and fuzzy feeling about the conference, and we certainly accomplished that in Istanbul. The evening began with a boat ride up the Bosphorus instead of trying to manage the crazy traffic. We had our cocktail hour on the boat, and it was a beautiful evening. The boat looked like something out of a James Bond movie (although fortunately, there were no chases or explosions to accompany it). Everyone mingled and enjoyed the cool breeze as we headed to the Sait Halim Pasa Mansion. The mansion was built in 1878 by architect Petraki Adamandidis. Sait Halim Pasa was the grandson of the Egyptian Khedive Mehmed Ali, and was the mayor of Yenikoy from 1908 to 1911. He was also the Grand Vizier and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Ottoman Court from 1913 to 1917. Interesting factoid about the mansion - the Ottoman - German alliance treaty leading the Ottomans to join the first world war was signed in the Pasha's study room.

The boat pulled up to the mansion and multicolored lights shone up to make its facade glow. We exited the boat - not that gracefully, I must add, since the stairs were steep and narrow, and the walkway was also narrow. Luckily, no one fell...at least not at that point of the night. As we walked into the foyer of the mansion, we were assailed with flecks of gold on the wall, the stairs, and the chandeliers. Our events planner explained as we entered that we would first see a group of whirling dervishes - seriously. Apparently, whirling dervishes trace their origins back to the 13th century Ottoman Empire, and they whirl as a form of dhikr (remembrance of Allah). The "dervish" part of their name comes from a common term for an initiate of the Sufi Path.

When the dervishes entered the foyer, they were wearing black cloaks, to symbolize the tomb. They then removed these and bowed to each other before beginning to whirl. Their long, white skirts represent the shroud, and the dervishes extend their arms with the right palm facing upward to allow energy to enter, and their left palm facing downward to allow the energy to pass into the earth. This music and dance ceremony is known as the "sema." It was really fascinating to watch them whirl around, because for the most part, they remained in one spot the entire time and their arms were kept at the same level (which is really difficult, if you've ever tried to do it). They also did appear to be in a trancelike state as they twirled.

Once they had finished their sema, it was time for us to find our tables and sit down. We walked into a very interesting room, where we would be having dinner. It's hard to describe, but I'll do my best. The decoration and architecture was very arabic, although I felt that the room was more of a restoration since the "gold" appeared to be painted on and the walls were wallpapered. However, there was a huge painting on one wall, which we surmised was "The Hunting Scene" by Felix Auguste Clement, (1865) painted in Egypt but later brought to the mansion. There were a number of columns in the room, and lots of color and gold paint. Even the celing was decorated, and arabic script ringed the ceiling inset. There were several stained glass windows facing the Bosphorus. Our six tables were beautifully decorated with a candelabra centerpiece ringed with flowers, including wonderfully perfumed lilies.

Dinner began with a fish starter (which I skipped), followed by a warm mushroom pie (which I also skipped). I started with the main entree, beef with dauphinoise potatoes (delicious), and we finished with an imitation creme brulee - all creme, only little brulee. During dinner, we had a local jazz singer come in to sing mostly American hits - it's always funny when you go to another country and still hear American music! He was really talented though, and got everyone into the fun of the evening. He took a short break so that we could say some final words and give a gift to our Turkish hosts, who had been spectacular. They had gifts for us as well, which was unexpected and so nice, so now I have a necklace and earrings modeled on the railings of the Galata Bridge to remember my trip to Istanbul by.

The party really got started after our presentation, when our singer encouraged one couple to get up and dance. Soon, everyone was dancing, even yours truly. I normally sit these things out, since I'm partner-less and my lawyer buddies are not usually up for asking me to dance, but one of the newer lawyers sitting at my table was sweet enough to ask me to be his dance partner. Following our dance, the silliness really began when one of our attorneys decided that it was time to turn his nice necktie into a clown-like bowtie. Everyone laughed at him, but it turned out that he was starting a trend - he talked one of our more formal Swiss attorneys into doing the same! Then everyone wanted in on the action, and before I knew it, about six of our nice, professional European lawyers had turned their ties into bowties. It really was very funny, and we hadn't all laughed like that together in a long time.

Soon, it was time to go, but the night wasn't over. Our Turkish hosts had arranged for us to go on to a club right in the shadow of the Bosphorus Bridge. About thirty people headed right to the club (that was half of our meeting!), which was called Reina. Apparently, it's fairly difficult to get into normally, so we felt very cool to be ushered right in by our events planners. The club is right on the water, but to block the noise, they put up a large curtain around twelve, which unfortunately also blocks the view. But we could still see the Bosphorus Bridge, and had a great time dancing late into the night. I headed out around two, which was when they lowered the music and luckily, I didn't need to be up before eleven the next morning - man was I tired! But it was worth it - it was a really fun night, and I wanted to pinch myself thinking, here I am, at a club in Istanbul on the Bosphorus!

Sunday morning dawned way too early, and it was time to leave Istanbul. I wasn't sad, since I plan to go back there someday if for no other reason than to just stay at the Ciragan Palace again! Next, on to Roma!

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