if I were from here, just like--don't be alarmed--if I went somewhere
other than Barcelona as a missionary I'd probably still say I went to
the best mission on earth... It just might be a little less true if
I'd gone somewhere else. That being said, I'm reading a fascinating
book called "Sway" on why people believe irrational things, despite
strong evidence to the contrary (using examples such as airline
pilots, the Challenger explosion, and people in love). I haven't
decided how I feel about it yet, but it's certainly food for thought...
Speaking of irrational, my dear mother hasn't figured out that people
here don't speak English. Some school kids walked by us in the
Sultan's palace today, shouting "Hello! Hello" as they went by. I
smiled, waved and said "Hello" back, but not enthusiastically enough
for my mother, who pointed out that they probably wanted to practice,
and started speaking in full sentences to the bewildered 6-year olds.
That was all fine and dandy, but I clearly wasn't into it enough, so
she turned to the kindly Turkish woman next to her and emphatically
said "They just want to practice their English, don't they?" the
perplexed Turk said something back in Turkish (we'll never be sure
what she said—I'll bet she was concurring with my mother, though).
This led my mom to repeat herself, adding on details about how cute
the children were... I'm sure you can guess where this goes. But
that's fine. You may no longer wonder where I got my cockeyed optimism
from--though I maintain I'm much more pragmatic than my dear family.
Even if we didn't manage to win over the confused Turkish woman, we
did win over the machine gun-toting guards standing at the gate, with
my overpriced t-shirt from the previous entry (pictured above). Turns
out their patriotism is genuine. I had at least five people comment on
how much they liked the shirt (mostly in broken English, though the
one who spoke fluently asked for a USA shirt he could wear to support
my country).
The Sultan's palace did make me wonder, though, at the differences
between cultures. I've always been shocked by how similar people are
across the world. Anywhere you go, people respond to smiles, waves,
and even the mysterious dude-nod (which I tried on a Turkish dude here
earlier today. He dude-nodded back, and we were bound as dudes).
The art, especially, strikes me as being different. Since they can't
make any graven images, and that includes people and animals (and
landscape apparently, since I haven't seen a lake, river or mountain
in any of their artwork yet). So, that leaves them with flowers,
trees, a bird (in only one painting I've seen). It's very interesting
in one or two rooms, but I find it busy and difficult to appreciate in
such huge quantities. To compensate, they also have beautiful
caligraphy that adorns every building. It makes me wish that I spoke /
read Arabic, since there is writing everywhere. I presume it carries
the meaning of life, and that's what I'm missing out on.*
On top of the art, they have very different attitudes towards women.
Coming from a family full of strong-willed women, I can't imagine
keeping them all indoors all the time, or having them perpetually
covered. I'll leave it at that, since I'm not an expert on Islam.
Let's just say it's a stark contrast to the 3 train I was on last week.
I appreciate how cultures have developed differently. It's kinda a
shame that they are becoming an amalgam, mixing everything together
like we have. I suppose the economist in me ought to appreciate that
we're just taking the most efficient (read: best practices) elements
of each culture and combining them, but some part of me still roots
for The Shop Around the Corner over Fox Books.
One thing you can't mass produce, though, are the Hamams, or the
Turkish Baths. You go in, lay down on the hot marble panels and sweat
your brains our for 15 minutes next to three other dudes doing the
same thing (unless you're not a dude. They're pretty strict about guys
and girls stating in their own sides) in a kilt-like linen towel, then
they come and massage / wash you off for 15 minutes, then leave you to
bask in the heat for as long as you'd like. I'm not sure how long I
was there, but man it was relaxing, and gave me a good chance to clear
my mind of everything else. There was a clock over the doorway that I
didn't realize was stuck at 4:55 for about an hour... Luckily my mom
had some good reading material. We stopped and grabbed some freshly
squeezed OJ on our walk home, and made it back to the hotel without
getting lost once. Take that, Istanbul!
Jay-dub
PS It really made my day when the Palace bookstore played a cover of
They Might Be Giants' "Istanbul" by some guys who clearly didn't speak
English. Bless their hearts!
PPS A few clarifications from last time, for those who don't know me /
the Kebab world so well.
1) Döner and Durum are two types of kebabs. Kebab refers to the meat,
while Döner, Dürum and Shish are differet kinds of kebabs. We used to
eat them all the time (as often as I could afford, which wasn't very
often on my €120 a month living stipend) in Spain. So tasty! Dare I
say it was my favorite food in Spain? Good thing I'm finally visiting
Turkey to try it on their own turf. My new favorite here is the apple
herbal tea.
2) Let it be known that the "Summer of Unrest," while designed to rest
me from my taxing job with the federal government before I start law
school, refers to my visits to Greece and Thailand this summer (where
I hope to not die--I won't be wearing my red Turkish shirt there,
despite how much people here love it).
*For the culterally sensitive, note that I'm not making fun of or
teasing their culture. I respect it a lot, and I'm actually really
impressed by what they've done with the handwriting and the flowers,
but I'm a product of the 21st century, and I lived one subway stop
from Times Square, so I'm used to more visual stimulation than that.
Not better or worse, just different.
1 comment:
Yay! More pictures please.
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