Discovering apple tea, the call to prayer, snow & Star Wars

Turkey is a fascinating country! If I had to describe our experience there using three phrases I would say:

1. Apple tea
2. Call to prayer
3. Turkish Christians

First of all, if you haven't tried apple tea, get over to World Market or Trader Joe's to see if they have it. It's great, they serve it after every meal (complimentary) and often at the hotels in the lobby. Basically, it's like really awesome apple cider.

The call to prayer was something new for me--I'd never heard it broadcasted across a city before. The call to prayer sounds out five times a day from loudspeakers mounted on the minerets (little towers) of every mosque--and there are mosques on like every street corner.

Our experience in Turkey can be divided up into two sections--the first five days in Istanbul, where we were with the Green Group (our other half of the semester), and the last five days in Turkey, where we traveled with Sarah, Matt and Bruce Fisk to Selcuk, Antalya, and Cappadocia.

First: ISTANBUL. It was a fascinating city, perfect for our half-way point because it really is like a meeting place for Eastern and Western cultures. The Muslim presence is very strong (Turkey is 99% Muslim) but the big city parts were familiar European styles. Istanbul is HUGE--something like 12 million people, and it felt huge!

Istanbul streets, out the window of my hotel room

The Grand Bazaar and the Spice Market were experiences all of their own--getting swept up in huge crowds of thousands of people in a tiny narrow streets, washing past vendors all yelling loudly in competition for you to buy their Turkish tea sets, or scarves, or rugs, or dried fruits and nuts, or spices, or cheese or lamps or whatever.

The Grand Bazaar

Spices and nuts and dried fruit in the Spice Market

Being a blonde girl (a rarity in the Middle East), I got my first taste of being "hassled" by the street vendors. No one was pushy or uncomfortable, mostly it was just funny to hear the phrases they called out to me and the other girls in English...

"Hey Spice Girls!"

"Hey Angels, where is Charlie? You are my angels."

Or the favorite: "You dropped something!" (Then when you stop and look...) "My heart...come into my shop and buy this rug!"

The famous Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia were two sights we enjoyed. Hagia Sophia was originally a church, but had been converted to a mosque. According to Islamic law, no depictions of humans or animals are allowed on the walls, so plaster was put over the early Byzantine mosaics and frescos, perfectly preserving them so we can see them in the mosque today. We also enjoyed a boat cruise of the Bosphorus Straight, seeing the Topkapi Palace of the Sultan (where we also saw pieces of Mohammad's beard...supposedly), and the beautiful frescos of the Chora Church.

Inside the domes of the Blue Mosque

Me and Catherine outside the Blue Mosque, with its six minerets

Audrey and I outside the Hagia Sophia

Domes of the Hagia Sophia

Recovered Byzantine mosaic of the Final Judgment, Jesus at the center with Mary on his left and John the Baptist on his right, begging for mercy for the world.

Something I enjoyed both in Istanbul and again in Antalya was meeting with some local Turkish Christians and American missionaries living in Turkey. In Istanbul we got to hear from Tim Fearer, and in Antalya we had dinner at Renata and James Bultema's house. It was interesting to hear how they are doing mission work in a Muslim nation--to hear personal stories, learn more about religion in Turkey, and different approaches to foreign mission work. Something I found interesting was that Turkey is actually very secular Muslim--that is, not practicing. Kind of like the Catholic French...they never actually go to Mass (or the mosque).

The second half of Turkey featured the famous ruins of Ephesus (amazing!), the White Cascades, Antalya, and Cappadocia. Turkey is an awesome country and I definitely would love to come back here! Here are some more pictures:

I found Starbucks in Istanbul!

A view of the city on both sides of the Bosphorus Straight

Something fun I learned in the Istanbul Archeological Museum: Aslan (like from Narnia) is Turkish for Lions.

Me and Audrey with Matt Moore of the Green Group on the Bosphorus boat cruise

One of the many palaces lining the water in Istanbul.

It's kind of hard to tell, but this streets is PACKED with people.

The grave of St. John

Nike, goddess of victory and conquest, in the Ephesus Ruins...Just Do It.

The group in front of the Ephesus library.

The White Cascades--calcium deposits and hot springs overlooking the valley made for a fun pit stop on our bus ride.

Oh did I mention that it snowed like crazy in Turkey? Here we are in Cappadocia, in the snow.

Camel.

Rock dwellings of Cappadocia. They filmed the scenes of Tatooine in Star Wars here!

More pictures to come later! We made it to Aleppo, Syria this evening! We'll be in the country five days. So far, I love Syria because our dinner was awesome. :)