TURKEY--Monday 9/17/12

On Monday I fell in love with Turkey! We had a packed day but I feel like I only just caught a glimpse of Istanbul. First we went to the Hippodrome, an ancient horse track that was originally built around AD 200. It was converted into a Roman circus—not your typical elephants and acrobats circus but basically an arena for public events like chariot races, horse races, and celebrations. Not much of it remains, just 3 spina monuments that are so old and awesome!

We went to the Blue Mosque next and I was blown away! It is HUGE. We took off our shoes and all the women covered our heads with scarves to show respect. The thousands of blue tiles that line the inside of the mosque blew me away. Ugur showed us how Muslims pray and I thought it was so interesting. I don’t know all the specifics but one thing I liked was that they kneel and put their head on the ground to have seven parts of the body touching the ground—two feet, two knees, two hands, and one head. The number seven is symbolic of perfectness so they show their humility in this way.

Rachel, me, Amy, Mary

Topkapi Palace was our next stop. It was the palace of the Sultans for 400 years but it is now a museum. We went into the Museum of Holy Relics and saw a hair of Muhammad’s beard, Joseph’s turban, and Moses’ staff (I don’t think it’s the real thing but the many Muslims who were there treated it with such respect that I think that they think it’s the real thing).

The Basilica Cistern was way cool! It is a huge underground cistern that was used to provide water for the Imperial Palace (built where the Blue Mosque is located). It has 336 thick columns made of marble and granite and can hold 2,800,000 cubit feet of water. Two of the column bases are Medusa heads that were from earlier Roman structures. The whole time we were down there I was thinking about Harry Potter 2 and the Chamber of Secrets… :)

Medusa head column base

After lunch we went to the Grand Bazaar and it was unbelievable big. I totally got lost with some friends but thankfully a security guard was able to help us find our way back with various hand gestures. I’m pretty sure that my mom would love to go there! It was really fun to barter with the shopkeepers. Most of them are super friendly—one guy was helping us barter with him because we didn’t really know what we were doing and another guy kept calling us “America’s next top models”.

My favorite part of the day was the two-hour boat ride on the Bosphorus Strait. We got to hang out with people from the other class (there are two buses—one for Brother Schade and one for Brother Judd’s Old Testament classes) and I felt like everyone bonded so much. I loved just soaking in the rolling hills, waving flags on every mountain top, bridges, castles, palaces, mosques, and schools that were along the bank. It was very peaceful to sit and look at beautiful Istanbul. I am the luckiest girl alive!

Istanbul harbor

Candid of me and Hailey having a jolly old time :)