Nate Marsh - Blog post

The single most impactful experience in my week in Istanbul wasn't seeing the breathtaking monuments or enjoying the night life, but a friendly conversation and series of gestures in the narrow back alleys of a wholesale market.

While looking for souvenirs for friends and loved ones with Julio, Maria and Andrea we came to a small shop selling prayer beads for cheap -- a good souvenir. Having the majority of my shopping done and not wanting to crowd the tiny shop I stood outside taking in the last day or two of the city. The owner of the store, not knowing any English, kindly gestures for me to go inside and look at his wares, and I thanked him, but respectfully declined. Like many merchants, he wouldn't take no for an answer. To his right was a stand with thousands if small prayer beads he was selling for one Turkish Lira, so about $0.50. Because they were adorned with the Turkish flag and the man had been so friendly, I said why not and purchased them, along with another set of prayer beads with the "evil eye" on them.

Quickly the man smiled and rushed to an old wooden bench outside of the shop and cleared a space for me, putting down what looked like shoe inserts as a cushion and moving his plants for me. He then asked if I drank coffee, the thicker, richer Turkish coffee. Knowing from my reading and experiences, it is considered dude to decline tea or coffee from a Turk. I happily accepted.

Soon the rest of the group finished their shopping and the owner soon ordered ayrahn for them as well, a type of yogurt drink that, admittedly, has an acquired flavor. Soon the drinks arrived, he rubbed perfume used before going to pray in the mosque on all of our shirts, and he started calling many of the surrounding merchants to come over and take pictures and shake hands, none of whom spoke much, if any, English.

Signs and gestures were made, business cards were handed out, and most if the intent of the sign language was assumed and not truly understood. The important thing was that smiles were shared along with pictures and laughter.

 

The generosity of someone who doesn't speak a word of the same language, in a country that is so often misunderstood by Americans, was the chance of a lifetime. A friendly gesture speaks more than words.

 

Breathtaking Istanbul

What an experience; Istanbul was truly enlightening in all aspects. Since my family is from Turkey, I truly felt at home. The people were warm and very inviting; as I walked along the shops and through alleyways, I got invited for Turkish tea and coffee countless times, had some drinks with the locals and impressively learned how to cross the streets. 

Turkey is such a beautiful country and I appreciated the beauty of all of the Mosque’s and hearing the call to prayer five times a day. I also loved seeing modern Islam and the way in which modern Muslim’s move about their everyday life. I also found that not many people spoke English, as I was often mistaken for speaking in Arabic and tried to reply to them with my broken Turkish/Arabic. Our group was such a great group of people and Azlan and Astrid made the experience all that much better.

I have travelled outside of the country many times before and Istanbul is truly the one city that I felt was very inviting and I cannot wait to go back; it was by far my favourite. My heart is definitely still in Istanbul!

I bought a really cool hair piece that I wanted to share. It was pretty unique; I’ve seen people where them in magazines and on TV in movies but I never knew where to find a nice one. I finally spotted one in Istanbul and had to get it. I’m not sure where I am going to where it yet and I probably don't have it on correctly but it is definitely one of my most favourite purchases from Turkey!

Istanbul - City of contrasts

Traditional style toilet

Hotel Bathroom with modern fixtures

Girls jump rope all over the world



Previously outlawed, hijabs and burkas are now worn often

Beautiful and delicious food



More food!
 



Beautiful traditional music is heard along side modern Turkish rap

Bridal couple in the village



Istanbul has many bridal shops with extravagant dresses



I liked this one, very cake-like!

Our Group

One of the best things about this trip was our group:  8 students (Andrea, Andrew, Bolong,  Dylan, Julio, Marisa, Nate, Ray), Azlan and myself, plus of course our wonderful guide, Ali. While most of us did not know each other before hand, we all worked together and got along. By the end of the trip, we were very comfortable and had a great time talking, joking, and exploring life! Here are a few of my favorite group pictures:

Our last day in Istanbul

Today was our last full day in Istanbul and it was well spent.

In the morning we went to Ermigan, the site of a wonderful, huge park that also annually offers a tulip festival, in April. While there, we saw a new exhibit called The 1001 Faces of Orientalism. The title of the exhibit plays off the 1001 Nights stories, and documents the development of " Orientalism", as a form of art, as a major force shaping European and US culture, and also, of course, as a complex ideology that denies the many accomplishments of the East, while exalting its external features and exocitizing its inhabitants. The exhibit included historical documents, photos, movie clips, paintings, clothing and many other pieces attesting to the complex relations within Orientalism.

Afterwards, we got to enjoy the park and had a final afternoon off. I went to visit Istanbul Modern, a wonderful art museum by the Bosphorus. In the evening, we had our final dinner together and said goodbye to our guide Ali and our driver, Mehmet.

We leave for the airport tomorrow morning and will have long flight back to Pittsburgh. The trip has been wonderful- a great group of people, most of whom did not know each other beforehand,  but had a great time together. Thanks to everyone for participating and for  Nicole for organizing the trip!

I look forward to more postings when we get back - access should be easier and I know there will be many more pictures.

Today we walked to the Grand Bazaar of Istanbul - the Bazaar dates back to 1455 and is a reflection of the many peoples and cultures that came together historically in this region. The bazaar is huge: 61 streets, 3000 shops, and 300,000 visitors a day. While the shops are often mixed, it is organized into different secions, like carpets, jewelry, ceramics, and leather. This  Map gives you a bit of an idea of the many parts and sections. the light stores in particular are a real treat and as you can see, for most of us, the purchaes are starting to accumulate. After a couple of hours in the bazaar, we got a nice walking tour of some of the surrounding shopping sections, used by the local people.

After some good stoop sitting - this has become one of our more favorite things- , we enjoyed dinner at the hotel. Tonight there was a wonderful lemon soup on the menu, and we were all treated to Bolong's insightful and humorous vision on life and love:) 

Tomorrow will be our last full day in Istanbul - we will spend it going to a lovely park Emirgan, just north of Istanbul where we will get to enjoy the outdoors as well as see a few small museums. the, in the evenin, our closing dinner in a local ethnic restaurant. We got to see so many things, but also missed a few other experiences, all the more reason to come back. 

 



Time to Hit the Night Life

On Saturday night we made arrangements to go check out the clubs in Istanbul. You can't go to another country without hitting the clubs/bars. We took the tram to Taksim which was actually very easy to figure out. Then we managed to use Nate's GPS to guide us on an adventure to what I would consider a cleaner and better version of Istanbul's South Side (the bar scene in Pittsburgh). Nate, Andrea, Marisa, and Myself were the ones who decided to go out and check this place out. After what was a decent walk we made it to where we were supposed to be. There were crowds upon crowds of people. We started at what seemed like a local bar and had some dinner and a few drinks. Then we attempted to try to get in to some places and found it difficult due to the language barrier. We ended up walking in to a bar that was packed and immediately were greeted with great hospitality. They sat us right at the bar and pulled out our chairs and everything. This bar was insane! Needless to say we stayed there the entire night and even made friends with the owner and bartenders who were more than generous with everything. The owner even took us to some other places were we partied the night away. He then arranged a taxi back to the hotel for us. The night scene here reminded me of a Mardi Gras type atmosphere. I've done a lot of traveling which has involved a numerous amount of bar and clubbing experiences and this is on my top 3!!!! This was a night I will always remember.

Day in Taksim Square

We spent a major part of the day on Thursday in a different part of Istanbul known as Taksim. This place was amazing! It was like the Times Square of Istanbul. We separated and went on our own ways shopping and eating and taking it all in. There was so much to do here. Nate and I (Julio) made a point to stop at one of the local coffee shops which had this amazing ice cream that was similar to an ice cream sundae made with nuts and caramel. There were a ton of stores that reminded me of what you would find in the states such as Starbucks, watch stores, shoe stores, etc. We grabbed some lunch as well which was like a hamburger made out of lamb. This seems to be a popular quick meal around here, but its really good and I could eat it every day! So far this trip has been unreal!

Spice Market, Bosphorus, Photos of The Trip to Bursa

Today, Sunday May 19, we ventured into the Spice Bazaar, also known as the Egyptian Bazaar. There were lots of different spices, candies, and other local delicacies for sale. The bazaar has been in operation since the 15th century and has served as the transtition point for spices from the east into Europe. Later today, the group boarded a triple decker boat for a tour of the Bosphorus. The students in the group should be finishing off their assignments with this cruise, and as such, freely enjoy the rest of the trip to this beautiful city. I too, will also write less in this blog and allow you to enjoy the uploaded pictures. Special mention is given to one of our participants, Yan Bolong, who had diligently taken photos of the visit to Bursa and the outing on the Bosphorus. We can't possibly download them all - just a few samples will do. We''ll start with the trip to Bursa, the first capital of the Ottoman Empire, also nicknamed "The Green City." 

 

Ferry ride across the Sea of Marmara to Bursa



 

The Ulu Camii, Grand Mosque of Bursa



 A special prayer for a deceased member of the community

 

The Bursa grand market





A 13th century Ottoman village, Cumalikizik



Dr. Kersten with locals from the village





The beautiful colors of the Egyptian Bazaar

Taking off from the pier, restaurants under the Galata Bridge

The Bosphorus Bridge linking two continents

Three of our guys on the upper deck


Bolong with two local kids on the cruise

Remnants of Rumeli Castle on the Bosphorus shore