First full day in Istanbul! I’m going to try and group the day by adventure, so feel free to skip down to the interesting sections :P

So we met for breakfast at 8 am and boy, it was delicious. Full buffet with many types of breads, jellies, fresh fruits (which are to die for), some meat and eggs, and some other things which I was not brave enough to try. Hey, its 8am in the morning. Give me a break. Weather for the day: slightly brisk but comfortable for most (aka I was still cold).

We then all head off to the tram stop outside our hotel. Notable site along the way: a completely naked and grossly overweight mannequin staring at us oh so gracefully from the window of a nearby shop. Lovely. So after our massive crowd of about 16 people overruns the ticket stand, we obtain our tokens and hop onto the tram. Note to self: don’t attempt to stand on one leg while holding on to a loose loop attached to the tram’s pole.  And thus begins The First Adventure.

Okay, I promise tomorrow I will bring a notebook so I can write down the names of the places we visit and the important people involved, etc. I can’t even remember people’s names when they introduce themselves to me, let alone ancient, foreign names spoken briefly to a group. I’m working on it.

So we hop off the tram and immediately Omid sets off with his trail of ducklings following ever diligently…if not somewhat spastically. We navigate through these tiny, uphill, cobblestone roads lines with small shops and street venders all shouting their wares – mostly in Turkish and some English. One older shop owner comes up to me (in a complete yet obviously not natural British accent) and says “Gorgeous. Your shirt gorgeous.” Second compliment this trip – though I detected slight ulterior motives… (first compliment – older woman came up to me outside a mosque yesterday and kept rubbing her eyes while talking Turkish. The daughter translated and said my eyes were beautiful. Awww! Sentimental moment.)

We then head to this small mosque (relatively new at 500 years old), and after covering our heads and taking off our shoes, we go and enjoy the serene nature of this beautiful building. Absolutely gorgeous. Pictures will be up after I find a camera cord (which again, silly Ellen forgot to pack). But then, several tour groups came in after. Ok, now I know how stereotypes get formed so easily. Pshh and the French complain the WE’RE obnoxious tourists. Come on, people, show some deference.

We had a mini lesson on the role of prayer in Islam. Quite a fascinating concept. The idea is that every day, we are being pulled in all different directions by concerns with the past, hopes for the future, etc. Islam holds that the beginning is divine, the end is divine, and the present, the now, is also divine. (Please know  that I am summing up immensely).  By praying, one removes themself from all the worries of everyday life and focuses instead on the divineness of the present and of God. Quite refreshing, letting all ones worries go. I volunteered to help show one of the three positions for prayers. Naturally, it was the prostration one and of course I chose the wrong day to forget a belt.

After that, we head down to the docks to catch a ferry. And thus begins The Second Adventure.

So currently, we are in Europe. One 18 minute ferry ride later and we are in Asia. Crossing continents in under twenty minutes. Impressive, no? I got lots of pictures of the awesome buildings lining both shores. Since Istanbul is composed of many hills (it’s also HUGE), it was really cool to see the layers of buildings everywhere, old and new alike. I mean you would be looking at some somewhat dingy buildings, and towering above them is this EPIC mosque or palace. Haha, I’ve taken *way* too many mosque pictures.

I realize the last adventure was rather short, though it was definitely of monumental significance. Once in Asia (tehe, so much fun to say that), we meet up with a group of about 7 students from Boston College and their professor. We then walk to a nearby gas station and are told to hop in one of the four cars idling there. We are told we are going to meet someone cool and hear Sufi music (hmm, this sounds sketchier than it did at the time).

So we shove ourselves into these cars. Alas, there was not room for all of us, so about 5 of us had to stay behind. Too late, we realize that BOTH the professors opted to stay behind. (This is beginning to sound like a horror story…). I’ll give you a summary of the trip:

Finally, we arrive at the right house. Bear in mind, I have no idea why we are here – I thought we were going to a Sufi concert? We (and there are maybe 15 of us total) are directed to the backyard. First thought: uhh, why are we invading these people’s home? Utter confusion as we stand there awkwardly. We are then greeted and told to make ourselves welcome and to talk with the other guests (who are all Turkish, btw). Normally, I am okay mingling. This, this was difficult. Nothing like making small talk WHEN YOU DON’T KNOW THE LANGUAGE. Luckily, some there knew some English, so we were able to discover that it was a birthday party. For a 10 year old girl. Again, so confused. I mean, just because we’re Americans doesn’t mean we ALWAYS enjoy invading the lands of others.

However, *awesome* food. Absolutely delicious. I took pictures and I’ll show them shortly. An hour later, the second group, our professors included arrive, and we learn that we are to meet a famous Sufi leader: Jamal Nur (spelled phonetically – I’ll find out the proper spelling and change it later).

***End of this post  -- because I am tired and you have already stopped reading***

****Tune in later for descriptions of my meeting one of the world’s influential Muslim woman leaders, learning about the different types of Turkish carpets, and getting to attend the evening prayer session in the Sultanahmed Mosque (closed to the public!)****