Kurds

The man, a 44 y/old haikido expert, told me he hated the Kurds. I asked why. He was a captain in the Turkish Army and his troup was attacked by the Kurdish Guerrillas. An ambush. 21 soldiers died, only 4 survived. And then he went into the details of the mutilated bodies of these 19 or 20 year old men. That is why he hates Kurds. He said that if Europe wants to protect their rights they are more than welcome to invite them to come into their countries, and deal with them.

Tea Garden

Just to finish the day, we went back to the same Tea Garden... Nice... I did not try the Nargileh yet. I want to though. Rose and honey tobacco.




On the way back to the hotel I called Josh from the street with a phone card. I had to leave a message. I took these pics so he could see what I was seeing when I was calling him.




I crashed again... Hot and humid night.

People! Music! Park!

When we came back to the real world, after the Cistern, we heard this music coming from the park in front of Hagia Sophia. It was a military band dressed as old Turks playing these war tunes in a march style. People were so happy. And of course I was so happy watching people...

CISTERN

After the killims, we went underground... The romans built this huge underground water reservoir that is actually UNDER my hotel! Amazing... I will be posting nicer pics in my website when I get back.

Kilims and Rugs

WHAT AN ARTFORM... I am SOOO glad that Ali has been with me ALL the time. He is amazing, not only cute and clever, but friendly and the best communicator ever. We went to a Kilim store. We stayed there for over an hour. He explained the differences between a Kilim and a plain Rug, he showed me examples, and asked the sales man to show me everything. I have a good instinct, now I have the knowledge. Of course, my favorite ones were at least U$700, and the one I really liked was U$1500 ... DARN!!! maybe I will be able to find a great one... this is the bargaining land...

More food

The New Mosque

The blue Mosque did not really do anything for me on saturday. Maybe because of the amount of tourists or the stench of sweaty feet. BUT after TopKapi ( BTW, Top = Cannon Ball = slang for gay...) we went to the New Mosque, right by the spice market - that was closed. That was a completely new experience. We got there in the middle of the prayer, women in the back, in their "private" headquarters, and a lot of men in the main area. Interesting and unforgettable sounds, and a very respectful atmosphere. Meditative perhaps? I am still having some problems with the division of women and men. I am gay, I am the biggest feminist in the world, they are my equals, I love women, they are my friends and partners, I could never treat them in a separate way. But I respect their rules. I am a foreigner here, but how can I deal with these issues? The Topkapi palace has a room with relics from the prophet Mohammed, his hair, a tooth, a letter he wrote stating that whoever that refuses to join Islam is in the biggest sin of all, his hunting bow, his sword. I spent at least 20 minutes looking at the people looking at these relics. The look on their eyes. That is something that those of us who grew up catholics - but grew out of it early en ough in life - never had. The tooth of Jesus. Oh, they had in another room the arm and skull of St John the Baptist... I bet there are at least 20 of those around the world...






Then I stopped at a public collection of tombs, the Sultan, the wife, the sons, the daughters. A sacred space where people pray - and of course you have to be barefoot.

Topkapi Palace on a sunday morning

The Sultan's palace is quite an impressive site. My favorite - believe it or not - was the Harem, where the women, children, female servants and eunuchs would spend their lives. A large and beautiful golden cage. Have you noticed that I haven't said anything about women wearing veils? At first it felt just like Paris, you see the same women, but here it is different. This is certainly a muslim society, in spite of all the modernizing efforts of Ataturk - that I am admiring more and more every day, BTW. The modernization process failed after decades, now people are moving towards the extremes, radical Islam or radical Christianism. Both are the same expression of the failed promises of society, here, in France, in the US and everywhere else in the world. A rigid external societal structure provides a security that the individual cannot find anymore. Yes, I still find it interesting to see a woman covered from head to toes, I even saw a few with full black veils, I could not even see their eyes. BUT at the same time, these gorgeous girls full of make-up and highlights, curls and whatever else walking right next to them. It is true, this is a city of contrasts.

Hagia Sophia

No words yet... still processing...

Walking and walking

What a chaotic city, the melange of everything in the world. Amazing. Ecclectic buildings, stray cats everywhere. It reminds a bit of San Francisco and Bogota together because of the hills. Empty streets, saturday evening, after Hagia Sophia... I will be posting about Hagia Sophia later. I still haven't been able to process all the information. I need some more time, even 4 days later, I need some more time... too much information... Ok, I will post a beautiful image of Ali in the church/mosque/museum, and one of the restaured mosaics... After dinner we had herbal tea in a beautiful "tea garden" in a strip mall right next to the Blue Mosque, live music, a woman baking a flat bread, great conversation, and then I crashed. Jet Lag Crash.