Just a Desert with Camels

We were hanging out with some Turkish friends the other night and they asked my what I thought Turkey was going to be like before I arrived. I looked around to everyone else in the group and all together in agreement said that we really had no idea what to expect of Turkey before we came. They said that last year’s group thought it was going to be a complete desert with camels walking around everywhere! We all laughed and agreed that we knew more than that coming in, but not much more.

The shear mass of the city is absolutely mind blowing. When we first drove in (in our luxury van!) the city never stopped. It was as far as the eye could see and even further, ebbing and flowing with the landscape of the Seven Hills of Istanbul. In the United States, cities like New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago are all the biggest cities that I think of, but they are nothing compared to Istanbul. All of the US cities have suburbs that make them seem bigger, but in Istanbul the city never seems to end. With over 20 million people living in Istanbul, you see the life of the people day and night, this city truly seems to never sleep, even though we are learning that we need to sleep a bit more than we thought!

As we drove into Istanbul the buildings were stacked on top of each other, one after another with red roofs, all slowly blending together into the distance. But my favorite part when looking into the heart of the city are the minuettes from the Mosques that pop out to catch the attention of the eye. Before coming to Istanbul I had never seen minuettes or Mosques of this capacity. The minuettes are the towers on the outside of the Mosques that were originally used to climb up and call for prayer. Now the minuettes hold several speakerphones to call the prayer, but the minuettes still exist because of their traditions and they are a way to reach more people by being higher up. Mosques only need one minuette, but can have five or six, and several balconies on each to call the prayer from. The most being the 10^th sultan of Istanbul, Sultan Süleyman, who built 10 balconies to call prayer from. The Mosques that we have been inside of, the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia, which was at one time a Catholic Church, are probably the most beautiful buildings I have ever stepped foot in. I enjoy that they are not decorated with pictures of idols or people, just pure architecture and magnificent tile work.

The mixture of the old and new is nothing I have ever seen before either. Centuries full of history lie beneath newly built structures, while many old structures still stand in their glory through many earthquakes and hardships. It is amazing to begin to learn about the Turkish people and where they began with the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires, and what they are today. Many traditions still remain, but the city is nothing like anything I could have ever imagined. As of yet I have seen no desert or camels, although I would like to see a camel fight! Even still I do not know what to expect or what is to come in the coming weeks, but what I have seen so far has been impeccable and beyond anything I could have dreamed. I am excited to see what is to come and learn more about the Turkish people and their culture and traditions as I enjoy their beautiful city of rich history, Istanbul.