Day 9

The day started out a little rough. We got up for an 8:00 AM departure to learn that the autobus would not arrive until 9:00 – which turned into 9:40. Then there was a 4 ½ hour drive that took us from 90+ degree sun and beach to snow covered mountain passes on our way to the high planes of Konya which, the Romans and Byzantines knew as Iconium.

We dropped our luggage, and one of the hosts in Konya took us to lunch – the salad was good but about the same, but we also had stuffed grape leaves and something that resembled very thin dough pizza without the pizza sauce. Yogurt really does show up on everything here.

Our first stop was at a mosque that was now a museum devoted to the mystic Celaleddin Rumi or Mevlana. In the 13th century Mevlana founded the Mevevi or “whirling” dervishes. Rumi’s philosophy was one of spiritual union and universal love. While his teachings are revered by many Muslims some believe his practices to be bad and not in line with the Koran. The whirling (which was actually promoted by his son), prayer beads, and instruments used in the practice are all problems according to some. The instruments generally include the Ud, Nev, Duvar, and Cymbals.


Then it was off to Mevla University. The university follows the same educational philosophy as Fatih. I’m still trying to understand but it seems like this social movement is trying to raise the intellectual level of the country. Because there are so many first-generation students a part of their work is with families. Additionally, before opening universities (in US terms they are really more like private professional degree granting institutions), they built a strong network of primary and secondary schools in Turkey and in quite a few other countries. Mevla is a brand new University set to open in July so we were seeing it in the final preparation stages. Interestingly the owner of a local brand of Hyatt who owned a hotel and a mall donated the mall to them for 35 years. The actual university and “dormitories” will not be finished for another year and when it opens the “mall school” will be used as a technical training school.

I think many of us on this trip have questions about the philosophical approach this movement is taking. While it’s fairly easy to understand why it’s developed they way it has given the current needs of the general population and even worldwide trends, it seems a little limiting to focus only on professional training degrees and not include any liberal arts or social sciences. The representatives said that they do have a plan for this in the future but it didn’t seem to make it into any of the slides. A part of their philosophy is based on bringing people from different cultures together, and they seem to understand what this might mean in terms of dealing with students. However, perhaps because they haven’t opened yet, those plans weren’t expressed in the presentation. When I’d asked about these, their approach seems to be student-directed and interest group-focused with little intentional planning or involvement by faculty or staff. I think I’d have to observe this in action over a long period of time in order to get a broader perspective.

After visiting Mevla we went back to the hotel for an hour and then off to dinner at the home of a local heart surgeon. He and his wife had one son who recently went off to Toronto to finish high school – he and 45 of his friends mostly from Konya. As usual the food was excellent – we first had yogurt and mint soup, then kebab made in a little foil pouch, and for dessert some homemade vanilla-type pudding with some chocolate sauce and fresh cherry (right off the tree in their front yard). We had a wonderful conversation first on the front porch (ample enough room for 15) and then in the sitting room. For all the bad things that people say about a single payer health care system, it didn’t sound so bad to me. We also got a tour of the garden that included both red and yellow cherries, green plums (ripe but green in color), apricots, peaches, apples, grapes, and nuts. For a fruity like me this was like paradise.


The end of a long but lovely day was spent repacking my bag for my trip home – with a 5:00 AM departure from the hotel I didn’t want to trust my sleep deprived brain come morning. What a whirlwind trip. My head is spinning with new thoughts and emotions. Hopefully on my long ride home and my vacation in South Africa I’ll have a little more time to reflect on what I’ve experienced.

If you’ve read any of these posts, thank you. It’s been nice having others along with me. Catch Jim and me in a few days from South Africa and the World Cup.