The Trip Begins

I’ve arrived in Turkey, or T¨rkiye (hey I got the dots but the "u" is missing - I'll work on that) as it’s generally seen here. Some airport delays but both me and my luggage made it here. Three others from the IU delegation where also on the same flight out of Indy through JFK to Istanbul. I sat next to Murat and had a wonder conversation. He has just finished a year as a post-doc at UC San Bernardino in Communication and Culture studying Muslim representation in US films and TV shows. So friendly and a great intro for me to Turkey. So before going too far I should say when it was all decided that I would travel to Turkey, I was dumbfounded at how little I knew about the country or it’s history. Given a world map I might have been able to point it out but other that that I remembered something about it once being a part of the Ottoman Empire, Istanbul was once Constantinople (thanks to that catchy They Might Be Giants song), more than 99% of the population is Shiite Muslims though they have a secular government, and that they were a NATO ally. So I had a lot of reading up to do. I’ll share some of what I’ve learned as the trip goes on.

Day 1
We arrived at the hotel – a posh International style hotel – and took a two hour power nap. Then it was off with lunch at a street café just outside the Sokollu Mehmet Pasa Masque (the ‘s’ should have a little tail under it but I can’t find that special character) built by Sinan, and Istanbul University, founded as a theological and environmental sciences school in 1453. Lunch consisted of a wonderful salad made of cucumbers, hot peppers and loads of wonderful fresh tomatoes. Then came some rice mixed with some kind of wheat and a some spicy large white bean – very tasty. Then came the Turkish teas I’d heard about. They don’t use tealeaves but grind it down to a fine powder. It’s strong, hot, and requires sugar – they only have sugar cubes here. Unfortunately it rained all day but we walked around the University and the grounds of the mosque. Then it was off to the Chora Church (Kariye muaesi) the fabric of which was laid in 1077. The Ottoman converted the church into a Mosque but just covered over the mosaics and frescoes and today many have been uncovered and building serves only as a museum. After another rest at the hotel it was off to dinner of delightful lamb, chicken and beef kebabs. At the end of the meal was something I’d never tried – Peynirle Kunefe – cheese between two shredded pasty crusts, covered with warm syrup and chopped pistachios and served with goat milk ice cream. Unbelievably sweet and delicious. Now it’s off to bed. Our first real university tour tomorrow morning.