Madter's Travel Adventures: Turkey

I find it hard to begin a blog that cannot possible encompass the incredible experiences that this summer entailed. As I was experiencing it, I felt that I couldn’t wait to sit down and start writing because I had so much to relay. And now that the time is here, and yet again I’m leaving on a jet plane to Canada to visit the beloved family and friends, I feel at a loss of words because it’s too challenging to record every event, feeling and experience. But I’ll try my best to include what I think to be as the most valuable.

Jill, Marcia and I. Traveling Trio: Seoul Sistas: Three’s Company...something like this. We set out for a 5 week long journey to “Eat, Love, Pray,” in our own ways. And that we did. Our journey began in Turkey, as we, along with Lee, Deanna, Cailin, BokHwa and HyeYoon were invited by our school admin to join our principal, Altay, in Turkey for a free 8 day, all accommodations, transportation (with the exception of flights) and food included. An offer none of us could resist of course. Many of my friends asked me why, why are they offering this to you? I couldn’t really answer that question before the trip, besides that they are very generous. This fact remains, but I came to realize other generous reasons that perhaps involve the Turkish way of life and Islamic faith. So I’ll answer this question as I blog.

“NO SHOES!” Is what rings in my head when I reminisce about the beginning of the journey. And a journey it was to get to Istanbul. We had a 19 our travel to Turkey via Moscow. We flew Aeroflot, which was a bit sketchy to begin with because we read some sketchy reviews prior to leaving. But, you’d do the same if it saved you $600 on a flight. I wouldn’t say so much the airline itself, but I’ll do my best not to bash an entire nation…rather just those that myself and the others encountered. Moscow is cold in more than one way. By this I mean the abruptness of the restaurant owners, the customs officers, the security police and the general patrons of Aeroflot. I can say this because each of these people gave one of us grief, or perhaps better described as abrasiveness and aggression. Entering the security area where your bags our checked, the lady in front of me had her shoes off and in her hand. So I followed suit, took my pumas off and put my bag in the bin like a law obeying citizen. Well, as I approached the security woman, she literally yelled at me. NO SHOES! So I look around thinking, what about the other woman? And well, I have no shoes on? So I stood longer, like a deer in headlights. I slowly started putting one shoe on, acting as My Son Jon. Eventually she yelled again, NO SHOES. So I put them on, slowly and inched my way towards the belt with my bag. Phew. I made it out alive, and apparently provided some entertainment for my friends and other foreigners around me! Next, we board the plane from Moscow to Turkey, and there’s a Russian woman in my seat. So I kindly motion towards my ticket. Well, those arms crossed and scowled face were enough body language for me to understand, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed. So she points, aggressively to a middle seat across the way. Apparently I should have known that she wanted my aisle seat. Duh, my bad. I did eventually get her to move to her spot, but I’ll tell you I slept with one eye open! Haha.

Istanbul welcomed us with open arms, and rainy skies. We caught a few winks that night before being greeted by Altay. Before I go on about this charismatic Altay fellow, I have to explain a bit about him. He’s a BIG kid! A fun big kid a big heart, a leader with a great attitude, an Opa (big brother in Korean) who is always concerned and of course a great Turkish tour guide! But perhaps not a meteorologist! He, and several Turkish people from work said, it never rains in Turkey. Well long behold, about 4 out of 8 days had some showers, but it certainly did not slow us down! Day one in Istanbul we began at the Blue Mosque, a very famous Mosque worldwide. It gets its name from the blue tiles on the inside, very intricate by the way. Inside Altay explained more about Islamic Faith, which was really powerful for me. For a few reasons, such as helping me to understand my students better, and in general a better understanding for another religion which believe in the same God as I. Learning about the pillars of Islamic faith also really resonated.
The pillars are:
Faith or belief in the Oneness of God and the finality of the prophet hood of Muhammad;
Establishment of the daily prayers;
Concern for and almsgiving to the needy;
Self-purification through fasting; and
The pilgrimage to Mecca

This was a jumping point for me to understand other reasons for this trip, and other reasons for the school sponsors of our school in Korea. Turks treat you like family, but Muslim faith preaches, in its rawest description, the act of sharing, monetary and non-monetary. It was a good reminder that we should each be doing our part to fill the gap between the high and low. And it’s made me do things for others that I may not have otherwise felt to be so valuable. Regardless, I began to understand the dedication that Muslims have to faith. Even though I knew that they pray 5 times a day, I’d never been exposed to it in this manner. Hearing the call for prayer, watching the groups of men in Mosques, especially on Fridays, seeing Altay and our driver stop for prayer and knowing they got up at 5am each day for prayer after nights when we didn’t arrive to our hotel until after midnight. I compare my Roman Catholicism as a religion, to Islam as more a way of life.

Anyways, back to lovely Istanbul. While in the city we visited Basilica Cistern, a creepy underground cistern with numerous stone columns surrounded in water and red pot lights. Medusa’s head was at the base of a few columns. We also visited Topkapı Palace which was the residence of any Turks during the Ottoman Empire. It lies on the Bosphorus, the Istanbul strait that separates Asia and Europe. Followed by some a carpet shop, a few rests for Turkish coffee (very bitter!), and shopping galore at the Bazaar!

We stayed in Istanbul for 2 days and flew to Cappadocia, a city in central Turkey where we met our Driver for the week, we called him Abi (big brother in Turkish), and Yunas, our tour guide of Cappadocia. I have a lot of energy, but man that man has more! “MY GUESTS, MY FRIENDS…!” Crazy outgoing and we got along like 2 peas in a pod. He showed us around the mountainous/volcanic mountains that used to have inhabitants, inside caves, churches, meeting rooms. It was quite the spectacle, and that coupled with great weather and blue skies made for an unforgettable ride in the sky with a hot air balloon over the city. Really, never something I thought I’d do until I was perhaps retired. Definitely one of the best experiences in of my life. floating like a bird, so high, so peaceful and a view that you only see in travel magazines. Stunning.

We left Yunas, kept Abi and continued on in our 10 seater van to Kayseri, Konya and Ismir. We really basked in Turkish lifestyle and food! We stayed most of the time in hotels, but a few times in home stays that our director set up. We had many dinners with sponsors for our school. And here’s the thing that also makes me better understand why we were given this trip. Generosity basically sums it up. These sponsors give money to a pool, which is distributed all over the place to Turkish schools in Turkey and abroad. A giving society to say the least.

We over ate, all of us. Meat, cheese and bread! It was SO yummy going down, but not so great the night I got sick. I think perhaps a change of enviroment, diet and lots of excitment was the cause. My boss, Atlay encouraged me to get IV the following day at the hospital. I'm happy for this!! But, the best part? Waking up with the IV in me, and seeing Jill wheeling around in a wheelchair beside my bed. A Modern Family, if you’ve ever watched. One of us was Luke, not sure which, maybe both. You see she had messed her neck up earlier that week, which gave us a few laughs at her expense when she’d answer our questions and make eye contact with an entire body pivot. So, they gave her a shot or a pill or something that somehow gave her the chance to bomb around in a wheelchair and eat peaches or something. IV full, electrolyte renewed and water restored we set out for another long 5 hour drive to the next city. City to city offered really amazing sightseeing such as mosques, hilly landscapes with great panoramic views, old European architecture and personal exchanges with locals.

Second to Cappadocia was Pamukkale, bright blue hot springs with white rocks, set beautifully on an elevated area to overlook a small town. Quiet, serene and stunning about sums up this place. Next to visit some ancient history at Ephesus. Seeing an ancient town and the first library was a taste of what we’d see in ancient Athens and reminded me a bit of Pompeii, Italy. Our last stop before returning to Istanbul was Bursa. A really cute city with a warm feel and a loving atmosphere.

One last event left us all smiling, a yacht ride along the Bosporus. The sun shone and we all started realizing that our whirlwind of an 8 day journey was coming to an end. Most of us going on to travel to other countries, stay with family or friends or perhaps return to Korea. We were all very grateful for our driver; boss/friend/tour guide/each other’s company and unforgettable experience.