I wıll wrıte wıth mıstakes sınce the keyboard here ıs so dıfferent
ı ve been here about 5 days wıth an incredible local guıde named Lutfi Atay who has a PhD ın Tourısm and knows hıs country very well. Because one of my clıents worked wıth Lutfı he has gıven me a very specıal tour so far.
I've vısted Ephesus and Pumekale which are near the west coast-- Ephesus just 10 miles from the water. Pumekale was inland a couple hours by bus and had a similar ancient city - Hieropolis (approximately 2000 years old or more with a population at that time of 150,000 or 200,000). Pumekale was known for it's hotspring mineral pools and the healing waters drew many people, including Cleopatra and Mark Anthony- for their honeymoon. I swam in the same pool which had acquired some large fallen marble columns that were submerged under the water and dangerous to bump into when you swam.
(these pools are too fragile for swimming, but there were adjacent pools people could soak in as well as the ancient Cleopatra pool that had been built with marble nearby)
Pergomom was also an old city on the west coast near Ismir and like Pumekale's Hieropolis, built high on a mountain. Really stunning view. While I was in Pergomom, I visited a very old rug company of Pergomom that went back at least 15 generatıons and employs 1500 woman to hand-dye and hand make all theır rugs. It's a special company since they salary the women to ensure they will continue to make rugs and are given a good wage. I took a tour where he showed me how they make them, served me tea, and of course bought some small beautıful rugs!
So much to wrıte but have to go! The eggplant dıshes here are beyond words.
İ am still learning to use the turkish keyboard and will skip punctuatıon since that is boggling for me.
as you can see, i am in istanbul and have a few more days to not buy a rug and resist the temptation to do so. the problem is i love to look at them-- the rugs, and i cannot hide my appreciation of the artwork and craftsmanship which only excites or incites the salesmen who come running to me with a tray of tea and want me to spend the afternoon just looking-- they say-- and i think this temptation at it,s finest. ı am sure that the devil must train these guys in temptation-- they are very vey good. And i seem to be their perfect viıtım! Blond, blue-eyed and American.
and yes, i dıd fall into sın and buy a rug-- but i have repented and am counting the days before i leave so i donit fall ınto greater sins. in fact, when i walk by the countless rugs hanging within my reach, i just hum a little happy song and look out of the corner of my eye-- trying to improve my peripheral vision and not make eye contact with the salesmen who cry, hello lady, where are you from? -- or some questıon that is so friendly that my midwestern upbringing compells me to answer. Anyway, I survived today in Istanbuhl without buying a rug. An American woman İ met in Kapedokya was quite traumatized in İstanbuhl by the pushy manipulative salesmen (İ don,t know how she survived Manhatten-- she is not a typical New Yorker). Anyway, we went shopping for gıfts in Kapedokya which İ have found in retrospect is the worst place in all of Turkey to shop. The merchants in Kapedokya must have extra testosterone or something scary-- we both found ourselves hostage in a few crazy shops and barely got out with our sanity. I suppose İndıa ıs worse, and don,t think i would do well there eıther.
i haven,t been able to get onto my blog for days for some reason and each day is so full of experiences, ı am not sure which to write about.
one memory that comes to mind is spending a late afternoon in Konya, a huge city ın the middle of Turkey that is a Sufı center-- where Rumi lived and also a big Moslem city-- conservative. it ıs not a tourist town and i went to see the whirlıng dervishes there and was lucky to see their weekly performance-- which was magical and very calming to watch 15 men twirling in white flowing skirts for an hour to a traditional turkish orchestra of old instruments. enchanting-- and i had a man from Afghanistan who was sufi-muslim who ınterpreted for me and explained the entire ritual and philosophy. We talked much before the performance and i felt so lucky to have him sitting there explaining everything. He also talked about how much the Turks like America and i told him about my Feldenkrais work. He mentioned how he had a lot of physical therapy 15 years ago after the Russıans had attacked Afghanistan and he was ın the hospital for 5 years from burns and had a lot of therapy. Here was a young man-- maybe 27 or 28 who survived a horrible war and recovery and can walk now and functıon very well. He had an arranged marriage with an Afghani woman over a year ago-- they were together for 5 or 6 days and now she is in the US and he is waiting for his green card to meet her after a year of waiting.
,Isn,t that a long time?-- İ asked him. He shrugged and said yes, of course but İ have to wait until they get my card.
How is ıt to have an arranged marrıage? I asked and wondered-- he was a very modern looking man. He said, he doesn,t know yet-- she seems OK and that they will work it out because both families need them to work it out. He accepted this in the same way he talked about getting through the 5 years in the hospital-- pretty amazing acceptance of what is his fate. I marveled at his patience in his presence and hospitality with me.
I really enjoyed Konya. İn one day, İ met so many people and conversed ın broken Turkish (like speaking in a crossword puzzle fashion with my dictionary) -- carefully selecting the one darn word to express myself using gestures and facial expressions to fill in the gap-- thank god my mother was such a clown-- İ acquired some of her antics and had groups of people come and sit on the park bench where İ would be journaling and wait for me to say hello-- or they would say hello and gıggle shyly. İn 2 hours İ had a group of 8 young boys talk wıth me, a group of teenage girls with one that was getting married the next day, a group of women and their chıldren grilling me on why i wasn,t married, more women who were sisters asking me why i was alone, and another group of women with children asking all kinds of questıonsç
Very curious people. İ felt lıke a tropical bird passing through their territory.
Earlıer that same day after going to a Hammam (a turkish bath) with the wife of a rug dealer (-- yes İ did buy a rug from him). I was strolling through a neighborhood and heard this lovely Turkish folk music and stopped to see there was a little party going on with food and some local bake and craft sale. İ love this kınd of thing and lingered by these women ın black veıls sıttıng on the ground making some fresh pastries with stuffing baked ınside on a griddle. The pastry looked lıke Norwegian lefsa (but İ found out later they don,t lıke cooking with potato and were almost offended that İ asked if they used potato!). One of the women smiled and waved for me to come to her.
It turns out thıs was a fundraiser for Mongoloıd chıldren,s school and they were thrilled to find out about my Feldenkrais with disabled children and introduced me to all the teachers and doctors there. Wıth my dictionary, i had a wonderful time with these people.
So Konya, even though I was only there a for two days-- was a wonderful place with very friendly, sweet people. Special to stay at the Rumi Hotel-- just accross the street from the museum of Rumi and other sacred Moslem objects.
Well, so much more to write but have more experiencing to do!
I took a second full day of touring the city with another diverse group of people-- only one other American and the rest from many countries like Taiwan, Dubaı, Brazil, Mexico, Switzerland, England, Iran, Syria and many other countries I can't even remember-- Yesterday, I was the only American.
At the end of a very long day includıng a boat ride along the water that separates the european and asian part of istanbul, we were taken 'hostage' to a leather company for a runway model show and tour of their store-- some poor souls bought some leather jackets which will encourage them to keep doing this show to exhausted tourists.
It was the end of a long day of historical facts and gestation of gıant palaces and glittery furniture of sultans from the Otoman empire. Turkey gives the french and Versailles a run for their money. Yesterday saw another Sultan palace-- the Topakı Palace where they had so many gems- emeralds the sıze of my fist and dıamonds and rubies coverıng an entıre baby,s crib. Opulence to a tee. 86 carat dıamond. Of course Attaturk ended this empıre in 1923-- pretty amazing end of a 800 years of very rich lifestyle for sultans.
I could recite to you all kinds of trivia now about Turkey but will restrain myself.
The spice market, the amazing blue tiled mosques, the workmanship of the Otoman palaces are swirling in my head as well as the smell and feel of the sleek leather jacket the salesman insisted i try on. ıt dıd look great on me-- but i once again resisted temptation. this is a town to either strengthen or weaken willpower.
İ am learning how to smile and say no with a strong and gentle firmness. Perhaps this is a lesson the Turks wıll teach me well.
Well, off to rest-- oh, one more detail...
Last night as I was walking back to my hotel after listening to music and watching a whirling dervish, the chanting for the Muslim call to prayer began from the tall spires by the mosques on each corner around me-- I happened to be standing between the Blue Mosque, Aya Sophia and another famous Mosque-- all within a block of each other. The three gıant mosques began the to call to prayer at the same time-- each with different chants and resonating with echos that bounced all around the square. İ was surrounded by this chanting and call to prayer and the sound made me stop. Just the vibration of being surrounded by chanting in all directions was like walking into the wind. i stopped and noticed my skin was prickled with goosebumps and the top of my head buzzing from the sound. Even though İ am not Muslim, I felt the reverence of the music and an awe of the effect the sound created.
It's a strange experience to walk through chanting lıke that-- it's like walking through a wave or through a color. The residue remained with me until İ went to sleep and i can see how this call to prayer permeates the consciousness of the culture like salt in the water. Very interesting-- all the other visitors from other cultures İ,ve talked to agree with my observation and share about this experience.
Merhaba (hello), I arrived back in Seattle two days ago and for the first time in many years am really experiencing jet lag. Perhaps it was the final mystical days in Turkey that have kept me connected to that time zone and the strangeness of being back in America. I feel like I don't fit the same into my "old" clothes now and am assesing my lifestyle and choices.
My brother picked me up at the airport and when we took my bags to the parking lot, I stared at the car he drove. It looked familiar and I realized, it was my car. I forgot I had one! After spending 6 weeks walking, bicycling, taking buses, taxis, and surrounding myself with people who did not really use cars, I really forgot about the need to drive.
I had a strange feeling when I opened the door of "my" car to get in. I thought, "Wow, this is really a nice car I have." Especially after leaving Istanbul where the majority of the 15 million people there do not have cars and wouldn't even dream of owning one. I felt incredibly rich and the realization of what Americans have dawned on me as I sat in my car and thought of all the Turkish people I had met and how I take for granted the lifestyle I have. Gas in Turkey (and Greece) is about $12/gallon. People don't drive around frivolously. There were virtually no powerboats or sailboats on the waters-- even though the sea was gorgeous, islands are plentiful, and the sailing must be wonderful. This was true in Greece as well. I asked the locals about why there were so few sailboats out on the waters. Most shrugged and looked at me like "why would people be sailing just for fun?" Perhaps it's the price of gas as well as the economy there that prevents people from sailing and boating. Entertainment is more localized, within walking or busing distance.
The other strong impression I had in Turkey regarding entitlement and our American spoils was in watching their children. Turkish children do not have ADD. They sit quietly and seem content for long periods of time just watching the world around them. I've taken long (12-15 hour) bus rides and the kids were quiet and easy the whole trip. I never saw a tantram or a child acting disrespectful. They played and hung out a lot with elders and parents. They weren't watching DVDs or playing with gameboys or listening to IPODS. In fact, I only saw a few MP3 players on my entire trip. One 20-year old Greek guy I talked to in Mykonos told me that he used to watch TV and play games on the computer but he hated what it did to his brain. "It sucks the life out of me," he said, "I've stopped watching TV and spend time talking with my friends instead. I feel like I am missing life."
In Turkey, when you go out at night, you'll seldom see people sitting alone. They are usually in groups, sipping tea and talk. Some playing backgammon. Greece was similar, just people drinking more ouzo instead of tea and talking with louder voices. And if you are sitting alone, someone will usually come up to you to talk. It's such a social culture. This is a big difference from America where people live so far from one another and the individual is more important than the group. Other tourists who traveled with their spouse or friend asked me, "Has it been hard traveling alone? "
"No- not at all," I said.
"Do you get lonely?" they ask.
"Hmm," I tried to remember.. Just to appease them I said, "Well, maybe for 5 minutes, I felt lonely on the trip." It was true-- except it was even less. I remember feeling lonely once for the duration of one thought. I felt much more lonely in the states where people are so busy and distracted, they don't have the attention or patience to give you. But in Greece and Turkey, people have time to watch and listen. Even if people weren't talking to me, I felt them watching me and something is comforting knowing that people see you and are curious. They smile back and want to talk with me. My entire trip, I felt so connected to the people wherever I was. I wasn't lonely. Even in the airport at Istanbul, a Turkish woman asked me, "how was your stay?" and her eyes sparkled with such joy. I said, "Wonderful. I love your culture and the people." She said, "We have big hearts," and she opened her arms wide to me and I smiled with tears in my eyes. What a wonderful thing to feel this about your country and people.
Of course, people all over the world have big hearts and certainly at home in USA. I love my country and the people here. I also experience in the United States that people seem often distracted and self-absorbed to a degree that I feel invisible to them and this is a primary difference in the cultures. Our materialistic achievements and focus here have left much to be desired. The more you have, the less you can see and feel.
There was a family from Dubai on one of my tour days in Istanbul, one of the richest countries on the planet. We had lunch at the same table. The Dubai family were all dressed with the most current designer, cool clothes and sunglasses. Their three boys were a little overweight (very few people in Turkey are overweight) and squirming uncomfortably and irritably in their chairs. The mother, wearing a traditional Muslim black scarf over her head looked very bored and depressed. She was the first woman I met who really looked depressed. The father treated the boys like princes and I could tell by how he asked them what they wanted to drink, they got whatever they wanted. The waiter brought us a set menu lunch (part of the tour) and the kids complained and wouldn't touch the food. They talked back to their parents in a disrespectful tone that I felt embarrassed for the parents who were used to this behavior. This was the first time I had seen "spoiled" kids on my trip. However, I thought for a moment and realized that the behavior of the kids wasn't considered spoiled behavior in much of America, but fairly normal "child-like" behavior. Especially on television and commercials. This was the behavior of kids who were entitled. Even though Muslim, they acted just like privileged American kids. (Of course, not all American kids act this way--)
Even though I have been to Africa, something about this trip gave me a much deeper perspective on the affluence we have in America and the downside of affluence. I came home to my little dog and remembered how few pets I saw in Turkey. They had some dogs (pretty mangy looking) and most of the cats were feral. Having a pet seemed to be in a similar category of extravagence as a car or boat.
Finally, even if some of the Muslims in Turkey are not as strict in their religious practice and "sin" by drinking alcohol occasionally or not praying consistently, there is a constant reminder of "God" through the call to prayer five times a day. Even if you aren't Muslim, this call to prayer has a pavlovian effect of engaging awareness. The chanting music has an impact and breaks your thoughts for a moment. Even if you aren't a "believer", there is a pause from the grind of your own mind. A reflection of where you are and wondering what is happening right now. The budhists call this a "darma bell" - waking a person up to the moment. This is the opposite of what I experience in American culture with our technology, advertising, music and the consumer-driven world we have created.
In Feldenkrais work, people are learning to feel again, to wake up to sensing their bodies and world around themselves. I remember a Greek man asking me, "Do a lot of Americans do psychotherapy?" I said that there were quite a few people who did and he said, "In Greece we don't have this very much-- people talk here--- you don't hold your feelings in, there is always someone to talk to and get that stuff out of your chest. We cry, we laugh, we're sad-- we talk immediately when these things happen. We talk every day to each other. Of course, there are a few people who need more help, but this is how we are." And I could see the difference. Perhaps when people live so much closer together, they have to talk and express themselves more. I hope our American culture can grow more to have this kind of community and connection with one another. While the standard of living in Turkey may be much lower than ours, I wonder if there aren't a lot of other ways their standard is higher.
Well, these are my musings and I hope I haven't offended anyone.
Annie Thoe is an Assistant Feldenkrais Trainer and Practitioner in the Feldenkrais Method with 22 years of experience in bodywork. She has taught numerous modalities of massage therapy, supervised students and practitioners, and teaches locally and nationally. She is on the Board of Directors for the Wilderness Awareness School in Duvall, Washington. In addition to her outdoor naturalist study, Annie has an extensive background in martial arts, sports, and music.
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April, 2007
