The Life of a Girl Traveling the World!

Çok Sağol Turkey, Çok Sağol

I guess I should start out by clarifying that Çok Sağol means thank you very much in Turkish, just one of the 2 phrases I actually remember in Turkish, nearly fluent now! (Afternote: Be ready because this is a long one)

It’s almost been a week since leaving Turkey and I do apologize for the late reporting, there was a major hinder since our Internet was out of commission until Wednesday night, much to our ultimate frustrations.

I think also why I haven’t been to apt to write about Turkey is because I am just not sure I can quite find the right words to describe my week there. The company that we traveled with, SnoworSand, planned such an amazing trip that I can say I honestly did not feel like a tourist, but more like a honored guest of the culture. It is almost intimidating to think I need to attempt to because I do not want to disrespect the culture and people there by poorly describing my time. But I guess it is worth a shot, although I will say right now that anything I say cannot ever fully capture what I experienced in Turkey.

I feel like it is an injustice to my experience to go through a daily itinerary and list out what we did, because that is not what happened. What happened was a full and complete cultural experience, we stepped out of our roles as tourists and stepped into the Turkish culture, which is not something that can be put into bullets and categorized. So I think I am going to pick out a few of my special highlights and make a feeble attempt to recapture those moments. For a quick recap for reference though we spent the first  two nights in Istanbul, one night in Bursa, two nights in Selcuk, one night in a cave house in Goreme, then a night on a sleeper train back to Istanbul.

I think it is only appropriate that I start with the Turkish bath since that was of the first times I realized we were no longer tourists. On our second day in Istanbul our travel group of 7 girls experienced something I’m not so sure we would have done if we knew beforehand what was about to go down. But it was the singular event that transformed our little group into SUCH good friends and I think it is safe to say bonded us right together! So basically- we went to the oldest Hammam Bath in Istanbul, from the 14th century. What makes this so different you may ask? Well for the mere fact that the experience consists of everyone laying naked on a steaming hot rock in the center of the room and having other women scrub you down to nearly the bone and then soap and massage you up, and yes, the women are naked too in case you were curious. As I am SURE no one is shocked to hear we were quite intimidating by the entire scenario, I mean even if there is something like this in America, it is surely something none of us have ever been close to being in. But being there, in this near ancient building surrounded by the most welcoming Turkish women, I think something happened in all of us. We just let go; let go of of judgments, apprehensions, and the connotations that our culture has put into our heads that what was going on was anything but normal. We let ourselves enter one of the most important parts of Turkish culture. It’s funny, I think a lot of people, even myself before going, have this thought that Turkish women live a life of isolation behind their burkas (which aren’t that common even) and head scarves and discrimination and submission and have lost the “womenhood” us Americas are so used to. But it is SO wrong! There is a connection between Turkish women, a deep respect and acceptance, and you could feel the birth of that within the bath house, where women are stripped, quite literally, down to their core and exposed to each other and free to be women together. As we were getting our skinned peeled just about all off, the women all started singing and laughing and it was like in that moment we left behind everything that barricaded us from them and became part of their world. Their mysterious but fantastic world.

We stepped even further into this world in Bursa when we experienced a Whirling Dervish ceremony. This ceremony is part of the core of the Islamic religion and I do not want to try and pretend I know everything about it so I invite everyone to do a little research into the background of the ceremony because it is truly fascinating. Earlier in the night, we had dinner at the house of one of the men involved in the ceremony and he was able to explain some of the history of the ceremony. Part of the root of the ceremony is about the Dervish, who is someone who has given everything up to Allah and holds an ‘I am nothing’ perspective in relation to the expanse of God’s time. There is so much to the origins of the ceremony, but I do not want to disrespect it any further by not accurately retelling its history. What I can tell you, though is what it was like to experience such a ceremony. Ok, I guess that is really hard too because it is nearly unexplainable. The Dervish perform their ceremony everyday as a devotional to Allah and literally whirl for over 30 minutes while they are so intimately connected to God. It was one of the most beautiful and peaceful moments I have ever been a part of. I almost felt like I was intruding on such an intimate moment for the Dervishes, but you could see on their faces everything they were experiencing. It took me right to the place I feel when worshiping God and made me think about how no matter the religion and whatever else, the beauty of seeing someone worship God is breathtaking. Whether it is seeing a mass of people with the arms raised or Dervishes whirling for what seemed like hours, there is such a beauty that can’t hardly be described. To make up for the lack of words I have, I’m going to put a video I took of the ceremony after this post.. (OH and it is also important to note that after the ceremony, myself and a girl from my group, Lauren, received marriage proposals from two of the nicest women who were trying to set us up with their sons. My future mother-in-law took a picture of me on her phone! And no, it wouldn’t be the last of the proposals by mothers…and yes, I was beyond flattered!)

While in Selcuk, we had the opportunity to go and visit the ancient ruins of Ephesus after stopped for a lunch of DELICIOUS Turkish pancakes called Gozleme and meeting the women who were making our food. They loved having their pictures taken and picked a few of us out for their sons, a recurring theme that I must say I did not hate! So, back to Ephesus..back to strolling down the ancient street in Ephesus and seeing one of the most important cultures in ancient times. No big deal..except only a huge deal! It was like a playground of ruins, how much more wonderful does it get?! You can explore the sites for yourself, take what is left for us to see and use your imagination and recreate the buildings as you are walking through them. Climbing over rocks and reaching places like an ancient hospital, ancient bath WITH ancient toilets (!!) and realizing how amazing that city was. It was mind boggling, really. Thinking of how many people have walked down this road, the history of that culture..a culture centered around the temple of Artemis but yet one of the birth sites of Christianity.. and being able to walk along the same exact road?! Not something I will be forgetting anytime soon, that is a promise. 

One of the most fun experiences of the trip, though maybe not the moooosst cultural, was the ATV ride we took through valleys of Capadoccia. Capadoccia means Land of the Beautiful Horses and boy was it beautiful!! Though not too many horses, hm… anyways, we were able to take an ATV ride right through all the rock formations and ended up at a spot with a gorgeous view of the sunset. It was such an awesome way to see the area and allowed us to be right in with the land, as opposed to just seeing it from afar. Plus, who doesn’t love ATVS?! I must say, I had a little..smidge need for speed once I got on one and it definitely did not disappoint!

Also while in Goreme (Capadoccia) I got the chance to visit the Open Air Museum of the 11-12th century churches that were carved out of the rock formations. When I say this is indescribable, I really mean it! Some of the first churches were made in caves..and they weren’t just a ‘cave,’ they were beautiful and amazing! The people that devoted themselves to these churches escaped persecution by creating a valley of cave churches and being brave enough to follow their faith and beliefs. It was so special being there, I felt inspired and encouraged there. But mostly, humbled. Humbled right down to my core. It was different from seeing the huge, ornate churches in Europe, as beautiful as those are. But I could feel the faith that was poured out into these churches, I could feel their courage and strength in God. I could most certainly feel that everything I believe was still alive in those churches, mixed right in with all the tourists. It was very special, and like I said, brought be back to that place of humbleness I have been feeling a lot while over here. I am very thankful for being able to visit there…very thankful.

If you have made it this far into this post, then applaud and thank you, I know this is a smidge lengthy. There is so much to say, so much I’m not even saying, SO much I’m not saying. This was truly the trip of a lifetime, an experience I will never forget and I’m so thankful for all of it. It was SUCH a blessing in disguise for Morocco to be canceled. There are a few last things I want to mention. First being the food. OH THE FOOD! As much as I love Italian food (and you know I do), Turkish food has found a special place in my heart. We were able to go to 3 different houses for dinner and the food those women cooked were SO full of flavor, I literally could not stop eating until I reached near explosion. It was that good. I want every single person reading this to look up a Turkish restaurant, go, and multiply the deliciousness by one thousand and that will almost be a reflection on the food we ate. And the bread! I may have possibly ate my body weight in bread in one week. And I am not ashamed!

Also, the Ayasofia was very special to visit! The history of that building truly reflects the culture of Istanbul. There is a beautiful mix of Christianity and Islam, East and West..and it shows the respect that so many of the Turkish people showed us.

I want to extend the biggest thank you to everyone we met in Turkey for welcoming us into their lives and culture and to SnoworSand and Caglar for offering the trip of a lifetime, I feel like I am in debt to you! I know for a certain fact I will be traveling back to Turkey at some point in my life (maybe even work there?! TNT!) because it was such a special experience for me. There is so much I wasn’t able to write down, but my pictures will hopefully fill in a few blanks. And I make the most surest of sure recommendations that anyone traveling to Turkey will have the experience of a lifetime!

Çok yaşa! (The other phrase I know that you say when someone sneezes. It sounds nearly precisely like “Choke Yourself!” which is just funny, but it really means “Long may you live!)

-K (dawg)