Day 2 Istanbul

Day 2 Istanbul

Today I met with the Program Committee of WISE at breakfast and we finalized the program for the Conference.  I decided to take a taxi back to Eminomu, the European side, to have some alone time at the mosques and the bazaars and just to watch people, which is so much fun.  The taxi dropped me right in front of the Yeni Cami, New Mosque, next to the Galata Bridge.  As always, the pigeons were there in droves and I saw a blind man feeding them. This is where we bought a ballpoint sketch of the mosque on our visit with Mona/Reza.  I prayed 2 farz, and took some photographs.  This is a wonderful area full of the music of people, and occasionally bands set up along the shore and just start playing. The skyline is amazing as it is filled with mosques and minarets, starting with Fatih Cami (mosque) to the rightmost as you approach from the Asia Side, then Suleymaniye Cami – which has finally opened after renovations and then followed by Sultan Ahmed – the most majestic. I decided to go to Sultan Ahmed via the Spice Bazaar, or Misri Bazaar, and then walked up hilly cobblestone alleys full of small stores.  Sheema, Sonia and I had made many trips up that alley, and I remember trying to keep up with their long legs! Then I diverted to the Grand Bazaar, and it was nice not to have the pressure of having to buy something, but just to look again.  I was told not to buy more pillow covers, tea-glasses (maybe those I will get anyway), jewelry, copper stuff, etc. Unlike the Italians, the Turks are  not tired of tourists and lukum vendors make you taste every variety of lukum you want. And unlike Egyptians, they don’t pester you either!  I ate Iskander kebab at an authentic place, and enjoyed the scenery of locals, tourists, all blending together in a lively attractive mix of languages.  Then I walked to the Sahaflar Bazaar – old book bazaar, where we had bought calligraphy on our previous trips. It was the same as always, peaceful, full of books and calligraphies hard to resist! I refrained with great effort and decided to savour it only. Then I decided to leave the Grand Bazaar area and came across an open bazaar where Sonia had bought an antique watch last year.  The same old men were sitting there with their wares on the ground on a piece of cloth.  I got lucky and bought an Ottoman ring for myself.

Then as I finally headed for the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, I took detours up and down the alleys – sometimes to catch a glimpse of Marmara Sea, sometimes to just see different neighborhoods, e.g. the wholesale shoe area, or the wholesale leather area, all bazaars are clean and organized and sweepers are constantly cleaning the streets.  Every other corner there were traffic jams of trucks, cars and peddlers with big bags of merchandise on their backs. Occasionally, you hear the word “Pardon” behind you and you know it is someone that really cannot stop, so you jump out of the way.  It could be a scooter with a huge load, or a seller with a giant sack on his back coming downhill.

As I approached the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, the azan for asr was starting, and I was so happy that I came in time. I recorded some of it on the camera to treasure it for back home. And was allowed inside for the prayers, as tourists cannot enter during prayer time. After prayers, I decided to take a photo of the interior and a woman in hijab asked if I wanted to be in it.  I said yes, and something caused me to ask her if she was here for the WISE conference. And amazingly, she said yes – she was a poet from Saudi Arabia named Nimah Ismail Nawwab.  We connected right away, and decided to join another friend of hers, a photographer named Abduljalil Al-Nasser, who also works at Aramco.  He was photographing feet as we walked and talked in the Sultan Ahmed and Aya Sofia area. He also photographed our feet and we commented on what a neat idea that was, as feet say a lot about who we are! Nimah told us that she had tried to pray at the Aya Sofia, but 2 policemen told her it is a museum now and no prayers are allowed, which shows the strict adherence to secularism in Turkey, which I actually appreciate. The Ottomans had converted Aya Sofia to a mosque, and then it was converted to be a museum. Today one can see Muslim calligraphy and Christian frescoes in this amazing testament to the tolerance of Turkey.  Near the Blue Mosque, one of the Sultan’s statements is displayed: it says that no harm should come to the non-Muslim residents of Balkan region, and they are to be protected as all other citizens.

Nimah also loved the hotel she was staying at, called the Basilica hotel, with a view of Sultan Ahmed and Aya Sofia both! As Maghrib approached, we both decided to go back to the Marriott to join other WISE guests who must be arriving. I shared a cab with Nimah and we said goodbye to the European side for now, to be revisited on Monday evening, right after the conference.

When we returned to the lobby, we saw African women, from Zambia, Tanzania, Indian women, Pakistani women, e.g. Shahina Akbar, Libyan women who had just left Benghazi that morning and were not sure if they would be allowed to fly, Syrian women, US Muslims and some Sufis, like Kamille and her husband Kabir. Unfortunately the Egyptian Arab Spring women were detained by the military and will not be able to tell their story; instead their U-tube will be played. We wrapped up the evening as a program team ironing out the agenda and logistics, and I began to prepare for my Master of Ceremonies role, usually done by Shahid, my husband at other events!  I look forward to meeting Rumi’s great grand-daughter tomorrow and all the other honored guests.