Your Coup Cannot Destroy My Turkey

While I have not experienced a lot of conflict in my life/travels nor am I stranger to it. I was evacuated from Belgrade in February 2008 when, as a result of the US's recognition of Kosovo's independence a group of people tried to burn down the US embassy. I was in Kabul in December 2011 for the Ashura suicide bombing. I have been in Istanbul for more than three years now and lived through Gezi and the summer of tear gas, both Sultanahmet suicide bombings, the suicide bombing on Istiklal-a seven minute walk from my apartment-the attack on the Ataturk International Airport, and a variety of protests. However the July 15 coup attempt was my first coup.

After Friday night, which was the most terrifying experience of my life-surpassing even that time I thought I was going to die on the Great Wall of China-I don't know why people would choose to go to an air show. Well, really even before Friday I couldn't understand that, but hearing the screams of the F16 and the resultant sonic booms many of thought were bombs I don't know why someone would willing want to listen to that. The next morning many discussions on Facebook groups and from my friends were about leaving Turkey. This coup, be it a real attempt or Erdogan theater (which I think more likely), this was the straw that broke the camel's back for many people. However when people ask me if I plan to leave I just look at them quizzically and say "No. Why would I do that?"

To be fair to the discussion, I am planning to leave Turkey. I decided this last fall when I realized that I want to be a sommelier and do my training in Italy; but this failed coup attempt will neither push me out faster nor will it change the fact that I'll probably be back. Why not? Because this, this country of coups, failing democracy, violence, and a willful retreat into the dark ages is not my Turkey.

The Bosphorus and the Seraglio Point from Galatasaray

Kiz Kulesi/Maiden's Tower

My Turkey is beautiful. It's where I can be awed time and again by the magic of the Bosphorus and the iconic images of the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque. It's where you can cruise the Bosphorus to watch for dolphins and appreciate the beautiful, elaborate palaces and architecture along this ancient waterway.

Mount Nemrut

Celsus Library at Ephesus

It is timeless and melds cultures from across history. The Ottoman Empire, which ended not even 100 years ago (in 1922 to be exact) encompassed a vast array of peoples and cultures which is part of what made the modern Turkish nation so great-whether or not anyone wants to remember that. Turkey is home to some of the world's most amazing Greco/Roman ruins including Ephesus, the best preserved Greco-Roman ruins in the Aegean as well as empires like the Selcuks who fell to the Romans even before Ephesus was standing.

Hagia Sophia

Chora Church

My Turkey was the cradle of Christianity. There are over 100 churches in Istanbul alone. Granted many have been converted to mosques and/or museums but they're still standing; including the Hagia Sophia-one of the oldest churches in the world. Across the Marmara Sea is the city of Iznik, famous not just for its beautiful blue and white tiles but for once being Nicea where the fathers of the Eastern and Western Christian churches met and formalized the faith. If you fly into Izmir to visit Ephesus you're actually flying into the ancient Biblical city of Smyrna and while you're in Ephesus you can visit nearby Meryamana-the house where the Mother of God lived with Saint John before her assumption. You can visit cave churches of early Christians around the country, most famously in Cappadocia or, if you really like to walk, follow the path of Saint Paul across the country.

It is the home to some of of the most beautiful and mysterious natural land formations like the limestone travertines of Pamukkale which gleam like snow under the sun and the fairy chimneys of Cappadocia. Turkey is where tulips were first mass grown and in fact introduced the flower to the Dutch. While the Dutch now surpass them in tulip production, Turkey is still one of the world's top tulip growers, holds a tulip festival every year that blankets the city in color, and incorporates the flower in many of its most traditional motifs.

My Turkey is friendly and hospitable. It's where within five minutes of arriving at your family-run cave hotel in Cappadocia you're holding the baby and are part of the family. It's where that family goes out of its way to make sure you get a booking for the hot air balloons despite the atrocious weather because its your little brother's first trip abroad and he has to have this experience; and where airport ticket agents try hard to get you an exit row seat because that same "little" brother is 6'7". It's where the guys at your favorite bufe go the extra mile and make your orange juice fancy because its your birthday and where shops and cafes you regularly frequent go out of their way to remember your order or provide extra special service.

Cat at Ephesus

Language school cat, Aslan

My Sherlock

My Turkey is also where that hospitality extends to animals and where people care for stray animals, especially cats, in a way I have never seen anywhere else. It's where tram drivers stop packed trains so cats can cross the tracks, where many of the local governments provide funding so street cats can receive free care, where people build shelters and leave out water and food for the cats. It's where cats are welcome in (and often cared for exclusively by) shops, cafes, museums, and historical sites. Turkey is also where I met my Sherlock who is naughty and spoiled but seeks shelter near me when the world is falling down around us and is possibly the love of my life.

 

This is where I have met amazing people, both Turkish and other foreigners. They have helped me apartment hunt, translated/interpreted for me before I learned the language, opened their homes to me, encouraged my studies in wine, and readily welcomed me into their groups in a way I never experienced in the US. I have met people here who not only embrace me as a friend but look after me like I'm family.

My Turkey is where I have had experiences I couldn't have anywhere else. When His Holiness Pope Francis came to Istanbul in 2014 I not only got a ticket to the Mass, thanks to my parish priest I also served at the Papal Mass. In 2016 I got to see the same humble, caring parish priest be ordained as Bishop of Istanbul, putting him in charge of one of the oldest Christian parishes in the world. Here I learned Turkish, or you know, learned it well enough to manage my daily life and read book 1 of Harry Potter. I have formally studied eight languages and Turkish is one of the most complicated and difficult ones; the only one in fact that gets more and not less difficult the more you learn. I probably sound like a five-year old when I talk but people are always not only willing to listen to me struggle through sentences but are happy that I'm trying.

This is my Turkey. My Turkey is ancient, beautiful, spiritual, colorful, brave, hospitable, cultured, exciting, and magical. Yes there is a terrible and dark core eating away it and it may be systematically destroyed by its own government and people but the vision and memories I have of this magnificent country cannot be destroyed no matter how many (fake) coups happen or what terror the government rains down on its own citizens. This is my Turkey, and this is how I will remember it always.

The Vatican and Churches of Rome

You cannot go to Rome and not visit The Vatican, and everyone wants to go to the Vatican so I was guaranteed at least one church to which I didn't have drag my less than church-loving friend. It has been a very long time since I was last in Rome and while I'm not saying we just walked casually into every single church/museum/monument I do not remember the lines being like this. And I was there during peak season last time! Good thing we'd bought those Omnia Cards!

The Basilica of Saint Peter

St. Peter's impresses before you even get inside

There are several places to buy the Roma Pass/Omnia Card (or you can purchase online and pick them up at the same place). Figuring that the sales point outside Saint Peter's would be crazy busy we bought ours at Saint John Lateran's which had the added benefit of being only a couple blocks away from our AirBnB; and so glad we did! Part of the service that goes with the Omnia Card is a timed entrance to Saint Peter's so we turned up the next day, shuddered at the seemingly interminable line of people waiting to get in, found our group, and sailed past every one else. L and I chose to go through the basilica on our own but we could have followed our group and also received (for no extra fee) the audio guide.

Michelangelo's Pieta

The alter under the dome

After you get into the basilica and once you're done being overwhelmed by the immensity and grandeur of the building (as L said she'd give us Catholics one thing-we know how to build a church!) there are a few not to be missed sites. The first, behind a wall of glass and surrounded by people jostling for position with their cameras (including me...) is Michelangelo's Pieta. The glass, which is bulletproof, was only installed in the 1970's after a wackjob Hungarian-Austrian geologist took a sledgehammer to Mary while shouting "I am Jesus Christ; I have risen from the dead." True story.

The newest feature inside St. Peter's, but no less crowded/photographed for being new, is the tomb of Pope Saint John Paull II. There's a sectioned off area in front of the tomb set aside for prayer, the line to get in stretches pretty far and they're really serious about not taking pictures there.

One of the main features of St. Peter's is the dome that soars overhead. Visitors can go up into the dome (for an additional nominal fee) to take in the view both inside the basilica and outside of St. Peter's square. There are two options for getting to the top of the dome: elevator and stairs combo (5 Euro) or just stairs (3 Euro). What I think they don't really tell you though is that after the elevator there are still something like 10 flights of stairs to be scaled. AFTER the elevator. Given my relationship with stairs, one L shares, we skipped this. Although I suppose if I were fall down some stairs and die this would be the place to do it.

St. Peter's bones supposedly lie under the alter

Looking into the apse

Saint Peter's isn't the only point of interest in Vatican City. The Vatican Museum is a draw all on its own and despite my general impatience with museums this one is not to be missed. In addition to being a gorgeous building, the Vatican Museum houses an impressive collection of art and religious and historical artifacts. The biggest draw though is of course the Sistine Chapel. There's really no way to describe it. It's mind blowing.It's also a little tricky to find. Even if you the express route (there are signs throughout the museum leading to the chapel and there really is an "express" route).

Moderno's nave

My portrait

After long museum corridors, twists and turns, and up and down what look like the servants' stairs (which they may well be as the Sistine Chapel is technically in the Papal Palace, not the museum) you finally reach the chapel where you are instantly mesmerized by Michelangeo's ceiling which according to Wikipedia is "...a masterpiece without precedent, that was to change the course of Western art." It's pretty humbling to be in the presence of something like that.

Once we managed to shake off the awed stupor we left the Sistine Chapel and made out way out of the museum. Even the Vatican Museum apparently believes in saving the best for last though as at the top of a large, multi-storied, steeply slanted staircase (which give the angle of the slant was really more of a ramp) there was a portrait of little old moi! Incredible the way they captured my essence.

The Pantheon-completed in 126

As L said we Catholics know how to build a church. However while we're not quite as well known for it we also know how to take an ancient building and make it a church. In fact that's how a great many of the old Roman temples have survived. The Pantheon, completed in roughly 126 AD by Emperor Hadrian was dedicated to all the god (ergo pantheon meaning 'all gods'). It was converted to a church in 609 AD and dedicated to St. Mary and all the Martyrs.

Also there's a gelato place nearby...if you stand with the Pantheon on your left looking at the exchange office (terribly rates btw) to the right is a gelato place that has killer chocolate orange gelato.

Sant'Andrea

Sant' Andrea

On the day L was incapacitated I wandered around Rome on my own which gave me the chance to peek into a lot of churches. You can't spit in Rome without hitting a church. And not just a little, simple church...a CHURCH. I was on a mission to find the Gesu church which is a very long story about how I can't read a map and ended up wandering around for an hour when in fact I had breezed right by it. However on my journey I discovered the Saint Me church - Sant'Andrea. Of course it's not Saint Me but the Italian Saint Andrew. How many times I've told my parents they gave me a man's name...

Triumph of the Holy Name of Jesus fresco

Church of the Gesu

I did finally find the Church of the Gesu or la Chiesa del Santissimo Nome di Gesu all'Argentina. It's a mouth full. Gesu (as it requires less typing) is a Jesuit church conceived by Saint Ignatius of Loyola and consecrated in 1584. Somewhat fascinating is the St. Ignatius Chapel where his body is kept. During the day a large painting covers the statue of the saint but every day at 17:30, to the accompaniment of loud music, a mechanism slides the painting into the floor to reveal the statue. A mechanism built sometime around 1700 AD. That's pretty cool.

To me the real draw is the ceiling of Gesu (which can be better seen if you follow the narrow, windy stairs up to the museum) designed and painted by 22 year old Giovanni Battista Gaulli. Unfortunately Wikipedia glosses over this but if you go upstairs to the museum a lovely man who speaks very good English will show you the details. When I first looked at the ceiling I thought it was beautiful but felt there was something odd that I couldn't quite figure out. It wasn't until he pointed it out that I realized that Gaulli had done the ceiling in such a way that the painting spills over the frame giving it a 3D effect. He even painted shadowing on the frame and some of the angel figurines are black. This might be sacrilegious in the art world but I was rather more impressed by this that I was the Sistine Chapel...

Alter in the Gesu museum

In the end the Gesu was my favorite of all the churches I visited in Rome. There are truly no words to describe the Gaulli frescoes; they must be seen.

Two posts about my Italy trip down and four or five to go! Hopefully the blogger's block doesn't come back...

Papal Visit to Washington, DC

Last week, I had the pleasure of getting a ticket to see the Pope's arrival at Catholic University from KMac. She had an extra ticket, and offered to let me have it. And all I could think was, awesome!

I took the afternoon off of work at got to CUA around 1:30. It was already abuzz with activity everywhere, and as I sat at the Metro station waiting for KMac to arrive I was even more surprised when one train pulled up and it was FULL of music playing, singing, nuns! I am still wishing that I were a much quicker draw on my camera so I could have gotten a shot of it. Instead, I stood there in complete awe watching hundreds of really young nuns (the ones in grey and blue habits) walk by. I don't think I'd ever seen so many in one place, and I'm just hoping I didn't look too stupid staring at them with my jaw on the floor. Maybe they're used it, right?


I couldn't have been happier that the weather was perfect, and the Shrine is the perfect backdrop for the crystalline blue skies that we had that day. The National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception is one of the 10 largest Churches in the world, and stands taller than the statue of liberty. The interior church can sit 6,000 pilgrims and worshipers comfortably, but Andrea could tell you a story of seeing closer to 10,000 people there for Good Friday a few years ago. It was about 75 degrees in the Sun, and as soon as KMac and I secured our piece of grass closest to the fence, we proceeded to sun ourselves for a while. We were in for a LOOOOOONG wait for the Holy Father's arrival, and we needed to save our energy, and enjoy a perfect spring day, with a gorgeous backdrop to share with other excited visitors.

This is a Franciscan, and I thought it was funny to take his picture while he was taking a picture, too.

Once the buses and vans started rolling in filled with Bishops (Magenta) and Cardinals (Red), the crowd was quickly on its feet. We tried to be as polite as possible, while steadily inching and nudging our way closer and closer to the barrier fence. With all of those bodies so close together, people started getting extremely hot in the sun, that was no shining directly on us. KMac and I struck gold when one of them started feeling slightly faint and sick to her stomach. When she moved back 20 feet where there was more space, we slid into position for a prime view of the Pontiff's arrival. You may also be wondering who the guy in the purple garments is: That is the Ukrainian Catholic Bishop.
All in all, there were about 1500 Bishops to meet with the Holy Father that night. They were having a private meeting with him, and as it was also his 81st birthday that day, they also presented him with a beautiful white cake, and serenaded him with a rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday" later that evening.
They all filed in and then the scene was empty once more, until there was only one remaining (with a Secret Service Agent, of course). That last man standing there is Monsignor Rossi, the Rector of the National Shrine, waiting to welcome the Pontiff to his church.

Then, there were crazy screams off around the corner, and we caught the first glimpse of the Popemobile. Everyone was cheering and screaming as he slowly rolled up to the entrance of the Shrine.
When he got out, we had our first chance to see his red shoes as he blessed us all before heading in. There was lots of speculation last week as to whether or not the Pope wears Prada. I assure you, he does not. In fact, the Pontiff's shoes are hand crafted Italian shoes that serve a symbol of his time as a Cardinal (hence, the red), as well as a fashion statement that demonstrates his continuity with the history and symbols of the Universal Church.

Then, as fast as he was there, he was gone again. As he turned to walk up the steps, we all sang Happy Birthday to him. When he reached the top, he turned, waved, and was gone again.

The Popemobile

I think that the Holy Father's visit was a very productive one, as well as surprising for many US Catholics. He proved himself to be much more compassionate and approachable than many believed him to be. I am incredibly thankful that I was able to have the opportunity to see him up close and with my own eyes. I regret that I was never able to see JPII either time that I was in Rome years ago. The energy surrounding the Holy Father is truly inspiring, and it was quite a blessing that I had the chance to see him.

Special Thanks to KMac who gave me the ticket to the Pope's visit, as well as for use of a two of her pictures that I included here.