Antakya, Hatay, Convergence place of the Abrahamic religions

Back in november, the weekend of Thanksgiving, we took another trip to the state of Antakya also known as Hatay, in the southeast bordering Syria. This is the location of the first known Christian church as well as the worlds fourth largest acheological museum, one of the oldest mosques in the country, mosaics and caves. The church of Saint Pierre is in the city of Antakya where we spent the first day touring. The church itself is very impressive for its age and still in very good condition. It was carved out of the mountain side and also sits along side many smaller caves and tunnels. There is an old cathlic school in the city we were allowed in to visit. We were also allowed to go exploring through one of the bazaars and ended up finding old abandonned wood shops that we discovered we could walk from roof to roof across the neighborhoods on.

Because the city holds great biblical significance, many devout christians from around the world make pilgramages to Antakya every year, I happened to be there on the same day as a group from France and another from Spain. I am also now called Hajı because I have ben to a holy place. The city also feels very old as well as looking like it. Many ancient buildings are currently under renovation to be turned into hotels, cafes and museums.
The second day of the trip was spent in the coastal city of İskanderun an hour south of Antakya. There isnt much to see there but it was a beautiful city.

Holidays over seas and İstanbul not Constantinople

For the Kurbon Bayram, that I mentioned in my last post, my family and I drove to İstanbul not Constantinople to spend the week there. Yes,it was pretty awesome. My host sister, who I think is the most fabulous person in the world, took me around to as many places as we could cover in three full days. İstanbul was also the culture capital of Europe for 2010 so there were tons of things going on. I saw the Hagia Sophia (here it is known as the Aya-Sofia) which was icredible. To give you an idea of its size and awe, we walked into the main dome at the same time a mentally disabled child in a wheelchair, who was having a bit of a fit, came in and even he completely stopped and looked up with the rest of us. Also the Church/Mosque/Museum does not have any stairs, instead just many long and twisting coble stone ramps in the towers leading up the the womens prayer floor. I went to the Yerebatan Cistern, or the Basilica Cistern, which is by far my favorite place in the city. it is in, or rather under, the same square as the main tourism with the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia and other huge mosques and museums and palaces. The basilica stretches an unbelievable distance as a huge labrynth of pillars under moques and trollys and tram systems and houses and streets. You would never have any idea that its even there. It was constructed roughly 1500 years ago and is now flooded and filled with huge, mildly mutated fish and gold coins so you have to walk through on raised platforms. And way at the back are two massive Medusa heads, one upside down the other on its side both pınned under pillars and no one has any clue how they got there or why they were brought there. I went to Taksim Square which has a very Harry Potter Dıagon Alley feel to it and is insanely crowded. There are many old catholic and orthodox churches, set back behind gates and a flight of stairs below the street, that sit along the main road. I went to the Galata Tower that has been built and burned and reconstructed many times and used as a watch tower for fires and you can see the majority of the city from the top. I saw the Blue Mosque but could only go through the gardens and courtyards when I was there because it was prayer time and we did not have our scarves with us to enter, but the size and elaborate decoration from just the ouside is very impressive. We went up to a suburb called Sarıyer on the mouth of the bosphorous by the Black Sea that sits on the bank opposite a large, Roman built castle and is little more than a fishing village and old run down paalaces of old paşas (pashas, or princes and kings and relatives of the royal ottoman court). I stayed at my grandmothers house on the Asian side. She lives just a few blocks from İstanbuls equivalent of the Champs Elysees and on the same street as the Armenian Church, which because of current relations basically looks like a prison with its high walls and barbed wire, so that was very fun and convenient. I also happened to be there for the premier of Harry Potter that I love to add was two days before the states, and just for fans in the class I sat by red headed twins from England, seriously. On both drives I got to see a very large portion of the country side. I also came to realize just how impoverished the majority of the country really is, especially away from the coast lines. That pretty much covers my first İstanbul trip, and no worries Mr. Lyon, I have a weeks tour of the city in April and many more visits because I have so much family there. It is absolutely impossible to cover İstanbul in less than two weeks. Antalya now feels quite small to me after seeing the size of İstanbul. Antalya is roughly 1.5 million and because of the mountains you either live here or you dont, there is no commuting. Whereas İstanbul is 18 million from 8am-8pm and has an estimated 16million permanent residents and sprawls all along the Bosphorous and across the hills on both the asian and european sides. And yes, the fanous terrible traffic really is terrible, however in my opinion they have done a pretty good job organising modern streets and have seperate bus lanes so it could definately be much worse.

First off for the holidays, because Turkey is a muslim country they of course do not celebrate Christmas so it was a very unique experience. It was indeed very strange walking down the streets hearing Christmas music and seeing all the decorations and knowning that you are the only ones who are aware of what day it is. Some where along the line, Christmas music, decorations and traditions were confused for the New Years celebration here so it wasnt until after Christmas itself that it actually felt like the holidays, wıth the exception that all the malls and many streets and homes have had trees and lıghts for most of the month. The exchange students spent the Christmas weekend in the northern city of Samsun on the Black Sea. It was absolutely beautiful, but no snow. And, as it turns out, the famed Amazon women/warriors are from Turkey, specifically the Samsun/Black Sea region. Amazon actually means breastless because the women would cut off their right breast at a young age inorder to allow themselves to be better archers, it does not portain to the Amazon forest as basically every one(including myself up until Christmas) believes. The holidays were also a time for us students spending our first holiday away from home to realize what we have and what we are greatful for and take for granted. I, for example, now intensly love central air systems whıch they do not have here, crest toothpaste, the american educatation system isnt actually as bad as I always thought and I love snow more than I realized. This is also probably the only time/place I wıll ever have fly on Christmas Eve and Boxing Day without intense lines, security and delays. For New Years, the upper and middle class spend a night or two in five star resorts with extended family enjoying being catered to and each others company. A member of the rotary club hosting me happens to own one of the most exclusive resort chains around so I was pampered and had my private room and free roam of the water front, castle like resort for the weekend. Yes, I enjoyed it immensly.It was also mixed company because of all the Russian, German and British tourists who also come down for the holidays. The party was pretty typical with the exception that they played Jingle Bells at midnight that I was very amused by. I also can say that I watched the ball drop in Times Square at the same time I was watching the first sunrise of 2011 over the Mediterranean.
This weekend I also realized why every where I go, malls, airports, hotels etc. staff automatically address me or offer help in english or german whether or not I am with a Turkish party. It ıs because I am not bundled up in wınter layers with boots and parkas like normal Turks in the daily average of 68 degrees farenheit, I am not kidding. So basically until spring I am an obvious foreigner.

Our semester break is the first two weeks of February and I will be out touring the country the whole time so I will try to regularly update you so you dont have to read insanely long posts like the ones I have been adding.
Mutlu Yıllar!