A Clustercuss of Culture

I spent the last week in Istanbul with Fulbright friends, mostly from Turkey, but also from such far-reaching places as Oman and Dubai for the Bayram holiday. My stay in Istanbul, unlike last time, was substantial and yet I still feel I'm only peeling back the preliminary layers of its history, its mysteries, and its vibrant and seemingly amorphous culture. Its culture alludes and confuses me like the swarming tides of people saturating Istiklal Caddesi. In one store, you'll saunter through rows of pricey apparel, victim to the blare of sexually-explicit pop music before stumbling upon a smiling cashier in a veil. You'll hop to the adjacent store, and notice a tatted-up hipster perusing religious manuals and ancient text. It's intellectually maddening. It's alluring. It's fascinating.

What's more is the breath-taking display of architecture, reminiscent of more magical times (at least from our perspective) and the constant transfer of powers praying to make Constantinople or Istanbul an archetypal symbol of their grandeur. I was lucky to enter the Aya Sofya this time around. For those who are unaware, the Aya Sofya was originally a Greek Orthodox patriarchal basilica, later a Roman Catholic cathedral, and then, in 1453, it was converted to a mosque. It wasn't until 1934 that the cathedral was secularized and turned into a museum. Through it all, however, original mosaics of Jesus and various prophets remained. The mix of Christian and Islamic art, architecture, and religious artifact is an explicit display of the layers of Istanbul's history, and also, in an ironic sense, a reminder of the interwoven nature of the great religions and perhaps a visual representation of peaceful coexistence. I could have spent hours there.

Besides that, the highlight of my week was simply spending time with good people. More to come on my trip to Istanbul. I'm dying to say a few words about Prince's Island.

Miss you all.