Istanbul

Hey guys!!!

Wow, I haven’t had contact with the world in forever. This is the first time I've been on a computer in a month! I love your blogs, everything sounds so amazing!!! I can’t wait to see you guys and hear about everything. Scientist, those pics are awesome. I want to be there!! But here is way too cool to leave. I've been visiting mosques, so seeing pics of cathedrals is a cool comparison. Nothing compares to the art at the Louvre, tho. And Kou, I saw this Japanese guy at the Budapest airport who was using his cell phone to watch TV on his laptop. It made me think of you in Japan. And then I read your post about the musical toilet paper dispenser. You're right, only in Japan.

I’m typing this on a Turkish keyboard, which is incredibly challenging cuz some the letters are in different places, as well as all the punctuation marks. It’s gonna take awhile.

I just had the most amazing three weeks of my life in Romania. I don’t know how to describe it. It was so much fun and yet I cried more than I have cried in a whole year. I have never been so tired in my life. When it was over, I was so emotionally and physically exhausted that I just wanted to go home and lie in bed and cry. But the morning after driving out of Romania, we flew straight from Budapest to Istanbul. Craziness.

Istanbul is AWESOME though. It’s fabric heaven here. I’ve already bought seven scarves, hehe. I need to control myself. And we visited the Aya Sofya (Hagia Sophia in Greek, Church of the Divine Wisdom in English), one of the most famous buildings in the world. It is over 1500 years old and was the biggest dome in the world until St. Peters Cathedral was built almost 1000 years later. It was originally a church but was turned into a mosque when Muslims took over Constantinople. All of the intricate Christian mosaics that covered the dome were plastered over and painted with Islamic designs. It is beautiful, but it would be cool to see the huge dome covered with mosaics too. The few that have been uncovered are so amazing. Nobody wants to uncover too many because it would destroy the Muslim art, which is also very cool. No matter what religion it represents, the interior is absolutely stunning. The pics can’t capture just how BIG the whole thing is. It’s amazing.

We’ve also visited some mosques, which are so beautiful. I’ve gotten lots of chances to wear my scarves. The best so far was the Blue Mosque, which is in some of the pics. It’s only blocks away from our hotel, and it looks much more impressive than the Aya Sofya from the outside. It is cool because it is a real mosque where people come to pray, while the Aya Sofya has been turned into a museum.

Like I said, there’s been lots of shopping. Kou, you would love it here. We went to the Grand Bazaar, which has 4,000 shops full of jewelry, fabric, clothes, chessboards, Turkish rugs, Turkish coffee, glassware, shoes, cell phones, pottery, decorative tiles, and anything else you can think of. But lots and lots of fabric. It’s awesome. And there’s crowds of tourists but also lots of Turkish people, so it feels very real. As soon as you walk in, you’re mobbed by people trying to sell you something. Here are some of their catchphrases:

“Very nice family. Have you had lunch?”
“I have a rug in your size.”
“Let me help you spend the rest of your money.”
“It’s my turn to sell you something now.”

The favorite seems to be, “Hello, yes please.” I’m not sure what they’re trying to accomplish with that one, but oh well. Imagine it all in a heavy Turkish accent, and it’s pretty amusing.

Okay, if you’ve read this far, I’m truly impressed. Sorry to ramble on for so long. Here’s what you’ve been waiting for: pictures!

These are of the Aya Sofya:


This might come out too dark on your screen, but it’s a picture of Arabic calligraphy next to a Christian mosaic. Interesting.







These are of the Blue Mosque:







And some others:





I can hear the call to prayer coming from the mosques right now. It’s awesome. I am dreading coming home and yet I can’t wait to talk to you all. See you in a month!

--Amelie

P.S. by the way, please include an English translation of any Japanese you post, cuz while I can now speak Romanian fairly well, it’s driven the remnants of any Japanese I used to know completely out of my head. Plus I don't know if it will show up on some of the computers I use, cuz I'm going to internet cafes. Thanks!