|
|
Journey to the center of the self: Finding friendship in Turkey
Story and photos by Katya Sabaroff Taylor and Kaity Power
Katya Sabaroff Taylor and Kaity Power were two of the 12 guests and their two tour guides who visited Turkey last summer on a ten-day tour organized by FSU’s Tolerance and Dialogue group in coordination with the Istambul Cultural Center. Katya and Kaity, who became close friends during the trip, answered the following questions of each other about their journey.
Interview questions
asked of Katya
Why Turkey?
I imagined it as a mythic place that I would reverberate with. I knew there would be mosques, minarets, ancient ruins, yogurt, olives, figs and sunsets over the Mediterranean.
When did you first feel you were really in Turkey?
After the 20-hour trip to Istanbul, I was finally entering our hotel room at almost 5 p.m. Suddenly, pealing out beyond our room, a powerful, haunting voice began to sing evening prayers. I felt my heart pound and the hair on my arms tingle. That is when Turkey became real to me.
What are some images that come to mind of your journey?
Being constantly offered dark tea in fluted glass cups. Staring up into the giant turquoise and gold painted domes of mosques. Seeing everywhere the fragrant, colorful spice bazaars and roses big as platters.Walking on cobblestones hundreds of years old, smoothed by the river of feet.
Talk about the food in Turkey.
For breakfast, there were sliced cucumbers and tomatoes, olives, feta, yogurt, figs and sometimes watermelon. The bread was baked long and was flat with lots of herbs and spices. The families that hosted us fed us many courses, and when we were full to the top, out came all the desserts – candied fruits, fresh fruits, rice pudding.
How did you experience the women of Turkey?
Having been a feminist crusader in the 1970s, I had my concerns about what the situation would be like for Muslim women. But during the trip, I was more interested in sharing the spiritual dimensions of our lives and celebrating our interconnections as caring world citizens.
That said, the women’s scarves fascinated me. There were so many patterns and materials and they were worn in different ways, framing the individual face and offsetting the rest of their attire. The women on our trip were given several scarves and it was always ritualized, as if the gift made us sisters. Something else I got from the Turkish women was a sense of grace, a simplicity that was far from passive, a way of being grounded and having nothing to prove.
What was the gift that Turkey gave you?
Most lasting is the sense of Turkey as a land of paradoxical contrasts. It has ancient ruins, yet in the big cities like Istanbul, which has 12 million people, I saw many skyscrapers, billboards, and cell phones. I heard religious chanting across the cities five times a day, yet Turkey has a democratic government, and women who work for the state cannot wear their hijabs in public buildings. I felt welcomed, I felt honored by its charms and by the people’s generosity.
Interview questions
asked of Kaity
Why Turkey?
While living in Iran in 1978, I had planned to visit Turkey when I was on a semester break at the University of Isfahan, but time constraints due to my new teaching position prevented that trip. Last year, when friends invited me to join them on a tour of Turkey, I got two wishes fulfilled: traveling to Turkey and traveling with my daughter, Alex, 17.
When did you first feel you were really in Turkey?
On our first evening in Turkey, and I opened the hotel windows and stood in awe at the Ottoman architecture, huge dome shaped mosques with towering minarets illuminated against the Istanbul night sky.
What is another image that comes to mind from your journey?
On our first flight out of Istanbul, we landed in Kasseri, a town in central Turkey. We were greeted by guides offering roses to each woman in our group. As we stepped out of the airport, I gasped breathing in the alpine crisp air, and there in front of the pink and blue pastel sky were snow-capped mountains and tranquility that contrasted with the dense traffic sounds that I had experienced in Istanbul.
How did you experience Turkey’s people?
We met with host families in each city. The men spoke passionately and openly, engaging their guests in animated conversation, always with a desire to know our impression of them before we came and now that we had the opportunity to be in their company. The women expressed their passion in a quiet strength, like the giant basilica Hagia Sophia. I saw myself reflected in their eyes, mothers and daughters of bosom wisdom, no judgment, no competition, no language but love.
What was the gift that Turkey gave you?
I got to experience the crossroads of history. I ran my hand over the stones that for centuries have held together the home of the Virgin Mary. Eight floors underground, I felt what must have been like to live in the underground cities predating Christianity. I absorbed the sense of mystery as I stood, arms and hands open, at the tomb in Konya of Rumi, the Sufi mystic and poet.
I saw skyscrapers that represent a model for the modern world in energy conservation because each has solar panels. I visited a hospital that was the most technologically equipped facility I had ever visited, and had suites that would accommodate the most discriminating patients. I learned that after surgery is performed there, a team including the surgeon follows up by visiting the patient in their home.
I got to experience Turkey through the eyes of my daughter and through the shared moments with friends. I am richer and wiser for this trip, and I am glad it came at this time in my life.
Katya Taylor is a writer and healing arts educator who has lived happily in Tallahassee since 1990.
Kaity Power, a physical therapist, is a globe surfer and cultural activist who has coordinated special events in Tallahassee for the past eight years, including the Tibetan Drepung Gomang Monks Sacred Art Tour 2007 scheduled for this month at the Mary Brogan Museum of Art and Science.
|
