Woke up at 9:00am, and decided to take advantage of the extra bit of the day provided to me by the sickness of the day before, so I showered and headed out to the Kariye Museum, which is located at Edirnekapı, one of the ancient entrances to old Constantinople. There are still huge walls that cut the old city peninsula off from the mainland, but now they are perforated by broad avenues and cart paths. I took the 28 bus from Beşiktaş, which was probably the oldest public transit vehicle I have ever been in. It had a hard time going faster than 30mph. I rode it to the end of the line, Edirnekapı, and when I got out, asked an elderly gent from my bus if he knew how to get to the museum. He told me to come with him, so I did. We walked a few blocks, and he gestured with his hands, tapping his left arm and pointing, probably forgetting that I had asked him in Turkish. So I asked if he meant I should turn left, and he smiled and said yeah.
It was no problem finding it after that. The place was gorgeous and perfectly sized for the type of museum it was. I handed the ticket booth attendant my paper Müze Kart and student ID so she could print out my ticket, but instead she gave me my ID back with a PLASTIC, OFFICIAL Müze Kart. It was incredible. These are not given to foreigners. It means free access to museums all throughout Turkey for one full year. It has my picture on it and everything. So for me, this is a huge coup. It means I get into Aya Sofya for free. Some people have to pay up to 20 TL. Suckers. Kariye was absolutely gorgeous, it was quiet, in a quiet neighborhood, and full of the best mosaics I think I have seen. They weren't in as good condition as those at Fethiye, but that was because the Ottomans covered up the human images with plaster, which had to be carefully removed by restorers in the 1960s, I think. Pretty sure they left Fethiye alone. I wandered around the place, taking photos and enjoying the shade but sweating, literally, like a whore in church.
I left after about a half an hour, and decided to walk along the city walls a bit. They really are huge. They are 30+ feet high in many places, and clearly must have been really frustrating to anyone who wanted to get in, friendly or not. I saw a kid flying a kite next to the Hadrian Gate (Edirnekapı), and saw a man holding a small box with some holes in it. The box was moving in his arms. I kept walking. Then I saw another man with a box, similar in size and with holes. Then another. And then a man with no box. In his arms was a rooster. I walked a bit further, and found the source: I had stumbled across a chicken bazaar. It was clearly a Sunday-only deal. Men trotted out their best chickens for sale, and each was tied by one foot with string to a larger piece of fabric stretched along the ground. There were also ducks. People were talking about them, how great they were, how much they would cost, and also telling kids not to torment them. I was probably the only foreigner within a considerable distance, and must have looked so confused. A live chicken market? Next to Constantinople's walls? What?
I decided to leave before I ended up buying one and bringing it back to Superdorm, and walked a ways until I caught a bus to Eminönü, the area near the Galata Bridge. I then caught the tram back up the hill to the Kapalıçarşı (literally, the Covered/Closed Bazaar, but we call it the Grand Bazaar!), only to find out that the Grand Bazaar is closed on Sunday, which in Turkish is called "Pazar Günu," or "Bazaar Day." The irony is lost on them. I asked an old man sitting by one of the entrances if the bazaar was really closed, and he said yes. And then I came back with a zinger the likes of which Turkey has never seen: "Well then," I said, "I guess this really is a kapalı çarşı!" HA!!! He laughed, I laughed, until our eyes were red from tears, and the sun had long since set.
I was going to go to the Aya Sofya but I started to feel like crap again, so I took the tram back to Kabataş and then hopped the bus back to Superdorm. Sunday was hot. I really don't know how all these women here manage to wear headscarves and trenchcoats in this weather, but if they are that committed to it, imagine how well they would do if Turkey would let them wear them at universities.
Some randomness.
Today a girl in my class said "the waitress threw feces" when she meant to say "the waitress laughed." They are amazingly close.
I learned today that in Japan, old folks complain about young rock and roll music types sitting on the floor of subway cars rather than in the seats. Rough stuff.
My friend Jill just told me, as we ate ice cream down the road, that her family is intensely related to the show "The Wire." Her dad is portrayed in season five, and worked for the Baltimore Sun, where he originally hired David Simon. Her brother? Script supervisor for the series. Ed Burns? Taught at her high school and suggested she go to Brown, which she did. INCREDIBLE.
Anyway, that is what is up now. Important day in my life for a number of reasons.
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