We got a late start on the day and made our way to the famous Blue Mosque, which is right by our hostel, for a visit. When we got there, it was prayer time, so we were unable to enter. Luckily the mosque was putting on a free introductory 35 minute class about Islam and the Turkish Muslim culture. It was very interesting and answered many questions that I had. What has surprised me the most is that when I think of a Muslim, it tends to be very stereotypical and negative. I am completely wrong. They are very peaceful and giving. The Qur'an preaches and ensures these practices, which I find to be very interesting. Everything from the way and how they pray to the fundamentals of the religion are very different from Christianity, but I am enthused to learn about other cultures and religions while I am traveling. After the Islamic lesson, we made our way into the blue Mosque, which was absolutely beautiful. Surprisingly, this Mosque was built in 7 years and contains over 21,000 tiles (may I remind you that they had zero technology, cranes, etc. and this was all done by hand, amazing).
After the Mosque, we made our way out of the city, near the large Historia Mall, to a Mediterranean based Turkish restaurant that our Islamic lesson teacher referred us to. We got a meter Kebab, which was absolutely amazing and contained different types of nuts in it that truly complimented the meat.
After lunch, we made our way back the hostel to sit back and relax for a while. We met up with some friends from Zurich and Britain for our last dinner in Istanbul. We ate at an amazing restaurant where the ceiling was covered in really small light fixtures, which was something I had only seeing in furniture stores. We sat in their lounge after dinner and drank beer and talked about our country's cultural differences. It is weird to say, but I feel that since the beginning of my trip, hands down the coolest thing is to be able to speak with all of these people from around the world that are just as interest to learn about American culture as I am about theirs. This general interest in people is unlike anything I could have experienced in South Carolina.
Tuesday
I have booked my flight to Amman, Jordan and get there around midnight. I have been spending most of today with what little friends are still here and organizing everything so that I can hit the ground running tomorrow in Jordan.
The hostel I have been in, Cheers, I cannot speak highly enough about it. The staff is truly one of a kind. Always making sure that you are having a great time, giving you ideas of things to do that may be a little off the beaten path, and providing good ideas for restaurants. In the lobby they are always playing great music and there is a bar on the 3rd floor, kinda self explanatory. I feel that this was great for me, mainly because I arrived so late in Istanbul, it was hard for me to get to know my room mates because they were not there. Since there was a bar upstairs, I was able to go up there and meet so many people that were staying in the hostel, so the next day we already had a great group ready to go explore.
I am not sure of the internet situation in Jordan, so it may be some time before I can write another post. I hope everyone has been enjoying my posts. My goal is to tell you what I am experiencing through my eyes, so if I don't like something, I will tell you that I didn't like it. I will be seeing things and places that few people that I know have see outside of the Internet or movies, so I want to make sure that you are receiving an unfiltered view of every experience that I have. Who knows what I will encounter in Jordan. Only time will tell and anything is possible.
Until next time!
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