Walk to the Chora Church

Galata Tower and a hint of the Bosporus


Before I start with the touristy thing I involved myself in last weekend, a quick word about the music projects I've been working on. The other day, during a conference hall gathering at the school, the microphone suddenly started feeding back and I was right in front of the gigantic speakers, which are always turned up too loud. I barely made it through the rest of the day through the pain, and, while my ears are basically back to normal now, I'm taking it slow with the editing process on the songs I haven't released to you guys yet. Don't worry, it's coming sooner than later (I've only got 3 weeks left to record everything!)


Fatih Mosque and the Princes Islands


Yesterday I planned another big walk. I got off at Taksim Square and hiked over the Golden Horn, past the Fatih Mosque, and eventually to the quasi-famous St. Savior at Chora Church, which is now a museum. I clocked the whole walk to about 6 kilometers, so it wasn't quite a hike, but still a lot of fun. It's been nice to explore the city in which I've been living the past 10 months. (Has it really been that long?) First I walked over the Golden Horn and watched the fishermen working on their catches:







The fishermen were friendly fellows and very eager to be the subject of my photos. I think they would have been excited even if I didn't speak to them in Turkish first, which is usually the clincher in earning the respect and fascination of strangers.

My pictures of the Chora Church don't do it justice because what's really special about that museum is the mosaic collection inside, very intact and very pretty. Mosaics aren't my favorite, though, so the experience of being at the church was the big ticket for me.



On the way back to the bus stop I got my biggest treat: climbing on the ancient city walls. The walls are actually longer than the Great Wall of China, except these walls aren't intact the whole way so they don't count. All the panoramic photos of the city were taken from the Edirnekapı entrance.


Galata Tower and the Golden Horn


I didn't have to climb up the wall illegally like I did with Düden Şelalesi; there were stairs and railings, so I can only assume people are meant to climb up there. That's the good news. The bad news is that those stairs were really steep, as you can see below. But not too steep. It was like climbing a very sturdy ladder.



I think the top of the wall is the place where kids go to smoke. I met a couple of middle-school aged kids (kind of hidden on the left of the photo below) puffing their cigarettes. They were really nice, though, and happy to help me practice my Turkish a little.




Looking past the Golden Horn on the city walls

One final word: the record stores here in Turkey are selling Lady Gaga's new CD, Born This Way, for 30 lira (50 for the deluxe 2-disc version). That's obscene, especially seeing as you could buy the whole thing on Amazon for 99 cents a day ago (7 bucks now). I've checked 3 record stores so I know it's not just one rip-off place.

Some of you might be wondering why I would care to check on Lady Gaga in three different record stores. Well, I have a confession to make. I like the song "Born This Way." I never thought I'd see the day, but I really like it! I don't feel it's cheesy like this guy does, and I don't feel like my friend who thinks it's a rip-off of Madonna (which it very well might be; I wouldn't know). I just think it's a great day when probably the biggest pop star on the scene right now write a song with these lyrics:

No matter gay, straight, or bi,
Lesbian, transgendered life
I'm on the right track baby
I was born to survive

I don't remember if I've mention this on the blog before, but every day on the way to school and on the way home after school, we listen to Radyo Fenomen (which I named one of my songs after), one of the many big pop music stations in Istanbul. I've largely been against my students listening to Fenomen because so many of the songs worship sex, drugs, and excessive partying - my list of "wholesome" Fenomen songs is depressingly short. I know that middle schoolers are exposed to this in America as well, but I think it's at least as scary that my students don't understand the lyrics - if you don't know what kind of cultural and moral messages you're receiving, how will you know what kind of person will you be? (In the song I linked this to the obsession with fast food, which students devour at an alarming rate not because it's good as much as because it's different, and they have no idea exactly what they're putting into their bodies nor why they're so overwhelmingly obese).

However, I don't mind a generation of young minds listening to this song. In fact, I'm a little thrilled by it. You all know that I'm not wary around religious messages around kids (the song says it doesn't matter if you love "him or capital H-I-M" and "God makes no mistakes"), but here I don't feel the message is to lead a religious life. The message I'm getting is that God loves everyone regardless of sexuality or ethnicity or whatever characteristics we were born with. This is a pop music message that kids should hear, a message of love and acceptance of people with all sorts of different lifestyles and backgrounds. It's so counter to much of the destructive religious discourse in America that says homosexuals are death-deserving sinners. Hey Tea Party idiots and all you gay-bashing morons: just because you're religious doesn't mean you have to be a bigot!

Never thought I'd say this, but major kudos to Lady Gaga. Listen to the song here to make up your own mind about it.

And to end, one more picture of the city walls: