Category Archives: In the Field

A Right of Passage

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Every day a little boy is celebrating his first entry into a healthy adulthood. Being circumcised is a tradition for children among many religions. It is an operation in which the foreskin of the penis is removed. It is common that this process happens when the boy is born, but in Turkey it is a celebration that happens anywhere from age 2 to 14 years old. It stems from a tradition in Islam that was brought by the Prophet Mohammed.  Anything that the Prophet does or says is called Sunnet, which is the word to describe this right of passage. When it is a young boy’s time for Sunnet, he and his family celebrate by dressing him up as a Sultan for a day. Sometimes families take their sons to the fourth holiest place in Islamic culture, Eyup. It is the name of a good friend of the Prophet Mohammed who helped him during his journey from Mecca to Medine as he hosted Mohammed in his home for seven months during his trip. Eyup is full of life and has a very popular mosque that many of these little sultans visit to celebrate their special day.

After a day of fun in their costumes with their families, the boys usually go to a hospital for their operation. When they arrive home, they are typically greeted by other family members who have prepared a big feast.  a big bed with the words Masallah or “God preserve him” written over it as they await their recovery.

 

Platform for Global Challenges

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Besides hosting prominent journalist professor Ahmet Sik, Istanbul Bilgi Universitesi at Santral is home to “Platform for Global Challenges,” a think-tank that works to tackle global and regional problems. This non-governmental organization informs the public by posting reports and articles in publications and on their website. Platform for Global Challenges also brings a keynote speaker to the campus every year, such as Tony Blair or Bill Clinton.

Platform for Global Challenges, Santral office. Only six months old, it's stationed in the heart of the campus, sharing a bright, one-story building with other academic units.

Idris Kardas, the General Coordinator, notes the benefit of integrating the organization into a higher education climate.”When we work with the University,” said Kardas, “we can work with academics more easily. Because we’re a new platform, we can use the University name, since all people know the University name.”

Looking at them, looking at me

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On Saturday, we stepped foot in some of the oldest and most celebrated mosques – like the Blue Mosque – in Istanbul. The rules for those mosques are as follows:

  • No shoes allowed. You either carry your shoes in from outside or leave them on a rack outside the worshiping area.
  • Women should have their heads covered and wear a long skirt; men should wear long pants and not shorts. Occasionally they let these rules slide, but if the officers outside believe you’re dressed inappropriately, they’ll often provide a sheath of cloth to drape over your legs or shoulders.
  • You’re not technically supposed to speak aloud inside the mosque if you’re a visitor. They’re not too strict about this, so we didn’t feel too bad about exchanging awed “wows” as we looked around.
  • Photographs should not be taken during the prayers, which are supposed to happen five times a day; a couple hours before dawn, sunrise, midday, afternoon, sunset and after the last light of day disappears.
  • Visitors are supposed to stay behind the area designated for prayer.

Visiting these mosques was obviously a new and unusual thing for me. And the weirdest thing happened when we visited the first one: Another visitor politely asked if he could photograph me just standing there. I thought it was strange, but I told him that it was fine.

And it happened again later that day. After entering the Blue Mosque, I stopped looking upward at the ceiling when I realized an older woman was looking at me. I instinctively checked to make sure my scarf was in place, and I pulled my sweater close as I murmured a quick “Merhaba.” I blushed, embarrassed and worried that she thought I was dressed inappropriately. But not five minutes later, a man tapped me on the shoulder and said, “Excuse me, but my mother-in-law would like to take a picture with you. She likes you very much.” The small woman was smiling at me shyly and I happily agreed.

I realized, then, that she wasn’t judging me for me for being different. On the contrary, I think – or at least I hope – she realized that I was trying to be respectful of her beliefs, even though it was pretty clear I came from a very different place. I’ll never quite understand what it’s like to be her, just like she’ll never quite understand what it’s like to be me. But the least we can do is try.

One of Us

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Since my topic deals with West Africans in Turkey, I’ve been activity seeking them out everywhere: looking for Africans in İstiklâl, stopping every dark-skinned male at the Grand Bazaar, chatting with random Kenyans and Libyans in Taksim. However, a couple of days I go, I realized they were also stopping me, and asking me if I was African.

This probably has to do with the fact that there aren’t too many Africans in Turkey. In fact, the only numbers indicating how many non-refugee, legal Africans reside here is the official Turkish census. The only two African countries listed are Libya at 1,239 people, and Egypt at 445. Even assuming that the “Other” 4823 migrants are all Africans, that still only leaves 6,507 census-documented African residents in Turkey– out of a population of 60,000,000 (as of the 2010 census).

Now, the numbers seem a bit low, and I’m still trying to investigate further. It wouldn’t surprise me, though, to learn that the count is less than 5%– after all, the rest of the people, after Turkish and Kurdish citizens, make up a little less than 10% of the population. Luckily, there is upside to the phenomenon: it’s wonderful to share a bond with people that have similar backgrounds as you.

 

Ay Yildiz and Old Glory

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In Istanbul, every day is the Fourth of July, so to speak. Even though Turkey actually declared its independence on May 19th, 1919, the amount of flags you can see waving on any given day is comparable to what you see in the US on our barbecues-and-fireworks holiday.

The crescent design of the Turkish flag is inspired by the old Ottoman flag, which also featured the color green. The new Turkish flag, however, incorporated the color red to symbolize the new secularism brought on by the beloved national hero Mustafa Kemal, who is often simply referred to as “Ataturk.” Images of Ataturk are often juxtaposed with the Turkish Flag. As the honored “Father of Turkey,” he is compared to Presidents Washington, Lincoln and Kennedy.

The Turkish flag is called Ay Yildiz, or Moon Star in the Turkish national anthem, much like how we refer to the American flag as a Star Spangled Banner. The vertical crescent and star are symbols of Islam, the dominant faith of Turkey. Flag etiquette in Turkey is also similar to the United States. The national flag flies above all other flags, it should not fly tattered or torn, and should not touch the ground.

I find it interesting to contrast the patriotism of my country, the USA, with that of Turkey in regards to flying a flag. While we proudly display our flags all over our communities for one day over the summer, the Turkish flag can be seen on almost every building, federal or not, every day of the year.

Yalı-Dabba-Doo

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We went on a tour of the Bosphorus this afternoon with Dr. Ercan Balci’s class of University of Illinois students who are also in Istanbul this month. Though we had some soggy weather, we got to see the stretches of Bosphorus coast that are usually difficult to reach – Istanbul traffic can be very heavy!

Some of the architectural standouts we saw were the yalıs – pronounced “Yah-luhs” – which are waterside wooden residences. There are roughly 600 of these primarily 19-century homes, painted in any and every color. Dr. Balci explained that though many are owned by wealthy families, there are many that are shared by several owners. Since the homes are so expensive, owners will try to sell their share of a residence but face difficulty when these multiple owners squabble over who the home will be sold to and how much it will be sold for. This often forces people to remain living in these fabulously expensive homes while they’re living in relative poverty.

Another difficulty these homeowners face is in the upkeep. Since many of the homes are considered to be historic buildings by the country, there are laws about how the homes must be remodeled and restored. Since these particular restorations are often quite expensive and unaffordable, some of the homes fall into disrepair.

Dört cheap: lessons in haggling

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Eyes wide and camera ready, I walk around one of Istanbul’s most magnificent tourist meccas: the Grand Bazaar. I haven’t taken twenty steps before a young, eager merchant springs out of his chair and into my face.

“Where are you from? Paradise? It must be; you are angel,” he coos, “Come, I give you good price!”

Righhht.

Let me translate that for you. It’s easy, really- just substitute “paradise” with ‘”America”, “angel” with “tourist” and “good” with “extra expensive” and you’ve decoded this charming young merchant’s message.

Make no mistake, sellers at the Grand Bazaar will know you’re a tourist and they won’t hesitate to capitalize on your bewilderment. The key to surviving in this haggling haven is simple: do your research.

Kathy Hamilton, an American textile collector living in Istanbul who leads guided tours through the bazaar, is an expert bargainer. She gave me some helpful tips before turning me loose into the chaos. Now, drawing from Kathy’s advice and my personal hassles, I’ve compiled a my own guide to help future bazaar goers.  Continue reading →

Our Friendly Neighborhood Antique Shop

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While wandering through Beyoğlu the other day, we decided to stop in an antique shop – Karadeniz Antik in Beyoğlu – to browse around. Let me preface this by saying I am not an “antiquer” in the least – I usually find antique shops totally dusty and dull. But this one was completely charming.

Everything was stunning – the old Aladdin-like lamps, Christian-themed paintings and crosses that the owner said were hundreds of years old (and they certainly appeared it!), daggers with decorative sheaths and infinite other treasures gleaming in the morning sunlight. We could have spent all day there.

The owner, Ömer Gençtürk, was very sweet about us young’uns poking around his shop before eight in the morning. He offered us tea, showed us old helmets to try on and tried to answer our every question. Ömer said he had collected his antiques himself over the years, and took special pride in showing us the fish in his outdoor pond that the had caught in a net the day before.

There wasn’t much in the shop our college-budget wallets could afford, but we had fun chatting with Ömer and poking around.

 

Turkish Fast Food: Döner

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Döner is a Turkish dish made with lamb, beef, or chicken topped with tomatoes and fries. The ingredients are wrapped in a flatbread or stuffed into a sub. The sandwich is served hot from a grill. Meat lovers can find these stands all over Istiklal Avenue by looking for a Döner, or rotating roast. Meat is stacked and seasoned into an inverted cone. The stacks of meat rotate slowly, rotisserie-style, in front of a cast iron or electric burner. Once the outer layer of the meat is cooked, it is shaved off into thin, crisp pieces with a long knife, by which it falls into a tray below the spit.

This dish is common fast food in Europe and the Middle East.

 

 

Don’t wanna be an American idiot

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Americans need to get over themselves.

Those aren’t my words (although I agree with them), but the words of Christy Quirk, an American who has lived and worked in the Middle East for over a decade.

Christy, who works for the Democratic party, conducts focus groups in Middle Eastern countries; she has worked in places like Azerbaijan, Yemen, Syria and is now located in Istanbul. During the focus sessions, she talks to concentrated groups of people about their opinions on Democracy and politics and has some invaluable insights into a culture most Westerners know nothing about.  Continue reading →