Easter Week in Turkey
Happy New Year, Happy Easter and Happy Passover! We are now back in Qom after a lovely nine day holiday in Istanbul and other towns along the Sea of Marmara. Landing at 8pm last night, we made it through Iranian customs, fingerprinting and luggage retrieval in only half an hour - a record of efficiency and speed. Unfortunately the airport is using a new, bright blue indelible ink for fingerprinting folks from our country. One stamps each finger and thumb in two rows, then both thumbs together, then all 8 fingers from palm to tip. We were true blue by the time we were finished. But the young officials were pleasant and agreeable. We enjoyed exchanging New Year’s blessings with one another.
We spent four fine nights in Istanbul in a humble (and fun) hostel, between Aya Sophia Church (now museum) and the Blue Mosque. We ate marvelous sea food, saw dervishes whirl, took a public ferry up the Bosphorus to the mouth of the Black Sea, and found a vibrant English speaking church with whom to celebrate Easter Sunday. Venturing across the Sea of Marmara, we enjoyed several nights in a Christian retreat center and from there wandered to neighboring towns for a hot mineral water soak, views of Roman ruins and beautiful tile work. Nearby Iznik, we found, was once called “Nicaea” – site of the First Ecumenical Council in 325 AD which authored the Nicene Creed, a statement of Christian orthodoxy that both the East and the West gave assent to. (The old church is now being lovingly restored). We chatted with fellow travelers and friendly Turks—school teachers, a shepherd (an affable woman in a head scarf surrounded by new lambs), men on tractors, shop keepers and historians. More bus riding west took us to the Gallipoli peninsula and to the ruins of Troy. What a feast of history, conversations and miles of good walking every day.
In a few more days our classes will resume for our final five weeks before returning to Virginia for son Andrew’s college graduation. The heat is rising—in the 80s (F) today and soon we will need our water cooler on to bring cool moisture into our apartment.
We spent four fine nights in Istanbul in a humble (and fun) hostel, between Aya Sophia Church (now museum) and the Blue Mosque. We ate marvelous sea food, saw dervishes whirl, took a public ferry up the Bosphorus to the mouth of the Black Sea, and found a vibrant English speaking church with whom to celebrate Easter Sunday. Venturing across the Sea of Marmara, we enjoyed several nights in a Christian retreat center and from there wandered to neighboring towns for a hot mineral water soak, views of Roman ruins and beautiful tile work. Nearby Iznik, we found, was once called “Nicaea” – site of the First Ecumenical Council in 325 AD which authored the Nicene Creed, a statement of Christian orthodoxy that both the East and the West gave assent to. (The old church is now being lovingly restored). We chatted with fellow travelers and friendly Turks—school teachers, a shepherd (an affable woman in a head scarf surrounded by new lambs), men on tractors, shop keepers and historians. More bus riding west took us to the Gallipoli peninsula and to the ruins of Troy. What a feast of history, conversations and miles of good walking every day.
In a few more days our classes will resume for our final five weeks before returning to Virginia for son Andrew’s college graduation. The heat is rising—in the 80s (F) today and soon we will need our water cooler on to bring cool moisture into our apartment.
posted by Quakers in Qom at 11:49 PM
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