my "job", the incredible topkapi palace, and the blessing of fellowship!

This week has been more of the actual job part that I'm supposedly doing here. Days can be long trying to entertain Ella for hours on end, but we are becoming more and more bonded and the more she grows to like me the sweeter she is towards me which I love :) (I'm all for the hand-holding, lap-sitting, hugging sweetness of little girls, and she's been a little hesitant to show this kind of affection but it's coming!) It can also be difficult reconciling the way I would actually raise kids with the fact that she is not my child and needing to determine how much liberty I can take with the way her parents choose to raise her.

Play Doh is one activity that is fun for both of us! The previous day we spent several hours making animals that belong to the swamp (it's educational along the way - she learns about new animals and also has fun guessing what I'm making) and today we made animals of the ocean! Also note the Nutella she managed to get even on her forehead at breakfast, and her unicorn shirt which is telling of her great love of the fantastical world of fairies, unicorns, and princesses. She is sure a cutie.

I also tried to come up with animals that would be easy for her to make. She liked using a little Play Doh tool that made worm-like things, so I told her they could be sea cucumbers! Later on she referred to the sea hamburgers she made. Ha!

I took Saturday as my day off for the week and went to the Topkapi Palace. This was where the Ottoman Sultans lived from 1465-1856, and it is incredible. It's really many buildings and rooms, not just one, so visitors today just wander through the courtyards and in and out of the buildings of the palace. There were also treasuries in which no pictures were allowed to be taken, but I saw lots of whole-gemstone jewelry, weapons, and thrones. I also saw many holy relics of Islam, including pieces of Muhammad's beard, his sword, his cloak, Moses' staff, and David's sword (ha, think they were really theirs?).

The Sultan would sit in here and they would bring gifts by this window for him to see them. This was part of what was called the Gate of Felicity. Inside was a school Christian children were taken to to be trained in Islam (during this time Christianity was still tolerated, but unfavorable). Depending on their intelligence, diligence, and success they could even become viziers.

The library

The tiling! Tiles were the primary wall coverings. SO intricate and colorful and beautiful!

 The harem had a separate entrance (and fee). "Harem" = something forbidden or kept safe. This harem had four parts: eunuchs' living quarters, concubines' living quarters, living quarters of the mother of the reigning sultan called the Queen Mother, who was the most important woman of the harem, and finally the kiosks and baths of the emperor. The eunuchs were brought from Ethiopia (eunuchs were only men allowed in harem for obvious reasons, all the sultan's women living there) and were actually considered very powerful because they could see the emperor at any time.

The concubines' rooms are on the right; the most favored ones had the rooms with windows. 300-500 concubines lived in the harem at one time! They were educated and pampered and could end up marrying the sultan's officials or even bearing his sons if they found his extreme favor. (I found it interesting they talked about how music education was considered one of the most important parts.)

Queen Mother's room

Love this.

Mirrors used by guards to watch many entrances to harem

I walked around to some random smaller sites then...

Fountain of Ahmet III

Sogukcesme Sokagi - old wooden house lane

 What an interesting day! I definitely learned a LOT. It is amazing to be in a beautiful city so packed with centuries of such rich history and diversity!

I have been really trying to intentionally make extra time for my own times of worship, prayer, studying scripture, and listening to podcasts, but even with all of this nothing can replace fellowship or even simple interaction with other believers! I have really been missing this a lot. It is very difficult not being able to talk about or share in what matters most to me with the people I spend all my time with to keep it a reality in my moment-by-moment life, if that makes sense. But today I experienced the fulfillment of my (and many others') prayer that I would find some fellowship - through my sister I made a connection with an international church here and my host family was supportive and actually had their driver take me to church this morning! It was a great effort to find the physical building as it was in a different area of the city, but eventually we found it and after waiting a bit for someone to come and open the building (I was quite early) up came a family of 4 girls and parents who are from the U.S. The gathering was small and as far as I could tell all Americans. I didn't meet everyone, but was warmly welcomed and amazed to find out the family I met first live very near to me in Istanbul! The service was simple but I came away extremely refreshed having had praise and worship, a sermon, and prayer basically in the style I am used to. My host grandmother might be the one to drive me next week (I plan to attend weekly!), which means she might actually sit in on the service. I am so thankful the Lord has provided this church for me and these wonderful connections! I am encouraged.

I feel your prayers. As I am being challenged and experiencing new things continually I know I am learning and growing in various aspects... I know I cannot be thankful enough for this opportunity and am really trying to make the very most of it :)

Please continue to pray for my witness, my relationship with Ella, and that the Lord would use this unique season of my life to prepare me in whatever ways he chooses for future seasons he walks with me into.

All my love!

hagia sophia, blue mosque, and basilica cistern

Already this week I have had the opportunity to go out into the city twice! The first time my host grandmother, mother, Ella, and I walked around Bebek, which means baby in Turkish (this is believed to have come from the phrase "the apple of the [Bosphorus's] eye" in which the literal translation of pupil is eye baby). This is the trendiest neighborhood, along the Bosphorus. We walked around and got some ice cream, played at a playground, and went in a cafe called Happily Ever After.

This is a dock where we caught a boat to take us back from the European side where we were to the Asian side where we live. This is the most efficient form of transportation because traffic on the bridge can get very bad. Unfortunately boats do not run very regularly.

In Happily Ever After we sat by an open window and this was our view.

Then yesterday I traveled in the same group to Miniaturk, pictured below. It is a park with miniatures of many many historical buildings and sites in Istanbul and elsewhere in Turkey. It is geared towards children, but it is very interesting for adults too! My host mom thought this would be more manageable for Ella than to actually visit all the sites (especially in the heat!).

This is the miniature of Taksim Square, where the protests have been taking place if you have followed the news at all. I figured I should take a picture since I may not have the chance to see it in person while I'm here :) It is unfortunate because there are a few other famous sights near there that I would like to see and may not be able to, but it is not the main area for sight-seeing so even if I can't go there I will still see 90% of the top sites in Istanbul.

This is the miniature of Cappadocia underground cities in the east of Turkey. It is a site where persecuted Christians hid with a network of underground tunnels and mini churches they formed. Tourists can see it in hot air balloons. I would LOVE to go here! Probably the next time I visit Turkey ;)

Next we drove to the old city of Istanbul where most of the historical sights are. We had lunch here then they all left because Ella was too tired, and I took the rest of the day off (I get one half-day per week) to go around and sight-see!

This is the famous Blue Mosque. More on this later...

This is the Hagia Sohpia ("Holy Wisdom"). It is known for its massive dome and is considered the peak of Byzantine architecture that was used as a model by many. It was originally built in 537 as a Christian Orthodox church under the seat of Constantine, but was changed into a mosque in 1453. In the early 1900s it was made into a museum (no longer functioning as either a church or a mosque).

When it was changed into a mosque all of the icons and mosaics were plastered over due to the fact that it is against Islamic religion to have icons or pictures in mosques. However, this ended up actually preserving the mosaics which are now uncovered (and are continuing to be uncovered) today!

This is the main part of the building. You can see by the scaffolding on the left that much of it is still being uncovered and preserved. you can also definitely see the Christian mosaics now coexist with the circular pieces with some sort of Arabic text or symbols on them.

The stained glass windows have no pictures in them; the traditional Christian stained glass windows which usually depict Biblical texts were destroyed and windows with simple shaped designs replaced them and remain today.

This is where coronations took place.

You can see the fish symbols used in this design. Our tour guide was a Muslim and so, knowing I was from the US, he was asking me to share the significance of some of the Christian symbolism. It was interesting (and to me slightly frustrating) to hear how his depictions of things were through the lens of his own religious background.

This now is the interior of the Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmed Mosque). It was built in the early 1600s directly across from the Hagia Sophia. I was told that the big goal was to make it with a wider diameter than its "competitor" in a sense, the Hagia Sophia. It is still functioning as a mosque today, and I had to wear a scarf over my hair, a scarf to cover my arms, and a long skirt in order to enter (all provided at the entrance). I also had to take off my shoes and carry them in a plastic bag.

This obelisk was in the Hippodrome, the remains of the sporting and social center of Constantinople.

Next I headed for the Basilica Cistern. This was the largest of hundreds of cisterns that lie beneath Istanbul. It was built in the 6th century during the Byzantine Empire (it was since recovered, scooping out the mud, etc.). It has tons of huge fish in it, as you can see in this picture!

It can hold 80,000 cubic meters of water (though it is mostly empty today). Historical texts say it required 7000 slaves for its construction. The 300+ marble columns have different styles of engravings because they were likely taken from other structures.

These Medusa heads were at the bottom of two columns. Their origin is a mystery, and so is the reason for why one is upside-down and the other is sideways... The theory is they were taken from a Roman building of some sort. Perhaps they are turned to diminish the power of Medusa's gaze (legend says her gaze turned men into stone); perhaps they are turned simply to better support the columns.

I also walked through a mini-bazaar and looked in some shops. Common goods being sold are beautiful tiles and ceramics, carpets, scarves and bags, and of course spices and sweets such as Turkish delight. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing more of the city and really look forward to doing more sight-seeing later this week with another au pair!

It was extremely hot, 90 degrees and sunny, and so walking around was quite exhausting, and by the end of the day I was very ready to get back, eat, shower, and go to bed, and that is what I did!