Shadow Theater and Traveling: Bursa, Çannacoli, and Troy

The one thing that has surprised me about my experience here with CIEE is that we are not like every other exchange student. We are the elite exchange students.  We are not just here to learn the language. Through CIEE the doors of the history, culture, people, politics, and food of Turkey have been opened to us. They have done this through the people that they have had us meet, the side trips we go on every other week, the movies that they organize, the meals they organize (and pay for), and cultural interactions and exchanges that we participate in.

Thanks to the IMF Riots in Taksim, this week was no different. After watching a seemingly cultural historical comedy named Karagoz and Hacivat we learned the fable of the two legendary comedians who successfully delayed the construction of the town of Bursa’s minaret and paid for it with their lives. From this end, the chief architect created shadow puppets, made from oiled, stretched camel hides, and gave birth to one of the oldest art forms still being practiced today; The Karagos and Hacivat shadow theater. CIEE arranged one of the master puppeteers to perform for us. It was an incredible performance, complete with flying carpets, slap-stick comedy, dancing girls, and magic. It really gives the three stooges a run for their money.

The art and skill of the master puppeteer, who controlled all of the puppets as well as the voices for all the different characters, was supplemented only by a tambourine played by his son.  Truly a once in a life time experience! Next time I see it, I will have learned quite a bit more Turkish and hopefully understand more than just a few words.  Exploring more of Bursa, the home to the first Ottoman capital (and apparently the most beautiful and warrior like women in all of Turkey as my friend from Bursa told me) we visited the great mosque built in the 12^th or 13^th century which is still in use today. This mosque was the backdrop for the lunch that we had. Each town in Turkey is famous for a particular dish. Bursa’s dish was the Bursa Kerbap also known as the Iskander Kerbab. It is comprised of thinly sliced lamb from a vertical oven served with a yogurt, tomato sauce, and squares of bread. Underneath the succulent sliced meat are grilled tomatoes, green peppers, and Baba Ganoush (a sauce made from stewed eggplants, lemon, and olive oil). Every bite we took was with a chorus of the Koran, head scarves, and the Mufti’s call to prayer. On this Friday afternoon, the most important time of prayer for Muslims, the great mosque was packed to capacity and people began laying carpets and cardboard squares down in the streets so that they could participate in the prayers. Sipping my afternoon chai overlooking this spectacle, I was resigned to the fact that I am a bad Muslim. I guess that I’ll make up for it by being a good student. 

Playing hopscotch between the European and Asian side has its benefits. Traveling to Troy (Troia) to see the city brought down by jealousy, lust, and rage, stories that echoed in my head from my grade school days returned to me.

While standing in the temple to Athena, I could imagine the sound of the Greek gods clashing from the sound of the waves in the far off horizon and the constant wind that surrounded us. While the Trojan horse was gone, the history of the city still remained and was constantly being unearthed by archeologists. From the top of the Turkish Mount Olympus we could see the Gallipoli Penninsula and the war memorials from Turkey’s more recent past.

Making it over to the Gallipoli (Çannacoli) about sunset, we hugged the windows of our tour bus as we met memorial after memorial of French, Aussie, Kiwi (New Zealanders), and Last Sons of the Ottoman empire’s soldiers who gave their lives to respectfully take and protect the Dardanelle Straights. We made our way to the trenches overlooking the Dardanelles as the sun melted into the sea and set the water on fire.

Distant islands disappeared under a hazy shawl and my first glimpse of Greece disappeared with it.  Paying our last respects at the Turkish war memorial, I read these powerful words: “There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they live side by side here in this country of Ours.”

Successfully protecting their country from a French and Anzac coalition, Turkey showed its might and valor. While in reality the conflict ended in a stalemate, Turkey gained far more than just experience in war. They guided a charismatic war hero named Mustafa Kermal Ataturk, the father of modern Turkey and the harbinger of law, social, and financial reform that brought the Ottoman Empire out of the dark ages into modernity. The pride of the Turkish people has no other country with which it can be compared to. Arguing otherwise might just get you seriously injured or even jailed…

On our way back to Koç and back to Istanbul, we stopped to visit a local organic farm, Named the Klan Farm, outside the town of Eçebat, and were able to see yet another side of Turkey. Aside from trying to develop a lifestyle through the use of going back to the basics, they set aside the need and use for pesticided and are trying to be profitable at the same time.  They do not receive the subsides that all of the other farms get because of this and the fact that they do not use genetically altered seeds makes them almost revolutionary.  We were graciously welcomed to the farm and took a tractor ride out to their fields. We rolled up ourselves and helped to weed an entire field of vegetables. After we washed up at the house, we were treated to an incredible organic lunch comprised of all of the organic food that they produce. Lunch, if I can call it that, was  actually more of a feast, wave after wave of domato çorba (tomato soup), eckmek (bread), borek (Think of it like a spinach and cheese puff pastry), Parslain and yogurt, dolma (stuffed eggplants and bell peppers), Kofte (Meat rolled in dough), and for dessert, Peyair Hervası ( a sweet cornmeal soaked in a rose water, sugar, honey mix) and as much fruit as we could stomach.

The farm has set up an eco-tourist business and offers people a chance to stay on the organic farm for a small fee. Meals are free as long as you work. If you work, you eat. It’s as simple as that. I am grateful that CIEE had us stop here to visit and see yet another way that Turkey is modernizing and developing as a nation and to speak to the farmers that are working to make this happen.

Until next time,

You are what you eat, and I am enjoying the star treatment

JD