Today
I’ve been blessed in many of my journies to have smooth travels. Either that or the challenges of the road somehow got soothed away with the magical moments.
After a middle of the night dramatic airport change of plans, I was anxious to get off the plane. I wanted the green, the fall, the colors, the culture of Turkey to wash over me. However, to fully appreciatre the beauty of Turkey a few more challenges seemed to be in order.
It has been very foggy in Istanbul for the last two days. So visibailty at the aiport was zero. We circled in our airplane, high over the aiport for about an hour, waiting for the fog to clear. Finally the captain’s voice crackled over the radio to tell us that we were being diverted to another airport. Like the weather it was unclear as to what would happen once we arrived at our new stop.
It was sort of a blur as I slept on and off. Twisting and stretching, trying to find comfort on the plane. Eventually, like with trouble, the fog lifted and the plane took off.
Arrving in Istanbul I was thrilled to soak up the feeling of the fall .
The Bath House Hostel is in a word, perfect. I have been more a Hilton Girl then a Hostel World Women as of late but the old world Turkish charm of this building and the staff gives the Hilton a run for its KD!
With the window open I slid inbetween clean, crisp sheets. The room filled with fresh air and the Blue Mosque call to pray covered the city. A sound of worhship that has become very comforting, no matter where I am. I took a nap in Turkey today. Dreaming of what other wonders will be found in Istanbul!
Time and Turkey!
Happy Canadian Thanksgiving! I have never actually cooked a turkey for Thanksgiving but this Thanksgiving weekend I did buy a plane ticket to the country of Turkey!
I haven’t been to Turkey in years so I am very interested to see how time has changed the country and how this experience creates new memories. When I think back to the first time I was in Turkey I remember one night in Istanbul, perhaps it was about six years ago, that night I was a tour escort. I had watched the whirling dervishes twirl, had an enjoyable dinner on the bosphorus. After the passengers were safely returned to the cruise ship, I put on my dancing shoes and went out with friends and fellow crew to a random bar in Istanbul. The name of the bar long gone from my lexicon. I only remember was a little black and white house cat that hung out by the stage.
To go back to Istanbul, this November, and try to find that restaurant on the water, that bar with the cat, it would be a waste of chronological time. I’ll never be able to re-create the experience of sitting with those friends, in bean bag chairs and smoking hookah or shisha for the first time. I am hopeful that this trip will create new memories.
I once went to a wax museum in Yalta. At the end of a tour you got your photos taken. Time on shore that day was running out. I left before I never got my photos. To this day I have never made it back to Yalta. Like sands through the hour glass, the pictures of that moment in time have slipped by. Time is an interesting concept. Chronological time is needed to keep order in society. People need to know the bus leaves at 6:00 a.m. and that the cruise ship pulls out of port at 5:00 p.m. To function in a society based on chronological time we have watches that beep, phones that talk to you or sing, computers with complex calendars, ships with loud horns and even PA systems that play music, all to mark the passage of time. From minute to minute, hour to hour, day to day and week to week we are conditioned to be and leave places at certain times.
Chronological time holds a certain level of comfort. Knowing that the elevator ride takes 1 minute and 36 seconds from your floor to the ground, that the contract officially ends in two years, the exact date you made a life changing decision are all little ways that numbers help people.
Psychological time travels at its own speed. Sometimes very quickly and sometimes it seems like forever. A decision in psychological time can take chronological seconds to be reached but can ripple across your heart for years. Should you even try to compare a past memory with a current experience? Why look ahead to what a future time might hold? Perhaps it is best just to enjoy the current moment in time and appreciate the past for what it was. Sometimes things seem like “just yesterday” in psychological time but were in fact many years ago. Holding onto psychological time can be limiting. Things change, countries change, people change.
Perhaps on this Thanksgiving weekend it is best to just be thankful for the past, embrace the current moment and be open to whatever interesting surprises the future holds. Happy Thanksgiving!
The ancient Masters
didn’t worry about the future
and didn’t regret the past.
When they made a mistake,
they corrected it and moved on;
when they achieved something,
they didn’t stop to take credit.
They scaled the heights, never dizzy;
plumbed the depths,unafraid.
Wherever they went in the world,
they were at home.
They realized that the less they knew,
the more they understood.
Thus they embodied the Tao.-The Second Book Of The Tao-
-Chuang-tzu and Chung Yung-
Kuwait City, KUWAIT
Christine Oastler is a freelance travel writer, teacher and artist, currently living in Mahboula, Kuwait. Born and raised in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, Christine obtained her Bachelor of Arts at Trent University and her Bachelor of Education from Queen’s University. Currently traveling around the Middle East she finds herself riding the odd camel and embracing a new culture!