rain and underground mosques

Saturday it was pouring rain. Luckily there was a short film festival and a festival of refugee films on Istiklal Cadessi. I met Ozge at 12 - she was an Exchange student at Emory, now studying in London. The shorts were pretty bad. Ozge partially translated a Bosnian refugee film for me. Then I saw a Palestinian film with English subtitles. It took place in Nazereth and was quite critical of the Palestinian Authority.

Sunday it was still raining. An Exchange student from Rutgers told me his Istanbul history class would be having a field trip. I asked if I could tag along - the professor agreed and they met right by my hotel. The professor is Austrian- she did her thesis on hamans (Turkish baths!) I was happy that she brought the students to the Jewish museum. Even those who grew up in Istanbul had never been there. The man who wrote the Jewish guide to Istanbul gave us an introduction. There are 4 groups of Jews in the city: 1. came after the destruction of the Temple in 70, 2. Eastern Jews - from N. Africa, 3. Russian Jews and 4. Sephardic Jews- came after expulsion from Spain in 1492.

All along the route we saw Genoese buildings. We visited churches. (Earlier in the day I entered a church and saw mostly Africans males and Asian women. It was pretty sad because you realize all these people are far from their families- ın the country just to earn a living. I talked with a Tanzinian who works on cargo boats.) The underground mosque- Yerali Cami- was the most amazing. I think it had been a Genoese prison. From here they put the chain across the Golden Horn to prevent unwanted ships from entering. Nearby was the Arap Cami- the Arab mosque- a former church of Dominican monks that was given to the Hispano Arabs. It is a miniature of the Aya Sophia.

A highlight of the field trip was lunch at Namli in Tophane - like Zabar's. Huge array of prepared foods, lots of Turkish and exported cheeseş candies and more. The professor was laid back- giving everyone enough time for a nice break.

When I returned I had a message from a Turkish man that invited me to a Chanukah celebration in Örtaköy. The consul was there. Unfortunately he only called yesterday- so I missed celebrating the first candle. Happy Chanukah to my family and friends.