An Authentic Turkish Experience

Early in life, I always pictured places in my mind’s eye by the images I gathered from books; especially art history books. New York I associated with the Empire state building, Paris, with the Eiffel tower, and London with the Monarchy, and Westminster Abby. Later, in Art College, I added other associations, such as Barcelona and the eccentric, grand architecture of Antonio Gaudi, and Istanbul with the Hagia Sophia.


THE DREAM has given me a flat in Istanbul that looks across the busy Marmara Sea waterway to a distant hill, where the domes and spires of the Hagia Sophia stand as they have for 1000 years. Istanbul is one of the world’s largest cities, about the same in population as all of Greece, and sits between the Black Sea and the Marmara Sea. It has been the seat of empires and was once called Constantinople, where the Roman Emperor Constantine established the capital of the Holy Roman Empire. It has served as the capital city of the Roman Empire (330-395), the Byzantine Empire (395-1204 and 1261-1453), the Latin Empire (1204-1261), and the Ottoman Empire (1453-1922). It is the only city in the world to straddle two continents: Asia and Europe.
I find the people more taciturn than in Egypt, and for the most part, more upwardly mobile. Nonetheless, I’ve made friends in only a week. Bahri, a father of two young daughters took me along to visit a nearby Turkish bath house. We arrived in the morning, and once inside were greeted in a small courtyard. We took off our shoes and put on sandals, then went upstairs into tiny private rooms to undress. Wrapped in a towel, we went down to a large room with a flat marble slab in the middle and domed ceiling. Portholes letting streams of light inside punctuated the dome. Several men were already lounging when we went into a dry sauna, where we worked into a sweat. Bahri had only come for the sweat and bath, but I got the full treatment. A husky man took me aside and had me sit next to basin of running water where he proceeded to rinse me. Putting on a mit with mildly abrasive palm, he rubbed vigorously over my entire body. After a few minutes, rolls of dead skin were gathering. Evidently, he was quite satisfied with his efforts, since he made sure I saw the amazing amount of skin that was coming off. He rinsed me again, brusquely massaging as he went, with a surprising smack in the middle of my back that could be heard out in the street. Under the dome, I lay on the slab, and was thoroughly soaped from head to foot, getting massaged at the same time. A rinse, and one more soaping next to a basin, then rinse with another whack on the back before I was wrapped from head to knee in towels and headed to my little cubicle to lie down and rest on the bed. Later, meeting Bahri, and striding into the clear light and beautiful spring weather, I felt like a new man . . . with an authentic Turkish experience.

Read interesting facts about Turkey.

Fragrant Breezes

If sometimes the streets of the world are hell, I have found heaven on a mountain in Haifa, Israel. Being on the grounds of the Bahá’í world center is about as close to paradise as I am going to feel in a physical place. Bahá’í’s are expected to visit on pilgrimage at least once during their lifetime. This is my second visit and it is more beautiful than ever. Both the Bahá’í’ prophets, Bahá’u’lláh and the Báb are buried in this area, and the seat of the Bahá’í’ world governing body, called the Universal House of Justice is here. Each day I have been rejuvenated and uplifted, as if my spirit drinks from heavenly streams and my feet do not touch the ground. People from all over the world are gathered under one tent, as one family. Just looking at the diverse humanity is a feast for the eyes.
Bahá’u’lláh gave Bahá’í’s their own calendar, with March 21 marked as the beginning of each new year. This year, the full moon is in conjunction with the spring equinox. Refreshing and fragrant breezes have blown over me, and I feel revitalized to carry forth my trek into Turkey, and Istanbul.


From the writings of Bahá’u’lláh:
"The world is but one country, and mankind its citizens."
"Let not a man glory in that he loves his country; let him rather glory in this, that he loves his kind."
"Ye are the fruits of one tree, and the leaves of one branch."

THE LIFE OF BAHA'U'LLAH; A PHOTOGRAPHIC NARRATIVE

Travel In An Unfolding Dream

To travel in an unfolding dream is to live every moment within mystery. Egypt is mysterious and inscrutable as the hieroglyphics inscribed in the stone walls of its temples and buried for millennia under desert sand. I hear Arabic, see it written, and don’t understand, yet feel connected by THE DREAM. As often happens when Egyptians on the street see me, someone says “hello, welcome,” and then the solitude of my travel is broken and although for the most part, we cannot understand one another, a bridge is established and it is as if an oasis opens before me. Since my arrival, many Egyptians from all walks of life have spoken this word to me and smiled. With a few, I have become friends, and then the bond is great and they share everything.
Alexandria is the nations second largest city, and I have been here 1 week. In ancient times, it was renowned as a center of learning and housed the world’s largest library. It eventually fell into decline and the library vanished, but recently through international efforts, a gleaming, ultra modern library, called Bibliotheca Alexandria, has opened with over 8 million volumes. It is almost an anomaly in this country of crumbling and unfinished buildings, with donkey carts sharing the streets with taxis.
Next week I will be in Haifa, Israel, and will also have many photos available from my travel thus far.

What I Want And More

THE DREAM is giving me what I want and more. Here in Luxor, along the Nile River, where the Egyptians built vast temples and tombs 7000 years ago, I find myself amidst a family in their mud home in a little village, playing with four children, and lounging on a straw mat over the earth floor with my friend Abu. We drink tea his wife has brought and he smokes his water pipe. It is the end of the day, and the family cow is brought in from the pasture and goes right through the house into the back, next to the donkey, amidst ducks and hens. Pigeons that are raised for food flutter about, pecking crumbs from the dirt floor at our feet. There are flies from the animals, no shower or bathtub, a single toilet sunk in the earth, and a single fire pit for cooking all the food. The children, two boys and two girls, all sleep in one bed, sometimes amid hordes of flies. The woman dressed in a long robe with a scarf over her hair, keeps with the children, except to bring us a delicious meal of steaming food. I feel entirely relaxed and safe, lost in the matrix of the earth.

Abu is the captain of a felucca, a type of sailboat common on the Nile, at present, mostly used to take tourists for rides. We became friends while he was working on finishing a new coat of paint on his boat and I offered to paint the name of his youngest daughter, Amira, in English on both sides of the bow and on the cabin. In Arabic, Amira means princess. Through Abu, I have met his two closest friends; both named Ahmad, and joined for the time being their tight circle. One drives a taxi and the other hires his felucca to take tourists sailing. They are poor, barely scraping by, but as Ahmad said, “we are so close that we keep nothing from each other.”
Here is a funny thing that happened to Ahmad the sailor: Two Japanese were aboard and spoke poor English. They tried to explain their ages, thirty and thirty two, but instead one of them said, “I am dirty, and my friend is dirty too!” Ahmad replied that if they wanted to clean off in the river it would be okay.

Welcome to Egypt

The news from the Middle East has been mostly violent for many years, so I built up some trepidation about visiting. I pictured myself getting nabbed off the street and ransomed as American booty, maybe tortured for good measure. Thus far, my experience in Cairo has been just the opposite. Strangers, who do not know how to speak English, see me and smile, often saying, “welcome.” In THE DREAM, what matters is the heart, and this is the universal language. So I throw myself into the crowded streets, taking pictures as I go, jostling with the common men and women, smiling when someone eyes me in my cowboy hat, grins, waves and says "welcome!”
Women are often covered from head to foot in flowing robes. Younger woman too, have scarfs over their heads. Females do not show flesh. Men sometimes wear loose fitting gowns. Middle-aged and older men often have permanently bruised foreheads. The discoloration is from prostrating so often in prayer. At regular intervals during the day and early evening, chanters from mosques send calls to prayer over loudspeakers into the street. As one prayer subsides, others farther away can be heard continuing the melodic drone.
I joined up with four young Canadians at our hotel and went on a tour of some important places in Cairo. The most exciting part was riding a camel to the foot of the Pyramids in Giza. At that point, our guides were two young locals; Mohammed, the leader, and his protégé Hassan, a youngster who was incredibly nimble around the camels. Mohammed kept a jovial banter in broken English, and occasionally got the camels to kneel down so we could dismount and walk around the incredible expanse surrounding the Egyptian world heritage “wonders of the world.” He was good at taking pictures and skilled using our cameras. Once, as I stood at the base of a pyramid and gazed toward the faraway Cairo skycaps, I faintly heard the call to prayer begin all across the city, drifting like an ancient wail riding upon a magic carpet across the desert sands. It all felt like another part of THE DREAM.

Fragments From THE DREAM

Fragments from THE DREAM: I am on Tobacco Key, a tiny Belize reef island, 45 minutes boat ride from Dangriga. I have come to snorkel in the pristine Caribbean water. Stopping to chat with a couple workers under the shade of Coconut trees, I look up and jokingly wonder if the coconuts ever fall on people. One guy says yes, and that he had been hit on the shoulder, and knew a little girl who had been severely injured. The next day, as I sat by a dock waiting for the first boat back to the mainland, suddenly I heard a thud, and loud cry from a man in a group nearby. A coconut had fallen from a tall tree and hit him in the shoulder. Ouch!
I went with Windell, a native of Belize to see his house in the jungle, and make a painting. His Pontiac is a complete mess held together by wire, but he is a mechanic and loves it nonetheless. The windshield has cracks going every direction and the front hood is wired down. To start the ignition, he touches two wires together under the dashboard. A butane tank behind the back seat provides fuel, and as we drive, he cranks up the volume on the CD player, which skips every time we hit a bump. We listen and sing along to the blues as we drive through the jungle, waving to people as we go. The car slows to a crawl going up hills, and I joke about the story of the Little Engine That Could, and say, “I think I can, I think I can.” Windell shoots back, “No. It is: ‘I know I can, I know I can.’ ”
In Belmopan, I spent a couple nights at the lodging of Christine, a friend of Windell’s who rents rooms. It’s relaxing except for noise from a house next door, and a rooster in the back that belongs to a neighbor and that crows loudly at dawn. Christine says the rooster is a nuisance and that she has complained to city hall because it disturbs her guests. Friends have suggested poisoning it. Jokes go around about the possibility of it’s demise. One night, I have strange, violent dreams. At 12:30 AM, in the midst of deep sleep, I wake from vivid dreaming and hear a man’s voice saying, “I am going to fuck with your brain!” Immediately, the rooster crows loudly. I am dazed, and lay paralyzed, wondering if I am hallucinating and maybe have been drugged with something like LSD. I hear many noises; dogs barking, party sounds, and cars. Getting up, I go downstairs, where another guest is on the patio. Disoriented, I ask him if he heard the rooster, and he says, “Yes, it is crazy!” I can’t go back to sleep, and think, well, I’ll go to the party. Getting up, I get dressed and go out on the street, but by this time the party has toned down and I can’t find it.
Today, I went to a big Baha’i gathering celebrating Ayam-i-Ha in Belmopan. People from all over Belize were there, and I enjoyed being in the crowd of mostly brown and black people of all ages.

Wind And Waves

I am growing accustomed to the ceaseless sound of the wind and waves on the beach outside my room. One morning it was quiet when I awoke, and felt strange.
Dangriga folks are the most relaxed group of people I have ever been around. They seem to be absent of anger, and it is remarkable how open they are. There are also regular beggars, and at least one woman said I could live at her house.
I have friends, and often someone will see me and call my name hello. One guy took me to his shack tucked into the woods at the end of a beach. He lives with his girlfriend in a place thrown together with boards and tin. There is a garden, and chickens and dogs. I looked at the holes in his ceiling and asked did the place leak during rains? He said yes, and that then his girlfriend and he scrambled to find dry spots, and fought over them.
There is very little glass in Dangriga . . . most windows stay open all the time.
I am a bit bewildered these days since I do not feel driven or impelled to succeed. I wonder, have I lost my bearings? Where the heck am I and what am I doing? Is my life important while I do not oil the capitalist machine? What if I become a barefoot native, and play dominoes under a thatched roof every day?

Entering THE DREAM

This world is alive with visible and invisible forces that constantly play together. Imperceptible tides cause the sea to rise and fall, while hidden gravity keeps the moon circling around the earth. Scientists might have explanations for consciousness, but how do they explain the difference between human and animal thought? Dream thought and waking use the same brain for cognition but the experiences are different.
Belize is my first stop on my way around the world, and I have experienced stepping into THE DREAM I love to live in.
The first step to entering THE DREAM is letting go of preconceptions. I know that when I travel, so much is foreign that I feel like a child experiencing the world anew. Then surprises happen and if consciousness is fully open, a sense of wonder occurs; just like in a dream.
I wanted to come to Belize to get relaxed and start dreaming and also, to live among a community of black people. Dangriga is a black community on the coast. It is poor like most of Belize—people don’t have wealth and live simply. Ramshackle houses are everywhere, and are not seen in the USA except in the poorest regions of the south. Yet natives are friendly and almost always smile at me with a greeting, most often saying, “hello sir.” Their accent is sort of British but also mixed with a Caribbean dialect that is rythymic to the ear. Women sometimes stroll with parasols and children play everywhere. I’ve seen some climbing to the top of coconut trees to knock off the fruit. Belizean black people have skin color that is quite dark, much darker than typical blacks in the United States. I find them wonderful to look at and easy to become friends with.

Onward Into The Unknown

The journey has begun and I am in a slight state of shock. It took more than a month to disburse of my former life. There were moments of grace, such as selling my van on the last day at the last hour, and also, intriguing episodes as when I lost my iPhone after setting it on the table in front of me in a restaurant and telling my friend that soon I would not be caring about such things.
My possessions for the coming year existed in two suitcases in hand as I left Santa Fe at 6:00 in the morning on February 1. One of them held art supplies. I am in Santa Barbara, California now, visiting my family, who are grateful to see me before I disappear for Belize on February 7th. My parents are getting up in years and have slowed down noticeably. I worry that something terrible might happen while I am away, but my brother and sister live here, and in an emergency, I will simply come back.
I feel disoriented but it is to be expected embarking on such a new life. I am sallying forth into the unknown.

To Live Without Fear

To live without fear is to really live. What are our biggest fears? The biggest for most people is death. Like other animals, we run from death as fast as we can. Poverty, illness and failure all are potent worries that seemingly bring us closer to death. It follows that if we can come to terms with death, then we can also negotiate our emotions regarding everything else.
Death does not particularly bother me, which means I can live audaciously and with abandon. When I travel, I think what will bother me is the nagging feeling that I must always be productive and earning a living. Something inside might say that if I simply live as an observer and philosopher, I am not keeping up with the American Jones family, and after all, the professionals say that a million dollars in the bank is necessary during the senior years. But really, I want to be sure I have what is priceless—the memories from a life fully lived. So I plan to leisurely travel the world, and smell all the roses along the way. Friday, February 1, 2008 is the beginning of the journey.

The Homestretch

I am in the homestretch now. Only two weeks until I begin living without an address. Today I had a sale of my household and personal belongings. People were lined up outside in the cold when I opened the front door at 10 AM. Almost everything is being sold now, and I feel pretty good although I cried a little inside—selling my fine books at a fraction of their value. On the other hand, someone else was shouting with glee at the bargain.
Whatever is left when it is time to leave will be donated to worthy causes. I find it amazing how every day, all my moments are spent simply trying to divest of belongings and make arrangements for leaving. See how possessions can bind us? Anyway, glorious days are ahead. The itinerary is being written now.

Here are some passages from the the writings of the medieval Persian poet, Rumi (September 30, 1207–December 17, 1273):

When what you own can vanish, it's only a dream, a vanity.

Let the beauty we love be what we do.

We are pain and what cures pain, both.

The soul is here for its own joy.