Thursday, October 17, 2013

Another post on Istanbul, human rights work, and my need for sleep.


Twice a year, diplomats, government officials, civil society, and human rights defenders from all over the world descend on this city for an international institution's annual and spring meetings. Those weeks are nuts for me.  This time around, it was six days straight of meetings upon meetings, side events, conversations, working lunches, dinners, endless cups of coffee, and just a touch of sleep.  It's mostly tiring, but some moments (particularly, I find, when you meet communities who have been working on human rights issues related to these international development projects) it's inspiring and a little rad.  There were a few of those moments last week.

With that week behind me, I took two days off to rest. Time off was needed.  Time off was great - except that when I have free time, I start to plot. And invariably, that plotting involves places I want to visit. 

And today, I thought:  What I wouldn't give to be back in Istanbul right now . . .

Did you know that the mosques in Istanbul were often (always?) built with an attached market, where the rents of the shops went to the upkeep of the mosque?  One day, as we walked around the tourist-laden district of Sultanahmet, we came across a small mosque. It had an adjoining garden and a strip of shops.  I asked the shopkeeper how long his shop had been in business.  He looked at his wife, and they laughed.  He shrugged his shoulders and said, "always."  

6 comments:

  1. I've finally had the chance to sit down and read through your amazing travel stories (and your non-travel posts as well)....hope to cover half as much as you have some day! It is my dream to go on the Transiberian, and also travel in Western China into Central Asia some day, and your stories make me more determined to do so than ever.

    I love this shopkeeper.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the kind words, Lin. I think you've done some amazing traveling yourself - Uzbekistan?! I'm strangely still obsessed with all those former Soviet Republics.

      Delete
  2. it would be so amazing to go to Istanbul. I often teach about global cities, and it's such a shame that I haven't traveled much.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And I wish I had more of the historical knowledge to fully appreciate cities like Istanbul! Someday.

      Delete
  3. i love this. your writing is really beautiful, jocy - simple, clear, evocative.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks a lot, Shoko. I love reading your writing - very inspiring.

      Delete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...