July 7, 2013 - Dervishes

Today was a day I finally felt like I could breathe. Awoke for a slightly longer run with Leslie and Karen. Leslie is such a crackup!

Breakfast and some "homework" today. Karen, Leslie, Kelly, and I went up to the hotel called " ." It is where Agatha Christie stayed while writing "Murder on the Orient Express." We had apps, dessert, and tea then headed to Galata Tower, the Genoese watchtower built in 1453 where Leslie and I read some Findley.

Then, met with the group to see the whirling dervishes who commemorate Rumi. This is a spiritual movement among the Sufi who are replicating Rumi's mourning over his lost friend. Right hand faces up to receive the world / God and left hand down to give it to the world. Twirl to the left as this helps the heart receive. Sheik is present to keep dervishes in this world as they transform from the otherly. Very interesting, though I felt as if I was intruding on their religious experience. I'll probably never see them again, but I am glad to have experienced it. 



Video courtesy of Greg Sill and Robert Strayer.

The four of us went for dinner, then split. Kelly stayed in Galata, I headed back to shop in the Ramadan markets, and Leslie and Karen did their Turkish baths. All in all chill day.