Day 12 - Antalya, Konya, and Ürgüp

05.27.2011

Personal:

- Long driving day!

- Drove for two hours, then had ҫay and some Turkish cookies that looked like Tadelles but tasted too dry

- Drove another two hours to Konya for lunch, which was at a restaurant overlooking the city of Konya, but only from the second floor (we’re so spoiled haha)

- Visited the Mevlana Museum that is actually a converted Mausoleum for Mevlana Sufi

- Walked past one of the central mosques of the city during their big, community, Friday afternoon prayer

- Visited the Karatay Medresesi (Madrash) – school from 1251- end of the 19^th century for tile workmanship and other academic disciplines

- Drove to Sultanhan Karavansaray (1229) for a quick walk through

- Stopped for more ҫay and some Tutku(?) cookies

- Drove to another gas station/truck/bus stop for a chocolate-chesnutt bar

- Saw two volcanoes, including Mount Hasan

- Finally reached Cappadocia and Ürgüp for dinner!

Research:

- Atatürk banned Sufi orders in 1925 – research the specifics like when that policy was abolished, underground Sufis, etc.; today the Whirling Dervishes is only a tourist attraction; Mevlana Sufi believed in the love of God and tolerance for all other religions

- Friday 13:00 Prayer – community event; waiters released from work to pray; Demokrat Parti politician sponsored a parade and rally following the prayer in Konya, so he was praying politically with the people in the mosque; social norms and politics

- People in the US think a Madrash is a school for jihad, where in fact it is simply a place of learning

Atatürk banned religious schools and centralized them under the government; religious orders were closed and “theoretically” still are

- Turban/headdress of men not allowed to be seen in public; also includes headdresses of Christians and other religions unless the person is “on duty;” public displays of religion on Friday that we see are technically against the law

- Has Parti Truck – “Özkan” political leader? Threw confetti into the streets with his face and the party logo on it