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Several months ago, Dr. Walter Wagner invited me to take a trip to Turkey that was being sponsored by the Pennsylvania Dialogue Center here in the Lehigh Valley. Fortunately, I decided to take advantage of his offer, and on May 26th was on my way to JFK Airport with a small group of travelers. Along with Dr. Wagner, I was accompanied by several members of the MTS community—Drs Deborah Appler and Jane Williams, student Mehmet Sacit Arvasi, Director of Enrollment Ann Gibson, and alumna Marlane Druckenmiller (‘90). Murat Al, Vice President of the Dialogue Center, served as our trusted guide and expert on all things Turkish, and a few other professors and educators joined us for the 10-day adventure.
There are perhaps 100 stories I could share with everyone who has asked, “How was the trip?” I could dazzle them with our itinerary of sights, which included Mevlana’s Tomb, The Chora Church, Topkapi Palace, Galata Tower, Ephesus, the Grand Bazaar, The Virgin Mary’s House; I could also rave (and maybe blanch in some cases) at the vast array of foods we encountered, or attempt to describe the non-stop traffic of Istanbul. I lack some of the theological/anthropological/biblical perspective of the professors who traveled with me, so I’m not one to expound upon important historical details; I was more the type to gawk at the vast, ornately tiled ceilings of the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia, or wonder at the ancient frescos still visible in the primitive, stone monasteries in Cappadocia.
I was amazed and humbled by their graciousness.
Aside from sheer historical significance, what stand out among my memories of the trip are the meals we enjoyed with different Turkish families, and not just because of the delicious food! These families opened their homes to us, prepared sumptuous feasts, shared their backgrounds and talents, and even bestowed gifts upon us at the end of the night, all while navigating language barriers and differing customs. We were invited not only to dine with families, but also meet with various groups—a service organization called Kimse Yok Mu, a hospital in Izmir, and a school in Konya. Representatives of each organization, including schoolchildren eager to practice their English with us, welcomed us with open hearts, as did the tour guides and van drivers who helped us along the way. I was amazed and humbled by their graciousness.
Of course, one of the most foreign and enlightening aspects of the trip was my exposure to and evolving understanding of Islam. We were allowed to enter several beautiful mosques and witness a portion of the Muslim prayer rituals, and each morning began early with one of many calls to prayer emanating outlandishly from several minarets at once. Antakya (known as Antioch to us) was perhaps the most unique in terms of interfaith convergence, as Muslim, Jewish, Protestant, and Catholic places of worship all exist within about a block of each other! In Antakya, we also visited a small Armenian church high in the mountains and drank tea under the Tree of Moses that purportedly grew out of his staff. At times, wrapping my brain around the juxtaposition between “modern” and “ancient” seemed impossible.
As much as the time abroad was a vacation from my everyday responsibilities and opportunity to show my tourist colors, it was also an immensely educational trip. Having spent just a little time with our student, Mehmet, prior to seeing his home country, it was incredibly enlightening to experience his ways of life first-hand. I returned to Bethlehem with a new understanding about the country, its religion, and its generous people, that I hope to share with others. |
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