Bayrams and baseball caps

Unless you live in a largely Muslim country, you probably dont know that today is the last day of Ramadan.  This means that starting tonight at sun down and for the next three days it is the Bayram, or candy holiday.  I don't fully understand all the ramifications of this, but there are a couple of things that affect me directly.  1) School is closed this week and most offices and services will be closed until at least Friday.  2) I wont get my residency permit until next week at the earliest which means I wont get my boxes out from customs until after that.

So, school is out, sounds great, but school hasn't even started, so we just have a break from orientation.  Can't I put this holiday in the bank and take it in late September?  The lunar calendar says no.  I could use this time to work on my curriculum and materials.  I know that I will have to change many things since RC teaches chemistry over two years and in a very different order than I am used to.  The problem is, although I know the order of the units, I dont know any of the details and the other chemistry teachers are either not on campus yet, or they were and have left for the holiday.  Oh, yeah, and we need to be pretty much lock step so the school doesnt get sued for one teacher giving less work than another. 

The upside of this week, is that Istanbul is largely empty.  The government announced last week, that it would make this three day celebration into a 9 day holiday, so everyone who has family to visit somewhere else in Turkey, or who wants to get away has gone.  I guess I haven't seen Istanbul full yet, since August is the month when people go on vacation from the city.  Given that this is by far the biggest city I have ever lived in, it seems plenty full to me.  I am going to take advantage of this emptiness to be a tourist.

Yesterday I walked south (although I understand Turks dont navigate by north and south, rather up and down hills, or the bosporus) to Ortokoy.  There was a nice water side park to stroll through and I stopped at the grocery store for some things I thought I needed.  I climbed up the hill a little bit and found some cute looking houses and streets and plenty of cats. 

Today I walked north through Arnovutkoy, Bebek and up to the second bridge.  I saw more fishermen than usual, and I finally saw them catch some fish.  The fish aren't very big, maybe 5 inches long, but they catch many at a time.  I saw one fisherwoman with 8 on her line at the same time.  They seem to tie a short line every foot or so with another lure and by the time they pull them up they have several bites.  My destination was the 'castle' on the water, just before the second bridge.  I wasn't sure it would be open because of the bayram, but the gate was open and there were plenty of guards around.  I paid my 3TL and took an English brochure. 

Paraphrasing from the brocure: The fortress of Rumeli was built at the narrowest point of the Bosphorus by Sultan Mehmed II (Fatih) across from the Fortress of Anatolia in order to control the waterway and conquer Istanbul.  It was constructed in 4 months in the spring of 1452.  It included a mosque, but the mosque was destroyed in an earthquake in 509.  Now it houses a cannon museum and many beautiful views. 

Most of these cannons seemed to be from the 19th century and I am not sure what they had to do with the fortress.

The invading Ottomans built this fortress at the narrowest part of the Bosphorus to control traffic and to have a staging area for invading Istanbul.

I climbed to the top of this wall (although not up that stair case) and it was at the top that I lost my hat. )-:

For more pictures click here for my Picassa album: Rumeli Fortress pictures

When I entered, I think I was the only tourist and after climbing up to the water facing tower, a guard attached himself to me.  I thought maybe he was going to keep me from going some places, but he lead the way up and around, giving me my own private tour.  His English was pretty good and he pointed out the towers and told me some of the history.  He also asked how old I was, if I was married, how long I would be in Istanbul, what I do for a living and how much I make.  I learned later that really nothing is personal and that in general Turks want to know a lot about you, but if you turn the questions around, they hedge.  When I asked him if he was married, he said no, why not?  I love all women!  I am not sure that was exactly what he meant... I wasn't sure if he was going to want a tip, or if he was just practicing his English and livening up his day.  When I told him it was time for me to go, he walked away, so I didn't have any chance to give him a tip even if I wanted to.  The major bummer of this visit was that I lost my Holden Village cap.  At the top of the fortress it was very windy and it just blew off.  Unfortunately it went out of the fortress rather then into it.  I visited the cemetary on the other side of the wall, but I couldnt get up high enough to find it before I was so hungry and thirsty I had to give up the search. 

I am planning on continuing to be a tourist down town tomorrow and Wednesday and then we have a tirp to the Princes Islands tentatively planned for Friday.

This is getting long, so I am going to split this post into two..