Kevin Doyles Blog

This... Is Kevin Doyle (not high fidelilty).

One of the best aspects of my voyage has been the fact that it is not, "my voyage." When we have left the port and my travels are done... my experiance continues on as I hear the stories and experiances of around 800 faculty and students told with only slight relish. Here is the blog of my step father, Drama professor on the ship, somebody very dear to me, and a personal role model: http://kevintraveler.blogspot.com or just click on the title "Kevin Doyles Blog" at the top.

"The Blue Mosque" among other things.

These two pictures are from the back of the MV Explorer as we re-fuled at gibralter. That island is of course, the rock of gibralter. Where something liek 22 unique types of monkeys can be found, some to be found nowhere else on earth. "The more you know."

I am slowly descoving how much I love games... and how bad of a looser I am. This is my new favorite. "Weiqi" as its called in China, or more commonly "Go". I have been playing this habitually on the ship since Egypt, and will continue to do so for many years.

Laundry day on the ship. They charge 5$ per bag, so Tucker and I take it personally to get every pice of clothing we own... into one bag a piece. Anything is possible.

and these... are the white streets of Dubrovnik

Back to Istanbul...


As a part of the “Istanbul City Orientation” program on the first day in Istanbul, our group also toured the Sultan Ahmed Mosque or the Blue Mosque of Istanbul. I followed the now familiar actions of taking off my shoes and bagging them up and then padding my feet on the gigantic carpets inside the mosque. Although we had to stand behind a rail in the back I viewed many people laying out flat and going through various Muslim prayers, practicing “Salah”. Above them hung hundreds of small electric lights inside of glasses, the cords from which strung all the way to the dome supports. Artistic Islamic script encircled many of the doorways and arches, and even more lights formed circular metal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. I remember thinking that even in Asia I had never stepped into a place that felt more foreign to me than this one.
For a brief history, the Sultan Ahmed Mosque was completed in 1616 after being commissioned by Ahmed I. It is named the blue mosque because of the blue tile that adorns it, and the mosque itself was designed by Sedefhar Mehmet Aga a student of the famed Sinan architect. It was modeled after and inspired by Hagia Sophia and sits across from it. This was Ahmed I’s first mosque, built to praise god, and work on it would not stop completely until after his death and into the reign of the next Sultan.
The religion of Islam believes in one god and reads from the holy text called the Qur’an which god revealed to the profit Mohammad. Christianity and Judaism are believed to be offshoots of Islam and to have altered in meaning through time to become different in meaning from Islam.
The practice of Islam relies on five main pillars. The first of these five pillars is called the “Shahadah” and contains the “Tawhid” “which declares that there is no god but God, and that Muhammad is God's messenger”. The “Shahadah” could be seen as the mantra of Islam and exists in prayer form. It is the first thing which must be done to become a person of Muslim faith. The second pillar is called “Salah”. “Salah” is done five times a day and consists of ritual prayer which is supposed to reconnect your mind with god. My group had to wait outside of the Blue Mosque while the call to prayer, or adhan, was underway. The broadcasting of Qur’an versus all around Istanbul was testament to the strictness and wide spread acceptance of Islam in Turkey. The third pillar is the giving of alms and is called “Zakat”. “Zakat” is like unto the paying of tithing in Christianity. Forth is “Sawm” “or fasting during the month of Ramadan”. During this month eating is prohibited from day light to day break and is intended, like the “Salah”, to bring a person closer to god. I remember seeing tax drivers in India during Ramadan, pull over after the sun had gone down to eat a super they had tucked away in their trunk. The fifth, and most famous, pillar is the Hajj. This pillar is a pilgrimage. At some point in a Muslims life he or she desires to pilgrimage to Mecca and there perform ritual acts.
Sometimes a sixth pillar is added to the practice of Islam which is that of Jihad, meaning struggle. This sixth pillar gets allot of press, and as I have found out carries very little of the connotations given to it by westerners. Jihad can mean a struggle against “a visible enemy, the devil, and aspects of one's own self” or used alone can have military connotations. Most of the time Jihad is used as a metaphor meant to struggle against your own self improvement.
Notably missing among these pillars of faith is the mention of conversion. Even the sixth pillar of struggle does not mention conversion. While in Istanbul I asked a few people, namely the owner of a hookah bar I frequented, what it took to become one of Muslim faith. He told me that one must approach a person of Islamic faith and himself desire to become Muslim, and that it is a rare occurrence and somewhat difficult to do. The first thing somebody must do to become Muslim is complete the “Tawhid” and show dedication with the “Salah”. This response was new and refreshing to me, myself coming from the mass missionary exporting state of Utah
Islam is thought to be the original faith, that of Jesus as well. After the beginning of Islam with Mohamed the faith spread throughout Europe, Asia, and Africa. Most notable in Islamic empire is the Ottoman Empire which at one time dominated areas of the Mediterranean Sea and separated Europe from the Indian Ocean.
The Blue Mosque had a profound effect on me… Until this trip I knew almost nothing of Islam aside from the word Jihad and the notion of a call to prayer. I can blame growing up in Utah; I can underscore a gigantic absence of Islam from my entire high school experience. Standing inside Istanbul’s Blue Mosque and soaking in “a whole new world” around me I couldn’t help but wonder why I knew nothing about the world of Islam, Why I had never taken a private interest in finding out about it. I realized that much of the world was never discussed in my high school setting. The Blue Mosque inspired me, as the teacher I hope someday to be, to find some way to actually reform US education. It is wrong to let something as beautiful as the Blue Mosque or Hagia Sophia go unmentioned in a high school setting let alone the amazing civilizations and theologies which created them. No wonder the American public allowed Bush to attack Iraq with only mild street protest, I’m not sure a good number of Americans know anything at all about Islam, let alone its differences and similtarities from Christianity. The Blue Mosque reminded me, that as a citizen inside of the monster empire the United States has become, I need and should violently demand a worldly education. The Blue Mosque was a reminder of all the beauty in the world, and the importance of things bigger than myself.







Here are some more random pictures from around the world

Dubrovnik and Sevilla

These three pictures were taken from the walls of Dubrovnk. Dubrovnik is one the ast remaining historically walled cities in the world. Its white streets and entierly tourist based economy were not the most intriguing thigns I have seen thus far, but that view form the top of the walls made up for it and more.

Back in Europe again. I took these pictures while visiting the Cathedral of Sevilla, in of course Sevialla where I walked the very streets that bugs bunny walked in the 60's and 70's.

Hagia Sophia

The last place I visited on my Istanbul city orientation trip was Hagia Sophia. This cathedral is beautiful remnant of Istanbul's strong cultural history as well as symbol of the times for modern Turkish politics. The former basilica and mosque is now a museum, and fittingly so as Hagia Sophia displays Istanbul's rich history from 537 C.E. to present. It was Atatürk who decided the mosque should be a museum, despite the rules of Islam stating that no mosque may be converted from being a mosque. This decision of Ataturk's demonstrates one of his many contributions to Turkish politics, the separation of church and state. The mosque was officially declared a museum in 1935.
The first thing which caught my eye, once inside of Hagia Sophia, was a yellowed looking painting high above the entrance's gigantic two story doors. The painting displayed Mary and the Christ under a cross. The guide informed me that this painting was found underneath plaster on the ceiling when the mosque was turned into a museum. In 1453, with the arrival of the Ottoman empire in Constantinople, many of the church murals were plastered over in the conversion of Hagia Sophia into a mosque by the order of Mehmed II. It is against Muslim beliefs to have pictures of people painted on mosque walls or displayed within, and the Ottomans had no use for a Christian murals anyhow. Now all over the ceiling, uncovered paintings from the pre-Ottoman era can be found.
The second thing I noticed, once further inside, was Hagia Sophias famous gigantic dome. It was commissioned by emperor Justinian the first, and is an amazing architectural achievement for its time. Hagia Sophia is actually the third “temple” to occupy the land it sits upon, and this third rendition was designed by Isidore of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles. When I was there a scaffolding was set up for restoration. The crisscrossing bars seemed to fade to the eye before the top could be seen as the reached to the top of the dome, they emphasized just how enormous the dome really is.

Many restorations have been carried out since the time of the Ottomans conversion of Hagia Sophia. One of the most noteworthy was ordered by the sultan Abdulmacid and crafted by the architects Gaspare and Giuseppe Fossati. The restoration included a complete redesigning of the mosques interior decorations, structural repair and fortification, and the addition of some outer buildings. On July thirteenth 1849 the mosque was again opened to the public.
Mustafa Kemal later named “Atatürk” meaning “father of the Turks” was the person responsible for Hagia Sophias conversion into a museum. His face is everywhere in Turkey and on many more than one occasion I witnessed fierce pride after the mention of his name. Ataturk was the first president of Turkey and he himself fought the revolution movement against the allied occupation of Turkey following WWI after which the Republic of Turkey was founded. He brought many “radical reforms” to the republic and Hagia Sophia's transformation to a museum (against Muslim law) is a powerful example of the weight carried by Ataturk. He is thought to be largely responsible for most of Turkey’s progress in the nineteen hundreds and is remembered fondly with gigantic pictures in almost every building. The noble looking figure is always looking off into the future, with a chiseled and thoughtful look; the man had strong eyebrows as well.
We were lucky enough to be in Istanbul on the day which Ataturks death is remembered, and I sat in a hookah bar as a televised countdown to midnight ensued. Our waiter noticed that we were watching the television and imitated a tear falling from his eye and looked thoughtful. After this, he went to the back of the room, with two minutes left in the countdown, and replaced the modern music with some traditional Turkish music. After we asked many questions about the music he had put on, he brought us a copy of the CD as a gift, he was very grateful for our interest in the country of Turkey and our observance of the importance of Ataturk to the Turks.
In Greek Hagia Sophia means “Holy Wisdom”. Over the years, the various cults of wisdom provided within the domes of Hagia Sophia have changed. Even today, with its conversion into a museum, the massage of wisdom emanating from Hagia Sophia is changing. After the historical shift to Christianity and then the Ottoman shift to Muslim, now Hagia Sophia broadcasts a message of tolerance and historical recognition to all those hundreds of thousands who walk through it every year. It represents an Istanbul aware of its conglomerate history and proud of this as well. Hagia Sophia has always been one of the most astounding architectural accomplishments, and now its ideological accomplishments will transcend both Christianity and Islam alike.

Cairo

It is 12:50 A.M. here in Cairo, I awoke yesterday at 4:00 A.M. I will leave an hour from now at 2:00 A.M. to catch a flight to Luxor. I look around me and I see a strange man talking into a hand held computer microphone, laughing maniacally at times, and typing furiously with two fingers at others. Every once and a while he gets up to help somebody fix a computer, and to bum cigarettes from the customers. I am in the second floor of a three story shopping mall, all of which is abandoned, dark, and decaying except for this internet cafe. Outside the door is a dusty window in a dark corner, the space behind which is stacked with old manicans and cobwebs, a site truly fitting so near after Halloween. Strange stains cover most of the floor, and in the moonlight cast above the stairwell can be seen the decorative spirals and invading cobwebs of an iron rail a flight above. On the ground floor, sitting half hidden beneath the shadows of broken escalators, a guard sleeps quietly, one hand resting on his automatic rifle.
No longer do I pretend to know who I am, or what it is that I care about. My self has spiraled outward and I hope never to come back. I have seen the pyramids for the first time as they were intended to be seen. As a ray of light spreading itself from a single point above, onto the desert below, as a path into the sky. I know a real life awaits me somewhere, but apart from spells of panic, I know that thing which I once called myself, no longer to exist. I know from which single point I have come, and in my wake I leave only what decisions I made after whatever moments possesed me. Ahead of me, growing always wider is my path into the ground.