Commuting in Istanbul

The metro in Istanbul is close to Mexico City's, except it's above ground. You stand at the entrance of the train and PUSH to get in. Everybody exhales at once to make more room. This morning I bailed out. Just too crowded. That meant I payed 1.4 lira (about a dollar) to walk a mile or more to my destination -- the Kapa Carsi (Grand Bazar). Students arrive for the Istanbul portion of the course today and I knew I wouldn't have much of a chance to see the place. It is a vast, tangled, indoor bazar full of vendors and merchants, all of whom have a question for you. I paid far too much for the scarf and Ottoman design tapestry I bought, because I invariably start the bargain process with an offer too high. At least I gave them a good start to their day. I had limited time, but I stopped for a glass of orange juice squeezed in front of me. Shop keepers were setting up, and old men with white, Abraham Lincoln beards dressed in islamic hats and western suit coats pulled carts past my table, laden with goods. Their commute was more labored than mine. 

The ride back was easier. There was time and space to observe students on their way to Istanbul University, decked out in stylish, shiny head-coverings, sitting next to elderly women with more traditional, black chadoras, sitting next to business people in western dress. They all seemed comfortable with the differences -- secular muslim, conservative muslim, christian, young, old. 

The traffic out my window starts before 7am, and it is the honking, rumbling, yelling kind. The commute is an unhappy and impatient one. There is no AC where I am staying, so an open window is required, and I hear every engine, every brake in need of replacement, every police loudspeaker, every siren, and every horn.

Everyone is going somewhere. As they go, I want them to know that they are not anonymous. Jesus observes them more closely than I have, knows their name, and loves them. Here in the cradle of Orthodoxy, the birthplace of Christian worship, at one time the city (Byzantium) regarded as heaven on earth, I want them to meet their savior who commuted our way.

Peace in the Middle East, Please God.