So, I was pretty happy last Friday night when we went to Taksim and I saw a massive church. I was even happier when somebody (I'm not gonna name any names here!) informed me it was a Catholic church. I never really found out when the mass times were, but on Sunday I went back to Taksim to check it out and this is what I saw...
Quite beautiful, ne? Ok so I go in there, somewhat awkwardly, because I'm just like that. The signs were actually in English, but very uninformative. The old icons and artifacts are all in Greek.. Anyway, I go in and find a place in the back. Some sort of rite is going on but it doesn't look particularly familiar... I sit in the back and pretend like I know what's going on and that I belong here.. This is what the sanctuary looks like.
Anyway, I eventually decide that I don't this isn't Catholic at all.. I mean, there aren't really any seats and most of what's going on is behind the doors at the front, which are often closed, there's constant chanting and its all just sooo different... My sluggish mind eventually comes to the conclusion that this is in fact a Greek Orthodox church!
Wow.... Well it was quite the experience (and this is yet another picture of it). Anyway, after the service is over I walk down İstiklal Caddesi (Istiklal Street) some more to kill time until I'm supposed to meet Alyssa. Eventually, I come across the actual Catholic church, Yes, this is the one I was looking for in the first place, and I can tell for sure this time because the signs are not only in English, but also informative! It looks like this (please ignore the fact that I cant seem to hold a camera straight):
I only caught the very end of the service but I intend to go back there next week. The signs inform me that the service is probably 3 hours long, at least. Also, its all in Italian... or maybe Latin.. but it seemed more like Italian to me. I don't know that much about it though, I'm only a linguist..
Here's a terrible picture of the inside, enhanced a million times so you can see anything at all.. they didn't really want us to hang around after the service was over so I didn't get a good picture. Yeah, they chased us out in Turkish! nahaha.. 
...but not before I paid for and lit a little candle in sorrow for my earlier mistake :P... In any case, I should be able to take a better picture of the sanctuary this Sunday, but I still wont understand a word of the service!
Beyond this alarming event (alarming? not really I guess..), things are pretty great. I still feel like throwing my phone into traffic every other minute, class is still amazing, I'm still eating (and having no stomach problems!), I still have money, clothes and homework. Actually, I just did my laundry for the first time since I came. It's very expensive actually, 10 YTL a load! (if you're lucky, sometimes its much more I guess) But they fold it, sorta... that's nice at least.
2 comments:
I have always wanted to see a Greek Orthodox service. I bet it was really cool. But don't worry about getting directions to the wrong church too much. It happens when you are traveling. When I was a kid, were directed to the wrong church in Utah without our knowing. Usually when we pulled into a parking lot in a line of station wagons full of kids in their Sunday best, we knew we were in the right spot. After a while, we realized the helpful hotel clerk had directed us to a Mormon Church. We never did find a Catholic church that weekend, but we tried and that's what counts.
Hey, this is Kristin! I've been religiously reading your blog (which is an appropriate comment considering your last blog about the church incident). Your pictures are beautiful and it sounds like you are having an amazing time. We've missed having you around for the summer, so please try and come see me again before you go back to Arizona. Miss you and can't wait to read your next post!
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