This weekend in my city, there was a 473 year old candy festival. It is called the Mesir Macunu Festival, and it has quite an interesting story behind it. A sultan's mother was ill, so the apothecaries made her this paste of a candy out of 42 different spices. She got better, and since then she decided that every year around that time, she would pass the candy out to the civilians. Every year the people of Manisa would gather at the main Mosque in town, and this candy would be thrown from the roof tops by the bucket load. Some men discovered that apart from its medicinal values, it also helps in bed. That's right, it's an aphrodisiac. The story later was told that after the end of this festival, a man would find his lover.
In more recent times it has just become a reason to celebrate. The students from Izmir and Bursa came to our humble town tucked against the mountain. On the days of the festival, downtown was more packed than I had ever seen it before, which made showing them around a little difficult. The atmosphere was bustling with excitement for the coming festivities. People were selling their goods, and there were things happening all around town. For the first day the students were here, us locals were in charge of showing them around. That evening we went to a concert, and got B-list VIP entrance (I guess exchange students are pretty important). The concert was nice, it was a little hard to understand since everyone in the audience thought their voices were just as gifted as the woman singing. After the concert we went home to get some sleep for tomorrow.
To start the morning I made some scrambled eggs for my guests, then we hopped on the bus to downtown. To start the day off we marched in the parade that went right down the main road. Each of us were waving our flags and chanting along with the crowd. People cheered from the crowded streets, and looked on from their balconies. The parade marched right up to the Mosque where the candy would be thrown. Now, we were supposed to get inside the Mosque since we had event passes, but right upon our arrival, the police opened the flood gates, and everyone bum-rushed the front doors and overwhelmed the police so they wouldn't let anyone in.
So many people were pressed against the walls of the mosque, it was the mosh-pit ot end all mosh-pits. Candy rained down from the men in traditional outfits on top of the mosque. Men on the ground scrambled and clawed to get their hands on every piece of mesir they could. At first I found it entertaining and funny, but soon I came to my senses. Children were in tears because of how terrifying the surging mass of people was to them. I glimpsed somebody who had passed out get hauled over the police barrier to safety. Heads dipped below the crushing mass of the crowd. Our group got separated due to the pulsing tides of sweaty people. Bodies were pressed against me on every angle, you could only move with the tides of the crowd. To put it simply, it was a nightmare. The Rotex we were with realized this and corralled us students, then tried to shove our way out of the crowd.
Once we got to a point where we could move relatively freely, I looked back onto the madness. I found it somewhat disgusting how these men got into such a savage frenzy over something you could buy for 2 liras around the corner. I also wondered how many people had gotten injured today due to the monstrous crowds. All of us were pretty flustered. We did a count, and realized none of us got any of the mesir that was thrown, which made a few of us laugh, and relieved a little tension. The Rotarians treated us to a nice lunch, and afterwards the Izmir kids went home. I find it funny how last weekend I had such a relaxing weekend, and this one was so stressful, that's just how life is I guess. Next weekend we go to Bodrum, which is this nice little coastal town that I've been hearing a lot about. I am very excited.
Hosca Kal
-Torvald
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Pamukkale
This past weekend, we enjoyed our first Rotary trip in almost 3 months. We journeyed south for 3 hours to the renowned heated, terraced pools of Pamukkale. The bus ride down wasn't much to speak of. The pit stop we took on the other hand is worth describing. We stopped at the ancient city of Afrodesias. Now of course the little boy inside me snickered at this name for an apparent reason. The name actually derives from Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love. This city was very well known for its marble sculptures and it showed. The museum is filled with incredibly detailed, pale busts of ancient stories. Stone slabs depicting myths and legends, as well as well known figures of the time filled the display hall. Some of the sculptures were so intricate you could see the textures of cold, stone veins hidden underneath an epidermis of marble. After leaving the museum, we walked the grounds. A wonderfully preserved temple materialized from behind a grove of trees. But the real masterpiece was the stadium. Now this wasn't exactly the Colosseum of Rome, but it sure was breathtaking. Said to have seated 20 thousand back in it's time, needless to say it was huge. I scaled down the aisle way to the grassy surface and imagined all of the events that took place here. Races, gladiator battles, and so much more. The tunnels where the champions marched through were still open to the outside. Us exchange students even had a small race of our own, whose victor was your's truly. All of us were in awe of how well preserved the stadium was. Next we moved on to the theater, which was like similar to the other theaters we had seen along our travels. I was elected to go test the acoustics and then was commanded to sing. To which I belted the classic, "Stand by Me," which was received with modest applause from my admirers in the top row. I would definitely say that Afrodesias is one of my more favored ancient cities that we have visited.
After Afrodesias we went to our hotel, and were given ample time to unwind and relax. This task was much easier than expected since in the basement of the hotel, there was a pool that was heated by the hot springs of the surrounding area. To top things off, there was a Swedish-styled sauna that we commandeered and held exclusively as our own. After turning to prunes, and sweating like pigs we hauled our limp bodies out of the pool and went to dry off for dinner, which was a pleasant affair. Again we went to relax in the pools before nodding off to a very deep sleep.
The next morning I woke feeling more rested than I had the entire time I'd been here. The day started early with a continental breakfast, followed by a speedy packing and swift departure. Our first and only stop would be Heirapolis, an ancient city from the Greek empire, but was also used by Romans and the Byzantine. We started out in the necropolis, which was a walkway flanked on either side by multiple tombs. As we marched further into the city, we left the dead behind. Soon we got to the main road of the town, which was still in great condition for thousands of years old. To the left, a public bath stood, on the right, rows of Corinthian columns stood which outlined the small merchant shops that would have sold a variety of goods so many years ago. At the end of the road, we needed to tromp back through a snail infested, wild flower covered patch of grass. Getting back to the main tourist path, it led us to a cliff. This wasn't any ordinary cliff. White stone terraces of calcium blinded the eye. Pale blue water collected in the pools formed after a millenia. We kicked our shoes off, rolled up our pant legs, and walked out to wade through the pools. The water flowing to the pools were also thermally heated, so each one was a nice luke warm temperature. I scooped up some of the calcium from the bottom of the pool and painted my face with it. Sadly we had to leave fairly quickly, but we had a nice amount of time to check out the white cliffs of Pamukkale.
Overall this was by far the most relaxing trip we have gone on. The hot springs were amazing, and the ancient sites were amazing too. Swimming among sunken ruins, relaxing in saunas, and the fact that it wasn't raining all made the trip absolutely amazing. If any of you come to Turkey, I highly suggest going there.
The Necropolis at Heiriopolis
The Sunken Ruins
Group shot
White cliffs of Pamukkale
Hosca Kal
-Torvald
After Afrodesias we went to our hotel, and were given ample time to unwind and relax. This task was much easier than expected since in the basement of the hotel, there was a pool that was heated by the hot springs of the surrounding area. To top things off, there was a Swedish-styled sauna that we commandeered and held exclusively as our own. After turning to prunes, and sweating like pigs we hauled our limp bodies out of the pool and went to dry off for dinner, which was a pleasant affair. Again we went to relax in the pools before nodding off to a very deep sleep.
The next morning I woke feeling more rested than I had the entire time I'd been here. The day started early with a continental breakfast, followed by a speedy packing and swift departure. Our first and only stop would be Heirapolis, an ancient city from the Greek empire, but was also used by Romans and the Byzantine. We started out in the necropolis, which was a walkway flanked on either side by multiple tombs. As we marched further into the city, we left the dead behind. Soon we got to the main road of the town, which was still in great condition for thousands of years old. To the left, a public bath stood, on the right, rows of Corinthian columns stood which outlined the small merchant shops that would have sold a variety of goods so many years ago. At the end of the road, we needed to tromp back through a snail infested, wild flower covered patch of grass. Getting back to the main tourist path, it led us to a cliff. This wasn't any ordinary cliff. White stone terraces of calcium blinded the eye. Pale blue water collected in the pools formed after a millenia. We kicked our shoes off, rolled up our pant legs, and walked out to wade through the pools. The water flowing to the pools were also thermally heated, so each one was a nice luke warm temperature. I scooped up some of the calcium from the bottom of the pool and painted my face with it. Sadly we had to leave fairly quickly, but we had a nice amount of time to check out the white cliffs of Pamukkale.
Overall this was by far the most relaxing trip we have gone on. The hot springs were amazing, and the ancient sites were amazing too. Swimming among sunken ruins, relaxing in saunas, and the fact that it wasn't raining all made the trip absolutely amazing. If any of you come to Turkey, I highly suggest going there.
Hosca Kal
-Torvald
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