I decide to stay in Istanbul for a bit longer to see what more I can find out about Sufism. I move to a cheaper (and more cofortable) hostel, where I am again directed to Beyoglu district, to a school.
On my way there I ask the owner of an antiquarian shop for some hints. He is very helpful, starts some research online and calls the Dervish Music School. He is told that the place I must go to is the Mevlevıhanesi Müzesi, the dervish school museum.
The street that the worker at the hostel pointed out to me me turns out to be the location of a sports school; The museum is closed for restoration; Two bookshop owners do not know anything about any dervish schools and one of them assures me that he himself is deffinitely not a Sufi. I have arrived in the wrong century.
What I fınd is the most stylish district of Istanbul; clubs, bars and the typical shopping street you would find in London, Paris or Berlin. Besides that however, a huge stretch of a street with at least 15 musical instrument stores side by side. I am think of how essential music was to Dervish culture and am reminded of the law of attraction.
I visit the spice basaar. A man selling leeches to a family attracts my attention. On asking him what good they are in curing illness he assures me that putting four on the forehead for intance, will dissolve a sinus infection. Generally they are to have an uplifting and energızıng effect. All stalls look very attractive in their bedazzling display of colors, and intense aromas flood the nostrils. The prices of spices, teas and dried fruit are curiously high. A vendor flirts with two young tourist women, letting them sniff all sorts of spices and elaborating on what they are. They buy nothing of course. I wonder who does.
I meet Andreas and Severeen from Germany, who have just finnished school and have arrived yesterday to attend a Coachsurfers party. They are stayıng for ten days. My own attempts to find a host lead to nothing.
In the evening I converse with Jani from Finland at the Hostel. Apparently ear-plugs with lights pointing inwards can be bought in Finland. This is to counteract the downcasting effect of the shortage of sunlight in the winter. According to Jani's friend, himself a doctor, they have a very positive effect. I am reminded of Prof. Fritz Popp's work on intercellular light communication.
On my way there I ask the owner of an antiquarian shop for some hints. He is very helpful, starts some research online and calls the Dervish Music School. He is told that the place I must go to is the Mevlevıhanesi Müzesi, the dervish school museum.
The street that the worker at the hostel pointed out to me me turns out to be the location of a sports school; The museum is closed for restoration; Two bookshop owners do not know anything about any dervish schools and one of them assures me that he himself is deffinitely not a Sufi. I have arrived in the wrong century.
What I fınd is the most stylish district of Istanbul; clubs, bars and the typical shopping street you would find in London, Paris or Berlin. Besides that however, a huge stretch of a street with at least 15 musical instrument stores side by side. I am think of how essential music was to Dervish culture and am reminded of the law of attraction.
I visit the spice basaar. A man selling leeches to a family attracts my attention. On asking him what good they are in curing illness he assures me that putting four on the forehead for intance, will dissolve a sinus infection. Generally they are to have an uplifting and energızıng effect. All stalls look very attractive in their bedazzling display of colors, and intense aromas flood the nostrils. The prices of spices, teas and dried fruit are curiously high. A vendor flirts with two young tourist women, letting them sniff all sorts of spices and elaborating on what they are. They buy nothing of course. I wonder who does.
I meet Andreas and Severeen from Germany, who have just finnished school and have arrived yesterday to attend a Coachsurfers party. They are stayıng for ten days. My own attempts to find a host lead to nothing.
In the evening I converse with Jani from Finland at the Hostel. Apparently ear-plugs with lights pointing inwards can be bought in Finland. This is to counteract the downcasting effect of the shortage of sunlight in the winter. According to Jani's friend, himself a doctor, they have a very positive effect. I am reminded of Prof. Fritz Popp's work on intercellular light communication.
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