Christmas in Konya

I just got back on Sunday evening from a lovely weekend in Konya, the place where Rumi died and is entombed. I have friends who live in Konya: Franny, an ELF like me, and Aundreta, who is a Fulbright teaching assistant. Patreshia, another ELF, joined as well, and we all stayed at Franny's great apartment. On Friday, we had a really wonderful Christmas dinner. It was so special to spend the day and evening with them. The next day went to see a tile museum of local Selcuk era tiles, and then went on to the Mevlana (another name for Rumi) museum.

The museum was a powerful place for me as I've been reading Rumi's poetry for over ten years. Being near his tomb was incredibly moving in ways I can't quite express in this blog. After the museum we visited a beautiful ceramic shop, owned by a dervish. He was a wonderful and humble man and we chatted with his children for some time. We also visited a carpet shop and a felt shop, both of which I've pictured here.

Finally we went to the sema, the whirling dervish performance. It was very beautiful, though it felt a bit more like a spectator experience than an intimate ritual like the other performances I've seen. That said, it was still special and I got some lovely pictures. Anyway, check out the album below, especially for the sema pictures at the end.

Here is a short blog entry I wrote about sema, and click here for a much more informative web page about sema as well.

Hope your holidays were fantastic!