Behavioral Expectations Around Mosques
We woke up at our wild camping spot on the beach in İnebolu. Behind us, there was a mosque. I’d like to take some time to explain this to paint an accurate picture. Most mosques in Turkey, and perhaps in most places, are fenced off. There is the the actual building where you go to pray and then a courtyard around it, oftentimes with benches, fountains for Wudu, etc. This courtyard is considered mosque grounds so it’s good to behave as such. Now, on this particular day, we were camped in front of a large cement wall. This structure separated “mosque grounds” from the beach. The beach was on a different elevation from the mosque so we could not see into the mosque grounds when we were standing at our campsite. Selim shared with me that I should still be aware that I was in the vicinity of a mosque and to dress and behave as such.
This was a bit frustrating as this was a new rule for me that didn’t jive with my understanding of Turkish beaches. Also, what level of dress and type of behavior is expected “in front” of a mosque but not within mosque grounds? There already was a gradient of acceptable behavior between the inside of a mosque and the mosque grounds and now there was another level. And this was a beach. Many Turkish folks wear bikinis, drink beer, and smoke cigarettes on the beach. My brain shortcuited a bit as I had really been trying to respect the norms as much as possible and felt like beaches were somewhat “free zones.”
Laws Around Mosques
Selim suggested I do some research to see if any of these values are cemented into law. He believes that in Tunisia you can not open a bar within 500 meters of a mosque. According to a website I found, it is illegal to sell alcohol within 100 meters of a mosque in Turkey. Even though other behaviors are not forbidden by law around a mosque, it is reasonable to assume that Turkish folks respect the vicinity of a mosque and to act as such.
Locked in the Bathroom
Shortly after waking up, I headed to a public restroom we had passed on the way to our campsite. While I was in the bathroom, I heard a metallic noise at the door but didn’t think much of it. Turns out, someone had locked me in. I called Selim to free me and knocked on the door in waiting in case someone wanted to save me. A lady strolling by heard me on my 3rd attempt at freedom and released me. Selim thought this was hilarious.
Koçek
We packed up our stuff and headed to town to find a café. On the way, we noticed some music and a person dancing in a skirt and sequined top with a sizable audience gathered around. We racked our brains to figure out what was going on. This reminded Selim of a documentary he had watched about a similar practice in Afghanistan. Our understanding is that at some points in time and in some places, women are not allowed to dance in public so men are employed to entertain other men. Sometimes, they cover their faces. And sometimes, this type of dance is associated with an underground gay scene. My immediate reaction was that it seemed degrading and I felt I would like to leave. I didn’t though because I was more interested in learning more about it. It was pretty challenging though to watch the man pick up money thrown at him from the sidewalk. Though it seemed he really enjoyed doing this as it worked to encourage folks to throw more money.
Selim explained that some folks see it as a source of strength that “a man is willing to dance as a woman” as many would be too embarrassed or ashamed. That makes sense and in and of itself carries some information about how the society sees women or female-presenting/identifying folks. Or just folks who like to wear skirts, sequins, and to dance. It’s complicated because I come from such a different context than that in which these dances were originally (or still) performed. I still don’t know why exactly but it makes me feel uncomfortable but that’s OK! Also, disclaimer I’m sure there is a lot I don’t know and haven’t written about here as a quick google search shows there’s lot of academic articles about it that I have not read. I’m still learning! 🙂
This experience led us to the subject of male belly dancers and how they sometimes have difficulties or experience criticism in Tunisia. I learned about one in particular named Rochdi Belgasmi, check out his Instagram!
The Afternoon
We found a café, not fancy but not a guyscafé, and took care of a few things. Afterwards, we prepared lunch on some benches near the beach. Pasta with cheese it would be. After lunch, Selim headed back to the café to hang out and I went for a walk around the town. I ended up buying a baked good and some flour halwa.
Our First Detailed Plan
When I came back, Selim had done some work planning out a few different choices for our remaining time in Turkey. We had more kilometers than we’d be able to accomplish in our remaining time to reach Istanbul. This was partly due to the fact that the route would continue to be incredibly hilly meaning we could do fewer kilometers each day. Cyclists and trekkers alike talk about this as total cumulative elevation gain per day.
I enjoyed a new kind of tea made with rosehips as we talked about our options. We decided it would make sense to go hard for a week and then take the bus from Amasra to Istanbul. If we found somewhere to camp near Amasra for a few days, we would take advantage of that so we would end up having about 10 days in Istanbul.
A Sade Dinner
Sade in Turkish is an important word and means plain effectively. Selim loves involved dinners with sauces, spices, etc. He feels very strongly that if his meal is not warm, it is not a meal. He could eat 1000 calories of whatever it might be, but if it is not warm, he hasn’t eaten. He is also very attached to three meals a day. I think this is a positive thing but if I was riding by myself, I would eat a lot of meals of tomatoes and cheese with fresh bread. This day, Selim must’ve been out of himself because he agreed to this for dinner. For dessert, we tried the flour helwa. It was really delicious. I’m planning to make this when I’m at my parents house after this trip. Here’s a flour helwa recipe I found online in English
After dinner, we hung out on the beach and watched the sunset. The next day, the route would have a 1000m+ positive elevation gain so we wanted to rest up so we could feel good to take it on in the morning.
