My friend Emira’s brother Edin is spending the summer in Istanbul and is writing a blog while he is there. I particularly liked today’s post, it is worth a read, he’s very observant and reflective about what he is seeing and how it relates to his own life, and how his life affects what he sees.
Necessary backstory - Edin and his family moved to the US from Bosnia as refugees in 1995.
And because I know most people won’t read it I will post some excerpts:
“ the past is the past and we all just claw at it just to get some scraps of feeling or emotion from events hundreds of years ago.”
“ feel a connection here that’s deeper than just being a toursit or an intern in istanbul. it’s faint and i can barely feel it but when i get closer to the old city and go see those old buildings it becomes stronger. but that world is long gone. istanbul is extremely different now. the ottoman empire is long dead; the echos of the heartbeat are just barely audible.
i really can’t just write all my thoughts here. too disorganized, too many thoughts. this was a good start though. right now i am RIDICULOUSLY tired. got up at 7:30 am, walked literally all day. 2 continents. bla.”
