Chapter Five
We touched down in Turkey later the next day. It was Loren’s first time in Istanbul. She strained her neck looking at the Byzantine domes, golden minarets, and grand courtyards. I left her to sightsee while I headed off on my family reunion.
The city had changed since I’d been here over a hundred years ago. After invaders came into the country from each side, after countless wars, after thirty-six sultans, the West had finally infiltrated the East as evidenced in the crossroads of the marketplace I walked through to get to my destination.
The call to prayer sounded from the loudspeakers of a mosque announcing the midday prayer. Not everyone stopped their work and headed to the mosque or dropped to their knees in salat. Women walked around with their heads uncovered, showing
