The First Day, The First Night

The sun started to send some rays in the room through the window, that is what Petra noticed. She had no idea what time it was. She looked at her phone, and saw that it was almost 11.

"Ameen, are you sleeping my dear?"

"Mmmmmmmm" – came out of his mouth then he pulled Petra closer. "Come here" – he said.

"Maybe we should get up, don't you think?"

"Why? I have all i need right here."

"I need to drink coffee as soon as possible" – she said and got up to put some water for coffee.

"I want some too." - said Ameen in a sleepy voice.

"You will get some." - smiled Petra to him.

Ameen was just looking at the girl. He could not get enough of her. A stupid act like doing coffee became the most wonderful thing he ever saw. It was not like anything else. Petra's hair got into her face, that made her beautiful. She was the most beautiful for him.

"Here you have." - said Petra and put a cup of coffee in his hands.

"Thank you."

They did not say anything while they were drinking the coffee. Petra got back to bed and was looking nowhere, Ameen was caressing her arms, hands.

"You think I should buy a hijab and wear it here?" - she asked.

"I do not like hijabs. But if you want to wear something like that, a shal would be proper. Young girls wear shals in Irbid too. Iman wears shal too."

"Aha, I see."

"But you do not have to wear anything unless you want, hayaty."

"I know. I will buy a purple shal. But to do this, we should get up and leave this room, don't you think?" - she asked ironically.

As Petra started to get dressed, the call for the pray started again. She started to shiver.

"Ameen, this sound..."

"It is the most amazing sound in the world."

"I am scared of it. I am so scared of it..."

"You do not have to be afraid sweetheart. There is nothing to be afraid of. It is just like your church bells. It calls us to the pray."

"I know, but it starts at the same time from so many directions, and it is so strange."

Ameen held the girl. He felt that she was indeed scared. And he was beside her to get her feel better. And that was what he was doing. In a few minutes, by the time the voices stopped, they left the room.

On the streets of the big city was a big mess. Everybody was buying, carrying something. Men can hardly walk between the street sellers and their buyers. They were in the commercial part of Istanbul called Laleli. This was the place from where comes all what men can buy in the East-European markets. That is why these streets were full of Russians, Bulgarians or Romanians. They did not know which way to go, it was not important to them, so they just walked along a street. On both sides of the street were a lot of shiny shops, full of clothes, shoes and gold.

"I think we should buy a map." - said Petra

"Good idea. Lets find one."

They stopped at a newspaper seller and bought a map. This way they made their job easier, because at least they knew where they were.

They were just a few streets away from the Great Bazaar, so they decided they would go there to buy a shal. The bazaar was huge. It was much larger than what Petra expected, and it was full of things that were new for her. Colored carpets, lamps, gold that melted in the smell of the Turkish sweets. It was other world. She felt like in a fairy tell. The sweets and the rich atmosphere of this Great Bazaar made her feel that way.

For Ameen it was strange the other side of the bazaar and of Turkey generally. He could not understand how can a Muslim country be so European. Why is that no matter how many ALLAH AKBARS the people from here hear, the mosques remain empty, why do they drink alcohol, why and why and why.

"Look Ameen, they sell shals in this shop. Shall we go in?" - asked Petra and pulled Ameen in the shop.

As they entered, the salesman talked very polite with them, and understood quickly that they were not Turkish. They talked a little, everybody said where they were from, then they choose a shal for Petra. They walked a little more in the bazaar, then they went to find the sea.

It did not take long until they found it. They went at the seaside and they walked on the rocks or the sidewalk for hours, they watched the ships and talked. The weather was great. The sun shined into the cold wind of April, the foam of the Marmara sea was shining. The seaside was quite. It did not have anything from the mess of the streets, the king here was the sound of the waves. From the seaside Petra saw the Blue Mosque. She recognized it, as she saw it in pictures. It was huge. It was like it was watching over the sea. But from here too came the same scary sound as from the other mosques. It was the third time Petra heard that sound. It was like the whole city started to scream from time to time, like in a moment everything would have get upside down, and then, after a few minutes everything would have became to normal, and would have remain the sound of the waves or the street sellers.

They spent a long time at the seaside. Petra put the shal and she looked like an Arabic girl. Ameen was proud to walk with her hand in hand, he was watching her, he wanted to memorize every single second, so nothing would be lost from their precious time. Petra was smiling, singing of happiness. They saw the world as being perfect. Everything was beautiful. The dusty, loud streets, the dirty seaside, the strange Turkish people were all so beautiful.

"I think we should eat something." - said Ameen.

"Good idea. I am starving."

"So lets go then."

They walked back in the jungle of the city hand in hand, where people continued selling and buying, although it was late in the afternoon, almost evening. Petra and Ameen bought shaorma and they ate it until they got back to the hotel. Started the call for the last pray of the day, but Petra was not scared anymore. She was smiling and kissing Ameen, and she could not wait to get up in a morning beside Amenn.

"I am tyred." - she said.

"Me too hayaty. We should take a shower and get in the bed."

"Yes."

The bed smelled like the rose oil. Petra took this smell deeply because it was different from what she was used with. Ameen was holding her tightly.

"I love you Ameen" – she said.

"I love you too."

The smell of tea was floating upon the Turkish night, the street cleaners started their work, cars were running on the roads. The mosques went to sleep. But the eyes of the city were open. Thousands of lights mirrored in the washed road, on the houses and the sea. Some boys ate shaorma beside the Great Bazaar, then got lost in the night. There were little lights in every house, hundreds of children were listening to a fairytale, then fell asleep. In the hotel room was love, happiness and peace. Petra and Ameen spent their first night together, and the rainbow of feelings that layed on their face was something that can not be explained.