It was a long flight. Almost 19 hours from LAX to Istanbul with a layover at JFK. Never could get sleep in planes so it was a case of dozing of a little at a time. I did get to use my iPod touch. Basilcally I was reading an e-book all the way here. Never did look at the movies I downloaded on to my iPod Touch. The book engrossed me.
So I landed at Istanbul and and got my 90 day visa which allows multiple entries.. All for 20 USD. I went to get my bags. All except one. The rolling duffel was missing. So I went to the office at the airport. The woman helping me starts speaking Turkish, I make a quizzical. sorrowful face- I do NOT know turkish except for Hello, and Thank you and please. Went out to look just one more time and it was there. I thanked her for her help. and went out of the building. So good when I see a man holding a sign that says "Fr John Constantine". He's one of the drivers from the Patriarchate. Good thing I don't have to find a taxi.
Going through Istanbul to the Patriarchate you drive right beside the old city walls of Theodosios. Massive and ancient. They protected the city for centuries. The one gate that is restored is the one that is supposedly the one that was left unguarded which allowed the Muslims to enter the city on May 29, 1453.
Because the US is not old compared to Europe we really have no sense of the history that is under our feet. In Europe you are standing on hundreds of years- even centuries- of history. When one town succumbs to the ravages of time and conquest the next one is built on the ashes of the original and people go on with their lives. I'm not sure that people who live in Europe have that sense as well.
Just seeing the walls of Constantinople with my own eyes gave me a sense of reality to what I had read in the seminary about the city and the church's history. All over there were mosques style of St Sophia with their round domes and minarets piercing the sky. "I'm not in Kansas any more!"
Traffic was just like anywhere else in Greece--- no traffic courtesy. Yes there were lights and people stopped for red lights... nothing else. Went through a neighborhood which looked run down... and then I saw a shop with Greek signs. One turn and then another and were on a very narrow street.
We stopped. There was the gate- the gate that has been shout since Patriarch Gregory V was hanged on Pascha, April 10, 1821 in his vestments because the Greeks in Greece revolted. I was at the Patriarchate of Constantinople- my home for the next month. Yes, I had read about the gate- here it was in front of me. It is real.
They get me to my room. One single bed, desk, armoire, wing chair, and bathroom. Not quite Holiday Inn- but I am a guest of the Patriarchate and I am grateful for what I have. This is a monastery after all. And as I repeatedly told priests at the Consecration of the Zoodoxhos Pigi Monastery in Dunlap, CA- Their monastery- their rules. and I shall eat what they eat. I unpack my gear and put everything in its place.
Now what? I have no idea where I will be going, what I will be doing. I start going up a flight of stairs. There are people there like a guard. Hmmm.. could it be.... yes, it was the Patriarch's office wing with the Grand Chancellors Office next to it. But the Grand Chancellor is not in. I ask for Fr. Elpidoforos whose name is the only one I have. Oh yes. Go down this flight of starts make a right and go down the balcony, first door on your right. Ohh--- KAY---- I remember this balcony. This is what the Patriarch and Pope Benedict had their victory wave.
Fr. Elpidoforos welcomed me very warmly, informed me that the Grand Chancellor was not in today, annd would I like to see the Patriarch today? Is that a real question or a rhetorical question?
The proper answer is- I am at His All Holiness' pleasure.
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