A Day Off with Mohammad (2)

"Jazz" he says and leads me to the fountain, he asks me to sit and he explains the process of washing one's self. He tells me the order and process, while also illuminating the moral value of cleanliness, saying a dirty man mirrors his black heart. Mohammad walks barefoot, sleeves rolled up to one of several faucets sprouting around the basin. He briefly puts his arms in diving position and looks at me, pretending to prepare for a swim, as if to say there is indeed comedy in the Muslim world. First, he rinses his mouth, then his nose, blowing out snot-rockets into the trough. Next feet, rubbing his fingers between his toes, then between his fingers, rubbing his arms and face. Women are forbidden to do this. Mohammad doesn't have to tell me that if women can't pray next to the men, they certainly can't sit side-by-side baring their wet forearms, calves and feet. Finally he returns and puts on his socks. We grab our shoes, I awkwardly put them on and tie them while standing, and Mohammad fluidly exits, shoes magically on and waiting patiently.

We walk up the old road up to Tophane, the original section of Bursa, built by a defeated Hannibal and presented to King Prusias, for which the name is derived. Mohammad likes to talk more than me, which is fine because I would rather listen to what he has to say. I already know what I have to say. Now he is talking about religion, describing them as all the same thing whether they bow, put their palms together, hold their hands open and out, standing, on their knees, thumb and forefinger forming a circle, whatever. At least this is what I gather from what little Turkish I know and assisted by one of his three English-Turkish dictionaries.

We enter the tombs of Osman and Orhan Gazi, the first sultans of the Ottoman Empire. All the sarcophagi are covered in triangular green covers and the former sultans boast turbans at the heads. Around them are buried the various sized sarcophagi of children or family. It was not necessary for a new sultan to be the first-born child, so the chosen heir often had their brothers killed to prevent a future coup. Perhaps some of these bodies are unfortunate siblings. Osman Gazi's sarcophagus is the most ornately decorated with ivory and shiny marble trim. Otherwise the tombs are cold, barren and ultimately uninteresting. What is interesting is Mohammad's behavior. Upon approaching the sarcophagi, he rubs his thumb and forefinger down the corners of his mouth to his chin. When leaving a tomb he walks backwards, never turning his back on the entombed sultans. I want food at this point, but Mohammad insists we walk over the hill to the next valley, heading toward the Muradiye Complex.