Yvonne and I are wondering through Aya Sofia in complete excitement. This mosque that was once a church, is a photographer’s dream and we both feel inspired to think outside the square.
I had wanted my second day in Istanbul to be different. I wanted to meet and chat with the locals of this amazing city. I wanted to capture some of the beauty of this city and finally, I feel we have come to a place that inspires us both. 
Yvonne and I have connected at many levels on this journey through the Middle East. We are both migrants to Australia, having spent our formative years in conservative cultures yet chosen to live life in an unconventional way. We share a love for photography, travelling, discovery & food and we are both professionals. Yvonne is a optometrist and together we seem to create an energy that attracts people to our lives while on the road. It happened in Nigde at the local market and it happened today at Aya Sophia.
We take turns lying on the floor, trying to photograph each other and the 
beautiful chandeliers that hang from the ceiling. While in this strange position, fellow travellers stop to see what we are up to and take photos of us!
This unexpected interaction reminds me that if you are 
brave enough to do something even a little different from the norm, you can in turn make other people sit up and take notice! You also give them permission to break from the norm themselves. We don’t really care what people might say or think, and lie where we please, so we can capture the best angles of this architectural wonder! People step around us and sometimes stop to talk. 
We attract the attention of a contingent of Spanish school kids, who gather around us in excitement and demand we take their photos. ‘Calendar girl’, one of the pretty ones say to me, as she poses yet again for another shot. Two local Turkish girls ask if they can be our friends on Facebook and I pass them my card!
But our most interesting chat turns out to be with a 
few gentlemen travelling from Argentina. Dressed in traditional Muslim outfits, we had assumed they were Turkish and stopped to ask if we could take a few photos. Imagine our surprise when we find out they are from a small Muslim community in Argentina. We exchange emails, a few laughs and tell them of our travels in their home land. Today, this little incident reminds me of how often, in life, we make erroneous assumptions about people just based on the way they look! 
The time has flown by and we are late for our rendezvous with Victor and Em. We rush back to the entrance and a hot cup of coffee before heading out to unravel more secrets of Istanbul!
It is good to feel lost... because it proves you have a navigational sense of where "Home" is. You know that a place that feels like being found exists. And maybe your current location isn't that place but, Hallelujah, that unsettled, uneasy feeling of lost-ness just brought you closer to it. ~Erika Harris
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