這學期的writing課，拿番紅花城當作題材之一，想說都寫了，也就po一下好了...
It was 6 o’clock in the morning and the room was filled with light blue sunlight penetrating through the row of white curtains. The pure white wall made the room appear even more blue. It was not bright enough to read a book, but the room could be seen clearly without turning on the light. Though it was mid-summer in Safranbolu, a town in the northern part of Turkey, it wasn’t hot at all. I could even say it was a bit cool compared with the unbelievable burning heat in the daytime which got up to over 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit). With no air conditioning in the room, I remembered refusing the blanket in the evening, but on that chilly morning, I found myself covered by the blanket.
As the breeze crept in from the windows and the curtains fluttered along with the wind, I sat on the bed enjoying the rare silence. At that moment, I drifted into a daydream where I imagined I was a part of a silent film showing the history of the Ottoman Empire. A noise from outside the window aroused me from my short daydream. It was not really a noise, just few people passing by. People who didn’t wear shoes with rubber soles made a loud and clear sound when walking on the stone road. They spoke in a language that I didn’t understand, and at that moment I realized I had stepped into a culture that was far from my normal life.
In that hotel, a traditional Ottoman house constructed from bricks and wood, each guest room was made of simple reddish brown wooden window frames and floors complimented by furniture of the same coloring. None of it was new as far as I could tell, even though the surface was polished and covered by new paint. I tried not to wake up my roommate, but the wooden floor, which could have been hundreds of years old, could not stay quiet when someone was walking around. The only color I could see, aside from the reddish brown, was the white of the bed sheet, window curtains and walls. Without any decoration, such as a beautiful woven carpet hanging on the wall or a pretty lamp standing in the corner, the room provided an environment that reflected the lives of people many centuries ago. It was because of the simplicity that I could experience the exotic atmosphere and appreciate my time in that ancient town.
The room was different from the previous night, revealing another kind of beauty in the early morning. Instead of the artificial light created by a yellow bulb, the natural light made the room go back to its original appearance which I perceived as sacred, pure, and harmonious. A few minutes later, the sunlight turned the room from light blue to light yellow and my roommate awoke abruptly ending my deeply personal interaction with that lovely space.
