Merhaba from Turkey Part 2
Trip Start
Jan 01, 2007
1
16
17
Trip End
Ongoing
Istanbul,
Turkey
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Istanbul, Turkey
When Helen and I were in Selcuk, Aydin took us to look at a piece of property, and I fell in love with it. I had never given a single thought to buying property in Selcuk, but the more I was there, the more I fell in love with it. When I expressed interest, Aydin said he had to check with the owner of the property to see if he was willing to sell. When we were in Bulent's shop in Istanbul on Helen's last day, I got a call from Aydin with good news - the property was for sale. After Helen left, I would go back to Selcuk to discuss the purchase of the property.
While I was in Selcuk, I stayed with Aydin. When we would get up in the morning, Aydin would ask 'who doesn't want waffles', and of course I wouldn't say a thing! I helped him make the waffles, slather them with Nutella, then took them over to the shop, where we enjoyed them with the Starbucks coffee I had brought for him.
I went to call Helen one night and when I got back to the shop, Aydin and James were in the middle of selling some carpets to a group of folks from the US. After they had sealed the deal, they invited me in to the shop and we chatted together for a while before heading home at 1:30am. They were going to come back the next morning to work out all the details, and we had made plans to go out for dinner with them the next night.
The next evening, we met up with them in Sirince, then went out for a really nice dinner - Aydin paid. After that, we went and looked at a boutique hotel in the area. The group own a B&B in Washington, DC, and Aydin has dreams to open a boutique hotel of his own in Selcuk.
When I realized that there was nothing else I needed to do in Selcuk for the purchase of the property, I made my way back to Konya to stay with my family again. I arrived in Konya on Monday morning after a long, overnight bus ride from Selcuk. Allattin and Fatime met me at the otogar and took me straight to their home. It was great to see everyone again, and not too long after I arrived, they brought out some food and started repeating the phrase that I heard so often when I visited: 'Gaia, eat, eat'. Not wanting to offend, I ate!
After we got cleaned up from eating, we started making sarma, stuffed grape leaves. I wasn't sure what was in them, but I helped to roll them. I must say that I'm getting quite good at it. After we finished making them, I was able to figure out what went in them so I could try making them on my own. I also watched Gunal make borek, and wrote down how I thought she made it. I figured that once I got back to Aydins' I would try and make it myself.
Eventually, all the kids came over to the house and it was good to see them as well. I know that I shouldn't play favourites, but I have to say that Raziye is still my favourite. She is such a neat kid, and it's hard for me to refrain from giving her a great big hug every time I see her! Unfortunately, while I was there, we ran in to a bit of an emergency. There were five kids altogether, and I only had one balloon left! I blew it up hoping that they would share, then brought out my stash of tattoos to divert their attention from the single balloon.
Around 9pm, Alattin and Nazif came home from the shop. Nazif doesn't usually stay at the home, so it was a nice treat for his family to have him home. His nieces and nephews surrounded him, as it had been a while since they had seen him, and he gave each of them 5YTL. They were REALLY glad to see him after that!
It was that time of year when Ramazan was approaching and people would be making the Haj to Mecca. I remember when I was in Konya five years ago, and we were working on Haj beanies (for lack of a better word). I'm not sure if they are made by hand or machine, but what we would do is take the coloured thread off them, then someone would sew up any loose ends. They would then be put in piles of ten, and I'm assuming Nazif's mom got paid for doing it. One day we were sitting on the ledge outside working on them, and a bunch of kids in the neighbourhood kept walking or riding their bikes past saying 'hello'. After riding by what seemed like a million times, they finally came and started to help. When they left, they were blowing kisses telling me 'I love you'.
One day when I got back from the Centrum, the Demirci house was locked, so Gunal took me to the neighbours house where they were cutting up aubergine (eggplant) and peppers. During the summer, they buy kilos of the stuff, then cut it up and dry it for use in the winter. It's amazing how all the ladies in the neighbourhood will help each other out to get the chore done. It's very social, and of course, goes much faster when there are more hands.
After being in Konya for a few days, it was time to to back to Selcuk to get things organized for purchasing the property, such as getting a tax number and opening up a bank account so my money from home would have somewhere to go. I took an overnight bus back to Selcuk and arrived about 8 am. One night when i was there, I received a text message saying that the reg documents were ready, and that I needed to print them off, sign them and fax them back by the end of the next day. I went to an internet cafe to print them off and then went in search of a fax machine. I guess I was looking lost, so a guy asked if he could help me. I told him I was looking for a fax machine. He showed me a shop where I could get the documents faxed, then he told me that Mosaik Cafe was his, and I should go back for a drink. He said that his wife was American. I went and got the documents faxed, then went to the Mosaik Cafe for a beer. I was chatting with Abit while I had my beer, and he showed me a newspaper article that talked about him and his wife, Catherine. After I finished my beer, he took me down to their carpet shop where Catherine was working. I really wanted to talk to her because I wanted to find out what life in Selcuk was like. We got to chatting, and I discovered that she had written one of the stories in Tales of the Expat Harem. I couldn't remember exactly which one, so when I got back to Aydin's place, I read her story again. We chatted about many different things, one of them being property in Selcuk. Before I had a chance to tell her about the property I wanted to buy, she commented that she wished she had bought property in the area where I wanted to buy because if she had, she would probably be retired by now because the property had gone up so much in value, so that was encouraging. Within a couple of hours, Abit had brought down a woman from New York, and her boyfriend(?) from Morrocco, so our chat was interrupted. We finally realized that it was past midnight, so I told Catherine I would come back again. I told her that I was going to attempt making borek, and she told me to bring some down to her. We bid farewell with the promise that I would take some borek when I went for my next visit.
My first attempt at making sarma turned out okay (they were edible), but Aydin, et al, gave me some tips on what to do next time. I also tried making borek for the first time and was flattered that everyone thought it was so good. Aydin's niece said that it was even better than her mother's borek!
When I was in Selcuk staying at Aydins place, I finally got a call from Apple regarding my computer problems. I had originally contacted a woman at Apple Canada by e-mail, and she responded to me asking me for my mother's phone number so she could give the information to my mother! What the?????? What the heck has my mother got to do with anything??? I sent her another e-mail back saying that I needed for her to talk to me, not my mother, and she responded by getting a woman from Apple in IRELAND to call me!!!! We talked for over an hour, and when she was finished with me, she put me through to Sean in support. The good news is that there is a good chance that I will be able to recover most of my data from my backup when I get back to Vancouver. Although I didn't get the answers I wanted to hear from Apple, I am at least able to continue sending out updates (using the texteditor instead of Word), and am able to surf the net. I am still completely unimpressed with my Mac and with Apple, and once I get back to Vancouver, one of the first things I will do is try and sell it. One good thing about Apple is that because of all the problems I've had, they have agreed to extend my warranty until the end of December, instead of the end of September, so that I can have it properly fixed once I get home. I only wish that all this had happened a couple of weeks in to my stay in Turkey rather than at the end, as most of my stay in Turkey was consumed by my problems with my Mac/Apple.
After a few days in Selcuk, it was time to fly to Istanbul to meet up with Karen. I flew from Izmir to Istanbul in the morning, and met Karen at the airport in the afternoon. We had no problems connecting, and it sure was good to see her again. The last time i had seen her was when i went home for my high school reunion last September, but we never got a chance to really talk. Now we were going to have 2.5 weeks to talk! We made our way to the hotel and rested for a bit before going out for dinner at Mesale Cafe. It's always fun to go there to see the whirling dervishes and to smoke the nargile (water pipe). Helen and I had been there a couple of times and had become friendly with a couple of the waiters. If you really used your imagination, one of them looked like John Travolta, and the other one looked like Antonio Banderas.
The next evening we flew to Konya to stay with my Turkish family. Unfortunately, our plane was late and we didn't get in until 1am, however, Nazif had made arrangements for us to be picked up at the airport and when we got to the house, his mom wanted to know if we wanted anything to eat! We chatted for a bit, then went to bed.
This year Raziye was starting school, so I bought her a backpack, a couple of notebooks, a pencil case and some pencils. Watching her with it brought back memories of when I was going to school. I remember when we used to go out and get our school supplies and I would take them out and look at them many times before school actually started.
In Turkey, when a boy turns six years old, he is circumcised. Not only is he circumcised, but his circumcision is celebrated by all! I remember when we were in Goreme at Bulent's mother's home, and a friend of his came to visit. Bulent explained that his friend's son was going to be circumcised, and he seemed quite proud of this fact. As part of the celebration, the young boy would dress up in a white satin outfit of pants, shirt, cape (yes, cape!) and a hat that resembles that of a bandleader. When I was in Konya for the first time, I remember seeing a young boy wearing the circumcision outfit, being driven around in a car with horns beeping, sort of like a wedding party. He was pumping his arms in the air. We talked about circumcision with Nazif, and he said that this was the first step towards becoming 'manly' for a Turkish male. When I thought back to the young boy in the car pumping his arms in the air, it made me wonder if he had already been circumcised and if not, if he knew of the pain he was about to endure, or maybe he had already had it done, and was thrilled that he had taken the first step towards becoming 'manly'. It seems strange that they would dress up in such an outfit when they are wanting to become 'manly'. Apparently the second step towards becoming 'manly' is finishing your service in the army. At least army fatigues and guns look a little more manly!
After two nights in Konya, Karen took the bus to Antalya to meet up with her friend Ugur. I stayed in Konya, then we both met up again in Selcuk. This time both Karen and I stayed at Aydin's place. While we were there, we met an Australian woman by the name of Frances, who owns a house in Selcuk. She invited us to Pink Bar for a girl's night out in Selcuk, and we got a chance to talk to a handful of other foreign women who are now living in Turkey. After that, Karen and I went to Mosaik Cafe before heading home at 1:30am.
From Selcuk, we went to Bodrum for four nights. When we were in Bodrum, we went to the Panorama restaurant to have a drink and to purposely rub it in the guys face from the Marina Restaurant (the Marina Restaurant is the place that sold us three slices of watermelon for 15YTL. The guy from Panorama told us that we had been ripped off and charged double). When we ordered our beer, we wanted something to nibble on, but they didn't really have anything on their menu that fit the bill. When we mentioned it to our waiter, he said he had something he could give us, and would be back in a few minutes. He came back with a large bag of Ruffles potato chips and proceeded to pour them on to a plate for us. Great, it was just what we were craving! We drank our beer and ate our chips and when we went to pay the bill, the guy had charged us 7YTL for a bag of chips!!! Needless to say, that was the last time we went to Panorama.
While we were in Bodrum, Karen and I went to Gumusluk and went back to the place where Helen and I had fresh tiger prawns. They were just as good this time as they were the first and second times around! We also went to Kos, Greece for a day trip. The worst part of doing a day trip to another country was all the customs formalities. However, once we got it all over with, we enjoyed our day. Kos is a charming little town. It's a lot less crowded than Rhodes, and there are ruins all over the place. After wandering around for a while, we enjoyed a Greek meal, then did some more wandering around. Before we knew it, it was time to get back on the boat and head back to Bodrum. It's so great motoring in to Bodrum and being greeted by St. Peter's Castle.
After four nights in Bodrum, we went back to Selcuk. When we were in Selcuk, we spent a lot of time at Aydin's carpet shop, sitting outside on the cushions watching the people go by and playing backgammon. Across from his shop was a restaurant, and in the restaurant was Musa, a 10 year old boy from eastern Turkey who goes to Selcuk to work for the summer. He has the biggest, darkest eyes you've ever seen, and big, long eyelashes to go with them. His English was very limited, so we couldn't really communicate much beyond 'hello, how are you', but he was always smiling and had huge dimples. That was one word that was added to his limited vocabulary, and every time I saw him, I would point to his dimples and ask him what they were. He never failed me! I felt so sorry for him - ten years old working seven days a week for only $45. However, that seems to be common in Turkey, and it didn't deter Musa from being a happy kid who never stopped smiling. I ended up going back and forth to Selcuk so many times, and it was always so nice seeing Musa again as he'd always flash me his smile and welcome me back.
After two more nights in Selcuk, Karen made our way to the airport in Izmir, and flew back to Istanbul for Karen's last three nights in Turkey. We went back to the Hali Hotel, a hotel that I have been staying at since I first started coming to Turkey five years ago. It was good to be back, but you could tell that Fall was in the air. It felt quite cool after the 44 degree temps in Bodrum and Selcuk. We went to the Grand Bazaar again to pick up some last minute souvenirs for Karen. I had been told on more than one occasion that I looked Spanish and I found it interesting, the number of shopkeepers that would say 'Ola' to me instead of 'Hello'. When you walk through any shopping area, the salesmen will say hello to you in a variety of languages until they hit the one that belongs to you. Must be my exotic looking features that make them think I'm Spanish ;).
Karen's hair, being blonde and curly, was a huge hit in Turkey seeing as they all have dark hair. Many people wanted to touch it, and many people wanted to know if it was real. She was told that it was like 'bonus hair', referring to an ad in Turkey where the woman has an afro. She was called Marilyn Monroe, and the Customs Officer in Greece told her 'Kaarrren, I like your hairs'.
September 1st marked the start of Ramazan, which will last the entire month of September. One of the five pillars of Islam is fasting, and from dawn to dusk, people must fast - no food, no water and no chewing gum the entire time. In Istanbul, there are food stalls set up by the Blue Mosque and there is almost a carnival-like atmosphere. Hundreds of people are out and about getting ready for the call to prayer at dusk which will signal the end of the fast for the day. There are people everywhere - in makeshift restaurants, on benches, on the cement walls that are scattered around the park. The food and drinks are laid out in preparation for the instant that the call to prayer begins. In some areas, a drummer will go around beating on a drum at 4:30am to wake people up so they can eat before the sun rises. They will not be able to eat again until the sun sets. When I was in Turkey five years ago, they celebrated Ramazan during the month of November. It must have been much easier to fast at that time of the year as the days were shorter, and the weather was cooler. The other night I was visiting Bulent at his shop around 7pm, and there was a group of them getting ready to have dinner in his shop. Serkan had brought over a Turkish dish he had made - cut up chicken and vegetables, then slow cooked in an oven for 2-3 hours. It smelled divine. Aytac went and picked up the Coke and the bread, while others laid out newspaper and set the table. The cups were filled with Coke, the soup was ladled out, the bread was broken then everyone sat and waited for the call to prayer. Not one sip or nibble was taken until they could hear the call to prayer as it rang out through the speakers of the minarets. The drinks were raised to their lips, and the food to their mouths as soon as they heard the call to prayer, and not a moment sooner. After dinner, they drank Turkish tea, only this time it was in a large glass, rather than the usual smaller size. Bulent explained that the Turkish men drink tea all day, but they can't during Ramazan. He said that once they have their tea after dinner, they feel very peaceful as they now have the caffeine that they are so used to during the day. He also explained that it's easy to get headaches from not eating or drinking water all day, and many of them are tired after having woken up so early in the morning. How strong their faith must be to be able to go through this process day after day for 30 days!
So here I am, after almost two and a half months of being in Turkey. I can't believe how fast the time flies. Today at 5:00, I will go and pick up my visa for India, then will head to the airport and catch my flight to Dubai. Suzanne and Mike, two of the foreign teachers who were teaching in China the same time as me, are now teaching in Dubai. I will stay in Dubai for five nights, then fly to India. The worst part about leaving Turkey is not knowing when I will be back again, but mark my words, I WILL be back!
Until next time,
Gaye
