Just a fair warning to anyone out there: if you ever plan on going to Turkey, be prepared to use up all of your saliva trying to finish a meal. Your mouth will be as dry as an Arizona summer, and you'll grow extremely self-conscientious after asking for glass after glass of water. Granted, this just goes to prove the biggest lesson I learned about Turkey and Turkish people. It is an amazing country full of some of the most generous and hospitable people I have ever met. I'm so lucky to have been able to go. Jeannette (host mom)'s family lives there, so last Tuesday night she came home and said, "Kate, you have your passport, right? Great." Then she shut herself in the computer room and came out a half hour later with tickets to Alanya, Turkey.
Two days later we were off. Traveling with two kids under two is more terrible than I could ever have imagined, especially when your airline cancels the flight without telling you. Let's just leave it at this - we left the house at 1 PM and arrived at Jeannette's Aunt and Uncle's at 5:30 the next morning. It was 15 hours of pure hell and I was afraid it was going to set the tone for the whole trip. 20 minutes after my head hit the pillow, however, I was roused from my oh-sleep-is-so-close state by the ezan, or the call to prayer. It was both one of the eeriest and most beautiful sounds I have ever heard. Thank God I knew what it was (you're a gem, Prof Asher) or I probably would have been thoroughly freaked out. As I walked to the window the sound just filled everything completely. The sun was coming up and I had the most amazing view of the city and the Mediterranean. The voices (one from each mosque) were all slightly off time with one another so it sounded like a chorus. It lasted for four or five minutes and it was after this that I realized how special this place was and what I was in for over the next week.
As I've already mentioned, Jeannette's family is just amazing. Living in the house are her Aunt, Uncle and their son Mehmet (at first, whenever anyone would say his name, my mind would race DAVID MAMET DAVID MAMET DAVID MAMET on a continuous loop. Later, thankfully, it died down to just, "Sure David Mehmet, let's watch a movie."). Their daughter, Malick, lives 10 minutes away with her family but they were at the house just about every minute that we were. They have two young sons, Mette and Sayhan. They were cute but sort of terrible too.
Everyday we went to the beach for a good chunk of time. It was always me, Jeannette and Julie and some of the days her Aunt and/or cousins would come. Max always stayed home with Malick. I thought this was great for Jeannette, but I always felt bad that Malick had to stay behind and look after the baby. Jeannette assured me there was nothing either of us could do though. After the beach we would wander the streets. There are things for sale EVERYWHERE, along with the mobs of people trying to get you to buy them. We'd make our way back to the house (by taxi, bus or David Mehmet's motorbike) and just hang out there the rest of the night. This is when Julie made me want to pull out all of my hair.
Ohhhh the food. There was so much food! We'd have breakfast around 11:00 and dinner at 8:00 or 9:00. Breakfast was always eggs, tomatoes, cucumbers, cheese and bread. In short, it was delicious. Dinners were always different. I love Turkish food, and I'm glad that I can still say this after having eaten FOUR fish (in one sitting) that were staring at me, begging me not to eat them. They tried to get me to eat more, but I had to put my foot down.
One of the most surreal moments I've ever had in my life took place while having dinner at Malick's house. There were probably 12 people crammed into the small living room, dinners on laps, watching TV. David Mehmet put on some Spike TV-like-thing that kept showing people fall over paired with huge explosions. Then there was this five minute clip of a Nikon digital camera being put through a blender. In slo-mo. When the music started I thought it was some intense song from Tristan and Isolde or something. That would have been comical. BUT NO. It was the Lord of the Rings theme song! It was really sort of amazing. And oh man, the food that night. Huge main course with soup. 30 minutes later Malick brought out five bowls of nuts. Then two cakes. 30 minutes later five plates of fruit! Just, wow.
On Tuesday David Mehmet and I went on a boat trip. Starting in Alanya we sailed probably 20 km down the coast and back. So unbelievably gorgeous. There were lots of swimming breaks. Ah! And David Mehmet scared the crap out of me by jumping off a 40 foot cliff. Silly local showing off. His English isn't that great, which makes conversing all the more interesting. The best is that he answers every "no" with "why" or "why not?". Just like a four year old.
"Do you want some more bread?"
"No, thank you."
"Why not?"
"I'm full."
"Why?"
"Because I've had enough to eat."
"No no no no. You eat."
Really, it's hard to describe the charms of a town like Alanya. Yes, it's a gorgeous beach town on the Mediterranean (that's the first time I've spelled that correctly in years), but there's also a lot underneath the sun and sand that make the place so special. It really boils down to the people. They're the type that will give you the shirt off their back, just so you won't get sunburned. Please, if you ever get the chance to visit, take it. It will be unforgettable.
