Termessos

People wonder what is so wonderful about Termessos, an ancient city set up in the Taurus Mountains of Turkey. I am a little partial because this is the place Enes proposed to me, but this view is Amazing!

The Screaming Man

My sister and her husband came to visit for the holidays this year. Their first morning here, my brother-in-law comes into the living room, with a cup of coffee in hand. He is still pretty beat from the long flight over, but the first thing that comes out of his mouth is “Why was that man screaming this morning?! It was so loud!”.  We all busted out laughing because the first call to prayer is very early in the morning. I would guess about 5:30am or 6:00am. It struck me even funnier that he didn’t know what it was. I guess I hear it so often now, that I’m used to it. It doesn’t wake me up and in fact, unless I’m standing right next to a mosque, it hardly even phases me anymore.

A few days later, my brother-in-law was out on the balcony because he hears the screaming man again. But this time, it wasn’t the mosque. It was the man who sells simits, or Simitci, making his morning rounds, yelling at the top of his lungs that he has bread for sale. I do have to admit, the Simitci has some lungs on him. A lot of volume comes out of men that walk around with trays of stacks of bread on their head every morning. 

It was fun to see Turkey through new eyes and to hear the observations of first timers in Turkey. You forget the things that once bewildered and surprised you at the beginning of life overseas after a few years.

Storms

Last night there were crazy storms here in Antalya. The wind sounded like a freight train, the rain was coming from all different directions and the sky was a yellow-greenish color. It was all a vaguely familiar feeling like I was in the middle of tornado season in the Texas Panhandle. I was pretty sure we don't normally have tornadoes in Antalya, but I had to ask Enes to make sure. He thought I was a little a ridiculous, but I assured him  that tornadoes can sneak up on you and the way the weather has been lately around here, you just never know. 

There were no tornadoes as far as I know, but this morning we awoke to huge trees uprooted from the ground, branches, window shutters and dirt everywhere.  When I got to the office this morning, I saw pictures  in the online newpaper, The Hurriyet,  of a huge boat that sunk by the harbor last night. 

All of the crewman except for 1 were rescued. I can only imagine what the sea must have been like last night throwing this huge boat around. It must have been terribly frightening for all of those men.

This morning the sea is still quite stormy looking, but everything else is peaceful and sunny as we recover from last night's storm. 

Sugar Cookies

These are some of my favorite Turkish cookies to pick up when I occassionally drop into the Pastane. They are like floury sugar cookies and have powdered sugar sprinkled on top. They are plain and simple and go great with a cup of coffee or tea.

Ara Güler

I ran across this famous Turkish photographer, Ara Güler,  and he has some beautiful photographs of Istanbul and Anatolia. His nickname is The Eye of Istanbul. You can see more of his photographs here.

                                  

The Song of Sparrows

The film The Song of Sparrows is wonderful. We watched it the other night and I got so much insight into what life is like in Eastern Turkey. This film is set in Iran, but Enes says the village where he lived as a child was just like this. It was quite a nostalgic film for him and a learning experience for me. 

Persimmons - Havanin Meyvesi

There are so many lovely fruits in Turkey that I have never eaten. Sometimes I'll walk through the street pazar and notice fruits or vegetables that I've never even seen before. Maybe I'm just not savvy on my fruits and vegetables, but I'm always seeing new things and it makes me so excited.

I tried a persimmons for the first time last year and I fell in love. Its really sweet and we always eat it for dessert when its in season. In Turkish they are called Havanin Meyvesi (Eve's Fruit, as in from the Garden of Eden). Persimmons are in season right now and I noticed this one the other day and it was huge and I had to try it.  So good!

Bread

I don't fully understand the obsession with bread in this country. If you don't have bread, you can't have breakfast, lunch or dinner. Its like trying to eat an Oreo cookie without the cream in the middle. You just can't.

Tonight Enes cooked dinner. It was a kind of chicken and rice soup. We didn't have any bread and Enes complained a little about it, but we were both starving so he let it go...or so I thought.

About 2 minutes into the meal, Enes stops eating and looks at me. "I can't do it. I can't do it." he says. "You can't do what?" I say totally confused. He gets up in a hurry and I hear him mumbling something about bread. I tell him we have Lavas (like tortillas) and he snuffs at me and shakes his head. He wants REAL bread...

He takes off to the kitchen. He comes back and you know what he has?

Cornflakes! Yes, he puts them in his chicken soup, because he can't find any bread. I'm disgusted at the thought. He asks me why it is so weird, because I eat cereal with milk. He then tells me I should try it because maybe in fact I have been taught wrong and this is the perfect combination for the perfect meal. I shake my head and continue eating as he crunches away eating all his cornflake chicken soup.

Just a normal evening in the Demirci household...