Winter Wonderland on the Silk Road

This weekend I took a trip to the mountains near one of the cities that was significant on the Silk Road. We stopped to do some silk shopping in a caravansarai (a large building used as an inn/rest stop for caravans traveling on the Silk Road) that had been converted into a small bazaar. In the center of the caravansarai was a small building used for prayer, both in previous eras and today, and an outdoor cafe area. Then we headed into the modern shopping mall next door for some Starbucks! As we wandered around, we saw the ruins of sultans' tombs and an old city gate that was originally used by politicians.

After we had our fill of sightseeing we headed up the mountain. When we got there, we were disappointed by the lack of snow, but when we woke up the next morning, there was a foot of snow waiting for us with more on its way! We went out and played in the flurries--snow ball fights, sledding (or sliding around on trash bags in our case). Unfortunately my time in the snow didn't last very long. My high-heeled leather boots, while very warm, have no tread in snow. I didn't get very far up the hill before I was forced to slide down. The drive away from the hotel was beautiful, though. Everywhere there were trees covered with snow. We took a minibus from the hotel to the teleferik, something like a giant ski lift. We took the teleferik down the mountain and enjoyed the eagle's-eye view above the trees, even if we didn't have much visibility. It was the closest I've ever come to a white Christmas.

Bloody Holiday

After living here for almost 2 years, I've gotten pretty used to this place. The extent of my culture shock now is the mild annoyance that I don't understand everyone all the time. I don't have a lot of new cultural moments anymore. Yesterday was a new experience for me here. I went to my friend's house to watch her family sacrifice sheep.

Last year my Turkish teacher had invited me to go to her house to witness this, for my learning. In a round about way, I explained I probably wouldn't be comfortable with that. Now she's not my teacher anymore, but we're still good friends. This year she invited my new roommate, who's still taking classes with her, to come see and take pictures. Since I'm the roommate and friend, I also was invited by extension. So I went to spend time with my friend, who I hadn't seen in a while, and provide moral support for my roommate. And besides, I should see it once while I'm here, right?

I went there early and they served us breakfast. As we finished breakfast, they let us know that the men had returned with the sheep. My friend lives next door to 2 other homes full of aunts, uncles, cousins, and second cousins. Since they all share a garden area, it's a perfect place to do the sacrifice. So the men came back with 7 sheep, one for each household, as well as for the friends who came to use their garden. The sheep stayed in a makeshift pen while they waited, and one by one the head of the household recited a short prayer, cut the throat of the sheep, and drained the blood into a hole in the dirt. They hired a butcher to take over after that, and he made quick work of turning the animal into a fresh supply of meat. I watched them carry the live sheep to the prepared sacrifice place, and I watched the butcher work, but I couldn't bring myself to watch the actual killing of the animal.

After the sacrificing is complete, they prepare a big meal and gorge themselves on mutton. My roommate and I weren't very hungry after watching the activity surrounding the sacrifices, but in this culture, we could leave without eating. So my friend quickly prepared some meat and bulgur pilaf for us, because we hadn't planned to stay long enough for the family feast. The holiday continues through Thursday, and people will celebrate by giving away meat to friends and relatives, and to the poor who can't afford an animal. They will visit each other and eat chocolate, and freeze any meat that is leftover to cook for visitors.

If you want to know more official details on the holiday, wikipedia is a good source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurban_Bayram

So, as promised, here are the photos. They're not the beautiful images I typically aim for, but as this blog is a record of my cultural experience, I wanted to give you the opportunity to see some of this holiday as I saw it.

Engagement with John

I was originally going to title this post "Cappadocia with John," but I know what you all really want to hear about! Our next stop was Cappadocia, which was where we got engaged, but let me tell you the story in order. I've been to Cappadocia several times, and it's one of my favorite places in Turkey. I really wanted to share it with John, and I thought it would be a good place to get away from all our friends and just vacation for a few days. When I went with my mom, we rented a car and spent a lot of time getting lost. I didn't want to do that with John, so I opted for taking the bus to Cappadocia. We found a hotel in Goreme, a town smack in the middle of some of the best rock formations and cave churches in Cappadocia. We picked one with character, while still having a good price (especially since we were paying for seperate rooms). It had a fabulous view as well! The downside of the bus was we had to travel on their schedule, so we really only had a day and a half there. We got in late Sunday night. On Monday morning we walked the one and a half miles to the "museum" in Goreme, a well-preserved collection of cave churches with an admission fee. John seemed to enjoy the history as much as I hoped he would. Then we got some lunch in town at a place where you sit on pillows and eat at a low table, traditional-style. After that, our goal was to get lost together in the valley near our hotel. The paths aren't always clear, but from any high point you could see the hotel, so we couldn't really get lost. I didn't really know the valley, so I let John lead the way, since I had been leading him everywhere all week. We clambered around some hills and fairy chimneys with assorted small ancient caves, until he led us to the highest point in the valley, a hilltop where you could see for miles. I dug in my bag for my water bottle, not noticing that John was trying to get behind me. When I found my water bottle, I turned around to say something to him, and there he was on one knee with a beautiful diamond-and-ruby band. "Will you marry me?" I knew it was coming this trip, but I was still in shock at that moment. I dropped the water bottle and gave him a hug (and a yes). Then he explained that the ring was a temporary ring (though I do get to keep it), and that the "real" ring was waiting for me in America (he brought pictures to show me). We did a little more exploring after that at another beautiful cave church we saw from our hilltop. Then we headed into town to try to buy a Turkish rug, one of my goals for his trip. When we came in the store, the man looked at how young we were and asked if we had a home. I said "no, but we will, we just got engaged today!" He said "well then I will give you the fiancees' price!" After much deliberation, we eventually picked out a smallish rug at a really good price, our first big purchase together :) Then we went back to the hotel to get dressed up for dinner to celebrate. It got really cold, so we talked the hotel into giving us a ride to the restaurant in their service van that they use to get people from the bus station. The driver was excited that I spoke Turkish, so he didn't seem to mind giving us a ride to and from dinner. The restaurant was the nicest restaurant in Goreme, and the only white-tablecloth restaurant I've been to in Turkey, I think! After dinner we came back, lit a fire in the fireplace in his room, and watched a movie on his laptop. It was the perfect end to a perfect engagement day.

"Home" with John

After our visit in Istanbul, I brought John back with me to my current "home." He pulled out all the Turkish he could muster as I dragged him around to meet all of my friends, neighbors, co-workers, and corner-store cashiers who had been waiting eagerly for his arrival. He definitely got a taste of my life here, including in the culinary sense! He liked almost everything I fed him, except for a few of the local beverages. He loved the tea, though, so he had no problem fitting in. I took him downtown to see the few touristy parts of my city. As a cultural bonus, one of my closest friends here, my old Turkish teacher, decided to get engaged last week! So John had the opportunity to come to the engagement party with me, which is quite an occasion here. He sat nicely while I joined some of the dancing, a necessity for any Turkish party. (Since the genders mostly separate when dancing anyways here, he wasn't abandoning me.) We watched the giving of the rings (both the guys and girls wear an engagement ring here), and the cutting of the ribbon that ties the two rings together. Even though John had never been outside of the US before, he took it all in like a pro. He waited patiently while I talked with my friends who couldn't slow down long enough for me to translate, he followed all the necessary cultural cues, and he learned how to buy some things for both of us using his limited Turkish. He even got the ultimate compliment: "John's like a Turk!"