Saturday, October 2nd, 2004

Welp, what a day. Schedules are so funny here, because they are planned out and then not followed. Instance: all week we talk about this picnic thing on Saturday. “Be ready at 10 am for the picnic.” “Don’t forget about the picnic.” Etc. So I get up and get ready for the picnic. Hour later Selo shows up. Ready for the picnic Selo? “Oh, there’s no picnic today. It doesn’t work out.” HA. So we walked to his place. On the way, stopped to play basketball with Selo’s son Alperen and his friend. I got my butt kicked. I’m sure they were amused that the American was the worst basketball player there. Lay-ups were fine but anything else bricked like a drunken mason. Ah well.

Called Elif, the tourism student, to see if she wanted to hang out tonight. The call was met with great surprise. We made plans to meet up at 6.

Had a seriously yummy brunch thingy in front of the tv at Selo’s. His kids were out so it was just us and Nermin. Highlights included huge tasty olives, these great baked thin dough wraps with cheese in the middle, lots of fruit and veggies, and honeycomb on bread. I’m not going to be able to come back to America.

Went out with Selo and Nermin, watched while they bought a new bed. Met some folks, drank some çay, blah blah blah. Good stuff. At 4:30 we went to Bekir’s house where he had cooked some meat and potato stuff in a pot made of earth located in his backyard. I think it was called gŭneç. Also had broccoli soup. Quite nice. His son (forgot the name, I am such a jerk) gave me a necklace that has a protective somethingorrather from the Koran on it that will keep me safe. It was very nice of him. I have been given so many gifts. How can I ever hope to mirror their care and hospitality?

Jetted and met up with Elif. Selo dropped us at a nice restaurant after berating her with comments (in Turkish) like “His father is an influential man. If you treat him badly it will not be good for us,” “Don’t even think about trying anything with him,” and “If he comes back hungry you will not be able to see him again.” Good grief!!!! If he’s this protective of me, what will happen to him when his own kids get old enough to hang out with girls?

Anyway, it was an awesome evening. I NOW HAVE FRIENDS!!! PLURAL, MIND YOU!!! We sat at this restaurant, which is a really old Turkish house converted up a bit, drank çay, coffee and talked about all sorts of stuff. Her English is very good. She’s from Istanbul and finds Çankiri very lame by comparison. I don’t blame her. She’s quite progressive and funny while still being classically Turkish. It’s cool to see; she’s a great example of the secular/traditional balancing act that goes on here.

After that, we hoofed it across town and to her flat. It was cool; we’d hear a something happening and just barge in and check it out. She’s a fearless girl which is nice. Back at the flat, met her roommate and a friend. We hung out, watching music videos on tv and talking. I told them funny stories about the professors at school, and they showed me photos and answered my questions about being a student in Turkey. We played a bunch of OK and all of a sudden it was 2 am. After being invited to stay and accepting, Elif and I sat up talking until we passed out at 4 from exhaustion. What an evening.

I really like her; she’s a great friend and kindred spirit. Hopefully my colleagues won’t worry too much. Selo called at 2 am to see if I was ok! Crazy. I told him not to do it anymore so hopefully he’ll calm down. I hope to spend a lot more time with Elif, and Umut too. They make what I’m experiencing here all the better.