Sunday, October 3rd, 2004

Woke up by noon at Elif’s house. We had a tasty brunch, then she helped me find my way home. I’m beginning to figure this city out a bit, which is nice. The day was good but tiring, as I had been up all night. So today is an abridged entry.

I went out with Hakan, Selo and Mikiel to do some bike riding. We headed out of town along some country roads. What a beautiful evening. The hills here are either gorgeously craggy like miniature mountains, or smoothed out bubbles that look like a large pile of bare earth does after a rainstorm. I love ‘em. Especially since I’m an Iowa country boy who has never lived close to anything that even remotely resembles a rock (gravel roads excluded).

We stopped halfway at a park in the middle of no where, which seemed to be filled with drunk old men having barbeques. I got to try a bit of Turkish rakı, an alcoholic liquor which tastes like licorice. Good stuff. Also snarfed a few chunks of spicy barbequed meet with bread. I wish I knew more old guys like this!

Afterwards we went to visit some students who had prepared a very special dinner for me. It’s called maklube, and it’s one of the most special meals they have in Turkey. We ate it from a large platter (maybe 4 ft diameter?) on the floor, with it setting on a cloth which covered our laps. In the center of the dish was a huge pile of rice, beef, peppers, potatoes, garlic, and a whole lot more. Around this they had written the word “welcome” with salad, wrapping it around like spokes coming from the center of a bicycle wheel. They filled the empty space with yogurt. It was simply incredible. The food pile in the center even had a single olive in it, with the person finding it receiving a prize. Of course, I was the one who found it (because no one else would take dumb thing!) and received a collection of writings by some Islamic mystic, in English. It was very nice of them.

Went back to Selo’s, now I’m crashing at home. Too tired. Goodnight.