Künefe For You, Künefe for Me - Turkey, Day 5
Wednesday, June 1, 2005
I woke up and jumped in the shower. Mmm... cold shower. And no water pressure. Excellent. Then down to the garden for yummy breakfast.
After breakfast our team gathered for a team time in our room. We had a great time of worship, sharing and prayer. At this point, I remember thinking that our team was really starting to get to know one another and gel. One interesting note about our team times - we always had our window open in our room, so I'm sure the other guests at the White Garden Pansion enjoyed the serenade when we sang worship songs.
Afterwards, we decided to walk to the bazaar. This is basically a bunch of merchants selling everything from vegetables to spices to clothes to jewelry. Apparently, it travels to different parts of the city each day, and this was the day of the week that it would be in our neighborhood. Imagine the Fayetteville Farmer's Market, only about 100 times larger and without all of the hippies. It was fascinating to walk around and take in all of the sights, sounds and smells. Very old world. It was crowded, to say the least and people were haggling left and right. It also seemed like most of the shoppers were Turkish - this is how they do their grocery shopping. Imagine of the Wal Mart Supercenter came to your street every Wednesday... that would be sweet.
After the bazaar, we met "I" and went to a little döner place for lunch that was just off of Işiklar Caddesi (street). In the U.S., we would probably call this a sandwich place. We sat at one long table streetside. Döner is basically lamb that they put on a big rotating spit and it cooks all day long. When you order some, they just shave some off and at this particular establishment they put it inside a split-open piece of flatbread. I think it was about this time that I started to realize the Turkish fascination with mayonnaise. It seems like they put it on everything. Well, I hate mayonnaise, so I made sure that the waiter got the message that I didn't want any. After ensuring that they weren't going to put any on my döner flatbread/sandwich thingy, I went to the bathroom to relieve my full bladder. Well, apparently I didn't quite get the door totally locked because just after I finished, someone opened the door. Thankfully I was done and all she saw was my back. I think she was more embarrased than I was. Back to the table to eat my tasty döner.
After lunch, we met up with T, L and P and rode the Dolmuş over to campus. We had heard that there was an Archeology Symposium going on and several students that we knew were going to be there, so this would be a good opportunity to hang out and build relationships. We got to the building that the Symposium was held in and basically just milled about inside for what seemed like forever. After meeting several people that P, T, I and L knew, a bunch of us went into the auditorium to listen to a presentation about some kind of archeology site in Turkey. The lecture was supposed to be in English, but instead was in German (and subsequently translated into Turkish). Well, it was dark, my belly was full, and I didn't understand a single word being spoken, so I drifted off to sleep for a few minutes. After about 10 minutes, apparently we decided to ditch the German/Turkish lecture and go back outside. I felt refreshed after my little power nap.
At this point we decided to head over to the food court/garden area to have some tea and coffee and play some tavla (backgammon). By this time we had gathered about 5 Turks who joined us. This was sort of the way things happened on our entire trip. We would go somewhere, start meeting up with people we already knew or meeting new people and by the end of the day, we would have a big posse rolling with us. This was excellent for an extrovert like me. The more the merrier. It kind of me feel like a rock star. They just love community so much that they are always inviting more people along.
We arrived at a smoky (you should just assume that any hangout spot in Turkey is smoky) bar/hangout spot filled with students drinking tea, coffee and beer. And almost everyone was playing backgammon. They say that backgammon (tavla) orgininated in Turkey, and EVERYONE plays it from childhood. So, if you ever meet a Turk and he offers to play you in a friendly game of tavla for money, walk away fast because you are going to lose. These people are serious about thier tavla. We found some tables and the Turks started teaching the Americans how to play. Deniz was at our table, so he started showing us the ropes. It's a deceptively simple game with lots of strategy. I played 2 games - 1 loss to Jennifer (yipes, lost to a girl) and 1 win to Dick.
After a while, someone suggested that we all go to another hangout spot just off of campus. This place had a tea/coffee bar, pool tables, ping pong tables, foosball, internet cafe, etc. By this time, we had gathered even more Turks with us, so everybody set out to play some kind of game. Most of the guys played ping pong and most of the girls played foosball. I decided that this would be a great opportunity to check my email and send an email to Elise, so I shifted into antisocial mode for a bit and checked in to the internet cafe. I was able to get to my email this time, so I read a few key messages and sent a long overdue email to Elise and the girls.
In time, we decided to head back to the heart of the city to eat dinner. We ate at an amazing restaurant called Gaziantep that was recommended by Cemil (pronounced Ja-meal). Cemil is a professional basketball player in Turkey, but in the offseason (which apparently is right now) he works as a steward on an airline and is based out of Antalya. I'm not exactly sure how we met him, but he was very cool, nonetheless. He and Jay really hit it off. I ordered this döner thing that was wrapped up in a tortilla sort of thing. Here's Jennifer with hers:
It was good, but after seeing the various things that everyone else ordered, I wished that I had branched out into something a little more adventurous. I took a bite of James' Iskender Döner, which is a traditional dish in Turkey. It is basically pide (flatbread) with tomato sauce on top, then döner on top of that, then plain yoghurt on top of that. It was outstanding, so I vowed to order it if we visited this restaurant again. After our meal, someone suggested that we try a traditional Turkish dessert, Künefe. We ordered several for the entire table and split it. Künefe is basically shredded wheat (think frosted mini-wheats) with some kind of cream cheese kind of stuff on top and chopped pistachios on top of that. Then it is soaked in some sort of really sweet sugary liquid. So, I know what you're thinking, this sounds a little weird, but let me tell you, that was one of the most amazing desserts I have ever had.
After dinner, we walked to a Türkü bar. This was a place where traditional Turkish folk music (Türkü) was played and you could get drinks or food. And of course, smoke abounded. Türkü music is pretty cool - at this particular place, there were three musicians. One guy was playing a Saz, which is a traditional stringed instrument that looks kind of like a lute, but sounds very middle eastern. He also sang. Another guy was playing a flute kind of thing that actually reminded me of the recorders that we played in fifth grade music class. Think "hot cross buns" and you won't be too far off. The third guy was playing a little handdrum. It was a very cool cultural experience, to say the least. Unfortunately, about 14 of us were crowded into a booth that would have comfortably sat about 8 people, so I'm not sure I enjoyed as much as I should have.
I jacked this photo from Miller's Blog
Later several of us walked to the shop where you could pay to make international calls. I called Elise and the girls. It was great to hear their voices - I think they were excited to hear from me. The only bad thing is that it's hard to summarize 5 amazing days in a 10 minute phone conversation. "So, how is it?" "Amazing - we've seen this and done that. The people are cool... I'll just have to tell you more about it when I get home."
After hanging up, I walked to an ATM on our way back to the Pansion. Because I was leading the trip, I was in charge of the spending money for all of the food and any activities that we did during the entire trip. That meant that every few days I would make my way to an ATM and withdraw several hundred Turkish Lira. Whenever we would eat in a restaurant, I was the guy who would bring a big bankroll out of my pocket to pay for everybody.
Big bankroll from my pocket to pay for anything the posse wanted... it's like I was some kind of Turkish rap star.
Back to the pansion for some shut eye.
I woke up and jumped in the shower. Mmm... cold shower. And no water pressure. Excellent. Then down to the garden for yummy breakfast.
After breakfast our team gathered for a team time in our room. We had a great time of worship, sharing and prayer. At this point, I remember thinking that our team was really starting to get to know one another and gel. One interesting note about our team times - we always had our window open in our room, so I'm sure the other guests at the White Garden Pansion enjoyed the serenade when we sang worship songs.
Afterwards, we decided to walk to the bazaar. This is basically a bunch of merchants selling everything from vegetables to spices to clothes to jewelry. Apparently, it travels to different parts of the city each day, and this was the day of the week that it would be in our neighborhood. Imagine the Fayetteville Farmer's Market, only about 100 times larger and without all of the hippies. It was fascinating to walk around and take in all of the sights, sounds and smells. Very old world. It was crowded, to say the least and people were haggling left and right. It also seemed like most of the shoppers were Turkish - this is how they do their grocery shopping. Imagine of the Wal Mart Supercenter came to your street every Wednesday... that would be sweet.
After the bazaar, we met "I" and went to a little döner place for lunch that was just off of Işiklar Caddesi (street). In the U.S., we would probably call this a sandwich place. We sat at one long table streetside. Döner is basically lamb that they put on a big rotating spit and it cooks all day long. When you order some, they just shave some off and at this particular establishment they put it inside a split-open piece of flatbread. I think it was about this time that I started to realize the Turkish fascination with mayonnaise. It seems like they put it on everything. Well, I hate mayonnaise, so I made sure that the waiter got the message that I didn't want any. After ensuring that they weren't going to put any on my döner flatbread/sandwich thingy, I went to the bathroom to relieve my full bladder. Well, apparently I didn't quite get the door totally locked because just after I finished, someone opened the door. Thankfully I was done and all she saw was my back. I think she was more embarrased than I was. Back to the table to eat my tasty döner.
After lunch, we met up with T, L and P and rode the Dolmuş over to campus. We had heard that there was an Archeology Symposium going on and several students that we knew were going to be there, so this would be a good opportunity to hang out and build relationships. We got to the building that the Symposium was held in and basically just milled about inside for what seemed like forever. After meeting several people that P, T, I and L knew, a bunch of us went into the auditorium to listen to a presentation about some kind of archeology site in Turkey. The lecture was supposed to be in English, but instead was in German (and subsequently translated into Turkish). Well, it was dark, my belly was full, and I didn't understand a single word being spoken, so I drifted off to sleep for a few minutes. After about 10 minutes, apparently we decided to ditch the German/Turkish lecture and go back outside. I felt refreshed after my little power nap.
At this point we decided to head over to the food court/garden area to have some tea and coffee and play some tavla (backgammon). By this time we had gathered about 5 Turks who joined us. This was sort of the way things happened on our entire trip. We would go somewhere, start meeting up with people we already knew or meeting new people and by the end of the day, we would have a big posse rolling with us. This was excellent for an extrovert like me. The more the merrier. It kind of me feel like a rock star. They just love community so much that they are always inviting more people along.
We arrived at a smoky (you should just assume that any hangout spot in Turkey is smoky) bar/hangout spot filled with students drinking tea, coffee and beer. And almost everyone was playing backgammon. They say that backgammon (tavla) orgininated in Turkey, and EVERYONE plays it from childhood. So, if you ever meet a Turk and he offers to play you in a friendly game of tavla for money, walk away fast because you are going to lose. These people are serious about thier tavla. We found some tables and the Turks started teaching the Americans how to play. Deniz was at our table, so he started showing us the ropes. It's a deceptively simple game with lots of strategy. I played 2 games - 1 loss to Jennifer (yipes, lost to a girl) and 1 win to Dick.
After a while, someone suggested that we all go to another hangout spot just off of campus. This place had a tea/coffee bar, pool tables, ping pong tables, foosball, internet cafe, etc. By this time, we had gathered even more Turks with us, so everybody set out to play some kind of game. Most of the guys played ping pong and most of the girls played foosball. I decided that this would be a great opportunity to check my email and send an email to Elise, so I shifted into antisocial mode for a bit and checked in to the internet cafe. I was able to get to my email this time, so I read a few key messages and sent a long overdue email to Elise and the girls.
In time, we decided to head back to the heart of the city to eat dinner. We ate at an amazing restaurant called Gaziantep that was recommended by Cemil (pronounced Ja-meal). Cemil is a professional basketball player in Turkey, but in the offseason (which apparently is right now) he works as a steward on an airline and is based out of Antalya. I'm not exactly sure how we met him, but he was very cool, nonetheless. He and Jay really hit it off. I ordered this döner thing that was wrapped up in a tortilla sort of thing. Here's Jennifer with hers:
It was good, but after seeing the various things that everyone else ordered, I wished that I had branched out into something a little more adventurous. I took a bite of James' Iskender Döner, which is a traditional dish in Turkey. It is basically pide (flatbread) with tomato sauce on top, then döner on top of that, then plain yoghurt on top of that. It was outstanding, so I vowed to order it if we visited this restaurant again. After our meal, someone suggested that we try a traditional Turkish dessert, Künefe. We ordered several for the entire table and split it. Künefe is basically shredded wheat (think frosted mini-wheats) with some kind of cream cheese kind of stuff on top and chopped pistachios on top of that. Then it is soaked in some sort of really sweet sugary liquid. So, I know what you're thinking, this sounds a little weird, but let me tell you, that was one of the most amazing desserts I have ever had.
After dinner, we walked to a Türkü bar. This was a place where traditional Turkish folk music (Türkü) was played and you could get drinks or food. And of course, smoke abounded. Türkü music is pretty cool - at this particular place, there were three musicians. One guy was playing a Saz, which is a traditional stringed instrument that looks kind of like a lute, but sounds very middle eastern. He also sang. Another guy was playing a flute kind of thing that actually reminded me of the recorders that we played in fifth grade music class. Think "hot cross buns" and you won't be too far off. The third guy was playing a little handdrum. It was a very cool cultural experience, to say the least. Unfortunately, about 14 of us were crowded into a booth that would have comfortably sat about 8 people, so I'm not sure I enjoyed as much as I should have.
I jacked this photo from Miller's Blog
Later several of us walked to the shop where you could pay to make international calls. I called Elise and the girls. It was great to hear their voices - I think they were excited to hear from me. The only bad thing is that it's hard to summarize 5 amazing days in a 10 minute phone conversation. "So, how is it?" "Amazing - we've seen this and done that. The people are cool... I'll just have to tell you more about it when I get home."
After hanging up, I walked to an ATM on our way back to the Pansion. Because I was leading the trip, I was in charge of the spending money for all of the food and any activities that we did during the entire trip. That meant that every few days I would make my way to an ATM and withdraw several hundred Turkish Lira. Whenever we would eat in a restaurant, I was the guy who would bring a big bankroll out of my pocket to pay for everybody.
Big bankroll from my pocket to pay for anything the posse wanted... it's like I was some kind of Turkish rap star.
Back to the pansion for some shut eye.
posted by
at 10:18 PM
2 Comments:
i commented further down below, but didn't realize how many days i was behind in reading . . so i'll comment again.
antalya sounds amazing. it seems like this is one of the most unique trips yet . . . really experiencing the culture in different ways from food to music, to people . . .
do you think you will go back? if so, short-term or long-term?
By
shauna, at 3:28 PM
It is a pretty amazing place. I'm sure I'll go back - hopefully sooner rather than later.
By
Brett, at 9:53 PM
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