Wednesday, August 09, 2006
I've finally found an internet cafe that could change the Turkish settings to English. A small but important victory. I have seen so much already to fill half a book. I will start with a simple story to justify the reputation the Turkish have for hospitality.
Ankara is located in a brown, dry hilly area, with a scarcity of trees and green. Most of the buildings are concrete or brick. I spent about 45 minutes on my first full day walking up a street near my apartment, a somewhat curvy road lined with tiny, attached shops, where one can find and buy just about anything. There are a few small supermarkets, but generally the stores specialize (there was even a blacksmith, with part of his shop set up in front by the sidewalk).
The people I passed were a mix of cosmopolitan to conservative. About half of the women wore scarves covering their heads, and the men were all generally dressed in slacks and collared shirts (even the men fixing the streets with shovel and wheelbarrow seemed dressed for a night out).
I was trying to find the telephone company to set up my account, but the phone company I found sent me further up the road (by pointing and speaking in Turkish), so I could not locate the place, and started home. I stopped in an electrical shop (about 10' by 10') and to have some extra keys made and bought a few spare lightbulbs and adapters (everthing for sale was in boxes on the shelves; so I helped look along with the three occupants of the shop). One pleasant looking man about my age named Borush (sp?), spoke a little broken English, and when I tried to explain my quest for the telephone company, he gave me directions that I could understand (light, left. Then, right, etc. about 100 yards away). So I headed back up the street, which slowly climbs, and was near the entrance to the office when Borush showed up, out of breath, to help me in the office. He found me the correct paperwork, and spoke on my behalf, only to find my given address was outdated, so I would need to walk home and come back. Borush accepted my thanks with a "no bother" gesture and rushed ahead of me back to his shop.
When I returned later in the day, I met a telephone company worker named Mehmet, a Turk who had lived mostly in Germany, and wore his black mustache big and bushy. Mehmet invited me behind the counter to sit at his desk, and brought me tea (remember, this is just to set up a telephone account) while he processed my account, apologizing all the time for his bad English.
These little touches keep happening to me, and which quite disarm me. Is it because I am a foreigner, I don't yet know. But individuals like this have made my welcome in Turkey very comforting.
Ankara is located in a brown, dry hilly area, with a scarcity of trees and green. Most of the buildings are concrete or brick. I spent about 45 minutes on my first full day walking up a street near my apartment, a somewhat curvy road lined with tiny, attached shops, where one can find and buy just about anything. There are a few small supermarkets, but generally the stores specialize (there was even a blacksmith, with part of his shop set up in front by the sidewalk).
The people I passed were a mix of cosmopolitan to conservative. About half of the women wore scarves covering their heads, and the men were all generally dressed in slacks and collared shirts (even the men fixing the streets with shovel and wheelbarrow seemed dressed for a night out).
I was trying to find the telephone company to set up my account, but the phone company I found sent me further up the road (by pointing and speaking in Turkish), so I could not locate the place, and started home. I stopped in an electrical shop (about 10' by 10') and to have some extra keys made and bought a few spare lightbulbs and adapters (everthing for sale was in boxes on the shelves; so I helped look along with the three occupants of the shop). One pleasant looking man about my age named Borush (sp?), spoke a little broken English, and when I tried to explain my quest for the telephone company, he gave me directions that I could understand (light, left. Then, right, etc. about 100 yards away). So I headed back up the street, which slowly climbs, and was near the entrance to the office when Borush showed up, out of breath, to help me in the office. He found me the correct paperwork, and spoke on my behalf, only to find my given address was outdated, so I would need to walk home and come back. Borush accepted my thanks with a "no bother" gesture and rushed ahead of me back to his shop.
When I returned later in the day, I met a telephone company worker named Mehmet, a Turk who had lived mostly in Germany, and wore his black mustache big and bushy. Mehmet invited me behind the counter to sit at his desk, and brought me tea (remember, this is just to set up a telephone account) while he processed my account, apologizing all the time for his bad English.
These little touches keep happening to me, and which quite disarm me. Is it because I am a foreigner, I don't yet know. But individuals like this have made my welcome in Turkey very comforting.
# posted by Michael Strich @ 6:33 AM 
