How is Turkish life?

How's Turkish life? 
This is the number one question I've gotten from people back in the states, so let me try to explain to you exactly what Turkish life is with a list (it's really just the easiest way to do it)!


1. Turkish life is bread. A whole lot of bread. Americans can't even start to comprehend the amount of bread we eat here. Bread with tea, bread with fish, bread with potatoes, bread with salad, bread with pasta, and on and on and on. Bread is the bowl, the plate, the fork, the spoon. It holds everything together, while adding flavor and body. Like the tortilla in New Mexico for those who are familiar with it. No Turkish meal is complete without bread. 


2. Turkish life is çay (tea). Again, Americans cannot imagine how much tea we drink here. You become immune to the caffeine eventually, because there isn't really anything else you can do if you want to get any sleep.


3. Turkish life is coffee. But not weak, watery coffee. Turkish life is rich, sweet, thick, strong coffee that hits you like a wall of energy. It is the awkward feeling of drinking too far into the cup and getting coffee grinds in your mouth (my parents laughed at me when I did this the night I got here). 


4. Turkish life is the Ezan (Call to Prayer) calling the people to get up and do something for God. The sound, even if you aren't religious, resonating in your soul and calling your mind's attention every time.


5. Turkish life (Kayseri life for this one) is the big apartment buildings next to the small side streets and crushed together stalls. It is the brand new schools in the neighborhoods of run down houses. It is the west meeting the developing world. 


6. Turkish life is the beautiful homes on the sides of Mount Erciyes. The little tiny streets bordered by garden villas crawling with vines. It is the apple trees blooming with fruit and the berry bushes offering their riches to all.  Driving here today with my family made me feel like I was in Italy. It looks like a classic Italian movie come to life.


7. Turkish life is covering my hair when we went to the cemetery to visit my family's lost loved ones. Listening to my grandfather reading the Arabic words to honor the dead. 


8. Turkish life is learning what is expected as a teenage girl in the household. Learning how to make coffee and learning how to serve it properly (the men are served first). It is also accepting this role in the household, because you are here to learn about the culture, not change it. 


9. Turkish life is having people pinch your cheeks and kiss your cheeks endlessly, and loving every minute of it. It is also visiting friends or family on a whim at 10:00 at night and eating more food, and yes, drinking more çay.


10. Turkish life is the unspoken knowledge that when it's cold outside, even if it's sunny, you don't wear sunglasses.


11. Turkish life is taking your shoes off before you enter anyone's house.


12. Turkish life is getting a week off for Bayram (more about that next week) and going shopping with your mom to get new clothes for the festival.


13. But above all Turkish life is life. You don't want to wake up in the morning, you almost fall asleep in school, you listen to American music (really popular here), you listen to Turkish music (also really popular here!), you laugh, you cry, you hang out with friends, you have lazy days, you have exciting days, you have a family, and you live. Yes, it's Turkey. Yes, if I was on vacation everyday would be new and spectacular. But I'm not a tourist. Turkey is my life now, and life will go on no matter where you are. 


     I hope this paints a good picture of what Turkey is so far to me! I love it. I love the things that are the same, and I love the things that are different. I love the things that make me feel at home (like pulling into a Shell gas station), and I love the things that are completely new (like wearing a head scarf). 
     Life is good! So with that, I bid you farewell until next time. 
Iyi geceler and iyi Bayramlar!
Xoxo, Izzy