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Sandra and Barry's Continuing Adventures 2009

Turkey - Ruins and Kilims Sep 13, 2009

Turkey, Ruins, and Kilims - September 13, 2009

In Turkey, only a small number of people speak English. Service people work hard to accommodate guests, despite the language barrier. The further south we have travelled, the fewer people we met who spoke English. This creates some problems for collecting information. However, we stumble along. At a cell phone store in Canakkale, a clerk conversed with Barry through his computer. He had a programme where he could type in Turkish words and have them translated into English. In return, Barry would type in English words and have them translated into Turkish. Barry and the clerk were able to have a full conversation in this manner. Afterwards, Barry found on Google a rudimentary form of this programme.

Breakfast is included with most of our rooms. Turkish breakfasts are very good and include very fresh bread, tomatoes, cucumbers, cheese, boiled egg or an omelet, jam, honey, tea or instant coffee. Filtered, cappuccino, or drip coffee have not penetrated the Turkish market. Sometimes, but rarely, we are offered a small but strong Turkish coffee.

Retired men meet their male friends from early morning until late evening in outdoor cafes or on the street - playing cards, backgammon, or a game with tiles called OK (similar to the card game rummy). This seems to be a healthy way to meet and chat. The fellows playing these games talk with one another as they play and have a built in support group. We contrasted this with a magazine advertisement Barry found in a Niagara Falls publication that he had been carrying with him. It showed young men out for a good time, in a bar. All were excitedly facing a TV screen watching a sports event. This individualized way of spending time together (staring at a screen), rather than talking contrasts, so greatly with the sense of community, we have viewed where men play OK, cards and backgammon in public places. . Barry facilitates a support group for men in his work and believes that if men had the same opportunities to interact socially with others in the way they do here, there would be less need of the kind of group he is facilitating.

We do not know how women spend their time. However, we imagine that many are at home with their children, preparing food and cleaning house.

We have been in Turkey during Ramadan, which started in mid-August. The reality is that Ramada has been largely invisible to us. Turkey is 90% Moslem but many are secular. We see many Turks eating and drinking liquids during the day. We have been in communities where we do not hear the calls to prayer from the Mosques. In early September, the family owning the hotel we were staying in broke the fast for Ramadan before serving us. This is the first time we were aware of seeing a family break the fast. In Istanbul, every night there is a large meal for the community to break the fast. Both rich and poor sit at the same table. Businesses, community organizations, and government fund sponsorship for the dinners.

On September 6, we were invited to our first Ramadan dinner - in Lefkosa, Turkish Cyprus. A waiter, whom we had met earlier in the day, invited us to join him for dinner at 7:00 p.m. He invited to us a nearby park where as it turned out, an Iftar meal (breaking of the fast) funded by the Red Crescent Society was being held. Tables were set up outside and about 150 people were eating by time we arrived. Sandra noted most of the people present were men with only five or six women and a few children attending. We are interested to know why so few women attended the dinner. We have guesses but no real way of knowing the answer.

We took our place in line with our host, Hussein, and received our food from the various servers. All servers were wearing latex gloves and some were wearing surgical masks. We sat at a table for six, one of whom was the Imam. The Imam ended the meal with a prayer to Allah - that the people present should receive good blessings. After the Imam’s words, the tables cleared quickly. A woman sitting at our table spoke to Sandra and invited us back to her home for coffee or tea. We declined, as it had been a long day for us. We were told the menu varied daily and were invited to come back the next evening. We felt this dinner was a good experience for us and we did not need to attend a second dinner.

It was very kind of Hussein, who we did not to know, to invite us. We have a sense that part of the culture of Ramadan is to offer hospitality to strangers. The ending of a fast with a communal dinner resonated with us personally. When we break the fast for the festival of Yom Kippur, we do so in a community of friends and family.

There are two issues in Turkish society upon which we wish to comment. Turkey has history of oppressing the Kurdish people, which constitutes 17% of the population. Turkey wants to join the European Economic Union. One of the criteria for membership is for Turkey to extend rights to the Kurdish people. Until recently, Kurdish was not allowed to be spoken at school or during prayers in the Mosque. The current Turkish Government is grappling with its oppressive practices and policies. Newspaper stories and opinion pieces frequently include stories discussing the need for these rights to be extended and the development of policies required for implementation.

One newspaper story caught our attention. It said the hourly wages in Istanbul are the 11th lowest in the world for economically developed countries - at $4.30 per hour. The report went on to say that an average resident of Istanbul has to work 48 minutes to purchase a Big Mac. (Todays Zalman, Tuesday August 23, Business p8) How long do you have to work to purchase a Big Mac?

We understand that many Turks work and live abroad because of the economic conditions in Turkey. We have met 3 or 4 Turkish families visiting here for the summer who live in England. Others live in Germany and Eastern European countries. Economic dislocation is an issue for the Turkish people, not unlike it is for the people from Newfoundland who work in Fort McMurray or the Canadian teachers who travel abroad to find employment.

A highlight of the tour to Turkey was our visit Ephesus, one of the most intact ancient Roman cities, south of Troy. We felt a sense of excitement, walking through the town with its main street of marble, huge pillars, and buildings almost 2000 years old. The day was very warm and we took the advice of our hotel owner of beginning the tour in the later afternoon, when the day was becoming cooler. We began the tour at the top of the hill walking down, so that we did not have to walk uphill in the severe heat (+34).

Ephesus was designed not much differently than our major cities today - with the temples, theatre, library, market, and high-end apartments in close proximity to one another. The terrace housing were elaborate, beautifully decorated apartments with large rooms, painted frescos and intricate mosaics on the walls and floors - including images of Homer, Socrates, a majestic lion, and Medusa. The high-end apartments could just as easily be in the lofts of downtown Edmonton or Yorkville in Toronto. In the town centre, there is a footprint embedded in the marble, beside the image of a female. The footprint is pointing toward the city’s brothel. Some institutions are ever present and have not changed much over time.

The Romans had sophisticated water, heating system and sewage system, involving clay pipes under the floors of many buildings. The pipes carried hot and cold water. There were also public toilettes with water flowing through. Pipes for carrying water are literally lying around at this and other sites. They are just old pipes, with no archeological value.

The great theatre held 25,000 people and still has excellent acoustics, as we noted when one of us stood at the top and two of us sang or spoke from the bottom. The library housed 12,000 scrolls. .

We enjoyed walking around these ruins because the buildings are still awe-inspiring to-day due to their artistry, splendour, and grandeur. These buildings were constructed without electricity or modern machinery. They are a powerful reminder of the might of previous civilizations and their transitory nature.

We had arranged to be picked up, at the end of our long day, by a person who owns a carpet shop. It is no coincidence this occurred. The owner of our bed and breakfast had offered us a ride to and from Ephesus. He arranged the ride with his cousin, the carpet shop owner, speculating we may later purchase a carpet from his cousin.

Purchasing in the town of Selchuk, the town close to Ephesus, is not new to us. Sandra purchased a leather coat here in 1997, which she still wears. After we purchased the coat, the owner of the store demonstrated wonderful Turkish hospitality. He took us out for dinner the day of the sale and then invited us to his home for dinner another evening. We tried to look him up but unfortunately, he was in Athens on vacation.

The owner of the carpet shop sat us down and of course offered tea or Turkish coffee. He told us his family is from eastern Turkey. He and another brother own the store. Their father still lives in Eastern Turkey and repairs older carpets. The brothers learned the business from their father. They are very concerned about the integrity they bring to the business as they represent not only themselves, but also their father and all the relatives who preceded him. They have many friends around the world who once have bought a carpet continue to purchase from them. These family stories are a genuine part of the Turkish culture. Our dilemma as a buyer is that we do not know whether to trust the seller or not. Throughout the process of purchasing a carpet, we are not only looking at the product but also evaluating the seller’s integrity as we wish to purchase a quality carpet for a fair price. For the day and half we were involved with the process we attempted to weigh integrity and good salesmanship against our concerns about being ripped off.

Purchasing a carpet requires patience - on the part of both the seller and the buyer. We had purchased a carpet ten years ago, in Turkey. As such, we bring some knowledge to the process. Larry was initially wide eyed and finally bored sitting thorough the process of looking at and eliminating potential carpets. This kind of sales experience was new for him.

We began by receiving an overview of the inventory. We were looking at kilims, flat woven rugs as opposed to knotted carpets that have a pile.

Many (maybe up to 40) carpets were unrolled in front of our eyes and placed on the floor, one on top of the other. We stayed for a couple of hours.

Barry was very tired after a long day at Ephesus. It was getting late. We said we would return the next day. We arrived at about 9:30 a.m. with Sandra and Barry prepared to undertake a carpet purchase and Larry uncertain if putting his time into Turkish kilims was a priority. Again, we were offered tea and Turkish coffee. While we did not start at the beginning of the process we looked at and discussed the positive attributes of the types of kilims -cotton on cotton, wool on cotton, wool on wool, silk on cotton and silk on silk. We also discussed the designs. There are so many options. Carpet shopping is like being in a toy store for adults as it is filled with colours, textures and the stories of the images woven into each carpet – everyone is different and unique!!

Many kilims’ have a spider woven into the pattern, which is representative of the prophet Mohammed escaping his enemies. When the enemies came to search for Mohammed, they could not find him as a spider had built its web in the entrance of the cave where he was hiding. Judaism has a similar teaching about a spider. Instead of Mohammed, hiding from his enemies it was King David who went into the cave and was saved by a spider.

Many of the kilims we looked at had animals woven into them and are called Noah’s Ark design. These kilims come from eastern Turkey, near Mount Ararat - where Noah’s Ark is thought to have rested, after the flood of forty days and forty nights. All hand made carpets and kilims have at least one intentional flaw. This flaw is to symbolize that only Allah is perfect and the work of human beings can never be perfect.

A process of elimination begins. Those we definitely were not considering were simply folded up and put away. Those we were interested in were noted and placed in one area of the room. Another area held those carpets, which may be of interest to us. The elimination process continued - with a new kilim here and there being introduced by the carpet seller as he became more aware of our tastes. Finally, those we were interested in were draped around the room. Barry suggests this process of selection is a good one for men to undertake when purchasing shirts, ties, or pants.

We went from 40 to 12 to 3 carpets. Finally, we were discussing prices. After three and a half hours of looking and considering carpets and drinking much tea/coffee, we took a break. Larry thanked the owner, Sandra and Barry for the education and indicated he would not be purchasing a kilim. Larry went his own way. Over lunch, Sandra and Barry chatted about the potential purchase. We thought we should look at another shop so went back to a shop we had been in the day before, where the owner was liquidating his stock. While his prices were better, the quality of his remaining carpets was not. We returned to the store where we had carpets waiting.

We had a bargaining strategy. Start low, end high and do not exceed the maximum we want to spend. We felt the owner’s prices were within range - although there was room for negotiation. This is where we matched wits with the carpet seller. This is somewhat like challenging Tiger Woods to a golf game. However, we gave it our best effort. In the end, we purchased an older silk on silk kilim as shown in the photograph. We stayed within our price range, with the owner agreeing to do some small repairs, add a piece to allow the carpet to be hung and paying the shipping to Canada. As well, the owner agreed we could place about half the cost on Visa without him charging us the additional 3% service charge. Charging a service charge with Visa is common in most of the countries we have travelled in.

Our carpet is the major gift to us from our time on the road. We have learned that it has arrived safely in Canada.

There are always new wonders. Selchuk is on the migration route for storks with some staying to nest in town. We viewed several sitting on ancient water aqueducts and near the ruins of the temple of Artemis. We were able to get within about 15 feet of them walking on the ground. They are incredibly tall and very regal.

As we were walking about town, we came across a Turkish band playing marching music. The band members were older men, some with great handlebar mustaches, dressed in Ottoman costumes that included long sabers and knives. Historically, these bands raised the morale of Ottoman warriors preparing for battle. This concert was part of the festivities for a day set aside by the community to celebrate the circumcision of Islamic boys. Annually the Selchuk municipality sponsors a circumcision feast, for families that cannot afford a feast of their own. The community makes certain all families can fully celebrate their sons’ circumcision. This is another example of the communal participation not unlike that of the Ramadan dinner we spoke of earlier.

Until later

Sandra and Barry

Contact us by e-mail at: sanbar79@hotmail.com or read our blog by typing into the address line: http://ama.mytripjournal.com/sandrabarry

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