Raw Meatballs

There is a dish here called çiğ köfte which literally means “raw meatballs.” Raw meatballs used to be made with raw ground beef and bulgur but seasoned with spicy spices to preserve it. About ten years ago, they made a law that forbade people from selling it with actual raw beef. Instead the shops make the dish from just bulgur and the other spices. I first ate the vegetarian version by wrapping a lettuce leaf around it and sprinkling lemon juice on it. 

Earlier this year, my friend introduced me to the wrap version and I have found I like it much better. The bulgur mixture is spread along a thin tortilla like bread. Lettuce and a sweet/sour pomegranate sauce is drizzled on top of the mixture before rolling it into a wrap. A salty yogurt drink is served on the side to help cut the spiciness. I found that the wrap version was a nice cold and cheap food option in the hot summer. The wrap and drink cost about a dollar. 

Locals still make the raw version at home. My friend invited me over for the real stuff recently. The dish originated in the eastern part of the country and her friend from out east made it for us. I found that the meat added an unpleasant taste. I think I’ll stick with the vegetarian version. 

A Picture Post - Episode 6

We found this awesome silver car. It looks like they blew up a matchbox car.

I was deceived into thinking I had found blueberries at the pazar. It turns out they were huckleberries which are definitely not the same. But good news, we have been regularly finding really expensive blueberries at a local shopping center.

I watched a local film and understood most of it.

I learned how to make pide, the local version of pizza.

Locals are resourceful and use every part of their food sources. They make leg and head soup, fried intestines, and stomach soup. I also learned that they use the inside brown pieces of walnuts and brew it to make a tea for coughing. They use corn silk and cherry stems to make a tea that helps with bloating. They also use the peel of a pomegranate to make a diarrhea stopping tea. 

So many days after the sacrifice holiday, locals give out a dish known in English as Noah’s pudding. Tradition says that during the last few days on the ark, Noah and his family dumped what food supplies were left in a pot and made a dish. There are a variety of recipes for this but in general it has some assortment of things like chickpeas, oatmeal, cranberries, other legumes, walnuts, and sugar. I’m not a fan because I think the combination is too sugary and things like legumes should be salty not sugary. J and I received a total of 6 heaping bowls of the stuff this year. We finally discovered that our local friends love the stuff and are more than happy to eat our shares since they only get it during this time of year. We were happy for them to take it off of our hands. 

Hosting friends here is a laborious task. Locals don’t really use paper plates and forks because it is wasteful and if you can find them those things are expensive. In America, we are more accustomed to potlucks or to each person contributing a dish to the meal. It’s not like that here. Guests may bring a dessert or a fruit but generally the host provides everything. The meals usually have four courses: dinner with several sides, coffee and dessert, tea and nuts, and fruit. This means we use a lot of dishes. On this particular night, we had already emptied and loaded the dishwasher once and this was the aftermath after one cycle of the dishwasher.  

Coming from an Architectural background, there are plenty of things that drive me crazy here. One example of many is the stairs shown below. That is roughly a 12" landing for the stairs. 

Locals love selfies. I loved watching these middle-aged men get in on the selfie action.

I learned how to play a new game. It’s similar to Rummikub but has some different rules. 

Living here means that we don’t have access to American party decorations. We can’t find holiday themed plates, cups, decorations, etc. Occasionally there are some Christmas decorations but those are pretty rare and often found at weird times of the year. Anyway, to decorate for celebrations, we have to get creative. My friend’s son wanted a Captain America birthday party so I made this shield for him out of cardboard. 

A Picture Post - Travels with my Mom

A few days on the Med with my mum. We stayed in an all-inclusive hotel and loved every minute of it. 

We went to Miniaturk, a first for me. They had miniature replications of famous sites around the country. We also saw replica of St. Mary’s Church from Ephesus. I didn’t realize it was so big.

A first for me, Galata Tower and the view from the top of it.

I still like this mosaic from the Hagia Sophia.

Riding a tram with my mom. She wasn't a fan. Neither am I. 

A Picture Post - Episode 5

I traveled up to the big city to pick my mom up from the airport. I was shocked to see how crowded the already crowded international airport was. As I waited for my mom, I kept seeing folks come out with white hard suitcases. They all looked the same and each trolley cart had a card board box of something liquid as well. It finally occurred to me that these folks were returning from their pilgrimage. Since the holiday had just occurred, it was the prime time for making that pilgrimage. Of course all of the pilgrim’s proud relatives were waiting for them to give them a high five for their efforts and this is why the place was more crowded than normal. These waiting family members had so crowded the arrivals gate that no one could tell who was arriving. Finally it took about 10 security guards to push back the crowd so the arriving folks could make it through

Bus riding with my mom

My mom loving on my friend

This place... it’s a bit rugged and arid but beautiful in it’s own way.

Sitting in front of my building with neighbor friends.

While my mom was here, we played lots of Ticket to Ride.

One night J and I both had pants disasters. She sat in something weird and I ripped a hole in my pants.

Wedding with my mom

Summer pazar fruits

The market beneath my building and the owner.

An old bridge with my mom and friend

Turkish coffee on the coals

A Picture Post - Episode 4

During the summer, women start getting ready for winter by drying fruits and veggies and canning things. Our neighbor asked if she could dry peppers and eggplant on our balcony. 

This same neighbor was canning tomatoes and we offered to help her. We processed 22 pounds of tomatoes. First she pureed them by putting them in a meat grinder. Then she boiled them on the stove for a while with some salt. When they were ready, she put the jar lids in boiling water and then put the sterilized lids on jars before turning the jars upside down. She didn’t boil the jars or the sealed jars which is different than how I have seen folks can veggies. 

During the holiday, we intended to spend the day with the E family. Since they were planning on barbecuing, we assumed they would be at the great-grandmother’s house. We assumed wrong. We walked almost a mile out of our way to the wrong house. The great-grandmother is lonely and always welcomes visitors. Her daughter had newly returned from America and served us American candies as we visited. 

The grandmother is seen as holy because she has made a pilgrimage. She’s also losing it a bit and says the same things over and over. Often she says Islamic sayings like “May God comfort you,” “May God give you long life,” and “May God give you health.” I thought on this for a bit and realized that this 92 year old lady doesn’t have a certain and sure hope like I do. Long life and health is really the last bit of hope she has. May God give her the assurance of hope she longs for.

I asked the E girls if they were excited about the sacrifice holiday. I remember the eager anticipation of Christmas as a child. They were excited and this surprised me. I didn’t expect them to feel the same way about a holiday where animals were killed like I did about Christmas. Christmas is fun. There are fun decorations and colorful lights. There are songs and movies and cookies and presents. All of it seems exciting and worthy of celebration. How could it be the same. I am sure there aren’t fun songs and movies about killing the goat and then eating it. 

Anyway, I asked them what made it exciting. They were looking forward to time with family, lots of meat, and money. The older relatives give money and candy to the younger ones. I realized that in old times, meat was hard to come by. For poorer folks, it still is. I can see how this holiday might make it feel like a time of plenty with meat at every meal for a while. 

I visited Kadie once more before she left to go back to teach. We visited her relative’s house together. The aunt told me that they didn’t have a balcony on their first floor apartment so they made one on the ground just outside. I thought it was a good way to be resourceful and enjoyed the evening on the ground with them.

A Cultural Engagement

I met Kadie and Marty in my art class. They had been unofficially dating since high school and for a total of 9 years. I say unofficially because traditionally, in this culture, it’s inappropriate for a guy and a girl to spend time together unless they are engaged. Since Marty didn’t have the money or the assurance of a good job and thus a good future to propose to Kadie back in high school, her mom said he was not allowed to come to their house because the neighbors would gossip. Kadie and Marty ended up spending time together in appropriate ways like our art class.

Finally, the day came when Marty had a job, a steady source of income, and thus a secure future. He was ready to officially propose to Kadie. In this culture, they have a special ceremony to ask for a girl’s hand in marriage. Generally, immediate family members are present and the guy’s dad asks the girl’s family for permission for his son to marry their daughter. Often this is used in arranged marriages but as the country becomes more modern, it is still used as a tradition in cases where a girl and a guy came to an agreement on their own. In the case of Kadie and Marty, Marty’s dad and brother were present. His mom passed away many years ago. On Kadie’s side, her parents and grandparents were there and I was invited as well since I'm a part of the family. In preparation for the evening, Kadie’s family completely redecorated the living room. They painted the walls, got new curtains and some new rugs. 

There was some drama at the beginning because Marty’s family came two hours late and Kadie was tired of waiting on them. When Marty and his family came, they brought the required chocolates and flowers. We sat in the living room and everyone chit chatted. A few minutes later Kadie asked if I would video for a bit. About 30 seconds into the videoing I realized the dad was asking for her hand in marriage. I was a little slow on the uptake. Kadie’s family accepted. Then she began handing out chocolates. I joined her in the kitchen as she made Turkish coffee for everyone. In Marty’s cup she put salt instead of sugar and I videoed as he drank it. It’s a cultural thing for the girl to put salt in the coffee as a test. If the would-be groom pretends like nothing is wrong, he will make a good, non-argumentative husband but if he spits it out, it means he will be a headache to his future wife. Marty half expected this salty coffee. He took a few drinks before stating it was gross. You can read more about the salty coffee tradition here. 

After the coffee, the family started discussing the terms of the marriage. They discussed who would buy appliances, engagement party details, possible dates for the wedding, etc. Typically the groom’s family is responsible for most of the cost of the engagement party, wedding, and home set up. In this case, Marty’s family is not wealthy so the two families agreed to share the weight of the wedding/home set up burdens. After a while, they began to wonder aloud if anything had been missed. The gold had not yet been discussed and Turks have a way of beating around the bush about sensitive issues like money and gold. Eventually someone “remembered” that gold had not yet been discussed. They were trying to figure out how many bracelets the family wanted for Kadie and what other jewelry pieces they might want. Eventually Aunt Jamie said that was Kadie’s decision. I think they agreed on 5 bracelets and a necklace/earring set. 

After Marty’s family left, Kadie’s family told me Marty’s poor dad had no idea what he was doing. Usually the women folk know the proper way to handle such occasions but since he was a widower, he was doing this blindly. They pitied him for this.

The engagement party was held a week later. I showed up at Kadie’s house at 5pm. There were a lot of people there but Kadie was not. She was out getting her hair and makeup done. I hung out with the family. Often people will serve food at the bride or groom’s home to those who will attend such parties. Kadie’s family served pide, a pizza like dish, to guests. Around 7:30 we carpooled to the outdoor cafe for the festivities. 

The engagement party was much like a wedding. There was lots of dancing and we were served cake and cola. Kadie’s college friend was there to entertain me. We danced together a lot but she was sure to correct me when I was dancing incorrectly. Wedding dancing is already stressful enough. I look and dress different than everyone else and I don’t have the dance moves mastered. I already felt like people were staring at me so it didn’t help to have someone critiquing my dance moves. Finally, in one dance, her friend suggested we sit since I wouldn’t know those dance moves. Ouch! 

After a while, the dancing paused for the ring placing ceremony. An imam (like a Muslim version of a pastor) read a prayer over them. Kadie wore a veil for this. After that, they began the gold-pinning ceremony. Once the last guest had pinned their gift on the couple, the dancing recommenced. The dancing thinned out after a while and the evening ended around 11:30pm.