Thursday, June 20, 2013

Home visit in Ankara

The group split up tonight and went to two different homes.  Eve and Katie joined David, Eyyup and I at the home of a family from the Black Sea region. We were told that people from the Black Sea have a great sense of humor.  By the end of the night I would certainly agree with this declaration.  We took off our shoes at the door which is the custom, and were actually given slippers for our feet.  The men shook our hands and the women pressed their cheeks to our cheeks left, right, left.  It was quite an endearing welcome.

We started in the living/dining area and introduced ourselves.  The host was a construction worker and built the building where they lived.  Other friends included an engineering student, another construction worker, and a lady who was in business scool and wanted to start her own pre-school.

We had to sit in two different rooms when all of the guests had arrived, so the women went to sit on the porch outside the kitchen and the men sat in the dining room.  This was a little surprising, but ok.  We actually got the best location because of the nice cool evening breeze and great view overlooking the city.  We did end up with one man joining us, a friend of the family who could help us translate.

Another man joined us midway through the meal (I think he was engaged to one of the women).  He said he wanted to predict what we are like just by our looks.  He said he thought that Katie was a traveller (and he was right).  He said I looked like a tough businesswoman and was probably like Hillary Clinton.  I'm ok with that.  

I asked if Turks like to talk politics and was told that they love to, so I asked the women what they thought about the protests and whether they thought Turkey should join the EU.  There were varied responses (which surprised me, I thought everyone in the group would share a similar opinion).

We talked about a wide variety of topics.  They asked what we wanted our kids to do when they grow up.  I said that was up to my kids to decide.  They said most kids are expected to follow their parents professionally, although the translator was the exception.  He dad was a fisherman and he was an engineer.  He said he was glad his dad let him choose.  They mentioned they would like to travel to the US.  I asked where they would like to go.  The answer:  LA, Canada and Mexico!

They were eager to hear our views of Turkey and were quite pleased to be described as "modern".  Its very clear that Turks are hard working and entrepreneurial.  


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