Language Quirks

                Another glitch in this whole constant boredom thing is the lack of interesting things to blog about.  There are only so many times that I can write about my daily activities- as enthralling as it is I am sure to read about, writing about it isn’t, and while I could talk about Buğlem all day (just ask Joe) because I am madly in love with that little girl, I feel that not everyone is as taken with her two year old antics as I am, and since she is not actually my child I feel I should probably refrain.  This week I have been starting to compile a list of Turkish idioms and phrases that help to explain the nature of the culture that we are a part of.  Although I am not overly apt at language learning, it is a process I find fascinating, so perhaps you might as well.

Hoş geldeniz-  Used whenever you enter someone’s house or a shop, this literally translates to ‘it’s nice you came’, a very sweet semblance to express your gratitude that someone has come by.  I find it more pleasant than ‘welcome’.  It is also considerably more common to hear here than one would hear ‘Welcome’ back home, or maybe I am simply forgetting the frequency.

My door adornment.  A housewarming present from Mustafa.

Hoş bulduk- The appropriate response to ‘Hoş geldiniz’, this translates to ‘I find it nice,’ and although it is not necessarily necessary to use in shops, it is considered quite rude to not reply with this after you enter a friend’s house. 

Daha guzeli senin olsun.  Elif bought some new shoes and she said this to me, and although I understood the words, I had to get her to translate the sentiment for me.  Roughly it translated to “May the shoes you buy be more beautiful than the ones I bought” which I found quite interesting having come from a place where when you buy something you tend to want everyone to be envious (at least for a week) and the generosity behind this statement- especially if you had seen how excited Elif was about these shoes- was quite sweet.

Afiyet olsun- The one most common expression that I hear on this list, it is said before and after everything you eat or drink in Turkey.  Loosely it translates to ‘Bon appetite’ but the sentiment behind it is, ‘May it be good for you.’  I find it a little overbearing to be honest, there are only so many times I can say ‘Thanks’ for the same cup of tea or coffee before I run out of things to say.  However the strange expressions I get from students when I say you only say, “enjoy your meal or bon appetite’ at the beginning of a meal and never for drinks is equivalent to saying that I am moving to Antarctica to live with the penguins.

Geçmiş olsun- Although this translates to “may it pass”, and is used most commonly as ‘Feel better’ in English, it can also be used for misfortune or when having difficulties.  I learned this the other day when one of my co-workers got into a minor car crash (everyone but the car was fine) and everyone at work kept telling him Geçmiş olsun, which I thought was odd (as I thought it only meant Get well soon).  Gotta love a versatile phrase.

Cok yaşa:  After someone sneezes, you typically say this which means ‘Long Life’ and is responded with Sen de gor, (Long life to you also).  It has made me realize how common it is in English to say ‘Thank you’ to certain responses as opposed to sending the sentiment back to the sender.

Altogether Turkish is a very interesting language.  The verbs all get clustered together so that they are like twenty letters long and a pain in the ass to remember, but being a phonetic language pronunciation isn’t a huge issue and it’s been an enjoyable- albeit slow- learning process. It’s a unique language with many endearing qualities.

Back to Basics and a Basic Routine

                Due to lack of internet, we didn’t get our schedules for the weekend until we arrived home late on the Friday.  This worked out fine for Joe, as he didn’t have class until noon, but I had a split shift with classes starting from 9-11 and then not starting up again until 4.  I had a surprise when I went to catch the bus in the morning, as apparently the bus stop had been moved while we were on holiday.  As I usually just walk to the station in a tired stupor, it was only at the last minute that I clued in to the change, and even though I had been waiting fifteen minutes, I still had to run to catch the bus.  I quickly messaged Joe of the change (as he didn’t need to come in until later) and then grabbed a bun and a coffee at school (as our cupboards had been bare due to the holiday).  Altogether it was nice to be back, as emphasised when my produce guy commented that he hadn’t seen me in awhile, and asked if I had been on holiday and then gave me a free orange.  It was a very poignant moment, and one of those times I appreciate living in a small city.  This attitude would change by Tuesday as boredom began to set in, but the small moments are appreciated anyways.  On the Sunday I got off at 1pm and took the bus home with one of my students who lives nearby (the student whose bbq I attended a couple of months back).  As we were walking to the bus stop, she linked her arm in mine.  This was also common in Albania, so I am not altogether unfamiliar with the concept, however I have never liked it.  The extra weight on my arm seems strange and unnatural, but when she asked if it was ok, I naturally said of course.  I didn’t want to embarrass her and figured I could deal with it for the four minutes it would take to get to the bus stop.

Buglem as a tiger.

                As the week went by, the weather steadily got colder- howling winds causing all the windows in the apartment to leak, and allowing cold to seep in through the balcony doors- not a pleasant welcome home present I must say.  As usual I had Monday off, and went to the gym in order to get in the swing of things.  I headed to Buglem that night, and it was wonderful to see that family again.  I always have so much fun, and having not seen me in a couple of weeks, Buglem was in a very cheery mood.  The rest of the week passed fairly normally- my schedule is such that I don’t finish work until 9pm on Tuesday and then have to be back on Wednesday morning by 9am in order to work another split day.  This one passed fairly quickly (in anticipation I had loaded a TV series on my laptop) watching TV, studying Turkish and planning lessons.  Joe and I finally figured out where to pay our bills (Habib is not as inclined to wait in line for us now that the weather is so cold) and it was about as foolproof as can be.  Looking at the weather forecast, we decided to go find wool socks (mission accomplished) and not a moment too soon.  

Winter socks

              By my last class on Wednesday the snow had started (I may or may not have jumped for joy at the front of my class, causing some students to give me bemused glances).  It wasn’t sticking (or “laying” as I learned is the British-ism for when the snow ‘sticks’ to the ground) so we went inside and played a game of Yahtzee and got ready for bed.  By this time, the snow was getting thicker and sticking quite nicely to the ground.  Thrill overtook laziness, and pulling our new wool socks and other winter gear on, we headed outside to the biting wind and snow.  Children were playing outside- as I later learned they were given two days off because of six inches of snow and clear roads, but alas- and Joe threw some snowballs at me (I ran away and fortunately his aim sucks so he didn’t hit me more than a few times) and then made a snow angel on our walk.  However at -7 plus wind chill, I didn’t last long outside, and we headed back in to watch it cascade down from the heavens.

                Thursday morning we opted to play in the snow rather than go to the gym, so we bundled up again (the wind was no friendlier than it had been the night before) and headed out.  We picked up some things to build a snowman and walked to the field behind our house.  Joe attempted to make a snowman- I didn’t have any gloves, so I supervised, but the snow was too powdery and the wind too strong, and each time Joe got a ball started, the snow would simply fly away, so we left a pile of snow on the ground and headed back in.  Poor, sad snowman.  By the time I went to Buglem’s that night, the temperature had reached about -13.  Usually the whole family drives me home after, but Kubra decided it was too cold for Buglem outside and Ali drove me home alone.

Joe and his attempted snowman (aka. pile of snow)

                Other than the weather, nothing of interest has been happening.  We have very few classes at the moment, and no friends so I foresee insurmountable boredom in the next few weeks, which is a shame and I am pre-emptively trying to figure ways to cure that, although if anyone has any suggestions, please enlighten me.

Holiday Finished

                By our last full day, we were ready to go home.  We went back into the old city after breakfast (opting for great coffee over great food) and I made my first personal purchase of the trip- a dress I had been eyeing for three days and desperately wanted.  Fortunately they took credit card (or else I would have been very sad) and even took 20TL off the price (reluctantly, as someone had apparently quoted me the wrong price the day before, but I suppose she could tell by my hesitation that although I would pay the extra 20, I would be very unhappy about it) and then Joe went back to the hotel room and I wandered out into the mist to spend the last of my non-travel cash on a Turkish Bath.  It was a very strange experience- I was the only one there, and after taking my wrap, the old woman led me into a room where I poured hot water on myself for twenty minutes.  Then she came back with a glove, lay me down, and proceeded to scrub all the dead skin off my body.  I rinsed off, and she lathered soap and washed me, and then washed my hair, and then gave me a massage.  Although it is  little strange to have a complete stranger scrub you as though you are a small child, it was also thoroughly relaxing, and I left feeling immensely cleaner than I had an hour earlier.

snow on the mountains

                Joe was waiting for me and we watched a film before going for our last dinner down in the marina.  We had a lovely meal, and the surprise of a free fruit platter for dessert, and then roamed the streets of the old city one last time.  The sun was out, the water was calm and the mountains were visible on our last morning.  We found a new location for breakfast (excellent view, decent food, decent coffee) and then packed and decided to head to the airport early, as there was not much else to do.  I asked four different people how to get to the airport by bus, and was given four different answers.  The last one seemed the most reliable, so we headed in that direction and then asked a taxi driver when we arrived.  It was an easy journey, followed by a long wait.  I watched a film, Joe read and eventually it was time to check in.  We found a pub, drank our last beer for awhile, then I bought a Turkish grammar book (my last credit card purchase) and we boarded.  It was a quick hop to Istanbul, a quick wait, and then another short hop over to Malatya.  We caught the bus with ease, and made it home by about 10:30pm to many bills stuck to our door, and only a little time to get ready for work the following morning.

The last breakfast.

Antalya Clock Tower

The Start of the End of A Merry-ish Holiday

                 

Hadrian's Gate

                Antalya was the first time in my life where I fully became aware of the dangers of owning a credit card.  This was partly due to the significant cost of visiting Ephesus, and perhaps because we haven’t quite switched from the mentality of Indonesian holidays, Joe and I didn’t bring enough money to do everything we would have liked to do.  We had the money, safely ensconced in our house in  Malatya, but with no way to access it, our solution was to either be frugal or use my credit card.  The lack of free breakfast at our ‘pansiyon’ (hostel, although it sounds much fancier in Turkish) didn’t help matters either as it doubled our food budget for the day, but alas we decided to be as frugal as we could be and get by on what we had. 

Hidirlik Tower- right outisde our hotel room.

                We arrived in Antalya at dusk, found the shuttle bus that would take us into the city, told them where we were going, and were subsequently dropped off a considerable distance from our lodgings.  Due to a bad cold that had made its appearance in Marmaris, and the altitudes we travelled to arrive in Antalya, I had been rendered (temporarily) without adequate hearing.  Both my ears needed to pop and I couldn’t make them pop for the life of me, leaving me in a semi-foul mood, and Joe and GPS in charge of getting us to our hostel.  We wandered across town, down many flights of stairs and up many more flights of stairs, asking for directions a couple of times before reaching our destination a good thirty – forty five minutes later.  We deposited our things in the shoebox of a room we were given, drank tea with the owners (delicious fruity tea) and then went in search of food.  We were sidetracked by a man who asked where we were from, had an ex-girlfriend from Vancouver and then dragged us to his carpet shop, trying to persuade us to buy a carpet.  We informed him we had no money (not that this stopped him) but eventually we took his business card with (false) promises to come back, and went for dinner.  We found a beautiful restaurant where we could hear the waves crashing against the glass, however due to my stuffy nose and clogged ears, I couldn’t tell you if the food was any good or not.  We called it a night shortly thereafter.

Morning views

                We awoke the next day to gale force winds and went in search of breakfast.  We ended up wandering for an hour (inadvertently stumbling across Hadrian’s Gate in the process) before ending up at the restaurant next to our hotel, with oily food, good views and superb coffee.  We spent the hours after breakfast traversing the old city and markets, wandering through the old Bazaar, watching the waves crash through the marina, pirate boats rocking, spray crashing onto people who got too close.  After our encounter of the night before, we were wary to answer any shop keeper that spoke to us, enquiring in many languages if we were French, German or English (I even got asked if I was from China) but the Old City is remarkable and it was a lot of fun to traverse.  We stopped for an early dinner (due to our budgeting, we were restricted to two meals a day if we wanted beer with dinner) and then wandered the streets some more, finding lovely cat houses the city had installed in various parks, where one could watch the cats for hours.

One of the cats in the cat house.

  It added a really nice touch to the city.  I paid for the hostel when we got back (this time on credit card, as I had already pre-paid it before we left) and was miffed when she tried to charge me an 18% commission on it.  I disputed this, as my trusty website for booking hotels has never done this to me before, and she eventually backed down, making us tea (I suppose as an apology).  It had been the same earlier that day when a tour had tried to pull us in the next day.  I probably would have booked it, but we didn’t have the cash, and I was not being charged for a company’s use of credit.  That is ridiculous.  It was a good thing we didn’t book it in the end (although credit card temptation was strong) as the next day, heavy rains accompanied the winds, making the night and morning quite unpleasant.

Wind and waves.

                It was more unpleasant due to the fact that one of the windows hadn’t been shut properly, and was leaking into our room.  Joe slammed the window, moved the luggage, and I put the bath mat underneath it in hopes it wouldn’t spread.  It died down a little, but was a restless night nonetheless.  We decided to eat breakfast at our hostel the next morning (due to weather issues) and the food was great, coffee ok, and views non-existent.  We headed back upstairs after breakfast to see if the rain would die down, and to our dismay, found another leak in the roof.  Joe went to get the owner, who merely shrugged and said that it was an old building- nearly 50 years (which was a joke when you considered how old everything else in Antalya was) so with nothing to be done, Joe asked for a bucket which we placed under the leak. 

View of the marina.

                The rain died down by noon, although the winds remained, and we headed into the elements for a beautiful stroll along the cliffs.  With no real destination in mind,  we arrived at the beach a couple of hours later and strolled along for a bit, before retracing our steps, stopping for salep (a delicious local hot beverage) and an afternoon rest.  Since it was New Year’s Eve, we decided on a late dinner (with hopes that maybe something was happening) and splurged: two beers each with our meal.  It was highly enjoyable, but afterwards the weather was taking a turn for the worse, and since we had no money anyways for a night out, we headed back, watched the Lego Movie and called it a night.  It sounded like fireworks went off at midnight, but neither of us got up to check.  (Like all modern trilogies- this last one has been split into two)