A Week of (Semi) Solitude

                It has been an alone week, yet not lonely.  Sadly, Joe’s aunt passed away so he went back to the UK for the funeral this week to be with family leaving little ‘ol me all by myself for a week.  Now, I have never minded some good old fashioned alone time, so I caught up on some of my TV shows and films, cooked soup I didn’t think Joe would like and taught extra classes (6 days in a row to cover Joe’s classes), thus keeping myself decently busy.  Kubra and Ali let me come early on Thursday so I didn’t have to cancel (which was lucky as I greatly look forward to visiting them) and ironically when I arrived there were big tents outside their building.  Using my handy dictionary to translate, it turned out they were condolence tents, and when I asked Ali about them it turns out that someone had died, and whenever someone dies in Turkey, people do not gather in the houses (apparently due to lack of room) but rather in these tents which stay up for three days.  They were big and army looking, but I felt that it would be rude to take a photo of people’s grief, but they caused much room for discussion.  People in Turkey- and Indonesia- I figure it is a Muslim thing, are buried very quickly after the death (the day of or the day after) and they were very surprised that we take so long to have the funeral.  Kubra invited me to stay with them while Joe was away (a woman living alone in Malatya is not normal) and although I was touched by her kindness, I declined, promising to call if there was an emergency. 

Red lentil, spinach and tomato soup

                 Covering Joe’s classes turned out to be a lot of fun.  He has a speaking class during the week and my topics were Women’s Rights (something Turkey is not famed for) and Family Relationships- both topics that interest me, and that have generated a lot of discussion in Turkey lately (particularily women’s rights, after the senseless murder of the young girl that I mentioned last week) and which were fascinating to hear other people’s opinions on.  It was nice to have intelligent conversations again, although I didn’t do much talking other than to prompt them.

                The gym was relaxing as well as I stopped for tea with one of my students who works at the Thrifty rent-a-car inside the hotel and think that I have wrangled my parents a free ride from the airport when they arrive in three weeks.  This same student sometimes brings her five year old son to class, and he came on Friday.  She kept apologizing profusely, but he is sweet and as well-behaved as you can expect a five year old to be in a two hour English class.  I let him play with some paper clips and he drew me a picture and then gave me a big hug as he left- little cutie.  Another of my students was going to Yakinkent (where I live) that night, so he gave me a ride, picking up his friend on the way.  He invited me along to the party, but I was tired with a nagging headache, and the thought of making small talk in Turkish for two hours wasn’t overly appealing, so again, although touched, I declined.

My picture, now adorning the fridge.

                The weekend passed by in a blur of classes- again covering Joe’s kept me quite busy- but with the help of Wakas (who runs the canteen) I managed to sort out the movie for the cinema club, and the speaking clubs on Sunday were a lot of fun.  However I cringed inwardly when I asked my children's speaking club what China is famous for, and they pulled on the sides of their eyes to make them "squinty."- really wish I could explain to them about racial issues but as they don't ever see them in Malatya, they don't understand that what they are doing is offensive.  There is one boy who comes, he is fifteen and very eager to learn English, and my student from Friday was there so we had a lot of fun.  Eser (Friday student) asked if I wanted to grab a beer after class, so we headed to the pub and had a couple drinks before he drove me home.  It is amazing the effect of alcohol on someone’s ability to speak a new language (I had Quebec flashbacks from when I was learning French) and so with the occasional aid of google translate, conversation was not a problem.

                Joe arrived home this morning, safe, sound and exhausted,- without the bacon sandwich he promised he was bringing me from the airport because apparently he was "joking".  Worst and most disappointing joke ever, might I add,  and now begins real life again, preparing for my parents visit and time with Emily and Jason shortly after.  If February went by quickly, March will simply fly by!