man, turkey sure can be dry…
May 31st, 2009 | Written by hurricanic
We’re busy packing up for our departure from Adana tomorrow and heading to Izmir and Ephesus for a couple days. Man, I love my life. I will tell you that I, again, am wearing my new Hammer pants. As much as I hate to admit this, I’m beginning to understand why they’re so popular around here. If I lived in this kind of heat, I’d be all about ‘em.
We started our day by feasting on Curtis’ mad kitchen skills. I had the BEST quiche of my life this morning, complete with feta cheese, fresh basil grown in their little garden, and tomatoes. Amazing. Followed, of course, by Turkish tea. I have never had this much tea in my life, but I must admit I’m beginning to like it. I honestly think I might look at an American server at the end of a meal in shock if he doesn’t offer me free tea.
This morning we hopped on the bus and headed to church. All was well, being full on quiche and having slept in a bit, until I successfully managed to expose my hind parts to the entire bus when I went to exit and the end of my dress got caught on the ticket machine. Nice, huh? In a culture where modesty is key for women, why wouldn’t I do something like that? Only me. At church I found myself a bit left out when worship time came along and the overhead projector only illuminated Turkish words. Not only did I not know what I was singing, I would’ve sounded like an idiot trying to pronounce it all…so I spared everyone around me and kept quiet. It was actually pretty amazing sitting next to Annie listening to her sing in Turkish, and then to hear Curtis from the back pray in his new language. I was overwhelmed almost to the point of tears. It was incredibly beautiful. I then met a friend of theirs who is a photographer after service. Annie translated for us and we had quite a bit of fun talking about our common love. Only problem? Annie hasn’t had the need to learn Turkish words for things like “aperture” or “ISO”. It was awesome. When words fail, hand gestures always seem to clear up confusion.
We headed home and found a local cafe to enjoy lahmacun (flatbread Turkish pizza with minced lamb, parsley, lemon, and red pepper flakes). It’s probably my favorite thing so far, other than the muzlu sut (banana milk) which we ended up getting afterwards for our afternoon indoors. It was H-O-T today, and we were all pretty dang exhausted from our time exploring. So we curled up in their living room with full, cool, refreshing glasses of muzlu sut and read for a bit. It was perfect. I have been nerding out with the Twilight series while over here, and I just had to know what Bella and Edward were up to. I mean, I know I have an entire country to explore, but when you don’t know what’s happening in this twisted vampire romance you have to get your priorities straight.
After reading, napping, and Curtis and Annie enjoying “24″, we headed to Adana’s version of Central Park. It was beautiful. The amber light again making it impossible not to shoot everything in site. I think half the city was there, and I loved watching them at play. There’s just something wonderful about watching women in head scarves and şalvar playing some version of kickball with their kids. Or smoking. Or wearing t-shirts that read “Kiss and Tell.” That was hilarious to me. Local kids wanted me to take their pictures again, and so I did. Their moms also let me take some photos of them. This culture is full of beautiful people.
We went to the Saeanci Mosque, the third largest in the world, which is right by the park. I’ve learned that the minarets (pointy spire things) signify how large the mosque is. This one has six. That means it’s B-I-G. And wouldn’t you know? I managed to almost completely defile the whole thing by stepping on the carpet with my sandals. In a moment of panic as my foot set itself down, Curtis, almost in slow motion, yelled, “Nooooooooo….dddddooooon’tttttttt doooooo ttthhhhhaaaaatttttt!!!!!!!!” Like I had just put my foot in hot lava, I quickly moved it back to the marble where it rightly belonged. I’m sure I’m not the only stupid foreigner to do that before. Well, maybe I am. (Shut up, everybody.) The mosque was beautiful, and Curtis and Annie were given tons of information about it by the man working. We all thought it very ironic that his name was Jesus.
On our way home the mosque lit up under the evening sky and I just about wet my pants I thought it was so beautiful. I’m telling you I feel like moments like this all happen rather serendipitously when traveling. Curtis and Annie felt so guilty earlier pausing our afternoon to watch “24″. Had they not? We wouldn’t have been there to see that. It looked a little bit like a Turkish version of the Disney Castle with it all lit up. Amazing.
We made our way home and Curtis again dazzled us with his fierce cooking abilities. Dinner tonight? Homemade pesto with chicken, roasted eggplant, and pasta. And leftover toffee brownies, again by the master chef himself. We had a bit of an unexpected guest this evening in the kitchen. A lizard. He’s just a little guy, but he’s definitely a bit creepy. Curtis and Annie have been in the kitchen trying to capture the little buddy, and squeals have filled the air as he’s managed to escape cups and jars. He’s managed to lose a bit of his tail in the process, but apparently they grow back. They’ve just given up and declared the lizard the victor. Great. I just know I’m going to wake up with a lizard on my face. Awesome.
okay, here is my thing with the pants. unlike you, i have curvy thighs and so they would rub together.