Their Fondest Memories
During the month of September the Pacifica Institute held two reunion dinners for the lucky members of the south bay community who had the opportunity to take a guided 10-day tour of Turkey during the summer. I had the pleasure of attending these dinners and listening to everyone’s wonderful memories.
Being of Turkish heritage, I have always thought that I may have a slightly biased opinion about the beauty of Turkey. The reunion fast-breaking dinners proved me wrong! I have always known of Turkey’s many awe-inspiring historical sites, the mouth-watering cuisine and the over-whelming urge of the older generation Turkish women have to feed others, but it was a remarkable experience to hear such great praises about Turkey from prominent members of the south bay.
The evening started off with everyone coming together again for the first time since their trip and continued with the dinner. It was great to see the camaraderie among everyone from various backgrounds, cultures, careers and religions. Most everyone didn’t know one another before the trip, but now share a great bond. Finally, the evening wrapped up with a slide show of pictures from the trip, and a short speech by each person including their fondest memory from the trip. The common themes among everyone’s comments were how grateful they were for the once-in-a-lifetime experience, the wonderful welcoming spirit of the Turkish people and of course the delicious food. One of the most memorable moments was when Joanne, one of the ladies on the trip, explained the story behind the outfit she was wearing. She was visiting with one of the host family’s daughter in Nigde and commented on how much she liked her blouse. The next day when they were leaving, the daughter handed her a gift wrapped package- it was the blouse that she had commented on the night before. This shows the generosity of the Turkish family and she says that she has now learned that you shouldn.t express how much you like a Turkish person.s belongings because they will literally give you the shirt off their back.
I have to say the funniest moment of the night was when Joey, a pastor who visited Turkey said that he was now “cool” like the Turkish men because he too can flip a “tesbih”, a strand of prayer beads, with his hand. The tesbih is used after prayer, but many men carry it with them and have formed a habit of flipping it while walking or waiting. Turkish men, especially of the slightly older generation, have their own walking style; slightly hunched forward with both hands clasped behind their back, usually flipping and twirling a tesbih. It was funny and amazing to hear that a stranger to the Turkish heritage picked up on this. The two comments that I think really mirrored the Turkish hospitality and welcoming spirit were two completely different examples. A professor visiting Turkey had forgotten his luggage at the home of a host family so one of the family members drove to the neighboring city to drop off the luggage at the airport. The professor was completely unaware of the entire situation until the reunion dinner. Another comment was made by a father who said that he had come to the dinner with his son, but had only seen him once or twice- if at all- during the two hours that they had been here. He said that this explains the Turkish hospitality perfectly; his son has been playing with the other Turkish kids, which he had never met before, for the past two hours and never felt the need or desire to leave and join his father.
After attending both reunion dinners I have decided that I too would like to visit Turkey- as a tourist. I have been to Turkey many times, but I hope to have the opportunity to see Turkey through a tourist.s eyes during one of my next trips. I would like to close with one of the remarks made during the evening: “Turkey is the gateway to Asia from the west and the gateway to Europe from the east. It is not a place that is neither/nor, it is a place that is both/and.”
by Deniz Dogruer