Just wanted to say Sleepless in Seattle but no …. in Assos is what I mean.
Ooofff…..
I’m usually quite an equable sleeper but this takes the cake. Non-stop drumming all night – in the end, I had to take the radical -for me – step of closing all the windows and putting on the AC! I hate AC, I really really hate it!
I totally understand that the season is now over, schools have not yet started, money is in, so it is time for sünnet/circumcision or wedding düğün/parties. You have no idea about these Turkish villages ….!!! Just like all of us, they love a good get-together with family and neighbours, read the entire village.. We have invitations for the next three weekends …
What I did love was that apparently this sünnet was quite extraordinary in that crates of rakı were brought in and all the village men got totally plastered …it was a three day event: unheard of!! The son of Ali the dondurmaci or ice-cream maker was getting circumcised! I don’t know what made him so special.
So yesterday, Saturday, I was quite wiped out but we had a wedding in the evening! In fact, we delayed our final return to Istanbul after the summer just so we could attend this wedding as it was a pretty unique affair.
It was the wedding of the daughter of the lovely people who run Zeytin Çiçek down on the beach whom I sometimes mention. Seval is pretty special in her own right: she studied Japanese at 18 Mart University in Çanakkale and is now studying for a PhD in Japan!!! And just to add to the adventure, she fell in love with Gabriel from Paraguay!!! What I love about this story is that the family here who are after all relatively simple local people from a village up in the hills, have totally accepted this union and last night we were privileged to be a part of the celebrations.
These weddings are always held in a suitably large open area so that everyone can comfortably attend. In this village of Sazlı it was in a purpose designed open space with proper kitchens and the like. We went at about 7.30, in time for dinner.
I have to say, my husband came up trumps by preparing something in Spanish AND Japanese for the young couple-here they are looking suitably overcome as he reads it! |
The family greeted us warmly and showed us to a table all set and brought us a huge tepsi or tray with our dinner set out in little dishes. Separate plates were brought for us along with forks!! The norm is to all eat off the plates together with spoons which is something I for one, just cannot do.
the typical wedding feast |
Needless to say, there is not a drop of booze. The whole evening is done on water!
But it was certainly joyous and Gabriel entered into the spirit of it as only a Latin American could …
Gabriel and Seval: the opening dance |
What was fantastic was that a group of their young friends from Japan came specially to attend the wedding! I’m sure you can imagine the buzz amongst the local headscarved brigade when they made their appearance in their traditional exotic kimonos!
This occasion should be an example to the world as to how to get on with different peoples from different countries, backgrounds and religions. It was perfectly harmonious and I for one really enjoyed the sight of the young Japanese girls trying to belly dance in their kimonos! It was all such fun!
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