The Story I mentioned in my last post

Okay, this is my very favorite story from my two years in Turkey. And that says a lot, since you could get me talking for a solid week, sans sleep, and I wouldn't run out of stories :)

When we visited Eastern Turkey, we were driving through the mountains, getting very close to Mt. Ararat. (soooo cool!!) The tour guide asked if we'd like to stop for tea. We said sure...thinking we'd pass a small cafe or something. Next thing we know, he stopped along the side of a mountain. There was a nomadic Kurdish family there. He got out, and a minute or so later, the 11 of us yabanci (foreigners) climbed out of the bus.

They served us tea, and offered us cheese, which he told us not to eat because our bodies weren't used to the bacteria in that part of the country. I think it was probably made from goat's milk, as they were goat farmers. They would travel higher up the mountain as spring and then summer progressed, letting their goats graze on the grass there. I don't know what else they did...other than live in tents.

They spoke Kurdish. The father spoke Turkish, but I knew it wouldn't be culturally appropriate for me to initiate conversation. One of the young girls (probably close to 20) spoke minimal Turkish: "what is your name" and "how old are you". Strange to me, that someone who was "native" to that country couldn't speak the language as well as I could. But we tried, and we all smiled a lot.

They offered (through the tour guide) to let us stay there for the night. Turkish hospitality is far more than I have ever experienced in America, but they did even more. They offered to let us stay in their tent!! Their only posession! I was so touched.

Obviously we didn't stay there, but I will never forget their kindness and hospitality. It really made me realize, when we hear about the Kurds in the news, it's similar to any other culture. 95% of the people are normal and just want to get by, but then a few people are troublemakers who give the others a bad name.

Okay, I have a couple pictures. These are paper-scrapped layouts (I'm terrified to show these!!) and not great pictures (um, hadn't figured out taking flash pictures with the pages behind plastic wasn't such a smart idea) but I can't get to the book right now to take new pictures. You can at least get an idea :)