But there is one thing I have not had since I got here….Taste Buds.
For the past 4 months I have not had taste buds for more then 2 consecutive days. It has a little to do with my stomach and wanting to eat, but it also has to do with a little cultural difference. I don’t know if it’s something that is developed, they have a huge threshold, or Turks are just born with no temperature gauge. Everything is served scalding hot. Tea, Soup, even normal main dishes. There is no waiting 10 minutes for it to cool off it is served hot right out of the pot. Now you may say, “But that means you should just let it cool on your plate”, the answer to that, is that Turks don’t work. Every night we start the meal with a bowl of soup. I wait while everyone else at the table quickly finishes, and when they finish I test the temperature, only to burn my tongue. The same happens with tea. It is a puzzle I am still stumped on. Oh and did I mention the fact that while they are eating this çok sicak yemek (very hot food) they don’t drink one glass of water. One of the first things my host grandmother asked was, “do you always drink so much water” and it is a running joke, spoon of soup, sip of water.
The past week was another great time. While I did come down with a bit of a cold last
Thursday I tried to sleep it off and rally for Lauren and Laura’s Birthday last Friday night. We went out for dinner, a bit of karaoke and some dancing. Waking on Saturday made me realize, yeah I did not beat that cold, and I proceeded to spend the rest of the day sleeping in bed. My plan unfortunately was to continue that plan on Sunday, but my Brazilian Sister Amanda had other ideas. She got me out of bed early and we went to Uskudar and Kiz Kulesi (picture). Then to Taksim where we met up with fellow redhead Emma and short term exchange student from South Africa, Layinah. Lunch, backgammon, failed hookah (thank you Amanda) and a successful one and the day was over.As always every day is an adventure and I can never wait to see what happens.
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Iyi geceler
Hey Conor,
ReplyDeleteSounds like you might like a few items from home if they can be brought over... perhaps making a dish for your host family... Glad to hear that the new year has been filled with fun times with your friends. I enjoy all of your posts.
Hope to catch you soon on Skype.
Xo Auntie Rachel