Phillip and Rebecca Mefford

Bayram Holiday On a religious bayram , holidays or festivals, our neighbors will come to our apartment with a plate of sweets. As we slowly discover the calendar of Turkish holidays, we also hope to discover the answers to these questions: 1. How have specific food traditions become connected with certain holidays (think of the variety of Christmas cookies!)? 2. What key elements of holiday seasons provide a vehicle for closer relational connections—Traditions? Food? Time off work? 3. If someone does not commit to a certain belief system can he/she still take part in its religious festivities? We love being surprised with delicious Turkish desserts!

Doğum Günü Birthday As we get to know our Turkish friends and neighbors, we are close observers of a universal phenomenon, namely that social gatherings center around food. Food appears to be the social strings which tie our lives to others, without which a certain unraveling of relationships might occur. A couple months ago our neighbor, Semiha, knocked on the door and invited Rebecca to her daughter’s 5th birthday party that evening. Not sure why Phillip wasn’t also invited, and not quite prepared with a gift (not having known that a birthday party was coming up), we did some rummaging for a 5-year-old appropriate present and created an elaborate scheme that Rebecca would go upstairs first and then text message Phillip if other men were at the party so he could join as well. Already facing the differences of Turkish birthday parties (last minute invitations, women only events), Rebecca went up to Semiha’s and discovered what this 5 year old birthday party was really all about. There

Karpuz Watermelon “Popping in” at 10 pm seems completely unnatural to us, coming from an environment where there’s an unspoken rule that between 9 pm and 9 am you don’t bother your neighbors, but in Turkey that is when the evening is just getting started. Every so often we venture upstairs to visit our neighbors, sometime after 9 pm (to make sure we don’t interfere with dinner time). Especially during our first few months here the conversation was a little…well, little: Semiha: Here’s some fruit. Phillip: Thank you. What do you call this in Turkish? Semiha: Watermellon. Phillip: What was that? Semiha: Watermelon. Phillip: Oh, watermelon. Rebecca: This is very nice watermelon. It’s very…fresh. [awkward silence] Semiha: Is there watermelon in America? Rebecca: Yes, there is watermelon in America. Semiha: Is the watermelon better here or there? Phillip: It is very good in both places. [awkward silence] Rebecca: What is it called again? Semiha: Watermelon. Rebecca: Oh yes, I remember, “W

Tarih History The country of Turkey holds some of the most precious historical cities, one of which we stumbled upon, barely knowing where we were until we got there. It was a long weekend and our classmate, Jane, suggested going on a short road trip with her and her boyfriend, Chaykun. At the time we had yet to travel outside of İstanbul, so we were excited about the possibility of seeing a new place as well as getting to know our new friends. Chaykun has a car, and Jane a talent for seeking out new places to visit, so we let them plan the trip. As we were driving to our destination, a few hours outside of İstanbul, Jane explained what she learned about it: This small city is known today as İznik. The art of pottery reached its height during the 16th and 17th centuries in İznik, as potters adapted an ancient Chinese technique with Muslim geometric and floral designs. İstanbulites can see examples of original İznik tiles in famous places such as Topkapı Palace and The Blue Mosque, alt