Phillip and Rebecca Mefford

Mart March Our time in İstanbul is winding down, and we are starting to feel nostalgic. Phillip hosted a group of American university students, showing them the great historical sights of İstanbul and Ephesus. It was so nice to see our favorite sights one more time. Our life is full of both “hello’s” and “good bye’s” right now. A joyful “Hello” to our friend’s newborn baby. A tearful “Goodbye” to one of our dear neighbors who moved south for work. Lincoln makes friends with an İstanbul street cat. One of Lincoln’s new skills is taking off his own diaper. Last week, during the transition from pj’s to day clothes, he ripped it off and ran into the kitchen. When we went to fetch him there was a conspicuous puddle on the floor…

Onsekiz 18 Çankırı Ayşe I am Ayşe. My grandmother’s name is Ayşe, my aunt’s name is Ayşe, my name is Ayşe, and my cousin’s name is Ayşe. We share our name with the prophet’s most beloved wife. It is an honorable name, even if I don’t finger the prayer beads, tespih , constantly throughout the day like my grandmother, even if I don’t perform the prayers, namaz , five times daily like my aunt. I have great respect for what we believe, and I do believe it. And yet, right now I’m focusing on getting an education. I want a career. And…it’s hard to do it all. Maybe after I get married, settle down, and have my own little Ayşe. My grandmother and aunts and mother do not put too much pressure on me right now. They understand. They are letting me choose for myself, which is good, because we live in such close quarters together. Each nuclear family has its own apartment, but we all live in one building. This, of course, is a dream situation for most in the family. Honestly, I find it a little sm

Onaltı 16 Bursa Yiğit Grandma makes homemade yogurt everyday for me. She combs my hair and sings silly songs to me and wipes off my toys when they get dirty. She’s pretty amazing. Both Daddy and Mommy go to work every morning, and Grandma stays home and plays with me. They say it is the perfect situation, because Mommy gets to work and use the education she got in university and make money, but I’m not being raised by a stranger. Grandma came all the way from her home in Bursa to take care of me in İstanbul. Because that is where Grandma is from, even though I’ve never lived there Bursa is my memleket , or hometown, too! When I grow up I’m going to root for Bursa Spor (if they are still doing good), and eat İskender Kebaps (named after Alexander the Great, but originating from our great city), and go skiing on Ulu Dağı . And if I have a little brother then he can come along too. Although, Grandma says Mommy probably won’t have another baby because they don’t have enough energy for two

Sekiz 08 Artvin Lale I don’t have much to say. My name is Lale, which means tulip. My home is modest, but I keep it clean and comfortable for my mother-in-law and father-in-law, who live with us. We live in a high mountain meadow which is full of flowers. It rains almost every day, and cool winds come off the near-by Black Sea. We are near the Georgian border, but we are not Georgian. We are Turkish. There is a very old Georgian church in our village, with a pointy roof and idolatrous pictures on the walls, though they are faded. Mostly we keep it for the lonely tourist who comes by every blue moon to see it. One day a car full of tourists came. My son showed them the church (he likes to play in its yard). When they got caught in the rain (for the roof doesn’t actually cover much of the church anymore), he brought them to our little house. We gave them fresh bread. They were kind, but strange. That was quite awhile ago now. I wonder how they found our village. I wonder about their live