Phillip and Rebecca Mefford

Lincoln got to go to work with daddy one day and play on the phone, just like all of daddy's other students. One of the most important life skills a child can learn is how to make a good, solid decision. Thankfully our schools have not failed our boys in this area. In fact, Lincoln Umut can spout off at least two different Turkish versions of Eenie Meenie Miney Moe—very handy rhymes for choosing which treasure to pick out of the prize box, who gets to be “it” first in a game of tag, and a number of the other difficult decisions facing our young children today. Here is goes: Ey Piti piti Piti Karamela sepeti Terazi lastik jimnastik Biz size geldik bitlendik Hamama gittik temizlendik Pit Pit O Piti piti Piti Dersimiz matematik Öğretmen otomatik Toplamayı öğrendik It's nonsensical, but here is the translation: Ey Piti piti Piti Carmel Basket Scales, Elastic, Gymnastic We came to you and got lice We went to the Turkish bath and got clean

A yer sofrası at our Turkmen friend's apartment. As noted earlier, most eating happens at the source of the food making, the kitchen. Typically, there is a bigger, nicer table located in the salon that is reserved for more formal occasions. However, even this is a modern convention for the Turkish home. What is truly traditional is a yer sofrasi, a floor banquet. A small round low-to-the-floor table is set up, or even without the table, a cloth is spread on the floor, picnic style, and the dishes are placed in the middle for everyone to share from. Many families eat at a yer sofrasi even if they have a dining table. Some of our friends don’t have a dining table or kitchen table at all. It really makes one thing about what is truly necessary to live life, and brings simplicity to a whole new level. We of course are accustomed to tall tables and chairs, and eat in this manner at home, but there is a special sort of intimacy that comes with eating on the floor with frie

As a universally known fact, it is hard to mess up a potato. A little salt, a little butter, and you are good to go. And yet it can be so much more than that. The Turkish version of baked potato is what some might call “loaded.” Just so we don’t get your hopes up, we’ll say this now: bacon bits will not be an option. But oh what options there will be: cheese, chopped pickles, black olives, green olives, hot peppers, mushrooms, corn, hot dog slices, kısır, various yogurt salads, various mayonnaise-goodness salads, extra butter, ketchup, mayonnaise, hot sauce…those are the main things available at any good Kumpir joint. You choose your toppings, they bake it for you, and then afiyet olsun (enjoy your meal). The most famous place to get Kumpir is Ortak ö y, a district sidled up to the Bosporus straight in the heart of Istanbul. Luckily there is an excellent food chain known as “Ortak öy Kumpir” that has made its way to Isparta, ready for us whenever we have the c