We arrived in Alanya on Sept 5 and only now am I beginning to feel a bit settled. I've been smacked with culture shock in this little town of about 100,000 but not for the reasons you'd think. After almost two weeks in Istanbul and Ankara I was just starting to grow accustomed to the headscarves, the ever present calls to prayer, Turkish tea and coffee and all the attention showered on my two blonde children only to land now in a Mediterranean beach tourist town. I know that it is not really the case, but on the surface it seems that Turks are the minority here. Swedes, Germans, Russians and other fair-skinned folks are everywhere, basking in the Turkish sun. Tourist restaurants, bars and trinket shops are EVERYWHERE. Headscarves are rare and I've only heard the call to prayer a couple of times. More than once we have been mistaken for Norwegians and outside of our Georgetown group I haven't met a single other American.
In my first days here I am struck with how open the locals are. Perhaps it is because the local livelihood depends upon it or perhaps it is because Turkey is so close to more liberal European cultures or maybe it's just their nature, but I've seen pork on menus, topless sunbathers and plenty of excess alcohol consumption-all things I would not expect to see in Turkey, where over 90% of people are Muslim. In one family at the beach yesterday, one woman was in a long-sleeve, long pant swimsuit while another woman in the same group was in a bikini. Then, the woman fully covered breast-fed her baby - right there at the beach. Discreetly, of course, but still, not what I would have expected. There I was in a string bikini but I never breastfed my babies in public, much less at the beach.
Looking forward to getting to know Turkey more . . . -Kelly
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2 comments:
That's so funny about this kids getting so much attention. It happen to a blond friend of mine and these Turkish boys would come touch her hair behind her. It would scare the crap out of her all the time. People would ask to have their picture take with them. Funny. Who is the weird one there. Us or them... Specially the women cover from head to toe glove etc. crazy I thought.
Istanbul is so westernalized, interesting how the city that you are living is even more European.
Either way looks like you are having fun.
I know Fritz! The amount of attention that Ruby has been getting is unbelievable. It definitely has taken some getting used to. And yes, Istanbul is a completely modern, westernized city, but where we were staying it was definitely more conservative than where we are now. I wish I had taken more pictures while we were there.
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