Headscarves and circumcisions...

Today saw a new first as I was helped by a neighbour to drap a headscarf over my hair before heading off to another neighbour's home for a Koran reading.  The occasion was the the sunnet (circumcision) of their 4 1/2 month old son.  Unlike in some other parts of Turkey where the parents wait until their son is about 7-8 years old and then parade the poor unsuspecting boy about dressed as a king, often with scepter in hand, encouraging him that he will soon become a man... in this part of the country it seems preferred to circumcise the boys when they are much younger. 

Tulbent (headscarf)

To commemorate the event about 15 women gathered to read the Koran and pray.  I duly went first to another neighbour to borrow a headscarf and so I could arrive with company - we then turned up the only two covered!  Everyone had a good chuckle and we removed our scarves until the reading of the Koran when everyone covered their heads.  Three women read simultaneously and at various times the other women added their muttered prayers or performed hand gestures.  Then it was over and the formality quickly dissipated as lahmacun (yummy, very thin pizza-like dish), Ayran (yoghurt drink) and tulumba (sticky, sweet, kind of donut) were distributed.

Lahmacun

Clearly some women were much more religiously inclined, however everyone seemed to know what was going on and the appropriate words and gestures, including  my neighbour's 13 year-old daughter. There is clearly a belief of sorts, however to an outsider it appeared as though for many of the women this was about the performance of a tradition and security sought in religious rites, in spite of fairly loose religious practise in everyday life.   Tomorrow I plan to visit again and I hope to ask just what it all meant, in theory and to them... 

Some images from our days...

Colours, textures, tastes and smells!

Stunning handwork continues here

Yum...

To be a foreigner

It's amazing what little things become big when you cross cultures...  There are times when being recognised as a foreigner is delightful - especially in a country with a reputation for superb hospitality; but there are many other times when one wishes simply to blend in. For a variety of reasons I've taken to preparing almost entirely Turkish fare this time round and one of the popular steps in meal preparation for my neighbours is sending off the tray of prepared or semi-prepared food to the local firin (oven - mostly used in this case to cook pide and lavas bread)  I've been very keen to do this but was put off at the prospect of delivering my carefully prepared tray under the watchful eye of neighbours and then putting it in the hand of the baker only to have his look belie thoughts like "a foreigner must have put this together!!!" 

Well, I took the bull by the horns today and after having observed my neighour prepare a simple tray, I did the same and delivered it...  No funny looks or stifled amusment much to my relief, but a great sense of pride in myself, albeit over something exceedingly trivial!

A small sense of consolation came this week when I spoke to another foreigner in our building.  She expressed just the same self-consciousness about delivering a tray to the firin and was only persuaded to do so when a visiter assisted with putting it together.  The big difference between us however is that she is from Istanbul! Here in Turkey however to travel between cities, certainly over any distance is to become a foreigner...I guess then I'm in good company!