Doing the Translation Dance

Some New Turkish Friends!  Burak on the right, Zeynep next to Alan, out boss Jan next to her, and two Americans Roger and Tara. 

Having been here for two months Erin and I both have started to have the feeling that Alanya is actually our home. This is not to say that we don’t miss our California lives, which I do miss tremendously at times. Adding friends into our lives has made this feel even more like we have established ourselves in Turkey.

Beyond the surprise invitation from our neighbors we have also started a weekly dinner and “Turkish lesson” night with the Foreign Languages department. These nights usually include dinner, Belly dancing lessons (not that I need them) and great food. Originally it was supposed to include Turkish lessons too, but for the most part everyone lapses into speaking English. Erin and I did learn most of the important body parts. Here’s a recap:

Maş (mash)- head

Saç (sach)- hair

Omuz – shoulders

Diz – knees

Parmak – toes and fingers too

Göz – eyes

Kulak – ears

Az – mouth

Burun – nose

In all honesty Erin and I have learned and used more Turkish trying to communicate with our neighbors than at these nights, but we are truly enjoying the friendship. I realized yesterday as I was talking to Bilgehan, another English teacher who recently moved from Istanbul, that when you live in a town with relatively little to do it is important to have people to do things with. Alanya is a town that doubles in size during the tourist months. When tourist season is over restaurants and shops start to close and there is less and less to do. Building friendships is what will make the difference. Based on the past week we are well on our way.