Going to the Mall

I had hoped to spend Sunday the afternoon at home, but one of my fellow teachers needed to find an ATM that would allow her to check the balance in her US account. She is the teacher who had some real health problems a week or so ago and is going home as soon as she can get her ticket changed. Anyhow, she thought there might be such an ATM at what the other teachers are calling the “American Mall.” The Turks don’t call it that, but it really is just like an upscale mall in the US, complete with a Food Court (and they do call it that in Turkish.) The one big difference is that you have to go through an airport - like security check upon entering. The stores all had the full range of beautiful and expensive goods. What is unexpected is that they also sell appliances. They had a Tefal store with small appliances and a couple that sold larger appliances like washing machines, etc. right next to a fancy show store. I did manage to find a mattress pad (My bed had been made up with the sheets directly on the mattress) and a bathmat. However, I don’t think I need to go there again. I’m not much of a mall person. I much prefer the quirky little shopping streets with everything from kitchy bags and trinkets to nicely crafted items. Those places are somehow much more full of life.

I was able to purchase a Turkish dictionary, both a larger hardback and a small one to carry around in my purse. The later comes in very handy because you really don’t run into people around here who speak much English, even in restaurants or other places you might expect visitors. People you meet in the street or in shops like to try out the few phrases they know, but beyond that its pantomime and lots of pointing at words in the dictionary. All the Turkish people I have encountered have been extremely friendly and go out of their way to be helpful. Yesterday, we went into a men’s clothing store in the market because the teacher I was with wanted to buy a necktie. He had been living in Istanbul and had his packed bags stolen out of his apartment just before departing for Gaziantep. Anyhow, this was a very simple place, not terribly high quality merchandise. It was obviously a family operation with mom and kids right there. The boy, who was probably middle school age, tried out his few phrases of English. They brought me a stool to sit on and a bottle of water. I am glad I am off the beaten path for tourists. We are clearly novelties here (they always ask me first if I’m German – the Turkish word sounds like the French Allemand) and the economy is not dependent on making accommodations to outsiders. This is the only large city in eastern Turkey, but it doesn’t feel all that large. It’s quite a comfortable place.

Anyhow, to get back to hats, I actually did see a man with a baseball cap today. He was selling lottery tickets on a busy corner in the market district in the old town. And I saw two older gentlemen wearing those woolen caps you associate with golfers at St. Andrews in Scotland. I don’t know what they are called but the have little brims, not much more than an inch wide. It was cooler here today – in the low 70s maybe – so maybe they wear caps to keep their heads warm and not to shade their eyes.