After a delicious breakfast, we would be off for our day's adventure. The one thing about Naomi was that she wouldn't let me help with anything. Repeatedly both before and after dinner I tried to offer to help prepare or clean up and she would have no part of it. The most I was allowed to do was to help set the table. She took the idea of Turkish hospitality to the same extreme that everyone else did. She is one of the sweetest people I met during my time in Turkey. Even though there was a severe language barrier between us, I could tell that she was a really nice, well-intentioned person.
After brunch, she asked me what sort of beach I would like (if I preferred shallowed or deep water). I told her I liked deep water and then we got in the car. I had no idea where we were going or what we would be doing. I understood that I needed to bring my bathing suit. First, she showed me this beach in Alaçatı called Sörf Cenneti (Surfer's Paradise). The beach was an inlet from the main portion of the Aegean and was famous for wind surfing. Apparently, the way the landscape was shaped caused it to be one of the windiest beaches in the world. People could come there and learn to wind surf and major competitions were held there. On the hills nearby, there were several windmills to create hydroelectricity. Here is a picture of the beach.
We sat at the restaurant along the beach and got a drink (I enjoyed a nice glass of ayran). We started to converse about our families. I used my Turkish-English dictionary and slowly was able to understand what she said and was able to articulate my thoughts. She told me about her grandchildren, who lived in the US. I felt bad for her in some ways because her grandkids do not know how to speak Turkish and she does not know how to speak English (but she wants to learn!). Imagine not being able to speak to your own grandmother/grandchildren. I told her a little bit about my family and the history with my mother. It is not a story I really like to tell, but I was really proud of myself for being able to convey the story in a way that Naomi could understand.
After our drink, we drove to this place called Paşa Limanı. The place was a natural deep water beach. There was some shallow rock with a steep drop off which allowed for a really nice place to swim without any sand. The water itself was a little chilly but overall quite refreshing. We spent the majority of the afternoon there. Naomi swam for a little while but brought a book to occupy her time. At one point, we had a bit of a language misunderstanding. I asked her if she was bored. "Sıkıldınız mı?" Unfortunately for me the difference between the pronunciation between "ı" and "i" is actually very small. So even though I asked if she was bored, it seemed to her as if I said "Sikildiniz mi?" which translates to, "Are you fucked?" She was quite shocked for a moment before I quickly tried to explain to her that it was a mistake. I think she understood and said no and went back to reading her book. Correct pronunciation actually matters in Turkish. :) Here are a few pictures of the beach we went to:
After the beach, we came home and had dinner and we went out again. We went down to the harbor of Çeşme. We walked along the coast and she pointed out the island of Chios right on the other side of the harbor. From Çeşme you can take ferries to several Greek islands as well as Italy. We also saw the outside of the Çeşme kalesi. I wanted to go inside, but the fortress was already closed for the evening. We sat down at a cafe near the water and had tea just in time to watch the sun go down. The sunset over the Aegean and the island of Chios was amazing. Here's one of several pictures I took:
.It turns out that Naomi had actually brought me down there because there was a concert that was going on that night and she thought I might enjoy it. The main square got crowded and the concert was pretty cool. I appreciated her taking me down there. After the concert, we walked around and she showed me some nicer restaurants and shops near the Aegean Sea. We stopped for ice cream and I got a karadut (I love this stuff and they don't have it here as far as I know!). Naomi was really nice and she wouldn't let me help to pay for anything. I was really thankful for her kindness and hospitality. Also, I thought she was a really cool grandma! How many grandmas would take their kids to a concert AND to these awesome beaches. The best part was that she even swam with me (something my grandparents would never do). It was clear that she was really young and vivacious and just a fun person. It made me sad that her own grandkids couldn't see this that often. We went back home and after an exhausting evening, I went to sleep.
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