Day 2 – Şanlıurfa (April 24, 2009)

Our second day was originally planned to be in Urfa. However, we (and by we I mean I) did not actually anticipate how long it would take to travel between cities in our tour of the Southeast. One neat thing about Eastern Turkey and Turkey in general is that the bus trips themselves are always interesting for one reason or another.
We left relatively early on a bus out of Malatya (around 10am). We discovered that there was no direct bus to Urfa. The only way for us to get there would be to take a bus from Malatya to Diyarbakir. From Diyarbakir we would have to transfer to Urfa. The bus ride to Diyarbakir was absolutely beautiful. The high Anatolian plains quickly gave way to lush green mountain side. I took quite a few pictures outside the bus window as evidenced by my photo album on the right. Elif and I sat together on the bus and Em and Sonya sat together. Elif continued her efforts to try to get me to learn Turkish. Keep in mind that after two months with a worthless class that did not help at all my Turkish was less than stellar. On our first minibus to Diyarbakir we had a very nice guy serving us on the bus. He had darker skin like most people in the East. Since I had only seen one Kurdish person in my life (the driver the day before), I was still fascinated by the whole Kurdish issue. Elif told me that the guy serving us was probably Kurdish. We talked about it for the first bit of the bus ride and didn’t interact with him much.

When we was giving us a drink, Elif finally decided to ask him. He said he was not Kurdish and seemed a bit offended that we had asked (in Turkish of course). Elif then explained to him that I was learning Turkish and that he should practice with me if he wanted to help out. He was very excited about it and more than willing to help out. So with dictionary in hand (and Elif’s help) we slowly had a conversation. It was very very basic but it was great practice for me. We passed through his hometown which was between Elazığ and Diyarbakir.

In Elazığ, we stopped for lunch. Elif, Sonya, and Em stayed near the bus to have some simit as a snack. I was a bit more hungry and went across the parking lot in search of a kebab. I found these guys selling Adana kebab for a relatively cheap price. They asked where I was from and we were talking briefly about stuff (very briefly considering my Turkish skills). One of the guys told me that he was a Christian and that he had to keep it quiet (I think he only told me because he thought I was Christian since I am from America). The kebab was delicious. Elif had noticed I wandered off and came over to find me and began talking with the guys. She said they spoke about food but of course I didn’t catch what she was saying.
One thing I learned very quickly on this trip is that Turkish people are innately curious. Outside of Istanbul and the west coast, they are not too used to seeing foreigners. As a result, they will stare at you for a while and eventually start talking to you, generally asking some of the same questions every time but I don’t mind (except for when I am tired). If you have to interact with them for some business transaction, curiosity almost always gets the best of them. It is good for me though because sometimes I am shy about talking to people at first. If they weren’t so curious, I would never have been able to practice my Turkish so much! Elif said it was good for her too because most Turkish people aren’t so curious about other Turks and so she would not have been able to talk to as many Turkish people it weren’t for us. That made me feel good. At least I was useful for something on the trip! 

On the bus ride to Diyarbakir my Turkish lessons continued. Elif said it was really funny because when he would teach me a word and I would repeat it, it would be in the Eastern accent. I don’t know too much about the Eastern accent. I only know that instead of saying “biliyorum” or “anliyorum” they say “biliyim” or “anliyim.” Also, every k sound sounds more like the ch in Hebrew or German (because they have this sound in Kurdish, which most of them speak). I was able to pick up these nuances on our trip, but that was about it.

When we arrived in Diyarbakir, our van was basically attacked by little children. It was absolutely nuts! It reminded me of one of those movies about India where the same thing happens. We were going to stay in Diyarbakir for a day after our trip to Marden, but seeing the children and the seedy people at the otogar (bus terminal), we were a bit skeptical about this. Also, our day of travel that we spent to Urfa (unplanned) necessitated us cutting a destination from our trip. After a short wait, we were on the dolmuş headed to Urfa. The landscape was quite different in this part of Turkey (surprising since we were backtracking south of the same route we took into Diyarbakir). Instead of high mountains, there were flat plans (as flat as possible). There were also no trees. Even though I had never seen the Great Plains in the United States, I imagine that this is what they probably looked like. Elif confirmed it for me and said it did (she took a road trip from Wyoming to St. Louis). I wondered if tornados happened here, but no one knew. We did get to see the sun set over the plains, which was beautiful. Another funny thing we saw on this ride was the gas station mosque at our rest stop. I definitely took a picture in front of it, which got me some funny looks from other Turks.

We were talking about how we did not know where we would stay (and it was getting dark). A man sitting behind us overheard that we did not know where we would stay (Elif was asking someone about a hotel or something). He said he had some friends with an empty apartment in Urfa and suggested that maybe we could stay there. His friends said no. The guy working on the bus overheard what was going on and said that if we needed a place, he might be able to help us.

When we exited the bus, he helped us put our stuff into his car. He introduced himself to the rest of us as Mustafa. Another man was driving the car (whose name I forgot). It turns out the man driving was actually the owner of the bus company and also named Mustafa. Elif was talking about kebabs with them the whole time and said she “only came for the kebabs.” (Urfa is famous for them!). As a result, they took us to a kebab place. After sitting down, they order everyone ayran, a special liquid yogurt drink that is special to Turkey. Most Americans don’t like ayran, but it blends well with Turkish food (especially spicy Turkish food) and it definitely grows on you. This ayran was particularly delicious because it was homemade (my favorite kind). For dinner, our new friends ordered us a huge kebab plate mixed with every single type of kebab offered in the restaurant (karışık kebab). The plate included eggplant kebabs, urfa kebabs (a lamb kebab), beef kebab, chicken kebab, and lahmacun (Turkish pizza). Accompanying the large tray were wraps that could be used to make dürüms out of the meat. The meal was quite delicious (one of the better ones we had on our trip). Mustafa’s friend did not come inside, but Mustafa sat with us and Elif translated so that we could speak with him. Mustafa for some reason took a liking to me and started making fun of me for eating so much (we had gone the whole day without eating!). He referred to me as an “Arab” because apparently Arabs have a reputation for eating too much. At the end of the meal, we tried to pay but the waiter would not take our money and said that it had already been taken care of. Either Mustafa or his friend had taken care of the bill while we were eating. It was incredibly nice of them and one of my first tastes of Turkish hospitality (even though it was Kurdish hospitality in this case).

The next part of my story will sound incredibly unbelievable, but I promise it is all true. I have especially consulted with Elif during this part of the story to make sure that all of the facts are correct.

Following dinner, Mustafa asked us if we wanted to see some traditional Turkish entertainment. Not often having an opportunity to see real Turkish entertainment in the countryside, we readily agreed. They took us to a place where live music was being played. There was a singer, keyboard and a drum set. However, instead of a guitarist, an instrument called the saas was being used. The saas is similar to a guitar in appearance, but the sound is quite different. As a result the music was a fushion of rocklike music and traditional sounding Turkish music. It was really interesting.

Upon entering the place, we joined Mustafa’s friends. Mustafa asked if we wanted anything to drink. I ended up having a beer. We sat for about 30 minutes or so when they told us they wanted to go upstairs and took us up with them. The room was away from the music and much quieter, allowing for us to talk. We of course brought our drinks with us. The room itself was a traditional Turkish sitting room. There were no chairs. Instead, pillows were the perimeter of the room and a low table. My description doesn’t quite do it justice and you should definitely look at my pictures in the Urfa album if you are interested.

Upon sitting and speaking with these guys we learned something very interesting. The man that we met at the entertainment place was indeed the second in command of a very famous Kurdish clan from Urfa. For those of you that do not know, Kurdish people (especially in Eastern Turkey) still rely very much on clan relationships. The leader of the clan acts much like the chief in an Indian tribe (but they don’t like in tents or anything like that). This includes making major decisions on behalf of the people. In Turkey, the clans are stronger. For example, if the clan leader votes for a certain political party, all the members of the clan must vote for the same party or politician. This makes the clan leader very powerful and often very rich. Without knowing it, we ended up in the same room with one of the most powerful people in Urfa. In fact, because of the fighting between Turks and Kurds, the police force in Urfa during the 1990’s was completely ineffective. As a result, the government gives weapons and other support to this particular clan in order to maintain order and peace in Urfa. It has worked. A side effect (as we late found out ) was that these clan leaders had virtually unlimited power in their actions. This was both really neat and a bit scary. On one hand, they were living like kings and could give us anything we wanted, but on the other hand if we made them angry, they could drive us somewhere, kill us, and no one would ever be the wiser.

After sitting a bit, there was another room in another place that these guys preferred more and they took us there instead. When we walked in, the table had fresh fruit on it. I ended up sitting between Em and Mustafa. There was another table, which was ordered to be removed because they didn’t like the way it looked. Then, another of the Kurdish guys came, bringing alcohol. They explained that the place at which we were was a bit traditional and that normally alcohol is not served or permitted. However, because of the special status of these guys, we could have alcohol. They brought bottles of Efes and Raki (a special licorice drink that tastes much like Greek ouzo). I don’t particularly like Efes, but I felt compelled to drink it, as I feared it might be insulting to our hosts. We continued to sit, talk, and eat fruit for about 20 minutes. True to Turkish hospitality, Mustafa not only had his arm around me, he was hand feeding me fruit! Elif said he liked me…maybe a bit too much. She claims that he is my sugardaddy (I would like to emphasize that these were her words…not mine). It was strange to me that a man was hand feeding me fruit, but after having 2 beers these types of things seem more normal than they should.
After we waited about 20 minutes, a keyboard player, drums player, saas player, singer, and another performer (I can’t remember what he played) came to the room in which we were sitting. The group begins to perform traditional Kurdish and Turkish music for us. It was a very private performance considering there were 8 of us and 5 performers! We found out that our new friends, specifically the one in charge, had called up this guy (with whom I am now facebook friends) and told him to finish performing at his other performance venue so that he could come perform privately for us! After enjoying the sounds of Turkish music, they invited us to dance. We formed a circle, joined hands and did a traditional four-step Turkish dance (I did a similar dance in Doğubeyazıt and observed a similar one at a wedding in Yusufeli). It was interesting to learn and a lot of fun (I think the alcohol I had drank at this point helped with the normal problem of inhibition that I would normally have to dancing). We all had a really good time.

After we danced, the Kurdish guys wanted to hear an “American” song. I was picked to be the lucky one to sing. I had NO idea what to sing. I declined and they were a bit pushy (but in a playful and not aggressive sort of way). So I gave in and said I would sing something. I still had no clue what to sing. Then it hit me. These guys don’t speak a word of English. I could just make something up as long as it has a melody and no one would ever be the wiser! They would think it’s a legit American song! So the saas player began to play a chord realization (lucky for me I had endured the pain of aural skills and could figure out the chords and craft a melody – see it did come to use somewhere in my life!). I then began to make up a song to random words. I sang something like, “We started out in Istanbul today. We went to Sanliurfa today!” and then I had some verses. I don’t remember exactly what I said, but it ended up being completely ridiculous and funny. Actually, because they didn’t understand, they asked Elif if I was making fun of them in English. I thought it was strange that they would ask that, but Elif said it was probably because that is what they would do if they were in our position.

So the night continued like that. After a while, these guys decided that they were hungry and ordered çığ köfte, a Turkish food that is made of raw meat and “cooked” by the addition of spices. It happens to be one of my favorite dishes and special to Urfa. The Urfa çığ köfte was much spicier than the same thing back in Istanbul. This was particularly remarkable to me because they did not merely want to buy çığ köfte that had already been prepared. Instead, they wanted the dish freshly made. For those of you who don’t know, this is not an easy dish to make and involves some manual labor as it is mixed by hand in a large metal container. Our Kurdish friends called someone and specially asked them to make it for them from scratch at 2:30am! Ridiculous!

Following the end of the night (at about 3am), we were all very tired and made our way back to Mustafa’s home (he was sharing it with the guy who drove us from the bus station). Each of us slept in two rooms. Sonya and Em slept in the living room and I slept with Elif in a bedroom (2 separate beds of course). The room we slept in was the room of a little girl and Elif and I wondered about where she might have been and what her life must be like. Then, we went to sleep. We later found out that for our night with these guys, they spent 1,200 Lira on us (about $800). That’s crazy!