Memorable Quotes & Sıgns

Chatting with various shopkeepers, restaurant staff and random locals has its rewards. Sometimes it's a great story or interesting facts. Sometimes it accentuates how much we can't connect.

Exhibit A... Barbara, co-owner of Kemal's Guest House (yes, two words) recommended a restaurant. She told us to ask for the cook's best. It might be meat or fish but "don't look at the menu. Ask for the day's best food." Armed with what we thought were easy instructions we wander to the food establishment. We get a roof terrace table by the railing with a fabulous view of Goreme and the valley rock formations. We ask the waiter if he speaks English. He says he speaks "very good Engish" so the following exchange:

R: Kemal sent us.
Waiter: camel? You want camel meat?
Y: No. Kemal's guesthouse...
Waiter interrupts: do we have camels in Goreme?
R: Uhm...what is the cook's best meal?
 [At this point you are probably wondering why we continue, yet we soldier on] Y: Barbara said to ask for the cook.
Waiter: Cook? What is this cook?
Y miming chopping food: You know, in the kitchen.
Waiter looks thoroughly confused. Waiter getting agitated: I speak English! What is this cook!?!?
R: the chef in the kitchen.
Waiter calls over another waiter: what is a chef?
They chatter in Turkish and we are still on different language trains heading in opposite directions. Finally one says: chef not here
Y: then who's making the food?
R: Never mind. We would like red wine.
They bring us red wine. We order off the menu. While we're eating, Yasmine points down to the side road. One of the waiters is cleaning car windows and hubcaps with Windex. Obviously a slow night at work. He comes back upstairs and Regina tries another conversation.
R: you're cleaning cars too?
Waiter: Car? You have car here?
R: no, that one down there (pointing)
Waiter: that's my friend's car.
 R: but why are you cleaning it?
Waiter: I don't understand. He leaves.
Y: Really? You thought you could have a conversation with him? He has no idea what you're saying."
R: Well, he said he speaks English.
Y: Really??? Why don't you have some camel meat and call it a day.

A day earlier we commented that the town seems empty even though it's the tourist season. We had been told many people from Ankara drive to Goreme for vacation. A local told us the it's busy from mid-June to early July, then again mid-July to end of August. Reg asked if it gets busy during Ramadan (it's coming up soon). The guy snorts and says, "Ramadan? No one cares about Ramadan. It's a stupid holiday."

We took the local bus to the Underground City.  Photos above from shop at bus stop. Had to transfer busses. At the transfer stop Yasmine asked a woman how much the fare is. She said "for me it is 2.50 Turkish lira. For you, I don't know. You get the tourist price.". Yasmine chatted with her for a while. The woman is from Syria and has been in Turkey for 10 years; it took several years for her to get charged the locals fare.

This from Ibrahim, a carpet dealer/restaurant owner in Istanbul: we were talking about how few bookstores there are in a city of 18 million people. He said flatly, "Muslims don't read. The first word in the Koran is 'read' but Muslims don't read." Then he pitched us the wares ın his carpet shop.

Thıs woman waved us ınto her house.  She spoke wıth us ın fairly good German and English.  At one point she saidş "Turkish gone.  Only German and English."  We would say somethıng, her granddaughter would repete ıt to her mother, who shouted it upstairs to the father who then repeated it.  We all laughed with each other.  We ended up buyıng a doll from her.