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The Little Things

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Since moving to Turkey and more particularly moving to The Village I (along with Daughter) am learning to appreciate the simple way of life and to, perhaps, disparage what we had and how we lived in Australia.  I have learnt to not complain about things that are not perfect and instead focus on the good things that we do have (unless you refer to those neighbours in which case – watch out!).

Living in Australia Daughter was always on the lookout for something new.  Shopping was a weekly event and clothes, computer games or gadgets were expected.  I was exactly the same.  Like mother, like daughter.  I used to sneak my purchases into the house so The Turk would not have a conniption, funny thing though – he would always find it no matter how well I hid things.  Bags hidden under the bed – he would find it.  Bags hidden in the garage – he would find them.  Hell he was like one of those dogs at the airport sniffing out contraband!  I could never hide anything from him and despite his terrible ability to read English he could read the credit card statement!

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Here in Karaduvar it is a little different.  Firstly we do not have two disposable incomes.  We must live on a budget and admittedly we are not doing a very good job of that.  We now need to be a little more stringent with our spending habits and that . . . well that definitely takes some getting used to!

The other reason Karaduvar is different is that our friends and neighbours do not have disposable incomes.  They work extremely hard and long hours to put food on their table and to ensure that their family and those around them are warm and happy.  I watch women arrive at the bache (farm) across the street before the sun has risen and they will work all day for approximately 30TL (AUD$15.00).   These women then return to their own homes and cook dinner for their family and, after the family have had their fill they will clean their homes until they shine.  If their neighbour needs anything they will give them theirs no questions asked even if this means they will go without. There is no jealousy, there is just caring and friendship.  Is this not what life should be about?

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I have begun to realise that I do not need all the material things that seemed necessary at home.  I look out my window where Daughter is playing with her cousins on the street with Hurley running after them.  I recall how her entire class came to check on her recently when she had a day off from school.  This would have never happened back in Sydney.

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I think our little family will be happier here with a simpler lifestyle.  Look at me – I am growing!    Who would have thunk it!

Lost in Translation

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Thanks to Cukurbagli’s http://cukurbagli.wordpress.com/ comment below it turns out that I still cannot speak Türkçe properly!  Finger’s crossed I chose the right translation. 

This Meme could not be further from the current predicament that I find myself in.  It is impossible to keep calm and learn Türkçe (no that is not a typo, it is the correct translation for Turkish).  Learning Türkçe is a time-consuming pain in my arse.  I am useless not just with Türkçe but with languages in general.  I can, of course, swear in many languages (I think swearing is the first thing you learn when you arrive in a country) but conversational Türkçe is proving more laborious than my pea sized brain can handle.  The Turk (in this case my husband) has suggested that I take a language course at Mersin University but this will not start for a couple of months so in the meantime I muddle through as best as I can.

It is easy for me to be confused learning this language.  From going to the market to a conversation over the fence I get embarrassed quite regularly with my phonetic blunders.  Funnily enough I do know a lot of singular words and learning the words is quite easy once you have learnt the alphabet.  I find the issue is stringing the words into a sentence.  Why? I think the correct term would be word order.  So rather than saying “where is the cat?”  It is would be, “cat where?” or in Turkish “kedi nerede”.  See my confusion.  It is a little like talking with Yoda –

“Powerful you have become, the dark side I sense in you.”

Daughter has, of course, been going to school so is picking up conversational Türkçe quite easily.  She also has a teacher that comes to our house each evening and spends time with her to help her transition with the language and to assist with her homework.  I am impressed with Daughter’s speed at picking up the language (and a little envious) but even she finds learning Türkçe exhausting.

I laugh now at my heady statement made before I left Avustralya (sorry did you mean Australia?).  Far too often and to far too many people I stated that I could get by without any Türkçe.  It would not be necessary for me to learn the language.  Since arriving in Mersin it has become quite clear just how foolhardy I was.  There are days when I find myself deflated from the simple task of paying the water bill at the Posta (Post Office) but the gratification I feel when I see the recognition on the face of the shopkeeper or my neighbour smile when I ask how they are in their native language . . . well let me just say that it is a high five, fist pumping “boo ya!” moment for Jane!

Never put off till tomorrow what may be done the day after tomorrow just as well

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When the decision to move to the Village came I imagined the idea of a blog keeping all my friends up to date on the day to day crazy that is Turkey.  Of course since arriving I have been completely overwhelmed and have not had more than 5 minutes to myself, let alone find the time to write this blog.  So today I resolved to not leave this desk until I wrote at least a little something to let you all know what has ensued over the past few weeks.

Of course procrastination set in.  Rather than writing about our numerous visits to Turkish government offices in an attempt to get a Nüfus Cüzdanı (Turkish Identity card) I was chatting to friends back home on Skype.  Rather than blogging about Daughter’s first days in a Turkish school I was caught playing Candy Crush Saga (rather unceremoniously and with photographic evidence provided by said daughter).  And finally, rather than introducing you to my new life I generally dilly-dallied about by reading articles about procrastination!

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Yes I can safely say that I have spent most of my day doing the absolute opposite of what I had intended. I had thought it would be simple for me to write after all I have done it my entire life.  How many novels have I written (or have I started before putting them aside for other more exciting activities).  I know that many of you have encouraged me to continue to write however sitting down and talking (or blogging) about my life has proved to be an extremely daunting task!  So here I am over analysing my thoughts and rejecting each idea in the process.

It may be that I just have too much that I want to say and that all my thoughts are becoming muddled although if I am honest with myself it is more likely that I feel that my writing is not good enough for public consumption.  Having acknowledged this fact confidence in my ability to write this blog or to write anything is now at an all time low and try as I might I cannot put “pen to paper”.

What I can say to you is that we have arrived in the Village and have settled into our new home.  Having no option but to hit the ground running, we have quickly adjusted into a daily routine of school and village life.  Daughter has made many friends, is surrounded by her family and is, of course, very happy.

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I am enjoying my sea change, muddling along with the language and learning the Turkish way of life.  My mornings are blissfully my own while Daughter is at school and I can usually be found walking through the markets and using my limited Turkish skills to haggle with the vendors.  If that seems too much like hard work I will take My Hurley Dog to the deniz (sea) to watch him run along the sand and chase the wave ripple.  Walking to the sea also means a walk through the fish market and past the harbour which makes the dog quiver with excitement.  The smells and the stray cats are like manna from heaven to a dog!

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The evenings have been warm and we tend to congregate outside my mother in law’s home, eating what can only be described as a Turkish banquet while listening to music (Turkish of course), laughing and talking well into the night.

And, yes, I have gotten down and dirty making chilli paste (which was extraordinarily messy), shovelling what seemed like a never ending mountain of soil in an effort to finish the garden and attempting numerous Turkish recipes (which is more complex than an explanation of the political strife in the Middle East).

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So perhaps I have procrastinated today but I promise you that I will begin a new tomorrow and maybe tell you about my spider bite and subsequent trips to the village hospital (yikes!).

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