Every Sunday, a huge bazaar sets up right outside E’s door. In fact, if they want to use their car on Sundays, they have to park it several blocks away the night before. I asked to walk through the bazaar yesterday. It was big, crowded, and totally interesting for me. I could have bought tomatoes, underwear, and batteries all at the same place. Perfect. I’m sure E’s family was bored stiff, but I’m glad they humored me.
E’s family has recently watched several old films from the ‘60s or ‘70s on tv. I’ve noticed something strange while watching these films. Most of the actors are what Turks would describe as “yellow.” Yellow people have either brown or blonde hair—but certainly not black hair. I find this trend both fascinating and horrifying since the number of yellow Turks I’ve actually met is limited.
Today, I went with E and his mom on some errands. One piece of paper she picked up contained all of her family’s vital statistics—something I found fascinating. Apparently, E’s parents didn’t get around to having a civil wedding ceremony (versus a religious wedding ceremony) until 1994—long after their five children were born. I also got to see information on his oldest sister’s marriages. She was married for the first time in a “family marriage” when she was 14 or 15 (depending on what year she was really born—something debatable when it comes to E’s family). I can’t even imagine being married so young. They divorced 5.5 years later, and E’s mom feels horribly guilty about it all. Of course, when his sister married, his mother was younger than I am now. Yikes.
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