Hamburgers and Gala Dinners

Let me first say that in Turkey, if it looks like a hamburger, smells like a hamburger, and is dressed like a hamburger... it is NOT necessarily a hamburger.

Hamburgers are a frequent occurrence on restaurant menus here, but I learned my lesson the first time I ordered what I thought was a genuine hamburger as we Americans know it to be. While the toppings (lettuce, tomato, pickles, onions, cheese) are all much better here in Turkey, I've come to realize that the meat is really the essential part, and if it's not right, then it's not a hamburger. The restaurants here use kofte meat for the patty, which is a seasoned ground meat (I think it's beef...) that is used for just about everything else here too. It tastes fine, but it doesn't pack the same punch as regular ol' ground beef. Up until last weekend, I had not visited any of the American fast food places in Antalya, like Burger King or McDonald's. But I was craving a REAL hamburger, so we went to Burger King. I have never appreciated a Whopper more!

Now on to a more cultural topic. This past weekend Verna and Tansule, along with Yapa, the publishing company that Tansule works with, put on an educational conference for teachers about assessing and teaching gifted preschoolers. A very specific topic, but one that Turkish preschool teachers are very interested in. Verna brought a teacher, Emily, over from Washington to speak. I attended one day of the conference, and it was very interesting. Emily talked about Bloom's and Gardner, culminating with the teachers filling out an activity matrix that meshed the two theories. The best part of the weekend though, was getting to show Emily around Antalya. Unfortunately, Verna unexpectedly took sick, and was out of the picture for the weekend. So, Emily and I got to go to the market, and Duden Falls (the big beautiful waterfall a ways out of town). On Sunday we went out to a surrounding village for a traditional (and very large!) Turkish breakfast in our own private hut, and later to the Antalya Museum. We also visited the hamam, where Emily treated me to the full deal, including oil massage! So amazing! I will definitely miss the hamams when I get home.

The conference weekend finished with a gala dinner for the participants, and since Verna was out of commission, I went along as Emily's date. Having never been to a formal Turkish soiree, this was an interesting experience. The food was fine - sort of bland, and surprisingly not overtly Turkish. We weren't actually served the main course until 11:00, so that was interesting in itself. The entertainment was the real cultural point of the evening however. A poet named Ahmet (didn't catch the last name) performed his poem-songs all evening. He was very emotional, and according to Tansule, has written (and knows by heart) over 800 poems. Everyone in the room seemed to know all the lyrics, and sang right along with him. It was amazing to see how the music moved each person - huge smiles and lots of slow, subtle belly dancing. One of the women at my table was so graceful, even just in the way she moved her hands to the music. As if the poet wasn't enough, one of the teachers (a music teacher) took over for a while, and sang children's songs that he had written. Now, maybe it's just because it was a group of preschool teachers, but I've never been to a formal gathering where the guests literally acted like cows and pigs! It's also possible that the copious amounts of Raki (licorice flavored liqueur) consumed helped loosen everyone up. Either way, it was a fun glimpse into Turkish culture.