Gooble Gooble

This being my first post of the season I apologize in advance for the scatteredness you are about to encounter. Thus far, life here is wonderful. The family that I am living with has a 19 year old daughter (Miray), a 14 year old daughter (Aleyna) and a 10 year old son Gökı. Miray seamlessly speaks English, as well as French. Aleyna speaks French with only one year of schooling for English, and Gökı speaks some English and is learning Spanish. I spend the most time practicing English with the mother and Gökı. I am hoping to improve my French with Aleyna (as she virtually knows no English) but her parents are fairly insistent that I only speak English with the kids. The family also has two housekeepers, a chef and a gardener--no of who speak any English, so I am trying to quickly learn the basics of Turkish so that I can communicate with them and the father.

I have become a show-and-tell piece for the family. Dinner is a minimum of 10 people, as they always have guests over. The gated community where we live (an hour drive from the city center) is filled with extended family and old family friends. Therefore the evenings are always filled with stories. My family will intentionally invite people over who have studied English, so that their guests can practice their English as well. Fun fact about guests here--upon arrival, they are part of the family. You bet your bottom dollar that they will put their feet on the couch and kindly (or not so kindly) remind your child the proper way to behave.

Because there are so many guests over, I have had some great conversations. One of their neighbors was trying to figure out much I knew about Islam by asking me to point out who in the room was Muslim. Though I did not go about pointing fingers at anyone, I had previously known (from conversations with Miray) that everyone in my family was Muslim. I explained to him I understood that many people of their class and more-open mindset do not display their religion in the form of a scarf of symbol. As Turkey is 99% Muslim it was safe to assume that everyone in the room was whether the practice religiously or not. My family is not practicing as they do not partake in prayer nor do they attend the weekly Mosque. Miray explained that her friends also have a similar relationship with religion, as they do not wear scarves nor do they pray at school.

Another interesting topic of conversation was the role that religion should play in the government. Modern Turkey was founded as a secular nation. However, today's government is dominated by an Islamic party, who according to dinner conversations is reverting the country back into a more close-minded style of Islam. Though nothing drastic has happened yet (besides apparently the government secretly paying girls to wear scarves publicly) they are worried about the lack of separation between church and state in the near future.

Fireworks went off at midnight, so I am choosing to believe that an American lives nearby as it is officially the 4th of July here now. I will inquire in the morning as to the real reason however, just in case my assumptions are off. Hope you all have wonderful celebrations.

For now, that's all folks. I will write more (and add pictures) soon.