Whatever comes before you...(Ne çıkarsa bahtına)

It is the title of a TV show that I try to watch when I am in Istanbul. It is a dating show. However, I have not seen any young people so far. Participants are mostly over 60 retired men and women.

The show is at 9:30 AM every morning. Its hostess is always dressed in some kind of an evening gown, her bleached blond hair is styled according to her outfit (I assume) with a hair band or a large flower etc. Her earrings hang to her shoulders, make up is well done and she displays a fake smile that she keeps it throughout the conversations. She has a tendency to interrupt her guests to correct their grammar or finish their sentences. She also injects her opinion and elaborates on guests personality traits even though she has just met them.   

Guests come mostly from nearby towns of Istanbul, over 60, who have been divorced or widowed, however, they have not given up on happiness and experiencing love yet. The stage is decorated accordingly, with pink heart shaped balloons etc. Love is in the air.

It is a significant show in terms of understanding economic and social conditions of Türkiye.

Guests introduce themselves as ordinary people, who own an apartment, have a retirement salary, maybe a car. These conditions seemed to be the most important factor in selecting a spouse. Everyone of them have adult children. Then phones start ringing for the further conversations who are interested in meeting the bachelor or the bachelorette on the stage. They start asking questions to each other revealing extra information unintentionally. Some of them have serious health problems, have not taken a part in their children's life for many years and not aware of their whereabouts, childhood problems comes out, as being orphans as well as childhood abuse, not having an education, not holding any skills, etc, nevertheless, each claim to be honest and hard working people. When the story gets too sad, hostess blows her whistle and program musician takes the stage with a sad, but enjoyable song. Audience cheers, starts clapping to the music. The problems are forgotten and guests start dancing with each other.

Every time I watch this show something funny happens and I laugh so much brings tears to my eyes. Today, a female guest's microphone comes loose, while she is passionately dancing to Greek music. Her microphone on her belt loosened, has slided between her legs and wires are hanging under her pants. She does not stop dancing and her body is tangles in such a way she falls down. Everyone on the stage including the hostess and the other guests try to untangle her. Camera zooms in and we see that her pants are being rolled up by the hostess and someone is taking off her shoes etc. Background music continues with its original strength. The situation is so tangled, show goes to advertising. One could not create this scene in Hollywood with the best comedians. It is a priceless.

Participants are real, their concerns, desires are real. I wonder if tears in my eyes are because of the funny situation or the build up of their stories. I cry my heart out.

Adalar...

Last weekend, I went to stay over with my friend Sevil in Burgazada which is the second stop on the ferry route to the Prince's Islands on the Marmara Sea. Sevil has been a friend for many years. She is a mechanical engineer, an accomplished painter and an excellent cook.  Summers are for playing competitive scrabble, canning vegetables, making jams for the winter and she loves the quality of vegetables and fruits she gets from the farmers of Yalova (located south shore of Marmara Sea). 

After a good night sleep, I joined her making blackberry and strawberry jam in the kitchen. Turkish pop music on the background, we start the process. Fruits were left in sugar overnight, now we need to stir them to becoming a jam. I gently hold the wooden spoon and start stirring the blackberries on  very low heat. We melt the sugar and make sure that the fruit does not break as it starts to boil. The rhythms I keep is consistent with the background music. As I stir the heavy syrup, Sevil and I start dancing to Tarkan.

"Biraz param vardı, bitti

Dün işim vardı, bugün yok

Sevgilimde çekti gitti

Yok oğlu yok

Şarkılar da olmasa

Telefonlar da çalmasa

Arkadaşlarım da olmasa

Ne yapardım kimbilir?"

God bless you Tarkan.

As I turn the stove off,  I feel ready to jump into swimming pool. After an evening tea and pastries I catch the ferry to another island where there is another friend :)

Belkıs agrees to meet me at the Büyükada pier that evening. She is a friend from DC. She has variety of activities planed. To my surprise, a lot going on in Büyükada this evening. We decide to go to a classical music concert by Büyükada residences on a small park. It was a lot of fun, very well done. Thanks!

Belkıs is staying in her childhood manor by the water in Büyükada. I had heard about the manor from other friends that it was a magnificent manor by the water under the pine trees, a historic site, etc. I am not much into nostalgia, nevertheless, I am looking forward to experiencing the manor living. After the concert we take the horse baggy to the manor. Belkıs unlocks the kitchen door and I immediately fell into the spell of this house. It is a fine lady with great bones, she displays her age proudly. She does not overwhelm, but captures the visitor with an understated beauty. I feel hüzün for the house. She is lonely. 

Belkis shows me my room. Tall ceilings that are ornamented and two french doors opens to a balcony. There is a bed with a mosquito netting. I am back to reality and thinking how am I going to get through the night fighting the little creatures. Oh, well!

I see the balcony stretching into the Marmara Sea. I have heard that God would open the doors to heaven if you are a good Muslim, in my case those doors are opened by my friend Belkıs who  returns armed with a mosquito spray. She gives me instructions how to slide into bed with a mosquito net. 

I just say OK, OK and sit at the edge of the balcony and let myself enjoy the Marmara Sea at night. Boats are idly moving side to side, the lights from the large boats look like golden needles piercing the sea, sea gulls are busy talking to each other, I am relaxed, ready to slide into my mosquito net and have a good night sleep.

I wake up to a beautiful morning by the sea in a room with the view. As I open my eyes, I notice the lace work on the frame of the balcony doors, then I hear the sea gulls. I walk down the staircase which is curving around the first floor. I enter into an impressive size of dining room. We sit on the veranda with our morning tea. We let ourselves enjoy the view and each others company.

Later, I walk the house bare feet.

Belkıs tells me about the history of the house, her stories take me a century back. I listen with a great interest. We decide to go to the private beach which is few steps away from the veranda. In the meantime, I suggest her to rent the house to for a TV series that we could both star in.

We spent the day swimming, chatting, drinking tea once in a while and making a choice between bean dishes that Belkis cooked a day before. They were delicious Belkıscım. Thanks a million for a special weekend. Your company is the most enjoyable, so is the Köşk and the room with a view.