On the 3rd day of Christmas: Meet Khadijah, a worker from Egypt

Posted on December 15, 2011 by lizcameron

Do you see Khadijah? She is in back, tending to the women in the Sultan's harem (Thanks to http://www.turkishculture.blogspot.com for the image)

Today we meet Khadijah, the Karagöz shadow puppet who represents the far-flung citizens of the Ottoman Empire – in this case – puppets from Egypt.  Khadijah was a Black African woman raised in Egypt, but was captured during a battle, and brought to work at the Sultan’s palace in Bursa as a non-voluntary migrant worker (this is how she likes to frame it, vs. as a “slave,” and it is her choice how she categorizes herself, after all).  Now, in the blog post header, I say “worker” but I do want to acknowledge that this is really just revisionist history.

She got back at everyone, though, she drank from the fountain of youth when nobody was looking – as did the other Karagöz puppets in my head once they befriended her.  I am learning as she whispers into my ear tonight – and therefore this explains why she served the Sultans again and again over the centuries.  You can see that the clothes she is pictured in here in the image to the left are quite modern – not what would have been worn when the Sultan’s residence was still in Bursa, back in the early days of the Ottoman Empire.

I just asked Khadijah why nobody noticed that she never aged – why nobody suspected that she had sipped from the fountain of  youth – and she looked at me with all the attitude of a homegirl from the South Bronx where I used to work – “Girl! Are you serious? Come ON! I mean, I’m a Black woman! And a servant!  Do you REALLY think they are gonna notice me? Really? Lady, you gotta get your head screwed on straight and start seein’ the world for what it REALLY is – and was even back then!”  (Insert teeth-sucking sound in disgust now).  OK, I get the point.  Point well taken, Khadijah.  After years and years of serving the ladies, Khadijah finally obtained a place in the chorus of dancing ladies…but she really has more responsibility than that, as she truly knows the ropes of life backwards and forwards.  She is a regular visitor and commentator in my life.

In any case, you first met Khadijah back in 2004, when I was flying to Istanbul for the first time with M., to meet his family.  She is also a woman in a cross-cultural marriage-  well – she’s not married yet – he’s saving for her trousseau, which will be all in red, her favorite color (when she isn’t wearing yellow).   The he in question is Celebi, who thinks he is the Sultan of the puppets sometimes – but is really a forward-thinking man of the modern era – rejecting much of what stands as acceptable in the modern day.  Khadijah loves him with all her heart – and they face the world strong in a Black-White relationship that challenges social norms in any era.

Other than drinking from the fountain of youth, which, of course, you only need do once in your life, Khadijah loves rosewater lemonade.  She makes it ever summer, and sometimes sneaks in a little bit of mint from the garden.  She is a fabulous cook – who wouldn’t be after centuries of practice and technique development?  None of her dishes EVER burn, nothing tastes overly salted, overly herby or overly spicy.  She knows just what M. likes to eat and tries to guide my hands with her heart – but sometimes the messages get lost along the way.  She is a stallwart friend, positive (yet sassy), and will defend me to the end.  She encourages me to stand up for myself when I am being taken advantage of  and always looks for the quiet yet diplomatic route to get things done behind the scenes.

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On the 2nd day of Christmas: Meet Bebe Ruhi, a Karagöz puppet with Dwarfism and a whole lotta goof

Posted on December 14, 2011 by lizcameron

Bebe Ruhi, a Karagoz puppet with Dwarfism, shown here on a horse (thanks to the Asian Shadow Theatre Exhibition's photostream at flikr, click photo for link)

Meet Bebe Ruhi, a Karagöz shadow puppet with Dwarfism, may be a small man, but he is a man with a big heart that is full of goofiness.

My husband M. always says that he liked Bebe Ruhi the best as a child.  In traditional Karagöz shadow puppet theatre, Bebe Ruhi is described as follows thanks to my favorite Karagöz website, run by Emin Senyer: ” (he is a) dwarf (that) has an impediment in his speech and pronounces r and s as y. He asks the same questions over and over again until people become tired of listening to him. Sometimes he is a dwarf and sometimes a hunchback. When he is a dwarf he is called by such names as Beberuhi or altikulac (six-fathom), and is shown to be fidgety, talkative and extremely boastful. He often does odd jobs around the neighbourhood and is somewhat spoiled by the pity of the locals. Karagoz on many occasions, has to beat him in order to get rid of him.”

Here is another image of Bebe Ruhi

So, in this non-traditional Karagöz shadow puppet world in my head, things are a little different. There will be no beating, for example.  Bebe Ruhi was born and raised in Bursa – and as his disability was ridiculed as a child – he found a way to make it work for him – in the circus.  Eventually, he joined the Sultan’s court as an oddity.  Ableism aside, as this is a modern concept, Bebe Ruhi has not yet made his presence known in the story of my roadtrip, but true to form, he is a questioner that is true to my heart.  It doesn’t hurt that I am a disability studies scholar in my professional life, of course.  But I think I like Bebe Ruhi best because in my own life, I often feel that I am not heard, and ask the same questions over again, perhaps in the way that Albert Einstein would define as insane, so, perhaps this is why I have such a good feeling for him, I can relate to him and to his insanity.  Bebe Ruhi doesn’t sleep much – and he loves to come out when I am teaching.  He is usually swilling a Red Bull energy drink and then loving the speedy feeling that causes him to think super-analytically and talk at breakneck pace – posing questions to the students that are rhetorical and otherwise.

However, he is also the Karagöz puppet character that is the one who eggs me on – encourages me to be proud of myself – but that often leads me into the dangerously slippery slope of boastfulness.  Bebe Ruhi just LOVES to talk – and encourages me to hang out with the friends that talk the most.  He is the one that has the absolutely most difficult time in the car with M. when we are driving on an actual in-the-car road trip vs. what I refer to as “the roadtrip of cross-cultural marriage.”  That Bebe Ruhi, he chatters all the way, driving M. nuts when all he wants to do is focus on the road.  Bebe Ruhi will often drive Esma nuts – she is the peace-loving, meditative and quiet hippie puppet that you met yesterday. 🙂

Look out for Bebe Ruhi, he’s coming to town soon, and he has a lot to say!.

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On the 1st day of Christmas: Meet Esma, the hippie Karagöz puppet

Posted on December 13, 2011 by lizcameron

Meet Esma, a member of the chorus of dancing ladies, the largest grouping amongst the Karagöz shadow puppet troupe

So, for the 12 days before Christmas, you are meeting the various Karagöz shadow puppet characters that roam around in my head.  No, I am not a person with a major mental illness.  No, I don’t really, really see puppets in my everyday life.  Yes, I have found that all of the confusion and just generally new stuff that comes along with living in a cross-cultural marriage is well-conceptualized as many different little voices.  I think the puppets have revealed themselves to me in order to help me to see how my partner may view things…or to help me think about how my in laws may view things, etcetera.  These little puppets are having a great time while we are in the States – learning all about what goes on here and what the customs and practices are.  These little puppets also love going back home to Turkey – and guide me all over the place.  So, today, I want you to meet Esma, the hippie Karagöz shadow puppet.

Esma is a reserved young lady, despite her work as a member of the chorus of dancing ladies who always introduce and conclude Karagöz puppet shows.  She spends the early morning hours meditating – and she is a master, or should I say a mistress, at this.  While many of the other lady puppets have a strong personality – often speaking back to their partners or husbands – Esma has no need for this.  She is a tranquil soul, who brings out the best moments in me.  I guess this is why I started with her.

Esma, as I have come to know her slowly, is really and truly a hippie.  I am not sure if there were hippies in the Ottoman Empire era from which she hails, but this lady’s love of nature, calm ways, penchant for meditating and use of herbal tinctures tells me she is of this general ilk.  She also occasionally dies her hair a different color, usually pink, purple or green.

Rose petal dress that Esma plans to wear to the ball, from The Faire-ality Fashion Collection (no lie, check it out)

Esma is a “go with the flow” and “let the way become clear” kind of gal.  She loves the color pink – and recently attended the Sultan of Nutcracker’s holiday ball in a dress made solely of bright, fuschia rose petals – of the softest (and most organic) variety, of course.  She tells me “tabi canım, (of course, dear) it was organic! I will have none other out of respect for Mother Earth!”

Preferring Ada çayı (island tea) to rize çayı in the mornings after her meditation, Esma always uses agave nectar in lieu of massive amounts of sugar lumps, like some other puppets I know.  While she is a svelte young lady, she didn’t rub it in, not even once, when I was going through the whole “I dream of burquini” debacle with my sister-in-law to be in the summer of 2004.  She just accepts all human (and puppet) forms as they are, without judgement.  It’s a bit milk and honey from the outside – and may appear to be insincere, but I have learned that she is not, that it is straight from the heart.

Esma was born in Gaziantep (thus the seemingly genetic love of spices galore) – but emigrated to Bursa when she was just an infant.  Her particularly quiet and meditative form of dancing is what led to her invitation to be part of the Sultan’s troupe of dancing lady puppets.  She sends her family her wages every  month.

How these puppets worked it out with a centuries-dead Sultan to inhabit my mind in the 2000s, I will never know.  I am just grateful for their presence, as they always help me to sort out my business as I navigate this cross-cultural roadtrip of marriage with my Turkish husband, M.  Esma is the most calming influence of the shadow puppets, and I am grateful for her presence.  That little puppet has hear calm head screwed on straight.

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