We interrupt the Karagoz broadcast to announce: We’ve been nominated for the Versatile Blogger Award (twice!)

Posted on December 11, 2011 by lizcameron

My goodness!

A few weeks ago, my fellow blogger, Walking Papers: A Long Strange Family Trip, wrote to let me know that she had nominated me for The Versatile Blogger Award (which as she so hysterically points out has been won by at least “568,312 (or so)” other people.  She – and I – were not too sure about what it really meant to be nominated.  Ignoring the obvious, I presumed, in my fantasy world, that I might someday get an email saying that I had won something – beyond the respect of my fellow blogger for which I am very honored and grateful!

And then comes part two.  In the process of catching up with my favorite blogs after a month off the blogosphere, I found that I was doubly nominated for this award! Jack Scott over at the inimitable Perking the Pansies blog (and author of a fabulous new book on the experiences that he and his husband/partner have had as expats living in Turkey –  and you can order here) – has also nominated me! Thank you, Jack – I wish I had noticed sooner! Slackerish me!

So, after reading what Jack and Walking Papers have to say about the award – and Googling around a bit – I can see that nobody really gets a sense of the origins of this award – but does it matter? No! This is a home grown, grass roots type of award – which I would argue is the very best kind. So, in keeping with tradition, I am posting the image for this award as well as seven quirky things about me – and I am nominating seven other blogs for this award as well! So – here you go – and many, many thanks (she takes a stage bow, and the Karagöz puppets beam with double-sided pride!).

As a recipient of the award, I must post the image of the award (check), write 7 quirky things about me (about to be a check) and pass on the award to 15 others (just about to be a check).  So, enjoy!

7 quirky things about me

1. I had a purple mohawk hairdo (amongst other colors and styles) in high school but attended both hard core punk shows and Grateful Dead shows to be different.

2. I used to be deathly afraid of public speaking and now I am a professional speaker (well, a professor) – neverwouldathoughtit.

3. In 1984, I visited Tbilisi, Georgia as part of a school exchange – this was before perestroika…and ditched an Intourist guide whilst doing so in order to walk through an ancient castle and into supermarkets and churches (not allowed with Intourist guide).

4. During the early 1990s, I worked on a hospital ward for people at the end stages of living with HIV/AIDS – it changed my worldview forever – the most courageous – and pissed off – people ever. They still inspire me and inform my teaching of social work students.

5. I learned how to spot a drug deal from my bodyguard in Brooklyn while doing home visits as a social worker – no lie, we had a bodyguard.  Leon and I pretended to be boyfriend and girlfriend when things got hairy (say, whilst trying to escape a gun battle in the projects in East New York).  I learned a lot from Leon – but I didn’t buy one of his teachings – namely that Islam was started in America, right there in Brooklyn (he didn’t mean the Louis Farrakhan variety, either).

6. I make a mean chocolate-rosewater cupcake with tangy lemon buttercream frosting – or sometimes old fashioned vanilla boiled meringue frosting in honor of my Dad and Grandma.

7. While traveling, my favorite thing to do is to check out the supermarkets.  This likely comes from the odd practice of ethnography my parents engaged in when we were kids while out to eat once a month at the Chinese restaurant – we ate in silence, observing all around us, and then each made up a fairy tale about what was going on around us for the car ride home.  Explains the puppets, maybe?

My nominations for versatile blogs are:

1) Mozzarella Mamma: Deadlines, Diapers and the Dolce Vita:  About an American journalist-Mamma living in Roma (full disclosure – she’s my stepsis).  I love all of her blog posts – but as she knows – those with the strongest “red thread” 😉 are my fave – especially “Mozzarella Mamma vs. Tiger Mamma.”

2)Archers of okçular: ‘Burası türkiye!’ – ‘this is turkey!’ – living, loving and travelling turkey:  The versatile, intriguing and generally gut-splitting musings of a Brit expat slash emiköy on all manner of interesting topics.  I couldn’t possibly choose one favorite – but I knew I had made a true friend when I saw the post entitled “How do you like your eggs, sir (or madam)?” in which Alan coddled an egg in J’s compost bin!

3) Culture Every Day:  Musings on all aspects of culture from an anthropologist and world traveler who is also on a Turkish-American marital roadtrip (to  use my own parlance!).  Right now, my favorite post is the one on globally-inspired holiday gifts – you can check it out here.

4) Pul Biber: With Everything:  A ramble through the versatile lives of two Britpats adjusting to their new life in Selcuk, Turkey – fascinating to watch!  I love tracking the process of these two with each post, but was particularly excited to read their camel wrestling post – as my husband insists this does not go on in Turkey and is not a Turkish tradition (go figure)!

5) Being Koy: A journal of life in Kirazli Koy, Kusadasi, Aegean Turkey: Lovely writing and images about village life in the Aegean region – a treat.  Can’t imagine a favorite – they are all super – but this one captures the essence of what I love about this blog “Village People.”

6) Adventures in Ankara…there’s a new kid in town:  A recounting of the exploits of a Philadelphia-derived expat in Ankara – and a fellow cross-cultural marriage road-tripper that I love to follow!  I am always interested to hear about the latest goings-on in Ankara, but one post that sticks in my mind that I can relate to is  “The Elusive Kekik.”

7) Turkish Travel Blog:  Now this is a blog about Turkey – and it is truly versatile – so many different topics and spins and out of the way highlights – with lovely graphics.  This blog is not only eye candy but it is a public service to all the English-speaking expats out there, I would imagine.  I think my very favorite post is on “The Hard-Core, Street Crew of Herakleia.”

Bravo all of you – and to many others!!!!

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Moving from Madonna to Meditation and Myths

Posted on December 10, 2011 by lizcameron

Here is Esma, the only member of the Karagöz shadow puppet troupe that wasn't uber-fashion-obsessed and was willing to take a walk with me!

These days, my internal Karagöz puppets are more like internal Karagöz demons – fashionista demons obsessed with what to wear to the Sultan of Nutcracker’s ball in Provincetown.  In order to get some solace from the fashion madness – and the fact that Madonna’s “vogue” is on repeat in my house, I sat down to meditate on the bay beach along with the one little puppet who would leave the house with me – Esma.

We sat, lotus-style, and meditated to the waves, embracing and then ignoring the chilly air that made its way into our clothing like chilly octopus tentacles sneaking in on a cold night.  The light blue winter sky was wan and the sand a pale silvery golden hue.  Esma broke the silence, saying “deniz çarşaf gibi!” (Here is how you say that: deh-neez char-shaff gib-bee, and it means “the water is as flat as a sheet”).  My dog ran around like crazy and finally settled in to rest near to the waves – seeming to sense our need for meditation.

The bay beach across from our place

As we sat there, trying to meditate, all I could think of was the lack of water back in the house – and then about how surprised I was at the behavior of my internal puppets since we had arrived in Ptown.  They were busting all stereotypes about Ottoman era shadow puppets so far today.   Eventually my mind stopped thinking and I started to notice my breath and just notice the sounds, taking them in, not counting them.  It’s been a long path between me and learning to meditate properly…yavaş yavaş (slowly by slowly) I am getting the hang of it.

Provincetown monument - and our dog in the foreground - on the bay beach

When I came to, I opened my eyes to see the only tall tower in Provincetown – the monument.  But the first image that popped into my mind was about the “myths vs. realities about the Republic of Turkey” slide show that our twelve year-old niece S. made this past summer when she visited us on Bozcaada.  Lately, S. and I have been re-working her list for a presentation in her school in the States.  Esma, being the mind-reading puppet that she is, heard everything that I said…and started to roll around in the sand, laughing her way mercilessly close to the waves…so much for meditating.  “I think we need to do a myths and facts list for the other puppets, m’lady,” Esma let out, in between chortles “you know – about this place, how do you call it, P-town? And about America? Let’s do it!” So, do it we shall…but first, for a change of pace – I thought I would share it with you today…catch some of the wry comments and picture them being made by the queen of deadpan, my niece S.  Feel free to correct anything or add your own, too!

Myth 1:   Men are allowed to marry as many wives as they wish in Turkey.

Fact 1:    Turkish law say that men are only allowed to have only wife, unless for some reason, their wife died. This law is strictly enforced.  People ask my Aunt if M. has multiple wives, and it upsets her a lot.  M. tells her to say she is the 5th one and he is looking for more.

Myth 2:  Americans thick that because of the country’s name, Turks eat a lot of Turkeys.

Fact 2:    You turkey! Most commonly eaten meat in Turkey is lamb and chicken.

Myth 3:  Turks drink a lot of coffee

Fact 3:    Turks don’t drink very coffee at all, they drink mostly tea.  Coffee is more for after dinner and special occasions.   Men here drink tea all day in cafes but ladies probably drink it in their houses.

Myth 4:  Islam is the law and religion of the land.

Fact 4:   Many Turkish citizens are followers of Islam, but Turkey is not bound by religious law and it is not a religious state.  It is a “secular” state.  That means not-religious.  You should be respectful when you talk about religion so no jokes here.

Myth 5:  Camels are everywhere in Turkey.

Fact 5:   There are some camels in Turkey for tourists (probably imported from other countries), however my Uncle told me that wild camels are not native to Turkey.  He had also never heard about camel wrestling, but apparently that happens a lot.

Myth 6:   Everyone in Turkey speaks Arabic.

Fact 6:    Turkish is Turkey’s official language not Arabic, although the Turks used the Arabic alphabet to sound out Turkish words until 1923.  Turkish is from the Ural-Altaic language family.  Arabic is not part of that language family, it is part of the Semitic language family. Don’t ask my uncle if he is sure that Turks don’t speak Arabic, he might get grumpy (he did once, in a supermarket).

Myth 7:   Every Turk is a Muslim.

Fact 7:    Even though Islam is the predominant religion in Turkey, there are followers of the Jewish and Christian religions (including Gregorian Armenian and Greek Orthodox religions among others). There are a few different types of Islam – Sunni, Shia and Alevi, for example.  There are also Sufis in Turkey, but this is a lifeway, not exactly a religion.

Myth 8:  All Turkish woman cover their hair with a scarf.

Fact 8:   Not all Turkish woman wear veils and many, many do not.  Some wear veils for religious reasons, but some women in working in fields wear veils to keep cool or to be modest due to cultural traditions that have nothing to do with religion.  Like Mosques, Catholic churches once expected their woman to wear veils as well, but this tradition is not practiced as much now.  My Aunt’s grandmother wore a veil to church in Spain where she was born and also in Massachusetts when she went to church, for example.   Lots of people ask my aunt if she has to wear a veil or if M. makes her wear a veil and she says “NO!.” I tried on a veil to visit the mosques on Bozcaada and it was no big deal.

Myth 9:  Turkey is an Arab country, as is the rest of the Middle East

Fact 9:    Turkey is not an Arab country, as many people think.  Most Arab countries are located on the Arabian Peninsula with others in North Africa and other parts of the Middle East.  Not all of the Middle East is Arab.  Turkey is a Middle Eastern and European country, but not an Arab country.  Same point as above, don’t ask my uncle about this in a supermarket or he might get grumpy.

Myth 10:  Turkey, like the rest of the Middle East, is one big dry desert with hardly any rain or snow or cold.

Fact 10:    Contrary to American popular beliefs, Turkey is not one big giant desert.  There is a lot of variation, as in the United States.  Most people in the United States think that Turkey has only two seasons, but this is not true, Turkey has four seasons, as does the rest of the world.  There was a lot of snow in Istanbul last year.

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Strike a pose: Puppets gone fashionista in the middle of the night!

Posted on December 9, 2011 by lizcameron

Before dawn even thought about setting out its electric blue cloak, those puppets were at it again. Having given up sleep after a couple of hours, and having given up spinning in the Sufi style they usually adored, those puppets had snuck into my handbag, and rigged up a stereo contraption to my ipod, and were playing Madonna’s Vogue over and over again. Who knew those puppets understood the concept of “repeat” to listen to a song over and over, and over again some more.

All I could hear was “Come on – Hacivad – strike a pose!” and “Nice striking of pose, Zenne, work it girl!” I’ll be damned if they weren’t practicing their dance moves for tonight’s dance party hosted by the Sultan of Nutcrackers. I had some feisty puppets in my head, that’s for sure. M. snored on, oblivious to the puppet parade going on in my head, but our dog looked at me with a wary set of eyes, moving his head back and forwards as if to find the exact location of the tiny animals that were masquerading as Karagoz shadow puppets over on the lazy susan in the dining room.

Sneaking out of the bed so as not to awaken M., I closed the bedroom door, and inquired as to what all the noise was about – at 4 a.m., no less? Remembering that we had no water – I ignored the fact that I had to pee and decided to watch the puppets instead. Feeling footloose and fancy free – the puppets were vogueing around, movin’ and groovin’ and havin’ a great old time – all while engaging in some great debate. As the puppets, uncharacteristically, did not respond to me, I pulled up a chair to the dining room table, and leaned in to listen to the debate.

Kenne

One of the as-yet-unknown chorus of dancing lady puppets was making a vociferous argument. “I vote no. Why should we stick to traditional attire? We may be representing the Ottoman empire of the puppet and doll universe, but why can’t we be fashionistas about it if we want to? I think we should each wear what we want. ”

Kenne replied with a sharp tongue to this little lady, saying “Safiye, you must remember your honor – not like this Madonna woman – you must guard your honor and not bedeck yourself in a way that besmirches our own Sultan! I am wearing traditional garb in turkuaz.”

Safiye, the now-named puppet, stalked off at full vogue clip, planting her feet on the ground and sashaying better than any modern-day model on the runway, carrot-legged in stance the whole way. “I am my own puppet, and I will take no fashion guidance from you – of course I will not lose my honor! I intend to wear the Star of the East house tonight – the best of the Ege Deniz (Aegean sea)!

Jumping over to my dormant iphone, Safiye started jumping up and down on it, trying to find a particular website, and she soon did. All of the puppets gathered around to see her fashion choices – apparently puppet Fedex delivers from Turkey in less than 12 hours – I didn’t ask. Apparently, Safiye is somewhat of a bohemian type. Here were her fashion choices….an Ottoman-era inspired dress from an Italian designer named Matthan Guriwho sells on

Sea Urchin Ring with bling from Star of the East on etsy.com

etsy.com as well as sea urchin earrings, ring and necklace from the Star of the East jewelry store on etsy.com– I wasn’t sure it really coordinated – but she shot me the death look and said “freedom of choice for all fashionistas – get your fashion laws off of my body, m’lady!”

Sea Urchin Earrings with bling from Star of the East on etsy.com

Wow, I thought. These little puppets, usually so devoted to me and my comfort, they are going a bit wild here! Kenne stomped off to attend to the steaming of her traditional dress…mumbling under her breath. Safiye rang up Star of the East on skype to arrange immediate delivery through the puppetsphere, talking as loudly as she could so Kenne could hear her.

Khadijah

Eventually, the hubbub led to some consensus, and everyone decided to wear what they would – a true diaspora of fashionistas…Khadijah decided that she would wear her wedding attire, as she loved it so. Celebi was deciding between a red silk suit in modern style – and a moss green suit of silk shantung more like those worn in Mustafa Kemal Ataturk’s time – although not in that color or fabric! Hacivad Bey decided on wearing a pumped up turban, to use the modern parlance, perhaps best described as being akin to Sultan Sulayman’s fashion choice in his Venetian portrait.

Even Karagoz was getting into the action, fashioning a ridiculous suit made of tin foil, saran wrap and prosciutto – after watching Lady Gaga in her meat dress, no doubt. How were these puppets getting exposed to 2011 culture, I wondered? I guess they could see all that I saw, whether I was aware of it or not. I wondered if Kenne would worry about Lady Gaga and maintaining her honor. I decided that that would be a fiery meeting, for sure.

The insanely large turban of Sultan Suleyman I (from this website)

Tiring of watching the fashion debate, I minced my way downstairs to the garden, and responded to the needs of nature – hoping the postman wasn’t up early. This peeing in the garden thing was not going to last long in my book. I hoped that we would get into the garage soon – and be able to turn our water on (little did I know that it would take us half a day to determine that the problem was a rusty-almost-kaput-battery about the size of a penny that we overlooked for hours while bickering up a storm).

But for now, I was happy to have a place to pee – and head upstairs to try making tea with sparkling water from a bottle. Upon returning to the party preparation scene, I set to making my own cup of tea for the first time in weeks – the little ladies were way too busy to do this work today – they, after all, had a party to go to. Sparkling water, it turns out, is just fine for tea. Slurping down my tea in a somewhat unladylike fashion, I quickly readied to take my dog for a walk, as the dawn light was moving into a pink stage. “Is it always pink light around here, m’lady?” asked one of the chorus puppets “you know, like last night with all of the pink lights?”

She turned out to be the only puppet not busy with fashion preparations who was willing to accompany me on my morning walk. “Tell me, mademoiselle,” I asked, “what is your name – we haven’t really met before?” Beaming with pride at the chance to be introduced and to have some one and one time with her human, she answered “I am Esma, m’lady, at your service.”

A December 2011 rose on Commercial Street in Provincetown, at dawn

As Esma and I set out, with our dog in tow, we basked in the early morning glory of pinkish orange light flowing all over the last roses of the early winter season – all of them pink. “Ah, perfect,” Esma sighed, “I know what I will wear, a dress of rose petals in this bright, happy fuschia pink.” I smiled at the little hippie puppet, satisfied with the joys of the natural world around her, and walked on into the breeze of the bay.

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