Just catching up on a few stories.  One of them is about my first Turkish lesson.  Learning Turkish will be work and I hope I’m not too lazy because that would be my only excuse.  Cypriot Turkish and Turkey Turkish isn’t pronounced exactly alike, but it is the same written word.  If we return to Turkey at some point, as we hope, I would be able to use it much more than just the time here in Cyprus.   The lesson was certainly fun and I wish I’d been there from the start of the course.  One of the other students, Pete has writes up the lessons on his computer and said he would email them to me so maybe I can begin to catch up.  I’ll have too look for a dictionary in Girne next time we go or I’ll download one from Amazon.  We’ve been lucky enough to have had sun most days since we’ve returned here.  The rest of this week is iffy and rain is called for from tomorrow until maybe Sunday.  Denise leads walks even in the rain, but I’m not sure I can talk Randal into going.  We’ll see.

Ru

Deks Walk # 2; Monday Market; Painting Hike, Turkish Lesson # 1

Last Thursday was bright and sunny so Randal and I joined Denise for our Deks Walk # 2. We walked across the road from Deks and up into the hills past cultivated fields, huge tractors, a small farm with sheep and then finally turning onto an almost hidden path into the forest where we came to the remains of a tiny church.

Denise Randal Scruffy (Julia’s dog) Julia, Dedi (Mick’s dog) and Mick

The guess is that the church remains are very old and that the land was once cleared for a community of Greek Orthodox Cypriots. Randal says the trees now are maybe 20 years old perhaps growing up sometime after the 1974 Turkish invasion of North Cyprus.

Hay on a truck and water in the tank under the tree and sheep that were guarded by a friendly German Shepherd and what looked like a shepherd/husky mix. Here German Shepherds are called Alsatians.

Returning to Deks (just beyond the small church on the right) for our after hike lunch of meze.

Sunday was Census Day and we were counted as “retired American tourists” during our interview with the census takers. 

Monday is Market Day in Yenierenköy so we went early while all of the vendors were still open for business. Last week we got there mid-afternoon and most were closed up.

Lots of great produce

You can see from the photos that some women dress traditionally and cover their hair and some wear more western style clothing. I bought broccoli, green beans, cabbage and a pomegranate. That was probably my first and last pomegranate and I’m not sure it was actually quite ripe when I cut it open and made a mess eating it. Our white cutting board will never be the same. And I bought some heavier socks. I’m on a quest for warmer, thicker socks. The first I bought in the Lamar Supermarket were too big and too thin. The ones I bought here are ok. Maybe when we go to Girne I’ll find some. And leg warmers too for riding the motorbike. I could have brought some from home but who thought it would be as cold as it is on the bike. While I was buying some veggies I met our census taker and she remembered me too. And at one of the stalls I bought 2 small blue ceramic bud vases that are sort of shaped in a way that they can be used for a tiny milk pitcher while serving tea. The young girl who helped me spoke flawless English so I complimented her. She smiled and said that was because she was English and was in Cyprus on vacation visiting family!

A simit in the hand is worth a dozen in a bag to take home!

Grandmother gave me permission to take the photo of the girls eating their simit and banana. The simit is visible in the right hand of the girl in front. Her sister has a banana in one hand and a simit in the other. Randal bought another huge loaf of bread which comes with a free simit which I ate in about a minute when we got back to the boat.

Monday afternoon I took myself for a hike into the hills just across from the marina. I took my paints and painted a terrible picture I’m not showing. I’ll have to try it again. No one is around to watch so if it’s terrible only I know.

This is the scene I tried to paint but it didn’t quite come out except for the land pieces sticking out into the water. I can’t seem to paint foliage at all or dirt roads.

My first Turkish Lesson at Deks.

Tuesdays at 10:30 Denise teaches Turkish. There is no charge and she even serves tea! I walked the 2 miles from the marina and did a not great sketch of the big church out front while I waited. There was a skinny sweet dog sitting in the enclosed porch area so I fed him two packets of cookies I had in my backpack. He left when Denise drove up with the other students.

On my way to Deks I walked past these giant aloe plants.

Our classroom.

Pete, Evelyn and her husband Rustam

Pete has a boat here in the marina. Evelyn, originally from Poland is married to Turkish policeman Rustam. We started in with lessons immediately so I really can’t tell you much about any of them other than that they have been studying for 6 weeks and seem to have learned a great deal of Turkish. Class began at 10:30 ish and went on past noon! I doubt I’ll catch up with the others but I will learn more than I know now. Our homework is to find a word that starts with each of the 29 letters of the Turkish alphabet except for the silent G.

I caught a ride back to the marina with Rustam and Evelyn who were also taking Pete back there. They have offered to pick me up if I’d like but I do like the walk. Pete normally rides his bicycle but it was in town for repairs.

We had to go into town in the afternoon for a few things. Randal needed a new connector to connect our new Digiturk satellite TV box to our old Chinese TV. I wanted some yarn and some yogurt. I’d bought some yogurt the other day but there must be no preservatives in it because it seemed to get way too tangy way too fast. The expiration date was 4 days after the date it was packaged as is most of the yogurt in the local shops. Maybe it was the brand I’d bought, this in a plastic container and not the ceramic container from my first shopping trip. Today I asked the woman who owns the small shop where I’d bought the yogurt in the ceramic container about the expiration dates and she was amazed that I wouldn’t use a pint of yogurt in 4 days because her family would use it in one day! People here and in Turkey eat yogurt by the ton with everything. Randal likes it with cucumber and onions chopped up in it. But he doesn’t eat it every day or think of it unless I give it to him with a meal. I eat maybe a third of a cup of plain yogurt with my oatmeal for breakfast. Sadly, none that I have bought here tastes as good as the yogurt we are served at Deks. I will have to ask Denise the brand she uses. It was so much easier to buy it in Marmaris from the cheese guys. They had a huge tub of it and would scoop some out into a container. That was great yogurt, like Deks! The other funny thing, with all of the sheep here, the local shops sell acrylic yarn and not wool. Yarn and knit and wool will be some of the vocabulary words I use for my homework. And boat so we can explain we live on a boat. And goat and cow so I can tell the difference in the cheeses.

Randal has hooked up the TV and I wish he had earphones to go with it because I can’t tune it out. Oh well, in the winter it will be nice to have it when the weather is bad.

This huge truck was expertly squeezing itself through the main street in town.

Randal and his Glenfiddich

We saw the truck in town making its rounds and then we saw it at Deks where we biked because I’d forgotten to ask Denise about the Sunday bazaar Deks will be holding. I’m hoping to sell the clothes Randal and I no longer wear and give the money to the two charities supported by Deks with the profits from their Bingo and Quiz nights.