mount erciyes

i’ve never been able to see an extinct volcano
outside of my kitchen window.
it seems very imposing,
making me have second thoughts of skiing it
during the winter.

other than long and sleep deprived,
the 3 flights it took to get here were pretty much normal.
i don’t think the girls slept in the 8 or so hours from atlanta to frankfurt.
after a few hours layover in frankfurt
we all spent almost all 3 hours napping from frankfurt to istanbul.

we were supposed to meet the director of RFT
after getting our bags
which literally made a mountain on the luggage cart:
mount majeed. elevation 12 feet.
there were plenty of people with signs
but not one with the RFT logo or ishaq’s name.
after an hour,
we’d given up
and ishaq started making hotel arrangements
with an airport vendor for transportation and a hotel.
that’s when the director showed up,
saving us 300 YTL
and calming our frayed nerves.

we spent another hour
getting a domestic flight to kayseri
for the next day
and pre-checking our bags.

courtesty of RFT we stayed in a little spot
close to topkapi palace, aya sophia and the blue mosque called hotel ersu.
all i’m gonna say is that
rahmah did not even want to go in the room.

no, i’m gonna say a little bit more:
there were three twin-size beds in the room
with barely 6 inches in between.
the toilet seat sat behind the toilet.
near the door, close to the floor
there was a long sliver of dusty white
where paint and plaster had been.
the cigarette-burned lavender carpet
curled up a few inches on the wall from the floor.
almost every thing was an ancient, sickly, purple-hue:
the walls, the carpet, the satin curtains.
the towels still felt damp when i picked them up
so that i could turn down the bed covers.
“it’s just for one night,” ishaq kept repeating.

the highlight of our stay was a turkish continental breakfast the next morning:
coffee, tea, tomatoes, cucumbers, yogurt, honey,
cereal, bread, cheese, and some cold-cuts.
afterwards ishaq had the nerve to take a shower
– nerves of steel, he’s got –
while we took in a bit of TV in turkish.
we checked-out at noon,
put our bags near the front desk,
bought some umbrellas
to save us from istanbul’s constant, chilly drizzle
and headed out to topkapi
to see some the belongings of the prophet muhammad (saws).
there were swords of the sahaba,
the prophet’s footprint,
hairs of the prophet in bejeweled cases,
the hand of john the baptist,
and other curious, historical items.

after a trip to the local market to get some diapers
and a couple chicken schnitzels to go,
we hopped on the airport shuttle
to catch a plane to our ultimate destination: kayseri.

and here we are.
our ride was waiting for us
with a car for us
and a covered truck
for our bags.

mahmet — also a teacher at the school at which ishaq will work –
showed us to our 11-th floor flat.
it has 4 rooms,
an eat-in kitchen,
a bathroom with a shower,
what i’ll call a turkish powder room
and 2 balconies.

one of the rooms is clearly a living room,
but maybe turks do the double living room thing
like the jordanians:
one is a formal living room
and the other a family living room.
or separate living rooms for men and women.

what i’m calling the turkish powder room
is a room with a sink.
open a second door
and you’ll get a squatter
that the door HAS to go over
in order for you to enter the room.
someone had thoughtfully
christened the squatter with a welcome home dunk.
teşekkür ederim.

alHamdullilah,
they had this place ready for us to take ownership.
everything was out of place,
but it was a lot.
there was meat in the freezer,
and condiments and spices in the fridge.
there were so many dishes that
i’ve put some on top of the cabinets
just cause i don’t want to wash them on the regular.
there were new comforters,
freshly washed sheets,
3 reclining sofas, sofa-chairs, desks,
beds and/or mattresses,
new fridge, stove and washer-dryer unit
– with the stickers still on them –
and more.

we’ve slowly been putting things in order.
they’ve showed us how to work the intercom
and water heater for the shower
– apparently this building is so new
that hot water doesn’t come into the building yet.
that’s one thing i’m not happy being reacquainted with:
cold wudhu.
brrrrrrr.

we made a bit of a stir in the local, outdoor, monday-market.
people were giving the girls money, sweets, fruit, kisses,
and curious, lingering pats on their hair.
i’ve got to get used to kilo’s again.

at the eid prayer,
ishaq did not see a single female.
i was thankful i’d decided not to go
with the girls,
citing sunnipath advice that the eid prayer is not wajib on women.
i would’ve been cold, tired, and mad.
i wonder if women go to this local masjid at all.

after the eid prayer, a neighbor on the 2nd floor
asked ishaq in for a sumptuous breakfast.
the girls and i were still sleep.
since i was exhausted
– aya had kept me up from fajr –
ishaq woke sanaa and rahmah,
half-dressed them and took them downstairs.
i missed out and had to settle for some scrambled eggs.

eid had heavy clouds,
so thick and low it had me pondering our elevation,
but today,
the 2nd day of eid,
it is so clear and bright
that i can see the to the peak of mt. erciyes.
throughout this period of acclimation
i hope to keep this outlook with me.