hanafe’s house

something was lost in translation.
i thought our neighbor had invited us to her house
for jumuah with the ladies,
but when i went to her door
there was just more confusion.

so, the girls and i went back across the hall,
i made salat,
and then took the girls outside to the park.

as usual, we were a sight to see at the park.
the turks are ever curious and friendly.
they tried talking to us,
and we tried talking back.
a woman there spoke a bit of english
and they were able to get a little of their curiosity satisfied.
after a round of photos on people’s mobile’s,
one woman, hanafe, invited us for tea.
right now? shimde?
ok. tamam.

she lived in an apartment building
across the street from the park.
her boy and my girls played together.
her neighbor and her young son came over, too.
hanafe even called her husband, ahmet, to talk to me on the phone a bit.
she invited me into the kitchen while she and her neighbor prepared tea.

“tea” turned about to be kayseri’s famous sujuk,
a nicely spiced sausage,
which she cooked with eggs,
and served fresh vegetables (tomatoes, spring onion, lettuce),
cheeses, and flat bread.
my girls devoured it
and their mama was right there with them.
it was so delicious,
and so giving of her,
and such a blessing from Allah
that my eyes started watering from the gratitude i felt.
i don’t even think hanafe ate anything.
when i tried to thank her, she thanked me!
the actual tea she’d offered on the playground
along with biscuits / cookies followed afterwards.

after all their hard work
hanafe and her neighbor decided to light up.
i’m not too keen on second-hand smoke,
but i figured i could sit through that
after all they offered me and my girls.

the athan for asr sounded.
we’d been at hanafe’s since shortly after thuhr.
i waited for a polite way to make my exit.
it soon came
after aya got knocked over by hanafe’s son
the seventh time
– he kept trying to give her deep hugs
in which he picked aya off of the ground
in addition to multiple pecks.

i tapped my watchless wrist,
signaling that it was getting late,
thanked hanafe again,
wrote down her name, floor and apartment number,
and headed out full and blessed.