Turkish Women...

Are truly amazing, and the only reason this country is still running. While society is very macho, and interactions between men are a continual pissing contest, truly it's the women who keep things running smoothly. I have only been here a very short period of time, but thus far every woman I have met has been exceedingly kind, helpful and funny, while the men have all been macho, loud and obnoxious.

Take our new adopted house mother ( the president of our club's wife). They moved in the day before we left for bodrum, and has since cooked every meal. She has a tiny kitchen, no oven, and only one working stovetop burner (conditions that make me shudder to think of cooking in). And yet somehow she makes wonderful, tasty, and healthy meals each and every time. Meals that she serves us, will not eat until we are all happily stuffed, and then refuses to let us help her clear the table or wash the dishes. And speaking of dishes, as the kitchen sink is the size of a cereal bowl, she waits until the end of the day and washes them all in the BATHTUB. yes, bathtub. and yet during dinner yesterday, she made sure I had a different bowl for every soup and salad I ate, as well as a place and 3 different utensils. If I had to do the dishes in the bathtub, you bed each person would get one bowl and one fork, no more.

Then there's Sybel and her mother, who own the restaurant (in the loosest sense of the word) that we were/will be eating all our meals once the president and his wife move out. They serve us delicious food that they make in a tiny kitchen in the basement, always with a smile on their faces. Sybel speaks no English, and I no Turkish, and yet I like her quite a lot. She has a great sense of humor, is very lively, and is definitely a wonderful cook. And yet, again, she is only thanked by us! Anil doesn't even acknowledge her existence. And then the unfortunate times when her boyfriend comes around, she is an entirely different person. He is sullen, egotistical, and very possessive of her, and she becomes much quieter and subservient when he is around.

My final examle just happened at breakfast a few hours ago. Daria, one of my teammates and a friend of the family, stopped by, as apparently she often does. When we were seated for our breakfast, she started SERVING US. I was flabergasted- she was a guest in this house, and yet it was perfectly normal for Her to serve US. AND Tyler told me that she sometimes cleans when she comes here. Again, all without thanks or appreciation.

Tyer and I both agree that all this nonesense with the Federation is, at the real heart of it, a result of the machismo of Turkish men and their innability to ever admit they might possibly be wrong. If only the men in this country could take a lesson from their wonderful, unapreciated wives.