Christmas is not a holiday celebrated in Turkey. Their holiday that is similar to Christmas is New Years. They exchange gifts and spend time with their family and eat lots of food. Only recently have they begun to put trees up in their home and decorate them. So, school was in session and kids were in attendance. They did give us foreigners the day off though. On Christmas Eve we helped our friend Sarah decorate her flat and we enjoyed Matt's flaming figgy pudding. Gary also made a paper tree in our flat and put it up on the wall. We spent Christmas day with 12 other Americans. We enjoyed brunch together, wore our pajamas, and watched Elf. We did a white elephant gift exchange and a book exchange. Everyone ended up with a small gift and some new books to read. It was a relaxing and fun day.
On Saturday, Gary spent the day playing with his new gift to himself, a guitar. I went with a few girls for an afternoon at the Hamam. I was scrubbed, lathered, cracked and then they washed my hair. The walk home was tough as I felt like a wet noodle. The day continued as we once again got together with the other teachers and watched A Christmas Story (and a few episodes of Glee).
On Sunday we woke up early and headed to the bus station. From here we to a small bus to a village called Nazarcoy for a day of hiking. One of the Turkish high school librarians volunteered to take us. She is the lead for the hiking club and knows many great places to go. When we first arrived in the village we enjoyed tea and a yummy village food called gozlelme. It is like a pancake/tortilla freshy made with spinach, mint, parsley and cheese rolled up and served piping hot. With our bellies full we headed into the woods. There really are not hiking trails and you are free to walk anywhere. We followed a road for awhile and then cut across a cherry orchard to follow a creek. The woods are similar to those around Washington with less ferns and is a bit more sparse. When we returned to the village we stopped by a glass workshop where they make Nazars (evil eyes). Five or six men sit inside a room with a wood burning glass kiln. They quickly make beads and other decorations that make this village famous. We shopped around a bit and bought some trinkets and then got back on a small bus to stop at a horse farm.
The horse farm is owned and operated by Kazakhstan immigrants. At the farm they have traditional horses (smaller than our horses) and yurt like buildings where they work to teach the public about their heritage and traditions. We spent some time in the yurt listening to how they build it and about their nomadic lifestyle. Part of the farm is a resturaunt that serves Kazakhstan food. It of course very similar to Turkish food but with a bit of an Asian flair. One of their specialties is serving horse milk with their meals. Of course we had to try it! It was very gross and not at all what we were expecting. It was sour tasting and didn't go down so easy. We do not recommend it anyone! But hey, we would be kicking ourselves if we didn't try it.
Stay tuned for out New Year's Post. We are heading to Karaburun, a small fishing village about an hour away!
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