The Turkish Treatment

It has been about a day and a half since we arrived in Istanbul, and I have yet to cease being amazed at how hospitable the people are. I am really digging Turkish hospitality!

I am a certified people watcher/observer. Of course, I'm incredibly talkative and outgoing, but I also really like to be silent and just look, listen, and feel. I do a lot of that while I'm abroad and traveling -- watching, feeling, learning through observation -- and it enables me to pick up on cultural cues that go unnoticed by many. Here in Turkey, there is no exception. Other than how exceptional the service has been everywhere we've gone! Wow!

They appear to be very conscientious and detail-oriented, which I absolutely love. Probably because these are very strong traits in Japanese/Asian culture, too, something that has had a remarkably large impact on my family and life. I like being at a restaurant, and watching the waiters running around, constantly adjusting things, dusting the outside tables, setting the silverware down with OCD-like precisionand care, and making sure everything is perfectly in order for their guests. As a client, it's really refreshing, and as a person who appreciates art, I respect them so much for taking theirs so seriously.

Here is one example of how far Turkish people extend their hand to make whomever they're helping just that much more comfortable...

Today we had a guided tour with the four of us and a guide. We went around to a few of the main tourist attractions, Hagia Sofia Museum (which is a former mosque/church), the Blue Mosque, the sisterns (amazing, amazing, amazing, by the way), the Grand Bazaar, and something that none of us expected much of, but all ended up loving: a trip to see Turkish rugs.

When Nili Our Guide told us we were going to go see Turkish rugs, we were all expecting to pass by some stands in an outdoor market and see them hanging up. Ok, if she says they're very different than the world-famous Persian rugs, we might as well see, but no one is going to buy one. It seemed a slightly strange and unnecessary stop, considering they're heavy and expensive, and well, they're rugs. We see them hanging all over the place. Welllll... we walk into this store, and amid all the shining, sparkling, glimmering jewelry and art, there's a gal sitting on a stool, working on a crazy-beautiful rug.

One of the salesmen came over to us while we were gushing over her art, and started telling us about the process of how they make them. Apparently, Persian rugs are made with a single loop, so if you vacuum them, it can pull the threads out. But the Turkish rugs are made using a double loop method, so if you vacuum it, it actually tightens the weave. After some more small talk, we were asked if we would like to see more of the rugs and get to know the tradtitional Turkish style. Of course we said yes. We were then taken upstairs into a large room with rugs hanging around it, and the spectacle began!

First, Mesut, our host, told us we were now his guests, and asked if we wanted any Turkish tea, apple tea, Turkish coffee and/or water. It was all brought out on a beautiful silver platter while rugs had started to fly around the room. It was like Aladdibn came to life in that room!

Mesut would say, "Now you must see this design," "You like that one, then look at this one," "Now, we have this design like this, you see the colors?" and the three or four men who were assigned to the room with him would unroll rugs, toss them in the air like pizza doughs, flip them around, spread them out, lay them one on top of the other, and before we knew it, there were about 15 rugs of all shapes, sizes, and colors/designs laid around the large show room. Now, I've never been wedding dress shopping before, but I've seen Say Yes to the Dress and other wedding dress shopping shows enough to say, this experience was just about the same as that. Excitement included. But instead of champagne and an oversized group of opinionated and slightly-jealous females, there were unlimited tiny Turkish teas and coffees, and four American women, three of whom were trying to come to grips with the fact they'd been unexpectedly persuaded to buy Turkish rugs.

Obviously I don't have the money to buy a rug, or a house to even put one in, so I lent my hands in other ways. Or should I say feet...

I became the official "bare feet tester" and yogi. My grandma would squish my toes around on them and tell her which wool was the softest. It felt wrong to be wiggling my likely-dirty feet around on them, but Mesut insisted we try them. After all, feet are what they're for! Then, after much deliberation and tiny Turkish tea, it got even more fun. As Mesut said "Now, it's elimination time. So, which one you like, and which one you don't like?" The rugs really started flying this time, and I couldn't help seeing them as wedding dresses. Point to one and say, "This one, no," and the men take it, roll it or fold it, and quickly put it back where it belongs. Point, no!, point, yes!, point, no, no, no! And finally there were just a few remaining around us.

In the end, my grandmother mother and sisterall bought rugs. My whole budget for my month of travels is less than what my sister spent on hers, and it was the smallest one. But they are so beautiful, will last longer than all our lifetimes, and are great, useable souvenirs. Also, the whole experience of buying them was so fun, and left everyone with "shoppers euphoria, for sure," as my sister said. Even I felt it a litte, and I didn't spend a dime!

Now, the whole experience could have ended there are been great, but this post isn't really about buying Turkish rugs and how you should definitely go to Nakkas, now is it? So what does all this have to do with the high-level Turkish Treatment? Well, our guide asked Mesut for a lunch recommendation (the place she likes to take people is under restoration), and he said, "Well, I can make you this offer: we have a beautiful rooftop terrace, with a view of the sea on one side and of The Blue Mosque on the other. I can give it to you to use, and we will order you some lunch to enjoy up there. But maybe first you'd like to see it, then you can decide?" We saw, we loved, they ordered, we ate and enjoyed. It was amazing.

Later we would find out that this is quite common in Turkey, to be offered a rooftop terrace and ordered lunch or offered tea by a store clerk. My friend and I later experienced it in a cheapy shop in a mall, when the owner gave us little waters while we looked around. Turkish people are very attentive, so if this is your kind of thing, I suggest going!

Have a beautiul day, family!

Blessings, love, light & wonder to all,

Allie-Sun <3