First Turkish Movie

JB and I had a date yesterday. A date planned by someone else. Dan and Angelica took the boys from 8am until 4pm and set us off in our car, with their GPS, and some instructions about how to go and have some quality time together. We took Abigail, who was angelic the whole day, and had some great time together as a couple.

First we stopped at Burger King on Base for breakfast. Then we went to Starbucks for two hours where JB read and I worked on catching up on emails. After that, we were off to lunch. The restaurant of Dan & Angelica's choice in Adana was closed which isn't that unusual. Sundays are usually a down day for the Turks. In addition, restaurants are family-run so if the family goes out of town, the entire restaurant just closes down until they get back.

We wandered around the corner to another restaurant which seemed very nice. As is usually the case in Adana, no one speaks English, and I could not for the life of me remember the word for "lunch." I was using the word for "afternoon" instead of lunch, completely confusing the greeter. In the end, I was able to determine that they only served desserts there. Back out the door we went. A third choice was an upscale pub we had been to before, and we were able to secure a light lunch with a waiter who spoke as much English as I did Turkish -- always a nice thing.

Lastly, we followed our instructions to a movie theatre a few blocks away that we didn't even know existed. Dan and Angelica had picked out Zookeeper for our viewing enjoyment -- a lighthearted, silly romantic comedy. It was in English with Turkish subtitles -- perfecto! We bought our tickets but then the woman selling us the tickets saw Abigail and informed us babies were not welcome in movies.

Thus began an afternoon of "differences" for us at the movies. We had never brought one of our children to the movies as a baby before, but I've seen it done in the USA plenty of times. Even so, when the woman told us this in Turkish (which took a few minutes to explain for that reason), we accepted it and completely understood why they would say that. But before she could reimburse us for our tickets, she decided herself to make a phone call, and suddenly we were informed that we could in fact take her in. As long as we agreed to leave if she started crying. Of course!

But the differences didn't end there. Here were some other things we observed during our two hours in a Turkish movie theatre:

• You aren't let in the theatre for your movie until mere moments before it begins. It appears they jam together more showings than we would in the USA.
• Your seats are assigned! Really!
• There was only one aisle and no fire doors. While the theatre was very nice, I definitely felt a bit more claustrophobic than usual.
• There are no previews.
• No need for a jacket! It's warm inside these theatres. I was actually sweating a bit.
• There is an intermission. (I like this!)
• There are employees everywhere. This seems typical of Turkey in general. Unlike in America where I often find that I can't find someone to help me if I try, places of work in Turkey seem to have plenty of individuals there to help you. Often to the point of annoyance. They seem to try to help me before I even have a problem. I turned my head for a moment to look for somewhere to sit while we waited for our movie to start, and someone thought I needed to use the bathroom and was telling me where it was. Thanks, but I don't need to go to the bathroom.

The other thing we completely forgot about is how much Turks love little children. But we have come to realize that the window of children they love ranges from about birth thru age two. Last summer our boys were all the rave. This summer, people don't really mess with them very much. But Abigail? Holy cow. She had her feet kissed more times than I can count. In fact, people would come up to her in her little seat, even when she was sleeping, and talk to her and kiss on her until she woke up. I wanted to ask them to let her be, but I had no idea how to say that in Turkish, and there was no doubt it would have greatly hurt these people's feelings. They were so happy to see the baby. One female employee actually asked if she could hold her. I pointed to the carseat straps indicating we had already secured her for our ride home -- thinking that that would be enough to dissuade her from wanting to hold Abigail, but in fact, she thought that meant she could just undo the straps and pick her up. Okay. I guess that's what I meant. It's craziness. If you don't like strangers oohing and aaahing over your children, you better not bring your baby out in Turkey.

I think that's the other thing I am realizing. I don't think Turkish mothers really bring out their new babies. In fact, from what I understand, they spend the first 40 days of the baby's life sequestered in their house with family around. At the end of 40 days, they celebrate with a party. (Is that right Rana?)

They are also constantly concerned that the baby is cold. They are neary aghast that my baby does not have socks on. Do they realize it is like 105 degrees outside?! Socks? No way. But they really want her more covered than I do. At the market the other day, I finally covered her in a blanket because so many people stopped me to tell me that it was too bright for a little baby to be outside. I finally gave up trying to tell them that she was really hot and I didn't want to cover her up. I just threw a blanket over her and headed for the air conditioned van.

We ended up back home at 4pm. The boys had spent the day being loved on by Dan and Angelica and were napping soundly. In fact, so was Angelica. She and Scrubby were taking a nap in the living room while Dan was at their house with their kiddos.

Truly, I am not sure I can remember such a kind thing as what Dan and Angelica did for us. To plan a date for us and provide the babysitting? So amazing. Veronica was out of town this weekend with friends. She returns today and JB leaves soon for some work on the other side of the country. What a fantastic Sunday, and how wonderful that we get Monday off as a family together again.