"Salty cookies"

The first time I heard my husband use the words "salty cookie" I just about died from laughter. I told him there was no way a cookie could be salty.

"Salty cookie" is a direct translation from Turkish (tuzlu kurabiye). In English it sounds absolutely ridiculous to us because we don't have salty cookies. All of our cookies are sweet. I told my husband that surely they're crackers. But no, they're not really crackers either. Honestly, they really are salty cookies. That's when I decided to call up Mami on Skype.

She laughed her butt off too. "Salty cookies? Aahahahaha. Cookies can't be salty, goof!"

So I asked her, "Well, if we can't call them salty cookies, then what do we call them?"

She pondered on this for a moment and came up with the same answer that I had... crackers! I explained that they're definitely not crackers either. Then she said biscuits. Nope, not biscuits either. Finally we just gave up.

Some time later my mom came to visit. She was immediately addicted to salty cookies. Just like me though, she still wasn't quite sure that "salty cookies" was the right term for them. Again we started up the debate over what we'd call them in English. That was no use though. We just ended up back at square one, calling them salty cookies.

At a cafe by the Bosphorus one day, my mom leaned over to Mehmet Ali and said in agreement, "I think you're right. These are definitely salty cookies." And so they were!

Ghosts of my past

Well, I've decided to start publishing my true, honest-to-God, real-life Ghost stories!! My middle school students, family and friends get a kick out of them, as I hope you will! Honestly though, retelling them helps me get rid of my fear of ghosts... at least to some extent!

I published this on on Squidoo, but I'm thinking about retracting it and writing a book about my experiences. Until then, you can read it here!

How about expanding your knowledge of Turkey a bit?

I found a new link that I thought might give y'all a more in-depth idea of what the culture and people are like in Türkiye. :)

For all things on Turkish culture, click here! You may be surprised by what you learn!

By the way... Türks seem to be a little offended that in English we call them "Turkey" (a type of poultry)! But did you know that the Turkish word for "turkey" is HINDI? hahaha. I wonder what the Indians have to say about that!

Making a case for Eid al-Adha, Islam's Festival of Sacrifice

I've published yet another article from a Unitarian Universalist point of view! I think you'll find it quite interesting, after all, it's about why I, a vegetarian, think you should sacrifice animals once a year. Curious much?

You can check it out by clicking here:
"Making a case for Eid al-Adha, Islam's Festival of Sacrifice" by Diana Dussan

Enjoy! Please feel free to "Like" it, "Tweet" it or "Share" it. That would actually be quite helpful to me! :)

A Lesson in Turkish Culture: NEVER eat before you visit a Turkish person's home

Lesson #1: NEVER eat before you visit a Turkish person's home

I learned that the hard way.

My husband (boyfriend at the time) said, "Okay, we're gonna go see my family at 4pm". So I did what any other American would do, I ate a big snack before we left, knowing that it could be hours before we ate again. I stuffed my face with whatever I could find before leaving the house that afternoon. My husband asked why I was eating so much. I replied with, "I don't want to get hungry there".

BIG mistake.

If you haven't already heard, Turks are notorious for being the best hosts. They'll always offer you tea (even in the hot summer), but they'll hardly ever offer you food. Heck, most of the time they don't offer you tea either. Instead, they'll just give it to you. They do it out of the kindness of their hearts, without asking, because if they asked, you decline. And if you decline, then you can't take pleasure in enjoying their food, letting the host take care of you and having a good time.

The tea is halfway ready when you get there. Moments after arriving you're greeted by a big tray full of tea and snacks for everyone. A typical tea-time snack would be börek of some sort, cookies, and salty cookies (-Which my mother agrees there is no better translation for. Basically they are cookies that aren't sweet, but they aren't crackers either). Sometimes they get crazy elaborate on variety. They serve you up a big plate of all kinds of yummy treats, sweet and salty. I can't complain! Who would?? I LOVE eating and I LOVE Turkish food!!

So why all the food? Why all the care? They do it because they love taking care of their guests. Even if you were to decline any refreshment or food, they'd give it to you anyway. Then, when you finally eat what they gave you, they'll insist that you eat more. When you decline for the obvious reason that you're full, they say, "Oh nonsense, here, eat some more", as they serve you up another whopping amount of food. They love taking care of their guests.

Their goal is to fatten you up and make you good and happy. And what's more, they LOVE it when you eat and drink what they share with you. They love that you enjoy it and they love that you're being nourished. They even have sayings and folk stories about the best guests being the ones that eat the most. I'll tell you some of those in my next post!

Culture is a funny thing.

Culture is a funny thing. It'll make you laugh, make you scream, make you want to rip your hair out, leave you totally bewildered and it'll teach you a lot about yourself. I could go on, because honestly culture is one big sticky mess, but I'll save you the drama and get right to some helpful tips on how culture will affect your life in Turkey.

I have friends who have taught all over the world in countries like Argentina, Laos, Vietnam, American Samoa, etc. They all enjoyed their time abroad but say that far eastern countries such as China and Japan are hard to make home. They say you always feel like an outsider, that the natives don't let you in. Well, that can definitely not be said of the Turks!

Turks welcome you into their homes, into their culture and even into their familes without a second thought. Turks are some of the most hospitable people I've ever met. I suppose that's why it's relatively easy to live here for a long period of time. Most of the people I know have been here between 2.5 to 8 years, though I've got a few friends who have been here longer and a few who just came off the boat! People just don't want to leave. This is an amazing city and an amazing country with a quirky culture that will have you begging for more.

ISLAM: Why are you so scared of it? I know why. Ignorance. - My response to anti-Islamic propaganda and common ignorance.

Well, here I go again... off on yet another tangent! lol.

I've just written a lengthy in-depth article in response to the following absurd video I was emailed yesterday.

I have a high respect for Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism and any other faith. I also have a low tolerance for intolerance, propaganda and slander.

This video is completely ridiculous. I'm here to set some things straight. Please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. :) I'm always open to other ideas and happy to be proven wrong... after all, it's all about learning, not about being right!

This is the video. So sad. So not true. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ib9rofXQl6w
You can find my response to every single one of these false accusations, plus, I'll show you how Christianity's Bible is no different, and sometimes much more violent.

Here is my article: Religion 101: Three Things About Islam

Note: This article has three parts that coincide with the three parts of the video. This is the link to Part 1. At the end of the article you can click another link to follow on to Part 2 and so on.