Scott has a classmate who is originally from Turkey that he has really enjoyed this school year. Their teacher told me that they were really enjoying each other in class and I should meet his mom and we should get the guys together outside school.
I met the mom and she is very nice. The boys have played together several times. I was invited to their house today with another mutual friend (how I met her is a funny story too) for breakfast at 10. We had bread, jam, cheeses, pomello, tomato and cucumbers, brownies, and hard boiled eggs. I had water instead of the turkish tea in pretty glasses.
I met her mother who is here visiting. I knew that she had been having problems with her arm, so I asked about it. Before coming from Turkey she had fallen and hurt her wrist. She is a pianist who teaches at a University in Turkey and hopes that physical therapy when she gets back home will return her range of motion. She was a lovely lady and my friend translated our conversation since she spoke no English.
After breakfast we went outside and had turkish coffee. I said that I would try it but then had to drink it all (not really that much because it is VERY thick and about half the cup is grounds) because my friend's mother reads coffee grounds. I had never heard this before so I drank my very strong, hot coffee and her mother looked at my cup a few minutes later-I followed everyone's example at the table and turned the cup upside down after I drank it for the grounds to run into the saucer and what is actually "read" is the pictures left on the cup after the grounds drain out. There were lots of roads-long lines-which means I have travel plans in the future. She also said much happiness and something about money-Greg's company does do bonuses in March usually. I guess we will see how accurate they are!
I asked these friends about turkish delight from The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe-the candy that the White Witch gives to Edmund. It is a real food but also a somewhat acquired taste. I tried to make some when I finished reading the novel to my class but it turned out to be a nasty sticky gooey mess that didn't taste very good. They said that they don't make it but usually buy it instead. My friend says it never lasts long at her house because Scott's classmate eats it all quickly. I am told that it is a sweet sort of melt in your mouth kind of thing-that is often rolled in nuts. I remember my recipe having some sort of lemon flavoring and think it said to top in powdered sugar. Probably not very authentic!
It was a fun breakfast and cultural learning experience about the country of Turkey!
Now our mutual friend is American and her husband is British. She has a son in Kindergarten-not in Ashley's class. We finally introduced ourselves and talked one day at school and joked about stalking each other because we shop in all the same places apparently. I kept thinking that she looked familiar since we expats do stand out just a little bit here. I had been trying to figure out if she was someone that I had met once and was supposed to remember but guess she just looked familiar because I had seen her in stores-including at the hardware store earlier this week. It was nice to chat and get to know her a little better today instead of a quick hello in the mall or grocery store.
She told me another good shopping in the Philippines story that I have to share-she was looking for cloves and had been to several grocery stores already with no success. I know they sell them somewhere because the ham I bought for us to have for Christmas was studded with cloves. So there were several salespeople involved in trying to find cloves, my friend had written down the word, and after seeing it one of the salespeople took her to the cleaning aisle and handed her a pair of rubber Gloves! I think that is one of my favorite shopping stories here-we always have something to laugh about!
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