Unexpected and Unbelievable Turkish Hospitality

Traveling alone has its own set of risks and rewards. There is the ever-present risk that you will be scammed, conned or ripped off. There is also a certain loneliness that you experience on an 18 hour bus ride during which you hear hardly a word you can understand. These conditions can easily lead to isolation, but I learned an important lesson on my bus trip to Trabzon - most people are genuinely nice and helpful. This of course does not mean that I will assume that a random stranger is out to help me along, but it does mean that being overly paranoid will not lead to enjoyable travels. I just have to trust my instincts and go with the flow.

Go with the flow is exactly what I did when I met Celib on the bus. He noticed that I spoke English and no Turkish and tried extremely hard to communicate with me, despite the fact that his English vocabulary consists of about 10 words. It is amazing how much can be communicated with 10 words, lots of hand gestures, and 18 hours on a bus. Near the end of the journey, I realized that he was inviting me to his home outside of Trabzon. I was immediately suspicious and I relented. I then realized that the probability of him taking me to his dungeon and hacking me to bits was very remote, so I decided to go for it. He seemed like a nice guy, right?

I couldn't have been more right. We got off the bus about 30 kilometers before Trabzon and hitched a ride into the green hills that overlooked the Black Sea. It was stunningly beautiful, like nowhere I have ever seen. We first visited his house where he lives with his parents, sister and grandmother. By Western standards, he is very poor, but they have everything they need. They grow nearly everything imaginable - Kiwis, Bananas, Potatoes, Pears, Apples, Corn, Carrots, Hazelnuts, and fruits whose name I don't even know. They also have chickens, a cow and doves (for eggs apparently). After a quick tour of his home, he rushed me up to the village school so that I could speak English to the school children. I really had no idea what to expect, but I was so engrossed by the exotic beauty of my surroundings I had no time to be nervous. When we entered the school and he announced that I was an American I was immediately swamped by students yelling "Hello America!". I was then ushered into the teacher's lounge where I chatted with the teachers using the English teacher as a translator. They had a lot of questions about my perception of Turkey and Islam, none of which I was really comfortable answering, but I tried my best. I then went to the English class and started to help with the lesson before I was summoned to the Principal's office. Yes, I was in trouble. Apparently strange foreign guys who randomly show up on a bus aren't allowed to hang out in classrooms. Not really a bad rule when you think about it, but the English teacher was furious. I had an awkward half hour in the Principal's office before escorting out to take some photos. Celib's younger brother then walked me back to his home.

Since it is Ramadan, no one in the village (except young children) eat or drink between sunrise and sunset. This is obviously tough to do, so most people take a substantial nap during the day, which is exactly what I did when I got back. I woke up to the evening call to prayer echoing within the valley and the family sitting down for their long-awaited dinner. It was a delicious feast of fish from the Black Sea and various fruits and vegetables that they had grown. I was forced to eat until I was stuffed and then we went around to Celib's various relatives houses for more tea and snacks. It was an amazing display of hospitality, and I was barely able to express my thanks due to my absolute ignorance of the Turkish language.

The next day I was fed breakfast even though they could not eat themselves. I showed the family pictures of my family from my Ipod and now they are all invited to Turkey next year! I don't think that is going to happen, but I know the offer was genuine. Celib then gave me a huge shopping bag full of roasted hazelnuts (which I love) took me to the bus station in Trabzon and insisted on buying my ticket to Batumi, Georgia, as well as buying me snacks to take on the trip. But no, it didn't stop there. Once I was on the bus, he came on board 3 times to tell me what was going on with the driver and why we were running late. He even asked people sitting around me if they spoke English so that I would have someone to talk to!!! He did all of this and expected absolutely nothing in return.

I am now safely in Georgia waiting for an overnight train to Tbilisi. I'm staying with a Couchsurfer for two nights and then I'm off to Temi-Community in the far Eastern corner of Georgia. I'll try to post pictures and stuff about Georgia in the next few days while in Tbilisi because I don't know if I'll have any internet connection for a while after that.