Aegean Pearls: My Life in Izmir

After church today, I resolved to beat the heat and go to a museum. My target: the İzmir Archeological Museum , just south of the bazaar in the Konak district. My friend, Jen, had told me about a slogan she had seen: "Turkey, it's the world's largest museum." It's true. At any given place where I might stand, especially at an important harbor like Izmir, I may have seven millenia of history at my feet! I quickly learned, upon entering the gallery that ancient history is a pretty broad topic to examine. When we think of Ancient Rome, we think of a specific civilization that endured for 500 years. Ancient Greece casts our minds to Socrates and Alexander. But Ancient Turkey? There is really no one thing.  I don't want to go into much detail here. I have years of living in and exploring this fascinating country ahead of me. So I have plenty of time to figure it out for myself. I'll just write that before the Greek civilizations, known as Ionians and Aeolians, ...

I live in a suburb called Gaziemir. It's a 30-minute train ride from downtown Izmir. In terms of Nashville, where my family lives, I live in Madison. I've noticed that when people here go into the city, no one says, "I'm going to Izmir." It's too big! Its shoreline includes (by my estimate) 40 miles of harbor, and the city stretches inland a good ways. People say, instead, "Let's meet in Alsancak ("al-SAN-jack")" or "I live in Karşiyaka" or "I need to get some papers signed in Konak." east Wednesday I was in Konak, registering as a legal, foreign resident. (It's a long story not worth relating here.) Konak is where the city government is located. It's also the center of the old "Turkish Quarter," a term that dates back to pre-World War I, a conflict that unleashed the demons of nationalism on this region of the world as well as 90 years of genocide. Konak is Turkish, as my guide, Ipek, said proudly....

Yester we had Turkish coffee for our lunch break in the Konak bazaar. For those who are unfamiliar, a Turkish coffee is lies at a savory midpoint between an espresso and a really strong coffee. Ours came is tiny Turkish delights. As we drank, Elyas (from Lebanon, the new chemistry teacher at MEF) and I compared superstitions with our host Ipek, whose family has lived in Izmir for generations. We began by knocking on wood. I "knock on wood" when I mention a plan that isn't yet fulfilled and I hope will go well. Turks use it to ward off evil. They also grab their right earlobe before knocking on wood (they rap their knuckles on their teeth if wood isn't around). The conversation moved on to fortunes. We were drinking coffee, after all, and coffee grounds are used to tell fortunes.  I looked into my coffee, and all I saw was grounds, more than a quarter inch thick (half a centimeter) on the bottom of my tiny cup. Ipek showed us to place the saucer on top of t...