eat your peas

i hope that it is not because of some kind of petty, predictable form of cultural exoticism that i now walk around my neighbourhood with the curiosity and amusement of someone observing a newly discovered micro-universe.

the fact i speak a rather "me tarzan - you jane" turkish induces a type of isolation that i have learnt to appreciate.

especially in a context where people tend to -

voice anything they feel, think, despise and adore;

not to mention:

provide unwanted advice to any passer by; greet eagerly; bless profusely; justify adamantly; bicker furiously; sweet talk shamelessly; bargain with a passion - (you name it...)

...

being unable to communicate cajoles you into a sort of "locked-in syndrome state" without much room for interaction, let alone a proper verbalisation of your ideas.

initially i considered this a rather unfortunate circumstance - whereas now i enjoy observing, silently.

social niceties are a must here and if you greet a street vendor once - you will have to greet him every other time you bump into him - else, he will resent it forever.

also, there must be an unwritten rule here imposing as compulsory the use of superlatives.

how are you today? calls for - nothing short of "excellent!!" or "amazingly well!".

i am starting to suspect that answers like "ok" or "fine" can be given only by the terminally ill or by anyone affected by some dangerous deviance.

another classic is (to a foreigner): what do you think of turkey? do you like it here? - which calls for any hyperbolic explosion of ecstatic admiration, preferably paired with some opera like move suggesting you are about to faint or throw up, overwhelmed by emotion.

another unwritten rule is that children trigger exceptional public displays of joy and love - the younger they are the better. if you happen to walk around with a little one - people will stop you, pay compliments, look like they are about to weep, bless him and usually reach out to touch him, stroke him. at times i ponder that, should something like this happen in the u.s. - parents would go psychotic and think they are being hambushed by a bunch of molesters, potential kidnappers and members of some wacky hare krishna sect.

my list of "unwritten rules" could go on for a while - especially because the concept of community is engulfing here: people in fact spend most of their time eating, meeting and socialising...out, in markets, streets, cafes, shops - and from a very young age. this leads to what i perceive as innate street wisdom, with all its less appealing facets of emotional opportunism, killer talent for business, white lies and drama.

yet i find that people here are genuinely very giving, very sensitive, very generous and perhaps less self absorbed and artificial than most people in western countries - and certainly less aggressive, less bitter, less paranoid and prejudiced. i see in them, even in the most comedy, unchecked situations - a very rooted human touch.

i was thinking about all of this on my way home this morning and i stopped by the tiny shop where i buy my fruit and vegetables.

it is run by two brothers - identical twin brothers.

there is something bizarre about identical twins - they might have been cute and interesting as children, but if you see them one next to the other when they are fifty or so - you always get the feeling they are part of some peter sellers' prank. peculiar, to say the least.

these two can be told apart only because one of them always wears a hat.

"oranges. three kilos. please." i said in my broken turkish.

as i was paying one of them asked "how do you like turkey then?".

so i took a deep breath and trying to sound convincing (to both!) i just said -

beautiful!, very beautiful!, so so beautiful! - stretching my eyes so open i could feel my skull's sockets vibrating.