OT: Turkey and Heading to the USA

[Guest guest]

Hey y'all,

 

Just learned that my space is open for Saturday morning so I will be

heading out at Zero Light Thirty that day for Washington, D.C. Means ..

I will be sorta operating in a panic mode twixt now and then cause there

is no way to get caught up .. ever .. but that's life. ;-p

 

Wanted to say a couple of things on info I've passed along on Turkey.

Turkey is a great place to visit .. and a great place to live. But its

a crappy place to run a company .. need to separate this in your mind.

 

I dislike the political mentality .. which drives an economy I dislike.

Some of this is cultural for sure as Turkey is far ahead of all the Arab

countries .. and those of Africa .. and those ex-Soviet countries in the

South East of Europe. Still .. as an American they are far behind my

expectations. I have become accustomed to many things but that doesn't

mean I gotta like it. On the other hand, I sorta get sick at my stomach

over the phoney butt political correctness I see in the USA .. how can I

know where one stands when they respond in a manner that is expected and

not one that tells me what they really think?

 

There are no covered women in Turkey .. even a woman wearing a scarf is

forbidden to work in a government office or attend university. They see

such dress as being a political statement .. or Politcal Islam .. and

Turkey is a democratic and VERY secular country .. the only country in

the world with a predominantly Moslem (NOT Islamic) population that can

make such a statement. They have female parliamentarians, supreme court

justices, professors, doctors, lawyers, etc., and had a female Prime

Minister for many years .. now she is a party leader out of Parliament.

 

You will find the Turkish ladies dressing much like they do in the major

cities of Europe and America .. mini-skirts and bare mid-riffs included.

Of course, there are village peasants who still dress like the weather

is going to freeze any minute .. but we find this also in Greece and in

Italy .. in the villages.

 

As for how foreigners are treated in Turkey .. the best way to describe

it is .. with Kid Gloves. Like an honored guest. There has not been an

American killed here since 1991 & early 1992 .. both worked with me in

my last civilian contract here. John Gandy and Bobby Mozelle. But they

were not murdered by Islamic fanatics .. they were murdered by LEFTISTS!

 

A Turk will get a traffic ticket for an offense a foreigner might be

invited into the station for a cup of tea or coffee. Unlike Americans,

who normall speak only one language, Turks (and all Europeans) speak

many languages so being understood is NEVER a problem.

 

Just today, there will be an average of 35,000 tourists landing at the

Antalya airport .. this continues from late April through late November.

Turkey has been voted the most popular tourist spot for Europeans and ..

surprise, surprise .. for Greeks. Why? Because it is dirt cheap and

the service is 5 Star. Construction of resorts and 5 star hotels are a

continuing thing here .. the economy that hurts the Turk (and hurts my

Turkish business) is a boon to the tourist. As a private citizen, it is

a boon to me .. as a company owner its a butt-kicker.

 

Turkey is modern in all the right places .. and ancient in all the right

places. Ruins from long before Christ are abundant .. as are ruins from

periods thousands of years before Christ. But we have no shortage of

vacation hotels/resorts that are as fine as one can find in the world.

And you can even rent 3-bedroom a villa on the beach for $100 a day or

so even in the tourist season. Or .. stay in a seaside 5-star hotel or

resort with all meals, drinks, etc., on one bill for maybe $350 a week.

 

Restaurants .. I go weekly to those in Ankara and after living here this

time since 1988 (save a 3 year short absense in Adana, Tukey) I have not

made them all yet. Turks are great consumers .. inflation drivers this

as one does not think of saving money when it will have far less buying

power next week .. so Turks like to eat out.

 

A few weeks back a lady took me for a birthday dinner at a new one

called the Agora .. its an outdoor/indoor Greek type restaurant in one

of the residential areas of Ankara .. nice grounds with a waterfall on

the patio. Turkish Cherry trees were in season then and the waiters

were picking and washing them and bringing them to the tables. Loads of

food and fish and raki and dessert and fruit and you name it .. the bill

was around $32 for two - and this is a 5-star place.

 

Last Saturday night I took her to a new one .. an Ottoman Restaurant

called the Rakici (means seller or maker of raki) .. raki is Turkey's

national drink .. as it is in Greece, Jordan and some of the other more

enlightened Arab countries. In Greece its called Ouzo .. in Arabic its

Arak. Its simply grapes co-distilled with anise seed .. it turns white

when you put water in it .. and its nicknamed Lion's Milk cause after a

few you feel like a Lion afore you start acting like a donkey. ;-p

 

Anyway .. I (and maybe half the Turks) like ice in our raki .. but at

this outdooor/indoor restaurant they have a different way of doing it.

The raki is pumped from an ancient barrel .. into the glass, water is

added and the glass is placed inside the ring of a hand-beaten copper

dish that has an outer ring in which water has been placed and frozen

into ice. Neat it is.

 

There is no menu .. they bring on a host of ancient style Ottoman meza

(hors d'oeuvres), hot pida bread, churned village butter, goat and cow

cheeses, melon, and such. After all of these meze its a norm to not be

hungry enough for the main course .. but we managed to deal with it. It

was tips of tender beef sauteed and then stewed with multiple spices in

a clay pot. Then more fruit .. and of course, Turkish coffee.

 

A typical dinner like this takes 3-4 hours to consume .. its not hurried

and the waiters are standing around looking for diners to even look like

they might want attention. ;-p The cost for the two of us .. and my

gain of probably 2 kilos or so .. was $33.57 US.

 

So .. don't get the idea that Turkey is a place to be avoided .. quite

to the contrary .. its a grand place to live and vacation. But a real

crappy place to run a company now. ;-)

 

Y'all keep smiling. Butch http://www.AV-AT.com