Saturday, July 26: Trip to Beylerbeyi

Saturday, July 26: Trip to Beylerbeyi

Nükte and her sister Müge have known me since 1989, when I made my first trip to Turkey.

I found this snapshot from 1989 framed at Müge's house when
I visited today. That's Nükte on the left, me in the middle,
and Müge on the right.

In 1989 I designed three independent study courses to be undertaken on Turkish art, culture and feminism during my 5th semester at UC Santa Cruz.  In advance of arriving, I sent a letter to Bosphorus University English Department looking for pen pals and for help with finding somewhere to live. Nükte responded to that letter and when her and her sister we quickly became friends. I returned again to Turkey in 1991 and worked with Nükte at Dateline Newspaper in Istanbul. We reconnected in 2006 and have managed to see each other about every other year since then, in Turkey, in Paris, or in the States.

Since my mother was leaving today to go back to Iran, it seemed an opportune time to make the visit to see Müge and her family.

The trip entailed 2 ferry rides, and a taxi north from Üskudar to Beylarbeyi. Müge has a lovely home overlooking the Bosphorus which she shares with her husband Alp and their son Sinan (7 1/2 years old). Thanks to Vincent's and Nükte's helpful hand-drawn maps, the trip to Beylarbeyi was uneventful and easy. Müge is a physiologist now, and her husband is a Psychiatrist.

We arrived to find a lovely lunch waiting for us.
Fish, potatoes, cucumber salad and roasted eggplant salad.

Mom and me with their son Sinan

Muge looking over the sea ferry map for me.

The view from their balcony

Mom departed after lunch, and Sinan and Müge and me took a walk to the water for a cup of tea and some shopping.

This week it is Bayram, a religious holiday tied to the end of Ramadan. The holiday means that many people, including Müge and Alp, are not working. The seaside was full of people fishing and milling about, enjoying the beautiful clear weather and breeze coming off the water.