On our plane ride from Paris to Istanbul we sat next to a Turkish girl from London. She mentioned at some point that her grandparents live in Seskkinbakal and Atilla realized all of his grandparents live in that area also. (The picture to the left is right after Atilla's paternal grandparents got married. His paternal grandfather has Russian ancestry hence the light hair, complexion and eyes.)
During our first week here we spent a day in grandparents land. It is astonishing to me that grandparents on either side of the family can live in neighboring apartment complexes. I couldn't believe how close by everyone is to each other!
First we spent the day with Atilla's paternal grandparents. Grandma and I cooked dolmas (stuffed grape leaves) together and then we went with grandfather to go to the nearby market. He is quite a foodie and so he has built strong relationships with local farmers. He goes to different people for different products. He has his milk person, his egg person, his organic veggie person, his honey person. It's pretty amazing how connected he is with the local food
culture.
Afterwards we ate a wonderful meal together and then we went to visit the Atilla's stepmom's mother and grandmother (their picture is below). The great grandmother is so old! She's an incredible woman who can barely breathe and so she sits in her chair and says, "Allah" with every breath. She was so sweet to us. She kept saying how happy she was that we were married and she wanted us to have a baby. Unfortunately, Funda's (Atilla's stepmom) mother fell two nights ago and broke her hip and had to have surgery. We visited her today and she is recovering. It would be wonderful to send your healing thoughts and prayers her way.
Upcoming posts will be of our visit to Baha'u'llah's home in Edirne (Adrianople) and the historic sites of Istanbul. We are going to take a road trip overnight in a few hours to get to a place in central Anatolia called Kapadokia. We send lots of love to all of our friends and family at home and around the world!
