Iyi Byramlar!

Iyi Byramlar! This is the big day of the holiday, and there were a few notable bits that occurred in my day. After breakfast came a ring at my door, I opened it to see about four or five young teen age boys standing around my door. I said hello and they said a few words to me, then one of them took my hand and kissed the back of it. I vaguely knew this had something to do with the holiday, but I wasn't sure what my response was supposed to be, so I thanked the young man and we parted. I did a bit of research and found that during Byram it's common for children to kiss the hand of their elders (or someone a generation older than them) and for the elder to give them a bit of money. This usually is only done to people you know, but I suppose these guys weren't that discriminating. Though I suppose I wasn't exactly in the wrong for not giving them money, I couldn't have been more than ten years older than the youngest one there. At twenty-two, I sure am not considering myself an elder.

So in keeping with the holiday spirit, I sent a text to Fatosh wishing her a happy Byram. She replied and asked if I was disturbed by the holiday or thought it was a massacre with all the people killing sheep. I explained to her my thoughts were that the people were eating the sheep they killed, and since I eat meat I don't think of it as cruel. This holiday seems a lot like Thanksgiving in America. Families and neighbors come together and celebrate being a family. It certainly has more religious connotations than in the states, but Thanksgiving isn't exactly a religious holiday to begin with.

Then Makena, Eric, and I left the apartment to take one more stab at Sultanahmet to see the archeology museum. We arrived only to find everything closed. So we had our shoes shined and caught the ferries back. Everything worked out alright since Jess and Elsa got a break from work and we were all able to go out for dinner. I'm getting ready to hit the hay now, I'll miss Eric and Makena. Having family around makes for a healthy respite when you're out exploring. They are people who you can keep an honest relationship with so you don't end up tricking yourself.