The 5 Things I will miss most about Turkey

1. Consistent Weather
I have been in Antalya for over a month now and the weather is the same now as when I arrived. It has not rained; there have been no cold spells. I know exactly what I am wearing everyday. Only once or twice did clouds appear in the sky to shade the city from the sun. Istanbul was no different. It was sunny with a high of 85 everyday for 3 weeks. It did rain once; there was a torrential thunderstorm that raged for 3½ hours one morning. I asked a few locals in Antalya if there was a water shortage since there has been no rain. “No, I don’t think we have ever had a water shortage” was the response. This baffled me until I remembered that no one here has lawns.
2. Food
Turkish food does not have the same international reputation as French, Italian or Chinese food, but it deserves much attention than it currently receives. Turkish food involves lots of fresh fruits and vegetables usually cooked with olive or sunflower oil or tomato sauce. Additionally Turkey has more spices in its rack than most people know exist. Meat is served as a delicacy rather than a staple. In America, salads consist of a pile of tasteless leaves made tolerable through the heavy distribution of fatty dressings. Turks ignore iceberg lettuce altogether and employ fresh tomatoes, parsley, and cucumber dressed lightly with oil, vinegar, and savory spices. Additionally, the fruit here is unspeakably fresh. There is a yellow plumb grown out near the Reynold’s place that is so full of sweet juices that consuming it is akin to eating a water balloon. Since the climate is so hospitable, people in the country grow orange, apricot, and plum trees like you or I would grow a maple or an oak. It just isn’t fair.
3. Prices
The food is great, but selling it for a quarter of what you would expect to pay for it is even better. At the bazaar cherries are 2 lira ($1.40) per kilo. Apricots are 1 lira ($.70) per kilo. Fresh watermelon is handed out at restaurants like after-dinner mints. A meal complete with bread, pasta, salad, tea, and stuffed mushrooms goes for 3.5 Lira at the Tömer café. I can eat out for every meal and spend under 10 Lira a day. Being the cheap Dutchman that I am, this is heaven.
4. Geography
There is something about looking out over the sea to distant hills and mountains that just never gets old. Turkey has all types of climates and geography. It has almost as much coastline as Spain and France combined. There are snowcapped volcanoes, deep green valleys, lush forests, and the unforgettable formations of Kapadokia, and I have only seen half the country. Mixed into the landscapes are the ancient ruins of churches, temples, and mosques. There is nothing to add here. It’s perfect.
5. The Little Things
The smell when I walk past a spice store, the little Turkish boy learning to play tavla from his grandpa, the taste of pistachio ice cream on a hot day, unrelenting Turkish hospitality, and the sense of adventure when I walk out of my apartment in the mornings. To take a line from a very good movie: “Sometimes there is so much beauty in the world, I feel like I can’t take it and my heart is just going to cave in.” I have felt like this in Turkey. This is not to say that other places are not beautiful, but in Turkey, beauty is raw and unrestrained.

If you don’t already know, I don’t want to leave Turkey. I find so much joy in simply living here. In my last 11 days here, I am trying not to be overcome by the nostalgic melancholy that everyone experiences when they look upon someone or something that they love for the last time. I tell myself not to worry because I will return to Turkey, but the truth is that I do not know when or how I will come back here. I feel led to Turkey but things in life do not always work out the way we think they will. Until then, I dream of the day when I can book a plane ticket that has no return flight.