The Kindness of Strangers

So, I would say I was a little bit scared prior to this trip... and by a little bit...I mean I felt naseous for three days straight. Mom, Dad, and I parked at the airport and prayed together and tears started running down my face while I asked the Lord to remind me that He had "not given me a spirit of fear but of strength and a sound mind" or whatever that verse is. We were blessed from then on... The check in lady was super nice and looked the other way, as both of my suitcases were over the limit. The man behind us in line, when told where I was going, said he had been on a cruise with a bunch of Turks and to be careful because they were a bunch of asses. We just smiled. Mom and Dad walked me to security then off I went. I was carrying too much and got very flustered trying to repack my laptop...it didn't help the guy next to me thought it would be an opportune time to chat me up while removing his shirt...in order to put his belt on. I did not appreciate this so I walked off...only to be followed by another man informing me I had left my suitcase. I went back to get it, sure I would be blacklisted as a bomb carrying terrorist, but was only (in not so many words) accused of being an idiot. The man inspected my suitcase while he gave me some nuggets of wisdom regarding my trip to Turkey. I was told to A) buy lots of gold and B) NOT to marry a Turkish man because if he was sentenced to jail, I would be sent in his place and would have to buy myself out by entertaining men for tokens. I thanked him for the trivia before heading to my terminal. I sat down to read only to be greeted by the man who thought Turks were asses and as soon as he spotted me it was all over...he sat down with his two McMuffins and preceeded to tell me everything I could wish to know about him...except his name. But I think his name is Tom...only said Tam since he is from Chicago after all. Tam was in the military until he got into an accident which made him resign, it was the WOIST thing that every happened to him. Now he's a truck driver which he enjoys but hates the "fine-dining" (waves McMuffin here) and being on an average of six flights a week. He's also very upset he had to drive Christmas and New Years because his brother was visiting and is a five star chef. You can't pay to eat better than that you know. He has four girls and hauls off to his house (which used to be a barn) in Minnesotta and goes hunting with his dogs. His daughter-in-law's dog however, is as dumb as a rock but very protective. His oldest child is a cop and has a "horse-shoe shoved up his ass" because he's so lucky he could "shit all over the place and still come out smelling like a rose". One of his girls however hates him...probably because he does things such as deleting her myspace and facebook and removing her bedroom door after she went to a movie on a Thursday night...but "Hey! How else am I supposed ta get my kicks?". He also told me good for me for going to Turkey because youth is wasted on the young. Then he was quiet. Tam waited for me after the flight to wish me safe travels and to look out for the asses. I thanked him kindly. The flight to Chicago was very fast. We got there twenty minutes early so I had even longer to navigate O'Hare...which is quite large by the way but not nearly as frightening as people make it out to be. I will admit that it took seven different people to point me in the direction of the train to take me to my gate... which I'm sure is not surprising. My favorite though were Large Mustache Man who kept yelling at me about "my need to exit the sterile area" until Oopala with bright red hair and green eyebrows told him to shut up because he was "talking in another language at me" and she smiled kindly. I did finally "exit the sterile area" then found the train. The train man patted my back and told me where to stand...he had very kind eyes. I love those. I was sad to learn once I got to my gate there was no food so I bought a nasty sandwich and a drink for $15 dollars before parking myself by a window and watching the snow! I wrote in my prayer journal, thanking God for taking me so far and surrounding me with so much kindness. I was very excited at that point...I only got nervous when I thought about how long it would be before I was back here again. I sat for a couple of hours...I do enjoy the hustle and bustle of airports. I boarded the HUGE plane and panicked when I couldn't get my suitcase to fit in the overhead so then a couple Turkish men helped me and I was very grateful. The flight was pretty bumpy but went fast I thought...I'm still not sure how long it was so if anyone could inform me, I'd be interested to know. I wanna say 11-12 hours but that seems wrong. I was lucky because no one was in the seat next to me so I could lay down in it...thank goodness because the seats were small and pretty uncomfortable...but I didn't pay for it so I was grateful. God was good to me again when we arrived. No problems (or lines) at buying the visa or my passport. I found a porter like I'd been told and he waited quietly with me for 15 minutes til my last bag game off. The man holding the "Caitlin Carlton" sign had a warm smile so I immediately felt at ease. He opened the door for me and smiled the whole way back. His name is Yeelsmus (excuse me for my phenetic spelling) and he tried to talk to me the whole time...however, he would usually just say something that made no sense and when I looked at him confused he would just laugh and say "English no good". What I did gather was that E had been asking "Caitlin here when?" all day which made me feel better and that the other "personals" (personal cook, personal driver, etc. to D) had been calling to ask "Caitlin beautiful or no beautiful?". I was never informed of the verdict. He also said he'd been working for D ten years and though he was very rich he was "very good man". He said "D good all the time, Alsi good part of the time". I said "good to know". As we drove through the city I said it was beautiful to which he replied "This, no good". However once we crossed the bridge over the Bosphorus he pointed to their house and said, "this, good." You would not believe it. D says they have the best view in all of Istanbul and I don't think he's exagerating. And the house is deceptively large. It has three floors...two kitchens, a home theater, room for the "personals", the kids each have their own huge room and bathroom, two play rooms, two living rooms, a dining room, a den, balconies...not including the bedrooms. However, remember how I joked about living in a closet? Well guess what... It's ok though. It'd an adventure. They called Yeelsmus to see if I was hungry, he didn't ask just said yes so I was taken downstairs to the kitched where I was fed some kind of beef and sour creme concoction with rice and cucumbers. Sheeren had fixed it and was very sweet. She didn't speak a word of English and laughed at herself a lot when trying to communicate. Then there's Cavid (that one actually is spelled right and it's pronounced like David except with a "Jah" Jah-vid.) who appears to be like a butler kind of. It was at dinner last night that I figured that out. He was standing off to the side and I couldn't figure out why until he started removing plates and cutting meat and serving (It was three courses, including a chicken soup with no chicken in it). It was at that moment when I realized I do not feel comfortable with this lifestyle. If I ever have this much money, I still think I'd like to cut my own meat and clear my own table and do my own laundry...and say thank you to people to who do things for me. They talked amongst themselves and every once in a while, D would be kind enough to tell me what was going on. I like him. There's something regal about his presence. He has a gentle smile and laughs at everything I say and he told me he caught Asli by showing her his stamp collection. (I think he gets that from his dad, Korcut, who visited me with his sister-in-law. She rubbed my hair and told me 20 was a good age but 35-38 is best). Asli says everyone has a role in life...his is to make money and hers is to spend it. I can't quite figure her out. On the phone, she sounded like an older, dark-featured Turkish woman but in person she's quite young and blonde and tall. She yelled at Sheeren for putting mismatched bedding on my bed and it made me uncomfortable. Her brother Eren is visiting and says he's a softie and is envious of his sister's strong character. She said she was only tough with D...which I don't know understand. Her father was an abassador! (This is all very scattered, I'm sorry) Anyway, I went to bed about 9:30 and woke up several time in the night with no idea where I was. I was wide awake from about 3-5 then fell asleep til noon. I was woken up to a guy peaking through my doors saying, "I am Eren, can I come in?" "Uh...sure?" "You should wake up, to fix your jet lag" so I got up and he sent me to the kitchen. I was expecting Sheeren but it was someone different! Valentina was also very sweet and also speaks no English. She's very kind to me though, she hugs me when we misunderstand each other and when I'm surrounded my Turkish people and she walks through the room to serve tea and coffee, she always winks at me. Earlier today, I couldn't get my computer to work/know the code for the internet, so I was reading in the living room, but I kept falling asleep so I was journaling and she walked in with the kids' laundry. "Come" she said. She showed me where everything went...it was all pressed! Including pajamas! And it was all so meticulous...when she put some of Df's leggings away...she came back later, opened the drawer, flipped the right way..and closed it again. If she found fuzz, she'd pick it off and put it in her pocket. She took me to the window and started asking me all these questions...I appreciated her attempt at friendliness but was frusturated because I obviously couldn't understand. I've never stared in silence at the floor for so long in my life...I felt so helpless. She took me back out to the living room and asked if I wanted TV. I didn't, but for the sake of silence I said yes. She turned it on and only black came up. We both stared at in confusion...again, awkward. I couldn't take it anymore...I cracked up. A ridiculous, loud laugh. She joined quickly and it was a beautiful moment. I know it sounds tiny...but I thanked the Lord fervently anyhow. I stayed there til the kids got home then we played some with Eren and his girlfriend Christine, who is thankfully very American and was like a breath of fresh air...the first conversation in a whole day and a half...which is a lot longer than it seems. Then Asli's parents came and Valentina told me to go downstairs but I felt very out of place so I went back up with the kids. Df (9) doesn't have a lot of interest in playing...which is a shame because E (5) isn't old enough to translate for me. So I played soccer (futbol) with E (he LOVES it and is very good for his age) and tried to start a scrabble game so we could get to know each other..but as soon as we did Valentina said it was time for bed. Asli had told me what to do to put them to bed but Valentina took over so that was that. I didn't know what to do then and she told me to be quiet so I just went in my room and here I am! D had helped me get my adaptor out and told me which one to use...when I put it in it sparked which concerned me yet here we are. Anyway, I need to go...it's a little past midnight and I'm getting Df up at seven tomorrow for volleyball. Hopefully, now that I have my computer and internet, I'll be able to do this regularly enough it's not so scatter-brained. Please send some prayers my way.