There weren't any new posts since Istanbul because we were staying in boondock Turkish towns and villages for most of the remainder of our trip- beautiful, but rather difficult to find internet!
We left Istanbul for Konya and Cumra. Mustafa's family lives there and his cousin's wedding was that weekend - the WHOLE weekend. We took the bus overnight but arrived after the rest of the family had left for the village where the wedding was held, so we headed to the village...Let's just say going to a Turkish wedding is a great way to break the ice when you're meeting people. There were tons and tons of relatives and we met them all. We were there on Sunday, the third and final day of the wedding celebration. There were musicians and huge, HUGE pots of food and everyone walking around happy and glad to be together. It was a little overwhelming for Alice and me, especially since we hadn't eaten for quite a while and we were just meeting Mustafa's family for the first time. In addition to eating our first REAL Turkish meal we were surrounded by a small herd of young girls who were staring and giggling the whole time we were walking around and eating. They were kicked out of the room we ate in, but they peeked through the windows and chirped out our names whenever the door opened for someone else. It was pretty funny. By the end of the day, we had most of their names down and they were learning English phrases from Mustafa so they could tell us we had beautiful eyes.
About mid-way through the day it was time to steal the bride. Most of Mustafa's family got into their cars and drove a few streets over to the bride's house. While the groom's family had a three day celebration the bride's family had a three day celebration/mourning. We all drove up to the house, honking the horns and yelling, then we piled up to the door way and watched as the entire bridal family cried their eyes out. A girl from Mustafa's family was with the bride and led her out of the house, then we piled back in the cars and drove back to Mustafa's house to watch the bride and groom meet. She cried the whole time and they went in the house, then she came out and Mustafa's family pinned gold coins on her dress and gave her gold necklaces and bracelets and welcomed her. Then there was dancing. It was mostly just the women and girls by that time, and Alice and I had a humiliating few minutes in which we were forced to dance with the girls...I know I can't dance at all, but those girls really put me to shame!
After that we finally went home and collapsed. It was overwhelming, but the day wasn't done. We also had visits from Mustafa's family at his house and then we went to his uncle's house and all of his relatives were so intrigued. They were staring and asking questions. The women had great fun putting their scarves on us and telling us we looked really Turkish...and finally we got to sleep.
So, that was our first introduction to Mustafa's family- we met pretty much everyone and although the bride is supposed to cry and be upset, I'd be more upset than normal because all her glory was stolen by the two blonde American girls... really- no one paid attention to her. She just sat there crying and looking pretty and tearful. But, she was saying goodbye to her family forever, so I guess it's reasonable.
After one day of rest, we headed to Antalya to visit one of my other friends, Ali. [Rest meaning eating, drinking tea, visiting Mustafa's extended family, having a few embarrassing moments (for example- we were given woolen socks as gifts but it was a great comedic episode to watch us put them on; all of Mustafa's aunts and cousins watched and laughed while we attempted to fit them on our massively huge feet.)]
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