Turks are really nice people. Oh sure, there are some who would love to rob you of everything you have and leave you in the gutter. The population of the country is 39 million and I would assume that there are at least TWO psycho-sociopaths paths here.
But, I digress.
They're outgoing, friendly and bordering on innocent, in a fine way, which makes us jaded Americans look at their ways with caution. The initial reaction is that they all have a scheme and they're all out to scam us. I honestly think that it couldn't be further from the truth.
First and foremost, they really want to practice their English with you. They speak English quite well, and a lot of the television is American programming with Turkish subtitles. The only other place where I've seen this is in The Netherlands, and they also speak English quite well.
Once again, I digress.
So, they want to practice English. This manifests itself in three ways:
a) When you buy something, they strike up a conversation with you;
b) They will literallly stop you on the street and ask you questions in English;
c) The men, always the men, will try to very aggressively get your attention and/or try to sell you or offer you something.
Today, while on the boat, there were some college-aged guys sitting on the bench across from me and one of them, like a giggly schoolgirl, finally asked me "please spell your name." Seeing that TODD is a bit uneventful, I said ALEXANDER A-L-E-X-A-N-D-E-R. Unfortunately the conversation stopped there, because that was the extent of his English. I can't imagine three male Vandy sophmores asking an obviously foreign tourist in Nashville to "please spell his name."
But, I think that the best exchange, of the category (c) type, happened today.
Today, some guy on the street stopped me and tried to sell me a Spirograph.
The dialogue went something like this:
