Communication Breakdown

Macit Quote of the Day: We can communicate, don't you worry honey.

I think that one of the most potentially awkward and funny moments in any international trip is the possibility for misunderstandings due to language.  We've been lucky in that we have three different translators to help us through our trip: the ever affable Macit, Barb, and Dana.  There have been few times where anybody in the trip has been left high and dry without the help of a translator (or where a local Turk wasn't fluent enough in English to get through the conversation).

Sort of the idea of the chess pieces I was looking for.

One of our many stops during our trip through Turkey was in the beautiful town of Safranbolu.  This quaint village is a UNESCO World Heritage site and home to a ton of saffron growing, hence the name.  During out stay, we were giving some time to shop around the downtown area a bit.  One of the things I was looking for throughout the trip were chess pieces depicting Crusaders fighting against the Turks.  I saw them on the very first day I arrived, but they were too expensive so I spent the next 3 weeks looking for a cheaper version to no avail.  A few people on the trip were kind enough to be on the lookout with me and Shauna kindly informed me that she had seen some chess sets at one of the stores and that I should check it out.

Turkish people sell lots of breakable crap.

I waltz in to the store (the wrong store by chance, this guy isn’t so good at directions) and begin the awkward exchange of trying to describe something to the owner with no mutual language abilities.  I should have realized it was the wrong store by the complete lack of chess sets in the room, but I was caught up in the whirlwind of negotiation, which we have established I was not good at.  I began gesticulating when I finally saw a crummy chess set in the corner of the room and tried to make evident that I wanted to see if he had more.  Luckily, the store owner was incredibly nice and didn’t get upset when he opened up the box chess set to show me and I didn’t make a purchase.  He had two daughters in the shop with him who both spoke a little English, and I think that between all of us it was made clear that I wanted a different type of chess set and that he didn’t have more. 

See

I was about to leave the shop when I noticed that they did have quite the array of tea sets.  I love a good cup of tea and I would feel way more Turkish if I could drink some through a set made in China to look Turkish.  I began looking them over and one of the owner’s daughters came over to assist me.  She promised that she could give me a discount (a ubiquitous promise amongst Turkish sellers) and I selected a two-piece set.  Then began the negotiation process again.  We couldn't agree on a price and I was manfully about to walk out when the father came back in and said something about being a part of the family and I would get an extra special price.  We agreed and one of the daughters began packaging up the set.

The Turks should have added this guy to the family.

Here’s where it gets weird.  The father and older daughter begin speaking in Turkish and the daughter turned bright red and begins hitting her dad.  Now, the man had a thick Turkish accent, and his English was the opposite of good, but I think he told me that his daughter looked nice without the many coverings of her garments and then made a motion of cutting off her sleeves to reveal her arms.  I immediately think back to when he said something about being a part of the family and am now concerned that he was being too literal.  I awkwardly laugh and shrug my shoulders as if I didn't understand (which by all accounts is true), paid, and got the hell out of there.  I hope my Turkish wife isn't mad that I left her.