MY FAVORITES FROM IZMER, TURKEY

I wanted to share with you the fun pictures I've taken of this seaside city Izmer and surrounding small villages.

I have eaten great food, drank awful Turkish coffee, met "real" women & men, seen sites you won't believe and petted Buda. Here are it all is:

FOOD:

PEOPLE:

PLACES:                                                            BUDA:                       STORK'S NEST:

I think all of the above are self explanatory. Did you get that the place is an out door toilet? And Buda is pregnant with six little ones to be delivered in one week. The first woman pictured is over 95 years old, she couldn't really remember her age, she smiled and asked me for a cigarette!

Now this one needs a bit of explaining, this is a costume worn by little boys under the age of 8. They wear it to their circumcision party! This is their rite of passage to manhood. A similar party is not given to young girls, when they start menstruation their mother slaps them and says welcome to womanhood...go figure. Neither seems very pleasant!