Sorry for the lack of blog updates of late, we traveled to Sivrihisar for a few days to do some mapping there (more on that later), but there were several notable cultural experiences over the weekend.
Last Friday was market day in Taskesti, as is every Friday. I was struck by how much impact Islam has on fashion here - it is most noticable at the market. The vendor with the most business is consistently the scarf vendor. The Taskesti women buy scarves the way average Western pre-teens and early teens buy inexpensive jewelry. He has cheap 2 lira scarves, silk scarves for 10-20 lira, and scarves with sequins and beads, which go for around 10 lira. He also sells colorful thread and beads that women sew along the edge of their scarves for some extra adornment. All the women in Taskesti over the age of about 10 cover their heads in public to preserve their modesty. The scarves though, range from very conservative (opaque and black) to crazy (neon colors, disco prints, see-through). Most women do choose to wear bright, colorful prints, and sew dangly beads or other dangly trims to the edges of their scarves. Another vendor - across from the scarf vendor - is the women's clothing vendor. He carries a few long, drab skirts, but he has racks and racks of very Western clothing that could be found in any department store in the US. I was wondering if any of these clothes were ever bought in town, so I started paying more attention to the young girls' clothing. I saw two girls (about 16 I think) shopping; they were both wearing short-sleeved, button-down plaid shirts over long sleeved, high-necked, black shirts. It seems that women here desire variety, color, and trendy clothes, just like Western women. These desires though, are tempered by the demand for female modesty in rural areas, so you see Dillards-style shirts over black turtlenecks and neon, sequined scarves covering every strand of hair.
In contrast, in Sivrihisar, which is a much larger town and closer to Ankara (Turkish capitol), women seem to have much more flexibility in their wardrobe. The old women in town still dressed very conservatively: long drab skirts, long sweaters, drab scarves; and spent all their time in or in front of their homes. We ate dinner in a restaurant in town the three nights we spent there, and each night we saw small groups of young women eating together, no male escorts, no scarves. One woman was actually wearing a lacy shirt that more closely resembled lingerie than street clothes!
Here are some pictures from the market:
Anna and I are drinking cay at the scarf vendor - all the vendors offer market-goers tea while they are examining the wares. It feels nice to have the silk scarves hanging from the awning caressing your cheek as you sip tea, however, you're also very much hoping that none dip into your cup! We're not sure, but we're pretty sure that there's a "you stain it, you buy it (for the three times the normal price)" deal. Note some of the crazy scarves in the picture!
This is a picture of the dry food in the food half of the market. The vendor was really excited to have a picture taken.
This is a picture of the street that goes downtown off the "main" road on market day. Note the parallel-parked tractors!
That's all for the market, more cultural experiences to blog about later!
Salaam alaikum,
Sarah
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