Superstars - Turkey Part 2

One of the first things you must understand when visiting Turkey is how much Turks LOVE children. Turkish people have a real affection for children, and babies for sure. After eleven days in Turkey with three fair skin, blue-eyed, blond kids, we have seen Turkish people at their best.

It is not uncommon at all for random Turkish women and men to come up to you and grab your child's cheek in an affectionate way. Nor is it uncommon for them to lovingly mess up their hair, ask to take their picture, or blow kisses (or actually attempt kisses!). Here are some of our favourite paparazzi memories:

When we were at the beach, a lady and her husband passed us while walking along the beach. They spotted Addie and were immediately drawn to her. They came over to pinch her, talk to her, etc. I went right next to Addie to try to reassure her that it was okay. I then instructed Addie to say 'bye bye' trying to get Addie to interact but also send a message that Addie was getting freaked out and it was best that they continue their walk. The lady completely ignored, or more charitably, didn't understand, my attempts and proceeded to pick Addie up. Armando was laughing and actually got this moment on camera:















Just for the record, this was not the only time this type of interaction happened. In fact, it happens to Jen and Armando's kids enough that Armando has now gotten fairly bold at politely telling people, 'Please don't. He doesn't like it' -- especially with their middle child who hates it.

This is where personality comes in. For anyone who knows Jack, it will come as no surprise that he loved the attention. One afternoon Jen and I gave Charles and Armando the chance to go out on their own exploring, and we took the kids back to the house for rests. This meant that she and I transported six kids from Europe to Asia (doesn't that sound so impressive??? - it is accurate!).

Two of the kids were in backpacks and four were on foot. Our trip included tram, boat, and a lengthy hike up a mini-mountain to their house. We contemplated taking a taxi up the mountain instead of walking it with the kids, but after our first taxi ride (see previous post), we opted for telling the kids that M&Ms awaited all who made it up the mountain without whining. (For the record, it worked. Theo, whom we were most worried about, led the pack!).

During the tram leg of the journey, we were crammed onto a metro-type train in the centre of Istanbul. Many people tried to help and offered Jen and me seats. I don't know what was most surprising: the lady who offered Jack a seat ON HER LAP or the fact that Jack happily took it. She then put her arms around his waist and held him the rest of the way. It was hilarious to see Jack being held by some random fifty year-old Turkish women on the train. One stop before where we were suppose to get off, I told Jack that he needed to tell the lady he was getting off. He turned and said, 'I get off here.'. The lady, who clearly didn't speak any English, happily squeezed him, ruffled his hair and blew a kiss good-bye.

There were also the fifteen year-old boys who were very 'into' our kids. We met them at the neighbourhood playground. They came up and wanted to hold Addie. After Charles took Addie home for a bath, they quickly moved to Jack and the other boys. Jack was really entertaining them with his 'two Turkish words' (hello and thank you, for the record). They kept picking him up and twirling him around. They had a little English and kept calling him 'Jack Daniels'. He told them he was 'Jack Anderson', but I am not sure their English was good enough to understand that. It is amazing how even Turkish teenage boys have so much time for random kids and babies. It was constant though - these instances were not isolated.

One of the other funny paparazzi memories would have to be at the Blue Mosque - which is one of the most touristy areas of Istanbul. We were standing there all talking in an open park-ish area. Charles was somewhat distracted with Theo or Addie, when he looked up and saw Jack standing in the way of what appeared to be a Turkish family taking a family photo. Charles quickly yelled, 'Jack! Jack! Get out of the way. You're in their picture.' Jack quickly answered, 'No, Dad. They want me in it.' And sure enough he was right! These people had pulled Jack over, motioning him to be in the picture. Somewhere in some family scrapbook there is a Turkish family with a cute little borrowed blond boy in their family photo.

For eleven days it was fun, and even refreshing - especially how this attention is in stark contrast to how kids are treated in England. I am sure it would get 'not so fun' if it happened all the time. I would hate to see how big our kids' heads would be if they constantly got this much attention. But for this holiday, they truly had a glimpse of stardom and soaked up every minute of it.