Only four months have passed since my last visit to Turkey. Seems like I am getting back in my “pre-pandemic” rhythm of organizing treat you’s latest Summer Collection in person, face to face, and live on location. Oddly enough, the weather conditions here in Turkey are actually colder than back home in Switzerland. However, fortune truly smiles upon me in that, had I arrived one week earlier, I would have landed in the chaos of Istanbul navigating its way through a few days of snowfall.
Istanbul and the "Yellow Terror"
I decided to take a full day in Istanbul to meet up with my Turkish friends to catch up on all the latest news, hear their stories and enjoy some great food before heading off to Denizli. I did manage to squeeze in a few hours of sleep after seeing my friends because, I decided to catch the famous 6:50 “Early Bird” flight to Denizli. Which, of course, means that my day starts fresh at 04:00 in the morning.
With a very courteous taxi driver, who was even on time, I got through the city and then to the airport quickly, thanks to the low volume of traffic.
Actually getting a taxi in Istanbul during the day is definitely a challenge currently due to the reality that there are not enough drivers for this metropolis of 16 million people. One of my friends mentioned “The Yellow Terror” as a derogatory nickname for the yellow taxi cabs in Istanbul. I learned that many career cab drivers have stopped driving in response to the extremely low passenger rate during the pandemic and, the fact that the financial burden to continue paying for maintenance costs and licenses became a true financial liability. Add to this that the fare rates did not keep up at all with inflation rates so the drivers actually earned less than in 2019.
There have been many unpleasant scenes with drivers who purposefully try to rip you off in some way or attempt to charge far too high of a fare on short distance trips.
It is noticeable that there are significantly more tourists travelling again and I just manage to make it through security in time for the fully booked out flight heading south at sunrise.
Foundation News And The Current Turkish Situation
Upon arrival, all I want to do is simply chill for a while at the hotel but, since the floor heating has not been activated yet, I immediately bail out of there and head over to the warm Geleyli Café. Once there I find my friend Meryem, the founder of the Buldan Foundation working with her students Hatice, Fatosh and Ilkay. They mention that the region has gone through an unusually cold winter and that March should be normally more spring-ish. This scenario does sound somewhat familiar, however, my previous visit three years ago was towards the end of February. I have packed some warm clothes to be on the safe side, but you still feel a tad chilly in the unheated rooms of their homes.
Our discussions continue regarding the continuous and rapidly rising inflation rates. The Turkish Lira’s value has fallen by another 50% since my last stay four months ago and, the price of food, coal, gas and petrol have basically tripled. These calculations do not even consider the influence of the current war in the Ukraine which will have consequences here as well. I truly have difficulties imagining how the lower income Turks here can actually manage to finance their lives. As such, thread prices for weaving are obviously also increasing constantly, which in turn affects the purchase price of all pestemals.
Getting back to the foundation news, Meryem enthusiastically tells me about the Antalya Marathon, where she was fortunate enough to receive multiple donations through the platform Adim Adim to the benefit of her project"Our Daughters Will Study".Meryem founded the Buldan Foundation with four other members in 2015/16. At that time, the foundation financially supported and enabled 14 students to study.
Treat you has been supporting the Buldan Foundation since 2017 through contributions from the successful sales of towels (pestemal) and bathrobes (bornoz). I am truly happy and proud that the foundation and their students success is bearing the proverbial fruit through their dedicated perseverance, belief and conviction in the values of the foundation. I do hope your interest has been peaked enough to check out my blog postsA deeper understanding behind treat you Towel salesand "In Support of a new Project by the Buldan Foundation”.
A Visit With Nurai und Femi
After a few more strong Turkish coffees and teas, to ease and conceal my tiredness, I head out to visit Nurai and Femi. Unfortunately, Femi suffered a heart attack in December. The two of them were apologetically charming with the delayed weaving and delivery of my last pestemal order. From my part, I tell them that the most important point is that he is in good health again and can take part and enjoy his life and work. As we are enjoying a coffee together in Nurai’s sunshine filled garden, I am doing my best to focus on and understand Nurai's rather speedy turkish. I rarely have the opportunity to speak Turkish in Switzerland and, admittedly, am out of practice.
A Wonderful Surprise
My visits to Turkey are always full of surprises. This night, Fatma will receive an award from Denizli Rotary Club in honour of her contributions to the preservation of local historical and cultural values through her hand weaving artistry. I am spontaneously asked if I would also like to join the celebration. There is no way that I would miss taking part despite the obvious fact that I am not all too fresh after this rather long and eventful day.
We - Meryem, a proud Fatma and myself - drive off to the Rotary Club meeting in Denizli where I am definitely “the underdressed Swiss guest”. Yes, people do like to dress up for such occasions - myself included - but I was not prepared for a formal occasion. My non-outfit is truly a non-issue as this is Fatma’s moment and her achievement honour award stands front and center. We are all very proud of her and happily enjoy the excellent dinner.
Now, finally back at the hotel, I realize with fright that the heating capabilities of the air conditioning system cannot adequately warm up this chilly room at all and the floor heating is not happening. I wrap myself up in my woolen sweater and cap over my sleep attire, use every possible covering and finally manage to drift of into my long-awaited but restless sleep. My caffeine levels are still more than likely far too elevated.
Winter's Last Breath, Discussion Rounds
I awake the next morning to be greeted by thick fog that changes texture within a few moments as it begins to rain. I now segue into an extended cursing rant while I quickly circumnavigate an icy cold floor, a flooded bathroom and the lukewarm-ish shower so that I can get on my way to meet Fatma and Meryem in the warmth of the Geleyli Café. The three of us are truly overjoyed and happy about the successful evening at the Rotary Club yesterday.
Fatma now presents a small selection of her new handwoven towels. Currently her time is spent more on her grandchildren and the wedding preparations for her daughter, who will be married in July, than on the art of weaving. She generally weaves less in winter due to the fact that her small studio space is not heated.
Todays weather is seriously not conducive for a lovely spring stroll. Instead, I choose to simply take a moment outside for myself and wait for Ibrahim and his mother to arrive. There is a lot we need to discuss and sort out in regards to my last order, including issues with the shipping company. The two of them arrive late unfortunately and as such, Meryem is already in her next meeting and cannot help me with translations. Left on my own, I am overwhelmed with the high speed tempo of their animatedly excited and clearly agitated manner of speaking. We speak and volley back and forth a few times until we actually begin to have some form of understanding. Meryem now has time to translate, and everything is explained once again with the volume dial turned up more than a notch with the animated gesticulations reaching new theatrical heights. Now that we have concluded our “discussion”, all has been spoken, all is good and we will all continue to work together in the future.
This day is now done. I head off to Pamukkale to get some proper rest and relaxation in a properly heated and serviced hotel and to enjoy some time in their famous outdoor red thermal bath waters.
An Audit
The next morning, Meryem and Hatice invite me along to an annual audit which the Buldan Foundation must undergo due their status as a Non-Profit Organization. En route we purchase a treat box filled with scrumptuous looking fine pastries in a charming local shop. Try as I might, I cannot hold back the thought and openly ask if this treat box might just possibly be a subtle bribe to ensure a successful audit. Loud naughty laughs abound and Meryem does explain that the legal auditor is doing pro bono work for the foundation and that these treats are an expression of gratitude. Now back in the Geleyli Café, we enjoy a lovely lunch together and then deicde to capture a few images of us together to remember our time together.
A Spontaneous Meeting
In einem Laden im Dorf komme ich per Zufall mit einem älteren Mann ins Gespräch. Er webt schon seit klein auf und da ich grosses Interesse an seiner Expertise habe, zeigt er mir sein Atelier. Er hat zwei halbautomatische Webstühle („Black Looms“), die während des Webvorgangs permanente Aufsicht brauchen. Einen alten Jacquard Webstuhl und einen zweiten mit Holzlochkarte, welche das Webmuster vorgibt. Mehr über den „Black Loom“ ist im Blogbeitrag „"A functional guide to semi-automatic looms".
He speaks with me in a slow, clear and controlled manner and delightfully adds some pantomime and charade-like moving visuals to his communication repertoire so that I can follow his meaning. I must say that am truly thrilled to properly understand all that he wishes to convey.
He expresses the thought that this art of weaving has little chance of surviving due to the fact that the larger companies pay the local weavers far too little for their woven goods. The younger generation cannot sustain themselves financially when the wages are this low. At his relatively advanced age he chooses to weave as a “side-gig” to supplement his pension payouts. He openly says that his energy is exhausted by the constant need to stand and control the weaving looms so that he does not work as much currently. All true and good in his eyes for otherwise he feels that he would probably spend more time hanging out in the café all day and spend money.
At this moment I realize that my thoughts turn to my meeting with Ibrahim six years ago where similar thoughts and issues were discussed … discover more in another blog post of mine that I feel is worth a read titledIs Turkey losing its centuries-old weaving tradition?Fortunately, in the meantime, I have met a few next generation weavers who want to continue this art of weaving tradition. However, the thoughts stay with me that apparently without the financial support of a larger company, the issues to organize your own marketing, sales, administration and especially shipping are real challenges that requires so much thought and work to come up with a working solution.
Finale
The weather is definitely a lot friendlier and I am noticeably enjoying the warmth of this day. I do briefly meet Nurai and Femi once again to discuss and finalize the last formal details of my order. I then happily head back to Pamukkale, where I want to explore the ancient cities of Hierapolis and Laodikeia the next day.
