Intoxicating hospitality

I have started coming to Turkey in 2003 and since the day I set foot on the Turkish soil I knew I was in for it for good. They captivate you with their warm welcome, with their amazing food and their enveloping kindness. They entice you with their warm smiles and easy-going attitude; you never want to leave that place. They create this comfort zone for you and make you feel all warm and fuzzy. What is it? I have no idea, but whenever the plane touches down in Turkey or now in North Cyprus too I feel I am coming home.
So I came to Cyprus for the first time, keeping in mind my experience in Turkey and I was not mistaken – the Cypriots turned out to be as nice and friendly as the Turks. I am a nightmare of a map reader, and even that doesn’t describe the absence of any sense of direction on my part. Since my husband works six days a week, I have to get out into the wild Cypriot world on my own, so I took a bus from Nicosia to Kyrenia and from there to the beach.
As I climbed in on the bus I was eager to pay the driver, to what he said ‘no problem, you can pay later’ in English. As I sat down nervously, clinging on to my beach bag as if looking for some comfort, the bus driver invited me to sit closer to him, which I politely declined. I knew I had to get off at the last stop, but I had no idea what it would look like. After that I’d have to walk around the corner and take another bus to the beach.
As we approached the final stop, everyone was getting off the bus and I was just sitting there, waiting to see some bus station, so the driver asked me where I was going next and instead of letting me walk around the corner he just drove me there.
I was very impressed by this simple act of kindness, as it is hard to imagine a bus driver driving an extra meter for you in Ukraine, let alone if he needs to get off his course. But surprises didn’t end there. I got on another bus to take me to the beach, a bit more relaxed now, still hanging on to my straw beach bag (but not so desperately now, I made it to point B after all), and again, the bus driver instead of just dropping me off on the highway, where I’d just need to walk 100 meters to the beach, he drove me all the way there. I know it doesn’t take much to drive those extra few hundred meters, but yet I have never experienced that kind of treatment anywhere in the world.
On my journey back to Baku via Istanbul airport as I enjoyed a vanilla frapuccino at my beloved Starbucks, I had a few hours to kill, so I got thirsty and wanted to buy a bottle of water for 2.5 TL, which is a bit more than 1 Euro. I had Euro coins which they wouldn’t accept, and I only had 1 TL. Other option was credit card. After I got all my change out of the wallet, the guy at the counter took 1 TL from my hand and told me to take the water. Again I tried to persuade him to take the 2 Euro coin from me, but he said they weren’t allowed to take foreign coins, just paper money. So he gave me the water for less than half the price and it wasn’t some market stand, it was in a cafe. Again flabbergasted and all welled up inside from this simple but yet incredible expression of kindness on Turks’ side – I looked for a tip box, there was none, I looked for a donation box, again no luck. When it was time to go I came to the counter and wished them in Turkish an easy day of work ‘Kolay gelsin’ and thanked them again. I am flying via Istanbul again next Friday, no doubt, I will be at Starbucks, but all the credit goes to the overwhelming benevolence of the Turkish people.

Greetings from the Island of Love,

Tanka Lou