I took a ferry across the Ataturk dam and then a trip to the small Kurdish village of Yuvacali, right in the middle of what used to be Mesopotamia. The village has been settled since the dawn of civilisation, over 6000 years. This is obvious when looking at the mound which towers over the current village and digging for undiscovered relics hidden in the dirt.
In order not to offend the Kurdish locals we were asked to wear floor length skirts and to keep our ankles covered at all times. We were given an interesting overview of the Kurdish way of life by an English woman, Alison, who married into the village and has been living in Yuvacali for 8 years. In that time she has been instrumental in establishing a primary school, setting up homestay experiences for tourists http://www.nomadtoursturkey.com/village-house.html and generally helping to improve the quality of life for the village people. Many people in the village are malnourished and illiterate and the average income is ‘a dollar a day’. Because the population of the village is so small there is an above average rate of disabled and downs syndrome children born. The traditional houses in the village are made from mud, which help provide heat in winter and cool in summer, although nowadays there are many concrete buildings in the village. We visited the school room and the children were so happy to see us greeting us with chorus of “Heeelllloooo” . They all wanted to have their photos taken and were so curious to see Western visitors.
We were lucky enough to be hosted by Halil and Pero and their 3 children. I was privileged to join in family life by watching the sheep being milked and helping to roll out huge rounds of unleavened bread for breakfast. The bread is cooked on over a hotplate with a fire underneath burning dried cow dung. Here is a video of the beautiful Pero making bread for our breakfast.
We were served a traditional homemade meal for dinner which was eaten in our fingers and served on a mat seated on the floor. Pero makes all her own bread, sheep cheese, yoghurt, bulghur wheat and grows most of all the produce.
Their house is typical for the area with 2 rooms and a kitchen and an outhouse hole in the ground for a toilet. We slept on the roof on cosy handmade woollen mattresses and brightly coloured duvets and pillows again stuffed with wool.
I was touched by the families warm hospitality and was overwhelmed to get a taste of Pero’s extremely hard working daily life. It is part of the culture that the Kurdish men do very little to help, Halil’s contribution to a full days work was to pour the tea!
