We Make Party? Turkish Party?

Yes, please! Pastoral Vadi has been an excellent new home. I eat delicious food prepared in wood-burning ovens, sleep in a modest yet elegant bungalow (recent upgrade from the tent we had this past week), and earn my keep by washing dishes, collecting wood, or weeding the fields. Alternative, yes. Anti-society and self-above-all-else, not at all.

The people here - staff, fellow volunteers, and guests - are what makes Pastoral Vadi a warm, welcoming place. With enthusiastic smiles and hand gestures, language barriers are broken and we enjoy our typical meal-time game of trying to guess each other's intentions. "Tonight, we make party?" was easy enough to understand. Thursday night, the staff joined guests wrapping up their permaculture course here to sing traditional Turkish songs and dance, with a little Raki to encourage the mood. We all had fun. Turkish people seem to place high value on their social relationships, greeting each other with hugs and kisses, taking time to talk over many small glasses of chai, and adding "abi" or "abla" at the end of a name to signify a more congenial relationship.

As Andrew and I returned from our first day off in awhile, we agreed how nice it felt to come home to a dinner with friends. This is why we decided to work while traveling (free room and board were big factors too!). Weeding for 6 hours isn't a satisfying way to spend a day abroad, but when the rest of that day is filled with new friends, sights, tastes, and experiences, the weeding is well worth it.