Neighborhood Life, Part 1

There is another aspect about Turkish life that I love, and which deserves a post all its own. Or rather, a few posts as you’ll see.

While I live in a city of 4.5M, I am more connected with my neighborhood community than I was anywhere else I have lived before now. Perhaps that is a product of the fact that life in a big city causes one to participate in a sort of walking-radius territory. One of the first questions asked when meeting up with a fellow İzmirian is, where do you live? İzmir is a tapestry of neighborhoods, and residents newly arriving to the city quickly learn them as they align with the various public transport stops.

That explained, I wanted to begin to introduce you to the network of shops and people in my neighborhood. While there are chain grocery stores and eateries, every neighborhood also has its offering of local establishments where residents shop regularly for their everyday needs. I expect people living in downtown NYC or Chicago live similarly. I don’t have a car and must carry everything I buy, home. Shopping is a near daily experience–produce here, sundries there, and so forth. Over the next few blog posts I’m going to introduce you to some Turkish terms and share pictures that illustrate how I go about my everyday neighborhood life.

A note about Turkish words–I am going to share the Turkish names for places I highlight. The Turkish alphabet has some additional characters, but it is a phonetic language. I will write the Turkish word in ALL CAPS. I will add a detail in parentheses, as necessary, to note the phonetic pronunciation, when it doesn’t follow naturally.

Example: MAHALLE is the Turkish word for neighborhood. It is pronounced as it appears. It has three syllables and is pronounced like this, ma-hall-A. An “e” in the Turkish language produces more of an “a” sound. For your information.

So, let’s start touring!

Most every block in the city of İzmir has a MANAV, the Turkish word for a green grocer–fruit and vegetable stands where residents get their fresh produce needs met. In my opinion, it feels like we have a small farmer’s market on every corner. It’s wonderful and always so colorful as you will soon see. 

For the most part produce–MEYVELER and SEBZELER (fruits and vegetables) are locally grown and distributed. While some products are always available (oranges, lemons, cucumber, tomatoes, etc), others are only available in their natural season (brussel sprouts, for example). Remember that Turkey is part of what we call the Fertile Crescent.

The cost of produce is generally charged at a rate of TL per kilo. As an example, this morning I purchased 20 oranges (I will use my juicer to make fresh OJ for the next couple of days). Today’s rate was 13 TL (Turkish Lira) per kilo. I paid 70 TL, or about $5.40, for about 10 lbs of oranges.  They are juicy and ripe!!

Our next stop on this tour is a shop called a KURUYEMİŞ (koo-roo-yem-ish)–the shop where you buy dried fruits and nuts. I frequent these to purchase peanuts from Osmaniye as they are famous from this region. This is something I learned in my time with Servet. His family lives in that region of the country, and in January a year ago, we traveled there together to visit family.

These shops (kuruyemiş) sell in bulk so they are a bit like those aisles in Whole Foods or other health food stores that allow you to select your own amount. Being one person, I usually purchase a half kilo of peanuts. The price has been increasing as is true of most things in these days in Turkey. Currently a kilo is 70 TL, so I paid 35 TL or $2.40 for a half kilo.

Fresh nuts or dried fruits are common items to offer when you have someone over for a visit. Peanuts are commonly served at bars or pubs when you are drinking beer.

Also on nearly every other block, or so, one will find a MANDIRA and ŞARKÜTERI–which is a shop that sells dairy products (milk, butter, yogurt, and cheeses) as well as other assorted items–sweet treats, mezes, olives, honey, eggs, and so forth. I’m going to give you pictures from around the whole store so that you can see the variety. 

I tend to go to one called Peysaş (pay-sosh) that is located on the street just above my apartment building which is situated between an upper shopping street (Inönü) and a lower shopping street (Mithatpaşa). For some items I go down (manav and kuruyemiş), and for others I go up (mandıra). But it should be noted that one can find any of these shops in every neighborhood; it’s about trying a few and finding your favorite one, or the one where you make a relationship with the owner and/or workers. 

The day I took these pictures I purchased a medium sized container of my favorite black olives–gemlik gold–(which weighed about 1 lb) and a small container of sun-dried tomatoes (3/4 of a lb), and I paid approximately 57 TL or $3.90. I offer these prices so that people at home in the U.S. can have some understanding of the cost of products here, and also what products are less here (produce) and those that are more expensive (electronics–see previous post). I’ve learned that most people understand the cost of things only once it has been converted to their home currency. 

I have only shared three of the MANY local establishments that I frequent–so yes, there will be a few posts about this topic as I work my way around the mahalle taking pictures and preparing to share with you what my everyday shopping life is like. Please feel free to ask any questions about the places I have mentioned in this post, or ask about places you are curious to know about.

I will sign off with a final picture that highlights another aspect of neighborhood life–and that is that our stray cats will make beds of any fine surface!