I have always been fascinated by the foreign, and living as an expatriate has helped me better understand my own culture. I have worked in two Muslim countries, Yemen and Turkey, and I lived for two and a half years in Costa Rica. Andrew Solomon writes, “You never see yourself more clearly than when immersed in an entirely foreign place.”
My husband and I lived in Istanbul from 2010 to 2013, and one of my greatest joys was having friends and family visit. I loved showing them the splendors of this ancient city.
Many of our visitors arrived with the idea that Turkey might be a somewhat frightening place. They knew it was a Muslim majority country, and in Western media, Muslims have long been the subject of negative stories. Movies like Midnight Express, though decades old, are remembered for portraying Turkish cruelty toward American travelers.
Sankar and I were finding Istanbul—and Turkey—just the opposite: exceptionally friendly and welcoming– more so than people in our own country. But we knew it was difficult to talk people out of their fears.
In August of our first summer, our adult children, Angela and Greg, arrived for a visit. On their first day, the four of us went to Istanbul’s Old City to sightsee. Before we left, Angela told me that the sole on one of her pretty Roman-style sandals was starting to split apart. I told her we could glue it back together later, and that she should wear something else. She wanted to wear that pair, though, so off we went.