May 26: African pagne material and Vintage Kerchief

Given to Ahmet from Sarah.

Turkish now has something to wear for next Saturday's
toga party

The African pagne material was brought back by Sarah once her Peace Corps experience in Togo, Africa was finished. As she explains it, the material is used as a tablecloth, something you'd carry produce in, something you'd carry a baby in, what you'd wear when the weather turns a little cool--in other words, basically it was used for anything and the American equivalent of a cardboard refrigerator box.

I met up with Turkish this morning for the first time, chatting over coffee as we overlooked an indoor market. The blog is becoming generational now. He is a third generation gift exchanger--a friend of a friend of a friend. I'm beginning to feel a little like Will Smith's character in Hitch and soon will have flowcharts lining my home office walls.

His smile was Photoshopped on

Ahmet (nickname Turkish)
-Profession: Biomechanical Engineer

-Favorite kind of cheese: Really stinky and oozy Brie

-What are the main differences between Turkish and Greek baklava and coffee?: There's no difference between the coffee, except where you are ordering it. The Greek baklava uses honey, but the Turkish one uses water, lemon juice and sugar to sweeten it.

-There's also the difference when talking about a giant hunk of sweating meat on a rotating cylindrical cone under heating lamps. In the U.S., we call it a gyro. In European countries, it's called a kebab or kebap. You find nothing gut-turning about such a sight?: Not at all. I like it. It cooks from the outside in, so you're always getting a crisp piece of meat. It's a perfect, low-maintenance system.

-You were born in the ancient city of Troy. Is anything in America 'old' to you?: When something's close to you, you don't appreciate it. I actually feel like I'm a tourist when I go back home to Turkey.

-You're our 12th bearded gift exchanger. Are you jolly?: I'm grumpy. There is no jolliness in me.