BBQs in the Mountains

Along with swimming in the Black Sea and wandering around the hills above Keşap, when I was with Suphi and his family we went up to the mountains for a BBQ.  It was me, Suphi, his mom and dad, and his grandmother (maternal).  It was really fun.  Here are a few pictures.

First we stopped in a little village just at the top of the hills before we you left the tree line.  This is the village!  Pretty much all of it.  There were some really nice old men sitting around a table drinking tea who invited me to join them!  I actually was able to say "sorry, I'm with my friends."  They invited everyone to join, but we had to decline. Sadly I didn't get a picture of them - that would have been really nice. 

 

This is the view down the valley we drove up from the road that goes into the village.  The old men were just behind where I was standing when I took this photo, so they definitely have the right place to sit to drink tea!

We picked up some very fresh meat (the butcher cut it off the bone while we waited), some bread and the BBQ grill itself.  Being able to rent the BBQ is a really great idea!  Here's the meat on the bone!

Then we drove up to a National Park.  We stopped at a fountain and got the water we needed.  Suphi's dad is collecting wood for the grill, and his mom is headed toward the fountain for that water.

We drove up a little higher, found a nice place in the shade of a pine forest, and got the BBQ going.  Here's the fire that got the coals ready to do some cooking...

Here's the BBQ actually happening!  I feel a little bad about so enjoying the eating of meat - it does seem a little mean when you see really where it comes from.  Our lives are so disconnected from where food really comes from that it's easy to not think about the living things that have to die for us to eat meat.  I suppose that one day I'll end up as a vegetarian for ethical reasons alone.  I'm not there yet, but I get closer and closer all the time.  Anyway, back to the point....

Here's Suphi's family eating.  His dad is Ekram, his mom is Kismet (isn't that a great name?  Doesn't it mean "Fate" or something like that?), and his grandmother is "grandma"!

After eating, Suphi and his dad went on a big search for Pine Resin.  I'll bet you didn't know this, but you can collect it and chew it like gum!  Here they are both searching for beautiful globs of pine resin.

After you get a few pieces, you soften it a bit in your hands and then work it around in your mouth.  I guess the resin and the saliva turn it gum-like.  And it turns a nice purple color from the clear resin-y color it starts out as.

I made two very critical mistakes.  First, I didn't work it around in my mouth before biting into it.  So I had sticky resin stuck in my teeth.  Second, I chewed it for far too long, so I had purple resin stuck all over my teeth!  Literally for days!  I was sure my teeth would completely rot with all the resin, but maybe pine resin doesn't have any sugar in it!  I brushed and brushed, and then replaced my toothbrush once or twice.  I think it was good to try - they gave me some of the best pieces, so what could I do?  But I don't think I need to try it again!  I should have taken a photo of my purple resin-covered teeth! 

Here are a pictures of the views we had from our BBQ site.  It really was up to the top of the mountains.

There was a point where we were resting over in the sun after the BBQ ended.  People were napping or just looking off at the view.  Suphi was laying next to his grandmother and she put her hand on his face to block the sun.  It was such a loving gesture - it made me think of Grandma Kendall and I cried a little for the memory.  I'm a little sad right now just thinking about it - I still miss her when I think about her.  

Meeting Suphi's grandmother was a little like meeting a memory of Grandma Kendall.  It was really lovely, and she is really lovely.