Final Days in Karadeniz

Here are a few pictures from the end of my stay in the Black Sea region.  I have to say that Suphi's extended family treated me like family.  It was fantastic.

One day Suphi and I walked over the hills (many of them - for two hours in one direction, actually!) to get some meat for dinner.  We wanted a walk anyway, and this little place was out in the middle of no where!  Just a small cafe and a butcher.  Anyway, on the way there we met some kids - here are two photos.  They were all very cute and asked "what's your name?  where are you from?"

Here's the meal that Kismet made with the meat we got after the four-hour round trip walk!  It was tomatoes stuffed with spiced meat and eggplant slices stuff with different spiced meat.  Served with bread.  And followed by a really spicy mushroom stew made with mushroom we bought on the roadside on our way back from the BBQ.

The day of my departure we (Suphi and I) went down to Keşap to do a few things before I caught the bus to take me back to Trabzon.  We went to visit hi grandmother.  Here's a picture of me with her on her couch - it's a little dark but she's so sweet I had to include one more of her.

And here's her kitchen - I think it looks just like a grandmother's kitchen ought to look.  I asked her how she got to all the stuff up high on the shelves, and she said those were just for looks.  She laughed and said she only uses the things right along the bottom!

This is Suphi's uncle Türker.  He is Suphi's mom's younger brother.  There is also an older brother, but I don't have a photo of him.  Türker is very cool and very nice.  We sat and tried to talk a bit while Suphi did a few errands for his parents.  It went OK - I really tried to use every word I knew.  That meant about 20 words!  :-)

Finally, here's me and Suphi before heading off down the hill for the freeway.  

Türker made a reservation on a small bus for me - we just went down the hill and waited by the side of the freeway for the bus to come along.  All these big lovely air-conditioned buses came by but none of them were mine.  Then a small, crowded, non-air-conditioned bus arrived (20 minutes late but I wasn't in a hurry) and it was mine.  

It was like leaving family when I left.  And I will go back I hope.