It's not Kurdistan

That's right, it is NOT Kurdistan. At least not according to the Turks, who say that it is a part of Turkey and cannot become Kurdistan, and you can seriously be put in jail for suggesting such a thing. South Eastern Turkey is an area which is inhabited predominantly by Kurdish peoples, as is the border region of Iraq. It is almost a taboo to say you are Kurdish, hush hush, under the table sort of thing. Its hard to desribe, but this encounter with a Turkish woman might help. When she met another woman and enquired where she was from, Sanliurfa was the response, a town in SE Turkey. "Oh, well you're not really Turkish then are you, you're Kurdish". In the same conversation, when asked if the area should be an independent Kurdistan, the answer was an emphatic no, since "it all Turkey and we are all Turks". Its that kind of hipocritical attitude that has this part of Turkey not as developed as the rest. In a little village called Yucavali we stayed at a homestay program in this region. It was a fantastic experience and it is further evidence that those who do not have a lot are the first to be generous in giving it away. It is the same all over the world, only the rich and well off are not keen on being generous. In the village, everyone is related because there is so much inter-family marrying, mostly first cousins. People dont really leave the village so they dont have much of a choice. For some in the village there isnt running water, and there are often blackouts as we experienced. There are kids roaming about the village, some go to school, but some dont. The homestay program is bringing income to the village and things are looking up. The centre of the village is the giant settlement mound, which is exactly what it sounds like. A large hill of earth where settlements have been built on top of each other for thousands of years. In this mound you need only scratch the surface to find pottery from before Christ. The whole area is an archaologists dream and there will soon be a big wig in the archaological field coming to take a look, to see if there will be a dig there. The family we stayed with were sooooo friendly and they couldnt do enough for you. In the family there were two boys and a girl aged 18, 17 and 11-ish. The parents didnt really speak English but the two boys did a little, but we all got by with no worries at all. Ive never drunk so much tea in my life, but it is the first port of call on the welcome train to mix expressions. Tea is always offered and in this area they drink buckets of it. If you take one, you must take three. It is served at every meal. Speaking of which, the food was a highlight. All of it was home grown, organic by default, and all home made. Every morning the women make the bread, (and Tanya being a woman had to make it too) which consists of flour and water mixed together then cooked on a metal plate over a fire. It is so simple yet comes out so nice. Breakfast with still hot just made bread should be done all the time. It puts Baker's Delight to shame. We havent eaten so much on this trip, three meals a day whether you like it or not. It is served on the floor, as everything is done on the floor since there is no furniture in the house, and you help yourself. Everyone gets some bread, which you place whatever food there is in and wrap it. It is very simple but again, sooo good. Of course this is only put on for guests, when they are by themselves they would only eat rice and yoghurt. When you have one quarter of your bread left, it is replaced with a new batch. When your tea is almost finished, you are offered more. They cannot do enough for you. After dinner, the family makes their own entertainment. We had a great time entertaining the kids until it was time to sleep. There are two rooms in the house, one for men, one for women but since we are married, it is ok to sleep in the same room. Out come the beds which are stored cushions, and are placed against the wall. In the morning, the cushions are taken away and stored again. They are actually very comfy to sleep on. At the end of the three days there, we felt like we had made some more friends, learned a little Kurdish as well as Kurdish customs and hopefully left the place in a better condition than we found it in.