During my time here in Turkey, I’ve learned many new interesting things about the way people live here and have learned to fit in with the environment. I think it is amazing just how resilient and adaptable humans can be, since we can survive in such a range of climates, landscapes, and do that while coexisting with other people and animals all around them. However, I’ve learned about and been exposed to two things in particular that seem counter-intuitive to living in such a warm humid climate: the consumption of hot drinks, and going to public baths where the object of it is to sit in a very hot, sauna-like room for an extended period of time.<\/p>\n
The tea first. \u00c7ay (pronounced ‘chai’) is drunk after every meal here and also in between meals, regardless of the time of day, and contains a high amount of caffeine. It seems to be a popular before-bed drink, which seems odd to me if indeed there is so much caffeine in it. The concept of consuming tea seems calming and relaxing, and a nice social gathering, a time to chat about the day and bond with friends. From a cultural perspective, the drinking of tea makes perfect sense- it provides a pleasant bonding experience and social time. However, just in terms of heat, it makes little sense to me. Tea is a very hot drink, and this part of Turkey is very hot and humid. When thinking about he heat, I struggle to understand why drinking a very hot beverage would be calming and relaxing; it should just make the drinker even hotter and sweatier than he or she already is.<\/p>\n
The second thing that confuses me when thinking about the heat is the bath complexes. Bathing was an important social institution in this part of the world in ancient times, and the bathers went through a series of rooms in order to thoroughly clean themselves in the way tradition dictated. They first went into a room called the frigidarium, which contained a pool of cool water. They then entered the tepidarium, a warm room, and finally progressed to the calderium, a hot room. The calderium had a hollow floor under which hot air was pumped to keep it extra hot and toasty, as if the hot springs that provided the water weren’t enough. We have seen examples of this during out weekend excursions to surrounding archaeological sites such as Perge, and I again understand the ancient process of bathing from a cultural perspective. It was a place used for social interaction and even, at times, business transactions, as it seems the ancients did not have nearly the same hang-ups we do today about nudity. Again, though, when considering the heat, it is difficult to fathom why people would pay to go sweat in an enclosed hot area with a bunch of other hot sweaty people, when they could simply walk outside and sweat just as much. Outside, there could at least be a chance of a cool breeze…<\/p>\n
It is interesting to me what traditions become important to people despite the initial seeming counter-intuitiveness. Even though it is extremely warm in this part of the world, people have made traditions such as the aforementioned ones integral to their way of life and important aspects of their social structure. The making and serving of tea is important not just for an immediate family or individual person, but is also a strong display of friendship and greeting for guests. These traditions serve larger purposes than simply drinking a hot beverage or taking a hot bath, but also prove to be integral social bonding customs as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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