Turkish Delight

By Gerald Caskey and Debbie Caskey

Jim and Valerie Quinn are educators who have a burning desire to teach in an international situation. On a previous visit to Turkey, they fell in love with both the people and the place. The people are very warm-hearted and hospitable. The cuisine is exotic. The country is the cradle of Christianity and a mecca of archaeological ruins. The landscape is peppered with fishing villages and rich farmland, as well as luxury hotels and fine dining.

Upon arrival in Izmir, Jim and Val are showered with the initial installments of Turkish delight. Warmly received at the Izmir Turkish/English Academy, the Quinns are pleasantly surprised at the assistance they receive house hunting and enrolling their children in school. Assuming their teaching responsibilities, Jim and Val show their strong suit of relationship-building with foreign students. They have embarked on one of the most adventurous and challenging experiences of their lives. The Quinns teaching credentials and experience suggest a rewarding career progression. An added bonus will come in their travel to ancient church sites and in exploration of excavated ruins. The equation adds up to what they will soon discover as pure Turkish delight!

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Mar 19, 2013
• ISBN: 9781449787196

Gerald Caskey

Gerald and Debbie Caskey met when they were both in the army and have been married for thirty-seven years. Gerald spent twenty-two years in the military and was a family counselor and a pastor. Debbie was an army photographer, religious education coordinator and a crisis pregnancy director. They have four sons and eleven grandchildren.

Book preview

Copyright © 2013 Gerald and Debbie Caskey.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

WestBow Press books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

1-[phone]

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4497-8718-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4497-8717-2 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4497-8719-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013904030

WestBow Press rev. date: 3/18/2013

Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1    Midnight Express

Chapter 2    The Hotel on the Bay

Chapter 3    House Hunting

Chapter 4    Our New Church

Chapter 5    Teaching English as a Second Language

Chapter 6    Turkish Cuisine

Chapter 7    A Day at Ephesus

Chapter 8    The Izmir Bazaar

Chapter 9    Traveling Down the Turkish Coast

Chapter 10  Sightseeing at Sardis

Chapter 11  Pergamum and its Past

Chapter 12  Turkish Delight

Conclusion

Reading Group Discussion Questions

Gerald’s Dedication

image_150.jpg

This is my second book and I dedicate it to my loving wife Debbie. It would be an understatement to say that without her creative writing and technical assistance, this book would not have made it to publication. Thanks Deb for always coming through for me.

Debbie and I experienced Turkey in a way that few Americans do. We lived there for two years back in the 1980’s. Living in a country that is steeped in history and is the cradle of Christianity, we took advantage of every opportunity to explore the ruins and visit the Biblical sites. Discovering the ambiguous, reveling in adventure and in the true spirit of wanderlust and wonder, made out travels most memorable. Tesekkur Ederim (thank you).

The gracious hospitality and helpfulness of the Turkish people made for one of the most fascinating experiences of our many assignments with the United States Army.

Debbie’s Dedication

image_150.jpg

I want to dedicate this, my first book, to my wonderful husband Gerald. We have been married for 37 years and have had the ride of our lives! With a twenty two year Army career and numerous years as a pastor and family counselor behind us, we are embarking on a new phase of our lives as budding writers. I am thankful that God gave us four sons - Johnny, Jeremy, Josh and Joe and eleven wonderful grandchildren - Amanda, Austin, Gracie, Beth, Elijah, Merry, Micah, Brianna, Josh, Faith and Alexander. They and the Lord are the lights of our life!

Introduction

image_150.jpg

The year 1776 was by no means an ordinary year. Oh yes, it was a leap year! May we allow ourselves the prerogative to ask the inevitable—why is leap year of such consequence, whatever year it might be? The answer lies in the fact that this was not just any leap year, this was 1776! This particular leap year fell on a Monday— a new week, a new month, and a new year. Bravo! Though Auld Lang Sine would not be written until 1788 by the Scottish poet Robert Burns— truly in retrospect, how appropriate this might have been in 1776.

However, if a leap year was the singular thing worth writing about in regard to 1776, it would seem somewhat undistinguished, even trivial. But it was not. Thomas Paine published his much acclaimed book, Common Sense on January 15. Edward Gibbon published the first volume of The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.

And most significantly for America—its prospective citizenry would soon lay claim to the benefits of the land of the free and home of the brave,—the significance was legion! Indeed, it was on July 4, 1776 that the United States declared its independence.

However, as important as it might be—for all practical purposes, this book is not about America per se—it is about Turkish Delight. Ironically in faraway Turkey–the country, not the fine-feathered bird Americans eat and enjoy on Thanksgiving holiday each November—1776 was also to become a red letter year.

It was Bekir Effendi who invented the delicious confectionary, the world renowned Turkish candy, Turkish Delight. The British in particular became quite fond of the confectionary—gave it as presents and offered it to guests at gregarious gatherings. Effendi would move from his home town of Kastamonu to Istanbul and open his confectionary shop in 1776. Quite obvious was the fact that this Turkish entrepreneur knew a good thing when he saw it.

Surely Turkish Delight is designed with the sweet tooth in mind. The candy established its reputation on a product that continues to be considered one of the world’s most compelling confectionary pleasures. Eaten in moderation it belongs on the shelf of kitchens in every home.

What is it that makes this candy so pleasing to the palate? It is the ingredients that play a major part. The confectionary components include chopped dates, pistachios and hazelnuts bound by gel, flavored by rose water, mastic, or lemon.

The confection is often packaged and eaten in small cubes dusted with icing, sugar, copra, or powdered cream of tartar, to prevent clinging. The sweet candy is produced in cinnamon and mint flavors as well. Or, as we found when we were in England, we could buy it covered in chocolate for 185 fun-filled calories!

As we shall soon discover, this story is not about candy — as sweet as it might be — but about the country and its characters. Both are equally sweet in the various and sundry scenarios of our story — Turkish Delight.

Chapter 1

image_150.jpg

Midnight Express

004.jpg

James and Valerie Quinn were schoolteachers in Dusselton, a small river town in western Pennsylvania. Jim and Val were both English teachers at Dusselton High School. Although he earned his bread and butter teaching English, Jim was somewhat of a history buff. Valerie was deeply interested in archeology and anthropology. Jim and Val were anticipating an opportunity to use their training and satisfy their interests in a different part of the world: the Republic of Turkey.

Why in the world would these small town educators relocate to such a wild yet wonderful country? Though the Seljuk Turks reputation as ruthless fighters cannot be ignored, the Quinn’s are counting on 500 years of progress to work in their favor. Will there be a Turk hiding behind every bush dressed in black, with a curved knife in hand and an insatiable appetite for blood? Not on your life! However, the Quinn’s readily admit to their fear and frustration when warped and weird thoughts torment their minds.

Jim reflects on the unstable situation that they will experience upon their arrival in the land of the crescent moon. This was 1981; martial law was the best alternative that Turkey had to offer in the absence of a credible government. Rather than feeling threatened, they would feel safe under the watchful and protective eye of the Turkish army.

A highly valued ally in NATO, Turkey was most hospitable and helpful to tourists and the various foreigners who live there, Jim thought. So then, why not respect Turkey for its strengths rather than reproach it for unfounded, untrue stereotypes? Turkey was not perfect. It grappled with the same problems that other countries do.

However, the Quinn’s time in Turkey was to be educational, enriching, and exciting. And yes, they were enlightened, as they too had been exposed to centuries old misinformation and misrepresentation. The colorful writer Mark Twain said, A lie can run around the world six times while the truth is still trying to put on its pants.

Long before Turkey would become a reality in the life of the Quinn family, Jim shared his thoughts about a movie they had seen entitled Midnight Express. Midnight Express was a 1978 American film directed by Alan Parker and produced by David Putman. It was based on Billy Hayes’s book and was adapted into the screenplay by Oliver Stone. Hayes was a young American student sent to a Turkish prison for trying to smuggle hashish out of Turkey.

The movie deviates from the book’s accounts of the story, especially in its portrayal of Turks. Some have criticized the movie version, including Billy Hayes himself. Later, Hayes expressed his regret regarding how Turkish people were portrayed in the movie. The film’s title was prison slang for an inmate’s escape attempt. One of the chief complaints about the book was that it unfairly criticized the Turkish people as terrifying and brutal.

From now on we will use the term Midnight Express as the family’s flight from JFK International Airport at sunset on a Boeing 747. The flight plan included a stopover and connecting flight at Frankfurt, Germany. There, they will board a plane bound for Istanbul, Turkey, with the final leg of the journey culminating at Izmir, Turkey.

The Quinn’s midnight express would prove to be as pleasant an experience as they might hope for. Rather than Take the Night Train to Memphis they were taking the night plane to the Middle East—at least that was their final destination.

The Quinns had an insatiable appetite for education. Val and Jim loved books. They were voracious readers. They read new books and old books, indeed; a wide variety of good literature. They never prided themselves in regard to their thirst for knowledge and taste for good books. They eschewed the highbrow types who thought knowledge positioned them a notch above others. They were simple people with simple tastes, with the obvious exception of one thing, and without apology: books!

Their dream was to ignite a passion for reading and learning in others. It was little wonder then, that their chosen career field was education. They were schoolteachers and were quite satisfied with the title—enhanced no doubt by the return on their investment in the lives of others.

Jim and Val had always enjoyed traveling to foreign countries. Travel was an education within itself. Their appetite for travel had been whetted after scrimping and saving for years to tour Europe when they were first married. Their European trip had included a stopover in Istanbul. After returning home from their European vacation—seeing historical castles and satisfying their thirst for knowledge they appreciated the value of travel even more.

They had taken advantage of the seemingly unending sites and stories of a distant past. Archeology and antiquity had suddenly become a part of their present persona and worldview in the most exciting manner imaginable.

This passion for travel came to full bloom upon their completion of research on ancient Asia Minor, which included much of modern-day Turkey. Val read H.V. Morton’s book In the Footsteps of St. Paul which provided much detail and delight on Paul’s missionary journeys in the region. The biblical narrative of John’s letters to the Seven Churches of Revelation played a prominent part and sparked in them what would become a lifelong love for the land that had previously been known as the Ottoman Empire. Modern Turkey did not become a republic until 1922 under the leadership of Kemal Mustafa Ataturk.

For Christians, Asia Minor, or more specifically western Turkey, was a land steeped in antiquity. It was the cradle of Christianity, a celebrated contrast of new and old, past and present. One experience after another had brought Jim and Val under the spell of Turkish Delight. Truly, first and foremost, it was the Turkish people who made their experience such a delight. The people and places, provided ingredients that, when mixed, resulted in pure Turkish Delight.

Jim and Val had often dreamed of traveling to Turkey for a more extended visit, but because of financial and family circumstances, they had put the idea on the back burner. Then, one day they were sitting in their living room as Jim drank a cup of coffee and Val enjoyed a glass of iced tea.

As they watched the evening news, suddenly the couple was seeing clips of Turkey, specifically scenes of Istanbul: Topkapi Palace, which was the primary residence of the Ottoman sultans for approximately four hundred years, Hagia Sophia, which was built in AD 360, and the Blue Mosque, which was built in 1609. It had six minarets and eight domes.

The newscaster was speaking of the transformation