Faces of the State

On the list of things not to expect when visiting one of the largest departments in the Turkish government, being called a beautiful man and meeting an official who knows New Jersey better than you do are probably right at the top.

My trip to the Diyanet has been memorable from the get-go.  After I scrambled across a 6-lane highway to reach the main gate, the first person I spoke with was a very cheerful, talkative security guard in his early 20’s.  He realized I wasn’t a Turk and started speaking in broken English, telling me he was part Russian and part Azeri-Turk.  

“I’m 50-50 Turk,” he said, and laughed to himself.

Then, out of the blue, he added with a smile, “You’re a very beautiful man.” 

Now, I know from my English teaching days that the word “handsome” is usually taught about two years after the word “beautiful,” so that didn’t throw me off, but this wasn’t quite how I had imagined my first moments at the Presidency of Religious Affairs.   

The whole experience made me feel like I was back in Jordan, where this kind of compliment, deserved or not, wouldn’t be as unusual among men.  The guard even used a hand gesture when he said the word beautiful that I’ve only seen in Arab countries (kind of like stroking an imaginary beard).  Very odd.

New Jersey 

My first two contacts weren’t available when I arrived, so somehow I ended up in the office of Sabit Simsek, director of the Diyanet’s Inter-Religious Dialogue Branch. 

When I said I was from Princeton he proceeded to tell me about all the times he’d driven along Route 1 in New Jersey, going out of his way to visit Barnes and Noble, browse their books, and drink their coffee. 

This was the second time in 15 minutes that I had trouble believing my ears.  

I took both of these seemingly random encounters as good omens, and indeed everything has gone better than I hoped so far.