Attitudes to Us
Friendliness, welcome and interest of Kanberli women - much politer, less blatantly curious. All gave me the greeting "ho geldin, sefa geldin" on arrival. One
woman who joined the group and stood staring at me was rebuked by the others, and told to say "ho geldin". As far as I could gather, the bulk of these women
were from the upper richer part of the village, with men folk who 'gez' and some who are highly educated, - but with the considerable inter-marriage that there
is between the 2 quarters, some must have come from pretty poor and illiterate families.
Men seemed quite pleased that I asked to join the women in the 'ev'. Women delighted that I had come to see them. But entertained on same scale as Paul - e.g.
ayran brought to me in 'ev' soon after arrival, later coffee brought round to me from the 'oda' by Hilmi {mathematics student in Istanbul}. When the 'kavalt'
was prepared, I was asked to go to the 'oda', and sat there to eat with Paul, {our host}, and his young relative from Kayseri. The men present were all
citefied and not embarrassed by my presence. After eating I returned to the 'ev' - women again expressed pleasure that I had come back there. I gathered that
the women had not eaten at this time.
k<Kanber women's politeness, gender>
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