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Seker Bayrami, Ramazan Bayrami, Sugar Bayram, Candy Bayram

Ali Akpinar — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 21:30:12 +0000

Tomorrow is the first day of Ramadan Bayram. Ramazan Bayrami, Seker Bayrami in other words because people offer candies to each other, is the feast after the Ramadan month. The aim of this feast is to get together and celebrate Ramadan, the fasting month.

Bayram starts on the last day of Ramadan month, Arefe gunu, Eve’s day. Typically women cook the best food, a lot of sweets and desserts to offer their guests. On the first day men go to the mosque with children for Bayram pray early in the evening. After the pray the families go to the cemeteries to remember and read Fatiha Suresi for the souls of their relatives passed away (Sure is the part of Quran. At the end of the text is the English translation of the pray). Bayram is also the time to remember th poor people, therefore they are given money or presents called zekat, the one fortieth of one’s income distributed as alms. The whole Bayram passes by visiting freinds, relatives and especially older people to kiss their hands and ask how they are. By the way, the typical present when visiting someone is a packet of dessert of candies. After fasting all month, Ramazan Bayrami is the time to eat a lot of food, especally lots of dessersts and candies.

Another typical thing is the unexpected visitors during the Bayram. Ramadan drummers, playing drums at night to wake people up for the breakfast before fasting knock on the doors for a tip. The children in the neighbourhood are also among the unexpected visitors to collect candies and pocket money. I think there is no need to mention about the beggars.

Ramadan Bayram is one of the religious and official holidays. It is normally takes 3 days but sometimes it is a longer official holiday depending on the calendar. This year, 2010, it starts on the 9th and ends on the 12th of September.

Bayram Food

The most typical Bayram foods are baklava and akide sekeri. Baklava is still favourable but akide sekeri is replaced with candies and chocolate.

Turkish

Iyi Bayramlar. Hayirli Bayramlar. Happy Bayram.
Bayraminiz kutlu/mubarek olsun. I wish you a happy Bayram.

Fatiha Suresi

Fatiha suresi, as explained above, is the prayer read for the souls of the people passed away. Here is the English translation I found over the Internet. I hope it is correct.

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful! Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds, the Beneficent, the Merciful. Owner of the Day of Judgement. Thee (alone) we worship; Thee (alone) we ask for help. Show us the straight path. The path of those whom Thou hast favoured; Not (the path) of those who earn Thine anger nor of those who go astray.

BAYRAMINIZ KUTLU OLSUN!

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Bahariye Islets, Halic, The Golden Horn

Ali Akpinar — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 09:48:30 +0000

Halic, the Golden Horn, was so polluted in the past that I always thought the reason for those two islets was pollution. I found out later they have been in Halic for centuries since the Roman times. The islets are called Kosmidion during the Roman period and Bahariye during the Ottoman period just like the neighbourhood between Eyup and Silahtaraga. Bahariye and the islets were the center of attraction with all those gardens and mansions where people went for walks, row and had nice time, especialy during the Tulip Era in 17th century.

After the republic in 1923, the factories built around Halic shores made the water and islets so polluted until the 90’s when the factories were shut down and the water was purified. Today Halic is much cleaner and the birds are using the islets as breeding area again beside the rabbits left by the fisherman.

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Yildiz Clock Tower, Besiktas

Ali Akpinar — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 09:15:19 +0000

Yidiz clock tower was built in 1890 by Sultan Abdulhamid II in the courtyard of the Yildiz Hamidiye Mosque located in the Yildiz Palace complex. The orientalist and neo-gothic style tower has three floors. The first floor has four separate inscriptions, the second floor contains a thermometer and a barometer, the top floor is a clock room, and there is a compass rose on the roof.

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Kandil nights

Ali Akpinar — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 09:00:13 +0000

Today is kandil, Kadir Gecesi when the Koran was revealed. Kandil, an Arabic word meaning oil lamp shaped like a small glass bowl also referes to one of the five Islamic nights. It is called kandil because candles started to be used at the minarets during the reign of Selim II. Since then, these nights are called Kandil Gecesi, candle night. Here are the five kandil nights:

Mevlid Kandili is the religious celebration held on the evening of the Prophet Muhammad´s birth.
Regaib Kandili is the night preceding the first Friday in the month of Rajab, regarded as the anniversary of the conception of the Prophet Muhammad.
Mirac Kandili is the night of the Prophet Muhammad´s miraculous journey to heaven (the 27th of Rajab).
Berat Kandili is the Night of Pardon, the night between the 14th and the 15th days of the month Sha´ban.
Kadir Gecesi is the Night of Power (the twenty-seventh of Ramazan, when the Koran was revealed).
Muharrem Gecesi is the first month in the Muslim calendar.

During these days, a kind of cookie called “kandil simidi” is sold at the bakeries and by the street vendors.

Turkish

Iyi kandiller. Kandilin(iz) mubarek olsun. Happy kandil.

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How Istanbullu are you?

Ali Akpinar — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 09:54:57 +0000

If you answer “yes” more than “no”, then you are a true Istanbulian 

Do you have an akbil?
Do you like kuru fasulye, pilav, cacik?
Do you have simit or pogaca on the way to work in the mornings?
Can you prononuce “Inecek var” correctly when you want to get off the dolmus or minibus?
Do you use “Lan, Ulan” e.g. Tamam lan! Hadi Lan! Ulan…!
Do you use “Bakar misin(iz)?” when you want to order something?
Do you ask “Memleket nere?” when you meet someone for the first time?
Do you like kokorec?
Do you order kebab “bir bucuk (1,5) porsiyon”?
Do you swim with your underwear by the Bosphorus?
Do you support Fenerbahce, Besiktas or Galatasaray?
Do you shoot your pistol or shotgun after your team win a derby?
Do you address elder women “abla, tezye” or elder man “abi, amca”?
Do you address people “Hocam, Usta, Pasam, Dayi…”?
Do you go to the islands for a picnic on the weekends?
Do you give any money to the beggars?
Do you like having a glass of tea by the Bosphorus?
Do you like playing “okey”?
Do you take the boat very often?
Do you feed the cats on the streets with cruncy cat food?
Do you call the cats like “pisi pisi”?
Do you call the dogs “kucu, kucu”?
Do you do “tsk” instead of saying “no”?
Do you know how to make Turkish coffee?
Do you always try to pay the bill when you go out for a drink or dinner?
Do you like raki?
Do you always order cheese with your raki if you like raki?
Do you know the song “Kimler geldi, kimler gecti?”
Do you have a account at the grocer in your neighbourhood? In other words, you buy stuff and pay later?
Do you usually go to the street markets for shopping for food?
Do you park your car on the road in a narrow street?
Do you park your car on the pavement in a narrow street?
Do you know how to swear or come down on people when you hit a car at the back?
Do you use “Hasiktir!”?
Do you use “Siktir git!”?
Do you feed seagulls with simit on the boat?
Do you “ford yapmak” on the public transport? In other words, do you sexually harrass women on a crowded bus?
Do you answer your cell phone “Efendim”?
Do you have “helva” after a fish meal?
Do you walk across the street at the traffic light is red?
…….

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Soundtrack of Son Osmanli, Yandim Ali

Ali Akpinar — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 09:50:01 +0000

Soundtrack of Last Ottoman, Yandim Ali by Ziynet Sali

Ziynet Sali – son osmali yandim ali
Yükleyen FATIH_914. – Öne çÄ±kan müzik videolarÄ±nÄ± izleyin.

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Beware of Maganda!

Ali Akpinar — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 09:26:37 +0000

Maganda means, when you look it up in the dictionary, lout, boot, bully, rowdy, boor, yokel, rude and mannerless person. It is a term used for men because not any women would act like a maganda except for the exceptions. The word was probably found by the cartoonists at Girgir humour magazine in the 70’s.

What does a maganda do? A maganda;

spits on the street in many ways.
picks his nose on the street.
scratches his genital area in public.
farts on the street.
drives very fast without obeying the traffic rules and other people.
throw cigarette butt into the sea.
race with an ambulance.
swims with his underwear.
fires his pistol in public because his football team is the winner and this cause innocent people on the balcony or window to die…

This is only a short list of what he does. A very good example of a typical maganda is the character in a popular Turkish film called Recep İvedik.

[[Visit blog to check out this spoiler]]

For further information see recepivedikmovie.com

Turkish

entel maganda a maganda acts like entel, intellectual, highbrow

maganda kurşunu a bullet fired by a maganda because he is happy for some reason, mostly after a football game or a wedding, which usually kills innocent people

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Nusretiye Clock Tower, Tophane

Ali Akpinar — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 08:11:07 +0000

Nusretiye Clock Tower built by Sultan Abdulmecid in 1848-49 as part of the Nusretiye Mosque is the oldest clock tower in Istanbul built by the famous Balyan Family, responsible for the modernization of the empire during the 19th century.

The tower built in neo-classical style is 15 meters high and 3 floors. It contains the Tugra (monogram) of the Sultan Abdulmecid on the entrance. The clock was a Zenith.

Remember these buildings built in the 19the century by the Balyan Family symbolizes the modernaziton attempts during the 19the century. For this reason, the empire got huge loans from the European empires, which led the Ottoman Empire big troubles before the fall in the First World War.

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“Sensiz Istanbul’a dusmanim” by Gripin & Emre Aydin

Ali Akpinar — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 09:40:56 +0000

Sensiz Istanbul’a dusmanim by Emre Aydin & Gripin

Gripin & Emre AydÄ±n – Sensiz Ä°stanbula DüÅ�manÄ±m
Yükleyen junichi39. – Video klipler, sanatçÄ± röportajlarÄ±, konserler ve çok daha fazlasÄ±.

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Yoghurt

Ali Akpinar — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 09:17:35 +0000

Yoghurt, yogurt in Turkish, is a very healthy dairy food presented to the whole world by the Turks. It is one of the Turkish words in English and other languages. Yoghurt consumption is very common in Turkey, maybe more than milk. Other than proper yoghurt, another popular type is süzme yogurt or torba yogurdu (yoghurt strained until it reaches the consistency of cream cheese).

Yoghurt is usually consumed as;
Plain side dish with rice or pasta.
Meze mixed with some ingredients like haydari, purslane or cacik
Beverage as ayran consumed with fastfood and kebab.
Sauce with garlic used to dress food like dolma, Turkish ravioli, some vegetable meals or some kebabs
Soup like dugun corbasi
Dessert like yogurt dessert or Kanlica yogurdu.

Ayran

Ayran is buttermilk, a very simple cold drink made by shaking yoghurt, water and salt. It is a drink usually consumed with fastfood and kebap. Doctors tell us it is also a preventative medicine against the effects of carcinogens because of the bacteria in yoghurt.

Cacik

Cacik is a kind of meze or side dish made with yoghurt, cucumber, olive oil, dill or mint and garlic preferably. It is served as a side dish or meze as well as cold soup on hot sesaons. A cheap but delicious and nutricious meal of kuru fasulye (beans soup) pilav (rice) and cacık is enough to make Istanbullu happy.

Haydari

Haydari is a kind of meze made from yoghurt, garlic, olive oil and spices. Haydari is one of the main mezes of a cilingir sofrasi (raki table).

Afiyet olsun!

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