Today was another great day at the hospital. The pharmacists, students, and technicians seem to enjoy having us there. We have been continuing to attempt to learn some Turkish, one word at a time. We must look/sound very strange standing in the middle of the pharmacy saying the same word over and over again (picture someone from Turkey standing in a pharmacy saying "exit" ten times with a terrible accent). However, they can tell we are trying and I think they appreciate that. |
http://www.hastane.hacettepe.edu.tr/our-pharmaceutical-services_131_en.html
On the way home from work, I could understand better exactly what Bora was saying about having a multitude of pharmacists, as displayed by the two pharmacies adjacent to one another. It is as if I am back in Pittsburgh with a pharmacy sitting on every street block and corner. |
While we were eating, without even consciously thinking about it, I took the roll out of the wrapper, ripped a piece off, and dipped it in the soup to eat it. I saw one of the pharmacy students who does not speak English elbow Mehmet and gesture towards me while saying something in Turkish. Thinking I had done something wrong, I asked him to translate. Turns out I had accidentally done an action that is very customary in Turkey. Meanwhile, I was just doing what I had grown up doing back in the United States: dipping butter bread in chicken noodle soup, dipping grilled cheese in tomato soup, etc. I found this coincidence to be rather exciting that although our cultures are both very unique, we share some of the same sort of mannerisms. To be a bit cliché, it makes the world seem like a smaller place. I could not help but to smile while finishing my meal feeling like Turkey has really been opening my eyes to view humanity as more connected than I was aware of prior to eating that bite of bread with a bit of soup.