The Village of Ortahisar, continued

Independence Day

...is celebrated with a town parade, and everybody turns out. Young girls in pairs, dressed in brightly colored costumes and scarf-covered heads stand at podiums, shouting at the top of their lungs into the microphones. Musicians step up to other microphones on the street to play a beautiful, haunting kind of music I've never heard before. All the young people are in uniforms or costumes and march up and down the street accompanied by a small band. One youngster is in a litter, bandaged with red dye signifying his wounds in the war of independence, and he's pushed on a small cart around the square.

The streets are lined with viewers like these women, enjoying every minute of it. You find very modern women among the the traditional women and in fact, usually related to them. The range of modern to traditional is quite wonderful, but something's going on, because my older neighbors can't stop themselves from coming over to me with scarves and wrapping them around my head. Their sons and daughters, grown people in their 40s and 50s, take the veils off my head calmly and we all act as if nothing has happened.

next: Olim at the Grocery...