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Our adventures in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus continue....
  
It is getting considerably warmer out here day by day and the pool is getting used regularly, but strangely enough we have had about 2 weeks of really strong winds. We can't remember that it was this windy last year at this time, but maybe that's just old age and the memory going.
Today, being Sunday, Joan and I decided to relax and enjoy, at least until this evening. So out with the sun beds, slap on the protection and enjoy, then an early meal out on the terrace, because this evening we are off to a Cypriot wedding.
Many of you will recall we have frequently mentioned our friends Ertugral and Ayse, who run a kitchen white goods shop down in Kyrenia. For almost a year now I have been helping Ertugral sell complete kitchens to many of the English who buy homes over here and in return he is my sleeping partner in this website business. In order to operate legally in business over here, I need a 51% local partner and Ertugral is my man. As a result of this we have become good friends with him and his family and today, his oldest daughter, Geliz is getting married.
Joan and I colle
cted George and Susan at around 7.45 to all go off to the wedding. Things over here happen a little differently than in UK. The wedding was to take place in the indoor pool hall of Oscar's resort, a large hotel complex to the east of Kyrenia. The bride and groom turned up together in a big Mercedes wedding car dressed especially for the occasion. The registrar was already in the pool room together with all the family, on both sides. The bride and groom then sat at a special table together with the registrar and witnesses. The registrar did all the speaking, presumably the Turkish version of "Do you Geliz take etc etc" and they each in turn only had to say one word "evett" meaning yes. Then the signing of the papers and it was all over. We have to say that Geliz looked really happy when she walked around the poolside together with her new husband Özgür, they then had their first dance together as husband and wife. The strange part about local weddings is that only the immediate family dress up for the occasion and all the invited people just queue up to wish the newlyweds every happiness and pin money on the brides dress. Probably why we ex-pats refer to it as, "a pin and push off wedding", because that's all you get. No buffet of food, no drinks all round to celebrate, very strange but highly rewarding for a bride and groom with lots of friends and family. We all hung around for about an hour in total to see what was going on then reverted to a local bar on the seafront in Lapta. Now who would have guessed that that is what we would do?
But it is not all over for Geliz and Özgür, because his family all live in Turkey, so they are going to do it all over again in two weeks time near the family home. After this wedding is over, they are both going to live and work in Istanbul. Geliz hopes to get work as an English teacher, as she has recently gained her MA from a local university and Özgür already works for a computer company in Istanbul.
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