Saturday, March 1, 2008

Pregnant in Turkey

I had a typically Turkish experience this week. I had to ride out to the airport for work in a big truck with one of the Consulate drivers. He's the sweetest man and has the best intentions; HOWEVER, a common belief here in Turkey is that driving over bumps in the road (of any size or form) will injure the baby. For those of you who've spent any time on the road in Istanbul, you know where this is going. It easily took us twice as long to make our trip to and from the airport because we came to a near stop before each and every uneven spot in the road - even on the highway. We dodged every manhole and pothole, and he took the long way around back to the Consulate because the more direct route required driving on worse roads. Every time we slowed he would tell me in his broken English how we were protecting the baby by avoiding the bumps. Although he was truly being very considerate, I thought I was going to pull my hair out by the time we got back. I guess that's what I get for being pregnant in Turkey. =)

2 comments:

Johnson Journal said...

how funny! Turks you gotta love their little sayings! no matter how crazy!

Anonymous said...

Let me guess who you were with -- ha ha! It is very cute and I can totally picture it (and your frustration!!)