Last Sunday, we were at the Turkish Festival in Washington DC. Even though our priority was to reach out to the community, I couldn't help feeling like at home. I decided to go through the bazaar, other tables, and of course the food court!
I went to the festival area at 10 am. By the way, the festival took place a couple of block away from the White House. Our table had a direct view of the stage...and the Capitol Hill. It was a great view! We set up our Turkayfe table, got some Starbucks coffee from a nearby CVS (it was 10 am, I had to get coffee and there was no Turkish coffee around yet!) and started meeting our neighbors. Soon enough, people started coming to the festival area.
I have to accept we were not as interesting as the stage shows or the food courts area. We tried to lure people to our table by greeting them, and handing out pocket calendars. In fact, we managed to create an offline Turkayfe several times during the day. We met several people who have been to Turkey, we started sharing stories about different cities in Turkey, food, culture, anything and everything. We also met a few people who have lived in Turkey. I had a very pleasant conversation with a person who was stationed in Turkey during 1980s. He was telling me about my hometown and what it looked like - and I wasn't even born back then!
It was me and Nathan at the table, so we decided to take turns and walk around the festival area. I already shared my excitement about finding simit at the Festival in an earlier post. Every table was representing another part of Turkey and Turkish culture. It was possible to buy food, souvenirs, enjoy a good conversation with idealist people etc. After visiting the food court for three times (well maybe for around five times), I stayed at the table, talking with people interested in Turkey and Turkayfe.
Long story short, it was a great experience and I cannot wait for next year's festival. I will be there, Turkayfe will be there, if you decide to visit the festival, don't forget to stop by our table!
Thank you, ATA-DC for giving us the opportunity to meet with the Washington community and for making me feel like at home for a day :)
PS: The people in the post photo are (from left to right) Forest and Karalyn (alumni of Bilkent University), Gizem (our founder), and me.