by Wendy Mansfield
This was the title of the talk by Jenny Gibbs for the September meeting of Wickhambrook Women’s Institute.
Jenny appeared for her talk dressed in the most dazzling local costume made by the ladies in the Turkish village where she has made her home for the past 20 years. She told the story of how in 1993 her fellow workers organised a holiday for her as she never took a break. It turned out to be a cruise around the Greek Islands. As Jenny has a phobia about water and had never flown on a plane before this was a bold move! After landing in Iznia they had to travel to Bodrum to pick up the boat which turned out to be a wooden sailing boat and not a glamorous cruise ship! Sharing a bunk bed she stayed inside the cabin all day not wanting to confront the water. Then one morning she bravely opened the curtains to discover a beautiful blue sky and turquoise sea. She immediately ran on board exclaiming that this was where she wanted to live the rest of her life. The rest of the passengers and crew were naturally astounded!
On returning to Britain Jenny was offered voluntary redundancy and took it without hesitation. She immediately booked a return trip to Turkey and on arrival took a white minibus sharing the front seat with a goat. When the minibus reaches its final destination she found herself in a small village with a restaurant and guesthouse. On enquiring at the restaurant she found herself working in the kitchen 7-00am till midnight 7 days a week. In this way she was able to learn Turkish quite quickly. One weekend everyone went home to their home village and the head chef, who Jenny claims to have hardly known, said she should come with him to his home. She was made very welcome by the villagers and marvelled at the fact that in his village the women wear traditional dress every day.
The costume worn by Jenny was made in the village and was brightly coloured and covered in sequins. Eventually the chef suggested they buy a house together which took Jenny by surprise! After careful consideration and a long hard look at this man with lovely brown hair she said yes and they bought a 200 year old farmhouse. At this point the gentleman who was accompanying Jenny introduced himself as Mustafa, Jenny’s husband, explaining that 20 years with her had turned his hair white!
For the past 20 years Jenny and Mustafa have spent half their time in Turkey and half in Suffolk. They give talks and also sell goods made in their village. They also grow olives and press olive oil. Jenny tells another story of how a neighbour brought her a gift – a packet of seeds wrapped carefully in a handkerchief telling her to keep them safe under her arm for several weeks. When the neighbour returned she carefully unwrapped the package to reveal a mass of wriggling worms! It turned out they were silk worms and this was the traditional way of hatching them. Many of the items made in the village are made from this silk and there was an array of scarves, tablecloths, towels and jewellery on sale after the talk.
Jenny is an engaging and entertaining speaker and we all enjoyed hearing the story of her adventure. Some of us were disappointed not to meet Tom Conti but agreed that Jenny’s charming husband, Mustafa was delightful!
