Deja West- Second Week Reflection

The value of tradition within the Turkish society was mentioned from the moment we docked in Kuşadas, Turkey on Day 12 of our Greece May Term. The first time it was mentioned, was through our tour guides story of her wedding. On the way from our excursion and to our next destination (where we would see how silk rugs are made), she spoke in depth about the use of the silk rug in dowries of women in Turkey. In her family, she says, one of the most treasured things that a dowry can have, is the rug. However, much to the dismay of her family, she did not have one. This to me sounded a bit like generational disconnect, where the newer generation loses old traditions to take on new ones. This was confirmed when she explained how her family had moved from a village and into the city at a young age. So instead of growing up with a mother who would spend her days weaving the rug, she was raised in a family where her mother worked all day. In the end, her and her siblings never learned how to weave rugs, and she was unable to make one. So, what was once a tradition passed from mother to daughter was now something of the past. However, because it is a tradition so valued in their society, her grandmother gave her the rug she used for her wedding (which was still in perfect condition). 

More than anything, this story made me reflect on the traditions that the newer generations of my family have forgotten or overlooked. I was able to relate closely to my lack of knowledge of the languages of my family. The older generations of my family (ending at my grandparents) speak either Dutch or Portuguese as it was in their life spans that my family immigrated to the united states. However, after they moved they became so focused on being Americans that they never taught the languages to their children, who then never taught it to their own.