After the agony at passport control, we were finally able to enter the island. With my suitcase scattered and everything touched, my backpack on my back and my Greek citizen friend Alexander with me, we started walking from the port into the island.
This was not my first time abroad, but I was very excited because Greece was my dream country.. While I was walking down the street stretching by the sea, I was looking carefully at the names written in the Greek alphabet on all the shops.. I was watching every point carefully in order to convince myself that I was really in Greece.
We continued walking with our loads to the house that my friend Alexander had previously rented.. While passing in front of the transfer center, which is the first stop of the old green Mercedes municipal buses, I was trying to get information about transportation on the island.. Chios, which has a total area of 904 km² and a population of about 55,000, is filled with tourists from many different parts of Greece in summers.. It was one of the islands that received the least share of tourism among the Greek islands.. Because the people of the island usually make their living from chewing gum, which they call “mastika”, they cannot find time for tourism from agriculture.. In addition, the Greek government deliberately kept tourism under control in order not to give up this important product.. Turkey is of great importance in tourism, which is trying to be developed recently by the public.. The closest Turkish land is İzmir’s Çeşme district, only half an hour away by sea.. When this was the case, ways to attract Turkish tourists began to be sought.
The island hosted Christopher Columbus before his American expedition and provided him with map support.. At that time, the contribution of the island to the world in the field of maritime and shipping was really important.
We encounter the same narrow streets with white stone houses with bay windows in Chios, similar to those we encountered in Çeşme.. On the way to Alex’s house, we pause at the square of the island.. The town hall with the Greek and American banks on one side of the square and the bus stops on the other. A wooded area at the back, asphalt roads going up the slope on both sides. Is there that much traffic on a tiny island? I am seriously surprised. Everywhere is full of cars. It is possible to see the effect of the summer season.
My first call to Turkey with the calling card I bought from the buffet for 5 Euros.. My mom is on the phone. “Loves from Greece. Mom, I’m in Greece.” Classic words from a mother sound. “Son take care, take care. Use your money carefully, own it.” He doesn’t want his son to get hurt. On the one hand, he’s proud, actually, I’m sure of that.. He has never been abroad in the past 50 years.. But how many foreign countries was his son traveling to at the age of 18?. By forcing and creating by his own means…
I hang up the phone. I have the right to talk for close to 20 minutes.. We go up from the square saying I will call when the time comes.. After passing the Greek National Bank and the Greek Telecom, we turn left on the first street we come across.. Low-rise buildings such as summer towns, quiet streets, garbage heaps in some places.
Towards the end of the street we entered, we turn right this time, something like a new street.. The floor is covered with white concrete, the iron power poles are rusted and rusted into the concrete. The center of the concrete is curved to allow water to flow easily.. It is so narrow with houses with bay windows on the left and right; not even a car can enter here. Not to mention the water flowing towards the exit of the street.. Small balconies of houses touch each other. You can find yourself in every house while passing by with the entrance doors kept open due to the heat.. We enter from a place with an iron gate. There is a large courtyard, the entrance to 2-3 different houses is provided from here.. Again, we go up with an iron ladder similar to a fire escape.. We are in Alex’s house, which consists of a kitchen, a bathroom and a single room.
I’m trying to leave the suitcases aside and settle in. While trying to wash my hands and face with little running water, I realize the water problem, which is a classic island, summer place problem.. Mains water mixed with salt bothers me. We go out and get water from the kiosk. Drinking water, the largest of which is to be sold in 1.5-liter bottles, is both expensive and cannot give you the taste of those beautiful waters in Turkey.. The water that I want to swallow turns into torture because of a lime-like taste in it.. I feel sorry for the money I gave.
We are completing our settlement. We unpacked the suitcases. Now we can go out to feed ourselves. The hours are approaching evening anyway.. We go down the iron stairs silently and go out to the street through the iron door.. We reach the beach by passing through the square of Chios Island, taking care not to step into the water flowing out of the houses.. The beach actually surrounds the island with roads starting from the port of the island and reaching the southernmost and northernmost part of the island.. However, the most important part of the movement is the 2 km section that starts from the port and glides towards the south.
I learn that Turkish doner is very good.. Actually, it’s not Turkish doner, it’s hirosmus. Hiros is the name given by the Greeks to doner kebab.. With my nationalistic feelings, I am starting to explain that doner belongs to Turks and that it is more appropriate for Greeks to say “doner”.. Alex, on the other hand, says that all over the world, except Germany, doner kebab has the name of the country in which it is used.
We go to the most lively and crowded restaurant on the beach of the island to eat Hiros.. The restaurant is really well designed.. The young girl who comes to take the order first lays a table-size napkin-like cover on the table.. The moment you get up from the table, he lifts the napkin, which saves him the hassle of wiping the table.. While counting the types of hiros that do not contain pork and that they can recommend, I say the one with chicken.. The chicken and meat doner we have here is in the form of chicken and pork doner.. Next to Hiros, we sing tangerine flavored soda made from tangerines grown only on this island.. It comes in a very stylish bottle.. After waiting for about 10 minutes, Hiros was served in a plate in front of us.. This dish, which is difficult to keep even with its chicken doner kebab in pieces in a cone-shaped feta bread and dozens of appetizers around, was quite delicious.. This moment was a turning point for me for the meal that was served in Turkey as if it would return to us.. The injustice we did to this dish, which belongs to our culture in our country, was felt in every bite of the food I ate here.. This was the reason why I couldn’t eat doner kebab in Turkey after today.. After the first hiros, I devoured 2 more hiros.
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After paying the bill, it was the last time I came to this restaurant. It was clear that it would not be.
We started walking on the beach and exploring the shops.. Each of the rows of shops usually catered to tourists from other parts of Turkey and Greece.
Mastika The shop was a store where a thousand and one kinds of products made of chewing gum were sold.. Products such as jam, chewing gum, cigarettes, ouzo, sugar marmalade, coffee, oil, and bread were crowned with gum flavor.. The store was interesting enough to resemble a museum. We had to get out of this place where the prices were not suitable for a student’s budget.
Souvenirs were sold in other shops in the same row.. We can speak Turkish, French and English written on the window of a shop caught my attention.. I walked in and shouted hello.. There were a few other Turks around me who came to shop.. A woman running the shop came to me and said hello.. When I asked if you know Turkish; “Gorgos!” (Yorgos) he shouted. The man who came was the woman’s husband.. Husband and wife ran the shop.. Yorgos said that they lived in Çeşme 45 years ago and that they had to come to Greece when they were children.. “People have no problems; The problem is in the governments,” he said.. Yorgos’ wife was a woman with glasses, a squint in one eye, a warm-hearted woman with a very high voice.. When I first saw the woman, I had a brief panic.. However, he managed to win me over with his actions from that moment on.. I bought postcards with pictures of Chios and a set of glasses.. We left the shop with thanks.. We kept walking. I loved standing in front of each shop and inspecting it.. Because there were so many beautiful products. Another thing that caught my attention is that even if you buy a postcard, you get a receipt from the cash register.. As a Turk it was interesting to see citizens loyal to their state.
I couldn’t resist seeing ouzos costing between 3 and 5 Euros each in a different shop and bought a few.. Every Turkish who saw the price of 70 ouzo could not help but buy a suitcase full of ouzo.. After buying a few postcards, key chains and postcards to post, we returned home due to the ticking of the clock and tiredness…
