Hi Curly,
Good to hear from you! I'm glad things are going well for you, and congratulations on passing your exams to teach English! Good luck with your new job, too!
I don't know this site you've mentioned, though funnily enough, I've just been going through my emails and came across a message from someone, who I think may be a manager of the site - I only scanned it quickly, so I'll take another look later. It did mention something about a Facebook Loverat site being closed? Is that the same one you're talking about?
Regarding the Turkish -v- Kurdish issue, as a rule you will find that many Turkish men dislike Kurds and blame them for all the ills and woes of the country. A lot of Turks think that Kurds are backward, uneducated and corrupt. That's not ME saying that - that's the general theme you will get from many Turks. I would guess that the reason some of these Turkish men are saying these women can only get a Kurdish man, is that their prejudices against Kurds leads them to believe that most Kurds are cheats and will use any woman (irrespective of her looks etc) in order to get out of Turkey. But some Turkish men do exactly the same thing, too!
Lookswise, I believe there is a difference between most Turks and Kurds. Kurds are usually darker and more hairy. But you can also find dark, hairy Turks! But generally Kurds are darker, and many of them have large noses. Doesn't make them less good-looking, though! One of our silent members is married to a SERIOUSLY handsome Kurd, and some members of other sites married to Turkish men have beady-eyed, pinch-faced weasels for husbands'!
lol
Mind you, those beady-eyed Turks and weedy Turtles aren't married to supermodels! haha
So where these men get the idea that only beautiful supermodel types can bag a Turk. has to be the most hilarious statement I've read this year!
I've noticed quite a few women with Turks, who like to say their 'hubbies' are mistaken for Italians - anyone would think they were ASHAMED to be married to a Turk!!
Talking of Italians - we've just come back from Italy (well, yesterday lunchtime, actually) and both Ertie and I were mistaken for Italians several times - and I'm English! But I think some people thought that (even Italians) because I had a big fur hat on (sunny but so cold on the canals!) and Ertie wore a cap (seems to be the trend in Italy
) so that's probably why some people assumed we were Italian?
Having said that, many of the Italians were quite fair (we were in Venice) and they didn't look Turkish at all. Besides not many of them being particularly dark, they have a different face structure - and they dress VERY differently. They OOZE style.....
We spent three days and nights there, and had a WONDERFUL time. Arrived 'James Bond' style by private water taxi - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
And when the driver turned into the Grand Canal we actually gasped - it was like entering a fairytale - except it was for real!! Of course, we took the gondola ride - as you do - and that was soooooooo relaxing going down the little side canals - under the Bridge of Sighs...aaaaaah....and I think the Rialto Bridge became our favourite place of all. We stayed in St Marco - and got wonderfully lost the first night - the narrow alleyways all look identical!
Sooo....I've gone off topic (shame we don't have a musty old librarian on here to rush up with an OFF TOPIC sign! lol) but after feasting our eyes on the most BEAUTIFUL architecture (even the old alleyways are beautiful!) and Ertie reminding me that the Italians pinched the horses now at St Marks from Constantinople (I think I've spelt that wrong!) and all Istanbul now has is one horse's foot - we then entered St Mark's, and after looking at the incredible beauty inside - we then knelt and said a prayer and lit candles for our lost loved ones. Although Ertie is Muslim, like me he knows God/Allah wouldn't be offended chatting to Him in a Catholic church....and there was something just SO special seeing those candles we lit burning for the people we loved....in probably one of the most important churches in the whole world....
Foodwise (I have to talk about food!lol) we adored the gelato, coffee, wine, seafood, sardines with onion, risotto.....but the Venetians don't do good pizzas or typical Italian, like Spaghetti Bolognese, for example....and everything is HUGELY expensive. But it's sooo worth it! There's nowhere else on earth like it - it's the most romantic city I've ever been to.
Ooooh, I'll post a gondola picture up on my photo album............
Sorry I've rambled - and all off topic too!
Anyway, loook forward to hearing from you soon.........and don't leave it so long!
Strawbs