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Wednesday, March 05, 2008

Brian's sense of humor...

...strikes again. And once again he is the only one laughing. Here's the scoop. Tonight we decided to go out to a little restaurant close to our hotel. They had a fairly extensive Turkish menu, and we both decided that we would be happy with Turkish. (I know...we are in Istanbul...there are quite a few choices here...but we had done a lot of walking and the thought of walking more wasn't so appealing. So Turkish was what was on the menu.) We sat down, took a look at the menu, and Brian immediately decided he needed to have the Gavur Dagi Salatasi to start off. Why? He liked the name. Gavur means infidel. Dagi means mountain, and Salatasi...well...it means salad. He said he was going to start with the Infidel Mountain Salad. Great. Our waiter comes to take our order and this is how the conversation went...well...it was in Turkish...I'll be nice and translate it for you.

Brian: Exactly what is in the Infidel Mountain Salad?
Waiter: Cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, and parsley.
Brian: Are there any infidels in the salad?
Waiter: (making a slightly ashamed and confused face) um...no.
Brian: (giggling) good...because I am not a cannibal.
Waiter: (a slight but still somewhat confused smile)
Natalie: (says nothing, but shakes her head because she cannot believe her husband just tried to make a joke when he knows they don't ever go over well.)
Brian: continues to giggle long after the waiter has gone...not laughing at the waiter...he honestly thought the waiter would think it was funny. He continued to laugh at how funny he thought he was.


A picture of the Infidel Mountain Salad. Brian's reaction when he tasted this. "I wonder why they call it the Infidel Mountain Salad. Is it because it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth or because it has been chopped and diced into small pieces...?"


Then he saw this meat cleaver hanging on the wall...and wondered even more...


Brian's second course...a pide with meat, tomato and peppers. Translated "bird head pide"


My meal...ev yemekleri...home-cooked food. Basically chicken stew. It tasted better than it looks!

Just a note...we do not mean to offend with this blog post. Brian wondered if it should even be written...but since he would be considered an infidel himself he figured it would be ok! He asked the owner of the restaurant why the salad was called that and was told that in Van, Turkey there is a mountain called the Infidel Mountain. The restaurant was called Van's Table so the food was named after things from that region.

13 comments:

HeyJoe said...

It's like, a riddle! What do these five pictures have in common?

Natalie said...

heyjoe - i know...i accidently hit publish before i even wrote the story...sorry about that.

HeyJoe said...

Damn. Thought I was on to something.

Natalie said...

heyjoe - do i even want to know what you thought they meant?

HeyJoe said...

Sounds like Brian is his own best audience. We share that trait. And I think I will post every thought as a separate comment.

HeyJoe said...

I was going along the lines of Head Cheese or something. Really, no clue.

Natalie said...

heyjoe - yes...he really is his own best audience. i sometimes have to walk away because i can't believe he is still talking. whether making jokes or not...

and just in case you haven't read these fun stories about brian and his language abilities here are some links to more fun with brian.

http://dixonsturkey.blogspot.com/2008/02/shut-up-brian-shut-up.html

http://dixonsturkey.blogspot.com/2008/02/words-mean-things.html

Shallowdeep said...

Heh. Brian is hysterical. I laughed so hard, I started to cry. And..in your chicken stew stuff, the peas look bigger than peas should look. Or...are those even peas?

Anonymous said...

As a lover of languages, it is always interesting to me the way things actual translate. Thanks for sharing!

Tell Brian, I would have laughed with him (just a little... to be polite).

Natalie said...

nikki - brian was overjoyed that someone else thought he was funny. he says you sound like a smart girl! and let me tell you about those peas! when we asked what was in the chicken stew the waiter said pea balls. in turkish of course. they usually just say peas...so i wasn't sure what to think. yet i ordered it anyway. i was relieved that they were just peas...huge peas, but peas nonetheless.

Natalie said...

witty - brian thanks you for your politeness.

Crystal DeLong said...

tell brian i thought he was funny, i actually laughed out loud.

Natalie said...

crystal - he is funny. and he knows it.