Back in Turkey, there's a tradition about the cord stub of a baby that falls off: Parents usually bury the fallen stub in the ground somewhere that they'd like their kid to be when she/he grows up, or somewhere related to what they'd like their kid to become. According to tradition, if a stub is buried at say, a university, the kid is believed to study something important in the future at college, if it's buried in your own backyard, the kid will be "homely", and be close to parents all the time, etc. They also say that not only where it's buried, but who buries it is also important - that the kid will have very close ties with the one who buries it, too. Is it true? I have no idea....but it's a fun tradition regardless.
So, going with this tradition, when Derin Ege's cord stub finally fell off a week ago, Yuksel and I talked about burying it at Harvard. Now that Yuksel's teaching there for the year, it's no problem at all. We'll need to wait for about 18 years to see if Derin will make it to Harvard, but who knows...he just might.
When thinking about this tradition, I asked my dad about where he and my mom had buried mine. To my disappointment, he didn't remember. I was hoping for some cool story, but oh well. We asked Yuksel's parents. His mother said that she threw all her kids' (3 boys and a girl) cord stubs in the Aegean sea, so that their destinies will be "open", that their lives would not be hindered by limits, or borders.... The she added: "Then they all ended up leaving me...all went some place and left me alone".
I've added some photos of where Derin's cord stub is buried. Enjoy.
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Yukarida, bizim gobek bagi gomme gelenegini bilmeyen ABD'li arkadaslar icin biraz bilgi verdim. Turkce bilen arkadaslarimin hepsinin bu gelenegi bildiginden eminim, ama bizim ve Derin'in gobek baglarina ne oldugunu sizlere de anlatayim.
Bizim bu gobek bagi gelenegi, Derin'inkinin dusmesini beklerken aklimiza geldi. Dedik ki, madem ki babasi bu sene Harvard Universitesi'nde ders veriyor, Derin'in gobegini de oraya gomelim, belki buyuyunce o da Harvard'da okur, adam olur. Nitekim bugun Yuksel Boston'a gittiginde ilk isi Derin'in gobegini calistigi ofisin penceresinin onune gommek oldu. Birkac da fotografini cekmis, asagida ekledim.
Bu gelenek aklimiza gelince, bugun ben de telefonda babama sordum, acaba benim gobegim nerede gomulu diye. Hayal kirikligina ugrayarak babamin bunu hatirlamadigini ogrendim. Soyle ilginc bir oykusu vardir benim gobegimin gomuldugu yerin falan diye umuyordum oysa ki. Sonra Yuksel'in annesine de sorduk. O da "hayatlari denizler gibi engin olsun" diye dusunerek Izmir'de Ege denizine atmis dort cocugunun da gobek bagini. Hatta dedi ki sonra: "Sonra da hepsi beni birakip gittiler uzaklara" (henuz ufaklik Merve Selin evde ama, o da gidebilir uzaklara yakinda).
Asagida Derin'in gobek baginin gomulmesi ile ilgili babasinin cektigi fotolari ekledim...
The little thing in the middle is the cord stub / Ortadaki minik sey gobek bagi
The window that the cord stub is buried under / Altina gobek baginin gomulu oldugu pencere
Yuksel's office at Harvard / Yuksel'in Harvard'daki ofisi
AY canim benim cok duygulandim, biliyorsun bu kararinizi bilmedigim halde bende size ayni seyi onermistim. Derin Ege'de insallah Harvard'a gitsin, dedigin gibi buyuk adam olsun, profosor olsun oda bu guzel hikayeyi ogrencilerine anlatsin, benim annem , babamda benim gobek bagimi Harvard'a gommus bakin bende burada hoca oldum diye. Annemde yegenlerimin gobek bagini, amerikaya getirim UW bahcesine gommustu, ikiside unuversiteyi burada bitirdiler hatta biri UW li bile. ne guzel geleneklerimiz var.. sevgilerimle.
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