Upon My First Visit to Arikan Ranch

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Ibrahim Arikan is the founder of MEF Schools. He made a small fortune selling supplies to schools, then started building schools so that they would buy only his supplies. Smart cookie. The reason he his so fond of schools, other than as a source of income, is that he attributes his success to a former teacher. Little Ibrahim was a stutterer. He was told that he had very little future of success because of this problem. But one teacher had faith in him and coached him and he overcame his disability. I can look out the window from the room in which I am writing and see a double statue -- little Ibrahim dressed in suit and tie and carrying a briefcase, and curly-haired, professionally dressed teacher lady holding a large book in her left hand while her right hand rests on the boy’s shoulder. Kind of creepy-looking at night.
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The Arikan Ranch is a huge estate west-south-west of Istanbul in a place called Silivri. It is a fortress surrounded by huge brick walls, and protected by armed guards and dogs. This was my third visit, and I am astonished by the opulence. The reason for the first visit in September, 2009, was a huge party thrown for all the teachers and staff at both the National and International Schools. Hundreds of employees sat with spouses at rows of long tables that lined a large artificial lake, at the end of which arose a small, covered island that featured a band stand. (This looked ominous for the future of the evening -- my apprehensions were proven to be well-founded.) It had been a long teaching day and the drive to the Ranch had taken over an hour. I was hot, thirsty and hungry.
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Soon after being seated each person was served a ceramic plate of meze (appetizers: olives, cheeses, tomatoes, cucumbers, different diced vegetables in sauces, with bread, of course -- Turks cannot conceive of any meal without bread, the staff of life and all that). I didn’t know that what lay in front of was just an appetizer, so I ate everything, even the stuff I didn’t particularly like. Since I knew barely anyone at my table, I decided to take a walk and check out the nearby area (I will describe what I saw in another Istanbullet). When I got back, there was another ceramic plate at my seat, and people were lining for the main course. Unfair! I was too full to eat anymore. Wine and beer was served, and after dessert out came the raki (pronounced “rock-uh”). This is Turkey’s national alcoholic beverage. It is identical to the Greek national drink, ouzo, as far as I can tell. Both are strong, aniseed-flavored spirits that are clear until mixed with water, then they become cloudy.*
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Almost everybody got drunk in a hurry. Most Turks don’t drink much, not because they’re Muslims but because the stuff is so expensive. So they get tipsy quickly.** The band started playing traditional music and soon there was a huge line of people holding hands above their heads and undulating around the pool in a counter-clockwise motion. This was amusing to watch until Arikan decided to take the mic and sing cheesy Dean Martin songs, like “When the moon hits your eye like a large pizza pie, that’s amore.” I soon had enough of that and got up for another walk. I found some steps that led up to a path. There were several people moving on up the path so I followed, wondering what the draw was. Soon we reached a flat concrete area where Arikan had placed a large, portable telescope. The skies were perfectly clear and when I got my turn I was delighted to see that it was pointed at Saturn. The rings were clearly visible; I could even detect some color, but maybe that was from my tears. It was a truly awesome sight.
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* I took one sniff and was confirmed in my decision to decline. I had tasted ouzo once when I was a kid, aboard a Greek freighter in the Port of Longview, where I was begging for some Greek coins to add to my growing collection of foreign money. (See, I was already thinking internationally!) I would ride my bike about a mile down to the docks, ask permission to come aboard and then politely ask for spare change. I knew when foreign ships were arriving because it was listed in advance in the Longview Daily News. When the Japanese ships came in, I would sell them carp that I would catch fresh in the nearby sloughs on the way to the docks.
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** On the way home, well after 1:00 AM, one Turkish teacher was so intoxicated that when traffic slowed to a crawl, which it always does when trying to get into the city, that she got out of the van and walked in the four-lane road, talking to fellow stalled travelers. I never saw her again, so I think her antics were punished.
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