We walked into a rug store, thinking..."Well, we're just going to look around and see if they have this specific type of pattern we had seen a couple of days ago."

The, what was thought to be, fifteen minute excursion was not what occurred. "Noah's Ark" was filled from ceiling to floor with exquisite rugs from all over Turkey. Inside we found a couple from New Jersey that were attempting to compare a rug at "Noah's" shop to a different one across town. We sat and listened.

"Now, if you look on the back of the rug, you can see the tiny tiny knots, and the tighter they are together, the better quality of rug, because more time had been taken to make the rug." It was obvious this guy was trying to sell them a really fancy rug, but also knew his stuff. With the tiniest kitties I've ever seen crawling up and down the rugs, sleeping in between the turkish threads, I loved just sitting there and watching.

It was late after we had finished our Turkish tea across the street at a quaint cafe, and the couple from New Jersey was not backing down. We decided to head out and come back the next day.

The next day, we walked in, hoping to see some samples of fabric we had seen earlier at a different place. We came in and the first thing he showed us were all of his rugs. Pulling each off the stack one by one, unfolding it on the ground, examining it from every angle, we became immersed. He finally got his sidekick to run to the warehouse and pick up some samples of the fabric we were talking about, and while we were waiting, the famous line came.

"Would you like some tea? Apple or Chai?"

Ohhhh dear...It was going to be a long time before we walked through the door with the bell on top again. I took a hot apple tea which I loved, mainly because it was so sweet. I started to play with his kittens when he asked me where I was from. I said San Francisco in California, and he exclaimed that he loves the states and goes to Connecticut quite often to visit his brother at Yale, his girlfriend's family lives in Canada (which is not in the States, but since it was on the same continent he of course felt it was pertinent).

My stepmom then bursted out with "SO where are the 'Dee-sko-tecks?!'" Oh dear. Another doozey. "Noah" replied with a big "OOOOHHH!!!!" and off we went. He explained that many of the restaurants we had eaten in turn into "cloobs" after nightfall and there is dancing and music all night long. Then, he came out with the big hitter-quitter. "So, you, (looking straight at me, into my eyes) you dance?" I replied with a faint, "um...yes?" and then came the "AHA! really, what kind of dance you like to make?!" I nervously looked over at my dad who I found giving me 'the eye'. "Um...I dont know what kind of dancing I like to do..." and he shot back with "Because I want to learn salsa so badly! Anndd...well...If you go to discotheque on saturday, and I go to saturday, then, we could go together?"

Shit.

"Um...hahah...noo...sorry...I cant" My stepmom was cracking up in the corner, my dad pretending like he didnt hear that obviously older man asking his underage daughter to the club for dancing well past midnight.

I think "Noah" decided to change the subject to what he thought was a better one, which, in fact, was not. "Well, what old are you?"

"I'm...um...Seventeen"

"SEVENTEEN! OH! Yes, well I thought you were of older. 18 tou can go to cloob. But it is ok because cops never come"

Ohhh riight...So, what I should have done like all the girls in the movies would be to say Sure! lets go. My dad would then proceed to let his daughter go galavanting with a man 10 years her senior to a club where he knows minimal english and i know, well, NO turkish. Yes, then I would dance with all the freaky turks and we would get our groove on! Um, not.

So finally the samples of fabric came, and we were so surprised to see...what looked NOTHING like what we had described. So, I basically went through a bunch of horrific conversation with creepy-turk-rug-man to get NOTHING in return. Well, except for Apple tea.

We decided to head back to the hotel. I was so tired I fell asleep for 4 hours...and no, I was not dreaming of Noah and I on the dance floor.

The next day my dad uttered the earth-quaking words of..."I'm going back to the rug store, wanna come?"

No, thanks...I think I'll stay here...and drink some apple tea, by myself, in peace.