A Fez with a Heart Response

A response to A Fez of the Heart: Travels around Turkey in Search of a Hat, by Jeremy Seal

One of my favorite passages from this reading is about how life changed so quickly in the city of Pomegranate. It talks about Halil, a successful hotel owner and son of a farmer.

"Halil know that there never were, nor will be, such differences in Pomegranate livelihood and lifestyle as existed between him and his father and their respective generations. There is a yawning gulf between their lives that cannot be closed, only recognized."

I found it interesting how quickly life can change for an entire city. Pomegranate was a simpler farming town, and then suddenly became a bustling tourist destination. Halil keeps all his father's tools on display in his hotel as well as pictures and even a pair of his pants. The reading mentions how mens tools became museum pieces before those who used them had died. I feel that this gap may often happen in towns and cities where there is beautiful scenery and interesting culture and tradition. Tourists want to visit to see these things, but eventually the real culture is lost and it is all geared toward pleasing the tourists.

Halil's display of his father's old things is likely good for his business. It gives his hotel a unique glance into the past of the town, which tourists will be eager to see. We also saw an increase in the number of places for tourists to stay; beginning at just twenty-five and growing to now be anywhere between twenty to a hundred thousand. This shows how a market will adapt. The people of Pomegranate realized money could be made in creating lodgings for tourists, making hotels, restaurants and tourist attractions increase. These tourists wanted to see the charming culture of Pomegranate and this was an emphasis the people of Pomegranate pushed.

In Scotland I see this happening as well. Loch Ness is a popular tourist destination in Scotland because of the legend of the Loch Ness Monster. This legend is part of the culture of Scotland, but has now been turned into an object to attract tourists. Another thing that attracts tourists to Scotland are the many castles and ruins. These give insight into the past of Scotland, but have no real use today. They are kept because they are important to the history of Scotland, but they also give Scotland a unique historical aspect that draws tourists. Scottish culture is fairly well known, kilts, bagpipes, haggis, but this is not Scottish culture in its entirety. Those are just little traditions that make Scotland interesting to tourists. Though they do have some real use in Scotland, this use is engulfed in all of Scottish culture today. As tourists pick out their favorite bits of Scottish culture, they are unable to understand the country's culture as a whole.