Duygu the agnostic

An example of a foreigner’s casual Turkish encounter, for the uninitiated:

I struck up a conversation with a young Turkish woman in the copy room. I figured it would have been awkward if I didn’t.

Her name was Duygu. We proceeded to discuss mundane things—like telephones, apartments, and the weather. I told her I was from the United States. She was from Bursa. We talked about New York and Bursa. Her father was a lawyer. She showed me his picture.

Five minutes passed. I started to excuse myself, but she needed a smoke, so we went outside. She offered me one of her Winston Blue Super Slims. I declined.

And then, without the slightest change of expression, tone, or posture, “Do you believe in God?”

So we talked about God for a while. Then we talked about mineral water. Then Turkish etymology.

An hour later—she is supposed to take me to a Fenerbahçe match, show me a neighborhood in Ankara, and introduce me to her father.