As a part-time English teacher at the Turkish American Association in Adana, Turkey, one day I was asking the students how many brothers and sisters they had in each of their families.
Most students had two or three siblings to contend with, but one student announced he had 27 brothers, five sisters, and three mothers.
Apparently in Eastern Turkey that is fairly common.
A man can legally have up to four wives and families are frequently very large.
Incredulous, I asked the student if knew all of his brother's and sister's names.
The way he hesitated to answer, it was obvious that he wasn't sure that he did.
With 33 children in the family, they probably had a birthday every other week if they could remember them all.
It wasn't a math class, so I didn't ask the obvious questions like, "How many bathrooms and how many bedrooms did they have in their house?" I couldn't imagine how his father could possibly support them all.
Having sired that many children, he probably didn't have much time left for working! With three mothers, he averaged 11 children each.
It was absolutely inconceivable to me how 37 distinct personalities could possibly live together under one roof, but apparently they did.
The father would have to be an expert in mob psychology to get that horde to work together.
I rather imagine he must have had to referee inter-sibling battles a dozen times a day or more.
I also bet that his wives must have battled each other frequently enough to turn all his hair grey.
When I asked the student how many children he would like to have when he grew up, he smiled and answered that he would like to do the same as his father had done.
If all his brothers and sisters did the same, that would equal 1089 children in the next generation of that family.
I am pretty sure nobody could possibly know all their names at that point.
Not believing that the previous class could possibly be outdone, I also asked the next class how many brothers and sisters they each had.
One boy had 56 brothers, seven mothers, and in their family they don't count the girls.
I couldn't imagine what it must be like for the girls to grow up in a family where they don't count.
I was stunned.
They couldn't all live in one house, could they? It would have to be a hotel.
I wanted to ask what his father did, he I just figured that he must have been bed ridden most of the time.
I was in cultural shock.
Their next generation could easy take over Turkey if they keep that up.
Most students had two or three siblings to contend with, but one student announced he had 27 brothers, five sisters, and three mothers.
Apparently in Eastern Turkey that is fairly common.
A man can legally have up to four wives and families are frequently very large.
Incredulous, I asked the student if knew all of his brother's and sister's names.
The way he hesitated to answer, it was obvious that he wasn't sure that he did.
With 33 children in the family, they probably had a birthday every other week if they could remember them all.
It wasn't a math class, so I didn't ask the obvious questions like, "How many bathrooms and how many bedrooms did they have in their house?" I couldn't imagine how his father could possibly support them all.
Having sired that many children, he probably didn't have much time left for working! With three mothers, he averaged 11 children each.
It was absolutely inconceivable to me how 37 distinct personalities could possibly live together under one roof, but apparently they did.
The father would have to be an expert in mob psychology to get that horde to work together.
I rather imagine he must have had to referee inter-sibling battles a dozen times a day or more.
I also bet that his wives must have battled each other frequently enough to turn all his hair grey.
When I asked the student how many children he would like to have when he grew up, he smiled and answered that he would like to do the same as his father had done.
If all his brothers and sisters did the same, that would equal 1089 children in the next generation of that family.
I am pretty sure nobody could possibly know all their names at that point.
Not believing that the previous class could possibly be outdone, I also asked the next class how many brothers and sisters they each had.
One boy had 56 brothers, seven mothers, and in their family they don't count the girls.
I couldn't imagine what it must be like for the girls to grow up in a family where they don't count.
I was stunned.
They couldn't all live in one house, could they? It would have to be a hotel.
I wanted to ask what his father did, he I just figured that he must have been bed ridden most of the time.
I was in cultural shock.
Their next generation could easy take over Turkey if they keep that up.
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