Milk, it does a body good?

Maybe and maybe not. It really depends on who you ask. Here are two good stories from my last week that revolve around milk.

The first was actually more of a metaphor from an old man at my youngest Turkish friend's birthday party last weekend. It came up that I was still single but had a girlfriend waiting for me in America. The old man and some of the other guys were discussing the pros and cons of marriage and whether I should be going in that direction or enjoying my singleness. The definitive word came from the old man.

He asked me if I liked milk. I said that yeah, it's okay. He asked if all milk tasted the same. Of course it doesn't! The box milk here is awful compared to that clean, cool taste of some thick whole milk from the States. "Exactly," he said. "You can go from cow to cow and get all kinds of different milk. Some of it is a different color, some of it different texture, some of it sweet, some bitter, some thick, some thin, etc etc. You can get milk from a different cow everyday if you want," he explained. "Why then would you want to just drink one type of milk and limit yourself to just one cow?"

The other men were in full agreement.


The second is a warning to all of you out there living the American dream where you get up and have a nice breakfast with a glass of milk and orange juice in the morning.

Some American friends and I played basketball with a Turkish man Monday night. He is an educated man and successful in his business. We had a great time and worked up quite a sweat. So afterwards, we headed to a local cafe for some drinks. The Turk ordered us all a round of orange juice. It really hit the spot, cool and sweet. But then, one of the Americans asked if we were going to get a muzlu sut (banana milkshake) to go along with it. The muzlu sut is thick, but cool and refreshing. However, according to the Turkish guy, when it's mixed with orange juice, it's toxic! Yes, in fact, it's bigger than that. When asked if he was sure that orange juice and milk mixed was in fact toxic, he replied, "Yes, orange juice, pineapple, lemon, any citrus fruit. In fact, anything with milk is toxic."

Consider yourself warned.