Russian Woman Marries Turkish Man & Gets Honest – 25 Things She’s Learned About Living in Istanbul
Imagine meeting someone from a different country who’s just touring around your hometown. You two end up falling in love and within moments, you find yourself picking up and leaving anything you ever knew behind. You’ve packed up all your stuff to move to the very place that your significant other is from and while it’s familiar to them, it’s completely foreign to you in every sense of the word. For Russian blogger Svetlana, this is exactly what happened. Self-nicknamed ‘the wife of a Turkish Sultan,’ Svetlana has opened up via Instagram about her life as a Russian woman in Turkey.
Meet Svetlana
Meet Svetlana, a blogger originally from Saint-Petersburg, Russia. Her hometown or city also happens to be the very place where she met her now-husband while he was on vacation there. Now living in Istanbul for over a year, Svetlana has humorously nicknamed herself, ‘the wife of a Turkish Sultan.’
Through years of documenting her life through photos on Instagram, Svetlana has revealed what the life of a Russian woman in Turkey looks like on a daily basis. Prepare for a culture shock…
“Everyone Tried to Scare Me”
After Svetlana met her beau during his vacation in Russia and the two fell in love, they decided to get married. Although their families were supportive, other people around Svetlana tried to scare her.
According to the blogger herself, “everyone tried to scare me, telling stories about the consequences of marrying [a Turkish man].” Despite these negative and unwarranted opinions, Svetlana listened to her heart and went on to marry her now-husband. And she’s definitely happy she did…
“Don’t Have Children”
Unfortunately, these uncalled for suggestions and opinions didn’t end after Svetlana got married. Even after a year of marriage, she would continue to hear awful things like, “Don’t have children, if you decide to get a divorce, you’ll never see them again.”
The couple now has two kids and according to the Russian blogger herself, their relationship has changed but only for the better. “I truly realize that I’m married now… My husband works and provides our family with everything we need. I genuinely feel his support and protection.”
Turkish Mosques
We’ve all been to homes where hosts have asked us to take our shoes off but in America, it’s not a must or rule. In Turkey, however, it’s a known cultural rule to take off your shoes before you even enter someone’s entry hall.
Turkish people don’t wear shoes at home at all so it would be considered inappropriate or disrespectful to leave your shoes on in someone’s home. It’s also a must to take off your shoes before entering a mosque, as this place of worship is considered to be a common home in Turkey.