The Speakers & Session descriptions
Monday, 03/08/2022
Lahmacun and Turkish Coffee
Enjoy a viewing party demonstration of how to make Lahmacun, a traditional Turkish dish of minced meat on baked lavash bread. Alongside this dish, the presenters will also demonstrate how to prepare Türk Kahvesi, Turkish coffee!
Here is the list of ingredients and materials:
Servings: 10 lahmacun
1 yellow onion
2 tomatoes
3 jalapeño peppers
1/2 of a red bell pepper
1 bunch of parsley
1 clove of garlic
1/3 cup of oil
1 spoon of tomato paste
1 spoon of salt
1/2 lb of ground beef or lamb
10 sheets of lavash bread (burrito flour tortillas are a good substitute.)
10 pieces or parchment paper
Speakers: Eren Küçük, Arzum Küçük, and Elliot Ossanna
Eren Küçük
Eren was born in Bursa, Turkey in 1989. Before moving to the United States, Eren was working as a Mechanical Engineer in Turkey. Both Eren and his wife received a Green Card from the lottery in 2020, and then moved to Hawaii. Their initial decision was to live on the mainland, but they loved Hawaii and decided to stay here. After their move here, Eren worked as a sales person and food delivery driver for 18 months. In early 2021, Eren built his own online business. At the same time, Eren is still learning and improving his English.
Arzum Küçük
Arzum was born in Bursa, Turkey in 1995. While living in Turkey, she was working as an Agriculture Engineer. Her and her husband received a Green Card from the lottery in 2020, and then moved to Hawaii. After their moved here, Arzum worked as a babysitter, photographer and food delivery driver. She now helps her husband with their online business. Arzum also is going to language school to improve her English.
Elliot Ossanna
Elliot Ossanna is a member of the Math Department here at HonCC. While always intrigued by the culture of the Eastern Mediterranean, Elliot's interest in Türkiye expedited greatly starting in 2015. In 2016, Elliot lived in Türkiye for three months, mostly in İstanbul, but also traveling through Trakya, the Balkan peninsula. He also made a voyage back to the Anatolian side to visit the ruins of Troy, where he convinced his then-fiancé to pose in costume with him, as seen in the photo to the left. He returned to Türkiye in Fall of 2019 for a month, visiting İstanbul again, but also a the Southern Costal city of Fehtiye.
In addition to his visits to Türkiye, Elliot's Turkish in-laws have visited Hawaii multiple times. This has given Elliot the pleasure of immersing himself in Turkish culture and language.
Sohbet - Talk Story Break
After the cooking demo, relax and partake in sohbet, or "chatting." Participants are encouraged to drink a cup of coffee along with the speakers, as they enjoy their türk kahvesi and lahmacun, and prepare for the next event.
Speakers: Eren Küçük, Arzum Küçük, and Elliot Ossanna
Fortune Telling
A longstanding traditional practice in Turkey is to have your fortune told, using the grinds leftover from your türk kahvesi. Watch Ezgi Moon Green interpret someone's fortune from their cup, and explain the meaning behind the various patterns left behind from the grounds.
Speakers: Ezgi Green and Elliot Ossanna
Ezgi Moon Green
Aloha kākou!" From Ezgi!
Ezgi Moon Green is the owner and creative director of Moon Mele. In Ezgi's own words,
"I’m an artist, poet, musician, mama, creative, creative director, creative and spiritual consultant, tutor and spiritual practitioner.
I’m Turk and I’m born and raised in Türkiye. I live and work in Hawai’i now.
After working in advertising as a creative for a decade, in divine timing I founded Moon Mele. My mission is to honor feminine creativity and bring gender equality to the earth.
I believe we all deserve to follow our soul’s mission and create business that we are aligned to contribute to society. My definition of success is a peaceful mind, heart and spirit.
I use my magic, experience and skills to help women, or anyone identify themselves as women to bloom into their own magic through creativity.
In Moon Mele we practice inner gardening for the soul and magic through creativity. We help feminine entrepreneurs to bloom into their own magic through creativity.
You can find more about us at MoonMele.com
You can connect with us through Instagram.
We share art, design and magical content @moonmele
Aloha a hui hou,
Moon
Wednesday, 03/09/2022
Turkish Music Demonstration
Gümber gümber! ("Boom boom!") Join us for a special demo of traditional Turkish folk music from Sezin Ahmet Türkmenoğlu and Abe Lagrimas Jr.! Sezin and Abe will also speak on the importance of Turkish-made cymbals in contemporary music.
Speakers: Sezin Ahmet Türkmenoğlu and Abe Lagrimas, Jr.
Sezin Ahmet Türkmenoğlu
Sezin is from Turkey and officially started studying music by taking classical guitar lessons at the age of 11. He started playing the electric bass when he was 14 and started playing professionally when he was 16. At first, he mostly played Turkish folk music and then Turkish pop. He played bass with famous pop artists on stage and in studio.
For more about Sezin: http://voyagela.com/interview/rising-stars-meet-sezin-ahmet-turkmenoglu-of-koreatown/
Abe Lagrimas, Jr.
Abe comes from a musical family. His dad was a professional musician in the Philippines before joining the U.S. Navy and getting stationed at Pearl Harbor. Being a military family, they moved back and forth between Guam (where he was born) and California before finally settling down in Hawaii. He grew in Waipahu, HI on the island of O’ahu. He is the youngest of three boys.
Abe and his brothers were exposed to music early in their lives. He started playing the drums at the age of four, while his two brothers picked up the guitar and bass. And that was enough to form a garage band, playing heavy metal music, what they loved listening to most at the time.
For more about Abe:
http://voyagela.com/interview/conversations-abe-lagrimas-jr/
Turkish Calligraphy
If you ever walk through ancient streets in İstanbul, you might notice the presence of grandiose, calligraphic writing. Why is this? Take a seat for a discussion of this with calligraphy artist Melik Sayin, as he explains the historical significance calligraphy in Turkey. Melik will also demonstrate calligraphic styles, both historical and modern, and will even do requests!
Speaker: Melik Sayin
Melik Sayin
Melik Sayin was born and raised in Turkey, and moved to the US in 2001. He is self taught calligraphy artist. In Melik's own words, "I fell in love with calligraphy the moment I saw an artist writing people's names beautifully at a book fair I visited when I was a child some thirty years ago. I started practicing by copying all types of styles, including Gothic, Italic, Arabic etc. Over time I created my own style."
Melik has done live calligraphy demonstrations at various occasions, book fairs, international festivals, school assemblies, conferences, fundraising events and much more. As part of his performances, he has been able to visit Hawaii, Oregon, Idaho, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Montana and did live demonstrations at State Capitols.
Check out Melik's Instragram, @meliksayin
DIY Project: Hıdrellez
This Spring, what is your wish? One of the most important Turkish holidays is Hıdrellez, which celebrates the arrival of Spring. Hıdrellez has a rich variety of traditions, but central to these traditions is the practice of "wishing". Communities across multiple Turkic peoples have different versions of this tradition, but a common element is to write down your wish, and "deliver" it to nature in some way. Join Arzum Küçük, as she teaches us how to create our own Hıdrellez wishes, and explains some of the history and significance behind this special holiday.
Speaker: Arzum Küçük
Thursday, 03/10/2022
The Linguistics of Türkçe
Learn about the nomadic origins of Turkish culture, and its influence on the modern Turkish language; from its esoteric agglutative nature, to its feministic idioms. Also learn some common words and phrases!
Speaker: Elliot Ossanna
A Turkish Historical Lesson: Ottoman Empire
Get caught up on about 1000 years of history in 30 minutes! In our educational system, the historical significance of the Ottoman Empire is often overlooked. In this presentation, we will cover some of the key points in the rise and fall of the Ottoman Empire.
Speaker: Elliot Ossanna
A Turkish Historical Lesson: Inspiring Women of Türkiye
In the nomadic, Ottoman, and republic stages of Turkey, the influence of women has always been central to in Turkish culture. Join us for a discussion of how this influence existed over the time periods within Turkish history, and of particular inspiring Turkish women from the past century.
Speaker: İlayda Elmas Ossanna, Esq.
İlayda Elmas Ossanna, Esq.
İlayda was born in İstanbul, Türkiye. After earning her law degree from İstanbul University School of Law, she practiced in her city, focusing mostly on contracts and labor law.
In 2017, İlayda moved to Honolulu. She then earned her J.D. from William S. Richardson School of Law in 2020. She now practices at Clay Chapman Iwamura Pulice & Nervell, focusing primarily on construction law and commercial law.
While attending WSRSL, she revived the Lawyers Against Sexual Violence student organization and served as its President and co-founded the Law and Business Organization and served as its Chief Operating Officer.