When going to Cappadocia, do as the locals do: take a SunExpress flight!

This should have been the official motto of my flight to the central region of Turkey. Not having done much research ahead of time, I arrived at the Düsseldorf airport check in counter with my backpack, and the ground staff’s first greeting to me was: “YOU are going to Kayseri???”
He seemed to be as perplex as I was surprised.
- “Yes, why? I don’t look like it?”
- [laughing] Well… not really. At least you don’t look like the average person that gets on this flight”
This obviously raised my curiosity.
- “What does the average guest look like? Like an all-inclusive tourist with shorts and a Hawaii shirt?”
- “No no… [pause]… rather short and … roundish”
We both laughed.

As there were 3 ground staff and no one else in line, we continued our conversation.
- “So why are you going to Cappadocia? Adventure vacation?”
(Adventure vacation in Turkey?? This is not South East Asia after all…)
- “No, my brother is living in Turkey and I meet up with him there”
3 jaws dropped: “So you’re Turkish, or half-Turkish????”
“Maybe… I’m going to find out!” I couldn’t help my answer.

When I boarded the plane an hour later, I finally understood where the comments of the three ground staff had come from: taking a rough estimation, I was possibly the only passenger without Turkish roots, by far the tallest (of course), and in the 25% minority of women without a headscarf.
SunExpress airline however seemed definitely well prepared for their clientele on this flight. The safety instructions included well more than usual:
“Please remain seated and buckled during the ENTIRE flight. That means: [speaking slowly] K e e p y o u r s e a t b e l t f a s t e n e d!
Use the washroom ONLY if necessary.
This is a NON-smoking flight; smoking is prohibited in the cabin and ALSO in the washrooms!
Do not let your children run around in the corridor, and please: keep your seat belt fastened during the whole flight!”
Ok captain, understood, I won’t open the belt!

Unfortunately, this was an extremely bumpy flight, and the poor middle-aged women next to me – she seemed to speak no German at all – looked like she was on her first flight ever. She was so afraid at one point that the Turkish-speaking steward needed to hold her hand and moved her further to the front.

Shortly after, the part of the flight started that is highly unappreciated by me and usually everyone else: the duty free shopping cart. As a frequent flyer, I have lately been wondering about the purpose and profitability of those sales in the air.
Well, I found the answer on this flight. Despite this being a night flight, everyone was now highly awake, and cigarette cartons went flying over the (cart) counter like candy in a kiosk next to a school!

If only it had been candy and the passengers truly a school class, then the final message by the cabin manager just after touch down would have sounded much more appropriate: while the applause (this also hasn’t survived with hardly any flight audience) subsided, he reminded us with the tone of a school teacher in disguise: “do NOT unfasten your seat belt until the aircraft comes to a full stop! Because if you stand up, and the pilot needs to break suddenly, you can fall over and hurt yourself.”

Inshallah - we landed!!