Turkish delight

I taught English to a family in Antakya (ancient Antioch) in my gap year. My pupils were two beautiful, lively Turkish girls, both senior to me, who'd just graduated from Ankara University. They lived in a flat with their parents, their elder married sister had a flat on the floor above and their two brothers were working as doctors in Germany. Living in the flat with that family was an interesting experience. The daily timetable revolved around food. A large breakfast was followed by listening to the girls read The Times to me (it was air-mailed everyday), explaining vocabulary and correcting pronunciation. Meanwhile a four course lunch was being prepared by the cook who came by bus from a local village. There was a two hour siesta after lunch. The mother and sisters would then take me out to tea at the house of one of their friends. There was a large tea party circuit, women only of course. These were ritualistic: tea with savouries, then coffee with baklava and lokum (aka Turkish Delight) and sometimes Turkish dancing. One of my pupils, the lovely Bute, who is now a Professor at Antakya University, was an excellent belly dancer. We'd then go home, watch television and end the day with, you guessed it, a light supper. I was size 8 when I arrived there and never managed to recapture that waistline. Sigh!