Children In The Basement

      I love projects at the end of the semester. Not. My professor of my culture class wants us to "study something interesting from a culture that we're not familiar with". My friend Eva told me about Turkish mannequins. She loves studying other cultures in her free time but she's not acquainted with Japanese customs. Eva told me she wants to do her project on Anime and Manga. Whatever they are.
      Anyways, later that day, I spend my time Googling things like "Turkish Culture", "Mannequins" and "Turkey". I come across a hit from a list under my last search "Turkish Mannequins" and a really interesting name came up. Apparently someone named Master Bedii was a Turkish mannequin maker. The pictures related to his mannequins were stunning! I do one last google search before getting ready for bed. I type in "Master Bedii" into the search bar, press enter and look at the hits. Finding one that's about his son, also named Bedii, catches my attention so I click on the link. It leads me to a wikipedia page and I find out that he retired to America after being in Turkey for so long.
      So he's in the U.S., but where? Reading a little further, I see that he lives in Brooklyn, New York. The school is just outside the city of Brooklyn! Maybe I can test my luck if I can get a hold of him.
      The next day, I ask Eva for her help in finding a way to contact Mr. Bedii. Seeing as she's already a pro with researching other cultures in her free time, she finds me his email address faster than I can say the word "Marshmallow". I compose an email to him:

                 Mr. Bedii,
                       My name is Maggie Green. I'm a student of a university just outside Brooklyn.
            I'm in a Cultural Studies class and I'm doing a project about your father's mannequins.
                       I was wondering if I would be able to interview you in person to collect
            information about them. It's completely okay if you say no.
                       I hope I didn't disturb you.
                                                                                                    Thank you for your time,
                                                                                                           Maggie Green

                                                                   •    •    •

      A couple of days go by without any word back from Mr. Bedii. So I just continued doing my own research about Master Bedii's work while I wait. A couple hours after I get out of work on a beautiful friday evening, I hear my phone buzz on the table next to me. It's an email! I open the email on my Droid and see that it's a reply from Master Bedii's son:

                 Dear Maggie,
                       I am glad to hear from someone that is interested in learning about my father's
                 mannequins and I would be glad to be interviewed about them.
                       I am free this Saturday from 2pm to 5pm. I will be expecting you.
                                                                                      Enjoy the rest of your evening,
                                                                                                             Mr. Bedii

      This is great! I make a note of the address he provided with his email and then text my coworker Billy to see if she can switch shifts with me. Thankfully I work things out with her and my whole day tomorrow is freed up. I shoot an email to my boss telling him that Billy and I switched shifts so I can take time off from work to do a project for school. After that, I go to bed around midnight and sleep like a rock.
      I slept so well that I wake up a lot earlier than I wanted to but at least I feel refreshed. Saturday morning goes by quickly and I'm ready and out the door by quarter past one. It takes about 35 minutes to get to Mr. Bedii's house; the traffic wasn't as bad as I'd anticipated.
      Mr. Bedii answers the door not long after I use the knocker. He greets me happily and says "I'm very glad to know someone is interested in seeing my father's work". I gave him a polite smile and explained "We can both thank my friend Eva, she was the one who told me about them when the project was assigned." He laughs and says "Well Maggie, you came to the right place. Come in, the mannequins are kept in the back of my basement."
      I follow him inside, eager to see the life-like dolls that I saw on Google a couple nights ago. Mr. Bedii leads me to the basement and starts to talk.
      "When I was living in Turkey with my father, Master Bedii, he wanted to teach me how to make children of my own. The mannequins you would see around Turkey are not like what you see in America. Turkish mannequins look like real people at first glance instead of plastic dolls."
      Mr. Bedii opens the door to his basement and starts down the stairs and I follow after him. He switches on the light and the mannequins seem surreal. The older man turned to me and asked "Isn't it astounding? My father's children look so much like real people that a Sheikh thought they were made to compete with the children of Allah." I was surprised by what he said only because I never really learned about another culture other than Spanish. I'll have to ask Eva what a Sheikh and Allah are later.

via museummannequins.com

      "Excuse me, I mean no offense but why do you keep calling the mannequins your fathers children?" I ask him.
      "No offense taken" he said kindly. Mr. Bedii looked towards the mannequins. I take my phone out to use the camera and snap a couple photos of the mannequin that seems like a chef. "I call them my father's children because they really are his children. Every one of these mannequins has a little piece of my father's soul in them." He took a seat at the table in the other corner of the basement. I continued to take pictures of the other mannequins around the room.
      I'm so floored by how realistic they look that it makes me start to wonder why he hasn't donated them to a local museum.
      I sit down in the other seat across from the son of the mannequin artist. He gives me a look of curiosity like he's waiting for me to say something. I say "I'm kind of at a loss for words, sir. I never knew something like these mannequins ever existed."
      Mr. Bedii looked down at his hands with a humble smile. "You never know what you may come across in life" he replies. I gave him a look of sincerity to let him know I agree with him.
      "Thank you so much for letting me see them. The mannequins are simply amazing." I get up from my chair after thanking him and he leads me back upstairs to the front door. Before I leave, he says "The pleasure is all mine, Maggie. When you first contacted me about them, I was more than happy to show you my father's work. A little company from an unexpected guest is always nice for an old man like me."
      I asked Mr. Bedii if he ever thought about giving them to a museum. He said he'd thought about it but doesn't want to make that decision right now. I shake his hand one last time and thanked him again for his time. I'm so glad I got to witness something like Master Bedii's children.
      I can't imagine how many other things are waiting to be discovered.