The Breasted One

Last weekend we had a long holiday weekend so we made a visit to Istanbul.  When in Turkey, I drink tea - and lots of it.  There is no need for coffee every morning. However, there was one afternoon I was out and really missing it.

I walked into the nearest Starbucks, and proceeded to order my beloved soy cappuccino. When I lived there, I quickly learned that they do not always understand Pam.  I often end up being Pem, or Pembe, which means "pink".  

I eventually resorted to Pamela.  After saying Pamela three times, the barista just gave up and passed me the cup and pen.  Turkish is a phonetic language, and I think Pamela is pretty phonetic.  Instead of writing my name, I said to him, "You know Pamela Anderson? The same name as hers". 

I knew it was not my Turkish because the guy in line behind me laughed and complimented my point of reference.  When I lived there I resorted to Pamela Anderson for the occasional pizza delivery, and it worked every time.

The barista nodded his head with that "Ah ok" nod and proceeded to write on the cup.  A few seconds later, I got my beloved coffee and checked the name.  It looks somewhat like Memeler, or Memele.  Meme in Turkish means breast. Put "le" on the end of a word and it means "with". I am not sure if he is going for "breasts" or "with breasts" here.  

I get a lot of random names on my Starbucks coffee in Dubai.  It is very rare that my name is understood, even in English. I think this is the funniest one yet.