Sanliurfa Warnings and Dangers

I'm not one of those people who are so centered and self evolved that they never experience culture shock, but I learned that a woman doesn't really venture out alone, it's considered savage it seems. After we checked into our hotel (I was with a family from Van, friends), after a full day of traveling by car, we went to a restaurant, to our own private room with table on the floor, rugs and pillows. Sounds idyllic, no? I began to feel uncomfortably claustrophobic. close to panicky. I wanted a beer or a glass of wine or something, for godsakes I'm on vacation .... hello! ..... but nary a drop of alcohol around. I felt shamed as though I had asked for a heroin or an abortion. Or equality. This whole thing of the man at the head of table got to me too...in a closed room. Wholesome lifestyle. The complacency! I wanted to flee. I tried to excuse myself but everyone at the table insisted that I not walk around alone (it's only 7:00 p.m.) Stubbornly i insisted that I go, explaining I needed to walk, please not to feel obligated to be with me ... I even threw in that cliche I need my space. They reluctantly let me go. Well, I ventured out and as soon as I was away from my companions I had that "what the @#$ do I do now?" moment. I felt as conspicuous as a giraffe on the streets of Wichita. Eyed warily by men in kiosks selling cigarettes and sundrys. I tried to buy a pack of Salems. No comprehension. Salems, I repeat. Mentollo? They laugh at me. Cigarettes? I say in a frosty tone. They chortle. Salim! Salim! Salim! She wants Salim! they say in a language I don't understand, or was it salami? They are all laughing, and not in the nicest way. I find my way back to the hotel, defeated. At sunrise I take a walk, only to be slowly followed by a poliz car. So that's my warning, & my lesson in adjusting behavior and perceiving circumstances that are alien to me. But that's just me, could be completely insignificant for someone else. So that's travel.