The neighborhood was densely packed with electronics stores and classic Ottoman houses slowly undergoing gentrification. We sip sweet apple tea from little glasses while I’d speak Spanish and they would answer in Ladino. We loved this practice and enjoyed pointing at the similarities and differences of the 2 languages and how easy it was for us to speak with each other. My students’ families were direct descendants of the Jews who came from Spain to Istanbul in 1492 escaping the Inquisition.