I'm not vegetarian, although I usually try to be when I travel, for several reasons. Doing away with meat often entails cheaper meals, plus I do not have to worry about whether the meat is halal (a Muslim dietary restriction on meat consumption, similar to the Jewish kosher) if I turn herbivorous. On my most recent trip though, I looked forward to sampling Turkey's gastronomical, meat-heavy cuisine. One of the perks of travelling in a country with an overwhelming Muslim majority is that the latter consideration – that of hunting down halal food – is hardly a problem for me.
http://www.bootsnall.com/travelstories/me/aug01yemek1.shtml

Gel, gel, gel, gel!" Pronounced like the English "gal", this was probably one of the phrases I heard most frequently while travelling around Turkey. It means "Come!" and in addition to hearing it every time a local beckoned me, it was also the one line I could make out from a popular Turkish pop song that was all the rave in June 2001. In fact, I probably heard this song on every bus ride I took in the country, and in as many stores and otogar bus offices I strayed near.
When the locals shouted out "gel, gel, gel" but not in song, I found that it was often a precursor to instances of warm, Turkish hospitality. I recall one hellishly hot day. My Korean roommate and I had just spent the last two days hiking in Ilhara valley and were grimy, smelly and sweating profusely as we puffed our way up a hilly road, hoping to hitch a ride back to Goreme, Cappadocia. Three women were sitting in the shade of a tree by the road, and we just about managed to puff out a "Merhaba" between gasps for breath.

Maybe the sight of two Asian girls walking around their quiet Turkish town was too curious to let pass by. Maybe it was simply because we agreed very enthusiastically with them that it was "cok secak" (very hot) that day, and we were all probably thinking how much we really wanted to be indoors. Whatever their motivation, we soon heard them shouting out to us, "gel, gel, gel!" with the appropriate smiles and hand actions to ensure we understood them, if not the words.
http://www.bootsnall.com/travelstories/me/aug01gelgel1.shtml

Interesting read. .. I thought you were talking about your own travels...till I saw the links