The Russians have taken over the coastline – they are buying up the hotels and they are coming in droves – inching out the Germans who used to come and used to own. We wonder what the Russian maids think of us covering our painting with Putin’s picture. Gul is elected in Turkey – his wife appears beside him with her birka – a lackluster smile on her mouth. And we swim again in the…
Turkish people talk and talk and talk some more. Ferah tells us about her nephew who stood on a balcony lighting paper airplanes on fire and one sailed into the neigbor’s house and caused $20,000 in damage. We read in the paper about women cheating on their husbands more and more. We leave Ferah’s office and she dances a jig forgetting that the security camera is right there and her husband Ahmed is watching –…
We sleep late having come home at 5AM and eaten figs as we stared at the lights on the Bosporous. We head to the water for breakfast, again we are having our Turkish feast of cheese, honey, olives, bread, eggs, cay, and I order Love #9 juice and we see on the table a design of fish, and the bill is brought in a box with a butterfly, and we are by the water which…
Walked along the Bosporous and climbed stairs to have breakfast overlooking the water – a Turkish breakfast of feta, olives, tomatoes, cucumbers, eggs, bread, cay and honey. We go meet Ferah and her son and have kebobs later in the evening – her son is headed to Columbia University in a few weeks, he reads my coffee and says there are butterflies, which mean free, there is a fish, which is a good thing, there…
Flew with Fatma and Beste on Turkish Airlines and arrived to be whisked to Fatma’s father’s apartment on the Bosporous, dropped our bags, and on to the salon where young gorgeous Turkish men styled my hair and rubbed my feet – I looked at Fatma – a big big smile on my face that never left. Back to meet Fatma’s neighbors for many years, the daughter is in love with Fatma, says she wishes she…
I leave for Turkey today with Fatma and Besta – pinch me, I think I am dreaming. We stay first in Istanbul and then fly to where Murat and the boys have been sailing for a few weeks already – we’ll join them for a few days before we head to Fatma’s parents tea plantation. Arlene and Loca head for their vacation of sorts to the northshore where the Bean gets to stay with the…
I went to my Class of ’77 30-year high school reunion in Atlanta this weekend. They sent a form that said describe what you have been doing in a few sentences since High School. I wrote “Are you kidding?” – but I read the entries of my classmates and there seemed to be a unanimous “married for 20 something years, raised X number of kids, love to (insert one or two – golf, hike, sail,…
My neighbors on either side and a friend both told me that they concur with my outrage towards men who hit women, and women who hit dogs, but they worry that I might be opening the door to someone crazy retaliating. Today T was by and he said, “to be present, you have to engage, the times I have bit my tongue are regrets.” But you start to wonder what begets what? Chris Rose wrote…