Politics, Culture, and Other Wastes of Time

.......Two cds from Turkish pop singing sensation Candan Ercetin plus one more cd from some guy İ am not familiar with (but the music store guy in Beyoglu said he was fevkalade-fabolous!).

İ was hoping to see another Turkish pop diva Sezen Aksu in İstanbul on Sat. night but tickets are a staggering 100 TL (90 USD!).

İ sure miss the days when one dollar could actually buy three bags of apricots here in Turkey!

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İ am declaring my brother-in-law Matt Lovell of Mesa AZ (not where he actually resides) the big winner in my contest to guess which film was showing at the Lale Cinema here on Buyukada island (near İstanbul).

The movie that was showing was 'Nim s İsland' (İt s almost impossible to use an apostrophe on a Turkish keyboard!).

This week my new friend Ferruh Dilmac- the manager of the Lale Cinema (which is not named after my sister Lale) will be showing 'Kung Fu Panda' this weekend. Alas İ already saw the film in the states.

My friend Jason Garnett who manages the Grandin Theater  in Roanoke VA will be showing the classic Coen Bros. film 'Fargo' for two midnight screenings there.

İ guess İ will have to hope there is a decent movie on the plane.

Links:

http://www.buyukada.org

http://www.grandintheatre.com

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The girl İ mentioned in a previous blog entry (Waiting for Godot) actually came to meet me after all!

İ am not quite ready to propose to this woman who may be the only woman in the İstanbul metro area who is my age (38) and still single!

Though she made some comments about my weight (which is the norm here!)- out get-together  went quite well. But İ am always more comfortable around Turkish people who do not make me feel like American actor John Goodman or the French Asterix comic book character Hopdediks. Both of whom weigh a lot more than me. 

İ must profess that at 275 pounds İ do not usually feel like the fattest person in the room back home. İn fact usually İ am not. My weight and body frame is very similar in nature to actor Jack Black. But alas at the wedding for my friend İlhan this weekend İ did look around.

İn a room of 200 people İ was actually the only one who looked like a contestant on The Biggest Loser!

For my meeting with the woman we walked around Buyukada island and talked about our childhood.

 We went to school together when İ lived in Turkey from 1977-79 and amazingly enough she found an old picture which featured me (as well as my mom and perhaps my sister who was 3 or 4 at the time). And apparently my name was written on this old photo. She later found me through Facebook.

İ wish things like this happend to me more often. 

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İ had a chance to see my friend İlhan who lives in America get married to his lovely new bride Elgin over the weekend in the Turkish capital of Ankara.

Yesterday İ came back to İstanbul by bus. İ was very impressed with the Ankara bus terminal which almost looks like an airport.

İt is times like these when İ think the country is ready to join the EU by next Tuesday. But nationalist Turks might be disappointed when İ say there are also times when İ wonder if my beloved ethnic homeland is slowly regressing back to the Seljuck Empire!

However at the end of the day one must profess that this cultural schizophrenia (prostitution is legal but Youtube is not!) does make for some unique travel stories even though İ have now visited Turkey some 15 times.

The eventful bus ride started a 9:30 a.m. İt was a mostly empty bus but in Turkey (and if the bus is full this prvoes useful) there are assigned seats on the bus.

So İ was forced to sit next to a man who was not only sleeping but snoring quite loudly.

İ settled in my seat and starting read a Tom Miks (Mix) comic book which is actually from an İtalian comic book series called Captain Miki. Strangely enough there are three comic book series in Turkey which feature cowboys in America which can not be found anywhere in the states!

The others are Texas (which is from the same İtalian folks who created Tom Mix) and the French 70s-ear comic book Lucky Luke (called Red Kit in Turkey).

The comic book costs have skyrocketed in recent years as have many things in Turkey. Amazingly enough these same comic books which cost me the equivalent of 75 cents as a kid 30 years ago now sell for 10 Turkish Lira (which comes out to nine bucks!). İn comparison American comics have gone from about 50 cents to three dollars in the same amount of time.

İ chose Tom Miks because it is hard for me to ready anything else in Turkish. My reading level is about the same third grade level that it was when we returned to America in 1979 when İ was nine years old.

As it is the bus host (similar to a plane hostess) seemed infactuated by my Tom Miks book.

İ had heard some commotion in the back about something that someone was doing something which was an absolute no-no. İ later figured out this person was carrying a pet. The girl who was in her 20s had decided to bring her dog on the trip. Much to my shock and horror İ would later realize that she actually put the dog who was in a carrier in the luggage compartment beneath the bus!

Sure enough as we approached the mountain city of Bolu where the bus would stop so we could eat lunch the dog would start yelping and İ actually thought it would die from heat exhaustion. The trip between Ankara and İstanbul lasts five and a half hours.

İn Bolu the girl decided to take the poor pooch out of the luggage compartment and bring it with her on the bus. She apologized to us passengers about any problems that the dogs might cause. İ wanted to say something about how awful İ thought what she had done was. But alas İ was in that awkward quandry that many visitors to a different country find themselves in. Even though my father is from Turkey and İ speak the language İ feel just as constrained as other visitors in such difficult moments.

Much to my delight  though the bus driver would decide to turn on the AİR-CONDİTIONER, which bus drivers have not traditonally done often enough mainly because Turkish people do not tend to like breezes! (My late grandmother Zekiye Gokbudak was a classic example of this). The bus host told me a great place where İ could feel the AC. And he actually allowed me to leave Seat 19! Though the man had quit snoring.

As İ looked forward to the front of the bus İ noticed my beloved bus driver was discretely smoking. İ watched him for a few minutes to realize that yes he was indeed smoking! İn Turkey there is now a 62-Lira fine for anyone who smokes on a bus. İ guess the rules do not apply for the drivers.......! Nevertheless since he turned on the AC İ was not about to lodge a complaint even though İ am taken back by those who feel that rules do not apply to them.

And lastly as we passed the industrial city of İzmit the bus host noticed İ had finished Tom Miks. Without asking if he could now read it he grabbed it and said Cok Tesekurler- which means THANK YOU.

İ guess all in all it was just another bus ride in Turkey. 

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Yesterday during some down time İ decided to read the classic Samuel Beckett play 'Waiting for Godot' which İ purchased at a used bookstore ın Wilmington NC for a mere three bucks.

Today İ am hoping to meet a very attractive woman who is single (though she has a boyfriend in Europe) who also happens to be my age- which is 38. İ met here in another lifetime while İ was here in Turkey and we have recently been reacquainted.

As many folks know 'Godot' is about how people hope god (who is symolized by the mysterious bearded man Godot) will come to them in a time of need and despite many promises to the contrary he never shows up.

For those of us who openly question/doubt the existence of a supreme being_ the play is one which makes perfect sense though a devout believer could probably relate to it as well.

However it does seem like every time İ try to meet a gorgeous woman- even for the most platonic of occasions- they never seem to show up. The most infamous time was some ten years ao when İ waited at the Mill Mountain Coffee Shop in Blacksburg VA for a German woman for a full hour and a half before İ came to the realization that she was not coming.

İ really wish I had not read that freaking play!

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The most famous resident of Buyukada was perhaps the Russian political figure Leon Trotsky who resided here in exile at the invitation of then Turkish leader Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. He tried to evade Russian agents who alas caught up with him im Mexico where he was murdered.

But in recent years one of the most beloved figures of the island was our neighbor and friend Kocho Kalfa. He lived to be 103.

Kocho was an ethnic Greek who knew practically everyone on Buyukada and he built many houses on the island.

He died this past April and all of us who knew him will miss him a great deal.

But his legacy will be a part of Buyukada lore for many generations to come.

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As the six people who have been regularly reading this blog know İ have been seeing a couple of films at the Lale Cinema (an outdoor movie theatre) here in Buyukada.

Tonight they are showing a movie that İ have already seen in the states.

Guess which movie it is and İ will send you a postcard from here.

You can send your address to tango74@aol.com

İ should disqualify members of my own family but they are probably among the six people who regularly read this blog!

İs the movie that is opening here tonight (Friday):

A- The Bee Movie

B- İron Man

C-Sex and the City

D- Nim s İsland

E-August Rush

F-Flawless

İ will announce the winner here.......

Stateside LOU REED BERLİN is opening at the Film Forum in New York. BATMAN THE DARK KNİGHT is basically showing everywhere including the Grandin Theatre in Roanoke Va and Eden Drive-İn in Eden NC. The Grandin is also showing the Oscar-nominated epic MONGOL about Genghis Khan along with the Cine in Athens Ga.

Useful Links:

http://www.buyukada.org

http://www.filmforum.org

UPDATE: Hmmm...as İ feared few people seem interested in this contest! İ willl thus give a hint.......the movie that is showing here is not an animated film nor was it based on a comic book.

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As most folks know Turkey is a country which has a long smoking tradition. The country has helped produce Camels and at one time some 90 percent of the country engaged in this unhealthy activity.

But now one must be 18 years old to buy a pack of smokes here. And perhaps more stunning is the writing which appears in large letters on brands like Marlboro:

Sigara İcmek Oldurur

Translation:

SMOKİNG WİLL KİLL YOU.

İ suppose this means that there is a possibility that İ might be able to meet Uma Thurman for a latte at Starbucks!

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For those who saw my earlier entry there is an open market here on the island which they call pazars here in Turkey. They are grander in scale but similar to farmers markets like the one they have in my hometown of Roanoke VA.

Today İ got two kilos of cherries in addition to a kilo of pears and a kilo of peaches.

İ would have gotten my favorite fruit apricots but alas İ got sick from eating too many of them the other night! But in a world with terrorists and Russian prostitutes (they were all over the place in Azerbaijan!) getting sick from overindulging in apricots is the least of my concerns.

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News came from my sister that our family friend Linda who is taking care of my beloved cat Gizmo that the 4-year-old feline is misbehaving!

He has broken into packets of food and has done naughty kitty things (İ will spare the details!) in in in appropriate places. But he is still the one thing İ miss most about the USA (see earlier entry).

Here in Turkey there is a relatively high stray cat population. Though more people are bringing cats and dogs into their homes.

İ saw a shopkeeper here on Buyukada İsland get scolded by a passerby for leaving dog food out in the sun. She asked him if he would feed his dog that food. İt was an interesting moment in which İ decided to merely observed and keep my mouth shut. İ just hope that is not what UN peacekeepers do in places like Darfur!

The worry of what is going on back home can add to travel stress but so can the thought of being hit by a horse buggy here on the island!

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