Unguided Blog

I lived in Romania as an expat for nearly three years. Although I can eat virtually anything (especially if I’m hungry), we used to go to a Turkish restaurant where we can find fish, I mean the ones we like, otherwise local fish (from lakes and rivers, occasionally from Black Sea) were plenty. After a visit or two, the Romanian staff quickly learned our favorites and all we had to was to choose the fish of the day.

One day, or rather night, we learned that the truck bringing the fish had a problem at the Customs. Not very much surprised as ordering anything and everything from the truckers in order avoid the unnecessary customs formalities (futile barriers against free trade, how pathetic) was a long standing Turkish tradition, we simply cursed our luck for that day’s truck was not coming from Greece, the other fish supplying country. The Greek, being law abiding visitors would have brought the fish (You did not believe that, did you? Good!).

Well, this unfortunate incident unfortunately disrupted our usual routine with the staff. While my friend ordered chicken, I took a pause to decide and I heard the waitress say:

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They were the real travelers, the free spirits nature had kindly offered us. They crossed deserts, flew over mountains which few humans dared climb, passed through valleys, over forests sunlight could not penetrate.

They were expert sailors, could find their way without the aid of a compass or electronic equipment.

They knew how to ride the wind. The strong and the experienced positioned themselves at the tough spots so that the weak and the young could have an easy ride.

They fought with adverse winds, they challenged the unforgiving heat of the sun. Flying at an altitude only eagles could, they slowly approached their final destination, all the way from African deserts to Lake Aksehir, Turkey. They began their descent, the part they liked most: the show off. Like a woman aware of her beauty, they, too knew we would watch them with eyes of appreciation; queens of the migratory birds, the flamingos. The young were happy, they made it. And for that reason, it took a while to understand something was wrong, terribly wrong. The adults were silent, only the wind. Panicked, they looked at the adults flying next to them. But they did not find the usual “you’re doing fine” look. Adults were too busy staring down, staring at a place the young ones’ eyes could not see, yet.

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You have come to Turkey, heard a lot about various spices and maybe want to expand your culinary skills, what spices/herbs would you buy? Although it seems like an easy question, the choices can be overwhelming as anyone who has been to Misir Carsisi (Egyptian Bazaar) or some place similar would attest. Although I did not like him much, I follow the late President Ozal’s advice and even if I do not need any spices, I just visit Misir Carsisi to take a sniff: five minutes and I’m already tripping.

I prepared a short list for you, with my favorites.

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63 years ago, yesterday.

I thought of translating the poem about the pledge of a seven year old girl who died in Hiroshima, but it would be gross injustice to Nazim Hikmet, the poet. If you can find a copy in your language, do read it, please.

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Stephen J. Dubner of New York Times points to an article dubbed Muslim Land Joins Ranks of Tigers in The Wall Street Journal, and finds it fascinating in his short post You Don’t Have to Be Freewheeling to Love Free Markets. Since the Journal article required a paid subscription, I was short of finding it fascinating, but the first three free paragraphs gave me a good idea:

When an Islamist-leaning political party took charge of Turkey six years ago, this vibrant Mediterranean resort town [Antalya] feared a bumpy ride for a local economy driven in part by booze and bikinis.

Today, says Ahmet Barut, a hotel magnate here, the only real question is whether the town can sustain an unprecedented economic boom. He’s not keen on the teetotaling habits of the governing party’s leaders, nor the headscarves worn by their wives, but he applauds a key part of their record: “They are good at economics.”

From tourism and tomato growing to car making, Turkey has prospered far more under an Islam-tinged government than it did under some previous, ardently secular administrations more in tune with the often decidedly un-Islamic ways of many Turkish businesspeople.

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