I was late in arriving home due to the crawl on the road. Thats very Istanbul.....Istanbul is not Istanbul without its famous traffic jam. You could obtain a double major degree if you spend time studying during the time you spent while in the traffic jam! Thank god for all those iPad, iPod,3G and whatnots....after sometimes, you hardly noticed the crawl and will continue being lost in your own world. Old fashioned me still prefer to look out and enjoy the scenery and going-ons.
Istanbul is one city where you can't leave home without a camera. Leave the Mastercard or the Visa (plastics) if you want but never the camera. There are simply too many beautiful, abstract and unexpected things that could happen along your way. The other day, we had this Audi TT car in front of us stopping in the middle of the road. For a brief moment we thought he must be having an engine problem when we eventually realised that he was talking to an incoming Mercedes sports, right smack in the middle of the road. He finished his conversation with a handshake with the other person in the next car and drove away! If only I had my camera with me at that moment....it would've been priceless!
Now....back to part 2 of my story. Pazartesi (monday) is fresh market day in my neighborhood. I always made a point of going as its a wonderful way of testing my turkce (turkish language). Believe me, when its a matter of Liras, you'd made sure you know your Turkce. Pazar (market) days in spring always have an air of festivity in it. There are more traders and the goods are more interesting and best of all.....kiraz (cherries) are now in abundance! I have been having kiraz for kahvalti (breakfast), ogle yemegi (noon meal) and aksam yemegi (evening meal). My pyrex bowl is forever filled with kiraz and I don't mind as I've been told that the season is normally short. Over here, when the season is finished, that's it, you have them no more. Even for fish...which stops from June till September...crikey!!
As I pulled the trolley behind me to walk home, I saw something that mortified me. Its a scene out of a movie and I never thought that I would see it with my own eyes. Across the road was a woman with a little boy, the boy barely seven years old. That is nothing strange but what caught my eyes was that...they were rummaging into this big council litter bin and trying to salvage some papers and things. And the boy was picking up a remnant of an ice-cream and wanted to eat it before the woman yanked it away from his hand. I was stunned as I knew how the boy must have felt. I love ice cream,too. The weather is now warm and having an ice cream or ice lollies is heaven on earth.
Without thinking I gestured to the woman to me as my feet was rooted and I could not move. And then....the picture became worse as I saw her hurried towards me. Her right leg is actually just a piece of wood! But let me tell you this.....she can walk faster than a person half her age, that I am sure of. When I handed her some Liras, she was just as stunned as I was.
First, a man crawling on all fours and now a woman with a stick for a leg? And all in one day? Is God really trying to tell me something? What is it? I already said my gratitude all the way home in the bus. What next? This sighting reinforce my deduction on the determined Turkish. They might be down on luck but they still exhibit the uncanny determination and integrity that I had witnessed twice today. And the best part is...the rest do not ostracize them, rather they accept them as one of them. The tolerable and kind society allow and let them continue with their lives honorably and with full integrity.
I was made known that every evening, the shops selling bread or any food items would discreetly place their products outside their shops so that the less fortunate could go and take them for consumption discreetly. I was told,too that if you didn't have money, you can just go to any shops and they will give away food to you free of charge. They are really charitable and I had on many occasions got a free ride on the bus because I was out of coins or I seemed lost to them.
I believe that these traits are ingrained in them since kingdom came. I really must find out how the people started this traits or if it was brought in from somewhere or someone. Meanwhile, I'll just enjoy the hospitality that Istanbul has to offer me.
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