Steve Brodner - More Turkey

top

More Turkey

posted:November 10, 2006

In the morning I and two of the cartoon award winners were interviewed by a reporter for the Huyyiat Gosteri. Problem was he only spoke Turkish. The other two spoke Farsi and Polish. Only the reporter had an interpreter. It went like this: Reporter: What is the state of cartoons as you see it now? Amin: Cartoon is . . . good. Pawel: Having cartoon is getting idea to other person. It is good. Interpreter: Cartoons are good. Steve and interpreter: (Laugh)

Old guy selling nuts and raisins on the street.

This afternoon went down to the Spice Bazaar where nuts, spices, fruit, candy, fish are displayed in the open, with a great design sense. The garrulous shopkeepers wrestle you off the street and force tea down your throat until you buy something. This is called tea-boarding and it is very effective. I bought lots of stuff I never knew I needed.

In front of the New Mosque (�New� means 300 years old) old ladies sit in booths and sell you bird seed for the pigeons for 5 lire. I bought some but didn�t feed it all to the pigeons. The pigeon lady flung the whole dish at them. I guess living in New York has taken the edge off of any pigeon ardor I might have once had. I notice a gentle overall way Turks have with animals.

Here�s a shop front display, to let you know the headscarves are in.

As it got dark I wandered around outside the Grand Bazaar and kind of fell in love with the aging and variegated buildings crowding in on these very narrow streets. Sort of like great, galloping serpents.