My Flying Carpet

A couple of weeks ago, I left Turkey to fly to England for Christmas. I was going to spend some time with my family and was really looking forward to the break.

In the winter, it’s difficult to find a direct flight from my local airport to London so I have to fly via Istanbul. I knew I would have to wait for around 6 hours so I went armed with my book, my 2012 diary to fill in and a note book to make observations!

Once I had made my way from the domestic to the international terminal, I headed for the passport check point. Of course, being British, I queued quietly. This did not seem to be true for many others. I assumed that the ones that just pushed forward were probably late for their flights! The men behind the desks checking our passports were actually quite pleasant which I have to say is quite unusual, especially in Turkey. Even when a young guy is standing in front of them having their passport checked and decides to make a phone call! Unbelievable.

Once my passport had been stamped, I headed for one of the many coffee shops. I found a table with my tray of goodies and whilst I was eating and drinking, I did a little people watching. I just love it. Listening to all the different languages, looking how people are dressed and even what bags they are carrying.

Then it was time to fill in my diary for 2012 and read some of my book. I soon became fidgety sitting down and decided it was time to stretch my legs and have a quick look in the shops. By now I was into half of my ‘killing time’ before my London flight. After deciding there was nothing in the shops that I couldn’t possibly live without, I grabbed a newspaper and looked around for a free chair. Istanbul is a strange airport in that it has very few seating areas, unlike, say Heathrow. I suppose the idea is that you then have to go into a cafe or restaurant and spend money!

Anyway, no seats available but I spied a really bright pink carpet ( later realized it was in front of a Prada sign, only the best for me). A lady was sitting on the carpet with her young child so I decided it would a perfect place to sit and read my newspaper. There I was reading when a male voice asked me if there was any more space on the carpet! I looked up to see a smiling face and wittily replied “Yes, but you have to be careful as it’s a magic flying carpet (Turkish connection!) and we may take off.” He told me he would take that risk and settled down beside me. He introduced himself as Reza. He lived in Chicago, was a dentist and was on his way to Dubai to help a friend whose son was coming over to Chicago to go to university.

We spent the next couple of hours telling each other about our lives and it was fascinating listening to Reza’s story. I did ask if I could repeat it in this article and he was more than happy as long as he got to read it sometime, no problem I assured him.

So, here is a little of Reza’s story. He moved to Chicago from Iran when he was just a baby. His parents enjoyed American life but were still quite traditional. At 18 years old, they told Reza they had arranged a marriage for him and of course, he had to comply. The wedding day arrived and he stood with his bride whom he had never even seen, let alone got to know. The wedding ceremony was finished, then the bride’s father decided Reza was not ready for marriage and promptly took his daughter home. For 3 Years!!

Anyway, they eventually lived together and have a wonderful son who is now 26 years old. Many years later, they were divorced. Then, ( I guessed this part and was right) Reza married a much younger foreign lady and the marriage only lasted around 3 years but produced another lovely son who is now 6 years old.

He told me that when he got back to Chicago, he was taking his young son to Disney Land for a Christmas treat. His son had telephoned him to say he wanted ‘ The Nanny’ to come too. Reza was quite happy but how did his son’s mum feel about this? “It’s my decision,” replied his son. The Nanny is around 22 years old and lovely so no great hardship for Reza. Who knows, maybe she will be wife no 3!

We spent the whole time laughing and suddenly I realized I needed to get to my Gate for my flight. After quick goodbyes and exchanging email addresses I hurried to catch my flight to London.

I have to say it was one of my most fun times waiting at an airport and I have done it many a time, so thank you Reza for joining me on the pink carpet. And I hope you enjoy ‘Your’ story.

Jo Tempest.

Laurel And Hardy

Hi everyone, I thought it was time for Laurel and I to give you an update on living with Jo. What can I say, it’s wonderful! Especially as I also have my brother Laurel with me. It really beats living on the streets of Selimiye.

I know Jo and her partner, Baris, really love us because they keep telling us how gorgeous we are. But they also tell us how naughty we are! The way I see it is that we are still kittens and there is so much fun to be had in the apartment. I expect we will grow out of it in time.

Jo has a wonderful collection of shells in a tray on the bottom shelf of the hall table but they are just too tempting. I can manage to get a couple out, with Laurel looking on, and they roll really well along the floors. I know I have lost a few under the sofa but Jo hasn’t noticed yet! She goes around picking up the ones she finds and puts them back, telling me to leave them alone. The moment she goes back to her lap top, I creep back as I love playing with them.

Laurel has his favorite game, he keeps going into Jo’s wardrobe and chews the bags of presents ready for her family. He even manages to drag a few out into the room. Jo thought she was being really clever a couple of day ago when she tied up the doors to the wardrobe. It was a bit of a challenge, but we managed to get them undone.

She has taken to putting things in the drawer of the bedside cabinet as we do have a habit of jumping on top and scattering glasses, books and the alarm clock. Apparently, we have broken two alarm clocks already and poor Jo cannot manage without one. Anyway, I thought I would try and open the drawer and I was successful. I found a little torch ( we have a lot of power cuts in the village) and it had a chord on the handle. I was really pleased with myself when I was trotting down to the kitchen with the torch in my mouth just as Jo walked through the front door. She is so great, she just picked me up with the torch, took it back to her bedroom and gave me a hug at the same time as telling me I was a naughty boy!

We rarely use the stairs to go outside as we do not want Jo or Baris to have to keep running up and down the stairs. The balcony of the kitchen has a really convenient tree running down to the garden so Laurel and I have soon mastered this route to outside. The only problem is that when we come back up to get in our home, the door is often closed due to it getting colder. Getting a little fed up with having to sit outside and meow to be let in, we have both now mastered opening the door on our own. It takes a few efforts and is a little noisy but we manage.

We are both very loving and often make a jump from the back of the sofa onto Jo and Baris, making lots of purring noises until we sprawl out on the sofa for a well earned sleep. I made Jo laugh so much tonight because I did my usual leap and landed on her head, and then thought it would be a good idea to nibble her ear. I love her too much.

One habit I have grown out of, is sitting on the window sill to look outside and sweeping anything in my way onto the floor. I did break a couple of glass candle pots and it became a little dangerous walking across the floor until Jo cleared up. I still like to sit and watch the neighbors along with Laurel or wait for Jo to come home. Well, I am going outside with my brother now to chase the chickens so I will let Jo say a couple of words as it is her blog. I think she is going to put a couple of photos on her blog soon to show you what handsome fellows we are. Meow for now. Xx

Hi, Jo here. Honestly, everything Hardy has told you is true. It’s like having a couple of toddlers running riot and I definitely gave them the right names, they are a comedy act! But I am so happy I rescued them as they are an absolute delight to have around, even if they are the naughtiest kittens I have ever come across.

Bye for now.

Jox

Waiting For The Bus!

Waiting For The Bus

This article is inspired from a ‘girlie’ day out a few days ago with my friend Nesé. We had one of those wonderful days just wandering around the bazaar in Marmaris buying a few necessities and a few bits that we just couldn’t resist! Followed by a late lunch we headed for the supermarket to finish off our lists. What was nice was that Nesé has a car, so the whole day was made a lot easier than going on the village bus (dolmus), especially as in the winter they run less frequently.

Anyway, on the drive home, I was telling Nese my stories of what I had seen whilst waiting for the bus by the Marina in the next village, where I had been spending a lot of time over the last few months. As I told one story we would chat about something else and then I would say, “When I was waiting for the bus…………” and give her the details. Just as we were entering the village I was on my last story and she started laughing so much, she could no longer drive. She tried to move forward again and had to stop as all she could see in her mind was my description of the event.

I promised her I would write some of my ‘Waiting for the Bus’ stories to share on my blog, so here they are. I hope you enjoy them as much as she did!

Firstly, I have to describe where I wait for the bus, so you have an idea of the setting. It’s a road cut through the mountains, and you just wait where you like, as there is no such thing as a bus stop. Behind me, down the mountain, is the sea, and in front of me are the mountains, climbing up to a great height. Sometimes standing there I would watch eagles circling for prey, or count up to 80 safari jeeps on their way back to Marmaris, all which helped pass the time while I was waiting for the bus.

One day when ‘I was waiting for the bus,’ I heard lots of cars tooting and watched as a village wedding car approached (covered in ribbons) followed by guest cars. Two scooters raced past the lead car and made them pull up abruptly. Suddenly the passenger on one of the scooters rushed off the back and ran to the wedding car, pulling a hand gun from the back of his trousers. Was he the jilted lover of the bride?

I held my breath but he just said a few words through the window of the car, ran back to his scooter, and everyone drove off. The Turks get very excited at village weddings and guns are often let off after the ceremony, but why he was brandishing his gun, I could not understand. I watched them all drive away none the wiser. In fact, while I am writing this story, there is a village wedding here tonight with lots of music and singing, and guess what, they just fired off their guns!!

Goats On The Run

Another day when ‘I was waiting for the bus,’ I saw my goat man. I have to explain that on previous waits, I had seen the goat man come and collect his tethered goats off the side of the mountain to take home. He would usually just hold the rope of the first one, and the others would follow sedately. Anyway, this particular day, the goats must have been grazing further round the bend out of view. Suddenly, I saw about 6 goats running up towards me, not stopping, but disappearing round the bend in the road. Then I saw my goat man trying to catch up with them; no chance I am thinking.

But, not to be outdone, he flagged down a passing scooter, jumped on the back, gave me a quick wave and was probably saying to the driver “ follow those goats!!!!” A few days later, I saw him again with his little herd behaving themselves, so their dash for freedom was all in vain!

And last but not least, my final story of when ‘I was waiting for the bus.’ I have to warn you, this one is not for the squeamish! There I

Chopped Chicken

was, waiting in the sunshine for my dolmus, when I noticed a car pull up just a few feet away from me. Out climbed a very village style middle aged couple and the woman was holding a cardboard box. I realized that whatever was in the box was alive and making a lot of noise. The couple were having a heated conversation, when suddenly the man took hold of the box and pulled it open to reveal a chicken. It seemed to only take a few seconds before he had pulled out a knife, cut the chicken’s throat, put it back into the box, and they drove off! You can just imagine this poor bird making too much noise on their journey, the wife wants to get it home and the husband has threatened to end its life if it does not shut up! The husband won!!

This is the story that had Nese crying with laughter on our drive home. She said it was the way I told the story and she could see it in her mind and how I told her he had put it back into the box!! This particular story is being retold to all her friends at the moment , and the other stories they will read for themselves. I hope you have enjoyed my little tales and I will let you know what else I see soon.

Jo Tempest.

Laurel And Hardy

Hi, I’m Hardy, Jo’s new cat, or should I say, one of them anyway. I have a story to tell you about how I came into her home with my brother Laurel.

Just over 2 weeks ago, Jo came to her friend Nese’s waterfront cafe.  Being a young, friendly and homeless fellow, I quickly surmised Jo was a softie where us cats were concerned. Lots of purring and rubbing around her legs soon found me a place on her lap for the rest of the afternoon. By the time Jo was ready to go home, I had convinced her to take me with her, much to Nese’s joy!

Anyway, I arrived at a lovely home and so dutifully jumped in and out of my new cat basket, ate all the great food and used my litter tray regularly. Now, all I had to do was to get my twin brother here as quickly as possible.  Jo was calling me Munchkins, then changed it to Daisy as she thought me so pretty.  She still hadn’t taken a close look at me to realize I was a boy!!  So, a couple of evenings later, I was laying on Baris’s lap ( Jo’s partner) and showed him I was a boy. There followed much laughter and surprise between the two of them, but no decision on a new name.

Sunday morning arrived and I was loaded into my cat box and then Nese’s car. We went to the local school where I saw many more filled cat crates. I had no idea what this is all about but I am sure I was about to find out. And I did; it was mass neutering day for all the street cats and dogs in the village. Jo had arranged for me to go first so that I didn’t have to hang around (excuse the pun), like all the other cats. Cukru the vet from Marmaris was very gentle and seemed a caring guy, but I have to say I don’t remember much once he had lifted me out of my box, until I woke up at home later that afternoon.

At this point, I will let Jo take over the story for a while.

Hi, Jo here. So while my little baby was asleep, I was in the school with all the cats that we (meaning all the village helpers involved) had collected the previous day. We try to do this at least once a year to keep down the number of kittens born each year. Unfortunately, many of the village people do not take responsibility for their animals and, even worse, think we are interfering with nature. My answer to that is ‘you let your animals have up to 4 litters a year, then you feed them!’

Cukru, our wonderful vet from Marmaris, arrived with 2 helpers early Sunday morning and set up an operating room in the school laboratory. It was like a production line all day; they operated on 40 cats and 6 dogs. We probably could have found more to be done, but ran out of time.

At the end of a long day, all the animals were left in their boxes in a spare store room attached to the school, covered in blankets. They would sleep off the effects of the operations until the next morning. Just so you know, we clip the ears on all operated cats and dogs, so we can tell which ones have been neutered for the next year. We don’t want to catch them twice!

We raise money throughout the year by donations and this covers the cost of the drugs for the day. Everything else is given free by Cukru; he is truly a saint!

The next day, we release all the animals back to where we found them with a little food and they are all quite happy. I think Hardy wants to take over the story from here, so bye for now.

I’m back. I woke up in my new home with a blue bottom and feeling a little wobbly and thought I was seeing double. Then after a little staggering and sniffing, realized my twin brother was also in my new home. I was so happy to see him, even if he was in the same state as me. Mind you, even just after 2 weeks with Jo, I am much bigger than he is, but he will soon catch up.

Apparently, once Jo had seen my twin brother wandering around Nese’s cafe and as he had used the same charm tactics as me, she had decided to bring him home after his operation. We have been given the new names of Laurel and Hardy, so I am sure we can live up to their comic ways, as it’s a great apartment to run around and cause chaos!

At the moment, we are both on our best behavior as we must show Jo how much we love her for taking us off the ‘streets’, but I am sure within a few days we will jumping around the furniture, knocking things to the floor and having fun. Miaow for now.

Well, you have met Laurel and Hardy and they are gorgeous . It’s wonderful to be able to give these two little darlings a chance. Will keep you updated on their antics as I am sure they are going to be lots of them!