Skip to main content

Week 22 marks the end of summer and there's cause for joy and sadness for Gul

 Edited BY


G P Kennedy

 

Gul - and her man - Istanbul, Turkey

FINAL WEEKS OF SUMMER

 Life continues as usual here. August is over, we have come almost to the end of summer, and we all have the same sadness. I wish we could freeze this moment and go to a year later. An uncertain autumn and winter are so scary.

 

 The daily number of new cases in the country is reported as over 1500 every day but we assume it’s x 10. Insufficient testing in this busy summer months increased the cases and asymptomatic carriers are still spreading the virus. We hear news that there are not enough beds in the hospitals at the moment. Also idiot people hide that they are sick; there was not enough work to isolate people before its spread by the authorities. They’ve failed (again). Sadly, five doctors died this week; hundreds of healthcare workers have been infected with the virus.


Last strawberries of the summer


SCHOOL OR NOT

 School year began with distance education but this is will increase inequalities in education. Some kids are more affected than others and the crisis is hitting the most vulnerable groups the hardest. There is a part of Turkey where kids don’t access on Internet or even have a computer or a tablet. Some private schools have already started with clean & safe small sized classrooms. My two cousins have decided not to send their kids to school for now. 

 

BIKINIS WITH MASK

 Police officers have been doing checks to make sure face masks rules are being met at our beach. It’s funny that people were lying on their sun beds. It’s ridiculous! The sun beds are spread out at our beach but there’s no rule followed at the beach club next to us.

 

 Elderlies are prevented from going out after 8pm, using public transportation in rush hours, entering into crowded places in certain hours of the day, they have banned to attend social activities, like weddings. The same restrictions have also been implemented for children under 15 years olds. In addition, the travel bans for over 65 is still on.

 

ANGRY OVER UNPUNISHED OFFENSE

 This week we were very angry over the rape of an 18-year-old girl by a Turkish officer in the Kurdish town of Batman. Ipek Er had died in a hospital after attempting to take her own life, left a handwritten suicide note that explains how he had raped her at his friend’s house.

 

 Our social media campaign for the arrest of the suspect Musa Orhan didn’t work as he’s been released after a short detention. Over 350,000 tweets were posted prior to his arrest but we couldn’t manage him to get locked. Unbelievable.

 

LAWYER DIED

 Earlier on this week, we were devastated that hunger-striking lawyer Ebru Timtik has died. She was fighting for a fair trial and starving herself for 238 days. I don’t approve of hunger strikes. Unfortunately, nobody cares in Turkey and we lose good people. 

 

WEDDING ANNIVERSARY

 We celebrated our 29th wedding anniversary last night. We went to our local fish restaurant. Of course, we used our own tablecloths, cutlery, napkins etc. to be safe. All waitresses were wearing their masks.


The Happy Couple - 2020 style

 Also my cousin got married last night. We were very close to each other; I was a little sad that we couldn’t go to the wedding. It’s so strange times that instead of what we want to do, we do things we have never done in our lives. For example, we dried strawberries and made chips. Believe me they’re so delicious. I don’t know what else life will bring us in the future months. Stay safe!

Cousin married pic

 

 

 

 

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A hearty entrée from Karachi

 Edited BY G P Kennedy Qeema Matar by Tassy  It's food week, so I am very happy to share a recipe of one of my go-to comfort foods. It is hearty, wholesome, and hugely satisfying. Not surprisingly, one of my favorite foods to cook while we live in uncertain times.    The dish is called Qeema Matar in Urdu, roughly translated to mince with peas. It is a rich and aromatic dish that is cooked with a lot of spices. The dish originated at the time the Mughal dynasty of Turkic and Mongol origin ruled the vast Indian subcontinent from the 16th to mid 18th century. On average we have Qeema Matar at least once a week, usually with a "chapatti", flat bread made with unleavened wheat flour.    It is pretty much a staple dish for us and also for a vast majority of Pakistanis. The dish is so popular that it is often prepared even as a festive dish on special occasions or at weddings. When I first learnt how to cook, this was probably one of the first recipes I wanted to...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Turkish dessert for all to enjoy

Edited BY G P Kennedy            AŞURE, NOAH ’s ARK TO SHARE                                 from Gul   This month you see an odd food traffic around, a dessert swapped continuously between neighbors. It’s called aşure (pronounced as aah-shoor-ey) ,   or Noah’s Pudding in English. Every year, Turkish women compete each other to create the best aşure while I wait fo r my neighbors whose names I don’t even know to bring one to me .    Luckily, our summer neighbors are more generous than the winter ones. I have already received three different aşure so far. The other day one of our neighbors dropped a tray in his hand as he was walking 20 bowls on it. Luckily my share was in his wife’s hand. Yummy...   ONE FOR ALL AND ALL FOR ONE  Aşure means one for all and all for one. It’s cooked in appreciation to God and the celebration of diversity and equal...
Post a Comment
Read more

The finest coffee from the caffeine capital of the world

Edited BY G P Kennedy Coffee by Ellie    If you have been following these stories for a while, dear reader, you already know that I have mentioned coffee in several of my coronavirus reports. That is because coffee  is not just an important drink or ritual in Italy but an essential item, too. A marker of life, social standing and measure of sophistication even.    Since coffee shops were closed during the lockdown, coffee was necessary sustenance that often went unfulfilled. Since we didn't make coffee at home (long story), we resorted to tea. And you might remember that once the prohibition was lifted, coffee shop bonanza opened and we could flock to the so called "bars" (that is, coffee shops), we were utterly disappointed to discover that coffee was now served in reusable cups. Blame it on the prohibition to stay inside. Luckily, it was only temporary.    So, the irony is, once the clouds of the lockdown were lifted, we actu...
Post a Comment
Read more