Yearly Archives: 2019
but the terrorists
A day in a roadside hotel. The room is okay, the yard is nice, breakfast is the bomb. I walk over to a shop down the road and end up buying not only water and a candy bar, but also a pendant from the Trabzonspor football team because I like its colors. Guess I’m a […]
similar questions
Last night, when I was almost at the ögretmenevi where I was planning to stay for the night, two guys appeared and wanted to take a picture together. Then the cops showed up. Not just one or two, but four of them. As I was standing there, posing for the picture in my Chinese reflective […]
a Turkish tea house
It’s two in the afternoon when I see my first pine tree in as long as I can remember. Actually, it’s a bunch of them on both sides of the road. Their fragrance fills the air, and just looking at them makes me feel as if I was on the shores of the Mediterranean. That’s […]
overpass
Here, on a pedestrian overpass, on a metal bridge that spans four lanes of traffic, here am I, and I’m having tea. Below me, there is a constant roar from the vehicles of those people who want to get somewhere – anywhere – really fast. I can see the Black Sea hitting the shore, it […]
the way to Sumela
Somewhere in the south of Trabzon, hidden deep inside of a mountain valley, there is an old Greek Orthodox monastery called Sumela. It is not functional anymore. There are no monks, no holy books, no ritual chants, just a few stone buildings hanging on to the rocks. I can’t help but ask myself what happened […]
the Kantian
I took a walk around Trabzon with an old friend today. We talked about his life and mine, and about some of the things that had happened in the last few years. The big things and the small things. Meanwhile, we looked around. When we passed the old Gülbahar Hatun mosque, I said let’s go […]
holy wisdom
Islam came to Trabzon rather late. Maybe it was because of its city walls (which now mostly lie in ruins) or maybe it was because its inhabitants were so famously stubborn and hot-headed, anyway Trabzon remained Christian (and independent) for a long time, even after almost all of its surrounding territories had adopted Islam. It […]
the demonic sneeze
Remember the other day when I stayed in that village guesthouse? Well, when I got up that morning and I went down to brush my teeth, I sneezed, and during the violent convulsion that accompanied that sneeze, I felt something weird in my upper back. I have been feeling a bit of pain ever since, […]
Formaldehistory
“Where are you going?” asks a man wearing a beard and shades. I tell him I’m trying to find a place to have lunch and then go to Atatürk’s house. “Ah, come with me!” he says, and he takes me to a small restaurant. Then, after I’ve had enough soup, salad, rice, and beans, he […]
fighting folks don’t need no walls
Trabzon has a castle. Or rather: Trabzon has a city wall that is sometimes referred to as castle. Or rather: the old city of Trebizond on the Eastern edge of the Byzantine Empire used to have city walls. Those walls now lie in ruins, and only very little is left of them. They stand on […]
Caboose 2.1
One unexpected thing happened last night (I’m including a photo in this post). As I was walking toward my destination, I stopped and tried to film myself and the Caboose walking through a crowded pedestrian zone. That is until four men showed up and demanded to know what I was doing. I told them I […]
Trabzon
Having rested very close to the city, I get to sleep in and have a long breakfast, then I just leisurely waltz into town. At least that’s the idea. In reality I squeeze my way through insanely tight traffic and try not to get hurt. The Caboose hates it, while I’m trying to think of […]
walking to the government
The hotel in which I wake up is called “Hotel Lost”. When I arrived last night, the nightclub in the basement was just warming up, there were three bouncers in the lobby, and the whole place had an atmosphere of fake leather and black lights that reminded me of certain establishments in China that charged […]
knife town
Just as I wake up under the cement roof that has been my home for the night, it starts to rain again. I decide to wait it out. After all, I have apples, nuts, and bread to eat, water to drink, and a tv series to watch. No need to lose hope as long as […]
the right way
Rain unrained is a taste of metal in the air and a shade of darkness on the ground. It is there, I can feel it all around me, only it chooses to remain in the clouds and to not fall down to earth just yet. And so I walk under a grey sky that reminds […]
the fires and the pots
A few kilometers into the day, Nihal and Kader call me into their yard to have breakfast with them and their colleagues. They’re into the dairy business. There is much laughter at the thought of how long my hair and my beard will be once I have made it to Germany. Back on the road […]
of mice
An afternoon, a sky covered in grey clouds, a corner near the ocean where a cat is playing with a mouse. At first I’m sure the mouse must be dead, as it’s dangling lifelessly between the cat’s teeth. But when the cat sets it down almost gently, the mouse looks around for a moment, then […]
Erdoganstan
Rize, that’s one hundred thousand people on the coast of the Black Sea. It’s the home of the current president (who appears to moonlight as an educator). And it’s the center of the Turkish tea industry. I have been passing by lots and lots of tea factories on my way here from Georgia. Basically every […]
the stepchild
Today the road shows me another face. Up until now, it has mostly been made up of two lanes in each direction, divided in the middle, with an emergency lane on either side. Now those emergency lanes are gone. Sometimes each direction consists of three lanes, though. Yay for drivers, I guess? There is a […]
leaving China
I’m in bed. The tunnels and the guardrails and the glorious pink sunset, they are behind me. I have not written a word until now. There was never enough time. When I close my eyes I see myself walking into a small town called Pazar. That was at noon, and Pazar turned out to be […]