A billboard in Sultanahmet: I carrying books since years, but could not stop to be a donkey.
There are just too much out there. As I peck away I’m in awe of how little I know. And yes, the donkey is a good reminder of my ignorance.
My outlook is to take in something here and there and never mind if the learning is incoherent. Experiencing a little is better than not experiencing at all. A patchwork quilt is afterall, a quilt, no matter how fractured it seems.
The business people in Sultanahmet speak multiple languages, enough to lure a customer from any part of the world into their establishment.
“It is how I learn about life, and so will my children.” My ever philosophical friend Murat said to me. His son, Cemal, spoke no English when he started working at Murat’s shop. For four years he ran up and down the cobblestone street chasing cats, pouring tea, watching and listening to his father interacting with customers. This time when I see him, Cemal is speaking adequet English from continuous tourist exposure.
“The world comes through my street. I don’t have to go anywhere.” Murat sprints from where we are sitting back to the shop when he notices some customers approaching.
I turn back to another page of my book.
Photo by Joe Pyrek
