Saw our baby's heart for the 1st time yesterday and was very excited! So cute. Yes baby is still a bean for now. And yes we are still homeless after 62 days in this wretched country.
Sorry everyone for the long hiatus. No this blog is not dead and gone....just temporarily interrupted due to our many moving problems (2 months on we are STILL HOMELESS and have changed hotel for the 5th TIME thanks to they very reliable Turkish efficiency....yes U can count on them NOT TO SHOW UP or GET THINGS DONE even when U PAY THEM or book ahead) and the ridiculously slow & unreliable Internet connections in this 3rd World country. YES, after living here for 2 months I really do believe Turkey is a 3rd World country NO DOUBT ABOUT IT.
The mentality, actions and behaviour of the people are 3rd world. I have come to see why (but STILL DO NOT ACCEPT) why they are out to cheat us, scam us all the time just to make money. Why they don't give a damn about service, don't bother to do things, just make empty promises to get your money first. They don't care because they are desperate. They want to take U for all you've got to escape their own dire situation.
Most Turks and even some foreigners kid themselves into thinking that this country may be 1st or even 2nd world, but they must be blind or have their eyes closed when they walk on the streets.
Just stroll outside the main tourist and business areas of Istanbul and U will clearly see how people live in such squalor. Even 5 star hotels in the tourist part of town suffer from water and electricity cuts from time to time which they have no control over. Go outside the city and you'll see how shockingly undeveloped the rest of the country is. Definitely 3rd World.
How they can even dare to say they are European or want to join the EU.....beyond my comprehension.
I spoke to a German lady livıng here and she had this to say:
As with big cities in 3rd World countries, Istanbul is full of people that have no roots any more. People from all over the country move to the metropolis to try to escape the poverty and their bad situation elsewhere. So they trample on each other and everyone else to get to the top of the heap. This makes people act strange and do things that seem to be rude, unpolite,uncivilised. They are desperate and they have nothing to lose. Many are not intelligent enough or simply don't have the resources to change their situation. It is hard for me to accept the strangeness of people and the terrible things they do. Civilisation here is a very thin skin. The slightest thing happens, and the skin tears.
Hearing her say that to me was like an illumination. Suddenly it all became so clear why all these bad things are happening to us here, why they people are the way they are. They are a pack of wolves among other wolves and we're the fresh meat. So they scramble to get every scrap they can. What's more some do it under the cloak of religion and those are the WORST of all. Religion should never be used as an excuse for personal inadequacy.
Well I'll be damned if I'm not going to fight it all the way!!!
I recently read this quote....interesting and food for thought:
To criticize a person for their race is manifestly irrational but to criticize their religion, that is a right. That is a freedom. The freedom to criticize ideas, any ideas - even if they are sincerely held beliefs - is one of the fundamental freedoms of society. A law which attempts to say you can criticize and ridicule ideas as long as they are not religious ideas is a very peculiar law indeed.
-Rowan Atkinson
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2 comments:
Civilization might be slightly thinner in Istanbul than elsewhere, but I think it is pretty thin to begin with. Even where I live, in San Mateo, where it seems the only crime that ever occurs is a lady letting her dog suffer in the heat of a car while she gets her hair and nails done, you have occasions where there are violent shootings between the police and individuals (who, half of the time, turn out to be innocent and unarmed).
Also, a civilization is basically the enforcing of rules that are all, to a certain degree, based on selfishness at the local level. That on a larger scale they suddenly turn unselfish is only because most people (except slightly autistic, mathematical experts) can't see this.
Nonetheless, it is unfortunate that you haven't yet found a place to stay, and that you're surrounded by such misery. It is time you start flying with those parachutes, so you can be above all of it.
Home is where your heart is... and I know you're missing Singapore and the family and friends but happy thoughts ok! How about making it a point to get fresh flowers every 3-4 days to brighten the surrounding and prettyfy the area.
More baby news please!
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