Book 16: AFTER DIYARBAKIR

CASTLE PIGEONSHIT

Moved in, so to speak. Sitting here with Ygor, a very sick tiny kitty found shrieking in the rain outside my hotel window last night. Too exhausted to draw my spectacular view. No sheets on the bed, no job, no furniture but the view doesn’t care. It glitters for me just the same—–Ah, the lost apartment. All my money to paint, tile and buy furniture, and I lost it all after only six weeks.

CASTLE PIGEONSHIT (KALE GUVERCIN BÖKÜ) 7 floors up w/ no lift- the big view of the Golden Horn blinded me to the filth of the stairs and landlord, a fat troglodyte from the Black Sea. A grim 6-week interlude terminating in a frantic search for another apartment—— Used to having money, I’d taken on a lot, and then no job. The landlord had not installed hot water for six weeks, so I quit paying rent. The police and the US Consulate said to get out of the building. After a dicey exchange the landlord physically attacked me–his teenaged daughter leaped on his back screaming Baba!! Baba!!–so I had to leave all this. Seeing these pictures makes me mad all over again. I had done most of the work myself, spent all I had, and all I could take with me was a few pieces of furniture and the bed… but I had Ygor!!

KUBILAY & FRIENDS

“I think of happy positive things…keeps my life happy & positive!” – Rayan’s cat ring – Zenobia – The Nomadic Line – Drawings from Turkey – Kubilay & friends——It was Kubilay who moved me out of Castle Pigeonshit. He & two helpers showed up in two taxis & moved what we could carry down the seven flights of stairs, little Ygor wailing all the way. Kubi piled everything in his kitchen & took Ygor until I could find a place. I moved into a cheap hostel until another friend arrived, & we all looked for a new apartment. “Yes come home to Sultanahmet,” said Kubi, “where you have friends.”