LAID UP
Slipped on the slimy breakwater & experienced my greatest fear: my knee went out after 5 years — “AIEEE!!!” — Passed out from the pain there on the beach & now I wish I had never woken up — 24 August 2000 — pushed it back myself — LAID UP IN SIDE – I just HAD to go back —Are the angels trying to tell me something? —- What will happen? I must continue the project – I need to walk easily! —Typical turgid Turkish melodrama —- Is this a part of God? — “Sweet, A no like this. They only want your money.” The hospital wants to send me by ambulance to Antalya & then an MRI. Shit. The jury is still out——
GRAPE ARBOR DANCING
Very old friend of Nizam’s, Mustafa, BMW dealer from Antalya —- It’s killing me to sit here wounded while everyone is dancing — but Hey! I’m not the only sober one here! — SODA — “For this evening, thank you.” —— She had spent 3 days in a hotel room because her boyfriend was held up on business. Nizam wasn’t drinking, this was news.
BINGOL MARBLES
Kurdish doctor & his Spanish wife, from Bilbao, a town I remember fondly — “You do not need operation.”* *I wish. — In the room after my knee went out — Sober Nizam wearing my hat & playing Bingol Marbles — *As it turns out, I did [need operation]——
TOOTSIE
Bored out of my mind in Side — Mehmet — Deniz – Turkish from France — “Bon Soir – Oui, I am Turkish” — Getting what she can — 26 August 2000——
STEAMY HOT
Ali Baba still dancing at 78 — Steamy hot night in the Apollo Dance Club —- He bought me all the roses the rose man had but I left anyway — 26 August 2000—— A friend looking at this book said “It just gets darker and darker.”
EMPTY TOMB
Art store in Antalya — My name is Kübra — Spoken in beautifully accented English, if you please —- Dr Seuss forest hillocks near Antalya — A few days in KAŞ and my knee is no better. I see a doctor in Fethiye & decide on an MRI in Antalya—–
27 August 2000 KAŞ — Empty coke bottles ın crates / empty Lycian tomb stacked sıde by sıde on the dock ın Kaş — Tomorrow: Antalya & MRI scan——
MRI SCAN ANTALYA
28 August 2000 – Knee still a pain! — The immaculate & efficient Bilgi Hastanesi near Side sent me to Radon in Antalya for an MRI — Engin — Esra — Took the stunning 4-hour bus ride from Kaş — Spectacular coastal & mountain scenery all the way here —- Appt 3PM MRI film Antalya — Call Bilgi 9AM — Art Store — DIKKAT!! MRI SCAN 150.000.000 lira- cheap! — Radiology Lab Tres moderne Fear Not!! — A packed waiting room & the latest equipment — Yep, the ligament’s torn——