*Travel Experiences through Europe ... May '06 - '08 - December '08*
Being A Balloonist in Istanbul, Turkey. {1Oct. '07}
It was around the end of Ramadan, an Islamic observation of fasting for 30 days from dawn till dusk,
that I was busking during the festival at night. But there was one particular night where I worked as a balloonist and here below
is an excerpt from my journal ...
Working at a shop during Ramadan
Yesterday
I pumped balloons and sold them for 20 turkish lira in four hours of
work. My friends Octai, the beautiful sisters Aslii and the boss
Jasmine, and Sinbad, whom I worked with. When I would sell the balloons I
would say "eekee" meaning lira, "ooch" lira in Turkish meaning 2 or
three lira. Many said to me "choke" meaning "too expensive." Many were
poor and I did not want to turn them away, but boss Jasmine would not
budge on price. The other boss Octai, an Engineer, needed the money.
The "Tail" of a Scorpion
I once lived on an island in Greece known for its small blue domes upon white stoned churches and there were as many as 365 churches for each day of the week. One hot summer night I took my guitar and walking with my sandals on I trekked up a hill to a secret spot that I found where I can commune alone with nature, God and music. On this special spot you can see the moonlight reflecting off the Aegean sea and you can see ships, another island and parts of the island and village I was on from this vista point. So as I was walking up the hill to this beautiful vista point and something told me to look down and I came face to face with a scorpion. He stopped around the same time I stopped, he was in attack mode and had his tail up. For some strange reason I decided to toy with him so I took my room key and struck his tail. Then he moved a bit upon the path and put his tail down. I assume he was more afraid then I was because of his stillness and hidden tail, he seemed to be trying to hide. I continued to watch him and then went around him to my destination. Luckily I looked down when I did because I did have sandals on upon our meeting.
