AWKARD THINGS

The other interesting but perhaps a little bit 💥awkard topic, is the asshole... (a little part from one of my favorite movie, the Meet the Fockers 😂) ...

...or more specifically the hemorrhoid 😟

But I'm begging you! Every second person has had it or is having it or maybe it's not every second person but every second and a half because not only adults but children have them too. I can tell you that it is not at all pleasant, but it is one of the most common diseases of our time, 

...and of course we do not need to rush to the doctor immediately, just as we do not rush to the doctor immediately with a cold if there is medicine or herbal tea available. We take it, we have tea, we stay in bed a bit longer, we rest and we get better. 

But there are also more serious conditions, and especially if the available (non-prescription) medicines are no longer available, the condition can get worse. For example, here in Turkey, there is a type of haemorrhoid medicine (in tablet form) that is not available without a prescription. Well, it's not available....

Now imagine half of the 80 million people wanting to go to the proctologist because they have hemorrhoids (especially in winter) and 40 million people trying to get an appointment (but of course nobody likes to go there because nobody likes to have their asses touched or looked at...but if you have to, you have to, no excuses) to get the medicine. 

But that's nothing, because you can't just go to the proctologist and make an appointment. No. First (at least according to the internet) you have to go to the gastroenterologist, and from there you can be referred to the gastroenterologist. So I went. But I was not referred. Instead, the doctor, a little indignantly, advised us to go to the general surgery. Which I didn't, of course, because I wanted to go to the proctologist to be examined. 

But why do most people get hemorrhoids? Well, I suppose for various reasons, one of them being all the sitting. And in the winter, the cold keeps people indoors...

 ...sitting at home, lying down, watching TV 24 hours a day, being on their phones looking at things so you can say that they move very little (especially SOME people :) ) if they don't have to and they eat a lot of food, especially fatty and carbohydrate-rich food (we do eat, don't we) . And the cold comes from the bottom (ankles, buttocks, waist) on the street and in the house and so the cold from the bottom plus eating lots of carbohydrates (which leads to constipation) makes one's hemorrhoids come out nicely. 

Also (my mind boggles) a lot of women and young girls here wear maxi minis in the winter in the minus, thin tights...

...or shoes and socks that don't even come up to their ankles...

...(their bare ankles are out) and I've seen boys in short pants (what a f...????) walking on the streets with bare feet. I sweat a lot and I feel hot but I'd rather sweat than get a cold...I go home and wash my clothes, but a good haemorrhoid or ovarian infection or bladder or kidney infection who the hell misses it in winter????,...especially if you don't have medicine!!!! 

Man, be cool but don't be mindless! AND did you girls know that frequent ovarian inflammation can cause infertility? Not to mention what a fucking painful disease they are, sometimes with a fever and even in some case pneumonia. So be cool and look fucking good in the winter but don't get sick, for God sake! It's okay to want to look pretty or hot or cool or funny, but wear warm clothes...who the fuck cares what other people think, isn't your health the most important thing? You can't buy that at the supermarket! or another ovary when you think you're not a teenager anymore or you want to look not only fucking good but you want to have a baby, and then you find out you can't because you're barren..what are you going to do then? 

And the other thing! Once it stinks in your home (because it will stink if you use up the air in your home or if you use the toilet) you need to air the fuck out even if it's cold outside....then you need to heat the place up. That's it! Not sitting in the stink and drying the clothes you just washed because it will stink too (speaking from experience) 

 THE TIME OF RAMADAN 

Let's talk a little bit 💥about the time of Ramadan, which is already on in all the islamic countries. This is a fasting period that lasts for 1 month. During this period, those who keep the fast do not eat or drink during the day. This fast is not compulsory but many people still keep it. 

The first meal starts at sunset and is marked by the muezzin in the minarets singing. 

Otherwise, he calls the believers to prayer five times a day, also by singing. 

After sunset, food and drink (no alcohol, of course)

... is allowed until 4.30 a.m. There are some typical food and drinks which you can find also the other time of the year in some places , but this time you can find it in every bakery shops and groceries. The pide ....and the so called serbet. 

...and the so called serbet, which is a tasty sweet drink...

In the mornings (at least in the past), they would wake up those who might have fallen asleep by beating the drums loudly to warn them of the last meal of the morning, so that they would not miss it and be left terribly hungry and thirsty during the day. 

This fasting can be a difficult thing to do (although I have never tried it, because I can't go very long without water...even starvation, but not thirst, except in very extreme cases). Otherwise, fasting is not recommended for children, sick people, or menstruating women...but that's just a suggestion. And here I would like to mention a wonderful Turkish film (probably the only one I have seen and I liked it very much) about this fasting and the struggle of a little boy with himself who wants to keep the fast at all costs. This movie is actually classified as a comedy (who knows why, because I think it's actually a drama and heartbreaking) with the title "Iftarlik gazoz". 

In my opinion, the little boy (Berat Efe Parlar) protagonist gives an amazing acting performance in the movie...

...if you happen to read my post 😊 , from here I would like to sincerely and wholeheartedly congratulate you...it was very touching and very true to life. (I have watched it several times and if it wasn't so dramatic I would watch it again, I just don't want to cry ☹) 

This great fast is actually, (as I understand it), meant to make everyone feel the fate of all those who are poor and don't always eat or drink when they want to, but when they can or have anything to put on the table...and this kind of communion of fate is very beautiful I think. 

It's not just about experiencing hunger and thirst, but also about helping those in need, the poor, the fallen...

the weak and how good it would be if we could do that all in our lives...to understand and help where we can where there is a need. It can also be a kind of spiritual "uplifting" experience of compassion..too. 

Someone dear to me 💖explained the original reason and purpose of Ramdan. In the days before Muhammed (who was the prophet of Islam) people traded...

 

...and fought and stole from each other. But even they themselves got fed up with this after a while and agreed to a 3 month ceasefire at a certain point in the year and fasted during that time. 

Later when Muhammad came, he reduced this to 1 month and forbade trading during this time and declared fasting and support for the poor so that they had to give 2.5% of their annual income to the poor. He also asked people to pray during this time (5 times a day), come together and eat the evening meal together....

 and share their food with each other...

Invite the poor to their table and give them food and money. That's nice, isn't it? Yes! Like this people's attention can be turned towards each other and more specifically towards those who are in need. At least that's how I imagine it. 

Nowadays, this whole Ramadan has become a bit commercial, like people eating and buying things and food even more than in other times. So it's more of a consuming time than a fasting time...I mean it's only in certain cases of course. 

I used to see in the evenings (especially in the summer) people sitting outside on the street in front of the mosque with a tablecloth on the ground and everyone sitting on the ground eating together...

....it had a vibe really. Well, it is March now, you can't sit on the ground, at least it's not advisable, unless you want to catch all sorts of diseases...and I'll talk about that in the next post. 

 TRYING HARD

I want to be a good person....

 but it's not easy...

                                                                

Sometimes I say things that seem good, nice, moral (I mean, according to the moral principle that I try to follow, which says: "treat the others as you would like them to treat you") and I really mean it! When I write them down and when I think about them, in between the four walls. But! 

When I go out to the street...

...it turns out that I can't act that way with the strangers but somtimes not even with my own loved ones.😞 I can't be patient and kind all the time, I can't be right with everyone, I can't love everyone, I can't be empathetic when someone upsets me, more over I litter on the street (I throw cigarette butts...) and I don't give money to people who asks from me (first of all because I also don't have much, but I'm even not sure that these poor people don't work for some mafia who tkaes advantage on them to make money out of their suffering). 

My husband, for example (this blessed good soul)...

...gives a little change to anyone who asks from him. 

But I give cigarettes (I learned that from my husband) if someone asks from me, although I wouldn't give more than two pieces a day or not even every day, because cigarettes are expensive. We buy most of our cigarettes here in the local small tobacco shop, which is called "Tekel" in turkish. They stay open until quite late. 

But they mainly sell chocolate, fizzy drinks, alcohol and cigarettes, maybe wet wipes in some of them...

....but e.g. there are no pads or tampons or condoms or some basic food type things like bread or milk...

So if for example you happen to get your period at night or you're travelling somewhere and arrive after 9pm (when most of the shops are closed) and you're having your period but you run out of your sanitary pad or you've run out of toilet paper at home...well, that's what you get. 

You can go home with blood on your feet (which I saw once on the street and I can tell you it wasn't too attractive sight) In this case arriving home at worst you can wash your bottom. And what if you're out of paper towels? There is nowhere to go to shop until the morning or if you were lucky you had a wet wipe and it was still usable for that purpose. 

Here in Turkey, there are no convenience stores that are open all day or until late.

(by the way, sometimes small restaurants are still open at night so in case you are hungry you can just pop in one and eat even for cheap some times...) 

But of course you can always order things online for 24 hours. 

On the other hand this is one thing what I really like in Budapest ,that there are small convenience stores where you can make your shopping just like in regular grocery stores. 

In those shops usually there are many people shopping even after 9 pm...because some people finish their work at that time and they also need to make thier daily shopping.

CHILD LABOUR

I would like to write good and beautiful things about Turkey... 

... but there are some things I can't pass by without saying a word....

and I will write about them too. 

First I will write about a nice thing...

then I will write about a not nice thing....

So the nice things... Not so long ago I got acquainted with an instrument and I'm lucky enought to have one at home, it's called a baglama. It has a beautiful body! It is a long necked, pear shaped stringed instrument with 6 strings. 

The strings are very thin and are arranged in twos on the instrument, and two of the strings are very close to each other, so it is recommended to play it with a pick. Unfortunately I can't play it yet, but I hope to learn in time. However there is a famous turkish musician, who can play it beautifully

I have not yet attended to a concert where someone has played it but it is a very common instrument in Turkey and you can often see street musicians playing it. It is also on TV in music shows and often heard as background music in films or various shows. 

It has a very nice sound..

 

....although it is perhaps a bit "metallic" (and therefore maybe not my favourite), but that's not surprising as the strings are made of metal.  

Now I'll tell you something that I can't get over since I've been living in this country. Child labour!!!!!!?????

It's completely natural here although it is illegal. And it hurts me very much. 

I sometimes see kids with these huge wheelie bags collecting garbage on the streets...

(because it's a way to make money) and I see that many times the bag and the garbage inside is three times the size of the kid. And the kids pull these carts between cars sometimes and the cart is so heavy that the kid is lifted off the roadway. 

And in the winter when it's freezing cold they are without a coat, sometimes in slippers and they do this without any complaint and in the summer when it's 40 degrees in the sun. And the worst thing is that they have to try to avoid cars or move out of the way of cars...

Anyway, how could they move away as there is no room on the road, sometimes one person with nothing or a small bag can't even pass another person with such a narrow side walk and one of them has to step off onto the road where the cars are speeding and sometimes they are not polite to passers-by, and the least not to these poor litter children... 

Jesus Christ, man! How can this happen in the 21 century????? I feel very much ashamed that this is allowed by the human society and I feel very very sorry for these children, not just the children but the young people and adults who do this and live in such difficult circumstances and are looked down upon or ignored as if they are not human. 

I cannot go without saying something about this. A child should not have to work. Let's not allow this anymore! A small child needs protection and health and joy...

....and the opportunity to develop, not to freeze or starve to death in the street in winter or get heatstroke in summer because they have to survive in such a horribly difficult way. This should not be allowed!  

Children must be protected by adults and they must make sure that they can have as many good and beautiful things as possible and learn as much as possible and can have access to healthcare for free so that they can build a beautiful world and be happy and that young people should have have a future... And the adults who have to do this kind of work must at least have some appreciation, because it is a very very hard job. 

This is what I wanted to say. We still have a lot to learn.