SURVIVING IN ISTANBUL

I love mornings. Especially in summer. It's my favourite time of day. The early morning. Not dawn, but when the sun is already shining, 

but there are no people on the street, but there are birds chirping and very few cars, so it's quiet. I like that very much. It's such a calming atmosphere, especially when you can walk on big wide roads. 

And it's a way to calm down even in a huge city like Istanbul. 

It was surprising for me to experience this but there are indeed times when the city is almost "deserted". And that's great, because you can look around or just wander about without being pushed and pushed, without being in constant "alarm mode" where there is a constant tension inside you. This is, in fact, one's 'default state' here. The "alarm mode". There is a smaller version of this in the centre of Budapest, where during the day there is also this dodging, noise, sometimes jostling etc. The best part is the early morning. There's light but no people 😊 

Because unfortunately I have to say that sometimes you don't want to see a single fucking person, because people in crowds are sometimes unbearable. 

Yes, unfortunately big cities have this "distorted face" of the inhuman crowd. 

Strange, isn't it? Because there is a crowd of PEOPLE and yet it is all inhuman and they don't necessarily act as they would individually. This reminds me of a very nice short story by Frigyes Karinthy (one of my favourite authors), called Barabbás, you can read it here (in hungarian)  It's very short and very instructive:

https://szepi.hu/irodalom/kedvenc/kt_030.html

Everybody wanted to do good individually but somehow it turned out badly in a crowd... well that's what the short story is about.

And many people feel this, as I often do, that this crowd is so "bad" (just to put it mildly) that they move out of the cities because it's just physically and mentally exhausting. I didn't understand at first when I moved to Istanbul why I sleep 12 hours a day without doing anything or so. 

It's because this city takes so much energy out of you that you have to regenerate every day. And those who are not as lucky as I am to be able to get up when they want to or walk during the day and do what they want to do, like find a quiet park

 or walk to the beach 

and listen to music or dive into the endless sea and that's how they get out of stress... they really do get sick sooner or later. I've also experienced that some people move here for a short time, a couple of years, and then they move away...because it's unbearable to live in a city that size for a long time. But I've heard from many people what I feel, that Istanbul is such a love and hate love. 

You hate it when you're in it, but you miss it so much when you're not. Its effect on the human race is inexplicable, but what is certain is that it is very intense and no one is indifferent to it.  There's so much beauty, delicacy, exoticism, history, art here that sometimes it can make up for the fatigue and stress and annoyance it causes 😊. 

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 THE WONDERFUL OLIVE 

So, I once promised to write a small chapter about olive, because it's such a fantastic plant that you could really write books about it. Here in Turkey there are many places with olive fields and olive groves. They are full of these little trees that don't grow very tall, they have rather bulky foliage.

"The olive tree is a really special tree. It can live up to 1000 years . Some researchers claim to have found 3,000-year-old olive trees. The longevity of the olive tree is due to the oleuropein in its leaves. This substance protects olive trees from diseases and pests." More interesting facts from here:

https://firuzehanim.com/blog/zeytin-agaci-nedir

But it is not only the olive tree itself that is protected from diseases by this substance, but also those who consume the olives or olive oil.

"THE FOOD EFFECTS OF OLEUROPEIN include high antioxidant capacity, fever relief, antibacterial, antifungal (Candida) and antiviral properties, action against single-celled parasites (protozoa) and support for the circulatory system.

12 reasons when olive oleuropein can help:

Weak immune system 

Pathological cellular proliferations

Pathogenic bacteria

Fungal infections (e.g. Candida)

Influenza A, B, C virus

Herpes virus

Papilloma viruses (warts)

Hepatitis B

Shingles

Skin lesions

High blood pressure

Heart and vascular complaints"

https://anatur.hu/blog/12-ok-amikor-segithet-az-olajfa-oleuropein?srsltid=AfmBOopB5iEya-0gzY100_vICEZCGPhIvi126vICXnitvTb5a_zrADUK

All parts of the olive tree are useful. It is used for various things such as medicines, food, cosmetics, utensils, decorative objects and much more.

Here in Turkey, you can buy a wide variety of brilliant olives in the markets. 

At first you might be a little nervous about a "natural" puple (although it is beautiful) because you might think it has been artificially coloured but no, they are different colours depending on what fermentation or ripening process they have undergone or at what moment they have been harvested.

I personally prefer black olives and cold pressed olive oil. We eat these almost every day at home and in fact at any time of the day. What is important to know and maybe not everyone knows is that cold pressed olive oil is not good for cooking but rather for flavouring salads or adding to the cooked pasta to make it a bit jucy.

Olive oil grains are usually sold in olive oil or in fermented juice, so especially the latter (which is also sour) is good to store in the fridge after opening.

For the skin 

olive oil soaps, shower gels, body lotions a very good and  they available here in Turkey in vast variety and in different prices. But believe me (or not😊 ) even the cheapest ones are great. Just to let you know I bought a hypersuper olive soap here for 30 Tl which is not even 1 EUR. 

So that's all folks! 😊I could go on and on...but I won't because it'd be a very long and boring post

If you like my blog, posts, my photos or  just me 😊 you can support my work here: 

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EVERYONE FEELS WHAT THEY FEEL 

You can't tell who feels what or what is right to feel...let's say never. It's just not something you can control. You can't say that: "it can't hurt" when it hurts me. 

Or that "it doesn't happen like that" just because you've never experienced it. And if it does for me, how can you say it doesn't? If I see something, how can you say "you can't see that"...because I can see it...or, "you can't hear that"...because I can hear it. 

Just because you can't see it or hear it or feel it, it doesn't mean it doesn't exist and just because you think this way or that way, you can't impose that on others as a truth.

If someone believes something you can't say that, it doesn't exist just because you don't believe in it. You can't say "there is no God" if there is for someone. You can't say "so-and-so is a fact", therefore it is the truth, because tomorrow the facts will change as science advances and as people have different experiences. 

So statements like that have to be handled with care. Just because something is not provable now, it doesn't mean that, it doesn't exist. It may be that we have no certainty about something now or that it is not provable now and that does not mean that something is doesn't exist.  

And if somebody feels that something hurts, that's that, and this can be accepted or not, but it can't be denied. He is hurt and that what he feels.  Let's accept that. Because it is real to Him. 

And reality is as many kinds as many people are there. Instead of convincing and arguing, let's try to help. For example, by sympathising with the person or asking them how we could we help them to reduce their pain, but at least , for God sake! don't cause them more pain by trying to convince them that what they are feeling is wrong or doesn't exist, because with that you ignore them and their reality. And ignorance - in my understanding - is one kind of violence.