from SATURDAY diary (2)

NIGHTLIFE, DESSERT, WOMEN, VIDEO STORES, CHECK-OUT LADIES, TOOTHY SMILES....

in Nilufer on weekday nights when we don't want to cook we struggle to find a place to get food and beer. we found two places. Kirimizi -- which does everything it can to live up to its name, Red. there's some other place that doesn't matter. some bars here and there -- but the conservatism doesn't embrace a bar scene, yet everyone needs a vice and in Bursa it's cigarettes and dessert. I like cheesecake and coffee -- divine opposites in compliment. I think Turks like that too -- and souffle, Nescafe followed up by a sweet puff of a marlboro. then there are always trays and tray of bahlava -- rectangular deserts with syrup. and always tea, tea, tea which we recently realized prevents iron from being absorbed into the body, tiring alot of women who already have enough to worry about. it's not easy for a woman in Turkey, especially in Bursa. the best chances a woman who yearns for independence has is to move to Istanbul for work, leaving the family in another hometown. the rest of the girls, before they are married, have to deal with stricter rules, can't live alone and be home by 11, for example.

but i strayed off course. the course was to dissect the Bursa sprawl. other areas of interest in Nilufer, my suburban home, are the video stores --one after another all with a handful selection yet aspiring and open for business. strange for me because i'm used to the movie mega-stores. i'm spoiled. my favourite owners are the guy who doesn't charge me for late fees and the two awkward smiling brothers in ill-fitting suits, supporting sincere heads and souls. one guy has dandruff sitting on his shoulder without exception. they're always eager to push dumb action movies on me, shrugging off classics or more thoughtful films for the former they often deem "perfect." but they're cool dudes and they have a translator program on their computer so I can write messages for them, but they pretty much know what i'm saying anyway.

the supermarket check-out ladies have finally begun to warm up to me after 5 months or so, even giving me smiles when they see me. it's harder for women to show these kind of feelings to strangers even though the men, like the deli man, shake my hand and always ask how I'm doing. and always with a big toothy smile.