from SUNDAY diary (4)

STREETS, LOVE, METRIC SYSTEM, DATING, MEAT, ANIMAL RIGHTS

so half of where Bursa revolves in it's free time is Ataturk St. the other half is Altiparmak St. on the former we have a statue of Ataturk himself on his horse, theatres, the famous Iskender kebab houses, the city museum, bars, one sitting above a gorge and live guitarists sadly sing songs about impossible love, a favorite theme here and sometimes I can wonder why. and there you can get big 70 ml beers. this is how an american learns the metric system. there are other sizes but I don't know them -- 70ml is the biggest.

at night I can see my friend Ahmet and discuss the plight. perils, minefields, trapdoors of dating in Turkey. he gives me abstract insight which i'm not sure leads me to any helpful solutions other than to find it felt good just to be discussing girls with another man -- whatever he has to say about it. before that we can eat the popular Kofte, meatballs. my "progressive" San Fran Vegan friends would be appalled -- knowing what they know about the meat industry -- I could be appalled too but I have to suppress that feeling if I want to go to other countries.

the fact is people like eating meat and they don't care in large enough numbers how animals are treated in the process. at least for now. the animal rights activists have a long way to go.