A little bit of lit in the morning

This morning, as I was brushing my teeth my hand grazed our soapholder and it just fell off (the soapholder, not my hand). And, instead of cursing or throwing something, the only thing that my tired and beleagured mind could think was--Things Fall Apart (Chenua Achebe anyone?). So, I have been prompted to express my life in Turkey through film and book titles:

Things Fall Apart--this not only refers to the soap holder, but also the glass shelf in the bathroom that slid out of it's holder one morning and shattered in the sink. This also refers to the tub, the outside casing of which is always coming apart. Whatever.

O Brother Where Art Thou?--one man, upon hearing that I only have one sister shared that he also has two daughters and then said--wistfully--for a father to have a son is very lucky (translated from Turkish). Doug Shea, what do you think?

Vanilla Sky--there's no vanilla extract here because it contains alcohol--never mind that plenty of Türks drink rakı, which happens to be alcohol. Whatever.

Who Let the Dogs Out?--there are big, ugly, unkempt dogs everywhere. The other night I was walking to the gym and crossed the street because I saw that there was a dog ahead on my side of the road. I get to the other side of the road and realize that there was an even bigger dog on the side I crossed to. Whatever.

The Idiot (shout out to Dostoyevsky)--Whoever constructed the finer details of our apartment was...an idiot. As you can guess from the 'Things Fall Apart' entry, the apartment I live in is not exactly high quality. I mean, it's nice and big and bright and has a great view, but there are strange things--strange angles that hover close to but never quite reach the 90 deg. mark. It's weird. Also, the tiling work is ridiculous. I mean, the tile itself is fine, but whoever did it left SUCH a mess. I am still scrubbing off the excess grout. What is that about?

On reflection (it's time for me to go get ready for class), only two of my complaints are listed under literary titles--sorry if you feel cheated. I will however take a minute to tell you about this fascinating book I've been reading, called The Seed and the Soil, written by an anthropologist who lived in a Turkish village for two years in the early 80's. In the village, at least the way it used to be, women had it rough. Rough. Anyway, I recommend that you read it. It's very interesting. Also, you won't even believe how important bread is here. It's really really important--eaten often and should never be wasted. If you read Seed and the Soil you'll understand why.

Ok, plan to write more soon. Later!