Bozuk

by Linda Rogers

  kuku: female genitals

  lokum: turkish delight, gelatin candy

  mavi: blue, a well-used word in a country defined by blue sky and

  bright seas

  Merhaba: good day, a greeting

  mezze: small plates of appetizers that precede a meal

  Mevlevi Sema: Sufi dervish ceremony, banned under the secular

  regime but recently rehabilitated as a tourist attraction

  minerale su: mineral water

  orospu: prostitute

  Ölüdeniz: dead sea lagoon area near Fetiye

  pasajı: covered market

  piliç: chicken or “chick” when referring to young women

  portakal suyu: orange juice, su meaning “water.”

  Qur’an: Muslim holy book, the Koran.

  rakı: anise liquor. In Turkey, there has been tolerance toward alcohol consumption, but that is changing.

  Sarayı: a palace

  saz: a stringed instrument

  simit: doughnut or bagel shaped bread with seeds, sold by street

  vendors, some of whom carry trays with dozens on their heads

  sofrası: buffet restaurant

  Sultanahmet: historic district of Istanbul where Topkapı Palace,

  the Aya Sofia and the Blue Mosque are situated

  sumak: an acidic spice

  teşekkur: thanks

  tünel: underground rail car in Beyo lu, which takes passengers

  from the waterfront to the top of the hill

  tuvalet kağıdı: toilet paper

  yabancı: foreigner

  Yok!: Get lost!

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Thanks to those who are showing compassion and welcoming refugees from the horror in the Middle East, the hundreds of thousands who kept on caring about Iman al-Obeidi and the sanctity of life, even after she, like the Arab Spring, broke under pressure, and thanks to Sarp Keskiner, Vefa Karatay, Tugrul Aray, Berk Sirman and Cagdas Dinc, musicians and Ottoman philosophers, the Department of External Affairs, Sweet Papa Lowdown, Jeff Shucard, Doug Rhodes and Kris Bowerman, The Pink Harem, Naomi and Hannah Shucard and Françoise Levesque, Sinan and Selda Sakizli and Baykus Studio, Eva and Jack, who shared one Turkish journey, John Trigg, Balkan specialist with British Intelligence, Halkan Akdere, who blessed my shoulders and guided me down the mountain, Musa Dagdeviren, chef and owner of Ciya Sofrası and keeper of Turkish tradition, and Mandoturk, aka Rick van Krugel, who flies on a magic carpet when he is playing music and always lands on the right notes.

  And with gratitude to Exile Editions: Barry and Michael Callaghan, Gabriela Campos, and Nina Callaghan, for their transformations.

  Linda Rogers of Victoria, B.C. is a broadcaster, teacher, journalist, poet, novelist and songwriter. For fiction and poetry she has received 10 writing awards. Her journalistic work ranges from reviews, interviews and critical essays about literary, musical, dance and visual artists. She has edited several anthologies, and her work has been translated worldwide. She has served as President of the League of Canadian Poets and the B.C. Federation of Writers and was Canada’s Peoples’ Poet in 2000.