Kedi cat

Returning to my apartment yesterday, thinking Musa had already left for his vacation in Konya, I went to the corner shop to try and ask the guys if they could help me. There’s been a cat crying on the top floor of the dorm building across the street for the last two nights. It’s trapped and I can see it trying to find a way off the balcony and it just cries and cries all night, sticking it's head through the bars and looking four floors down at the other cats doing their cat business in the street. It’s been a little disturbing because it’s so hot and I’m sure the poor thing has nothing to eat or drink. I think there’s a caretaker for the building but I don’t know him and don’t know who he is, but I’m sure the shopkeepers will.

Armed only with the Turkish word for cat, “kedi” I try to explain. The guy who speaks English best is not there and the other guy doesn’t understand. I keep saying “kedi, kedi” and pointing up to the balcony but he understandably doesn’t understand what I’m trying to tell him. He tries telling me that they are university dorms, and some other things I don’t understand and I try to tell him “trapped cat” and some other things he doesn’t understand.

Finally he calls someone from across the street, and I say “kedi” and point and he says “ah ah!” and nods and explains to the other guy. Now we are standing outside Musa’s window and it turns out he IS there so he gets involved. Apparently they discovered the cat earlier today and it has been rescued. Now everyone understands and I make crying cat sounds and they smile and nod and tell me it’s taken care of and we all go on our way.

I come inside to find that Musa’s daughter Shiva and Galip’s wife Deana have arrived. I walk in and Musa introduces me and Deana says “Oh! We’ve been talking about you!” I say “Uh oh” and she says, “Yes, we’ve been planning your life” to which I reply, “Good!” I guess someone ought to. It turns out they want me to help Shiva with her English so she can keep it up after her time in the US and I say it sounds like a great idea. She seems very sweet and personable and Musa says she and I can go places and do things and she can help me with my Turkish and I can help her with her English. It sounds like fun and while she is only in high school I’m sure she can show me fun things in Istanbul, someone suggests movies and all that sounds good to me.

I like Deana too and she invites me to go shopping with her. She has a small shop in the states and has to stock it and we compare notes and find that we probably go to a lot of the same guys in the bazaar, but that’s OK, I’m happy to have another shopping friend, and another friend in the building, especially now that Musa is going away for 10 days. By the time he comes back I will have started my new job and have my schedule worked out and he will set up my loom for me then.