looking back at bozburun
following on from the theme of the previous post, we have a family staying here that we also would never have met even if we had visited their home city of ankara, but here in quiet little bozburun and staying in the same property it was inevitable – especially as they have a 7 year old son, hamzah!
esam is Iraqi, his wife marie is scottish and hamzah is born in turkey – he already speaks arabic, turkish and english and hopes to learn spanish next! esam is a maths teacher and marie an english teacher. i have really enjoyed talking with esam, he is a very interesting guy, thoughtful, intelligent and gentle – he has also fuelled my interest in iraqi food!
meeting someone like esam also makes me reflect on the despicable way australia treats refugees and i wonder how different his story might have been had he sought refuge in australia?
its been great for kai to have a friend to play with again – especially one that speaks english! there is also a young turkish boy who is part of the family here at the apartments and the three of them spend most afternoons in the water together playing.
yesterday esam and i took the boys for a hike round to the other side of the bay and up a ravine that runs up from sea level to the top of the surrounding hills. its a dry creekbed and quite interesting with ancient stone walls built by the greeks to control the water in the winter and create small gardens along the side of the ravine. we also found an old well, it was surrounded by oleandars and still had water in it. there was some sort of water snake in it and as i moved closer to look lots of orange frogs jumped off the oleandars and into the water!
it was a day for animals really, we walked past the usual goats and sheep on the stony slopes and then came across the elusive tortorsises on the beach – i had been told about them but this was the first time they were out and about when we were there.
we also met a wild donkey on the track beside the ravine that we were climbing. all in all a fun boy’s outing!
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- second tortoise
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- wild donkey
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- hamzah & kai with the donkey!
What fun for Kai to have new friends with whom he can play. Loved the wild donkey. We are in Hamilton for a couple of days – very depressing place these days! X
Yes, its been good for him, i think Hamilton mid-winter was always a pretty depressing place! (let me know if you get an email notification of the reply, its a new thing I set up on the blog.)
Hello my friend,
I have been following your adventures quielty since you have been gone. What a life! Thanks for sharing our world with us. I don’t need to leave the lounge room. Best wishes and safe travels from my little family to yours. Hurry back I’m hanging for a cuppa and some good stories…..
Hey Josh! Thanks for the kind comments! I too look forward to catching up over a few good coffees (and maybe a beer or 2!)
Hope your little family are all well too! Say hi to anyone that matters for me!