On Traveling Alone

Looking for a good buy in carpets I gave an address given me by the Concierge to a taksi driver who, after 30 minutes of zig zag driving, dropped me off in front of the Blue Mosque, pointing toward the right of the building and indicating that the address I was seeking, was there. Off I went. Before traveling 50 yards, a young man (i later learned that his name was Selek Kargal) sidled up to me, said good morning and started chatting with me in broken but understandable English. On learning that I was an American in search of a carpet bargain on my way to a certain destination, he suggested that instead I go with him to his cousin's shop who, coincidently, sold carpets. Obligingly, I walked with him down a couple of streets, past many carpet shops, went up the stiarway to the second floor of what obviously was a carpet salon. There Selek introduced me to his cousin, Omer Faruk Kali, the proprieter, a 33 year old Kurd whose English was several degrees better than that of Selek. Omer and I quickly became friends as he told me of the Kurdish village of his birth where he obtains most of his carpets, explained to me the differences between various grades of carpets (knotted and more expensive) and kilims (unknotted and less expensive) that he sold and drank coffee and tea (me-coffee, he-tea). An hour and a half later, I had bought several carpets and descended the stairs.

Selek was at the door step and we continued to walk together as if the Omer interlude never occurred. Three hours of walking, talking and sipping tea at an outdoor cafe overlooking the sea gave us time to cover the Muslim's attitude towards destiny, the Turkish stock market, Mehemet's strategy in capturing Istanbul (then Constanstinople), Ataturk's adoption of the English alphabet which adaptation dropped the q,z andv and added six other letters, the Turkish-Israeli relationship, the genesis of Greek-Turkish enmity, terrorism his close relationship with Omer, his family history going back to his great-grandfather and his three brothers who came here from southern Russia and a lot else

Just because I was alone.