Tales of the City
I woke up early because the cats wanted to play. I was realizing that I was out of coffee and wondering whether anyone would deliver at four in the morning when I heard a woman shouting--in English--"Go away!"
I looked out the window and saw a small figure in a dark coat on the street. "Hey, do you need help?"
"Yeah, he's following me."
I looked, but I only saw her. I told her to come up to my apartment. I let her in and made her a cup of tea. She was an exchange student from Germany. We were both surprised that she'd been harassed: That kind of thing is so rare in this neighborhood that she was, in my view, perfectly correct to think she could walk home safely by herself at four in the morning.
We chatted for a while about the cats, and then I walked her to the taxi station, just in case. I told the cab drivers that someone had been following her. They leapt up to spear the guy with a pointy stick, but I told them not to bother, the malefactors were long gone.
She and I exchanged phone numbers--she offered to come feed my cats if ever I was out of town. I told her to send me a text when she was home safely. (She did.) When I told her my name, she said, "Oh, where are you from?"
I explained that my grandparents were from Leipzig, and that the generations before had been from Lithuania and Poland.
She said she wished she knew more about her great-grandparents--she knew one was from Poland. Her grandmother, she said, didn't like to talk about the war. "I think she felt it very deeply and she wanted to forget."
Four in the morning is about the only time in Istanbul that you can focus on the small details. I'm glad I have cats.
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Comments:
Jun '10
Re: Tales of the City
I'm glad she found her way to safety. Did she know for sure that it was a Turkish man? It may've been one of those damn foreigners.
Jul '11
Re: Tales of the City
Good for you Claire! You sure it was the cats and not the sudafed?
Re: Tales of the City
Quite sure. I'm feeling pretty well now. I never took anything for it.
Oct '10
Re: Tales of the City
Commendable action there. Being a critter person, cats are quite nice, save dogs make a better statement. Loose the hounds if need be...
Oddly enough, if one gets to feeling poorly, the dogs are supportive, never known a cat to do that.
Edited on January 18, 2012 at 6:35amJan '12
Re: Tales of the City
Claire,
My cat Hegel and my son Nathaniel send the most sittliche greetings to you and to your seven furry friends.
Dec '11
Re: Tales of the City
Why weren't any of your male neighbors rushing into the street to rescue her?
Jun '10
Re: Tales of the City
Noesis Noeseos: Claire,
My cat Hegel and my son Nathaniel send the most sittliche greetings to you and to your seven furry friends. · Jan 17 at 9:41pm
If I hugged a cat like that, my neck would look like pink bubble wrap. I'm about as allergic to cats as you can get.
Jan '12
Re: Tales of the City
etoiledunord
Noesis Noeseos: Claire,
My cat Hegel and my son Nathaniel send the most sittliche greetings to you and to your seven furry friends. · Jan 17 at 9:41pm
If I hugged a cat like that, my neck would look like pink bubble wrap. I'm about as allergic to cats as you can get. · Jan 17 at 9:47pm
My condolences.
Feb '11
Re: Tales of the City
Claire Berlinski, Ed.
I'm feeling pretty well now. I never took anything for it. · Jan 17 at 9:25pm
Yay! Another victory for evidence-based medicine.
Noesis Noeseos: Your picture is a fractal. Your last name is almost a palindrome. Intriguing.
Nov '10
Re: Tales of the City
Great story, thanks for sharing.
Jan '12
Re: Tales of the City
Doctor Bean
Claire Berlinski, Ed.
I'm feeling pretty well now. I never took anything for it. · Jan 17 at 9:25pm
Yay! Another victory for evidence-based medicine.
Noesis Noeseos: Your picture is a fractal. Your last name is almost a palindrome. Intriguing. · Jan 17 at 10:11pm
You might even say, eyes bulging, "mesmerizing," unless you had read Aristotle's Metaphysics in Greek.
Alas, not fractal; the "seed" is not arbitrary, rather quite systematic, each triangle reflecting all the others and insubstantial without them.
Feb '11
Re: Tales of the City
Claire Berlinski, Ed.: When I told her my name, she said, "Oh, where are you from?"
I explained that my grandparents were from Leipzig, and that the generations before had been from Lithuania and Poland.
She said she wished she knew more about her great-grandparents--she knew one was from Poland. Her grandmother, she said, didn't like to talk about the war. "I think she felt it very deeply and she wanted to forget.". ·
Most people ask questions about family origins when it's too late to get proper answers. Your humble genealogist is no exception.
Mar '11
Re: Tales of the City
wilber forge: Commendable action there. Being a critter person, cats are quite nice, save dogs make a better statement. Loose the hounds if need be...
Oddly enough, if one gets to feeling poorly, the dogs are supportive, never known a cat to do that. · Jan 17 at 9:31pm
Edited on Jan 17 at 09:35 pm
My cats have always known to settle down and stop being mischievous and/or violent when I'm sick. Then one or the other will sidle up next to me. Sometimes both will curl up on opposite sides of me. Cats are as affectionate as dogs, just not as effusive.
Edited on January 18, 2012 at 10:44amRe: Tales of the City
I assume because they were asleep.
Sep '10
Re: Tales of the City
And the novel continues—quite a page turner!
Sep '10
Re: Tales of the City
Strange: this morning I woke from a dream of my (long since deceased) cat running around chasing squirrels and fighting other cats. I was running after him because he'd climbed up into the trees in his chase after the squirrels, and I was afraid he'd be electrocuted by the power line strung between two utility poles.
Re: Tales of the City
I have dreams like that all the time.
Apr '11
Re: Tales of the City
I find it curious that a German in Turkey yelled at an unknown person in English. Had the person following her said something to her in English or is English becoming a default language around the world?