pieces of Doğubeyazıt

smells like shoe polish men
hacking and coughing. hacking and coughing

Fırat, 13, shine boy for four years- great English, stained hands, kind, could be a diplomat, a BMW salesmen, human rights lawyer.

boys standing by the fountain with their scales. my weight- 75 kilograms.
my sinuses keep the tissue boys employed.

iranian border- pic of us with Kohmeini in the background.
who would have thought

dolmuş ride back- Turkish guards pat down and search everyone with an iranian passport. us with u.s. passports- a puzzled look and a pat on the back, climbing back into the van.
if they would have let us in, would we have gone?
perception of iranian on bus next to me- really nice guy.
uninformed translation of billboard-
"welcome to iran. death to america"
-
Amca T's 4 theses on why Turkey is the U.S. in the 1950's (he should know, he was there)-
1. converse all-stars on every teenager
2. everyone smokes everywhere
3. machismo
4. nuclear family and womens' roles

touts. lots of touts. climbing the ruins. picking up a cow molar.