2 October, Istanbul
Haci Mimi Apartment 53TL

Our apartment comprises three rooms: A lounge/dining room, a kitchen and a bathroom. The lounge is a pretty room filled with light and air from two large arched windows that open onto the narrow street. It is decorated in black and white and maroon with enough seating and table space for our needs. A comfortable couch opens into a comfortable bed, my sleeping place for the next month. The windowless kitchen behind the lounge is aired via a small serving hatch opposite one of the windows. Here a second sleeper couch is Charl’s bed for the next month. The small bathroom opens off the kitchen. A dozen cats live in our street. They are fed by the residents, but particularly by an elderly woman who calls each cat by name and feeds each in its own spot, one on our windowsill. We know she is out and about when we hear the cats calling to her. The Tophane tram station is a five minute walk downhill from our home. On our walks there we can see the cruise ships docked on the Bosphorus – an important source of year-round tourist dollars. Posters in our neighbourhood demand: “Where is humanity? Free Gaza & Palestine”. Charl had a haircut at a small local barber where a cat and chicken shared a bowl of food on the sidewalk; and later we walked up the long hill to Istiklal Street to stroll, listen to the buskers and buy Turkish delight like any local.

Haci Mimi - Istanbul

Haci Mimi - Istanbul