I'm glad I left Alanya

October 25, 2008

I must be the luckiest man alive, John Fogerty sings -- I feel lucky too, now. I'm at a place in Turkey now. On a yellow-sheeted thin twin mattress, one of five around the sides of this sunny deck surrounded by plants. There are rugs and a long table in the middle, bees and roosters crowing, waves I can hear too, birds. A beautiful high mountain. It's Kapak Valley, just east of Butterfly Valley; Klaus's place, a camp, his, is one of 11 that'll be open next year. R. & I stayed in a small hut, mattress & mosquito net, one light bulb. Outhouses have shower, WC, and outside sink. I'm glad I left Alanya. It's nice to see him again. It's not the physical paradise it was the 1st few days -- but now the hugs are nicer. I think I got a minor yeast infection when there was some bum-vag cross-contamination, so now my place is kind of smelly -- ugh, embarrassing -- and worse it doesn't have the wet tight new healthiness of before -- it's got that doughy, tight at first, then too-looseness that makes me feel self-conscious & not terribly turned on. I like it when my body is a finely tuned machine. Anyway so -- I got to Fethiye on the bus and took a dolmus to Farah Pension ( 2, Karagozlerordu, Cassadesi # 21. Mina's place); a nice place, a dorm in a top floor, windowy room; I dropped my suitcase & left -- caught another dolmus by running for it a few meters. Got off @ the V-Go dock & walked down it, half-hoping to see the boat. Crowded. Many boats, 3 deep, plus a long line of people at the customs trailer just off the Rodos ferry. And just as I thought I recognized the V-Go boat I saw R. and Klaus step onto the dock! I said hey -- there's my friend. I wasn't sure of he was really happy to see me or not. He looked a little tired -- just finished the trip -- ah, it was good, though. We got beers & took the V-Go car to a kind of make-out spot by a stone wall above the town's recently-excavated Telemassos Theater. Good to have a beer & we cuddled ... it's so good to cuddle. Then we had dinner at the fish market. He picked out shrimp, calamari and one fish to share, and we sat at a table nearby & they cooked it for us, & bread, salad, & raki. Very very good; calamari tender rings, fried, w/garlicky sauce, -- then back to the boat. In the morning I was not sure if I should just go -- I didn't want to; but he ended up driving me to the hospital and negotiating shot #2 for me, which was nice. (Turns out Jeno bit someone else too about a year ago.) Then, after they moved the boat we got Klaus and left, stopping for a lunch of white beans in red sauce, small grilled hot green peppers, rice, salad, bread, & yogurt drink, Iran, which I didn't really like much but the lunch was just right. I love the food I get around R. Isn't that exploitative of me ... ? No -- Anyway we drove here -- the last mile on a pretty hairy, curvy dirt road. R. drove. At one point I was overcome, I said, You are So Good-Lookin'! -- well, he is -- but it was the wrong thing to say. I am kind of crazy. Once here it was a long walk downhill to the camp; when Klaus showed us our hut I realized we'd stay overnight. I didn't bring any toiletries but am glad I did bring my jacket and long pants. 

So we went to the beach, the 3 of us, and had beers, and played the 5-rocks game where you try to catch stones on the back of your hand. They've been having joints the whole time and I only partake a bit. Funny, typical sailors! I feel so at home. Anyway then R. & I played a great game of pingpong! So good to play! And dinner was garbanzos & rice, salad, & very tender chicken with peppery tomato slices on it