Week 31 opens as tragedy strikes Turkey

 Edited BY


G P Kennedy


Gul - Aegean Coast, Turkey


EARTHQUAKE

 There was a very powerful earthquake (7 magnitude) hit the Aegean Sea last Friday. I was by the sea, taking some photos as I thought the sea became crazy. I actually took a photo 25 seconds before the earthquake. It was a terrible experience; I was sitting on a bench. The bench was going back and forth and I froze for a couple minutes. I was looking at the bench’s feet, and the bench was moving back and forth without them moving. I didn’t know that I had to get out of there, as the tsunami would follow. 



As a matter of fact, the tsunami hit some beaches, and a man with a wheelchair on the shore died. The boats broke their ropes and they were floating in the sea by themselves. Mike was in the house. He thought the walls were coming over. He got out immediately. The earthquake hit a big city, in Izmir – two hours away from us –and we don’t have any damage on this shore. We are just scared. 


OLIVE SEASON

 It’s time to harvest the olives in this area. With life going back to a slow pace, the villagers are picking olives at the moment. Tractors everywhere are carrying olives. The olives will be pressed into olive oil soon. Also, the neighbors are preparing olives for pickling. I’ll try to make our own olive oil this time. My lovely neighbors told me they would help me to do it. 






COVID

Coronavirus deaths in Turkey exceed 10,000. We hear there’s a shortage of hospital beds, and they sent patients home, even if they have pneumonia. The Health Ministry still doesn’t give the number of COVID cases. In the COVID mobile app, the streets of Istanbul are red, so we decided to spend the winter season here. Last week, we went to see a one-bedroom apartment, it would be easier to heat, but we didn’t like it. We decided to spend the winter here in this house. We’re going to buy a few electric heaters, etc. Let’s see how long we can stay. Many people like us decided to spend the winter here. Stoves are being installed; windows and doors are being repaired. Everyone is running from the pandemic and planning to be isolated here. 



The famous professor, who said no exaggeration about the Corona, died of the Corona. He was the most enthusiastic supporter of the government program on Corona. 


It seems that the government will not do anything about Corona. There are no lockdowns like in other European countries, and there is no money to support the economy anyway. We have to take care of ourselves. 



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