One could easily spend a month or two exploring this diverse and tantalizing land. Sadly, limitations of both time and finance have forced me to leave large swaths of this fascinating country on the cutting room floor. I am beginning to feel something akin to the last days of school. If this feeling had a sound it would be that of a dirigible with a slow leak.
The bus pulls in to a small terminal somewhere, and we take a break as more passengers board. I disembark and light a smoke. I see a family saying their goodbyes. It appears that Mom and Dad are taking the kids back home after a visit, and Grandma and Grandpa are there to see them off.
A poignant and not unfamiliar scene to any of us lucky enough to be raised by a loving family.
However, a few feet away from this Turkish version of a Norman Rockwell painting lay a very different reality. Two police officers are standing with AK47's at the ready. I try to reconcile this bizarre anomaly, while remembering not to make any sudden moves.
As I hop back on the bus I think about all the people around the world who live under some form of subtle intimidation by the state.
Then I think about the G20 in Toronto and realise that my own country is not immune from such excess.
With apologies to Mr. Disney, it is indeed, a small world after all.
http://www.goyestoeverything.com
