Selçuk Souls

The brother to my host. I spent a lot of evenings in his kitchen for the free wifi, apple tea, and good food.

We met at the closed gates of the Selçuk Castle. He was desperate to sell me ancient coins he found in the grounds of the ruins. Even offered a personal tour of the castle that would involve me sneaking in after hours.

Marco had a lot to say and I got a lot of words from him. He runs a souvenir shop with a lot of decorative items. He insisted on the TripAdvisor review.

The host of my flat. He took me to the high hills and out to the end beach. In our talks and walks with his dog Aries, he would share his views on Covid and the economic situation in Turkey. Tourism had dried up so much he was forced to work on a farm for the equivalent of $7.30 a day. That was until I showed up at his place.

Rose was the tour guide for Ephesus. Her quick witted humor and story telling of the ancient city made it quite a treat. She would guide us through the ancient ruins and show us the statue of Nike, sister of Medusa, the grand theater, and great library that secretly lead to the brothel. Her joke was that men would tell their wives that they would be at the library to studying science, philosophy, and anatomy O.o

The host of Populer Leather. He entertains visitors with a fashion show and gives them a tour of the shops lamb skin leather jackets. During the show, I was given a card to circle the number for each piece of clothing that I liked. I could not help but to ask him if his outfit was on the list.

On my first day out and about, I ran into these two lovely ladies walking the dogs. They hardly spoke English and I spoke nothing of Turkish. But the magic of being human is that we don’t need a command of any language to make each other smile.

One of the artists at Firca Quarts and Ceramic. He really made it look easy and smooth. As part of the experience, he put me behind the wheel and gave me my first pottery lesson. The experience of working with clay and molding it was something that I can only describe as sensual without the erotics. In the process I came to think about how popular this art was with the previous generation of women. And how doing this activity almost gave me a better understanding of the feminine traits that are discussed but better understood through an action. I believe the molding of pottery is one of those actions.

This man’s passion for pottery and ceramics made me a fan of its craftsmanship. I never really put thought into cups, bowls and vases until I had gotten the premium passionate tour at Firca Quarts and Ceramic. It runs in the family but this man’s love for the art can carry it through to a stranger.

Faces at Firca Quarts and Ceramic.

Every tour bus needs a driver. He was ours :)

This guy was super fucking annoying. I understand the hustle to try and sell anything you can to make ends. But to consistently pester a visitor when they are on Holy Hellenic ground is ungentlemanly. These types need to wait til tourists take in the experience before they come over with their sales pitch. It hurts the relationship between real honest merchants and visitors willing to spend their hard earned money.

Ephesus has its own cat lady. This sweet gem of a smile gives life to the ruins. She told me that their are over a 100 cats and she named them! We met in the men’s bathroom (with our pants up) as she is the historic sight’s cleaning lady. Her English was very kind and I could not help but support her care of the lil kitty cats.

Ryan Love and I were tour buds for the day. He is from Brooklyn and lives his life as an actor, singer, and model. At the Ephesus grand theater he put his vocals to use and sang myself and the guide a melody from the heart. Along our walk, I heard an Argentinean woman speaking Spanish. Knowing the accent, I sparked up a conversation and she inquired about my background and asked where Ryan and I were from. After the small talk, she gave me a look as if she thought him and I were a gay couple.