<< deafening noise; transient joys >>

i am in a _cute little hotel room in konya (more to follow) having an after-midnight dinner. the spicy red tomato spread i bought in ugrup is like the peppered walnut spread i tried at sundance, and after days and days of bread and tomatoes it is making my tongue positively sparkle. as well i have olives and green beans and fruit and even: chocolate covered apricots. i wish i had shared them in goreme. i do. all i can do now though is to enjoy them doubly.

today was my last day in cappadocia, which i have learned means land of the beautiful horses. i spent two weeks there. when i arrived it was still cold at nights -- we needed an infrared heater in the dorm -- and there was hardly anyone there. now it is hot and clear, days, and the tulips have bloomed. i was there for the very start of the summer tourist season. on my first night the town pub had neither gin nor tonic. when i went back on my last night they had gone to the city for both (oh dear).

i have learned much about backgammon, a few things about turkish too (like how to ask if a store sells cheese -- peynir varme?), and about exploring, and of course a few things about myself and my perhaps splendid silvery wings.

i am sad to go. today for my final day i went and visited with the artists at the ceramic workshop where they make beautiful things. when i arrived the owner of the shop was using a steel compass to scratch white circles into a painted blue plate. we drank tea. they fed me green bean soup. when it was time to go they gave me a tiny two handed wine jug to see me off.

from there back to the hostel to say goodbye to the people i met and to kate (who breathes more slowly than i do when she is sleeping and i am not, and who plays a mean game of backgammon, and who asked me "where did you come from?" and i said in earnest, "i am just like that bird") and also to jade, the burner who brought me here. from there to the bus station where i got the last seat on the bus, to leave under desert rain.

look what they made me at the ceramic workshop, black paint on a white clay tile. for no reason at all except that cappadocia is a magical part of the world. and the raisins and mulberries are excellent.