Village for Sale: Haraptar

There is a fine line between dreaming and being a dreamer.

Dreaming: thinking about something you want to happen.

Being a dreamer: a visionary, a fantasist.

You woke up in the morning.

The child has to go to school, and it is pitch black outside. You regret waking up because of a stubborn daylight saving time policy.

You washed your face and prepared breakfast. You are about to make coffee. A kilo of coffee has reached 450-500 liras. We used to have the pleasure of a cup of coffee...

You grumbled as you stepped into the shower. You washed in a rush to get out as quickly as possible; water is expensive. Anyway, being part of the demographic that still bathes is a form of awareness in itself.

You got out of the shower; should you splurge and go to the hairdresser? You used to walk around with a blowout 3-4 days a week. Have you stopped taking care of yourself? Well, I would, but a blowout starts at 250 liras.

Did the school bus arrive? You pay a fortune in monthly bus fees for a 3 km trip, and you are annoyed again. You remembered your childhood. You used to walk to school and buy chickpea powder along the way, but back then, the country didn't have this many refugees or this many security issues.

The school's new price list has arrived. Education is now in the range of 450-650 thousand liras... Come to think of it, we used to go to school in black aprons with white lace collars, didn't we?

"I've neglected my mother lately, let me go visit her," you say. It's a 17 km trip; 2 hours there and 2 hours back, and you get annoyed in traffic. Even visiting your mother is a luxury now.

There is no meat left at home. Anyway, you'll eat light tonight; besides, they practically beat you up if you don't do intermittent fasting these days.

Meanwhile, you check the news;

A gold mine collapsed, and cyanide is rapidly spreading into nature... Although someone from the politicians, whose name I don't know, put my mind at ease; he said, "There is no danger, if cyanide had mixed in, we would have told you." 

You know, they asked an alcoholic;

"Is it okay to drink during Ramadan?" 

"If it weren't okay, they would have written it on the bottle. If the giant factory didn't write it, then it's okay to drink. Are you going to know better than them?" he replied. 

That's the logic... Once upon a time, someone who said Chernobyl tea was harmless drank cup after cup of tea in front of the cameras. What a sacrifice this politics business requires, my dears...

It's noon, maybe hearing your spouse's voice would help...

You call, the phone is answered; in a sad, dark voice, they say "there is no work." There are customers, there are goods, but there is no money. 

No one has the energy for a kind word anymore either..

Let's follow the news on Twitter at least; as you know, there are no impartial broadcasting channels left in the country.

Everyone has started giving each other healthy eating tips. Everyone is a life coach, everyone is eating healthy. Don't eat bread, don't eat yeast, do intermittent fasting. Half the country is already hungry, my friend, what are you talking about? 

The Adnan documentary, plagiarism in literature...

Plagiarism: theft. (meaning blatant theft)

We continue to look at the news; what will happen to the dollar after the election, which way will the stock markets go, will our meager savings melt away? Everyone's concern is the same...

The door knocks; your ex-husband has filed a lawsuit. The reason? The 1000 lira (approximately 25 euros) monthly child support he pays for his child has become too heavy. He wanted to cancel it, but he lost the case. He went to the appellate court to avoid paying. You should have understood when he wrote "to be reclaimed based on the appellate court result" in the description when depositing the alimony; it wasn't a surprise. You don't even get annoyed by this anymore. You just call him a "bollard" and move on. 

Bollard: a cast iron or concrete cylinder placed on a wharf to tie up ships docking at the shore.

If we go out for dinner tonight, would it change our mood?

If you have 2 hot and 2 cold appetizers and a 20cl bottle of rakı, you have to sell the field you inherited from your grandfather. Everywhere is a cabaret, we have all become Dilber.

Your child's university acceptance has arrived, but getting a visa is so difficult now! Maybe they would give it if you put your grandfather's ID card in, as all of Europe thinks we are Syrian now... 

At that moment, the phone rings.

Your child couldn't find a taxi, and it's pouring rain. 

"Should I take the metro, Mom?"

Don't take it, my child. Yesterday, some animal was caught masturbating while staring at a young girl on the metro. I'm afraid of you encountering such an unpleasant incident.

You think about converting everything you have into Euros. How much is the Euro? 33.15 TL.

By the way, how many Euros was the alimony?

When fathers can't get along with their children's mothers, do they divorce their children too? What exactly is happening there?

People connected to Epstein, children lost in the earthquake, tearful religious figures, sects; why is the 'noblest of creatures' so eager to be a slave to others?

Is there anyone who hears your voice?

By the way, what state is the father in who is holding the hand of the child he lost in the earthquake?

What happened to 'Kızıl Goncalar', is it still bothering some people?

There was a 'Luppo guy' during the COVID era, I wonder what happened to him?

A father who caught his daughter filming a TikTok beat her last week; is he doing well now?

Who was the one who said 'nothing happens from just once'?

Does anyone know how many Syrian and Afghan refugees there are?

Who is taking care of Dilan Polat's children?

Are you aware of how many people have cancer?

How will we wake up from this nightmare?

Thank God it was Valentine's Day, so you got caught up in red balloons and love affairs. Roses worth pennies were sold for hundreds of liras, and the economy revived. Girls who received a Dyson are happy, those who didn't are crying. As you know, the Dyson is this country's biggest problem. 

Men were dumped by their girlfriends because they couldn't buy a Dyson. Men felt inadequate. So be it. We don't have any ayran to drink, but we'll go to the palace in a palanquin... As long as our hair dances in harmony.

A new craze has started, let me tell you about that too. In this "everyone's world" where everyone is a life coach, a healthy living guru, or a crypto trader, some of these 'everyones' have poisoned our Instagram lives as land investors. One started it, and the others didn't want to be left behind.

We are facing an invasion of people who market dilapidated animal barns as stone houses in villages where birds don't fly and caravans don't pass, who open paths through a neighbor's field to trespass, who demand hundreds of thousands for land without zoning, and who tell dreamers overwhelmed by the city to build a tiny house. As you know, those who haven't fallen from the roof don't know. These are scammers who eye people's money by romanticizing village life... Those who try to sell you their grandmother's barn by dressing it up with drone shots... 

Haraptar village for sale!

And what about our goats that ran away?

The farmer is finished, what will happen to him?

Agriculture?

Domestic goods are the nation's goods, everyone should use them?

What did we say; there is a fine line between dreaming and being a dreamer.

Where are the goats? If there are any pastures left in the villages, let's look there. 

12,000 farmers have become 'Züğürt Ağa' (destitute).

The country is Haraptar (ruined)...

The agenda is busy, we are all jumping from one thing to another...

Tomato... tomato...