On our last day in Yalıkavak we ventured again into the village for a sunny stroll and a spot of lunch. We were greeted by a host of familiar waiters, foremost of whom was Ahmed the Kurd. Handsomely constructed, entrepreneurial Ahmed has a flirtatious charm and dishonest eyes. He juggles his life by waiting tables during the summer and smuggling contraband across the Iraqi border during the winter, bribing the border guards with cartons of Marlboro’ Lights.
After lunch, we sauntered back to the house for a final dip and a nap before our return home. On route we spotted little bit gay, local boy Rasheed sitting alone in a lokanta. We approached him for a cheery, shallow chat. It pained us to find him unkempt, fidgety and broody, so different from the flirty, chirpy chappy we’d met just a few months before. He said that he hadn’t been able to find work this year. This will have left him close to penniless. We offered a few words of solace and a refill which he declined. We left him to nurse his tepid Nescafé.
Perking the Pansies 
Absolutely love your characterisation. Brilliant. Sad about Rasheed though. Turkey can still be a difficult place for some, let’s hope things improve for him. Thanks for a great blog, a real tonic.
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Thank you. As for Rasheed, I hope so too. He’s a nice boy and speaks great English so with a bit of luck he’ll be fine.
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Great read again, tourism can be a hard job for many including me I feel for Rasheed but know that things can go 360 degree on luck with this type of job. We have all too often found ourselves virtually liraless then something turns up. I always thought I left stress behind in UK and I did in many ways but it has taken me a long time to come to terms with the precarious job situation here.
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Life can be tough. We really felt for him and counted our blessings.Hopefully something will turn up. He’s a local boy and lives with his mother so this makes it a little easier.
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