Music on the streets in Izmir

Sleep, is such an important thing. Silence is such an important thing. Getting both is a luxury. Stillness is also important.

I haven't updated in a few days. I'm now in Izmir for a couple of days before heading to Alanya in the south of Turkey on the Mediterranean coast for the purpose of attending a rainbow gathering down there. Day 10 - 13 of my stay at Imece was ok, I assisted with some more building, got a bit sick and had a couple of days to myself. I haven't been sleeping so well since I've been in Turkey. Tonight, it's 3am, my reason this time is that I'm in a hostel and I find it difficult to sleep with other people in a room. My bunk mate is awake still and shaking the bed with movement every ten minutes, also momentarily speaking something out loud. I've no idea what's going on, I just don't get sleep like this.

So I write.

It was sad to say goodbye to my friends at Imece. I have learned so many things since being there, no only about Syrian refugees in Turkey but also about NGOs and the running of them.

This past day I've had the time to explore Izmir I spent some time with friends and I bumped into another friend from last year's Sufi gathering. Four of us played music together on the street and then found a cafe which welcomes musicians to jam in a cavern in an old ottoman era building.

On our walk today we were interrupted by a custom in Izmir. This custom is that when someone has died, as a blessing they give out free fried pieces of dough on the street. This to me was quite interesting. Normally they are sweet but the ones we picked up were savoury. They get out there complete with a large cooker and a big frying vat and do it all on the street with the name of the person on a sign that they are commemorating. The idea is that a part of the spirit of the person is inside the 'dumplings' and is dispersed back into the world. There were lots of people lining up and the people I was with knew exactly what was happening and decided to participate.

I also purchased a tiny little speaker for playing on the street to be a little louder with the guitar. I left my amp behind in Berlin but needed something small to boost the volume of the guitar on the noisy streets.

Today playing with my friends there was a frame drum, a saxophone, a saw (kind of played like a violin and sounds like a theramin) and also my guitar and my voice. It attracted quite a lot of attention especially the saw, which many people couldn't seem to figure out how it made that spooky sound.

I'm finished writing for now, I just have to consider if I will sleep. I feel like every noise is a hammer in my brain. Silence is a need for me. Yes I use earplugs. Thanks for asking.

Today I play music with a Finnish man who went to jail in Iran for playing heavy metal music in Iran. He is going to play the didgeridoo with me of course.

In love,

Monty x

Photo from Yeli Zabet