Western Walkabout: Meeting An Angel
Richard Harris makes use of his Turkish when he meets an angel.
One of my friends told me during a recent visit to Turkey that a local trader had told her she “had the face of an angel.”
I looked at her carefully – a pleasant, good natured woman, with thick, wavy blonde hair, blue eyes. There were a few marks where bits of skin cancer had been cut out but overall, it was a comely face.
When I met my own angel later, she didn’t look in the least like my friend. She had a decidedly Middle Eastern appearance, with warm, dark eyes full of wisdom and humor.
I met her one Saturday morning at the Clontarf markets on Manning Road, near the Canning River, where she was running a small food stall helped by a junior female relative.
I’d had no breakfast and was ravenous. The angel wore a headscarf, peasant style, and a pair of rubber gloves for handling food.
“Can I get something for you” she asked, with a beautiful smile and a flash of white teeth.
“Do you make gozleme? I asked, referring to the traditional Turkish style pancake.
“Of course,” she said. “What would you like in it?”
“It doesn’t have to be meat,” I said.
She suggested a filling of baby spinach and ricotta cheese.
“Harika,” I said, meaning wonderful.
A few minutes later, she handed me the pancake with a slice of lemon. She had cut it into manageable strips with her spatula.
“Tesekur,” I said, meaning thank you. “Do you serve apple tea? “ I asked.
“No,” she said, with her charming smile. I guess even angels have to draw the line somewhere.
The pancake was actually delicious but I don’t know the Turkish for that.
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To read more of Richard's stories and poems please click on http://www.openwriting.com/archives/western_walkabout/
