Turnunç: Invasion Of The Body Snatchers, Maybe?
This Fine Pide Shop Was Closed To Make Way For Another Ambulance Station, But Do We Need More Ambulances, Or More Wood Cooked Pide?
A couple of years ago Irem and I were having dinner with friends in Istanbul when we heard the loud crash of breaking glass outside followed by the sound of a mature woman screaming uncontrollably. The reason? Quite simply our host’s neighbour’s twelve year old son had thrown himself through a window and was on the concrete several floors below.
A few minutes later we heard the sound of an ambulance siren, and another, and another. The race was on by the drivers to pick up the lad and take him to their sponsoring hospital. In the event the boy was covered by medical insurance and so the decision as to which ambulance took him was made on that basis.
In Bangkok no such system exists, instead volunteers police the streets looking for traffic victims. They are known as ‘the body snatchers’ and have operated in that way for over twenty years. Fights have been known to break out between rival groups of body-snatchers over corpses, as well as live traffic victims. It seems that the more bodies a NGO recovers the more likely it is to receive charity donations. The volunteers are apparently trained in first-aid, as well as kung-fu!
Here in Turunç maybe something like the rivalry of Bangkok’s body snatchers is about to happen. Near the Tolga Supermarket a Marmaris Hospital has set up an ambulance station and first aid post. Across the road from The Habit Bar the old Paradise Pide shop has been acquired by another organization that plans to provide first aid and ambulances. And of course our village doctor Ismit Kurucu also has a fine office in the high street that offers all manner of medical amenities including, according to the sign on his window, an ambulance.
But how many ambulances does a town the size of Turunç really need? Are we anticipating an outbreak of ‘The Black Death’? Despite anything you might read elsewhere the food really isn’t that bad in Turkey. It’s really unlikely that you will contract botulism, but maybe the doctors aren’t aware of this?
For a special report on Bangkok’s ‘Body Snatchers’, (courtesy of Channel 4) please click this link.
Clinics And Medical Centres In Turunç
September 3rd, 2006 at 12:17 pm
Hi Rico,
Yeah, try pide, but watch out ~ too much will make you fat, though probably not as fat as eating fries cooked in trans-fats. When they serve your pide as also for ground red pepper. This helps bring out the flavour of the filling. My favourite piide is ‘mixed’ which should come with meat, cheese, maybe some egg, as well as herbs. It’s quite rich, and if you prefer a lighter pide just ask for a vegetable pide.
Good eating,
Stephen