"fixed"

We got our darling 11 month old spayed a few days ago. "fixed" is what they call it but she is so broken right now poor thing! Not a good term for it!


















As most know from my earlier posts that Tequila's heat cycle was a nightmare filled with blood and lurking male dogs. Since we are expecting a baby of our own we decided we didn't need Tequila to have any of her own. Although it was hard especially for my husband we took her to the vet and had her uterus and eggs taken out. The above photo she is knocked out strapped to the operating table. It is major surgery and our puppy is moving pretty slowly lately. She seems confused why she can't run and jump and bark like she once did. Her eyes look sadder because she must be in pain. Hopefully she will heal quickly with lots of good nurses around her! Geçmiş olsen Tekila!

Back to being a puppy...

Good morning! I woke up at 6:30 AM to Tequila(reminder:who is our 10 month old German shepherd) eating everyone's shoes. I groggily took them all away and went back to bed. Woke up a few hours later to this lovely mess, charcoal bag ripped wide open, shredded mother-in-law's pillows, broom straw strewn about the patio and Tequila looking at me like what? I was bored you shouldn't have taken my shoes away...ahhhhhhhhhh puppies! I actually asked my husband whether he thought it was going to be easier to have our baby or to have a puppy? I thought a baby will be easier... but he disagreed ...

Then the anger from the destruction cleared when I realized she's not bleeding anymore!!!!!She's not in heat anymore finally!!!! Yeah!!!!!No more isolation techniques, no more mangy, crazy, male dogs lurking around, no more bored Tequila because we can take her for walks free off leash again, and let her run and play with the other "boys" in the neighborhood. After all, I need to remember she really is still just a puppy...

To let off some steam for the both of us we took a long walk around the neighborhood and it has definitely become our daily ritual. There has been tons of rain lately and the country side is bursting with greens and flowers. Although I don't find Didim a perfect city it does have a lot of natural beauty.


















These small purple flowers make me happy while we are walking on the beach. They pop out of the sand with these wispy, curly iris like leaves. I imagine they stay so small to protect themselves from the intense seaside wind we can get. The vibrant pops of purple nicely surprise the eye against the neutrals of the sand, and muted greens of surrounding low lying shrubs.


















The abundant yellow flowers are mustard greens(Hardal in Turkish). They seem to have a cooperative relationship with the olive groves. It is beautiful the subtle muted tones of the olive leaves rising above the lively yellow flower speckles all against the backdrop of the Aegean Sea.

As you drive down the road to our house the fields are blanketed with a beautiful emerald green and then the patchworks of olive groves dappled with the yellow. There are several edible greens, including mustard that people dig up and saute with onion and tomato paste. My husband's favorite is to fry eggs sunny side up into the vitamin packed greens(see earlier harvesting post)













Tequila and I's daily walking adventures go something like this, taking in the little things, the natural beauty of Didim with my friend, my puppy.

Our bitch is in heat!

Literally, Our nine month old German Shepperd is having her first and last period! It is a nightmare if you ask me. She like any girl is leaking spots of blood everywhere. There are so many free street dogs around that they lurk around her ready to pounce. We confine her at night but the free male dogs sit outside in the yard and bark in longing for our puppies sweet loving. I guess it is best to not spay her while she is in heat because all the blood vessels are enlarged and she could excessively bleed from the surgery but this is it. Dogs have periods only about two or three times a year but they last for 21 days at a time. It amazes me how many Turkish people are extremely afraid of dogs! I guess it is because they have such a wild street dog population.

home for the holidays...

I am sitting at the airport getting ready to board my first of three flights to get back to Minnesota for Christmas, unfortunately with out my husband who I will miss terribly. But this is the life of loving a foreigner and my family, some time apart. We took Tequila to the dog school/doggie hotel. She threw up two times in the car since we had to travel two hours, poor thing. Caglar's auntie Nejla came along. I adore her she is so funny. She is scared of getting some disease from dog or cat hair so she rode with a napkin over her mouth the whole time, talking through it. I guess it doesn't sound as funny as it was but she is a doll. The school has a good reputation and having a puppy is almost as much work as a kid.(Note: Please only buy a dog if you realize how much work, time and responsibility it takes and are up for the challenge, or else it just isn't fair to the animal.) Birsen can't do it by herself while looking after Baran and Ali since I am in USA for a month and Caglar Eskisehir. I am flying out of Izmir and saw my first glimpses of Christmas decorations. We went to buy some decor for the cafe from the boxes of cheap plastic decorations seen above, oh all the plastic. See some of you soon!

Side note: I am so excited to not smell lamb cooking...blah and barf! Birsen is so sick of cooking it also! Baked lamb's neck, boiled lamb with potatoes, lamb with spaghetti, (I could probably go off like the shrimp guy in Forest Gump...but just don't have the passion he had). Anyways I have been eating broccoli and peanut butter bread for days since I really do not like the smell or taste of lamb, I try to really but blah! I am excited for some pork though.(For those that don't know Turkey is a predominately Muslim country and Muslims don't eat pork.)

Kurban bayram- The Feast of the Sacrifice

WARNING- Some of the photos are graphic and I am going to go into detailed descriptions...














It started out a beautiful holiday morning. The sun was shining, the family was collected and we had a big Turkish breakfast together with the add of some American pancakes. But the little sheep were standing outside the window waiting...and we were waiting for the butchers to come over. They had three houses to visit before ours. My Turkish family isn't very religious. They don't visit the mosque or pray five times a day but like many Americans are with Christmas it is tradition. It has become a secular holiday as well as religious for some. It is a time for families to come together.


















The butchers came and the first sheep to be sacrificed was for Baran from his father. They hog tied the sheep's legs together and laid it on it's side. There has been a hole dug next to it's head for when the throat is slit the blood will pour into the hole and can be covered later to prevent other animals from getting into the blood. The main butcher tried to calm the frightened animal by stroking it gently while another man recites a prayer in Arabic. The man recites and Baran repeats while being next to the sheep. Basically they ask if the want to give this sheep to god in the name of Baran. I was actually surprised by how short the prayers were. Then the butcher slits the animals throat. Most people look away. Even though most Turks have participated in this holiday every year of their lives it is still hard to watch. The sound is what was worse for me...the blood sputtering from the esophagus...blah! It is so disgusting yet so interesting as they started carving the layers and organs of this sacrificed animal.


















Being an American of my generation from the city(or suburbs) I think we are quite disconnected from the meat preparation process. We want white meat chicken breasts with all the skin and fat cut off...nice and clean. I have cleaned fish and yes my uncles shoot deer and things but I haven't witnessed the whole process of carving an animal from start to finish before. Jeez, it is a lot of work! I kept thinking of Luther von Hagen's Body Worlds exhibits. Anyways, after the animal stops twitching(blah!) the butcher cut around its hooves. Then they literally used an air pump placed in between the skin and body to pump the sheep up like a balloon and make it easier to remove the skin from the body. The above image is all pumped up.


















The head and feet were discarded for now. You have to bury the parts you don't use or else the dogs and cats will get at them. Part of this festival is to share the meat with your neighbors and people less fortunate than you. And almost everyone wanted to use use all the parts. Some neighbor ladies came and took the heads for some dish. And for days after the festival we would see happy dogs running around with feet, tails or parts of heads in their mouths.


















This one is pretty intense. They took off the wool and skin. You can sell them later to make what you will, shoes, jackets??? Another blog entry perhaps.


















Then it is time to carve the meat up. Everything is used, heart, liver, and especially the intestines are a popular dish in Turkey, Kokorec(sounds like kokorech). The intestines are thoroughly cleaned then wound around a shish stick and slow roasted. Add a little cumin and many(not me though) are loving it. It was so disgusting and yet so interesting to see him take it apart organ by organ, science project. The were professional butchers, very precise. But some butchers were not so professional and lead to many hospital visits this year...read more about the holiday here.


















So all of this is done outside which is nice since the weather in Didim has been great. After the animal has perished it is hung on a tree to do the cutting. I mentioned in an earlier post that this carving outside is a problem in big cites so they have to designate certain areas for the mass slaughter. The organs were neatly separated on platters outside, the organs, the fat, the meat. It is a lot of work to cut up a whole animal. We kept joking that this was the work holiday not a relaxing holiday. I've made thanksgiving dinner several years in a row and that is a lot of work too but...different work and you can drink wine while doing it. Anyways after the butchers left we as a family had to divide up and store the rest. The thought of the people we needed to share the meat with but then the rest had to be refrigerated. Interesting to think about the pre-refridgeration age.


















I kinda hit a wall as far as what to help with next. Not because I was so grossed out but because I was a little overwhelmed by all the meat and where to cut. But everyone just worked together to get it all cut up and stored. And then of course we had to cook some for eating.


















They made a little fire in the yard and first cooked some of the fat down to liquid. then added small pieces of the meat. Normally Birsen cooks it inside but this year caglar did it outside in the fresh air. I really try to like lamb but I just can't. I tried it but lamb just has this certain smell and taste I can't get past and I usually like everything. Caglar's first time cooking this meat and it was pretty over cooked but it was eaten with lots of cumin, fresh white bread and tomatoes(I stuck with the delicious white cheese). Eaten outside in the sun together after a long day of cutting.

Here is the video of Ali's sheep. He has been so sick for months. This sheep was to thank god that their husband, father, grandfather is still alive and doing well. This is a really intense video but I am cutting it just before the actual cutting for respect for Ali. I respect that this ritual has been repeated for years but it is hard to watch. It makes me really want to understand where my meat is coming from. Also made me more aware of my own organs and to stay healthy. One of the sheep was really fatty but they had really clean lungs, nonsmoking sheep. It is another holiday for family to get together and be thankful.

 

Animal Pazar

The day before the Kurban Bayram/Feast of the Great Sacrifice started we had to look for our "sacrifice" animals. We went to two local farms but they were sold out so we ended up heading to the hayvan pazar/ animal pazar. Which is basically an area that turns into a mini stock yard with temporary stalls made by the individual vendors. This is a deep rooted tradition of haggling over the animals whether it be cows, sheep or goats.


















There were many different breeds of sheeps and goats(I was surprised to see so many goats actually). One sheep goes from around 300-500YTL(around $200-$350). One cow can be up to around 3,000YTL and sometimes several families cooperatively buy one unless you can buy one yourself of course. Most buy male animals although the females are cheaper.


















Here is Caglar haggling for our sheep, one for Baran the nephew from his father and one for Ali's health. To thank god for him to still be alive, it really is a miracle.


















Sacrificing animals goes far back in human history that its beginnings are now unknown. This basis for the Sacrifice holiday among Jews, Christians, and Muslims is the story of Abraham. One day god asked him, to test his faith, to sacrifice what was dearest to him and that was his son, Isaac. But just as Abraham was about to slit the boy's throat, an angel appeared and pointed out that there was a ram caught in a nearby bush; it was to be sacrificed instead. And it was. The supposed lesson learned is trust in god and accept what he deals out to you even though it may be the worst thing you can think of.(these facts were taken from the Hurriyet Daily News) hmmmmmm...


















After several pokes and prods of the sheep, feeling for meatiness. You don't want your sheep too thin or too fatty, just nice juicy meat...blah!!!! They are spray painted with a number or your name if you can't take them just then. Some people shoved the tied sheep in their cars or hired trucks to transport the livestock for this ritual takes place in the garden of your house. Except in recent years there have been several restrictions but on the festival especially for the big cities. The sheep herders can no longer herd through the neighborhood and slaughtering can only be done at designated areas. But we live in the country with lots of space so...

Click HERE for some interesting pictures of Muslims preparing for the festival around the world


















We also had to get the knives sharpened in preparation for tomorrow's festivities. He set up a little stand on the street charging 2 YTL per knife.


















So these are the two sheep we ended up with. A man delivered them at night with his tractor. We didn't have time to get too attatched. But Caglar told me stories about when him and his friend's were little. As Kids they would have the sheep for days and walk them around the neighboorhood together. They got attatched. Sometimes they would fight them too since they are rams. I laugh everytime I think of my husband as an adorable child(seen photos) walking his sheep around the neighboorhood with his friends and their sheep. And then tomorrow is hard...

lambs

The neighboors sheep had twin lambs yesterday. Talk about cute tiny animals. They try to walk on their long legs and look so akward yet adorable.


















The pictures don't do them justice but they are adorable.














There are a few men that herd their sheep through our neighborhood. Caglar was talking to one yesterday and we might walk with him one day. I think my mother snapped this photo when my parents were visiting us. Thinking about sheep herding makes me want to reread "the Alchemist" by Paulo Coehlo. Currently I am reading "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson. The world-famous bestseller about "man-made pollutants that threaten to destroy life on this earth." This book helped get DDT banned. This is an old book but I think still relevant to the times. I will comment more after I finish reading it. Also friends and family...when I come to MN in December please can we trade books!!!! I need English books for Turkey please!


















The Kurban Bayram, The Great Sacrifice holiday, starts December 8-11. Caglar informed me that most people buy male sheep for the festival. I think there are taboos about killing female sheep since they can be mothers but the female sheep are cheaper to buy. I am interested to find out more as the time closes in. We will probably buy two sheep, one for Ali's health(It is a miracle his cancer has shrunk) and one for the family in general. There was a suggestion to sacrifice one more for our new marriage but Caglar thinks we don't need three.

Also congrats to my little brother, L to the J and my friend, Maria on their engagement. If you were living in Turkey now we would probably buy a sheep for your prosperity also. Tebriklar- congratulations!!!!

Zeytin=olives

First off...Hero(Our poisened neighborhood dog, see the below post) is feeling a little better! I think he is going to make it! He was still in the bushes this morning but I fed him some beef broth. Also later in the day he ate some chicken. He moves a little. He tried to play with shero and tequila today as they wrestled but it's too early for that. Anyways slowly he is coming back!!!














But olive trees are all over Turkey especially by our house. Birsen and Ali picked some HUGE ones today. The would taste awful if you ate them as is so...


















Birsen washed them up and Ali got to work! Thank goodness he has been feeling great lately!


















You slice every olive in two or more places(depending on who you ask of course). Ali went with two. Then you place them in a container and fill it with water. You change the water everyday. You must be careful because the gas builds up inside the container and when you open it...boom...like a little bomb! Anyways change the water everyday for a few weeks or so and the olives soften and get rid of their bitter taste. Olives are eaten every morning for breakfast by most Turkish people. Healthy but took me a while to get into. Also olive oil is reserved for salads and times when you really taste the oil. They don't cook with it, heat it that they use less expensive oils. For having tons of beautiful olive trees olive oil is still quite pricey. Anyways I am eager to see how our olive curing goes.

I made chicken soup today and it turned out pretty yummy! The weather here is still great during the day but quite chilly at night so the soup tasted great!

kopek community...

Kopek(there are two dots over the o) is dog in Turkish. In Turkey there are ALOT of stray cats and dogs. They seem to mainly stick to their areas and communities they rely on for food(or garbage if it is all that is available). This is our house community but there are a whole other pack of characters that live by the cafe.


















In our little community there is our crazy Tequila, our 6 month year old who is learning about life, who never goes hungry and has a family who loves her. She looks beautiful and calm in this photo but don't be deceived...she's a puppy!! In Turkish maniac has just a little different pronunciation, our Manyak! She is learning and we do love her!


















In our community the next character I would like to introduce you to is Fred. Fred is the Loner. He is the cool, tough guy unless you mess with his food then he is scary! This photo doesn't do his size justice...this is a big dog. He is up to my waist and his head is huge! He is part Kangal, sheep dog. He is old and has scars on his face to prove it. He doesn't just stay next to one house but wonders around the neighborhood for his next meal. Fred's old mom was adopted by a neighbor, partially because she is old and partially they want protection for their house and possessions. The neighbors are currently out of town for a month and the workman are looking after this crazy old barker. Sometimes Fred goes and sits by her house, everyone loves their mom. She is crazy but doesn't bark at Fred. He wants food and trys to rub up against you for some loving but you feel like you need to wash your hand immediately after. Times get hard for these street dogs in the winter because this is a summer home community by the sea. Few families are here in the winter and that is less extra food for the dogs(and kitties). They get really hungry!


















This is Shero. His name is a mix of Seker(sugar in Turkish) and hero. He has a family. I am not sure if he was a stray originally and they adopted him or how he came to live on our neighbors lawn. But he is feed at least once a day but free to come and go as he pleases. He loves being pet that is why our neighbor added sugar to his name. He is sweet to humans but not Tequila. It took him a long time to warm up to her. I think because she always wants to play. He is coming around. His best buddy's name is Hero. He is so cute!!!! He is in the below photo. When I first came back to Turkey in August he was always wondering around looking scared like he had been abused before. Our neighbor nursed him, fed him and loved him and now he is ok around humans. He is so freaking fast! Tequila tries to run after him but can't catch him. It is good for her to learn from him. He can't be more than a year and is always eager to run and play with Tequila. His best buddy, shero might be jealous of that too! He always wages his little tail but is still a bit shy. He has had the worst luck this adorable little dog. As I said before he was probably abused before our lives crossed paths, then last week he was shot with a be be gun(baby gun...he he inside joke for mom and dad) in the leg. So he limped around for a while but our neighbor nursed him back to health. We thought he was fine until 3 days ago. I was walking tequila and he was lying down obviously ill, he growled at both of us which he had never done before. Later that day...


















I found out he had been poisoned! Yes some idiot had fed him poisoned meat. There was this other little white dog that our neighbor found dead along with four kitties... all dead! Poisoned! Our neighbors, Attila and Nurtan are the ones that feed and love all these animals. Nurtan went to Istanbul to see her daughter the night before and then Attila found the dead dog and kitties in the morning and found out hero was so ill. So Attila called the vet. The vet said if he wasn't dead in 6 hours he would be ok. For two days we all checked on this little sick dog who just laid there trying to hide in the bushes because he was in pain, barely eating or drinking just lying there suffering. Enough was enough this little dog needs the vet or to die because this was just awful to watch. Finally after Caglar's mom and I talked to Attila he called the vet again. The vet just came to the bushes and gave him 6 different shots. Hopefully this little guy will be better by morning...at least not suffering!

Attila thinks the handy man for the neighboring housing site feed them the poison. The man has chickens and maybe these hungry dogs got into them? I don't know but they don't deserve to be poisoned. The man has kids...how can he feel good about himself poisoning poor animals whether they got into his chickens or not. He free ranges his chickens...get a bigger fence or something buddy! I am so angry and it was so hard to see this sweet dog that has had such a hard life lie there so sick he couldn't even stand up!

Unfortunately this sort of mentality is not a singular case in Turkey. The stray animals is a huge problem that in most cases is poorly dealt with. I have heard other cases of feeding animals poisoned meat, what poison do they use? Also stories of rounding up the animals and dropping them in remote locations, out of site out of mind- NO!!!! They just starve out there. They are reliant on us for food. Some dogs get spayed or neutered but not enough and not cats! pray for this little dog, Hero tonight!

The Sad State of Strays is an article from the Turkish Daily News about strays from last August.

One more article about a woman, Perhihan Agnelli who has been doing something about this issue.

I love water...

Tequila, Caglar and I have been taking lots of long walks along the coast. Tequila follows us tripping on our heels, sniffing, swimming, tasting things. It is beautiful here. It is pretty remote where his parents house is with lots of air and space. We walk amongst low lying shrubs, olives trees and look at the expanse of blue sea. When the sun is setting the whole environment seems to take on pastel hues, pink, blues, purples, yellows. As we walk along the water though there is always trash, plastic bottles, broken glass, fishing nets, etc. I have been picking some of it up as we walk(even got Caglar into it sometimes). It seems ironic that I want a pair of plastic gloves to pick up all the plastic.

A previous post I talked about the floating plastic garbage dump in the middle of the Pacific. My sister wrote me that she is happy that I am thinking about these issues but what am I going to do about it? I have been thinking about this as well for a while. Especially since I am currently residing in Turkey, and it's different here. I saw recycle bins at the government building the other day but then looked inside and it was treated as a trash can, food etc. in there. Here there is alot of re purposing. Using plastic bags from the grocery store for the garbage bag. Using all the glass jars to hold other home made treats but no city recycling that I have seen. Another of the many reasons I need to learn Turkish better.


















Anyways what I have personally decided to do in my current situations is to always fill my nalgene bottle with water instead of buying plastic containers. For our new cafe I want to buy water pitchers for customers instead of the norm here of putting a liter plastic bottle on the table. I will continue to pick up the beach little by little every time tequila and I take a walk. Also to further investigate the state of Turkish trash removal, recycling, and dumping. Also it is so dry here I wonder where the water comes from? In our little community they re purpose shower/toilet water to water some grassy areas. So his mom tells us to not play in the grass. Also here, everyone in every city I've lived in (3 Istanbul, Eskisehir and didim) People always buy the big culligan water jugs...is the tap water safe to drink?

People are doing things, talking! there is this guy named Dave who decided to save all his trash for one year. It causes him to be extremely aware of how he is living.He write about it on his blog 365 days of trash Here's the kernel for his project...

The idea for this project came about six months ago as I was throwing something away in the garbage. It occurred to me that I was doing nothing more than that. I was making it go away, not dealing with it, not accounting for it, simply removing it from my sight. When you think of it in simple terms like that, it’s really quite insane. I came to the realization that if we were all accountable for our waste, if we couldn’t simply make it disappear, we’d have to deal with some pretty ugly truths about the way we live. And in so doing, it would cause us to start making better decisions about what we buy, where we buy, and what’s left over when we are done with that purchase.

Here's more specifically about plastic water bottles

Puppies...

Caglar: "my love?"
Me:"yes, my love?"
Caglar:"I am going to go get the dog."
Me:"what??? What dog?"
Caglar:"No problem, it's for my mother."
Me: "Really?"
Caglar:"Yes, a family dog"
Me: "A family dog, Huh?"


Biting, licking, biting, running, playing, falling, leaping, eating, smelling, did I mention biting puppy. We just got a German sheperd and named her Tequila. Her name stems from his mother's love for agave plant adult beverage, although lately has not been the time for indulgence. The first day we got Tequila she was so scared, only 3 months old. She rode 7 hours in the car down to Didim. We brought her to the family and they were surprised at how big she already was. Now it has been about three weeks. She has grown stronger and is a good dog. She gets us up every morning to walk and keeps us walking throughout the day. She follows us with out a leash but she is getting smart. She is going to need to start training soon! She is venturing of a little more on her own and man does she bite!!!! Her little mouth has all these new pearly whites coming in. It must hurt her but ouch it really hurts us too! She is the human equivalent of age 3 or 4 so she is young and we can't hold it against her. She will learn but we must teach her. Puppies are alot of work but training will help everyone not be afraid.

It is interesting how many people in Turkey are REALLY scared of dogs! I think it is because there are so many street dogs. A lot of the street dogs are decedents of the big sheep herding dogs that are meant to fight the wolves off of the sheep. Also dogs are also still kept for "protection" of property, so people want them to be isolated, mean and barkers. Many of these wild dogs have been abused by humans before and can be fierce. It is a cycle... dog abused, becomes mean to people, other people become scared of all other dogs etc. I was also was told dogs smell fear! But most of these dogs are just trying to live, eat, just survive. Here is an article addressing this stray dog issue There needs to be a better spay and nueter system for dogs, and the many, many kitties!


When my husband and I first met he was so impressed(I found out later) by my lack of fear towards animals. I was raised around animals and there aren't very many wild ones in Wayzata(uh-none?). Sometimes when we are walking at night around Didim Caglar will pick up a rock and carry it with him. I wonder what it is for? For protection from crazy street dogs. I thought it was silly until one day we went to a farm and this crazy huge sheep dog with a spiked collar started running after us...I'll admit...I was scared! I was happy Caglar had his rock!

As far as our little puppy out of respect for her, and for our own sanity we need to train her. Puppies are alot of work!

P.S. My husband finally admitted to me that the puppy was pretty much for him. He is funny and I knew it! He loves her and I admit it...so do I.

P.P.S. We are training her in Turkish

First day????

This is the backyard of my host university. Deniz cok guzel! The cement retaining wall that runs parallel to the sea. The sun is shining melting the snow storm away! I can go out to the boardwalk on my breaks, drink tea and watch the boats pass. I love the view of old and new, 2,000 yr. old minarets surrounded by brightly colored apartment buldings. This city is packed! Today is my first day out and around by myself with out my helpful knight in shining armor. So much easier the second time around.















An interesting thing about Turkish schools from grade school up until university is this cafeteria lunch served on the metal trays. For some reason I really like the metal trays, the sound, the cold and reusable? The meal is between 1 and 1.50 liras per day. Yes it's not gourmet but when you are a broke student it is hot and quite balanced. It usually consists of some starch, (rice or noodles), some sort of stew with a flavoring of meat, maybe a soup, and a dessert item(fruit or Turkish honey soaked sweets), a water and of course bread! The accompanied silverware is a fork and a big spoon. I also like the big spoon...no knife normally.














This is one of the many friends that visit our campus. They come and go from the canteen, as you can imagine more visit during lunch hour. There are tons of stray cats and dogs in Turkey. Bob Barker needs to visit and promote, "don't forget to spay and neuter your cats and dogs." No really i need to research this more...