Marita's husband Duff reading at Molly's Cafe last year.
Last Saturday, I read with two other poets, Marita and Jake, from my writing group at Molly’s Cafe. Molly is a Canadian who came to Istanbul 12 years ago to teach and direct an English language school. Several years ago, she gave that up and opened a small cafe hear Galata Tower. Whenever you are in the mood for North American comfort food, you go to Molly’s. She sponsors lots of arty and culinary events. For instance, this Friday is Sri Lanka Curry night, and on Saturday evening, Tomas Eagle will provide live music. You can read more about Molly and her cafe on her blog. I particularly like her entry about the journeyman carpenter.
We each read four poems. Since you couldn’t be there, here my playlist.
The Red Table – in honor of International Pi Day and Molly’s Cafe, a poem about a round red table.
The Difference Between That And Which With Complications Of Who – in honor of the English teachers who came out for the reading. There were probably 10 of ‘em.
Nearsight – in honor of the work poets do.
In A Cowslip’s Bell I Lie – in honor of good words and good dictionaries.
Here is the blurb that Molly sent out for the reading.
Marita O’Neill teaches at Robert College and has a chapbook out called Evidence of Lightpublished by moonpiepress.com. She and her husband Duff feel strongly that Molly’s has the best coffee and food in Istanbul!
After teaching in New Mexico for over 20 years, Tamra Hays began to teach in international schools. She now splits her time between Istanbul, Turkey and Mountainair, New Mexico. Her poetry has appeared in New Mexico publications Manzanita Quarterly, Sin Fronteras, Conceptions Southwest, Harwood Anthology, All As One, and the online zine Lunarosity. She has also participated in readings and poets’ diners in Santa Fe and Albuquerque and the Poets and Writers Picnic in Mountainair, New Mexico.
Jake Becker has worked as a free-lance music critic in the States and has played in local underground Istanbul bands Not Since the Illness, Before the Heyday and Up Up and Away. He’ll be reading his poems and lyrics.
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Our purpose for this trip was to chaperone some high school students who were part of a Junior Achievement Trade Fair in Antwerp, but there was plenty of time for sightseeing. On Friday, we took a walking tour of Antwerp. In front of the Town Hall is a statue that portrays the founding of the town, and this is what we learned. Once upon a time, there was a terrible giant who charged a toll for anyone who crossed the river. If a person had no money or refused to pay, tough luck. The giant chopped off a hand and threw it into the river. The river was getting pretty full of odd hands when a hero finally came along, killed the giant, chopped off HIS hand, and threw it into the river. Once the giant was gone, a town could get started here.
Another thing I liked at the Grote Markt (this main square) were the Guild Halls. A few of them were originals from the 16th century; others were more recent reproductions. We learned that before the system of numbering houses and numbers it was the practice to identify buildings with statues or painted plaques. So, each one of these buildings has a gold statue on the top to identify it. The statue might be the patron saint of the guild or just the name of the guild.
Saturday was the Junior Achievement Trade Fair. This is a competition in which teams of students develop a mini-company that has a product to sell. They have to set up and run all parts of their company. Our students were selling hearts in order to raise money for the Heart Association. They didn’t win a prize, but they did recoup their expenses and will be able to make a nice donation. They learned that the color red really attracts customers.
On Sunday, we moved down to Brussels. The weather was very bad that day – lots of wind and rain – so we checked into our hotel and rested. On Monday, though, the weather was clear and beautiful for our field trip to Brugge. We all loved walking along the canals in this medieval city. After lunch, the girls shopped while Mike and I went sightseeing. Here are a few more photos 
Mike and I began in the Spice Bazaar, which sells spices in addition to bath and beauty supplies, tourist souvenirs, and caviar. We bought oregano and curry and tasted Turkish Delight.
Just outside the Spice Bazaar is the flower market. It is still wintery cold, so there were all kinds of bulbs and cool season plants for sale. Lots of people were interested in fruit trees.
In the pet market, you can buy songbirds, chickens, fish, cats, and dogs, and all of the supplies that go with them. For some reason, you can also buy leaches.
We found the right pet store and took some pictures of puppies. It was a small and crowded shop, so it was hard to get close enough to take photos of the dogs but also hard to get far enough away to take a broad shot. This was taken on the stairs between the two floors of the shop. There are some more picture 
