jah wobble

I was just skyping Jimmy when all of the stray dogs outside started going crazy. Then there was a big crash, I think some of the building opposite collapsed. No big story, it was derelict. So i thought maybe another earthquake was on its way. I was in one two weeks ago, but aside from my plant wobbling I didn't really notice it. And as most things in my world wobble at some point or other it really wasn't a cause for concern at the time.

However, after the 1999 earthquakes here that cause about 50,000 deaths, they did say another one was due within 10 years. Luckily my house is built on rock, but they do say the rest of istanbul will probably collapse if it happens. My Turkish teacher told me that some people are actually looking forward to it because it will 'clean out the riff raff' from the poorer parts of town and open the doors to new developments. The situation in Turkey is that the east of the country mostly lives in poverty. So in the last 20 years Istanbul has seen it's size grow from just a couple of million to 20 million. Around 20 years ago Istanbulus wanted to introduce permits and visas to stop the poor people coming into their city.

I have seen tented communities here by the side of industrial towns. They make Roma gypsies look like the elite classes.

Anyway. I am experiencing a little minor disaster right now. My water has been out since I got home, Who knows how long for although I suspect there may be no shower tomorrow and the bottle of wine I bought has gone bad. Think I'll just go to bed,,,, or I would if the frigging dogs would stop barking.