We were given the phone number of a friend of a friend, someone in Istanbul we were told, do give them a call. So the GF rang them and told them where we were, and they said ‘I know the area well, I’m the sheriff.’
So today we went to meet the sheriff, in an old building converted to flats not that far away. An interesting pair, the sheriff and child: the sheriff funny, relaxed and pleasant but also someone to step warily around; the child enacting ease, and very talkative but with a strange, strained pause before replying to anything.
The sheriff was particularly proud that, as one of the perks of the job, they get a weapons license.
The child, as the sheriff’s official deputy, was designated during the lockdown period responsible for the wellbeing of stray animals and the elderly.
It’s hard to write much without revealing identities, even when I am using an invented designation for the person we met, so I shall say no more other than that we are visiting their house on the outskirts on the weekend, and that if we should ever wish to buy a house here in Istanbul, they are a useful and I think helpful bunch to know.
What an unsatisfactory post this is.