Way back in the mists of time and memory, when J and I used to visit Turkey for work as well as pleasure, I was drawn to the number of buses and trucks (and even the occasional car) that sported either ‘MaÅŸallah’ or ‘Allah Korusun’. Wherever we travelled in this vast country there they’d be – plastered across the cabs or tailboards of trucks; above the back windows of coaches and dolmuÅŸ (shared mini-bus). It might have said ‘Kamıl Koç’ or ‘Pamukkale’ or ‘Maersk Shipping’
along the sides of these vehicles, but there was obviously a common denominator binding them into a couple of huge, national conglomerates. And why not? After all, back then, with much of the economy nationalised and centralised, there wasn’t the variety of big companies you see today. Tekel supplied booze and tobacco and Petrol Ofisi supplied fuel – that was it!
It was years before I realised that ‘MaÅŸallah’ and ‘Allah Korusun’ were not a couple of huge, nationalised logistics companies but rather a philosophical observation on the insanity of venturing out onto Turkey’s murderous roads in the company of penilely challenged, existentially oblivious male drivers.
Here are a few examples where the gods did not ‘korusun’; and some fine examples where ‘MaÅŸallah!’ is the only appropriate response.
‘MaÅŸallah’ (variously interpreted as ‘My God!’, ‘Wonderful!’, or ‘I can’t believe what I’m seeing/hearing!’ etc) and ‘Allah Korusun’ (God Protects – or not).
. . and finally, because when I used this picture in a post about the newly named ‘Bayonce Fly’ from Australia, it generated a staggering number of ‘MaÅŸallah, MaÅŸallahs!’ from Turkish fans who did not appear to share my interest in entomology (I have no records for English or Strine speakers).
Alan Fenn, Okçular Köyü
Wow, that dolmuÅŸ really is dolmuÅŸ! It’s getting quite strict these days on the Fethiye dolmuÅŸ routes – a sign of the times. On one of the routes, although the rule is often broken, there’s no standing allowed! Now that’s an interesting one.
Julia
Turkey’s For Life recently posted..Fethiye In Bloom – A Photo Story
. . ain’t that a fact! It’s away from the big towns that we still see those (I don’t whether to call them outrageous or hilarious) examples of crazy behavior.
Loved your 600th post, by the way
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Love the truck with the bouffant toupé – not so keen on putting myself in God’s hands!
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. . where’s your ‘faith’, Jack?
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A simple ‘Beware’ would seem to be more apposite.
signs that say ‘Caution’, ‘Beware’, ‘Dangerous Bend’ and the like get shot up – seriously!
Alan recently posted..Intriguing!
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My goodness, it had you stumped back then. After the word “capak” (eye-booger), masallah was one of the first things I learned after asking what words I would see/hear most commonly on our first trip.
Now I want to know what you did that brought you to Turkey in your past life!!!
Glad to see you back to clever writing and reflection.
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Thanks for the encouraging welcome back. As for the other, we enjoyed getting away to here, even on weekend breaks – the other I’ll tell you about privately.
Alan recently posted..A Natural Antidote To Depression
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That what’s make Turkish drivers and their peculiar vehicles stand out. Too bad there will always be some road mishaps as a result of their recklessness.
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Hi Nicholas, thanks for your comment and welcome to Archers – you’re right, we certainly see some sights on the roads here. As for ‘reckless’, I’d count a ‘wreck-less’ day a bonus!
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I particularly love the ‘afro hay truck’! Imagine the loading…
As for driving in Turkey, on my first venture in a rented car many years ago a Turkish driver explained the basic ‘rules’ of the road to me. It did the trick – after that, things seemed quite logical, Ã la turque of course.
I’ve found driving here to be mostly pleasurable with occasional hair-raising scares. Expect the other person to be bloody stupid and you won’t be disappointed – that said, there are a lot of drivers here who manage to avoid accidents each year.
Alan recently posted..Birth Of The Blues!
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Have you heard of bereket versin? This means something like “Thank you, it is plenty”. In my country Bulgaria we use a lot of Turkish words for slang. Me and my family visited Istanbul last year – just 5 hour drive for us. When I told them that we were neighbors, they said “komshu”. Striking culture and historical treasures.
Hi! Margarita, and welcome to Archers. I think that the lovely thing about people is that they are happy to live together in neighbourly friendship – if only we can keep the politicos out of the mix.
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Loved this post, Alan, and your photos are priceless. My father-in-law owned a wholesale produce and food staples business (rice, flour, other grains) so I am well-acquainted with the over-the-top, literally and figuratively-speaking, truckloads careening around Turkey. MaÅŸallah, indeed.
My kids and I spent this past summer with my in-laws on the Black Sea and several times a week we’d make the hour-long dolmus ride to Trabzon. Imagine all the conversation with my astounded kids – “Why did that truck just do that? Why didn’t that car stop for the light?” My feeble response was usually something like, “That’s just how they drive here.” By summer’s end whenever my kids saw some outrageous vehicular maneuver, they’d simply say, “Oh, Turkish style.”
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. . you should teach them ‘Burası Türkiye!’ together with that very characteristic shrug and dropping of the corners of the mouth – then of course there is ‘Allah Hallah!’
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