An old world village

The old village of Koru sits up on the hill across the highway from the holiday village of Koru Tatil Sitesi where our house is.  The old village seems to be a classic old world village.  The village is a collection of about 40 civilian houses with 3 markets, a butcher shop, the obligatory army base, and a couple other businesses supporting the local community like a repair shop and building materials.  Although the area around the village is chopped up into tiny little fields, there are few truly rural residences.  Most farmers live in the village close to their support network and travel to work in the fields around their village, often driving their tractors home to park in their own driveway at night. 

I took a little drive around the old village on my way back to the house this morning.  It is a glorious spring day and the little village was a beehive of activity.

The army is on maneuvers so there were 4 or 5 trucks full of men, 3 jeeps, and an ambulance.  Some of the soldiers stopped at the local market to pick up lunch.  The shop keeper sold them the bread, tomatoes, onions, and cheese, and proceeded to make up sandwiches for them on the counter beside the till (no pictures - some of the army guys seem a bit self conscious and all carry guns).

There were 4 heavy trucks (body jobs with tag axles and single lead axles making them look like tridems – kinda).  Three of the trucks had the name of a local flour mill on the doors and were in the process of loading wheat out of a large granary.  Another truck a couple of blocks away was loading sunflower seeds.  Many of the old folk were out walking and many waved in a friendly manner as I drove slowly along gawking at the sights.  The streets are often populated by an assortment of livestock including dogs, cats, chickens, and often sheep and cattle. 

The herds of animals are often driven through town streets to the “well” in the center of town for water and then back to the fields to graze or back to their barns.  Since I got here the first time just over a year ago, the village of Kavak has started a water/sewer line upgrade and has torn up every street in the village.  There has been heavy equipment working on the streets (parked about 75% of the time) since December.

 Around the dirt pile are 7 or 8 guys having Chai.  the machines haven't moved a spoonful of dirt all morning and it's 11 am when the picture was taken.

As I crossed one intersection in Korukoy this morning, I had to wait for some “romantically involved” chickens to clear the intersection before proceeding. 

As I left town to come home, I had to drive around a flock of sheep being taken out to graze. 

There are many small herds of animals around and very few fences.  All animals are tended by shepherds or herdsmen.   It is not uncommon to see a herd of either sheep or a few cows being herded through our holiday village to graze the open areas.