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I was born in the house opposite Pera Palas, but then they moved to a house in Tunel. I was too young to remember when. When you went into that house, there were 3 rooms downstairs, you went up a flight of stairs and there were 2 more rooms and then you went up again and it was the attic. It was a beautiful house but quite tiring. We had a big stove downstairs and another one upstairs. We used to sit upstairs, near the stove and watch the people coming and going in and out of the underground, and others getting on and off the tramway, because Tunel was the last stop. We used to entertain ourselves watching all these people.
We did not have a garden. We could not have a pet because my mother did not like pets and would never permit such a thing.
I remember my father bringing home some fruit like dates. I can’t remember its name now. He brought those and then hung them. My brothers and I would go and pick the fruit before it was done. They weren’t dates but some yellow fruit. They would hang them and then they would dry and we would eat them. When they were done they got red. We would eat them before they got red. My father would hang them at a place that got a lot of sunshine. I thought they were called “ziruelikas” [a Ladino word meaning “plums”] but they weren’t.
My mother used to do the shopping. She would go to the open market to do her shopping. There would be sellers who came to the door of course, but she preferred to go to the open market. Sometimes she would take me and my brothers, too and we would carry everything back.
We did not have a garden. We could not have a pet because my mother did not like pets and would never permit such a thing.
I remember my father bringing home some fruit like dates. I can’t remember its name now. He brought those and then hung them. My brothers and I would go and pick the fruit before it was done. They weren’t dates but some yellow fruit. They would hang them and then they would dry and we would eat them. When they were done they got red. We would eat them before they got red. My father would hang them at a place that got a lot of sunshine. I thought they were called “ziruelikas” [a Ladino word meaning “plums”] but they weren’t.
My mother used to do the shopping. She would go to the open market to do her shopping. There would be sellers who came to the door of course, but she preferred to go to the open market. Sometimes she would take me and my brothers, too and we would carry everything back.
Location
Beyoğlu/İstanbul
Türkiye
Interview
Suzi Sarhon