As the old saying goes "If you want a job doing well, do it yourself" but in our neighbours case it was a case of "if you want it doing at all, do it yourself" the belediye had been saying for the last few years that they were going to turn the plot of land outside our houses into a park, it had been a stream at on time i think, but as the area built up, and the stream got cut off, it bacame a haven for mosquitos, as well as a dumping ground for any old rubbish, every now and then, the belediye would send round a bulldozer and truck and flatten the area and take all the rubbish away, "YEAH, GREAT, THEY ARE GOING TO START THE PARK", oh no they aint, a few months later it was back to how it was, it seemed the park was due to be started in 2010, so far so good, but 2010 came and went, and still no sign of a park, so when the belediye bulldozed last time my neighbour set to work(he doesn't read or go on the computer, he just likes to keep busy) he acquired whatever he could from around the area(including knocking my shed down for me)swept up loose stones off the street that hadn't stuck to the tarmac, and one of the Turkish ladies actually managed to get the belediye to drop a truckload of stones as well at one point, he's done an absolutly brilliant job, it isn't quite finished yet, but he's getting there, he even had a visit from the zabita, but as he isn't getting paid for it, what can they do to him.
You never know, when the work is finished, the belediye might even donate a couple of benches so that people can sit and relax in what now looks what it is, a lovely place to live.
and now
