Category Archives: On writing about my life with the Karagöz puppets

On the 8th day of Christmas: Meet Mercan, the spice trader from Arabia


So, we move from yesterday’s introduction to Zenne, the former dancing girl now in love with her fragrant herbal garden, to an introduction to Mercan Bey (pronounced mehr-jahn bey), a spice trader from the Arabian peninsula. Now, I only became … Continue reading

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On the 7th day of Christmas: Meet Zenne, nervous nellie like a bowl of jelly


Today, it is time to meet Zenne, the Karagoz puppet that I refer to as “the nervous nellie like a bowl of jelly.”  I realized that this moniker was befitting of her when I passed by Nervous Nellie’s Shop – … Continue reading

Posted in Introducing the Karagöz puppets, On writing about my life with the Karagöz puppets, Visits from the Karagöz puppets | Tagged , , , , , , | 16 Comments

On the 6th day of Christmas: Meet Tiryaki the opium addict with narcolepsy


Today, we meet one of the more shadowy figures in my head – and in the history of Karagöz shadow puppetry in Turkey, Tiryaki Bey, who is addicted to opium and nods off on a regular basis – sometimes due to narcolepsy … Continue reading

Posted in Introducing the Karagöz puppets, On writing about my life with the Karagöz puppets, Visits from the Karagöz puppets | Tagged , , , , , , , | 16 Comments