One of the major victims of the pandemic is the coffeehouses. I always found them as a place of refuge. I had spent so much time when I was younger when I was continuously depressive. That’s where I would lose some of the despair by playing cards or other games with my few close friends. We had ended up creating a fanzine. Established tournaments whose scores would be listed in Googlesheets. I would sometimes stop by a coffeehouse to read alone and feel sorry for myself for a myriad of reasons. They were cheap, smoke-filled, not very hygienic places but you would feel comfortable as a male. Yes, this is definitely a male place. So women rightfully may not have the same feelings towards the coffeehouses. I accept!
Coffeehouses, mainstays of Turkish neighborhoods for centuries, are suffering under pandemic restrictions — particularly a ban on games. Regulars fear losing “our jokes, our laughter.”
Here are some photos I found in my archive.
Discover more from Erkan's Field Diary
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.