Evil Eye & Me

A day that marked our toughts

My name is Sara Oliveira Martins. I am a reporter working for the famous American newspaper – The New Work Times. The newspaper sent me to Turkey to write an article about the famous Oriental Express. Prior to the visit I had researched and written an article about the issue and that was the reason why the newspaper and the Presidential Hotel in Ankara Turkey decided to sponsor my visit to report “first hand” about the amazing journey the Oriental Express does when crossing that fabulous country.

When I over flied Istanbul I was overwhelmed with the beauty of this thrilling city. The city was completely different from what I was used to, it was full of historical monuments and was covered in Mosques. After I landed and when I was exiting the airport, I was struck by the heat and by the confusion that surrounded me. The cacophony of sounds, colors and smells was almost surreal.

After I met the sponsors of this trip in which I was supposed to write an article about the Oriental Express they took me to the hotel. The hotel where the sponsors had made the reservation was the Presidential Hotel. It was not as large as the hotels I was used to in America and there were a lot of strange smells emanating from the thick oriental carpet. The air in the room was hot and still because there was no air conditioner installed in the room. Despite of all the fatigue from the long trip at least the bed felt very comfortable and I drifted into a dreamless sleep.

The next day I woke up early so that I could meet the guide that would take me in this astonishing journey. We decided that we would start our trip early in the morning so the warm air wouldn’t affect us as much.

The city was irresistible; the markets exotic and the food we were presented with was delicious and after being raised on ”fast food” this was such an incredible change. The food was fresh and with plenty of vegetables. I loved all of it but specially the sublime “Mezze”.

That night when finally exhausted I almost crawled into the hotel I was able to witness a fabulous display of fireworks over the sea while I was sipping a delicious mint tea in the hotel veranda.

The next day I and my guide boarded the train to Izmit. The train had eight carriages and it was quite new and comfortable. I accommodated myself in one of the stunning sleeping wagons. The voyage lasted almost three days but always with a nice view of never ending forests and fields and sometimes I was able to catch a glimpse of the ocean and its beauty in between the passing trees. We crossed many ancient cities and small villages with almost picturesque names. The employees of the train company clearly aware of who we were treated us very well and we were able to sample food from different varieties and regions. My room was dark and comfortable and the constant humming of the train dandled me to sleep every night.

When I arrived to Izmit at 6pm and was on my way to the hotel I noticed that this was such a beautiful small city with mosques that dotted the landscape and with a population that seemed extremely happy as they moved about making their errands. As I arrived to the Izmit Plaza Hotel I went to refresh myself and unpack my luggage. Later I decided to go to a nearby restaurant where I had a delicious local meal and watched a Belly Dance Show. Given the fact that I was not too tired I decided to watch an Opera in the city most famous theater. I retuned to the hotel at almost midnight. The wonderful events of those last days kept playing in my mind and I was just lying in my bed feeling sleepless.

At 3:02 am I started feeling my bed shaking and initially I thought that some heavy truck was passing in front of the hotel. Curious I approached the window to see what was going on. As I got closer to the window the shaking became more violent and suddenly my brain started shouting “Earthquake! Earthquake!” Through the window I could now see the buildings throughout the city collapsing. Many buildings were falling and distressed as I was still able to dress a coat on top of my pajama before I started making my way to the stairs. On the corridor there was a lot of confusion as chandeliers started to fall and the hotel fire alarm resounded through the passage ways. People were pushing their way through the crowd in the different floors trying to reach the safety of the ground floor and escape into the Plaza. When I finally made my way through to the lobby I got out of the hotel and followed the multitude to the center of the plaza so none of the buildings would crash on top of me. After some brief moments that seemed an eternity the hotel collapsed right in front of my eyes and a lot of people who did not have the time to get out was crushed to death. When the earth tremors finally subsided, some of us that were able to escape the crumbling buildings started to frenetically remove the debris of the collapsed buildings in a desperate search for survivors.

Without delay I asked a man that was standing next to me still trying to understand what had happened, if I could use his phone. I tried to call my guide but he did not answer so I was forced to believe that he had probably died. I was never able to hear from him again. I subsequently placed a call to my office in America telling them what happened and they asked me to stay and report this tragedy.

Everything should have gone perfectly that day but why it wasn’t so? Approximately 1000 people died, because most of them were asleep and they did not have a chance to escape the catastrophe before their buildings collapsed because of their structural weaknesses. Turkey is located at the highly active Eurasian geological plates and that explains why there was such a major earthquake. Since 411 B.C there have been at least 100 cases of earthquakes confirmed in Turkey. From 1903-1999 the earthquakes occurring in Turkey have killed around 160.000 persons and injured at least other 150,000. In these several earthquakes around 420,000 homes and buildings have been destroyed or damaged.

In those initial days I was able to witness as rescuers found people under the debris of buildings some of them alive but many with their bodies clearly injured and had to be evacuated to the nearby hospitals that had somehow survived the earthquake. The remaining hospitals were overcrowded with thousands of patients and many tents were erected by the government in an effort to boost the Medical response capacities. There was lack of almost all basic structures and the rescuers were overwhelmed with all type of desperate requests. There was not enough food and the space was scarce. There was a critical lack of blood and potable water. I could observe the recovering efforts and the passionate cries for help from the good people of Izmit. Luckily many of the world governments sent several rescue teams that helped with recovering the death and injured. Their efforts in providing Medical attention to the needy were also laudable. Many people were extremely depressed because of the loss of all their family members.

The world media was flooded with so many stories of unsuccessful and successful rescues.

But the one that impressed me the most was the rescue of an old woman that was saved from the hotel I was staying in that fatidic night after remaining in the rubble for almost four days.

I clearly remember that old woman under the debris of our hotel and she clearly looked dead but as the rescue dogs got closer she was able to move her eyes and this filled the heart of the rescuers with hope. They continued their tireless efforts digging; pushing; removing debris until they were able to extract her from that pile of ruble and nowadays she is in the Istanbul Main Hospital clearly recovering her badly shaken health.

Many of the children of the city were left orphans and if it wasn’t by the world donations that poured down into Izmit orphanages they would have died of starvation and cold.

The devastation caused by the seismic activity was clearly spread out through the city and all the neighboring areas.

My last memories before I boarded the helicopter that would take me from that place of so much devastation were the collapsed main high way with scores of crushed vehicles under it as well as the fire running hammock on the oil refinery of Izmit.

One of the crude oil towers had collapsed when the earthquake struck and the subsequent fire lasted for many days and I likened the thick black smoke rising to the sky to a sad remainder of the desolation that had fallen over the beautiful city of Izmit.

I left Turkey with an understanding of human suffering that will forever haunt me and shape my life and career.

Tell Tale-Heart

The tell-Tale Heart

I liked this movie because of the cartoons who represented the story. But for someone that wants to get the story when they first watch it it's not the most recommended movie because it speaks very fast and you have to be really listening to it. It's really hard to understand and the story is not really understandable and they are joking with the story so some of the important parts are missing.

There are no images in the background that you can refer to. There is also no background music that can produce suspense in the listener. The story is not speaking by itself because what they are doing is playing with the real story so there is no reliable material to use. The story goes through really fast and you cannot understand it the first time you watch it. In this story there are no valid references.

In my opinion this story is just joking with the real story.

The Tell-Tale Heart

I didn't like this movie that much because I could not focus on what was going on in the story. The pictures used were not used appropriately because what was being narrated did not match the pictures, so I was frequently lost on what was going on in the story.

I didn't fully understand who was the old man in this story because it didn't talk much about the old man. The mad man started already opening the door I couldn't understand what had he done and why did the police was already knocking on the door. In the end when the mad man asked the police to come into the house the movie started showing some images from the old man moving his hand from under the floorboard.

The characterization was really bad. The voice was understandable and if it wasn't for some fails everything would be good.

The Tell-Tale Heart

I like this movie the best because for a new reader, who is starting to know the story it speaks very clearly. The story does not jump from a place to another and that helps the reader understand what is going on in the story.

In my opinion this movie shows what happened to the old man and how did he died. It shows clearly why the mad man wanted to kill the old man just because of his eye. The comics are very clear and are according to what is going on in the story. The background sound is really incorporated with the story.

What I liked the best in this movie is the part where the mad man confesses to the police that he was the one who killed the old man. When it is shown that he goes to jail it makes people predict that he wants to run away because he is tormented with what he did and makes the person who is watching the movie to feel that he wants to commit suicide and punish himself for what he did. The movie is very well organized and in the beginning tells us about the old man and provide the viewers with an overview of what is going on the story.