Life on the Roof

As I mentioned in a previous posting, my west-facing windows are about level with the roof of the house behind our apartment building – a bit higher actually, so I can see over the three-foot wall around the entire roof area. It has a fairly large square structure on one side. Part of it is the stairwell from the house below, but there is a second door. It’s a bit smaller, and I can actually only see the door opening, not the door itself. I had wondered what that was for, but read on. You’ll soon know, too. On top of this structure are the ubiquitous solar panels and water drums. This area is accessed by a rickety ladder. (Click on the photo below and you'll get a sense of what I see from my desk.)

I am usually at work during the day and often out of the weekend so I don’t see too much roof action. However, a couple of weeks ago I was working at my desk one Saturday morning. Two young women came up with a couple of pans of what looked like either cut up vegetables, vegetable scraps or a mixture or both. One went in the mystery door but came right out. She seemed to be indicating that she found something in there distasteful. The other went in and emptied the pans. She also brought out a plastic basin, which seemed to be filled with something grain-like. Then out waddled the two geese. Mystery solved. I’d thought they lived in the garden below, which is where I’d first seen them. The two girls filled a very large plastic basin with water – there is a hose on the roof, which is turned on and off using a spigot next to the solar panels. The geese jumped right into the basin and had a grand old time splashing around. The white goose soon tired of the activity and hopped out to wander around the roof. However, the gray duck with the black head and white ring around its neck stayed in for the longest time. It was fun to watch him.


This morning the woman who looks like someone right off a rural farm came up on the roof. She let the geese out, and they are now wandering around. It rained yesterday, so there are lots if nice puddles. She also hung out some laundry.

Watching this little scene reminded me of a conversation I had with the Turkish teacher sitting next to me on the bus trip to Zeugma and Halfeti. I commented on the shape of the houses. Everything is built out of cinder blocks; the final structure is plastered then on the outside. The houses are all rectangular. The rooms must have fairly high ceilings, because they are taller than your average two-story house. I think of our Hamilton house; if it had had a flat roof, it would have been about the same shape.

I commented to the Turkish teacher on the flat roofs. True, this area doesn’t get much rain so flat roofs don’t represent much of a problem. However, her answer was enlightening. She said: the roof is very important for us. She went on to explain how it’s used to dry peppers, eggplant and cucumber. (Yes, that’s what she said, but I think she meant a gray-green zucchini-shaped vegetable I see in the markets. They do have regular cucumbers.) They also have picnics and cookouts on the roof – and that’s also where they hang their laundry. I’ve seen some houses that have a raised corrugated metal roof. It’s got the traditional peak and slanting sides. One of my Turkish students called it a “tent” when he described such a house. There are no walls so you could sit up there on a hot summer day and enjoy a breeze while shaded from the sun. However, you wouldn’t be able to dry your peppers on such a roof.