The sun had just begun to breach the horizon, the sky slowly lightening from midnight blue to a hazy lavender. The digital clock on my phone read 5:22 am. After a beautiful day exploring Hatay, it was time to move on to Gaziantep. I had been looking forward to seeing some Turkish friends from Sao Paulo that I had made before this journey in Turkey.

The sun shone intensely, turning the sky a brilliant azure and the rolling hills to a colour of ochre. The car raced down the highway, its speedometer edging to 140 km/h. I had my earphones on, and Linkin Park thundered through my brain while I tried to make sense of the scenery around me.

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://helenycampoy.com/2023/01/30/history-rivers-zoos-and-education/