From Al Jazeera:

The administration of a Turkish province has declared that a centuries-old tradition of pre-dawn drum-beating to wake Muslims up during the holy month of Ramadan is a breach of human rights and should be abandoned…

Read the rest of the article.

I would be delighted if the drumming was banned. If a ban occurs, it is likely to be implemented next year as there is only one week left of Ramazan this year. A ban for next year is still better than no ban.

This morning I wasn’t woken up by the drummers – I went to bed after the drummers had finished. Last night, Necat (Ahmet’s friend) and I went to my boss, Ahmet’s place, for ‘Chinese’ noodles. Afterwards we had a great discussion until almost 3 am about Turkey, official languages, deepness of relationships, running a cafe/restaurant in Mersin, the PKK, economy and employment trends, religion, Hawaii (where Necat studied), the US, finding a job in Fort Worth (where Necat will move to) life, the universe and everything.

This morning I checked my emails and there was an email from Rebecca ‘Beck’ Paterson. Beck is a former classmate at St. Joseph’s School, Port Lincoln. The 10-year reunion for the class of ’94 is on tomorrow in Port Lincoln.

Since 1994 I have hardly kept in touch with any of my former classmates. Many times I have wondered what they are doing and whereabouts are they on the road of life. I would love to attend tomorrow, but as one could guess, it is not possible on many fronts. Instead, I sent an email detailing my life since 1994, along with a few photos.

Beck did have difficulty locating me and eventually got in contact after seeing my name on the Aussie Schoolmates website. With this blog I would have thought I was one the easiest to locate.

I wish Beck the best of luck with the reunion tomorrow and I look forward to hearing all the news and gossip on the other long-lost former classmates and teachers.

Some people have suggested I should post both more and different photos on the blog. These are good suggestions and I hope to implement a random photo generator once I have changed the hosting and have the time to do it.

Something else that will drastically increase the number of photos on the blog is owning a digital camera. Ever since I won some lotto money ı have been planning to get a digital camera. My boss recommended he get it in Dubai, as cameras are much cheaper there. In December he is planning to pass through Dubai and buy one for me.

Once I have the camera I plan to take it almost everywhere I go. I will shoot as many photos as I want and delete them later if I don’t like them. A photo I would like to take is a radio station billboard advert currently on display in Mersin. The fictional person at the centre of the ad is listening to an iPod, the antithesis of FM radio! If everyone owned an iPod, the FM radio stations would be struggling to survive with everyone listening to their own personal ‘radio station’.

Archives

The archives are fixed! A simple 1 line template modification suggestion from Eric at Blogger support and wham, bam, thank you mam, the archives work properly again. Thank you Eric!

NewLira.com

I have posted a FAQ on the New Turkish Lira at NewLira.com. Please tell me if you have any unanswered questions about the New Turkish Lira or any article requests. I will upload pictures of the new currency, hopefully, by the weekend.

Time Change

On early Sunday morning Turkey’s clocks were wound back 1 hour to signify the end of daylight saving. The implications of this include:

*Employees now stay at work instead of going home for ‘Iftar’, the fast-breaking meal. The soup so far has been delicious.

*The local tailor 6 floors directly below my apartment, on the street level, is now arriving at work as early as 6.30 am. It seems some people don’t change their routine even with the time change.

*The sun rises and sets early. Today the sun rose at 6.07 am and will set at 4.42 pm. I’m sure Turkey’s time zone is Istanbul-centric. The time zone certainly does not suit central and eastern Turkey.

Tennis Pain

On Sunday I was the ‘ball-boy’ for 3 other employees who were having their first ever tennis lesson. Tennis is an elite pastime in Turkey and most people have never held a tennis racquet. As a child I always had a tennis ball in my hands and on Sunday I was happy to help relay all the tennis balls back to the basket. Chasing the tennis balls must have used muscles not used in a long time. For the past 3 days my upper leg muscles have been in pain and it is only starting to recede now.

Thank you Marga and Poppop

For another letter and photos. My card to is sitting in my lounge room and I will send it soon.