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The Soccer

Last night Latvia drew 2-2 against Turkey in Istanbul. Following their 1-0 win on Wednesday, Latvia are through to the 2004 European Soccer Championships, knocking Turkey out in the process. This is a shock result as it is the 1st time that Latvia have made it to a major competition and Turkey was 3rd at last year’s World Cup!

The Bombings

However, the tragedy of last night matters nothing compared to Saturday’s and today’s sequences of bombings in Istanbul. Today’s bombings were aimed at the HSBC headquarters in Levent and the British Consulate in Beyoglu. As well as the loss of life and physical damage, these incidents will cause huge economic and social damage to the whole of Turkey. Tourists are less likely to visit and economic confidence will be shaken. Trading on the Istanbul Stock Exchange was suspended today.

I am extremely satisfied with my safety and have no qualms whatsoever about remaining in Turkey. Istanbul and Turkey are very safe and the biggest danger for any foreigner is still the traffic!

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After weeks of hanging around, the grasshopper seems to have disappeared.

Several days back he moved from the yellow clothes peg to my khaki green shorts after I put out a load of washing. However, before I picked in the washing he had left the shorts and was nowhere to be seen.

I have not seen him since and believe he has vanished!

The drama!

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Many thanks to my Mum, Dad and family and to Marga and Poppop for sending cards. Apparently I have a package coming but I haven’t received it. Hopefully a Turkish postal worker does not find the contents attractive!

Thank you also to Mary, Ronnie, Shannon, Bill, Cigdem, Gizem, work colleagues and others I may have forgotten for the personal, email, or SMS greetings.

Unique thanks to Jane from Sydney and Onur in Germany who found my blog via random searches!

Jane searched on the Lonely Planet Thorntree for ‘Mersin’. She is an Aussie who lived in Karaduvar just east of Mersin with her Turkish boyfriend (now husband). Jane arrived in Mersin on 11 September 2001!

I did not know she was in Mersin then (I was also there at that time). I find out now she is in Sydney!

Onur searched the internet for ‘cennet meyvesi’ and ‘English’ as he wanted to know what ‘cennet meyvesi’ meant in English (persimmon). See it for yourself! He is studying his Masters degree in Germany but comes from Mersin and previously visited in late October!

The web is an amazing place!

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The fresh banana cream cake did come to work, although a little late. And, most of the workers were surprised!

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Today is my 26th birthday.

As it is still the Muslim holy month of Ramazan I will not worry about holding any parties or whatnot until after the end of Ramazan holiday at the end of November/early December.

This afternoon at iftar (the fast-breaking meal) there will be a surprise cake from Istanbul Pastanesi (the local place around the corner). Most people at work do not know it is my birthday – I really hope it is a surprise.

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On Friday night I ventured to Marino and Jeanette’s for dinner. Marino is originally from Italy, Jeanette from Honduras. They lived in many places around the world before coming to Mersin 3 or 4 years ago. Marino is involved in the fruit industry. His specialty is bananas, although in Mersin he deals in citrus. The oldest of their 3 children is about 13 years old and he can speak Italian, Spanish, Turkish and English. Guess who is envious?

Also there for the spaghetti dinner were Natalie from Ukraine and her son. Natalie is also in the fruit industry and works to send fruit back for her Ukrainian company.

With all of us together in the apartment, we definitely were the Ex-pat Central in Mersin this night!

Being with fellow expatriates is great for a change. There are perspectives, experiences and topics of conversation that one cannot share with locals. Mersin is not very accessible for foreigners. The novelty of being a foreigner here is great, sometimes. At other times, more anonymity would be appreciated. With the friendliness of the locals I can’t complain too much though.

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The bombings in Istanbul on Saturday were an example of how stupidly brainwashed some people can become. The bombers and their cohorts are pathetic losers of the lowest kind.

Sympathies to the victims and their relatives.

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He has moved from the grey wooden clothes peg to the adjacent yellow plastic peg.

Stay tuned for the next exciting update…