I’ve just upgraded my blog to Blogger’s new beta version. The change I’m mainly looking forward to utilising is post tagging. Soon you will be able to select different post categories, for example: mersin, travel, food, etcetera.

—————————————————-

I’ve just eaten a fantastic feast – 1 massive persimmon!

The flesh was so succulent and juicy. Weighing approximatelly 300 grams, by the time the below specimen was finished I felt like I had eaten 2 or 3.

The persimmon season is in full swing and I plan to make the most of it until the end.

Today I caught the train to Adana to meet Colombian Lady Yohana, the only AIESEC trainee living in Adana. After a cuppa at Mado we ate a delicious lunch at Cafe Keyif.

As expected, puddles of water were visible all along the journey to and from Adana, evidence of last week’s rain. On the way home I took two photos of the Taurus Mountains north of Tarsus. The photos turned out okay considering they were shot at 6x zoom on a speeding train and I still haven’t fully figured out the camera.

When the Cukurova Plain was rained upon, the Taurus Mountains received snow.

Today was a fine, mild and sunny day, in contrast to yesterday’s rain. The river level was much lower and the flood danger had passed.

The local council placed large rocks on the riverbank to reinforce it and minimise further erosion.

Compare the river level of the photos below with those taken yesterday.

Council Workers

Looking downstream towards the outlet into the sea

Looking upstream – someone has lost their soccer ball (see dot on the water)

Depositing large rocks on the river bank

Some links:

Mersin flood stories (in Turkish) with accompanying photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 (see photos at bottom)

BBC’s latest

Red Cross/Red Crescent’s Turkey Floods Information Bulletin

A slightly related story: 6 Alanyaspor players and an official were injured when struck by lightning a few days ago.

The answer to my previous post title question is: yes, emphatically!

Today the rain came. And hard. Very hard.

In the space of a short time, the river opposite work rose to dangerous levels

A section of the river bank eroded enough to knock over trees and the edge of the paving.

For a few minutes the female toilet and hand basin at work spat out water. Ahmet surmised that the sewers let out into the river and the force of the river pushed water back up the pipes.

The rain and swollen river transported a few creatures to areas they wouldn’t normally be.

I picked this tortoise off the road and place it on the saturated riverbank grass

This frog is between work’s front glass and security grill

The erosion today was not as bad as that of December 2001:

On the way home this evening I passed a few shops that received minor flooding.

Unfortunately, Mersin is not the only part of Turkey experiencing heavy rain and flash-flooding. At least 21 people have died, mainly in the southeast of the country. Eastern Istanbul and the Antalya province have also faced floods. According to NTVMSNBC:

“[I]n the Kizkale district of Mersin in the south of the country dozens of parked vehicles washed into the sea.“

I think the article must mean Kizkalesi.

UPDATE: The following day the river level was substantially lower. See my next post for updated photos.

Mersin received lots of rain in the past few days and the temperature has cooled down. I’ve started to wear jumpers during the day and winter pyjamas at night, changed my bedding and just connected the shower to the electric water heater. Despite this, the temperature still reaches the early 20s during the day.

Australia strolled to a comfortable victory against India on Sunday. I hadn’t seen any cricket on television since visiting Australia in February. Peter and I enjoyed a few beers as two Aussies do when the cricket’s on the tube.

Still on a cricketing note, Peter was kind enough to lend me (Some of) the 12th Man’s Greatest Hits, a CD by funnyman Billy Birmingham (A.K.A.: The 12th Man). Bill, Max, Richie and Tony have never sounded funnier!

Peter’s son, Michael Can, has one of the most eyesore bedrooms I have ever seen:

Which soccer team does he support?