Last night, with outdoor wedding music in the background, I took the following photo of the new path’s lights reflecting on the river.

Today I received boxer shorts for Christmas from Annie and David. The parcel took exactly 3 months to arrive from Australia to my office in Mersin, Turkey by sea mail.

Last night I ended up chatting away with Winnie from Hong Kong on MSN Messenger for an hour or so after she found my website via a Google search and then sent me an email. Winnie is matched to an AIESEC traineeship in Gaziantep and is due to arrive in May.

This simple exchange was the result of no less than four Internet technologies combining seamlessly: blogging, search, email and instant messaging. Even 10 years ago this exchange would have been unlikely.

In 10 years time, who knows what tools we will be communicating with?

Last night I met Peter for the first time, the only other Australian I know of in Mersin. Peter, his Turkish wife and their son came to Mersin six months ago although I did not hear about him until earlier this month.

We ate fish and chips, Turkish style, accompanied by a few beers and the Galatasaray-Samsun soccer game in the background. Both Peter and his wife teach English at a neighbouring town’s university. Previously, they lived in Melbourne and came to Mersin to give their son a taste of Turkish life and because the wife is from Mersin.

Following dinner we went to Mavi Sanat for coffee and dessert. A French/Turkish couple runs Mavi Sanat and I had not visited the place for a long time. The atmosphere is more sophisticated than the average Mersin haunt and it is somewhere I should visit more often.

I enjoyed meeting Peter and although we are of different generations, we could relate on almost everything. I now know there were at least two people in Mersin watching last year’s AFL grand final!

Yesterday and today Mersin’s water supply is supposed to be off for maintenance. I say supposed to be, because the water in the office is still on, although it is dribbling at a far slower rate than usual.

My apartment block has a bore and is not connected to the mains so I enjoyed that shower last night without any worries 🙂

The bore system is not perfect, though. At the sixth (top) floor, the variable water pressure causes taps to hiss and spit, sometimes pushing out air, other times, high-pressure water, often in intermittent bursts. This is one of the quirks of living in Turkey.

I have recently added the Blogger comment system. From now on I will use this and not the Haloscan commenting. I now automatically receive Blogger comments as emails so they are much easier to keep track of. However, the main reason I have changed commenting is because Haloscan wouldn’t let me comment as the IP is on the OPM blacklist.

Anyway, ignore the “old comment” links on the left of the page and use the comment function at the centre below each post.

Dear Friend,

We confirm your accreditation for the 5th European Winter Throwing Cup, Mersin 2005.

Your accreditation card which will enable you to access the media areas during the event can be picked up at Hilton Mersin from 10 March on.

Any suggestions on how I can fully utilise the pass?

I will make my website more 5th European Winter Throwing Cup themed as the event gets closer.

The past week was very busy. This is why I have not posted. Besides work and social commitments I also managed to register some .IN domain names, including Joe.In, in the Indian domain name launch. Also this week, an ancient fossil was found in Tarsus, and one protester died in Mersin when protesting on the sixth anniversary of Abdullah Ocalan’s capture.

The big news in Mersin this weekend is the visit of the main opposition party’s leader, the Kemalist CHP’s Mr. Deniz Baykal. At the previous Turkish local elections, Mersin was one of the cities that remained with the CHP and did not change to the formerly Islamist AK Parti. Mr. Baykal opened the newly renovated footpath in front of work. Following are photos of this event other things from the weekend.

Is anything funny written on the poster?

Assolist? Sounds a touch dodgy in English. In Turkish an “assolist” is equivalent to the “top billing” or the best soloist. The advert is for a nightclub.

Following is of a shop opening, wedding or something similarly celebratory. The restaurant sells roast chickens.

Do you love palm trees and other tacky light decorations? Come to the Mersin city centre – we have heaps!

In all colours, too…

Deniz Baykal came

Palms also look horrible during the day

Evil eyes made of balloons? We have everything in Mersin!

The new path. The resources gone into welcoming Baykal could have fed a starving country for a day. (Yes, those are: a) a Turkish flag; a picture of Baykal; and c) a welcome banner hanging off that building.)

Baykal arrives surrounded by his security and the Greater city mayor, Macit Ozcan and Akdeniz (Mediterranean) Council mayor, Kenan Yucesoy. The entourage included 4 full-size buses and several cars. The adoring crowd welcome him. Count all the baldheads in this shot!

The MC seemed to take forever welcoming both the Mr. Baykal and Mr. Yucesoy. The amount and strength of the compliments given were almost sickening. It was if gods were about to appear.

There was music and dancing.

Mr. Yucesoy spoke. There were volume problems with the microphones. I don’t think people cared if they could hear him or not. I didn’t. Notice Mr. Baykal’s security stage-right of Yucesoy.

Mr. Baykal comes to the stage and receives rose petals.

CHP in balloons

That is more than enough palms, balloons and politicians for now…