Back in October last year I wrote about the Winter Throwing Cup, not sure exactly what it was about.

a few days ago I came across the official website at Mersin2005.org:

The 5th edition of the European Winter Throwing Cup will be held in the City of Mersin, one of the most ancient settlements in the Mediterrenaen (sic) region, but one of the newest cities in Turkey. With its history dating back to the Neolithic period, the region boasts of rich and historical and cultural treasures.

The European Winter Throwing Cup will be the first EAA event to be welcomed in Mersin, but the City is well experienced in throwing events. National Winter Championships are staged every year in Mersin and the City hosts annual national and international training camps for throwers.

Judging by the pictures on the website, the Winter Throwing Cup consists of javelin, shot put, discus and the hammer throw.

The website is poorly written/designed for such a ‘major’ event. One has to click on the Programme link on the left to find out the event dates (12 & 13 March) and what it exactly consists of. The dates should be on the front page.

If I am around then I definitely intend on attending at least one day and reporting back. Should I sign up for a media pass? 😉

The other day I received a card in the mail from my niece, Eilish.

The cover:

The letter:

The word for word translation based on my lower-intermediate knowledge of child-language:

To Joseph, I know you are in Turkey ’cause no you. I miss in you I. Love Eilish

The reply:

The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and have just updated their travel advice for Turkey. They did not heed my suggestion to warn against thinking about Petek Dincoz when crossing the road 🙂

Currently, this webpage is number 1 out of 123,739 MSN Search results for the words “petek dincoz photos“.

This is displayed on the screenshot below (click on the image for a larger version).

Petek Dincoz is a Turkish singer, but she is not just any singer.

With the boss away, catching up to do from the just gone holiday, and several time-intensive student files, I am very busy at work this week. Reflecting this, I have yet to write up the Syria trip on the blog and the number of emails to deal with in my personal email account has snuck passed 40.

Oh yeah, happy Australia/Invasion Day!

From the Turkish Daily News, a story with potential political implications:

Three amateur butchers die, hundreds injured, and killing of animals beyond designated areas turns cities in to pools of blood.

There were also gory scenes in and around Aleppo’s souk on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I will write about this with the rest of the Syrian write-up.

From Thursday to Sunday is a four day holiday called “Kurban Bayrami” (in Turkish: Sacrifice Holiday) or Eid-ul-Adha. Throughout the Islamic world millions of sheep, goats, cattle and other animals will be killed and the meat eaten and distributed to the poor. Tonight I am off to see Toygun in Adana on the way to Aleppo (again) via Antakya.

This time of the Islamic calender (it varies slightly for each Gregorian year) is also the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudia Arabia. Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam that every Muslim who can afford to, should do at least once in their life.

This year, along with two million others, my boss is taking his parents-in-law on Hajj. They are on a three week trip arranged by the official Turkish Hajj agency. If my boss had his way he would have chosen a 10 day trip through a private agency. In Turkey (and probably in other Muslim countries), people who have been on Hajj are traditionally called “Haci” (pronounced: Haji).

The BBC News website has several informative links:

About Hajj

Eid-ul-Adha In Pictures

Your Say on Hajj

As is said in Turkish: Kurban Bayraminiz Kutlu Olsun!