Believe it or not, i came back to Turkey from my Australian holiday 3&1/2 months ago. I’ve been very slack with the blog updating. Here is a brief on some of the events since returned:

Pipes in the house between kitchen and Turkish toilet were replaced.
My neighbour below, the house owner, experienced intermittent problems of a filthy brown liquid dripping from her bathroom ceiling. Initially this was thought to be caused by our drains blocking. At the same time my kitchen and Turkish toilet ceilings were flaking due to moisture. Eventually, the problem area was excavated and rusty pipes were found to be the cause of both problems. When excavating a truckload (in the owner’s polite Turkish words) of sewerage fell into her place. I’m glad I was at work when this occured.

Bomb in Mersin
On 3 June a small bomb exploded near Mersin’s port injuring several people. I first found out about it when I read the news ticker on CNN TV. The likely suspect has been caught down the highway in Tarsus.

Da Vinci Code

I saw Da Vinci Code the movie at Mersin’s Metro Sinemasi (Metro Cinema). I had not read the book and found the movie to be all over the place plot-wise. The movie did bring up 2 thoughts:
1) I hope the movie inspires people to question their faith more.
2) I can’t imagine the protests and reaction in the Muslim world if Da Vinci Code was based on a Muslim sect.

Levent’s brother and sister visited
Levent’s family comes from Nusaybin, Mardin province, in south eastern Turkey, only a few kilometres from the Syrian border. I would love to visit Nusaybin and adjacent Syrian area one day. I havent seen Nusaybin or eastern Syria before. Levent has said his Mother and a few siblings may come to Mersin during summer. I look forward to some Mardin food 🙂

Natraj Departed
Natraj, my flatmate and workmate left Mersin to return to home in Bangalore, India. On the way he had a week in Egypt. Natraj’s farewell party was at ‘Bad-Lik Bar’, the rock pub we had spent many nights at. Unfortunately, it seems as though ‘Bad-Lik Bar’ recently closed. I’m not surprised as few people went there. The pub may be closed but the memories remain.

Natraj playing the air guitar at Bad-Lik Bar

Yachts Hit Mersin
For 2 days Mersin yacht harbour was inundated with dozens of international cruising yachts, including 2 or 3 from Australia. The luxurious catamarans looked particularly nice. The yachts were cruising around the Mediterranean as part of the Eastern Mediterranean Yacht Rally.

VH1 Works
Unlike MTV (of which Levent’s TV can receive the German version), VH1 actually plays music videos, including those from the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, 90’s and 00’s. I didn’t know we could receive VH1 until a month or so ago. I now watch it as much as I watch BBC World. Whilst writing this, a classic Jethro Tull clip is playing.

Mersin University Radio-102.8 FM
At work I now listen to Mersin University Radio when the reception is good. All employees were sick of the same repetitive music on Mix FM so the absolute variety on Mersin University Radio is a wonderful change. The station does not follow any format and I guess the music is chosen by whoever is programming it at that moment.