More Refugees Arrive To Mersin

Sunday night I receive a phone call from Fiona. 4 boats carrying Australian evacuees from Lebanon, along with Canadian and US ships were due to arrive overnight. Although still tired from Friday night, I left my flat and walked down to the port.



One of the buses hired by the Canadians waiting in front of the port entrance. The Canadian buses were newer and of higher quality than the Australian buses.

This night the terminal was better organised, with more police and a tape restricting media access, allowing the refugees more direct movement to the buses. When I arrived the night's first boatload of Australian evacuees were being processed.

Stuart, Fiona and Serpil were again hard at work although James had returned to London on Saturday. Also in attendance was a Reuters journalist from Pennsylvania.



Australian tax dollars well spent



An evacuee being interviewed. Note: Elif in orange

Whilst waiting for the second Australian boat Serpil explained to me why Turkish TV news and current affairs programmes often repeat the same footage over and over again. Turkish video operators do not take any background footage and only shoot the dramatic scenes. In other words, they don't tell a story.



The Turkish Red Crescent gave out red and white carnations to the arriving refugees.

The second Australian boat, a ferry from Kocaeli (Izmit) arrived shortly before the first Canadian vessel. To minimise confusion the Canadian passengers remained on their ferry until all Australians were in the terminal.



Australian refugees exiting the ship



More passengers departing the ferry



The ferry terminal exit. Note the posters promoting places in Mersin Province on the windows



Evacuees waiting for a bus with an ambulance in the background. Note the small backpack worn by the Australian official. The backpack holds water that the wearer accesses by sucking a tube.

After the second Australian boatload had departed on the buses I left with Stuart and Fiona.

During the night a total of more than 800 Australians along with hundreds of Canadians and 1,000 or so Americans arrived. More people arrived Sunday night/Monday morning than all previous nights combined.

The Lebanon Refugee Arrival

Shortly before 3 am Friday the first Australian refugee boat arrived from Lebanon to Mersin. Port employees, orange-jacketed Australian officials, wheelchair pushers and first aid workers all scurried to meet the hired ferry.



Waiting for the passengers to exit

Ambassador Jean Dunn personally met all of the evacuees as they left the boat and the Turkish Red Crescent gave them carnations. The sickest, oldest and less abled passengers were placed in wheelchairs and pushed into the terminal building for arrival processing.



Evacuees departing boat

Once the last of the 340 refugees left the boat I followed the media pack back downstairs to the area in from of the terminal entrance. Gradually, they exited the building and went onto the waiting buses to be taken to the Taksim International Hotel.



Lady in wheelchair exiting ferry terminal

The Lebanon evacuees had not only escaped a warzone but also spent 9 hours on a bumpy ferry ride on a boat without functioning airconditioning! They were tired and exhausted but also happy to have made it onto safe land. As they exited, I offered them the local sweet cezerye. Many asked if it was Turkish delight. One woman headscarfed woman gave an impromptu interview. She had just learnt her sister and Auntie escaped the southern Lebanon and was very joyful despite not sleeping for 9 days!



The Turkish media pack

The time between leaving the ferry terminal and entering the buses was extremely important for the journalists. They had to find a suitable interviewee with an catchy story to tell and chat with them long enough to obtain good quotes/soundbites. However, as soon as James, Fiona or Serpil had found an interviewee, the Turkish media pack surrounded the interview and reduced its quality.



After the final boat person entered the buses, Stuart, Fiona, James and I jumped in Stuart's rental car and headed off to the Taksim. From living in London, Stuart's sense of direction and landmark memorisation was excellent.



Ataturk picture and Australian flag behind table of food and water for the Lebanon evacuees, Taksim International Hotel foyer

The refugee check-in gave Stuart, Fiona and James more time to conduct interviews and take photos. The Australian government officials were very generous to allow the journalists to work.

Once all interviews were conducted, we left to drop James and Fiona back off at the Hilton. Stuart and I then headed onto my work office as Stuart needed to send photos to the News Limited tabloids and there was no internet access at the Hilton. Most of Stuart's photos he chose to send were close-ups of refugees.

After 7 am, I finally arrived home for a short sleep. My sleep was very short as I was due to return to work at 9!

The first Australian Refugee Boat To Mersin

After work Friday I walked to the Mersin city centre and up north to the Taksim International Hotel. When asked if the Australian refugees were going to be housed in the Taksim a security guard said, no, they were to be housed in the other hotels.



The Taksim International Hotel at night

At 10:30 pm I went to bed and set the alarm for 2 am. The first boat of Australian refugees were to arrive from Lebanon at 2:30 am on the Su Express, the same boat used for the Mersin-Latakia ferry service.



Mersin-Latakia ferry advert

At the ferry terminal I walked upstairs to the area overlooking the ferry dock. There, various media gathered, including James, Fiona and Stuart from lunch along with ABC TV Foreign Correspondent Representative in Turkey, Serpil Karacan Sellars and various other Turkish media.

James wasn't feeling well at all and a had a case of the dreaded food poisoning (not from lunch!)

Then, the Jean Dunn, the Australian Ambassador to Turkey, arrived to give a briefing. 340 Australian refugees were to arrive on the Su Express coming from Lebanon via a break and refuelling in Magosa, Northern Cyprus.



Clockwise from the front: James (in foreground), Elif (the Australian Embassy Media Liaison), Stuart, Fiona, Jean and Serpil.

As a sidenote: I did not realise until yesterday (24th) that Elif was the wife a regular commenter here and an allround good guy Oz Kanka!



In the next blog installment: the refugees arrive.

Fish on Friday

On Friday James phones and asks if I can take him, Fiona Hudson, another Australian journalist based in London, and Stuart Clarke, an English freelance photographer. Both Fiona and Stuart came to Mersin to cover the Australian evacuation from Lebanon story for News Limited.

I picked them up from the Hilton Hotel and, as they wanted to eat fish, drove them to a restaurant in Mezitli.



From left to right: James, myself, Stuart and Fiona

All of us enjoyed the lovely fish and salad meal. The journalists were craving for some light food after too many red meat meals. The many different topics discussed during the meal included Mersin, Istanbul, the Middle East, the conservativeness/liberalness of Mersin and Turkey, relationships with Turkish ladies, the Turkish presidential system, Mersin's population make-up, what I was doing here and what I missed about Australia.

A few points I found interesting:
* Fiona did not know about Wikipedia.
* The journos wanted to know why I blogged and when I had started. I wonder how the blogging and MSM (mainstream media) relationship will develop in the future.

James And The Giant Story

For the first half of last week I felt sick, run-down and energyless. The month of poor-quality sleep, a reflection of the hot weather, had got to me.

On Wednesday afternoon I felt well-enough to check my emails. Thanks to someone else's unsecure wireless internet I now have internet access at home :-) One of my emails was from James Button, an Australian newspaper journalist based in London and working for Fairfax.

James had discovered my blog after searching for "Australian Mersin" as he was about to come to Mersin to report on the Australian refugees fleeing from Lebanon to Mersin by boat. I did not know about this before.

After work Thursday I walk to the ferry terminal at Mersin Port. Next to the yacht harbour were parked 4 big fat American SUVs (sports utility vehicles), including 2 diplomatic-plated cars. This was the only indication I noticed that something out of the ordinary was happening in Mersin until I reached the port.

At the port entrance, many buses were lined up.



Buses outside the port entrance

Outside the ferry terminal were 6 or 7 ambulances, 3 television vans and various security, ports and media people.



Ambulance workers

People began exiting the terminal building and I asked one of the ambulance employees who they were. He said they were Canadians and Australians.



Ferry passengers exiting the terminal building

Later, one passenger was having trouble understanding a Turkish official so I help translate. This Brit, based in Jordan, wanted a longer visa than the 45 day free visa given at the ferry terminal as standard. It turns out he was on the regularly-scheduled Lattakia-Mersin ferry and had not heard of the evacuation from Lebanon so obviously the ambulance worker did not know what he was talking about!



The 'Su', the Mersin-Latakia ferry boat


Stay tuned for the next update...

The Aussies Evacuees Are Coming To Mersin

Things are happening here. I took 1 British and 2 Aussie journalists out to lunch today.

Citizens from several countries have or will arrive to Mersin in ships evacuating them from the violence in Lebanon. Early tomorrow morning at 2:30 AM the first lot of Australians are due to arrive.

I will write more on this story soon.

Turkey Is Quitting Smoking :-)

Amazing as it seems, but Turkey's non-smoking revolution has begun. Months ago an Istanbul municipality introduced a law requiring restaurants and cafes to set aside a minimum area for non-smokers.

I thought Turkey would take many years to change its smoking habits but events are happening very quickly. Here are a few local examples I've observed:

* Istanbul Pastanesi (a cake shop near work) has a sign in Turkish that translates something like: "Smoking is allowed every second day, today is the other day." This sign is on the wall everyday.

* Visitors to work are now far more likely to either smoke outside or ask if it okay to light-up inside instead of assuming it is okay

* The controller on the train from Mersin to Adana warned a man about smoking in the gangway, a practise previously ignored

* More places, including cinemas and cafes, now have non-smoking areas.

* The other weekend I saw my first quit-smoking business in Mersin:



The sign reads: "Cigarette Quitting Centre, Easy & Guaranteed"

One of my main dislikes of Turkey is the amount of cigarette smoke I have to tolerate. I will be very happy when I see the day smokers become the minority and respect non-smoker's rights.

I Was Planning To Go To Lebanon...

This year I had hoped to visit Lebanon. Now I doubt this trip will be happening.

Welcome Ali Osman

On Thursday evening (13th) workmate Nesibe gave birth to a son, Ali Osman, by Caesarean Section at the Mersin State Hospital. Mother and baby are doing fine.

Nesibe worked throughout her pregnancy and hundreds of jokes were made about Ali Osman (most of them started by her).



Congratulations to Nesibe and husband Bulent!

RIP Auntie Barbara

Earlier this week Auntie Barbara passed away in the Netherlands. She died from cancer. Condolences to Bill and all her other relatives and friends.

Australia Versus Italy

The France-Italy World Cup Final in Berlin begins very soon.

Following are photos from the evening Italy kicked Australia out of the round of 16.


The penalty-inducing dive that sunk Australia


An anxious Michael Can watching the game on TV


Peter in his boxers


On the way to Burger King for after-match condolence ice creams



So who do I want to win tonight?

France, of course!

Drug Queen Hits Mersin

Both my and my bosses' cameras have returned from repairs in Istanbul and after 60 YTL each are now in working order.

On my early morning walk today I saw the following nightclub promotion:



With my limited Turkish, "DANSCI KIZLAR" means "female dancers". Unless I have completely misunderstood, there is a misspelling in "DRUG QUEEN".

Some advice to the poster producer: "DRUG QUEEN" and "DRAG QUEEN" have completely different meanings. U should have bought A vowel:


Part of a road sign on the roundabout just east of Mersin's Train station

On the same roundabout was the following sign:



"Plant" should be "Paint", as in: Natural Paint Project. Mistakes like this are common in Turkey. What makes this one notable, though, is the sign subject is a Turkey-European Union joint project.

Anna, Bec And The Croc!

I received the above postcard from my sister Anna the other week. It features Anna and cousin Rebecca handling a baby crocodile from Cairns, northern Queensland.

The office workers did not believe the girls on the postcard were my relatives. I guess they had not heard of personalised postcards before.




PS: according to my Blogger Dashboard, this post is Joe's Rambling's 500th!

A Funny Spam Photo

One of the spams I received today consisted of the following:



Make of it what you want.

Congrats Nicole and Jahn!

Congratulations to my former high school classmate Nicole and her Turkish-Australian partner Jahn ('Can' in Turkish) on their recently announced engagement!

Imran The Survivor

Imran and Natraj eating kebab at 2 AM after a visit to Bad-Lik Bar

Tonight, Imran will be on the bus to Izmir, leaving after one year . From Izmir he will fly back home to England. There will be no AIESEC trainees in Adana for the first time I can remember.

On the weekend Imran twice came from Adana to visit. Saturday night we watched the soccer at Orhan's place and ate tantuni. After teaching a lesson in Adana Sunday morning Imran returned to Mersin in the afternoon for macaroni with Egyptian smoked herring and zucchini in tomato sauce and kunefe with ice cream.

Imran has worked 7 days a week for a year with few breaks, teaching a Microsoft certificate course. Once Imran leaves there will be no one living in the infamous trainee apartment. I'm glad I don't have to clean it up!

I probably should write a separate post on the trainee apartment.



The AIESEC Adana trainee apartment whiteboard. Click on the picture for a larger version and read several generations of Adana trainees' comments.

I wish Imran the best back in the UK and congratulate him for making it through his traineeship.

Dirty Evidence

Early Thursday morning a thunderous storm hit Mersin. Some birds decided to shelter in my apartment. I didn't see the birds but based on the evidence left behind there were pigeons ("guvercin") in the bathroom and sparrows ("serce") in the lounge.

Pearl Jam in Italy/Switzerland!

My favourite band, Pearl Jam, will be touring Europe this autumn. In September I will see them in Bern, Switzerland and Bologna, Verona and Milan, Italy. 4 concerts in 5 nights!

I have my flights booked and tickets purchased. I can't wait. As an added bonus, my cousin, Graeme, currently in Geneva doing post-doctoral research, will join me for the tour. I also hope to catch up with Karin, Julia, Chris and maybe even Bill if he makes the journey from The Netherlands.

My schedule:
12 Sep 05:30: Arrive to Basel, Switzerland
13 Sep: Pearl Jam concert, Bern, Switzerland
14 Sep: Pearl Jam concert, Bologna, Italy
16 Sep: Pearl Jam concert, Verona, Italy
17 Sep: Pearl Jam concert, Milan, Italy
18 Sep 22:20 Depart from Basel, Switzerland

Verona's venue is an ancient Roman colloseum. I'm particularly looking forward to that concert, although it is the only one I don't have Fan Club tickets for.

Between Istanbul and Basel I will fly EasyJet. They have just started flying between Sabiha Gokcen Airport on Istanbul's Asian side to Basel and London Luton. My return Istanbul-Basel flight cost 157 EUR in total, including taxes and a 5% credit card charge.

A few Pearl Jam links:
The Sky I Scrape fan site
Official website
Official Tour website
Cool Europe Tour Map
I Got Bugs tour page
Italian Concert Venues


UPDATE: I have posted my best photos from Pearl Jam's concerts in Bern and Bologna

-----------------------------

Labels: italy, music, pearl jam, switzerland, travel - general

No More Photos For the Immediate Term

I won't be posting any new photos soon because my camera is currently stuffed!

Tuesday night there was a summer school party at my bosses' friend's new housing development. When walking closer to the DJ area I fell through/tripped on the swimming pool drainage covering and went head first into the jacuzzi!

I wish there was video of the event-it would have looked so damn funny! My laugh afterwards was muted by the facts a) I strained my upper-right leg muscle and b) in my hands were 2 digital cameras! The cameras now don't work and are currently in Istanbul to be fixed.