Quiet Days and Library Woes

First, I want to say that I am very excited and proud about the revolutionary movements erupting across the Middle East. I have been staying tuned-in on BBC World and Al-Jazeera English on the tube as well as numerous news websites, blogs, tweets, Facebook posts, etc. Some of my friends have made the news. Here's a piece from the Tucson Sentinel written by my friend and colleague Zohra Yaqub who links the recent events back home to Tucson and quotes other friends of mine, Noel Rivera and Nadia Hamrouni. In addition, a Libyan colleague, Yusra Tekbali, made an appearance on CNN. The last link I want to post is a analysis of the political climate in Syria (where I spent the last 3.5 months and now have many friends) by Al- Jazeera that I find right on target. Finally, my heart is with all these brave protesters and revolutionaries and I am praying for a new era of peace and democracy and most importantly independence from Western forces in the Middle East!!

Female protesters in Egypt.

   Well, things are much less exciting these days in my personal life, but that's alright. I just finished reading "The Lacuna" by Barbara Kingsolver and am starting on the classic "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" which I checked out from the Mersin public library (Mersin Il Halk Kütüphanesi). It's a very small library and I admit I was disappointed, as Mersin is about the same size of Tucson, which has numerous and to say the least, adequate libraries. I expected something more substantial from Mersin. When I complained of this to Ahmet he said to me, "That's why we're not a developed country...nobody reads." I'm not sure if his theory is correct but I did  feel lousy for complaining. I confess that I have taken the Tucson-Pima Public Libraries for granted before this day. Not that I never used them or thought ill of them; I just never realized that we are so lucky to have them - and so many of them - with new acquisitions, special literacy programs, etc.

Mersin Public Library

   The Mersin library building itself is rather grand, one of the oldest in Mersin I presume, but its mostly full of government employee offices who, from what Ahmet and I witnessed, aren't doing much of anything. There is just one small room for adult books with maybe 20 bookshelves and most of the books are at least 30 years old. I will give them credit for at least having 3 shelves or English literature books, although the ones not translated into Turkish were mostly pulp fictions, Danielle Steel-style romances or Middle School-level reading (understandable for readers who are not native speakers).
   Along those lines,  I wanted to check out some children's books in Turkish to help my own language acquisition along. The children's section was on the opposite end of the hallway, another singular room even more sparse then the adult section. A lone librarian and child were inside. The librarian seemed puzzled to see us and asked what we were doing there. Ahmet told her we were just looking. She informed him that only children can check-out books from the children's section. He said that I was interested because I was only able to read at a child-level. She didn't budge, "rules are rules". I was pretty irked. "What if we had a child at home?" I wanted to know, to which she responded that the child must be present to check out the books. Say WHAT?! I wanted to speak to the Director. Conveniently, right down the hall amongst the many other bureaucratic offices.
   Ahmet explained to him the situation and he confirmed the rule: only children (who must be present) have access to the children's books. Ahmet pressed him, explaining that they should be supportive of a foreigner trying to learn their language. And what about the mentally-handicapped who could only read at a lower-level? What if parents are unable to physically bring their children to the library but would like to check-out books for them to read? The Dırector must have seen his point because he offered to make an exception and allow me to check out the books. He told Ahmet that before, anyone could check them out but then somebody made a fuss that adults were hoarding all the children's books and when a certain government Minister got involved, they made the present regulation. Unbelievable! Sometimes I am astounded by how a single individual can have such a negative (and ridiculous) effect on others, such as this alleged complainer. In the end, I left without any chıldren's book, as I was unaware of a second regulation, that of checking out only 3 books at a time. I was already at the limit.
   Other than the library excitement, I am taking an online course to become TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language) certified. Hopefully after this roadblock is surpassed I can start teaching and make a little money before my Mom and her friend Joan come out for a visit mid-May. I am getting very excited for their trip, researching vacation destinations and plotting-out itineraries with them via Skype.
   Next week I am going to visit Northern Cyprus because I have to leave the country in order to get another 3-month tourist visa.  As luck would have it, there is a port right outside the city where you can catch a ferry and be there in 2-4 hours. I'll be staying at a eco-farm/B&B that has sheep they milk and make cheese from each day so I'm going to learn how! I'm  really looking forward to it and also to hiking around in what I've read is really quiet and breathtaking mountains and beaches. Wildflowers should be out and I am hoping to get some bird-watching in as well. There are tons of endemic species on the island that I've been reading about. Yahoo!!

Until soon. (I'm preparing a post on nuts and orchids; watch out!)

AMS