Illumination

So I woke up this morning, in my hotel in Antakya (no hostels in this part of Turkey), to find that the power was out. No big deal, I had my traditional Turkish breakfast of fresh veggies, olives, cheese, bread and an egg served with a cup of cay, and figured I'd wander around a bit til the power came back on. I needed to use my computer to study Arabic and put together some slides for presentations I'll be giving in Syria next week, but I was hesitant to run down the battery with an indefinite power outage. For the most part, the city was normal in the midst of a black-out. A few shops had generators, but most made due in the dark, women shopping for clothing and having to try items on in near darkness, the bazaars running completely normally, and cashiers reverting to simple cash systems without electronic card readers or cash registers. The restaurants tend to cook on gas and flame, so other than the darkness were not much affected. At first I thought perhaps this was a normal event, turn off the power during mid-day to conserve energy? But alas, come 3pm, the power is still out, I've almost finished my book, I'm bored with shopping, and still not wanting to use up my battery so I decide to take a nap.

I wake up a couple hours later in a dark room, the sun sets around 4:30pm. It suddenly occurs to me that if the power is not coming back on soon, I should probably track down some candles so I can at least keep myself entertained writing and reading, and avoid stubbing my toes. So I head out of my room, escorted down the stairs to the front door by my mini-mag light and the desk clerk, and find the shop a few doors down I'd noticed before. They were selling everything from bits of jewelry and prayer beads to tea glasses and kitchen utensils, and seemed as likely a place as any to find candles. One clerk was checking shelves using a flashlight, and spoke a few words in English but only enough for me to confuse her. Thankfully a second flashlight was set up facing a corner containing candles for 1 lira each (bout 60 cents). I grabbed two, and a pack of lighters I noticed on the side, and pulled my flashlight out of my pocket. I unscrewed it, pulled the battery out, and showed it to the clerk. She nodded and showed me to the check out desk where they handed me a six-pack of duracell batteries, commenting gravely that it was 7 lira. I said that was fine and walked out moments later with 4 lighters, two good sized candles, and a pack of good old American batteries for the high price of about $6.

I was thinking about finding dinner, but wanting to wait a bit longer, so I walked up and down the street, evaluating life in a blackout. As I passed the grocery store, lit up slightly with generators to provide functioning tills and refrigeration, it occurred to me that having no idea how long the blackout would last, it was probably prudent to grab at least some bread and water. I usually keep some with me, but was in need of fresh stocks anyways. So I walked through the store quickly, grabbing a couple bottles of water and a loaf of bread, and just as I walk up to the cash register and set my items down, the lights flicker on. Across the street, the rest of the buildings are lit up like normal, including my hotel. Irony. I walked back into my hotel, and laughing at myself showed the clerk my purchases which elicited a small laugh from his normally gruffy demeanor. Well, they aren't bad supplies to have, so not a total waste of money. And its something to write home about.

As far as a travel update goes, I'm hanging out just north of the Syrian border for about a week, then heading to an international research center there where I'll be giving a couple of seminars on a oilseed crop produced in Montana that would be beneficial and well suited to the region. The research institute has provided my visa to Syria, saving me a decent chunk of cash, and are also providing my room and board while I'm there and will help me set up tours around the country. I'm hoping to also make some research contacts through the facility, which is home to researchers representing about twenty-five countries. In the mean time, my temporary home, Antakya, is the ancient Antioch, and boasts an ancient Church of St. Peter among its treasures. While much smaller than the other cities I've visited, it has a lot more character, and my hotel is pretty well situated in the city center. I even found a few small English book sections in local "kitabevi's." The first stash made me smile; among the handful of mass-market murder mysteries and romances was a couple copies of a Orhan Pamuk novel (famous Turkish author, even well known in the states) and a single copy of "Complete collection of sexual terms and definitions. This last was a slim volume proclaiming to describe various terms related to sexuality, gender, and anatomy so as to remove any confusion and was prescribed for students, teachers, and the general public. Well, with the power back, I suppose I have no excuse now not to get to work... except, I haven't eaten in a while... after dinner will be soon enough. :)