When I visited the USA back in the 1970s I was always surprised by how little most of the Americans I met knew about what was happening in the rest of the world.
Most newspapers seemed to report only local news and I would ‘flick through’ the TV channels in a fruitless search for some news from Britain or Europe in general.
Of course a lot has changed since then with events such as the fall of the Soviet Union, 9/11, and the Iraq crisis helping to focus Americans’ attention away from their own shores.
I well remember an event that helped to start this change, for I was visiting Turkey in the 80s and was sitting on the quayside of a small harbour where a cruise ship was docked.
I watched as two passengers came ashore. They were an elderly couple of ‘old type’ American tourists. You know … loud check Bermuda shorts … white socks with black shoes … Hawaiian shirts … baseball caps (rare outside the US at that time) … and of course a collection of cameras hung around their necks.
They stopped near to where I was sipping from my glass of tea, as I sat among a group of heavily moustached locals who were smoking their hookahs and drinking their thick black coffees. I saw them nervously glance our way before turning their attention towards the minarets and domes
which could be seen rising above the date palms. The sound of a muezzin calling the faithful to prayer could be heard echoing from a distant mosque and the sun caught the white crescent on a Turkish flag as it fluttered in the warm breeze.
The elderly pair hesitated and seemed unsure whether to procede along the quay towards the town or not. The man chewed on his fat cigar and said something to his wife before they turned around and headed back towards the ship. They passed close to where I was sitting and to my astonishment I heard the woman say …
… ” Well it sure looks like EYE-RAN “.
bigjohn 
