Mid-Week Weekend

So much to write and so little energy...

So, I had a really big week and a half. Like... really big. And I keep meaning to talk about it, and I don't, and now I'm forgetting and moving on to things the likes of which are likely to drive events from my mind altogether. Not for good, just for long enough that they will never get written. So, I am forcing myself to put things down in writing, but it might be brief and cursory and full of typos because I am very tired, with spectacular reason.

So, you remember how I was kind of bummed I wasn't going to Cappadocia? Well, Jim (my boss) called me into his office two Mondays ago - because I've been so terrible about writing - to ask me if there was anything I had wanted to do during my internship that I hadn't yet. He meant work related I assume, but the trip was still on my mind, and so the conversation went something like this.

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Jim: Lauren, I realize you've been very busy and proactive, and there isn't much time left, but I want to make sure before there's no time left... Is there anything you wanted to do during this internship that you haven't done yet?

Me: Well... I really wanted to go to Cappadocia.

Jim: Oh. [Awkward pause.] Well, you should do that then.

Me: Well, I intended to, but I don't want to miss networking opportunities on the weekends.

Jim: Wednesday's a holiday.

Me: But it would take at least two days...

Jim: Well, it wouldn't be the end of the world at this point if you took a day off.
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And that was how I ended up in Cappadocia on Wednesday and Thursday of last week. I don't really know what to say otherwise besides that it was spectacular. For those who don't know, Cappadocia is the ancient volcanic area of Turkey + the cradle of Christianity + the second most popular tourist destination in Turkey after Istanbul. So basically, it's Petra with less mystery, but just as much beauty.

To summarize the trip, I stayed two nights in a cave hostel:

Spent Wednesday exploring an underground city and a towering monastery, both carved completely out of rock:

Wandered one of the most gorgeous valleys I've ever seen...

...only to climb its walls and realize they are lined with cave churches:

Went Thursday to visit the various surrounding rock formations, known as faerie chimneys:

And even stopped by to see some of the local crafts people:

Stone work, pottery, and jewelry are all major industries in Cappadocia.

I also met a lot of great people on the trip. It's wonderful to see who all makes it out to these world renowned sights. I had hired a tour, just to save time and energy, and on my bus were other people from the U.S., but also Portugal, Tanzania, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Italy, and Brazil. And it wasn't a very big bus.

Anyway, the experience as a whole put me back on my travel kick, which seems to have shut off my social kick, because I ended up staying in most of weekend despite a Latin Happy Hour on Friday night and a Cinco de Mayo party Saturday. Oh! I forgot to talk about Cinco de Mayo. Or rather... how I got invited to Cinco de Mayo before it was May yet.

So two Fridays ago - like the two Mondays ago - I went to a party at a Polish guy's house. Isobel had met him on the bus, which I realize is creepy, but it turns out we all had mutual friends, which made it not creepy, and then we went to the party, and now we have lots of mutual friends! And one of those mutual friends is a diplomat at the Mexican Embassy, and he loved the fact that I was from Texas and knew who Ignacio Zaragoza was and that he was from San Antonio and so he insisted I come to his early Cinco de Mayo party that he was throwing because his friend was leaving town. I'd planned to go. Really! But then I got tired.

And it wasn't like I did nothing with my weekend. I bought a back pack. A big back pack. One of those hiking ones that I am too lazy to go take a picture of now that I realize I should have one to show you. I realize buying a hiking backpack may not sound like an accomplishment, but I'm pretty sure there is only one store in all of Ankara that sells them, and I found it, and then I had a spectacular time talking to the sales lady. And by talking to I mean gesturing wildly and spouting random words like "travel" and "big." I was actually having a decent Turkish language day though, and we got along so well she even gave me a discount. And thus I have become a real backpacker - or will be as soon as I manage to ditch my suitcase.

That was the other thing I've been spending my time doing - logistics for what to do with all my crap. As one might imagine, the things a person needs to backpack across... well, everywhere - are not the things a person brings to a professional internship at the Department of State. So a few of my more casual things were salvageable, but I intended to pack the rest of it up in the suitcase I'd brought and mail that suitcase home - until I realized the suitcase would cost $350 to ship empty, let alone partly full. So I needed a Plan B.

Plan B ended up being donate my old stuff to a women's shelter in Ankara and pack my nice things in flat rate shipping boxes to send through the diplomatic post office, which is the same price as the domestic post office. I got everything I needed in three boxes and a ton of technical difficulties, but that still left the suitcase.

Thank goodness I have amazing friends.

Lisa, who I am meeting for a ten day romp of awesomeness in London later this month, has kindly volunteered to take my suitcase (as well as a couple larger items that wouldn't fit in boxes) back to the states for me. Now... she lives nowhere near the rest of my belongings, but hey: at least they'll all be on the same continent, and it give me a good excuse to go visit.

Shopping and shipping were just two of the many issues I've been contending with this past week too. Human Resources at the Embassy had an entire checklist of things for me to do: people to meet with, forms to fill out, offices to visit. Then there was just prepping the office for my departure in general. I had to teach John to use the coffee pot, finally. Not that I don't think he could make coffee normally, but our pot is... strange. If you'll recall, I fixed the old pot when I arrived because it's difficult to get new equipment cleared for classified space, but you can't actually make it the way it's supposed to be made anymore. It's too complicated to explain... I'm not even sure why I'm trying.

Then there was the office prepping me for my departure too. Brandon and I sat down for a debrief, and then he wrote me the kindest evaluation letter. Part of that whole process involved me drafting up a list of things I'd done over the course of my internship, which I was going to share by now realize would make no sense to anyone who doesn't know what all the program are or what the acronyms mean. Suffice it to say it was long, and made me feel very good about the work I'd done.

Otherwise, packing out was a pretty low key affair. I didn't have time for any big farewells. I did go out for a drink with a bunch of people Monday night because it was Eva's birthday, but that was hardly a bon voyage. Mark knocked on our door last night and drug us up to the roof for one last look at our spectacular view. Jim got me the best Ataturk coffee mug as a going away present. Then the Economic Section took me out to lunch today. We went to a place is discovered yesterday with Isobel called Misir (Egypt in Turkish). I'd wanted to go in on a whim, but it turns out the food is actually delicious. Go figure.

Then afternoon came, I got on a plane, and now I'm in Cyprus. And exhausted. And there are things to say about Cyprus and getting here and being here and cars and lostness and antique hotels, but do you see how long this post is already? And you can't even see my clock, which is glaring and asking me why I'm still awake when I wanted to get up today and explore before Mark and Isobel arrive.

So good night to everyone, thanks for reading, and keep a look our for a Cyprus post! Also, please note that the photo we took with the Ambassador has been added to the April 12th post for anyone who is interested.

VVIPs

Before I disappear into another weekend of being too distracted to write, I feel I must report, because this week was a full one, in terms of content if not length.  It’s Spring Break for most of the schools in Turkey, which means many people were out of the office travelling with their kids, which means I didn’t have many people around to give me new work to do, which means I spent most of the week finishing old projects. That was good, but even better was the day I got nothing done.

I realize none of you follow Turkish news, but if you did, you would realize that the Speaker of the House, John Boehner, came to Turkey for a state visit last Tuesday. Now, I am nowhere near important enough to be allowed in the same room as John Boehner under normal circumstances, buuuut there’s also some strange provision somewhere that says that the Department of State isn’t allowed to spend money on anyone who isn’t technically an employee of the state, which means State Department employees who are paid by the state can’t be held responsible for civilians travelling with the Congressional delegation – and by civilians I mean spouses.

Well, as luck would have it, the state doesn’t pay me, which means I am not technically an employee, which means I got to accompany eight Congressmen’s wives for a day to show them around Ankara. I got the feeling they weren’t terribly interested in Turkey, but they were kind all the same, and being part of the spousal delegation meant that I got to meet the Speaker. Not just meet him, but shake his hand. Twice. And! And! And I made the thank you gift list. So… this is my super-special-commissioned-exclusively-for-the-Office-of-the-Speaker jewelry box/ash tray. It definitely came with his business card, which I might like even more.

So I was euphoric about that for most of the week, and then got to have a full conversation with the Ambassador today, which was also awesome. My friend we threw the party for last weekend happens to be his Staff Aide, so there was a miniature celebration to see her off in the Front Office and we got pulled into a discussion of Egypt, where he used to be the Ambassador before he came to Turkey.

Speaking of Egypt, I think I’m going to a primarily Arabic speaking party tonight? Isobel met a Polish guy on the bus the other day and it turns out he’s friends with one of our friends from the Belgian Embassy and there’s a small get together tonight that he invited us to on Facebook except all of the comments on the event are in Arabic because he’s studying advanced Arabic at Middle East Technical University here in town. So… that’s exciting. I definitely read the news this morning in Arabic just to make sure I was brushed up, and then taught Isobel a few phrases at lunch.

The only bad news from this week was that I won’t be making it out to Cappadocia. I tried to book a tour but none of the companies ever got back to me. Alas, it’s probably better I don’t spend the money. Oh! But also I’m probably not coming back to Turkey after I head out for London. I went to the Foreigners’ Police on Monday to try to get my Residence Permit and it turns out it’s far more of a hassle than it’s worth. I’m not as bummed about it as I thought I might be. I will miss the work, but I’m also looking forward to not having a plan. Sort of. Other than the fact that it’s terrifying.

Because I can’t really afford a Eurail Pass, I’m mostly weighing my options between moving to Spain and working for a bit in Mumbai. I have a friend who owns a production company there, and he can’t pay me, but he lives in Ankara most of the time anyway, and said I could stay at his apartment in Mumbai when he’s not there, and hey, India’s kind of a big deal. At this point, anything’s possible, right?

No Rest for the Willingly Weary

Oh my goodness. So it's been ages and I don't even know where to begin. Actually, it's only been two weeks, but I'm going to fast forward through the first of those because it was really just a lot of planning for the event that happened in the second week, and that is far more interesting. Between week one and week two, however, there was, of course, the weekend.

For the first time in a while I didn't do much. I was half hanging around because my father's friend was supposed to be in town and had expressed some interest in getting together for dinner or something, but he never contacted me and I wasn't terrible fussed. The real reason I didn't want to travel last weekend was the Quidditch World Cup. It took place in North Myrtle Beach on April 5th and 6th, and let's be honest - I can't miss the World Cup. There were streaming issues on Saturday, but Sunday UT beat Baylor, A&M, and Texas State in that order to win the Championship a second year in a row. It was pretty spectacular, and especially after the day I'd had.

With the time difference, games didn't start until the early evening, so I went out on Sunday to see the Anatolian Civilizations Museum: easily the most important museum in Ankara. The good thing about that is that it was gorgeous and I found a deck of cards with pictures of Turkey on them (background: we'd been searching for playing cards). The bad thing is only one of the three galleries in the museum was open, so there was only a little bit of bang for my buck and a lot of wandering the grounds because it was beautiful and perfect and sunny out, which never happens in Ankara.

After the museum, I went to the hamam (Turkish bath) because I love hamams and there was one in the area and oh my goodness saunas and massages and exfoliation. It was a little more expensive than I was comfortable with, but not breaking the bank by any means, and I learned a bit about local baths as opposed to the tourist baths I'd mostly visited. Apparently they charge for everything: entrance, scrub, soap, massage, shampoo, all individually so it starts to add up. It looked like you were expected to just bring a lot from home. They also sort of coerced me into a coffee massage, not that I'm complaining. It's literally what it sounds like. They moisten Turkish coffee grounds and then rub it into your skin. Apparently it's healthy. It's also exfoliating, and I smelled like coffee for days. All very good things.

It was good that I got some relaxation on Sunday too, because all of that was gearing up for the five day marathon that was last week. Due to some disagreements and miscommunications between the Economic Section and Public Affairs, I was tasked with organizing a visit for a group of high school students who are studying abroad in Turkey for the academic year. It's a bit like what I did with the Arabic Flagship, only they're younger and in Turkey. I got tasked with it because four of the students were assigned mentors in the Economic Section, but four quickly grew to six quickly grew to eight, and at the last minute I was scrambling to house everyone, get them to and from bus stations, and make sure they had a good, informative, fun experience at the Embassy.

Needless to say, it was a 24-hrs a day job. The students got in on Sunday night, came to the Embassy to shadow their mentors on Monday, went through my carefully planned and executed survey of all the Embassy departments on Tuesday, and in the evenings spent most of the time with me and Mark being carted to various places and events. A lot of them got into a fancy reception Monday night, though I took the rest out to dinner. Tuesday we ordered in Chinese food because that's one of the things they missed from home, and though most of them were supposed to leave Wednesday evening, many ended up staying an extra day, going to trivia with us at the British Embassy, and then cooking dinner to thank us with food they'd bought at the commissary: Easy Mac and bacon. Imagine my joy. (Note the sarcasm.)

At the very least it was sweet of them to do, despite miscalculating tastes, and only reinforced the week's rave reviews. As many of you know from stories or experience, it can be difficult to live as a young student abroad, and they were all very grateful for their short American break. The thank you emails have been flooding my inbox since they left and I think many of them will keep in touch. I was also pleasantly surprised that even at eighteen, many of them were considering a career in the Foreign Service and were terribly excited to get a glimpse of the inner workings of a U.S. Mission.

While the event was definitely a success in my book, and I've been putting together a debrief so it can be repeated next year, it was also exhausting. Two of the students were staying with us in our building, one with Mark and one with me and Isobel, while Isobel's family was also in town to visit. I don't think I slept more than four hours a night until they all left. That on top of running on all cylinders during the day quickly burnt me out, and by Thursday I wasn't the only one ready to crash.

We got our rest in though, and I even convinced some friends last night to go with me to a local restaurant they had been refusing to visit since I got here. It's called Speakeasy, which drew my attention because the 20s, but it also has this beautiful stone patio with stained glass windows and a sort of steampunk decor. Inside is even better, with stone walls, antique tables, and bookshelves all over. It's like... all of the aesthetics I love rolled into one, and the food was amazing. So, one more point for Lauren.

Alas, even that moment of rest cannot last for long. Tonight I have volunteered my building's roof, and in the event of inclement weather my apartment, for the going away party of one of my friends at the Embassy. She's been reassigned to Niger, as seems to happen often in the Foreign Service. I am not technically hosting the party, Eva has that covered, but I have tried to be as helpful as possible. Mark is chipping in too, but Isobel is out of town. She was disappointed she won't be able to make it, but there will always be more parties, I'm sure.

The inclement weather thing might actually be a problem too. After days of beautiful sunlight and reasonable temperatures it started to pour rain last night, and then this morning I woke up to hail. It's calmed down now though, so as long as that lasts we might be okay. I will be cleaning my apartment thoroughly regardless.

Next week there's a lot going on too. We have another visit, but Mark has taken point on this one. I'm just tagging along to babysit, but it should be fun regardless. And it's only one day instead of five, so that's something for which to be thankful. Assuming I'm not needed for planning that on Monday I should be off to the foreigner's office in Ankara to apply for a residence permit too. For those who haven't heard, the Economic Section wants to keep me. Not that they're allowed to hire me because rules, but they got my housing extended, so it looks like I'll be jetting off to London for a few weeks and then coming back to work a few weeks more assuming I don't have visa issues. Mostly, I'm trying to extend my stay in Ankara until I can take the Foreign Service Officer Exam in June. I'm a week short now because of Department rules, but I'm sure I can find something to fill my time.

And now a wedding procession has just exploded in my street. At least I assume that's what it is. There is a lot of car horn honking and drums and joyous ululation. It's extremely headache inducing, so I think I'm going to go make a cup of tea. Ugh people celebrating with noise.