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.
-----
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.
-----
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:
...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.
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.
-----
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.
-----
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.
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