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?