Two steps forward, a couple back

Making some progress with the apartment at the same time I’m losing a little ground.

Happily, even though I have the wrong visa, my air delivery got delivered. Now I have most of my clothes and little bit of decoration. Not much in that department, since most of what meager possessions I own are in the boat shipment, but I did get the cross I bought at Boot Barn and Uncle Gray baby grandfather clock. Both of those are sitting in an otherwise empty china cabinet. The look quite lonely, but they won’t get any company any time soon. I do have to get the visa taken care of to get the other stuff.

That’s a three-step process, or maybe four, depending on how you count it. Any way you cut it, step two is under way – I shipped the passport off to DC to get the right visa. When it comes back, I have to exit the country again to get it all straightened out. So I guess that is three steps to get the visa, but after I get the visa, I then have to cough up the passport again in order to get my residency card, which I need to get my boat shipment.

There’s nothing I can do to speed the process, so I’m trying not to sweat it. I am pressured for time, though, if I want to anywhere for Labor Day, or the big holiday that’s the week after. I can only pray and cross my fingers that it all gets done in time.

One day, I’ll have all my stuff reunited in Istanbul. Hopefully, I’ll have a place to put it.

Unlike Guangzhou, I have plenty of storage room. There’s an entire room in the basement – larger than my spare bedrooms – that’s all mine. Except it’s flooded. I came back through the garage the other day – the room is off it – and noticed a huge pool of water right outside the door. Thinking that couldn’t be good, I went up and got my key, then discovered that over 2/3 of the floor was covered with standing water. Fortunately, the one corner that wasn’t affected had two boxes sitting in it. Unfortunately, my luggage was sitting right near the source of the leak.

I went up and got my dustpan-on-a-stick, which has a little squeegee end, and pushed all the water out. In my air shipment, I had one of those storage tubs and I put it under where water was still dripping pretty fast.

Later that day, I checked it again and it’s still leaking from other places, because there was more water on the floor as well as in the tub. Sigh. I reported it on Friday, but nothing happened. Hopefully they can fix it tomorrow.

And while they’re at it, they can fix the hot water heater – again. I had no hot water when I got here, had to jerry-rig the thing for awhile and then it got fixed. But I looked at it and saw an “E-04” flashing and figured that can’t be good. Sure ‘nuff, the hot water ran out. So very annoying. The worst thing is you’re not empowered to do anything yourself – you have to put in the formal requests to have it done.

This weekend, I got back into the gym full-time and did 10k-12k both mornings, meaning I was nasty sweaty. I hit the showers in the gym area because I don’t have hot water.

Did the same thing after wandering around my little area the past two days. It’s about 85 degrees out, and sunny, so me walking 5-6 kilometers outside made me a bit stinky, too. After that, I swam and then hit the showers. It’s not a bad compromise for now, but I really want my hot water working.

Yesterday, my walkabout led me to this high-end mall. Not super high end like they have in Guangzhou and Hong Kong, but they have Under Armor and Crate and Barrel. Oh, and a Shake Shack and a Popeye’s, although my Marine friends termed that Popeye’s as “nasty.” I’ll decide that on my own, but later. I got there around 5 p.m., which was too early to eat dinner, so I had a caramel shake.

Wandered around there a bit, found the movie theater but “Finding Dory” wasn’t there, but according to the coming attractions I found online, “Fish Dora Lost” will be here soon. That’ll do.

Decided I’d seen enough – I really don’t like shopping, just wanted to look around – and headed back, sucking it up to repeat the 40-minute walk again. But right outside, I ran into a few of the Marines and bummed a ride with them.

Today, I set out in the opposite direction, covering about six kilometers after doing the whole gym thing in the morning. I really do wipe myself out on weekends. Didn’t really see anything super cool, but I just soaked up views of the Bosporus. That’s worth it.

Next week, we have our Independence Day party, and it’s on a weekday. Yuk. I am working for an hour, but it’s my understanding we have to be there the whole time. I’m really unclear on it but I’m just thrilled I’m not planning it. I do fear I’ll get tagged to do it next year, so I am going to enjoy this almost-responsibility-free one this time around. From what I understand, there’s Krispy Kreme!

Euro trash

My second weekend here and I’ve yet to see any of the sights in Istanbul. There are a ton of them, the Blue Mosque and the Grand Bazaar being just two. I have no doubt I’ll be busy sightseeing during my entire tour, but so far I haven’t been to any of them.

I’m not here on vacation, of course, so during the week I work. My first weekend was spent in a Polish village, which was very, very cool. And this past weekend I darted for the border to Bulgaria.

My vacation planning had gotten lax since, oh, Peace Corps, and I tend to just throw stuff in a bag and run. This time, I did have the foresight to buy 200 Euros, not really having any idea what I might buy but reasoning that whatever was left could go to Greece with me next trip.

And you know what? I have 200 Euros left. Why, you ask? Because Bulgaria isn’t on the Euro. I suppose I should have figured that out, but the whole European Union thing threw me.

We found out we were in a bit of trouble when we stopped to fill up. We got Cokes and gas, and went to pay with a 50 Euro bill and the cashier looked at us like we’d dumped trash on her.

“No Euro.”

Oh, man. But fortunately, Visa travels well and bailed us out. Once in town, we just got the equivalent of $25 each out of the ATM and lived it up, but we were laughing at ourselves over the mistake for awhile.

Oh my gosh, Bulgaria was fantastic. I LOVED the country and can’t wait to go back. On the advice of a colleague, my traveling companion and I set out for a city on the coast called Nessebar, which in part was a UNESCO site. It’s an ancient city and was maybe a 4.5-hour drive.

We’ve been warned the border could take hours, but we didn’t spend more than 20 minutes there. The drive was beautiful – through trees and then just along the coast.  Coastline views are always spectacular.

Once in town and having loaded up at the ATM, we found a hotel and went out for lunch, settling on a Greek restaurant right on the water.

Right upon sitting down, I became aware of a familiar voice coming out of the speakers.

Willie Nelson.

Oh, how fantastic. I just laughed and laughed. I remember hearing Blake Shelton at the French pasty shop in Seoul, and Toby Keith (Christmas music) in Jakarta, but this seemed far more odd than either of those.

I was completely dumbstruck, especially since halfway through the meal they played another. I had never heard of any of the other stuff that was coming out, but when it’s Willie, you know it’s Willie.

After meal of trout in “potato crust” (which turned out to be fish and chips, something I did not expect but was fantastic), we stood up to leave and what came through next just made my vacation.

Not just Willie, but a Scotty Emerick-penned song that Willie’d recorded: “I Didn’t Come Here and I Ain’t Leavin’.” In a Greek restaurant in Bulgaria that overlooked the water. Quite appropriate considering the writer.

Having Scotty and Willie set the tone for your vacation ain’t bad, I gotta say. Traveling Companion and I had a wonderful time, wandering around the old town. The ruins from the churches date back around the 11^th century, and the roads are cobblestone weaving things. Had we had a set destination, I’m sure we’d have gotten lost, but since we didn’t it was all good. The place couldn’t have been more than one square kilometer, but there were several churches around – apparently there are a total of 40 in the larger area, which is still pretty small. Out one of the piers there was a cross.

And boats. I was just in heaven with the boats. And of course, my phone battery had died, so I didn’t pictures, but TC promised she’d get me some so I’ll update. I’d be like, can you take a picture of that boat for me? I just love them.

The whole point of the weekend was so that I could exit Turkey and return on another passport, but the trip was so much more than a visa run. Our hotel, picked pretty much out of the blue, was really cool (though mental note for later: never say yes to the first room they show you – hold out for the better view). There was a pool on the rooftop with a fabulous view of both the UNESCO site and Black Sea.

We also sprung for massages on Sunday morning before the gorgeous drive back, on which there was no wait at the border either. The trip wasn’t totally charmed – we missed our exit on the way back and wound up in Asia again – but it was close. A beach, boats, fish, Willie Nelson and Scotty Emerick. That’s darn near close to perfection.

Stepping out

My first weekend in Istanbul!

My house isn’t settled yet and I still have some apartmental hiccups, but I went out both days this weekend and did some exploring.

Initially, the plan was to hunt down some stuff for the apartment, because it is sorely lacking in … well, almost everything, since basically nothing is here yet. I did get my checked bag on Thursday evening, so that was nice, but I’m missing all kinds of stuff I’d counted on having in a few weeks.

I’m the first person from work living in this apartment and it doesn’t have some stuff I consider essential, like towel bars. The shower is pretty high up, therefore the slidy door thing is really tall. It’s the only real place to store the towel that’s accessible to the shower, so I’d like a hook or something.

Oddly, there is a towel rack. It can be heated, but it doesn’t look functional for daily use. It looks kind of like a closed TV tray smack up against the wall, then another beneath it. It’s just kind of odd, but I will use it in the winter. Summer, though, I hope for something a little more accessible.

Anyway, all this led to a need to go shopping, so when my neighbor, who has access to a vehicle, asked if I wanted to go to Ikea, I jumped at the chance. Oddly, even though I’ve had ample opportunity in multiple countries (including Sweden), I’d never been to one.

It was OK. I don’t see the big deal. I had a little list and couldn’t find anything that fit the bill on anything, even though I came away with seven items, three of which were bathroom rugs.

Yeah, it didn’t occur to me that I’d have guest bathrooms. I brought stuff for my bathroom, but I have two additional half baths. The odd thing about the layout is the half baths are right next to each other. One has a sink, a tiny, tiny shower and the washer and dryer. The other has a toilet and a sink. That one is dizzying – it’s tiled in one-inch tile on all four walls and the floor, complete monochrome. It makes me dizzy stone sober.

So that was Saturday. On Sunday, I went with a colleague to a small town nearby called Polonezkoy. It was settled by 12 Polish families in the late 1800s and was really fascinating. I’m always enthralled with cemeteries (not in a morbid way – I think they’re beautiful) and we just poked around at the cafes and such. There really wasn’t much to it, but it was interesting to see a Polish village in Asia. I guess it’s kind of like Tarpon Springs for Poles in Turkey.

The novelty of driving to Asia might never wear off. I love the fact that Istanbul straddles two continents.

And I get to live here for two years. I love my life.

Bye-bye bacon, hello Turkey!

Greetings from Istanbul. I arrived yesterday, although my clothes have not gotten here just yet. Colin caused me to be late for my connecting flight to Paris; with only 34 minutes in Atlanta, I was thrilled I made it and figured the luggage would probably have to catch up with me later.

Of course, I hoped that would have been today, but ah well. Nothing I can do about it, so now I am washing my jeans and shirt so that I can wear them for the fourth day in a row. The socks are close to walking by themselves, so, even if I did have to do them in Palmolive I figure everything will be better off tomorrow.

Fortunately, I’d mailed myself a few packages to arrive before me and ended up topping them off with whatever fit in. Blessedly, some of that stuff wound up being just what I needed: toothpaste, deodorant, astringent, etc. If only I’d crammed in a spare pair of underwear, I wouldn’t have to be doing laundry right now, using dish soap as detergent.

So, by my count, I’ve just entered my fifth Ramadan in another country where bacon, ham and all other things pork are hard to come by. Honestly, though, I can’t really tell, or haven’t been able to yet. The sun doesn’t set until 8:something but there was lots of shopping going on at the grocery store.  And seemingly no one was cranky.

If my luggage doesn’t show by tomorrow COB, I might reach that point, though. So far, the transition hasn’t been all that smooth.  Despite the good omen of the Delta agent in Tallahassee being from Istanbul, I’ve had some hiccups upon arrival, the least of which is the luggage.

I’d really like a hot shower. So far, I’ve been unable to figure out the hot water. Last night, I ran it and ran it, waiting for it to get warm before finally giving up, sucking up and taking a cold one. When my sponsor came over, she discovered the hot water heater wasn’t plugged in. I’d seen the unit she was talking about but thought it was an air filtration thing, not the hot water heater. That I thought was behind this little panel thing in the main bedroom. There’s a little medicine cabinet-looking thing that opens up to what looks like a big, round tank. Seemed reasonable that it would be the hot water heater. Now I’ve no idea what it is.

Anyway, tonight I tried to use hot water to wash dishes but no dice. I went to the heater and discovered on one of the pipes, the shutoff valve appeared closed. (The other story to this is that I was looking at how to turn the gas on; stay tuned for that.) So I opened it and heard rushing water. Score!

Except no. About three minutes later, I went back into the kitchen where the thing was and saw water spreading all over the floor. I opened the door and discovered the thing leaking. After mopping it up, I found yet another shutoff valve closed and opened it, but it overflowed again.

So tonight is a cold shower again and tomorrow I hope to get it figured out, along with how to turn on the gas stove. Last night, I was wholly unsuccessful in my attempts to get it lit and figured I needed a Brika – a Bic lighter. However, after getting one, it’s no better. I hear the clicks, but after that, nothing happens – not even the hissing of gas. And the oven, which is in the wall and not connected to the stove, did work, so it’s not a matter of there not being gas. Earlier, I’d tried finding some kind of gas valve, which is why I thought maybe the hot water thing was gas.

There are people at work who can help me, but I discovered this afternoon that my landline does not work, and my cell phone is not ready yet, either. So right now, the cooking choice are oven (fine for the casserole my sponsor thoughtfully made for me), the microwave (tough call for grits, but doable), the toaster (Pop Tarts!) and coffee maker, which I didn’t think of last night for tea but had the light bulb to on tonight.

Hopefully, it gets sorted out for tomorrow so I can go back to scrambled eggs and hash browns (no bacon) for breakfast.

My biggest wrinkle so far, though, is that I have the wrong visa. I followed the instructions and it explicitly says "The e-visa system may be used by travelers entering Turkey for tourism, commerce, as well as official travel for USG official business."

And a little after it says "Information regarding Turkish e-visas and the application process ..." with a link. So I did that.

And ya know what, it was wrong. I'm "official ASSIGNED," not "official." And apparently now, they've updated that because when I said I'd done what I thought I was supposed to do, she printed out sample travel orders and they have a new line that makes the distinction. (Although I have no idea why someone not ASSIGNED to Turkey would get those orders, so why that info would even be in there is stupid. It should say something like, "you must get your visa at an embassy or consulate, but you can go to [web site address] for information."

I'm bringing my thing tomorrow to show them so they don't think I am a moron. I really did follow the directions.

Anyway, now I have to fix it, but that's a huge problem. I have to go somewhere and apply. I can't just mail it to the U.S. because I'm on a visa now and they won't issue one. I can possibly apply for one over the Fourth, when I am in Baku, but no guarantees. Another possibility I just thought of is darting over the border and exiting, then re-entering on my tourist and still mailing it to DC. That might be iffy because I'd then be working on a tourist visa, but I'll ask.

I'd like to start it ASAP because I cannot get any shipment, including UAB, until I have that stamp.

But right now, I'd be pretty thrilled with just the checked bag.