Life is grand in Istanbul

 Quite a week at work. As most people know, Istanbul has been on what we call “ordered departure” for five months, meaning most of the family members have left post for security reasons. This past week, we had a decision coming down on whether to bring them back as well as a decision in the pike about movement restrictions. They’re coming back, which is good news.

Very different 

Safety is paramount, and sometimes “use common sense” isn’t strong enough, so we’re still waiting word on the recommendation on the movement restrictions, and most people are thinking gloom and doom on it. Really, we have nothing to base it on, but everyone assumes we’re going on some kind of house arrest.

I’m trying to not buy into the pessimism, but I must say I was really happy when by Friday at 5 p.m. we hadn’t heard anything. It gave everyone another weekend to do whatever they wanted in Istanbul, and I hadn’t been to the Grand Bazaar yet. So that’s what I did, along with four others. I had nothing that I needed to get, but just in case, I wanted to see everything. It really wasn’t possible in a single day, though. Too much to see.

It’s a lot like the Fes souk, really, except it’s indoors. It really is a Grand Bazaar, and it was nice to see more tourists out. This is just such a fantastic place and it's so sad to see touristy places devoid of people.

I wanted to see lamps and carpets, and other were looking for leather jackets, tiles and jewelry. No one went away empty-handed, for sure. Gosh, we weren’t even five minutes in and someone bought a ring. It was a really cool ring, because whatever stone it was showed differently in all kinds of light. It went from green to purple to blue to red. It was quite amazing.

At one of the tile stores, someone bought multiple pairs of earrings that were hand-painted on little baby tiles. Another went to the leather guy, who makes custom leather jackets. One guy I work with likes them so much he had two made, but I feel like I have enough jackets.

A little skinnier than I thought

I wanted a lamp, but holy cow, they were hard to choose from. Most were Turkish tile mosaic-ish but I got a more subtle one in brown shades. It’s just a little desk lamp but once I got home I realized the light bulb is a slightly different size than what I consider normal, so I don’t have a bulb for it yet. They were much cheaper than I thought they’d be, and now I am considering a hanging one to put in my eventual house. But that’s all pending me being able to leave the house again. That might not happen any time soon.

So I, like everyone else, made the most of it. The other big purchases I made were rugs, although I haven’t paid for them yet. I went to the rug guy of a couple colleagues (everyone here has a rug guy) with the intent to look at runners. I’d like one for my hall, although I am fully cognizant that in my next assignment, I might not have a hall. That’s one thing to be wary of: buying stuff for a particular spot in my current house. I need to keep in mind to just buy what I love, no matter if I have a space for it now or not.

Need a bulb

Of course, the downside to that theory is that at this particular moment in time, my floor is crawling with rugs. I got two yesterday, although for now I am only test-driving them. I looked at a whole bunch of runners and didn’t completely fall in love with any of them but made a quick call to take one home. Once there, I realized it’s a bit skinnier than I thought it was and I do like it but so far don’t love it.

It is made from old saddlebags, as is the other one, which is fatter but shorter. It’s a tad longer than the others I’ve bought here; actually a kind of odd length – nine feet. The bigger one I liked immediately but wasn’t sure about because, let’s face it, I already bought two rugs here about that size and I am less than a year into my second tour. What if I go to Pakistan next? I LOVE their patterns.

But the colors in this one were really cool, and pretty much on the spur of the moment – I’d already eliminated it from the possibilities – decided to take it home. And, even though it’s just sitting on the floor in a random spot, it’s really grown on me. I like it more than the skinny one, even though I had been looking for a runner. So now I have to figure out if I want one or both, and where to put it or them while in Istanbul.

Such a terrible problem to have, I know.

Props to Romania

Spent my birthday weekend in Transylvania, which is the way everyone should spend a birthday. I traveled with a colleague from work, who was happy to plan the trip. Since at the time she decided to jump on my outing I still had several trips upcoming prior to this departure, I let her figure it out. It worked out well. 

All I could think of:
Bill S. Preston, Esq. and "Ted" Theodore Logan

We covered a lot of Romanian territory, since the flights I’d chosen went into Cluj, in Transylvania, and then back from Bucharest. Had I gone alone, I would have figured out how to get from one to the other, but my travelling companion was good with the planning, so it worked for me.

We saw Dracula’s castle and a couple more palaces, went to Sinaia, Brasov and Bran, and took several trains, one of which was on time. We also got snowed and sleeted on, and I lost a glove. Unlike the last outing, though, I did not come back sick.

And what’s even better was that I came back at all. Oh, my, the return flight.

Obligatory Dracula castle photo

The flights from Istanbul to Bucharest and back again were, oddly, on a propeller plane. I cannot say I’ve ever taken an international flight on a propeller plane. Those are reserved for places like Monroe or Tallahassee to Atlanta, or Atlanta to Augusta. Not international!

But this one was. Not the flight from Bucharest to Cluj – it, oddly, was on a jet. But Istanbul to Bucharest and back again at least on Tarom Air (a Delta partner! Yay! My first Skymiles since arriving in Istanbul!), we were on a prop plane both ways.

And honestly, I feel safer on prop planes. This one had, I think, 17 rows. I was on row 15, close to the back. I remember someone telling me that in case of emergency jets go straight down but you have a chance in a propeller plane. No idea if that’s true, but I cling to it like I cling to my armrest in turbulence.

It's not what you think.
Oh, wait. Yes it is.

The flight up to Bucharest was fine. I can excuse a little turbulence in a prop plane, way more so than in a jet, so usually I fly better on a prop. Seriously, for as much as I like to travel, I absolutely hate to fly. There is just nothing fun about it, and it’s not natural. Like the comic said, you’re sitting in a chair in the sky. That just can’t be right.

But again, the flight up was just fine. On time, not too bumpy and I had a sandwich that had more cheese on it than some goats produce in a year.

But oh my, the flight back. Same prop plane, almost the same seat. I was in C instead of A, but there was no one in D so I could stretch out. It seemed promising, especially the blue sky as we left Bucharest. But the ascent was way more bumpy than it seemed like it would be. I realized it was cloudy, though, so I kept telling myself it was all right. Clouds look so light and fluffy, but man, oh, man, they’re beasts to fly through.

So the cabin crew came through and gave us more cheese sandwiches and OJ, and then we hit turbulence again. I was white-knuckling it and having a running conversation with Jesus. We were above the clouds, so I’ve no idea what was going on. Not that I really want to know.

Pepsi vampire can

Back in Bhutan, one of the people on the tour had been a pilot and she said she liked the bumpy “negative air,” calling it bouncy like Tigger. So now I try to put a happy, Disney-like spin on turbulence, calling it “Tigger Air.”

It didn’t work. Man, I was spooked. At one point, we hit some pocket of air and dropped so fast, three people in front of me spilled their drinks – on the ceiling.

This is the best.

Finally, the captain – I swear we got the ‘B’ team on that flight – said we were starting our descent. That makes me feel better, like if something goes really wrong I can jump. (I said it make me feel better, not that it was realistic.) But the descent took forever. This, obviously, is much better than a really, really quick, like a crash, but it was still agonizing. Especially when I looked down and only saw water. I’m pretty sure Istanbul is a land mass, you know? And we circled, still bouncing like Tigger, so we’d stay over the water. I was having visions of a landing in the Bosporus, not that I was entirely positive that was the Bosporus. I swear Bucharest, like all of Romania, is north of Istanbul, but at one point I looked down and saw a fort that I know is on the Asian side – which is south. I have no idea what the flight pattern was supposed to be, but I don’t feel like that was it.

Wanted a T-shirt.
Had to settle for a picture.

The whole descent thing was agonizingly slow. Even after the captain came on and told the crew to take their seats for landing, it was still 10-15 minutes. I can remember one flight that really was worse, but I was just so relieved to hear the landing gear crank down.

I’d been thinking of trying to do a quick getaway in April, but right now I am happy to be back on terra firma.

This is what friends are for

Last month, I got a late Christmas present from Dana. Have I sung Dana’s praises lately? The woman knows what I like.

From Dana. But I ate some before
I took the photo.

We get little notifications when our packages arrive, and as I’ve been waiting on a package from LL Bean forever, I was expecting a little green bag when I ran down to pick up my package. Except the LL Bean package, which I’d mailed before Christmas, hadn’t arrived. Instead, Ender handed me this huge box that, even from where I stood, wafted peppermint.

I lugged the box to my office and ripped it open. That’s one thing Istanbul has over Guangzhou – we weren’t able to open mail in the consulate. I’ve been here seven months and I still get a kick out of ripping an envelope or package open.

Anyway, with Dana, I expected good stuff but she outdid herself. Inside, there was about 15 POUNDS of Christmas chocolate. Peppermint bark. Hershey Kisses. Fifteen pounds. Absolutely amazing.

She also included a knit hat from the Wings-Leafs outdoor game and some Wings gloves. Just in time for winter, too.

But the candy. Oh, the candy! I’ve shared some, hidden some and eaten a lot. So much that I think I’ve gained about five pounds. But I have to say, it’s been worth it. Thank you, Dana.

The five pounds has stuck with me, not that I’ve slowed the chocolate eating and given it a chance to be worked off. I haven’t been great about the gym the last few weeks because since being gone a week, I’ve been coughing and/or working late. I’ve missed a day or so each week and the days I’ve been in I haven’t been able to go full speed. I did once – whole hog – but it about did me in.

And this lack of gym time didn’t bode well for the 10k I was set to run in Antalya last weekend. I’d signed up long ago and it didn’t seem daunting. A friend from work went, but we traveled separately and didn’t stay in the same hotel. We met race day.

Sunrise in Antalya

Antalya is a wonderful city, with beach on one side and mountain on the other. I rented a car because the resort (yes, resort) I stayed in was a $65 cab ride away. It seemed cheaper to rent one and have a little freedom. I took a drive on Saturday evening before the race and just had a nice time looking at the water.

The hotel/resort was a nice place, and all inclusive. I had a private beach and though it was too cold to get into the water, it was a beautiful place to watch the sunrise.

I think I overdid the all-inclusive thing with breakfast the day of the race. I swear I didn’t eat much, but I’m used to running before meals, not after. I wasn’t feeling strong, but I did finish strong.

But I have absolutely no idea what my time was. When I went to pick up my stuff, I didn’t know to go to all these different booths and pick up bits and pieces of my little race kit. I got the number, the shirt and the bag but when I got to the race I realized I didn’t have the little chip thing to track my time.

I have no idea what my time was, but I really, really hope that I sweat off the five pounds from the chocolate.