An American Life in Istanbul

Two or three weeks ago, a French reporter working for a Turkish newspaper here contacted me. She said she was an occasional reader of my blog and that she was working on an article about what it’s like to be an American living in Istanbul. She asked if I would grant her an interview and I obliged. Below is a link to the article. Enjoy!

Today’s Zaman Article

 If you want, you can read the whole article here on my website too:

<<<

Turkish anti-Americanism through eyes of Americans living in Turkey by Anne Andlauer

On Oct. 8, most of the 7,500 Americans living in Turkey opened their email inboxes to find an unusually alarming note from their embassy in Ankara.

“This Warden Message is being sent to alert U.S. citizens in Turkey to anticipated legislative activity in the U.S. House of Representatives and its possible consequences in Turkey,” the first lines of the message read.

The US House Foreign Affairs Committee was about to consider a resolution labeling the killings of Anatolian Armenians during World War I “genocide.” The American Embassy urged its citizens to be alert for possible demonstrations and manifestations of anti-Americanism after the vote, advising them to “avoid large gatherings” as well as “places known to be frequented by Americans.”

Obviously, US-Turkey relations in recent days have not been at their highest point. Adding to the tensions are Turkey’s preparations for a possible cross-border offensive into northern Iraq, in an effort to stop lethal incursions from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

But while politicians are discussing the future of delicate bilateral ties, concerns about an increase in Turks’ anti-American feelings have spread among the 7,500 Americans living in Turkey. Some of them might wonder if their usually friendly grocer has suddenly turned anti-American, or whether they should hide their citizenship from that inquisitive taxi driver.

Among them is Jeffrey Dixon, an assistant professor of sociology at Istanbul’s Koç University whose research focuses on Turkey and the European Union. Citing results from a recent Pew Global Attitudes Survey that Turks’ views of Americans have “hit rock bottom,” Dixon admitted he was “a little concerned and in fact more concerned than before, given that data indicate a rise in anti-Americanism in Turkey.”

Dixon lamented that US-Turkey relations were at their lowest point since he has been studying Turkey and said he feels alarmed when the embassy sends out alerts asking him to avoid certain places.

Surveys and official alerts aside, Dixon insisted that Turkish people general treated him very well. “I think that part of this is because I know Turkish,” he says. “Another part of this is because the Turkish people are able to separate American policies from American people.”

However Dixon confessed he had recently lied about his American citizenship and introduced himself as a German to a Turkish taxi driver. “I’ve done that before and said I was French or Canadian. If I can remember correctly, I did this because the taxi cab driver previously said something bad about the United States.”

Conrad Woodring, who has been working in Istanbul since March 2007, also remembers himself pretending to be Canadian on his first trip to Turkey four-and-a-half years ago. The United States had just invaded Iraq and US popularity worldwide was plummeting. At the end of the day, however, Woodring says he felt “like a coward” for presenting himself as a Canadian passport holder.

“I believe that the country where we are born should not determine the quality of our character. I know that people will frown upon me because I am American; this is unavoidable and I simply do my best to not associate with those people. I am not ashamed to be American. … One can either decide to live in fear, or not to. I am not afraid to be American,” he says.

Woodring has never lied about his citizenship since then. Despite a few instances in which he felt a little nervous lately, Woodring says he is confident that it only takes simple precautions to keep himself out of harm’s way.

“Turkish people’s intense nationalism has been manifesting itself in protests against their own government and against the PKK, not so much against Americans,” Woodring says. “Problems between the PKK and the Turkish army have overshadowed the US vote acknowledging the Armenian killings as genocide, so the level of anti-Americanism hasn’t increased lately.”

Woodring observed that most of his Turkish friends enjoyed discussing politics and often engaged in intellectual debates over the United States. “When the US was about to vote on acknowledging the killing of Armenians as a genocide, I noticed everyone’s opinion dropped one peg. Many of the Turks I know were very angered by this and there were a lot of discussions about how Turkey would stick it to the US by restricting the US bases in Turkey… They seemed to see this as a slap in the face from the US and were excited to see their country slap back.”

In Woodring’s opinion, Turkish people are unanimously against the US government and usually grant confidence to Americans who do not support the current American administration. Woodring, who says he does not trust his government either, insists he feels safe in Turkey and finds it very exciting to “witness first-hand democracy in action.”

Woodring recalls his feelings the day he was stuck in his car on a bridge during a recent protest that took place in the area where he lives: “People were marching down the street shouting in a language I didn’t know. The roads were blocked and had I needed to run, there was nowhere to go since I was on a bridge. This was the first and only time I have been afraid in Turkey. The protesters had an intensity in their eyes [such] that I immediately envisioned things taking a turn for the worst.”

Woodring says all his friends have advised him to avoid protests, tourist areas and to maintain a low profile. But while the political situation in Turkey has been volatile lately, Woodring describes himself as “lucky” to witness Turks out in mass, “standing together for what they believe in and making a difference.”

“The government has truly been listening to and doing the will of the people. True, it has been reluctant in doing so, but the Turkish people have a strong voice. It is very exciting for me to see this all happening,” Woodring says.

Karen Miller, a 20-year-old from Long Island, New York, also finds that living in Turkey nowadays inspires her to take advantage of seeing the public view of America in the eyes of Turkish people. “I don’t think US-Turkish relations are at a good point in time right now,” says Miller, an exchange student at Istanbul’s Koç University this quarter. “As I have never lived outside the US, I have only heard of political issues with other countries from American news and media. … But here it is even a different understanding, because at any moment I could just ask someone about their opinion on the matter.”

Although she says she was afraid of the way people would treat her after hearing about the Armenian resolution in House Foreign Affairs Committee, Miller realized that the motion had not made any change in Turkish people’s attitudes toward her. “As time passes, I am still meeting many other people and have no fear in introducing myself as an American from New York.”

“I’ve come to learn that Turks are very kind, welcoming and hospitable people, but I feel that is even amplified when they learn I am an American. I don’t believe that it is because I am American but just because I am a foreigner and it is always interesting to meet people from new and different places,” she notes.

Miller has therefore never lied about her citizenship in Turkey, although some of her friends in the US had been joking that she should fake a Canadian accent and say she is Canadian when asked about her origin.

In fact, Miller says she disagrees with Americans and others who state that Turkish people are in danger of becoming anti-American. Miller says she has confidence in Turks’ ability to separate American culture and American politics.

“When an official says a comment like that, I almost feel as though by making that statement he or she is making the Turks slightly more anti-American just by putting the idea out in the open. I also do not like the American embassy warnings about avoiding demonstration areas, but do understand why they give such warnings. Living in Turkey, I want to experience as much Turkish culture as I can and if that means seeing current events such as a demonstration, then I will go to a demonstration,” Miller says.

But while those three Americans agreed on the ability of Turkish people to engage in an insightful conversation about American politics and relations with Turkey, their answers differed when asked about the number-one questions from Turks to Americans.

Woodring finds Turks’ most frequent questions deal with their own country and people. “Turkish people have a lot of pride about their country and their culture and they like to hear what foreigners think of their country,” Woodring says. “When it comes to the topic of America, Turkish people like to ask me about what I think about the situation in Iraq, the PKK. It usually starts with them asking me what my opinions are about the US occupation of Iraq, which shifts over to did I know that the PKK, a terrorist organization in the East of Turkey, is hiding out in northern Iraq and receiving weapons from the US.”

A sociology professor, Dixon says he is asked about American culture in general, the extent to which people feel isolated in the United States, how the US family structure is similar to and different from that in Turkey and why the American people supported Bush in the previous presidential election.

As for Miller, she says the number one question is “Do you like Bush?” sometimes followed up with “Did you like Clinton?” Turkish people, Miller says, “always make it known that they do not like Bush but did favor Clinton. … I am surprised how people don’t usually ask me questions about the US occupation of Iraq. Instead they just ask me how I like the president, not his efforts in Iraq.”

Americans planning to settle in Turkey or to visit the country should therefore calm their fears of Turks’ anti-American feelings, which Americans living here describe as directed to the American government and its policies rather than to American citizens. On the contrary, they might be tempted to witness “democracy in action” in Turkey, no matter what politicians might be telling each other on bilateral talks over sensitive issues.

>>>

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

I hear it everyday; “Conrad, you are so lucky.” Friends, people I meet, coworkers; They all share this opinion. I have been called “[my company’s] spoiled child,” “the luckiest employee in Turkey,” and many other things. On more than just my life in Turkey, people say that I am so lucky, that they can’t believe how lucky I am, or that they are jealous how lucky I am. I like to tell stories, and I have quite a lot of stories to tell. This is normally what they are responding to. As usual there are two sides to everything. I of course do my best portray my life as positive - positive thinking leads to an overall positive and happy life. Although I tend to agree that I have been blessed, I find it interesting that these are the comments I receive the most.

First, let’s see what makes me lucky.

• I have a job that supports my life style, provides a car for me, provides a good place to live for me and provides a lot of my food.
• I get to travel a lot for my job. I more or less get to make my own travel schedule too. I have been trying to plan trips such that I can pass the weekend in the area. This is a great way of doing business!
• My job is very relaxed. Because of the lack of professionalism of everyone else in the company, I have a lot of freedom. I can come to work late, leave early, take a day off.
• I have had the opportunity to study in Switzerland and live in the Marshal Islands with lots of other traveling in between.
• I am able to pursue a life of few attachments and lots of freedom. I own hardly anything, and my costs are low. I don’t have a demanding family, or a girl friend holding me back (I don’t consider this a benefit, although some do). Should my job here not work out, it will be no problem for me to find a job elsewhere, or to coast on my savings.

In summation I have good opportunities and I am living the way I want to live. Something as simple as living the way you want to live, seems to be beyond the reach of many people here. Young people are living with their families through university and beyond that sometimes because it is expensive to move out on your own. Also, parents say to their children that they cannot move out until they marry. In this situation, people here in Turkey are never given a chance to live a free life. They are either living a life of compromise with their parents or a life of compromise with their spouse.

I suppose I was lucky to meet Murat as well. When I look back on my education at CMU I realize what a waste of money it was. Except for the people you meet and the connections you make, there is little advantage to CMU over other schools. People will get out of an education what they put into it. Study hard and you will learn a lot. Meeting Murat may or may not end up making my time at CMU all worth it.

Lastly, I am also always doing interesting things with my free time. Something most of my friends cannot claim.

Now let’s look at the other side of the coin. First of all, most of what I have done, most of what has taken me around the world is one simple fact: I am not lazy. I sought out the study abroad program in Switzerland and did everything I could to ensure I got there. When I learned about the Marshal Islands, I went to the professor running the program and literally said, “I will do anything to get into this program” (professor Mertz, want to back me up on that one?), and I did. Making the decision to come to Turkey was a scary one that I think most people wouldn’t have taken. I was moving to a strange place, with a strange language to live and work in a very isolated part of Istanbul (not really Istanbul in fact). I didn’t know more than two people, and I knew it would be a long time before I would see my family and friends again. This was not an easy decision.

Once I arrived here it took determination to stay here, and to move my life ahead in a positive way. For the first few weeks, my stomach was uneasy as I was adapting to a completely new diet. I spent a lot of time stuck in traffic, or worse stuck in Mimarsinan where I live, without a way to get into the city. Except for Izzy and Tahsin, I didn’t really have any friends. I was always lost. There were the other various bits of culture shock I mentioned here in my blog. There was frustration at work, which has only gotten worse as I have had more to do.

The not so lucky parts of my life has little to do with what’s here in Istanbul. It’s about what’s not here in Istanbul. Most of these people who make these comments on my life go home everyday and see their families or can call their families easily and have dinner with them. They see their siblings, have dogs and cats, get advice from their aunt, go to family birthdays together and all sorts of other things. They have their culture here, they have their language here. Turkey is their home, and all that they know is here. I on the other hand, am an outsider. I do not speak the language and therefore am often unable to communicate. I am not comfortable with some parts of the culture here. I do not have many of my friends here. Should I run into rocky times, I do not have the support network of people that they have. I am alone.

To me, I am living ‘my’ dream, but it’s not lucky, and it’s not easy. All the big decisions I have made about my life -Switzerland, Marshal Islands, Turkey - I made understanding for the most part the consequences and implications of my decision. I knew the ups and I had at least somewhat of a grasp downs. I made the decisions I wanted to make, but I had a realistic view of how it would go. These decisions were not easy, and they did not fall out of the sky. I found them, or in some cases, the opportunities brushed briskly against me, giving me little more than the blink of an eye to catch them. My critics could have done as I have done. To those of you reading this, I am very serious. If you really want to get somewhere or do something you can. Don’t be intimidated or afraid or worried about the details and implications of your decision. You only live once, so if you want to do something, just quit whining and go out and do it. Go out and live your life! Maybe you have to be a little selfish in your decisions (I know I have), but if you aren’t, how will you see yourself at the end of the road?

Maybe I am a little lucky, maybe I am a little bit of a lot of things, but luck didn’t get me here; I did. My question to you is where will you take yourself?

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Saturday morning I woke up on the extra mattress on the floor of Izzy’s room as I usually do. It was too hot in the room when I had been trying to go to sleep the night before so I had opened the door. As I was slowly waking up I felt a cold crisp draft blowing over me. Instinctively I rolled over and pulled the covers a little tighter. A few moments later I awoke with a powerful longing to be at home in New York.

I have spent a lot of time away from home. I have lived in the Marshal Islands, Pittsburgh, and Switzerland before coming to Turkey, so I have gotten used to being away from home. In fact, I cannot remember such a strong desire to be at home as I felt on Saturday morning. Why I was suddenly hit with this, I am not sure, but I have an idea.

The cold air reminded me of being home. Our house obviously had heating, but when ever the door was opened to let the dogs in or out, the same cold air would crawl across the floor attacking any unprotected feet. In my sleepy state, I thought I was at home, again. I awoke expecting to see Sitka (one of my dogs) sneaking into my room. I expected to hear my father cooking delicious holiday foods (for the past few years I have only been home during holidays) and to have their aromas already well entrenched in my room. Perhaps those aromas would be mixed a bit with the smell of a fire in the living room or the dining room. Outside it would be windy and cold. The ground would be a little frozen with a light dusting of snow (we never really got much snow). The big windows facing the sea would of course have a bit of ice formed around the edges, but my father would have taken the time already to defrost the majority of the window. For some reason this cold draft, which could have easily given me a cold, made me think of all the things I like about being home during the Christmas holidays, thus making me sick in a different way. Living in this wonderful half dream, I realized something: this Christmas will be the first Christmas I have not spent with my family.

This was a bit strange to think about. I had a sinking feeling thinking of how much fun everyone would be having. The whole family could be together at my grand parents. Beth would be going crazy with Miranda and Olivia, my brother would be hung over, my mom would be reading in the living room, or working on a quilt. My grand mother would of course be working tirelessly over the stove as my grand father went back and forth to the store all day. Dennis would be running around working on some mission/project the details of which no one seemed to know. My cousins would stop by, and we would listen to our grandmothers stories of when the four of us were young. Blueberry pancakes for breakfast. Chicken soup and pirogies for dinner. Distant cousins would drop in here and there to say hello and catch up on the past few years (they always brought a subtle but charming mix of accents from around the US to the table). Evenings we would play pinochle and watch TV together.

I am missing all of that this year. Christmas isn’t going to happen like that this year anyway. I think each piece of the family has independent plans so I am not missing that much. It was just very disappointing to come out of my sleepy haze to realize I was at Izzy’s. I am glad that at least my brother is coming here for New Year’s.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Current Mood: Alarmed

For those of you that have forgotten, I received a warning from the US State Department last week. You can reread the warning by clicking here.

This week, the PKK in the east of Turkey killed 17 Turkish soldiers in an attack. Since then the country has been on edge, and the belief is that the Turkish army will enter Iraq any day now. Of course this has had little noticeable impact on my life here in Turkey, until today.

Today, on my way home from a business dinner, I was stopped about 1 km from my house because of a dead stand still in traffic. The road was blocked by people demonstrating. They had a big dump truck and many other cars and were blocking part of the road, and driving in circles in the roundabout. Everyone was honking their horn, and people were running in the streets shouting and carrying Turkish flags. The whole thing took about 15 minutes before I was able to pass.

The demonstration was small compared to what actually happens in Istanbul. After all, Mimarsinan where I live is a very small place, but it was still intimidating. People seemed very intense about this demonstration. Their was a look and an energy about them that was extremely intimidating. With relations between Turkey and the US heating up, I was afraid for the first time ever in Turkey. My car was completely blocked in and I was on a bridge. I couldn’t see what was going on, and all I could here was a lot of noise. I was not afraid when I was pulled over by the cops and told my ID was no good and I would have to go with them to the police station, I was not afraid when I was tear gassed in Besiktas, but tonight I was afraid.

Maybe it’s because Murat has been telling me to be careful lately. Maybe it’s because I have been reading about Turkeys tumultuous history as a republic. Regardless, I have the feeling that something is happening here. Something big is coming. Six months ago the army threatened to intervene and take control of the government after massive protests around the country (over four million people in Istanbul alone) against what the government had been doing. Here the military believes it has a mandate to uphold democracy. Any threats to democracy and the well being of the people, the army has ‘corrected’ in the past (sometimes peacefully, sometimes by hanging).

In addition to being afraid of what is going to happen, I am excited. It’s like how when I was tear gassed, I felt like I was really experiencing something unique, that most people don’t get to do. Of course, most people don’t want to be tear gassed, but in the end, it’s quite an experience. Here is the same situation; nobody wants to live through difficult and uncertain times, but at the end of the road, people look back and will have gained great wisdom. I feel the excitement of being here to bear witness to that. It’s exciting to see Turkish people out in force, demonstrating their power as the public. Showing their government and rest of the world that the government’s power is mandated by the people. It’s exciting to see people exercising their democratic rights en mass.

Murat says things are happening every day, and the situation is deteriorating. I haven’t been following this closely so I do not know. Murat on the other hand watches enough TV for the both of us so I take his word for it. Let’s everyone keep their fingers crossed that Turkey remains a stable and productive country.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Current Mood: Angry

You can read the other traffic entries by following each of these links:

Traffic

Traffic part II

Every Thursday I drive into the city to have dinner and play games with my friends. I typically try to leave at 6pm sharp. That way if traffic is bad, I can still be there before our scheduled meeting at 8pm, usually.

This past Thursday I had quite a bit of misfortune. First of all, Murat was also planning to go the city. This meant that instead of leaving at 6pm as I usually do, Murat finished screwing around and we got on the road at 715 or so. This was problem number one. Murat assured me we would get there before 8pm. I drive this route more than he does so I assured him that we would not.

Driving into the city, we hit what was probably the worst traffic I have ever seen in my entire my life. According to Izzy’s mom, 3 million people are moving back and forth across the city each day. We left during rush hour, which dooms us to a minimum 80 minutes in the car. This particular Thursday, there was a car accident on the highway on the Asian side of Istanbul (yes I am talking about something like 40 miles away) that backed up traffic nearly to where I live. It therefore took us not the typical 60 minutes to get into the city, but instead a whopping 184 minutes (three hours and four minutes). Having left late, I arrived at game night as it was drawing to a close and so I just went back to Izzy’s and just slept there before driving back in the morning. On top of that, Murat got sick so he canceled the meeting he had driven to the city for in the first place.

While angry and pondering how much I hate traffic, I came to an interesting realization. In the car I usually drive, there is a TV that you can only  watch when the car is not moving. At first I thought to myself that this is stupid. When the heck would you ever watch that? Thursday night I realized. As we inched through traffic, I saw many people pulled over on the side of the road, watching TV in their cars. What genius! Of course you should have a TV in your car if you live in Istanbul. If the traffic gets really bad, you can simply pull over and wait it out. Too bad the TV sucks here.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

In an effort to make my apartment less bleak, I bought a bunch of new plant stuff! Yeah! I bought some new vine plants that I am going to cut and try and make into several vine plants and scatter them around my flat. They grow pretty easily indoors and will hopefully add some new character to my apartment. Murat asked me if there was some girl in my life I was trying to make the apartment nice for; I wish. No, this effort is to have something to do when I decide to take a quiet evening at home, and to make my apartment more like home, which was always very green.

That’s all the new stuff.

These are the old plants. After vacation I had to replant everything because Murat didn’t water anything, so it’s been slow growing back. Here’s a picture of what home in New York looks like. As you can see I have a long way to go.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Last night I recieved the following email:

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
CONSULATE GENERAL OF
THE UNITED STATES
Istanbul, Turkey

WARDEN MESSAGE 2007, Number 9
October 9, 2007

This important message was sent out a few minutes ago to all of the
volunteer wardens who assist the Consulate in passing important messages
to American citizens in the Istanbul region. To help speed up the
process we are also sending this directly to everyone registered with
the Consular Section who has provided us an e-mail address. As a
result, some of you will receive this message more than once.

Scott Oudkirk
Consular Section Chief

(Start of message)

This Warden Message is being sent to alert U.S. citizens in Turkey to
anticipated legislative activity in the U.S. House of Representatives
and its possible consequences in Turkey.

On October 10, the House Foreign Affairs Committee will consider a
non-binding resolution connected with Armenia and the events of 1915.
The Administration has made its opposition to any resolution on this
topic clear. If, despite the Administration’s concerted efforts against
this resolution, it passes committee and makes its way to the floor of
the House for debate and a possible vote, there could be a reaction in
the form of demonstrations and other manifestations of anti-Americanism
throughout Turkey. Demonstrations could occur following committee
action or later, if and when the resolution is considered by the full
House of Representatives. Protestors targeted French interests in
October 2006, after the French National Assembly passed a bill regarding
the issue.

The Department of State advises U.S. citizens traveling or residing in
Turkey to be alert to the potential for demonstrations, and to avoid
large gatherings. Even demonstrations intended to be peaceful can turn
confrontational and possibly escalate into violence. American citizens
are therefore urged to avoid the areas of demonstrations if possible.
Particular caution should be exercised in places known to be frequented
by Americans.

(end of message)
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

What is happening in Turkey? Yesterday the Turkish government approved a measure authorizing the Turkish army to move into Iraq. For years now, the Turkish military has been fighting against what they deem a terrorist organization called the PKK. This organization is made up of Kurds living in the southeastern part of Turkey and the northern part of Iraq. The PKK has been causing problems in Turkey for about 30 years now. According to Alper, the PKK has killed more than 30,000 people.

Normally the PKK retreats into Iraq where the Turkish army cannot go. Historically the Turkish army has pursued them over the border, but not much more than a short chase into Iraq. This new resolution is one of two authorizations that are needed for the army to invade northern Iraq, which the US has made clear it does not want. So the US is now voting on a resolution to declare the incident in Armenia a genocide, which will no doubt anger the Turks. So, the US State Department sent me a warning to keep myself safe. Thank you America! `

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Current Mood: Happy

I went back to the doctor today. I decided I should figure out how this whole health insurance thing works. According to Dilek, the woman at my health insurance company that is my contact (she’s the only one I could get on the phone to speak English), I have the best health insurance, so I took the opportunity to go in and get checked up. It was an interesting experience.

First, I called Dilek to get a brief translation of my policy and how to go about seeking treatment. It seems I have unlimited coverage for accidents, serious health problems, hospitalizations and things like that. I have 80% coverage on this while abroad. I have 5,000 Ytl of what seems to be doctor’s consultations and visits. What is not covered in the policy (I haven’t checked this with the company) is general check ups. It appears that you cannot go in for a general check up and have it covered even by the best insurance company in this is retarded for two reasons.

 1. Preventative strategies are (as far as I know) ALWAYS cheaper than other reactive strategies. This may not be the case for everything, but it is certainly the case in medicine. Strike one against the intelligence of the insurance company.

2. As far as I could tell, there is nothing to stop me from going in there 10 times this week and making up a variety of random ailments and in a sense, getting a general checkup. This will be no cost to me other than my time, and it will be very costly to the insurance company.

Anyway, moving on. So Dilek gave me the number for the International Hospital here in Istanbul, not too far from where I work. There are plenty of medical clinics around like the one I visited for my wrist, which my friend owns, but they don’t always honor the insurance. That means there is a frustrating process of trying to get a refund from the insurance company. I therefore decided it was best to go where they told me. In general, most primary health care needs are handled by hospitals here in Turkey. Looking around their website, I discovered that they offer health care in the following languages (other than Turkish):

English,
German,
French,
Arabic,
Italian,
Spanish,
Bulgarian,
Russian,
Albanian,
Persian

I arrived there 30 minutes after my scheduled appointment. This is where things differ tremendously from the US. First of all the hospital was small, but really nice. It had fancy falls and and nice chairs. It was a far cry from the sterile bleak hospitals that you see in the US. At the reception desk I answered a few questions and presented my insurance card. They confirmed what Dilek had said in that I had the best insurance. This whole process took under five minutes!

Now this is where things really get unbelievable for someone who is used to 22 years of US health care. Guess how long my wait time was for the doctor? Less than one minute! I was amazed! The whole thing was very quick, I hardly had to answer anything, they spoke English, there was no paperwork for me. The insurance covered everything, but I still got the receipt. The whole visit was less than 100 dollars!

For those of you that are not from the US, going to the doctor in the US is a huge pain in the butt. You have to wait forever, there is always some paper work to fill out, first you see the nurse practitioner, then you wait again, then you see the doctor. Sometimes you will have to keep waiting for no reason after that. For me there always seemed to be something up with my health insurance. The trouble involved with seeing a doctor always acted as a disincentive for me to get problems checked up on. Here, the only disincentive is the traffic. So I think the next time my toe hurts, I minds well take advantage of my health insurance and get it checked out.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Current Mood: Happy

Part of keeping my sanity during the week when I only have Murat and Alper to talk to is staying very active. I try to do some kind of sportive activity as often as possible. I feel it is very important to keep your body healthy (this is obvious) but it is also a great way to relax and get rid of frustration. I have four activities that I have been doing pretty regularly:

Gym Membership: Right around the corner is a small gym (very small gym). It’s about 50$ for one month, and cheaper if you buy several months. I decided to try it out. It’s a about a half mile walk so it’s very convenient. I plan later to post some pictures, but that won’t be for a while. Not a single person speaks English there, but I like it.

Wind Surfing: This one you all know about. I have only been going about once a week. I picked up the basics immediately so now I just go when there is a strong wind and I can really test myself. It’s nice to play in the water (reminds me of summers at home), but I question how clean the water is. When there is a south wind, tons of trash blows up on the beach (thankfully it’s almost always a north wind). Also there is the smell of sewage in the air (there is a nearby plant). It’s no mystery why the bay isn’t heavily used.

Rock Climbing: In a desire to meet my goal of becoming a better climber than Izzy, I now try to go indoor climbing every time I go to the city. I don’t think I will be able to surpass him, but it is good to have a goal. The sport is a great workout for your whole body and it is very challenging. Really though, all the indoor climbing, although nice, is just practice for going outdoor on the real thing.

Soccer: This is probably my favorite thing to do in the whole world. Unfortunately we only play once a week on Sundays, and there are a lot of us, so not everyone gets to play every week. I would like to play more often but I haven’t had the opportunities. Typically we play six on six on a small field that is surrounded by a fence with a mesh netting over the top so that the ball doesn’t get lost. It’s expensive to use the field for an hour (they are very strict about this limit), but it’s worth it.

So far this week I have done the following:

• Sunday: Soccer
• Monday: Gym
• Tuesday: Climbing
• Wednesday: Windsurfing, then jogging, then gym (Murat wasn’t around and I didn’t have a car so I was very bored)
• Thursday: I was supposed to go climbing, but I was alone and the guy that works there wasn’t there so no one could belay me.

Hopefully on Saturday and/or Sunday I will do more climbing. Whether or not I go is typically dependent on how much partying I have done the night before. There are also a few other things I am looking into doing.

• Izzy recently got a wake board, something I am hoping to capitalize on as well.
• Sakir introduced me to the Istanbul paintball team, another sport I am willing to try
• My friend Selim recently returned to Turkey after graduating from CMU and he is interested to start learning to kite surf. This is something I really want to do, but I am afraid the logistics of doing it here are too difficult, at least for this year.
• Sakir also introduced me to the nearby diving club which organizes trips almost every weekend in the summer and early fall. I may join them for a trip or two.
• I would also like to play Tennis, but I am not sure where I can fit that one in.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Current Mood: Esctatic

Look very closely and see if you can figure out what is in these pictures that is making me so happy.

Did you get it? It’s air conditioning!!! After two weeks of asking Murat’s uncle Ahmet to arrange air conditioning for us, it finally happened (it takes forever to get anything done around here that isn’t of the utmost importance). Words cannot express how unbelievably nice it was to sleep in an air conditioned room. It was amazing. I guess I was kind of getting used to the heat, because until I slept in the AC this morning I didn’t realize how hot it is in the rest of the apartment. It would seem that this is a bad thing to have adapted and to now get AC, but let me tell you, it was so nice not to wake up wet with sweat. It was also nice to be able to wear a t-shirt and pants to bed and to use two blankets! Two blankets! One was a heavy down comforter, so you can get an idea for how high I had the air conditioning.

And today, I feel well rested, and ready to take on the world! I can’t wait to get home today and jack up the AC again, have an ice cold beer, and go to sleep.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!