I had a special treat this weekend. A coworker left for the weekend and granted me the gift of the keys to his car!! I finally was able to drive myself to the store when I wanted, to the gym when I wanted, etc. It was glorious! Just like everything else here, there are a hundred different stories as to why I haven't been given a car yet, but they all result in my being carless.

Another big development I was also finally able to move into my apartment last night! No more hotel for me! I'm sharing an apartment with two other American women, one civil rights lawyer, one other young professional that just moved here last week to work for the Department of Foreign Relations. We've been working the last few weeks at getting all of the furniture and everything ready. We realized last night a big thing we forgot... propane (gas stoves, no natural gas lines here!) so we can't cook yet, oops! Its nice to finally fully unpack for the first time and feel like I'm in a home. Though I will miss my clothes being ironed for me. :) This now makes the car situation even more difficult because I'm away from my colleagues that have cars and I'm quite a bit further away.

We're busy in the planning phases for some field survey work, which is exciting. But not as exciting as my upcoming week... I'll be in Turkey as of late Wednesday night and will spend a few days there, including yes Thanksgiving in Turkey! :) The photos will be awesome and I will share soon!