Turkey Adventures and the week after

I'm so so so bad! I've been meaning to update this for weeks and its not that I've been overly busy, except for while I was away in Turkey. But somehow I just keep letting the days slip away. I've now been through another Eid here, so more down time (a whole week off... with nothing to do). I was ready to come back to work this week. But at the end of this week I get to fly home and spend 3 weeks in TN for Christmas. I'm in desperate need of some family and puppy time, so it can't come soon enough. Work has been frustrating lately with all the time off, from a society that doesn't exactly have the strongest work ethic... which is to say they look for every excuse not to work. When I'm getting this cynical, I know its time for a break! Even though I just had a small break in Turkey!

Adam and I went to Turkey for 10 days over Thanksgiving and we had a great time. We split our time between Istanbul and the Cappadocia region. Overall I loved Turkey and I can't wait to explore more of it because its such a diverse country. That being said, I'm pretty much done with Istanbul, even at the end of November in the pouring rain it was really crowded with tourist seeing all of the major attractions, just like us. We saw the Blue Mosque, the Agia Sophia, the Topkapi Palace, the Basilica Cisterns, walked around the grand bazaar (ok I really enjoyed that one!), the spice market, etc. We stayed in the tourist section, so we could walk to everything. And the hotels were decent, small, but noisy!! The street we stayed on had construction going on and they literally worked 24 hours a day (SO different from Kurdistan!), at 3 am they had a concrete truck pouring concrete! So we couldn't sleep well and it rained most of the time we were in Istanbul, so crowded, rainy, no sleep, lots of walking (in the rain), means Istanbul wasn't the greatest part of our trip. But it is a cool city and I'm glad I've experienced it. However, the gem of the trip was Cappadocia. We flew from Istanbul to Nevesehir, only a one our flight and got picked up and brought to our hotel in Urgup, where we were the only patrons!

Cappadocia
So Cappadocia is the name of a region in Central (Anatolia) Turkey that is unique because of the kind of stone that is ubiquitously distributed throughout the land. Thousands of years ago, this area was full of volcanoes and lava covered the whole area. This lava turned into a kind of rock called tufa, which is very very soft (can be manipulated with fingernails), so it has been shaped by wind, water, and overall erosion into crazy shapes and patterns throughout the years. Also, harder stone, such as limestone settled on top of the tufa, which creates some of the weirdly balanced columns you'll see in my pictures. The whole place kind of looks like it belongs on another planet or like you're walking around on a sci-fi set. http://picasaweb.google.com/chelseajaccard/CappadociaTurkey# Click on that to see some photos! So we first stayed in a little town called Urgup and stayed in this great boutique hotel that had recently been renovated and it was done tastefully and traditionally. We were the only people staying our first night so it was quiet and peaceful. The hotel happened to be right next to a winery, how convenient! So we went for a tasting and bought a bottle or four. We enjoyed our new wine on the roof top of our hotel with a nice sunset overlooking the bizarre landscape. Everything was in house with this hotel, they provided dinner and breakfast and we hired our tour guide for our hiking tour (which provided lunch) all within the hotel. Very convenient and the owner was really nice and spoke English and really appreciated our business (its low season there, and unlike Istanbul, there really weren't other tourist around).

So our second day in Cappadocia was our big hiking day, we started walking at 9 and stopped around 4. We walked through what they call rose valley b/c there's iron ore in the tufa, so it has a red hue (other places have sulfur and are yellow, etc). It was awesome climbing around in this stuff. Another key feature of this stone is that because it is so soft, it is easily carved out to create living quarters, so in times past people lived in the stone and carved churches out of it. This used to be a predominately Christian area. So you'll be walking and all of a sudden come upon an old church with Frescoes painted on the walls, our guide was telling us that they dated back to the 3rd and 4th century... don't know how true that is, but regardless they're old. In addition, this stone isn't just above ground, its underground too, so back in the day when Christians were being persecuted in Turkey they carved out whole underground cities and lived there to hide. We toured one and while it was pretty crazy to imagine people living there, it was one of those overly crowded tourist things (several bus loads of Koreans were down there at the same time as us), so it wasn't that enjoyable. Plus it was dark and small, the passages between rooms you had to crouch and walk b/c they were only about 3 feet in height. Though still cool to have seen. Anyway, back to the cool hike which we did enjoy. After walking for a few hours we came to a town (sadly I forget the name) where we were to have lunch, but we were early so we got to explore the old section of the city, which was about 100 feet high maybe 400-500 feet wide carved out of this stone, where everyone used to live. It has since been condemned and no one can live there, but the structure is still there and we scrambled up, down, around, through, inside, etc for just over an hour and truly, truly enjoyed ourselves. I know Adam had a few scary moments when he lost footing and was hanging over the valley holding on with one hand... but he saved himself and while I didn't attempt climbing on the exterior walls, I did my share of scrambling as well. It's a crazy place to imagine people living. And if you decide that day that you want a new bookshelf, you just start digging into your wall and viola in a few minutes you have it! Renovations were a snap! :) After lunch our walk continued through more extra terrestrial like landscape (again check the photos link) until we came upon a road where some churches in the rock served as another big tourist land b/c the big buses could pull right up to it. I'm really glad we were able to spend the day walking through the landscape, not be zipped around via bus. Another quiet dinner at our hotel with some more wine from our neighborhood winery capped off a perfect day.

The next day we moved hotels to our own personal cave in Uchisar, the hotel is called museum hotel and it was spectaular. We stayed in the Khandil Cave and it was Adam's Birthday, so we walked around trying to find some lunch once we got there, but again b/c it is low season, nothing was open so we had to walk a long way and poor Adam was VERY sore from his antics the day before. We eventually found a restaurant and the door was locked, but I knocked and they let us in and served us, again we were the only people there. It was a very nice lunch, but this part of town was quiet expensive, oh well. The rest of the trip we enjoyed our cave hotel with our awesome views and expensive food (they had mojitos, for $15 each, we had 4)! One day back in Istanbul allowed for me to find the perfect lantern and then back to Erbil. We had 5 days in Erbil before Adam had to go back to Baghdad and we mostly relaxed and watched movies and ate (and road go carts).

So that brings me up to date, after Adam left it was Eid, and I sat around and did nothing, though we FINALLY got propane for our apartment, so I could cook. Now just have to make it through this work week and then I'm home for three weeks!

Long Week

The flight back, though not in business class was not too bad (the food not nearly as good though!). I've been back for a week exactly, but it feels like longer. Not that I had that much work per se, but because time moves slow here, especially when you're sick.

I was lucky enough to catch a cold from the guy sitting next to me on the way back to America, he was coming from Russia. So I caught an Russian cold on the plane, it incubated in America and turned into a sinus infection in Iraq. Very international! Though I'm feeling a bit better now, the cough has decided to stick around.

We finally got the keys to our apartment... but its unfurnished and they haven't approved the budget for the furniture... so I'll be at the hotel awhile longer. I still haven't unpacked from being home in hopes that I won't have to. But since it took two months to get the apartment, we'll see!

It's funny what's expensive here. Today I went shopping with a coworker to outfit our new office with supplies, everything from bathroom cleaner to coffee mugs to tea sets. One of the most expensive items was a little set of 12 miniature spoons to stir sugar into tea glasses, it was 22,000 Iraqi Dinar (about $20). To compare that with something else, the codeine I bought today to help me sleep and take with my cough syrup was 1,000 Iraqi Dinar (less than a dollar)... things that make you go hmmmm...

Adam and I are going on a trip to Turkey for Thanksgiving and I can't wait!!! Turkey is an amazing country and I've wanted to go here for a LONG time! We're only going to Istanbul and Cappadocia, so that leaves alot of Turkey unexplored for later!

The internet was out at the hotel all day until late today... made me wonder how in the world I made it through 2 years in Ghana without even having electricity most of the time, much less anything as fancy as a TV, computer, or internet! How life changes! Though I sure did get alot of reading done in Ghana, so far here I've only read 2 books, a bit off from the two a week I was reading there!

This is a very disjointed entry, full of random thoughts as I came up with them. I guess that's what happens when I have nothing really interesting to share, but wanted to update you all anyway! So Happy Halloween everyone, the only sweet thing I had today was a cough drop and cough syrup... eat some candy for me! (But don't blame those extra three (four, five?) reece's on me Mom!)

All work and no play makes Johnny a dull boy

As I expected, while the owners of the firm are here, its been really busy! Lots of meetings, lots of reading! I finally got to see "my" office, which is in the same complex as the office of the Prime Ministers, so there's alot of added security, but my name was added to "the list", so I should be ok from now on. It's actually a really nice office, clean and bright, wireless internet, two desks, plenty of space, fresh paint, much better than most of the other offices I've seen! I should get there at least once a week if not more. Though I think initially I'll be spending alot of time at the Ministry of Municipalities, which is our big operation thats in the dumps. The MoM (Ministry of Municipalities) is in charge of all the services rendered to the population (water, sewage, land granting, etc). To the majority of Kurds, THIS is the government, this is who they see and what they interact with everyday...and its a disaster, to say the least!

I'll be working directly with the Minister to help her with some management techniques and to better work with the the team of Western Senior Advisors that we have working on specific areas. By far this is going to be my most chanllenging project. I know that she cares about getting the job done... but she has no idea how to go about it.

Having R and C (the owners) here is great, they're able to introduce me to alot of people that will both make my job and everyday life easier while here.

Yesterday I played tennis with the two Dutchmen on one of my projects and the Minister of Extra Regional Affairs also showed up and I played tennis against him as well. p.s. I'm terrible at tennis! I also recently tried swimming laps in the hotel pool, but it was so small I was getting dizzy doing so many flip turns! There is an all women's fitness center that I'm going to join and they have a full pool and other stuff, so I look forward to that!

I'm having a good time getting to know my coworkers and continue to get settled in here. This weekend we're going on an excursion out by the Turkish border and I'm really excited about seeing more of Kurdistan!

We aren't in Peace Corps anymore Toto!

Tonight was my first big diplomatic event, the opening of a consulate for Japan in Kurdistan, making it the 13th country with official representation here. Thankfully I had chosen to wear a suit and heels today because I didn't get a chance to go back to the hotel before the event. All I kept thinking as I was sitting there watching the dignitaries do their thing was how different of a position I'm in now than I was while in Ghana. I remember the biggest "diplomatic" event I went to in Ghana was the goodbye of the PC country director and I had no nice clothes, I wore a ripped village dress, as the best I could do, and that was fine b/c nothing more was expected of me. Not the case anymore! I arrived with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and met many diplomats, including the top USAID and the top state dept official here... thank God I wasn't wearing a ripped village dress!! (though I really did love that dress!)

There's not much pomp and circumstance here for official events, they introduce the speakers, they say their piece, everyone claps, they have some refreshments and the whole event, including mingling, is over in an hour. In Ghana, it would have taken an hour to introduce the man who's going to introduce the man who will read the prayer before the introduction of the speaker... and lets not forget the entertainment that has to occur!

Since my other long term international work experience was Ghana, you'll find me comparing alot of things to that, my apologies if you don't find that interesting!

I can't wait to do more work with the DFR (Department of Foreign Relations), I'm kinda into this whole "diplomat" thing!

My American bosses come to town tomorrow, so I'm hoping some of my logistical problems will be solved (allowing me access to my main office, securing a car to drive or a driver, figuring out cell phones permanently, more defined working conditions, etc). Plus I just really like them, they're fun people to hang out with!

I can't even describe how welcoming the Kurds have been, how many of them love Americans, and are doing everything in their power to accomodate me and make my stay here comfortable. And on that note, I'm going to start my weekend (Friday is Saturdy here) with a nice sheesha and get some sleep... all the while remembering how drastically my life has changed since being a care free Peace Corps volunteer in West Africa!

Day One at Work

I didn't think I'd update this thing everyday... but so far I have! So this morning I went to the office of the Ministry of Municipalities, which is the biggest of our projects here. There are 4 advisers that are American and Canadian and I spent the day with them learning what they do. It is remarkable to me how much Erbil looks like a mix of Kumasi (infrastructure wise) and Tamale (environment wise), only with Arabic and Kurdish writing everywhere. Lots of concrete, lots of incomplete buildings, lots of brown, lots of structures all close together. However, the roads here are quite nice! Overpasses, underpasses, functioning circles and traffic lights and the driving isn't nearly as crazy as Cairo or even Accra for that matter.

The advisors have 2 cars between the four of them, so they've been driving me around so far. Tomorrow I'm going to the compound for my old company to see what its like there and see more of the city.

My biggest lesson of the day was the lack of efficiency in the Ministry... which is not surprising. I took a tour of the hotel this afternoon and there is a nice pool in the basement, I'm going to try it out tonight, its not really big enough to swim laps in, but if you swim the diagonal without flip turns it will do! :) They also moved my room today so I could have a bigger one, the amenities are the same, just more floor space, now I can do Turbo Jam in my room!