Ankara, Bolu, and Back Again. And Back Again.

Yesterday we departed from Ankara. Eight of us left the otel at 7:00am for ASTI, the major bus terminal, and I said goodbye to Kristin as Claire, Stephanie and I got on the 8:00am bus to Bolu. I don't go in for goodbyes much, and I like the advice of Annika (who's returning to Yahlova): "it's really saying, 'see you soon!'"

What I did not expect was to like so many people (read: American coworkers) so well.

I also didn't expect to get to Bolu and realize that I had left my passport in the otel room safe.

So Abdullah, in his truest fashion, got onto his phone with the energy of tulips in Spring and called everyone: Secil hanim, the otel reception, A.I.B.U's secretary general, a policeman in Ankara, and a bus company. Within in the hour we had determined that there was not enough time to mail it via PTT kargo and not enough safety in giving it to the driver on the next bus from ASTI to Bolu.

A brief note about time: my contract is slated to begin on 15.09.12, which is tomorrow (Saturday). That means that my paperwork for my residence permit and my teaching card needs to be finished today or the Ministry of Finance will be asking A.I.B.U why I didn't start on time.

So, the university's secretary general decided that I needed to get back to Ankara-- not on a bus, but in a car. A car with a driver.

Two hours is the average time for a drive to Ankara; this gentleman, Tasin/m, got us back to Ankara in 80 minutes.

We buzzed into the otel, snagged my passport and winter jacket (definitely a necessity in mountainous Bolu) and determined to visit the Ministry of Education (Yok) before 5:00pm to pick up more paperwork. Abdullah is pretty phenomenal (read: persistent and undaunted) about negotiating bureaucracy. As I'm mostly useless at getting through Turkish bureaucracy, I waited while he visited over a dozen different people in their offices to acquire various papers and signatures. Quite impressive.

We got home at seven, and Stephanie and I went out for doner and kebap while Claire toured city centre with a friend of her father (her father, Ahmet Baytas, is an economist and a naturalist who has written a book on the Butterflies of Turkey in both English and Turkish). At this point, I want to note how lucky I am to share this experience with Stephanie and Claire-- as I already said, I went to dinner with Stephanie last night and she's proving to be a real genius with language. Claire, I think, will keep us all sane in the upcoming months.

It's a gorgeous evening in Bolu, and after my photos get imported from the camera, I may try to share a picture of tonight with you.