Turkish Efficiency

I really do love Turkey. I know that many people have this impression sometimes that I live in a third world country. Turkey is the most modern nation in the Middle East. Once you do get outside of the cities and are in the villages, time does take a step back though. Turkey also has only been a republic for 75 years, so there are a lot of things they are still figuring out.

This past Saturday I had a great day. We went to the Bilkent Center (like a mall of sorts). We went to Real (our version of Wal-mart) were I was able to get cheese that is pretty close to Kraft slices and salsa. We went to Tepe Home (a lot like Pier One) where they had already decorated for Christmas. They had Yankee Candles, I was able to get my favorite holiday scent, Cranberry Chutney. We also went to Starbucks were I got the seasonal Gingerbread Latte. [I also got two phone calls from America Saturday afternoon, that helped make it a great day!]

All that being said, I thought I would share with you my recent trip to get my visa renewed. Our assistant principal is a God-send. It's is unbelievable how many times she has had to re-file the same papers and all the red tape she goes through for us to get our work visas. We arrived at the first building where we had to turn in a paper we had filled out and our passport. After this gentlemen looked over them, we went to a second office for a higher official to sign the papers. We returned to the first guy who then gave us a small paper to take to the business office. There we had to pay for our visa and got a smaller piece of paper with the amount and a signature as our receipt. We returned to the first guy who then looked at the paper and told us to come back in one week to pick up our visa.

When I go to the big post office to pick up a package, I have to see five people to pick up a package. It's a very inefficient system in our mind-set. There is a lot of waiting in lines. There are very few computers at most places so things are often handwritten. Yesterday I had to go to the post office to pick up a package at a closer post office and the slip was typed. I was amazed! It was the first time I had ever received a typed form. I did have to sign my name in a handwritten ledger.

Happy Thanksgiving!