So I took a tiny blog break. Well, one I thought was tiny anyway. As I check back in today I see it has been a month. Well dang.
The trouble is I kind of got into a Turkish funk. The rose colored glasses of travel and culture shattered as I drove downtown and nearly died as a car came toward me and the driver gave me a dirty look like it was my fault he was on the wrong side of the road, twice. It appears I'm not alone. Here's an exert from an email that goes around...
"Stage 4--Apathy--Last 180 days--Nothing works here. You hate the Alley, hate Turkish food, and hate the Turkey Trots or cholera or whatever it is that constantly has you doubled over. You're sick and tired of cats, construction sites, power outages, and the name Abi. You find yourself constantly humming "God Bless America" and can't wait to run from the Patriot Express in Baltimore and kiss the tarmac. Whenever you hear a horror story about someone being locked up in Turkish jail or being extorted by the Turks you just shrug your shoulders and say, "Welcome to Turkey." You want to throat punch the new people who just got here and are in Stage 1. You start spending time sending out joke e-mails like this one. You have to be restrained by 6 SF personnel at Pass and ID when Mr. T tells you it is going to cost you $50 to DE-register your car. You realize that its not worth your sanity to try to get anything else accomplished here, so you settle on doing absolutely nothing except looking at your donut of misery and counting the seconds until you can be released to go home."
Typically feelings like this are not my style. I'm usually positive and can find something good about a situation. A few weeks ago? I was ready to throat punch everyone. (And, I wasn't even on hormones then!) This place can really get the best of you. The level of ridiculousness is beyond what you can imagine. Truly. Jordan sometimes calls it Narnia. I think that's pretty accurate. Don't expect anything to make sense, and whatever you do, don't eat the Turkish Delight.
Anyway, I think I'm moving out of the grumpy stage now. Don't get me wrong, I'm still ready to go home, but I'm at least a little more pleasant to be around. More soon...
8 comments:
So what you are saying is that Turkey pretty much sucks? How long are you stationed there?
Hang in there ... even positive people can be negative at times - it's ok!
TOTALLY felt that way about Italy more than a few times. The joys of living overseas. =)
I'm with you right now, and I'm only 11 days in country! lol I'd say "hang in there" but I'd want to throat-punch someone who told me that, so I'll restrain myself... :P
It does come and go doesn't it! I say, complain away! Frustration and upset are real and important emotions. We are at a geographically separated unit in Germany - forces to live an hour from my husband's small unit to live near the kids' school. In just a few short weeks this summer we got news that we are being kicked out of our rental home (homeowner returning) and on the day my husband deployed I found out I have skin cancer (the real deal). Then I fell down our granite stairs. I actually cried on the phone which is NOT like me. Today I'm am keeping my chin up and giddily planning our trip to Switzerland. If it wern't for the travel opportunties I don't know how I'd handle it all!
Sorry Turkey seems to be sucking so far. Hopefully you find some things to enjoy.
This blog needs an update.
Loved the honesty! Just like grieving, there are many stages for living in a foreign land. My husband & I went to the middle east to work & the only reason I survived was the expat group. I had so many of the same feelings as you did. Throat punching was only on good days ;)
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