There is perhaps no better time to catch up on some long-postponed writing than the morning after a very bad haircut. After seven months of hesitation over putting my hair in the hands of a Turkish stylist, I took the leap yesterday. Christa, Natalie and I went after work to a place Christa has been before. There was only one man cutting hair, who Christa swore was absolutely fabulous. My turn came first. I tried to explain that I merely wanted a trim and some layers underneath to lighten the load, but I don’t think I was properly understood. Forty-five minutes later, I sat in the same chair with hair that went barely to my shoulders, layers worthy of a Christmas tree, and the real toper, curls. I tried not to panic as I looked in the mirror. The inevitable question of “do you like it?” fell on buzzing ears. The good news is that the stylist didn’t like it; he loved it. How witty. I think I’ll go buy some hats now.
That news aside, I have little to report. It’s a gorgeous Saturday morning, and I’m sitting in my sunny apartment sipping coffee as I write this. The March weather hasn’t quite made up its mind yet, so the warm(ish) weather today is a real treat, and I’ll be sure not to miss this opportunity to run in the not-so-muddy hills. I have been having trouble with my heel again lately, which puts a damper on my long runs, but I won’t bore you with the troubles of an injury befitting of an obese sixty-year-old. This, in fact, has been the main reason I haven’t written in so long: I fear I might bore you away. I haven’t gone on any trips, aside from a weekend in Istanbul, and my life in Ankara has just been routine. What is routine? Glad you asked.
I am teaching twenty hours a week again this course, which means I go to work Monday through Friday like any normal employee. I don’t necessarily stay very long, but I do go to work. We are almost done with course three now. I will have this group of students for just two more weeks, then I’ll be on to my next and final batch of students. The size of my classes varies from just four to seven students. This week I had one day where only two students came, which can either be fun time to chitchat or pure misery depending on the students. I was lucky this time, and spent two hours shooting the wind with two typical Turkish dudes. It is a true pleasure in each course to reach the point where students feel completely comfortable in the classroom. The students stop hesitating over their imperfect English and start to have fun, and I do as well. This also means I have more stories to share.
I was in a sticky situation when Congress passed a vote a week ago to officially dub the many Armenian deaths in 1915 genocide committed by Turkey. This is a very controversial subject in Turkey, so controversial that the Turkish ambassador was temporarily pulled from his post in Washington after the vote. When discussing it with my students, every single one agreed firstly that it was not genocide, and secondly that this would negatively affect political relations between America and Turkey. They then eventually asked me point-blank my opinion. For the record, I do consider this event genocide. In the classroom, I had the opportunity to practice my diplomatic skills while sidestepping the question and distracting them with new questions about the Turkish pop star arrested for using cocaine. It was interesting to hear their opinions, but not exactly easy to monitor the discussion.
Not even this, however, can hold a candle to the week I did a lesson plan on conspiracy theories. A word from the wise: never ask Turkish students who they think is responsible for September 11th. They will almost all respond that it was either a plot devised by the Bush Administration, or that the government hired “the Jews” to act it out (they believe there were no Jewish workers in the World Trade Centers when they were attacked; they also believe the Jewish religion, the Jewish ethnicity, and Israeli citizenship are all one in the same). After a rather depressing week, I decided to take a break from their political perspectives and focus on the ever so important vocabulary involved when talking about celebrities.
On a lighter note, I had a very serious student tell me that he loved me this week. He then asked, “are you mad?” Moments like this one make me realize that I will never have all of the answers.
Now with my training in diplomacy, journalism, and oh yeah, teaching nearly complete, I’m beginning to apply to jobs for next year. And what a task that is. Researching jobs alone takes up so much time that I have little motivation left to actually apply. My goal is to end up in DC next year with some fabulous position doing research for a human rights NGO or the Department of Justice. I have great pipedreams, I know. New York and Beirut are also on the drawing board. Regardless of what I’ll be doing in the fall, I’m now greatly looking forward to some time at home this summer. Auburn does have its appeal. Time with family and friends, runs in the canyon, breakfast at Katrina’s, bread pudding at Awful Annie’s, and, er, free groceries all sound pretty good right now. A job would be nice as well.
For now, it’s back to my coffee and job research with a run in the near future. Happy lazy Saturday everyone!
