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July 16, 2007
A Day in the Life...
Reading over my last entries, I realized that I haven’t given a very good picture of what I actually do on a daily basis. Every day is different here, but I’ll try to give a sense of my work life. Department of State employees posted abroad are supposed to be the eyes and ears of Main State back in Washington D.C., so our job here is to meet with people and then to report back. For political officers, this means meeting with government officials, journalists and party leaders in an attempt to gauge the political climate. Once we have these meetings we then send cables back to D.C. with summaries of the discussions and our own analysis of the situation.
In each of my three times in Turkey, I’ve been lucky enough to learn about the country in a different way. Last summer it was all about language all the time. During the fall semester it was about hanging out with Turkish friends and exploring Istanbul. Now it’s about the news and politics. Every morning we get three different news summaries sent out over email that have been compiled from news and columns in the Turkish press (and of course translated for us!). Later, our section meets with our two Turkish analysts and they brief us on the day’s papers. It’s exciting to be so informed and great to have people to ask a million questions.
But it’s not all about work. On July 3rd we had an enormous 4th of July celebration for 2,000 people! Most of them were local businessmen and we wined and dined them with all the best American products, including Burger King, Jack Daniels, and Pizza Hut. Needless to say, it was quite the event. I’ve had a couple of friends visit, but I’m actually enjoying living on my own and taking it easy. My building has a gym and a pool, so I’ve spent more than a few low-key weekends outside. Istanbul can get pretty tiring sometimes and it’s nice to have a bit of a refuge.
Next week I’m helping out in the consular section, so it will be interesting to see how another part of the Consulate-General works. They’re responsible for processing the 300 plus people a day who want visas to the U.S.! Look for an entry about that next week.
Posted by Jill Luxenberg at July 16, 2007 04:25 AM
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