Monday, August 16, 2010

Can't Always Get What You Want...

So I finally arrived in Turkey yesterday. It was hot, as to be expected. I was sweaty, as to be expected. There were new people, sounds, smells and sights... as to be expected. As expected, we were picked up by some of the lovely staff at the school and put on buses with our luggage. So far, all good... then we arrived at our lojman (that's the word for apartments or dorms here), only it wasn't my lojman at all... this was NOT as expected. We were taken off the bus and then told that our lojmans weren't ready just yet and that we would stay in the temporary place until they were. When asked for a ball park figure of when that might be, we were told a week or two. No specific dates (not as expected for westerners... but it's all inshallah here). So we were placed in a "hotel" which I will now refer to as the fauxtel... it is a studio apartment that is modern, clean and SMALL. Nothing wrong with it except that there is no AC and no fans... (oh and the stores are sold out of fans at the moment because it's the hottest summer in over 6 years... awesome!! hahaha). But I won't complain because the Rolling Stones always taught me that you just can't always get what you want, but you get what you need!! And isn't that true enough. Welcome to the international teaching world... it doesn't always make sense but a sense of humour and the attitude of gratitude get you what you need and sometimes what you want!!

Here are some pics of my Fauxtel lojamn:


The view from my window... it faces east so the sunrise wakes me... not all bad!!

The biffy... small but sleek and functional... a good combo.

Looking in from the door.


Kitchenette from the window you were earlier looking out.


And the rest of it... it's small but it's good for the moment. Can't wait to get my real lojman and decorate!!

3 comments:

Shaun Guthrie said...

Wow I would have never guessed that was in Turkey from the pictures. The bathroom picture looks like your toilet is in the shower. :)

AprilMay said...

Not bad at all for temp lodging! I love the modern look of it! I hope the "two weeks" does not really mean "a month or two", but you know how that goes of course! :P Still, you are in TURKEY YAY!

Kristen said...

You have such a good attitude in all this :o)