Today was full of characters--the head of the Turkish Higher Education Council (YOK) addressed us this morning to welcome us etc. when much to our surprise a dozen or so reporters, cameramen and film crew swarmed in. The Minister continued on as if nothing had happened, but to be honest I didn't hear much of what he had to say being distracted as I was by the TV camera shoved six inches from my face. Once he had concluded he joked with us that he had to go make an official statement to the press since none of them understood a thing he had just said (he addressed us all in great English.) He left the room and never came back. Maybe I made the evening news?
Then after a few discussions regarding the Embassy and their health services followed by a political discussion with the Embassy's political strategist, we were addressed by two security agents who gave us an (and I quote) "Unclassified Security Briefing". One of the two men grew up in Brooklyn (and talks like it) he had worked on the US-Mexico border in narcotics and other arms smuggling (and you can tell). Suffice it to say this man's every though is how someone could possibly cause any kind of harm to any person with any imaginable instrument. And while I am glad that it is his job and not mine to identify and neutralize threats to Americans, his presentation offered several comical points. The highlight may have been when he showed how a person could use the strap of a woman's purse to strangle her to death--demonstrating on our YOK liaison, a diminutive, sweet woman.
If this is day one, I imagine it will only get better from here.
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