Summer 2012, Part I

Cayyolu, Ankara, June 2012

Esteemed Readers;

I’ve been quiet lately. My last post was almost 5 months ago. Actually, many things happened since then. But it was the sheer volume and intensity of the stuff that kept me from writing.

So here is a quick summary of this summer:

May:

Went back to Ankara, to my beloved university and students. I LOVE teaching IPE! (international political economy). And the feelings are mutual, I might add. My students seem to enjoy my classes as much as I do, at least according to the student reviews.

This semester we stirred up quite lively discussions in class on auto industry. Does Turkey need its very own auto company? My students made excellent claims on both sides. We also had a few engineers in class, who were very much engaged by the topic. I am very proud of them all.

In the second half of May, my family flew in from the US. My son went to a public school in the neighborhood. To everyone’s surprise, he managed to fit in quite well. No harm done by local bullies, and he actually made some good friends...

June:

Classes and university obligations continued full blast. Upon Mexican Embassy’s request, I organized a panel on G20. Other than the “death by powerpoint” incident by one of the presenters, it went quite well.

We had a big party for my son and his best friend from our apartment. I mean BIG PARTY! 2 huge cakes, clowns, music systems set up in the basketball court. After hearing the music and seeing the clowns and the guy walking on stilts, lots of people from the neighborhood joined. Both the kids and their parents had great time.

When school was over, we registered our son in an all-day sports school, since both my husband and I were working full-time at the university.

First week, he got injured in gymnastics. At the end of the month when he completed the program, they gave him a “gold medal” in gymnastics! I am telling you, this is a spoiled generation we have… They are pampered left and right…

July:

My son went to the summerhouse with my mom, my brother and his Russian girl friend. It seemed like they had great time along the Aegean Sea, while land locked Ankara was baking in the summer heat. 

The snorkel grandma got for him truly enamored my son. He insisted to speak with me over the phone, while wearing it! Needles to say, I didn’t get most of what he was saying but we played along…

In the absence of a young son, my husband and I jumped right into the exciting nightlife of Ankara! This meant attending some uptight parties thrown by various embassies in town.

Probably one of the best was at the Canadian Embassy, jointly organized by their NAFTA partner, the Mexicans! Don’t ask me why they excluded the US. We didn’t want to stir up any controversies, and were just happy to be invited.

At the party, the Embassy staff had a funky payment arrangement: You paid some money, say 20 Liras, and got a card with a bunch of monkeys on. 5 Monkeys would get you a beer, 6 monkeys for margaritas, and 7 monkeys for whisky.

It turns out, my husband had left over monkeys in a card, but from 4-5 years ago! He pulled it out and politely asked the bar tender, if they would honor the monkeys in his old Embassy card.

To our surprise, the bartender did! He said it’s been years since he had seen a card like that, but served the beer anyway… When my husband shared the incident with the Canadian Ambassador, the Ambassador was super proud! He said: “We Canadians honor our contracts!”

Wishing you all fun neighbors like the Mexicans, and virtuous neighbors like the Canadians!

The Diplomat-Friendly Academic Mommy