week 4
Greetings! I have returned from Turkey! Last week I was not sure about going. I can now say that I am very glad I went. Istanbul is absolutely incredible. I did also have a few less than pleasant experiences, but all in all, I am glad I went. The Hagia Sophia was incredible. So was the Blue Mosque. The food was very good as well. A friend from college I haven't spoken to in years replied to an Instagram story I posted and recommended a place to eat. That place had amazing traditional Kabobs.
One thing that happened to me in Istanbul was extremely scary. I will not go into it. But it is really something that could have happened anywhere, even in the states. No matter how cautious one is, some things just happen. I remember my grade 11 English teacher had this story he loved to tell about a man driving to work who was crushed by a frozen cow. This guy was driving to work safely, but there was a semi-truck wreck on the overpass above him which caused an entire frozen butchered cow to fall and kill him. No way to avoid fate I guess. And lucky for me, my fate was not bad at all. Cold steel pressed to my temple, nothing more.
Work is going well. Right now I am working on a report comparing the legislation in different countries dealing with voters' list accuracy. Voters' lists in Kosovo are very inaccurate. This may not sound like the end of the world, but in all reality, it is a major threat to democracy itself.
My coworkers invited me to a protest this week. I did not want to go at first, I was scared. But they are my friends and I greatly respect each of them. And they insisted I go. And the law they were protesting was one worthy of protest. This law basically removed all transparency in political parties and how they get their funding. Refuzoj!
Final note, I stood 5 feet away from Madeline Albright and Bill Clinton the other day. They are very well liked here and for very good reason.
Anyway, next week expect an update about my weekend in Budapest! Ciao!