Thinking about coming to Turkey? Think again....and then come!

Traditional Turkish Tea

Hahaha...I got you! With all the hoopla in the media regarding Turkey in the last few months, I thought I would chime in and give my 2 cents.

While visiting Seattle for the month of July, there was an attempted coup in Turkey. It was the weirdest thing: I was on a boat heading to the San Juan Islands when I started receiving messages from friends and family both in Turkey and the US. To hear of the attempted coup in Turkey was heart breaking. It seemed like just when things were starting to quiet down, this happens. My family and friends were grateful that I wasn't in Turkey during the coup attempt. Many of them advised me to change my ticket and stay a few more weeks in the US so that things could "cool off" here. Well, We didn't change our ticket and came home to what was pretty much business as usual for Turkey. No, there weren't tanks roaming the streets; no, there weren't armed gunmen on every corner. People were just going about their daily lives as they always did.

Turkish Coffee

When people ask me about if I feel scared of living here, I just remind them of the recent attacks in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. In todays world, an attack, earthquake, Ebola and just about anything else you can think of can happen to anyone, anywhere. Your location doesn't matter. If it's your time, it's your time. I truly believe that mainstream media makes things worse than they really are. That being said, you should always be aware of your personal surroundings whether you're in London, New York or Istanbul and use due diligence.

Delicious Food From Antakya

So, should you come to Turkey for work, to live with your family or to simply visit? Absolutely. Turkey still has some of the beautiful, historic places I've ever seen. The people of Turkey are some of the most humble and friendly people around.

Renewing an American Passport in Istanbul, Turkey 101

I recently paid a visit to the US Consulate in Istanbul. My passport will expire next March and I will not have much time before then to start the renewal, so I started early. This is the my second visit the the American Consulate in Istanbul. I visited the consulate six and a half years ago when I got married. The Turkish government required a form from the consulate stating I was eligible for marriage. Just like the first time I visited the consulate, the process for a passport renewal was a breeze.

The American Consulate has an in-depth process of the passport renewal process on their web page here. I'll take a moment to describe my experience
at the consulate. First of all, you must have an appointment. You can make an appointment online via the consulates website. I booked my appointment a week before coming to Istanbul and there were few openings available. If you are like me, and you have your valid, unaltered passport in hand, then you will only have to bring the following to your appointment: original passport, one passport photo, a photocopy of the bio page found in your passport and the completed DS-82 form.

The actual process for me only took 4 or 5 minutes as I had prepared everything before hand. Unfortunately, I waited about 30 minutes for the previous appointments to finish up. Since the office was air conditioned, I didn't mind.

After paying $110.00 on my American Visa card, then 15 Turkish Lira for UPS to ship the new passport to my school, I was finished. Super easy!

The American Consulate Istanbul

The American Consulate in Istanbul is massive! After you enter the first door, you must leave all electronics at the front desk, including cell phones. I found my way to the American services section quite easily. I was given a number and was asked to sit in the American Citizen waiting room. The area where non American Citizens wait is pretty large. I think I counted 8 or 9 windows where consulate staff were actively working with Turks and I assume many other people from all over the world.

I understand that the US does not make it easy for Turks to receive visas to visit the US. As a result, many of the people that I saw appeared as if they were going in for a job interview. Most everyone was very well dressed, well organized and I'm sure had butterflies in their tummy. The consulate doesn't do a very good job about putting people at ease. With the 3 inch thick bullet proof glass and the fact that there is ZERO privacy, I would feel a bit nervous about the whole experience, too.

In the end, I would say that the process of renewing your passport in person is very easy. I do know that one may renew their passport by mail, but since I didn't want to go through the process of getting a cashiers check from my Turkish bank and fumble with the mail, I figured an in-person visit would be easier. Plus, it was an excuse to visit Istanbul for a few days!