Days 52-58: Home Again, Home Again Lickity Split (Gümüşhane)

20 hours, 24 hours…it doesn’t actually matter how long you’ve ended up on the bus once you pass about 18 hours. If I had a Turkish bus on American roads then things might not be so bad, especially if I could take one of the top Turkish bus companies. I’d have a Wifi connection, my own entertainment system and a steward to wait on me hand and foot. Instead, I was on a mediocre bus traveling along Turkish roads, which might be worse than African roads.

If the route on the way to the southeast was circuitous then the way back was just absolute madness. If you have a car then you can make the trip in 6 hours. SIX HOURS! On the way back we swung far to the west. I consoled myself by saying that I was getting to see some amazing parts of the country but around hour 18 I stopped caring. I just sat there, bouncing up and down, jostling from side to side, completely unable to fall asleep. Every hour or so we would come to a stop to let someone on or off; more often than not they’d make a beeline for the empty seat beside me.

At some point your body just gives up. It stops protesting about sleep or food or water, and it goes into something like standby mode. You don’t think. You just stare. So I stared for 22 hours until we reached Trabzon and then another hour and a half until we reached Gümüşhane. Somewhere along the way I gave up on Georgia. I knew I couldn’t spend another minute on a bus, much less trying to figure out its weird language, arranging accommodation, finding food, looking for transportation, etc. I decided that southeastern Anatolia had taken its toll on my soul, and I was sick of traveling. It probably didn’t help that I’m getting old. In fact, I kept replaying the Lethal Weapon scene in my head: “I’m gettin’ too old for this shit.”

There are worse places in the world to spend a week than Gümüşhane. I came back because I know the town and the people; I don’t have to negotiate for things because people don’t try to rip you off. The hotel is comfortable and the staff likes me. I know where all the good restaurants are. And I can complete the work that needs to be completed before I return to the States – like four different phone interviews.

Today I was supposed to have two interviews. One lady just didn’t even call. Granted we had already rescheduled once before, but if she needed to reschedule again she could have dropped an e-mail. Although to be honest I wonder if there aren’t some weird problems with her institution – when I tried to access their website this morning to do some research before the interview it was offline.

The second interview was through Skype, and I really enjoyed it. The interviewer was really thorough in making sure that I understood the history and mission of the organization and the commitment that their interns were expected to make. The expectations do seem high but she definitely hit the mark by saying that a lot of interns will “have nothing to do,” and I’d rather be worked to death than have nothing to do. If they offer me the job then I’ll definitely take it.

So far being back in Gümüshane has been nice, except for Ramadan. Apparently all the restaurants shut down during the day. At least I can’t find one that’s open. So I’m food fasting with the rest of the town, and I hate it. If it wasn’t hotter’n all get out then I’d just all out fast all week – if you’re halfway there you might as well commit (in reasonable weather).

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