And The Newest Stamp In My Passport Is. . .

. . .Norway!

Last weekend I hopped a Turkish Air flight to Oslo, Norway to spend some over-due quality time with Jason (yes, I'm seeing someone and yes, he lives in Oslo and yes, he is the aforementioned Jason). Oslo is a city built for meandering. Parks and statues and fountains lead from one to the other; taking you from one end of the city to the other. So that's what we did - we followed the parks and the statues and the fountains to from the bed and breakfast past the Royal Palace, down to Aker Brygge, over to the new opera and ballet house, and through Vigeland Sculpture Park. It was an incredibly relaxing and focusing weekend that went a long way in helping me get my head and heart around the events of July 9, 2008.

Oslo's beauty is the polar opposite of Istanbul's - where Istanbul is chaotic, an organic maze of streets and buildings and mosques, Oslo is orderly, it's plan deliberate and straight forth. They are so different that at times I found it impossible to imagine them existing on the same planet, on the same continent. And yet here they are, these two opposites, growing, changing, filling the role of Home for their inhabitants, existing beautifully.

The trip to Oslo was also the maiden voyage of my new camera - a Nikon D40. We had a great time trying it out, playing with features, and figuring out what all those settings do.

The first Official Picture of my Nikon D40


Vigeland Sculpture Park (at 11:00pm - the land of the midnight sun)


Me and Jason at the Oslo Opera and Ballet House

In Memory

To the brave police officers who died or were wounded this morning at the U.S. Consulate General Istanbul and their families - you are in our hearts and prayers.

This morning, three gunmen attacked the police checkpoint at the entrance to the consulate. They shot and killed three police officers, wounded others, and were themselves shot and killed. The attack has left the entire consulate shaken and rattled. The next few days and weeks will be difficult ones as we mourn the loss of life on our very doorstep.

During training, we were told it was not a matter of if, but when we would experience a terrorist attack. Who could have known "when" would come so soon into my first tour? My beliefs about the security of the world I live in where challenged today; as were some of my beliefs about myself. And now, at the end of the day, I go to bed with questions and a deep, deep sadness.

You Always Remember Your First

Hello from the gateway, the bridge, the link between East and West! Istanbul, Turkey; my first post as an employee of the Department of State. I've been living here for about 4 months now - time spent learning parts of the city (I'll never, ever see even 1/2 of it!), meeting some incredible people who have already touched my life in enduring ways, getting used to the title of "U.S. diplomat", and, as is my want, looking at the map and thinking about my where-to-next.

This is not a city that does things half-assed - the summer heat, the carpets, the population, the views, the mosques, the ships, the traffic, the history. It's all big and close enough to touch; so infused in daily life it is impossible to separate one from the other. For a girl who has never been to Europe, Istanbul seems so close to everything! Athens, Paris, Oslo, Bucharest, Vienna - all are less than 1/2 a day away. Having said that, I have spent almost no time outside the city yet - a trip to Cyprus in May and an upcoming trip to Oslo being the only exceptions. A 2 week vacation in August will take me out of Istanbul to Colorado and Honduras.

For those of you familiar with my Peru blog, I'm hoping you will find this blog just as entertaining and more frequently updated (Istanbul is a far, far, far technological cry from Jocos).

The Blue Mosque