Visa-vis with International Hoop-Jumping

Behold...

The highlight of our lone trip to Ankara

Tuesday, May 7, 2013 - - Roughly 8 am

At this point in our trip we were on our way to the radiation clinic, walking through this park, trying to catch some sunlight for warmth - Ankara was about 20 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than Adana.  With just enough warmth, food and sense of direction, and not quite enough sleep, we felt mostly positive about our day's mission: getting chest x-rays to verify we do not have tuberculosis.   

Our day started the night before around 10:15.  We walked from our place to the bus office to shuttle to the Otogar for the 11:30 bus to Ankara.  The 7-hour bus ride stopped halfway to disrupt anyone who was lucky enough to fall asleep.  The second half of the journey went a little quicker as Hilary and I both finally got a few hours of sleep.

After waiting at the bus station in Ankara for the metro to open for the day (it was only 6:30 am) we entered the city center.  We were travelling with Can and some of his family, so he showed us a nice little place for some breakfast.  We were all pretty tired, sore from the bus seats, and anxious about the business we each had to attend to afterward.  

Slightly revived from breakfast pastries and coffee, our two parties went our separate ways.  We set off toward the north end of the city where the clinic was located, passing the site of the above photograph.  We walked up and down the streets surrounding---

I've tried to finish this stupid post too many times.  I'm bored.  It's boring.  It's a boring story.  It was a long, annoying day full of travel (14 hours) and waiting at the doctor's office (2 hours) and then waiting for the results (another 2 hours) to prove we don't have TB in order to get our visas for NZ.  Normally we wouldn't need to do this and the visas would be free and easy, but because we've been living in a country that is not on the list of countries that are a low risk for tuberculosis, we had to spend the time, money, and stress on a situation that is still in limbo (we are still waiting for the x-rays to arrive in New Zealand and I'm mildly worried because I've passed my deadline for the whole process).  And I feel guilty about being so bent out of shape by such a small problem in such a fortunate life filled with undeserved blessings.  There.