Sitting at my workstation, on the fifth floor of Istanbul's Municipal Government building, I have to pinch myself to remind me this is real. The office environment is much like any American one. You have the "talkitive" narcissist, the shy ones, the skeptical ones, and the outgoing ones. Then you have Murat. He's great! As our internship "coordinator," he has welcomed us graciously into our foreign work environment with open arms. At hard task given the lack of continuity...we are the first foreign students to work in this office, let alone the building, ever. Without Murat, our time at IBB (İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyesi), we'd be utterly lost. He has tasked us with assignments that will help IBB in the areas of urban planning to include: tourism, building codes/legislation, and marketing to name a few. We have given presentations to the top officials of urban planning
Despite a huge language barrier, positive energy, laughter, and friendly gestures go a long way...in addition to food. To break the ice after an awkward first week on the job, I brought in some fresh Turkish cookies and offered them one by one in my best and (rehearsed) Turkish. All partook except for one, the "diet" girl.
I've also made acquaintances with Yasin and Pelin. Two hip Istanbul-ites who speak excellent English and want to show us the "real" Istanbul. The real Istanbul includes 38 other districts. The district in which we live and work, the Fatih district, is the most conservative and distant from the fashionable ones. This has forced us to utilize the excellent public transportation available to locals! I can proudly say I've used all of them. The tram, the metro, the ferry, and the bus!
Trying to grasp exactly how smart my colleagues are and how the work they do at IBB affects so many, nearly 15 million, is no easy task. IBB, the crux of what makes Istanbul thrive and survive, has provided me a greater appreciation for even the smallest services of cities I've lived in.
Like most trips abroad, by the time you feel ready to conquer the city, it's almost time to go home. Days are numbered. What felt like an eternity on day one has dwindled down to a handful. My time though at IBB has been eye-opening and I'm looking to forward to what my last week has in store.
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