Trip update - free wireless and a continuing flow of paper

My trip is going great so far.  I’m now at the Ankara bus terminal completely surprised to find they have free wireless.  I don’t think they know they have free wireless; it’s more likely that some of the bus companies have open networks, or maybe I’m catching the signal from a few of the ultramodern coaches parked outside.  In any case, it’s much like my 6th grade flag football coach described me — slow as molasses — but it’ll do.

My bus to Bursa doesn’t leave till midnight, another 3.5 hours from now, but I decided to come early because I couldn’t find a single cafe where I could work that wasn’t filled with cigarette smoke.  Turkish bus terminals aren’t exactly havens of clean air, but I found a location that seems to have a smoker-free radius of about 50 feet.

As with every previous trip to the Diyanet, I met new people who were very hospitable and interested in helping me out.  This sometimes happens through other people who I already know, but it’s just as likely to happen while roaming the halls looking for this or that office.  On Monday I was looking for someone who could give me copies of the Diyanet’s annual report, but I wound up meeting the editor of the Diyanet’s children’s magazine and three of his co-workers in the publications department.  Two hours and I don’t know how many teas later I had learned a lot about a completely different facet of the Diyanet.

Today while waiting for a document to be signed I had a good chat with two astronomers who set prayer times and the start of religious holidays according to the moon’s phases.  I thought there’d be a computer program to handle that sort of thing automatically, but I thought wrong.

The paperwork will increase until morale improves

I’m also learning a lot through first hand experience about bureaucracy, red tape, and the limited efficacy of civil servants. This is best summarized by a Diyanet employee who helped me get permission to observe a new research site. He said, “Look, it just took me two days to prepare a 3-line document and get it signed by five people. Two days to do one hour’s work.”

So it goes. I’m just happy to get the permission.