Visa Application and Health Information

I received a large packet of information today from Lisa. It's, well, a lot of stuff to take in. I have a lot of reading and preparation to do.

For you folks concerned with my health, there are relatively few health concerns:

• Measles (I'm up to date on my MMR... I think)
• Highly Pathogenic Avian Flu — H5N1 (that's 4 more than H1N1!!!) <-- that's sarcasm... it has nothing to do with the number and H5N1 rarely infects humans.
• Hepatitis A & B (Vaccinated!)
• Typhoid (I may need to get this one)
• Rabies
• Your typical African/Middle-Eastern mosquito-borne diseases:
• Malaria
• Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever
• West Nile (I'm from Iowa. I can handle this one)
• Lastly, your standard Middle-Eastern water- and vector-borne parasites:
• Cutaneous Leishmaniasis
• Visceral Leishmaniasis (rare!)
• Schistosomiasis

Yes, to answer your question, I'm doing this to scare you. I will be fine. I promise. We have health insurance and everything. Plus, who wouldn't want a few souvenir Leishmania to share with their friends when s/he got back?

I don't know if you any of you have applied for a work visa, much less to Turkey, but let me tell you, it's a daunting process. It is a very formal application, and just reading it makes me nervous that I'm going to screw something up. At the moment, I'm reading the paperwork and preparing to begin the application; however, I cannot submit my visa application until I receive the formal invitation letter from CIMMYT.

This whole process is making this internship a reality for me. I think with high school coming to an end, I'm becoming more aware of what I am doing this summer as I have more time to think about it.

As I mentioned before, intern orientation is on the 7th of May. Lisa has submitted a list of frequently asked questions to the centers and we should be receiving answers that day. If you have any questions, just let me know. I'll be happy to answer if I can. Otherwise, I will find out much more on the 7th.

40 days!

Çok Teşekkürler,

Andrew

42 days...

Let the countdown commence!

I have 42 days before I depart for Ankara. 

For those of you who are curious, here is my itinerary:

June 3rd, 2011

Des Moines to Chicago O'Hare

Departure  18:10

Arrival  19:30

Approx. Time Elapsed  1:20

Chicago O'Hare to İstanbul

Departure  20:20

Arrival  17:05

Approx. Time Elapsed  10:45

İstanbul to Ankara

Departure  19:00

Arrival  20:05

Approx. Time Elapsed  1:05

Now that the travel dates are set, I'm expecting my visa application materials from the World Food Prize Director of Youth and Education Programs, Lisa Fleming. You will likely see references to Lisa later.

Further, on May 7th, we have an internship orientation. It will be great to have more specifics about the internship (I'm still as fuzzy as you on some things). I'll be sure to update as I learn more.

Lastly, I'm sure most of you are aware of my Turkish-learning endeavors. Let's just say it sucks. With its noun harmony, irregular syntax and lack of articles, Turkish is far and away the most difficult language I've attempted to learn. I don't expect to be remotely fluent by the time I depart. Hopefully, I can catch on quick once I'm there. Much of my Easter weekend will be devoted to study of Turkish.

More to come—

Teşekkürler,

Andrew