Problems, Part 5

After I got all of my things retrieved, the police took me to the American Consulate in Istinye, Istanbul. By the time we got there, it was about 7:00 PM, so the embassy was already closed, however there were a few Turkish workers there to help me. They made several calls to figure out what to do with me, I had no money for a hotel, so they were looking into what the consulate could do for me.

After about two hours of waiting, and several  phone calls later, one worker offered to let me sleep in his car if they couldn’t find a hotel to donate a room for the night….and then, a hotel called back. I was told that the consulate would pay the expense and I would be able to have a quiet night to myself, I was told to prepare my things, since I would most likely be sent back to the U.S. the next day. I made them promise me that the consulate would pay, and not me, as I had no money, and no way of getting money. They swore up and down that everything was taken care of, then I was dropped of at the hotel.

This was the hotel I was taken to, managed to find a picture of it on Google Earth

I spent what I thought would be my last night in Turkey walking along the Bosphorus, past the boats, wishing that my trip would not end on a bad note. I thought that sadly, my only trip outside the U.S. was a horrible one, and I didn’t want to have a bad view on being in other countries. I was determined to not allow this to ruin my perception of foreign countries.

The next morning, I got all of my things, and began walking over to the American Consulate. As soon as I got there, I knew something was off. No one knew about my situation, nor did they care. In fact, the consulate then took away my passport. The reason: I now owed 125 Lira for the hotel room, the one they promised to pay.

So, there I was, on the street, all my belongings dragging behind me, no money, no where to go, I knew no one, and now, I owed money for something that I was promised would be paid for.

Part 6…