The trip to Istanbul was great - really easy. It took two days, and I passed through some great scenery, including a crazy amount of snow covered mountains etc. The border crossing was a little scary, it took 2 (3?) hours, and it was so freakin' cold, but it was pretty straightforward.
I finally arrived in Istanbul, Turkey about 9am. I wandered around for a bit, went to see the famous Blue Mosque, and I saw the Pudding Shop (the place where the hippies used to meet before heading overland to India). I asked directions to a department store so I could pick up a dress for the Gala Dinner that would be coming up at the conference.
I met Miha from Romania (who is doing the same job as me, but in Macedonia), we caught the same flight down to Antalya - the playground of the Russian rich and lazy, it seems (at least in summer).
The hotel we stayed in was amazing - the full 5 stars - blatant luxury :) We had two days of pre-meetings, where we got to meet our other facilitators, and prepare our sessions. I worked with some lovely girls;
Miha (Romania/Macedonia)
Dagmar (Czech Republic/Germany)
Iwona (Poland)
Hana (Czech Republic)
I also met up with Spence, an AIESECer from the UK. Even though everyone I work with speaks excellent English, it was so nice to go 'totally native' with this beautiful Brit.
Suddenly, on the first day of conference(our third day there), we started hearing a roar coming from the other side of the door. A big roar, like a freight train coming at you. Imagine 700 people screaming, singing, yelling and beating drums....
We opened the doors and they flooded in, each group singing their LC songs as loud as they could. The music was pumping, the people were dancing, it was manic - the perfect way to start ATEMCO 2009.
We started the conference by facilitating a session to 400+ people. It was insane. Try covering History, Current State and Indirect Impact in one hour, for 400 delegates who's english level is 'basic. I hope we got enough of the content through for it to be beneficial!
The second day was the hardest by far - we divided all these newies into homegroups, and then conducted a simulation all day with them, taking them through the AIESEC Experience. It was intense, and it lasted I can't remember how many hours, but it started just after breakfast and ended after dinner.
The third day of conference was recovery day for the international facis. All the sessions for the day were to be in Turkish, so we had the day off. We went down to the beach, took a look in the sauna, and generally buggerised around for the day. As the day drew to a close, we started preparing for the Gala Dinner.
The Gala was wonderful. Everyone was suited and booted, the boys in sharp suits and the girls in so many different dresses and gowns. It was wonderful. We ate, we danced, we had a wonderful time. I'll try and find a photo of me all done up ;)
All too soon it was over. We woke up or staggered home or stopped drinking and took a shower - either way, all 700 delegates crawled out of their various hungover holes and headed to morning plenary (not surprisingly, it was a few hours late in starting). Unfortuntately, we faci's had to jet, so we had just enough time to show our goodbye video, a few quick hugs to the folks that mattered, and we were gone.
We couldn't believe it. Over. Just like that..
We found ourselves again in Istanbul, this time with a very generous AIESECer allowing us to stay at her apartment, very close to the city centre. We spent the day sightseeing again with the help of yet another AIESECer :) I took my backpack, intending to catch the 2pm bus back to Tehran.... it was not to be.
I ended up heading to the bus station (Logic's on my side here, surely?). But alas, my bus company departs from the tour agency, on the main street, not at the bus station. In any case, after much frantic calling etc, I found myself miles from the city, with 4Lira in my pocket, no bus for 24 hours and no phone to call my friends... Holy Shit was an understatement.
I borrowed a phone from a stranger, and spent 3 of those 4 lira on public transport back to meet the girls. I became a charity case - you can't do much with 1 lira! So they fed me, watered me and helped me all around until the next day, when I ended up at the right place, at the right time, on the right bus!!
Trip home was reasonably uneventful. My passport was checked on the Turkish side, then at the border, then on the Iranian side. As I crossed the border I was fingerprinted, but that at least saved me from standing in the queue. As always, the trip home feels quicker. I got into Azadi station early this morning, shhowered and got into work.
I thought I was doing fine, but I soon realised I wasn't going to be good for much today, so I'm writing this from my bed! Getting some rest and I'll try life again tomorrow ;)
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