Istanbul, I Hardly Knew You

Notes on leaving one of the best cities in the world.

I am approaching the end of my 90 allotted days in Turkey, and in a little over a week, I will leave for my next destination. I can’t remember the last time I felt so unready to leave a place. In three months, I have constructed a real life here. At the same time, I know I’ve barely seen a thing. To uproot myself again in the infancy of a new life, just as its growing into something, feels abrupt and sad. But that’s how it goes when you want to stay in the authorities’ good graces. I plan to be back in September, after I’ve spent the requisite 90 days out of the country, and hope to make arrangements to stay for a longer time then. But you never know. Maybe somewhere else will suck me in first. These things are impossible to anticipate in advance.