A lot going on in Istanbul today...

If you didn't hear yet, the American consulate in Istanbul was attacked earlier today. 3 gunmen apparently killed 3 policemen/security forces before being killed themselves. It seems like an isolated incident at the moment, but the latest BBC update (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7498772.stm) has linked the attack to the Great Eastern Islamic Raiders Front, or IBDA-C in Turkish, which is linked with al-Qaeda. Time will tell, I'm sure, but it's interesting, as IBDA-C doesn't seem to have been so active for a while now.
Bogazici's campus is nowhere near the consulate, so I've been almost totally unaffected by the attack (really, folks). So while I'll be probably a little more cognizant of my personal safety, there's not much cause to worry.

...at least from that. I'm having some fun times coordinating my residence permit, and apparently may have gotten the wrong kind of visa (but maybe not), which is a bit stressful as I'm required to get my residence permit by late next week, and an essential document for my residence permit application is in Ankara. So, next week I may be dropping in to Ankara for a day, and if I can't get my residence permit in time/have the wrong visa/anything else goes wrong, I'll be heading to the EU to reapply for a visa at a Turkish consulate. I'd really prefer not to do that, so the next few days are going to be a flurry of activity for me.

Hope you-all are doing fabulously,
-R