Turkey is a country of contrasts from waiters in Kayseri running with trays balanced on upturned palms to the fairytale moonscape of Cappadocia; from palm trees in tropical Adana to the snow-covered Taurus Mountains.
As a ‘spouse point’ wife I joined my husband, Ron, on a climate change mission to Turkey.
In a wise policy to keep families happily together, Bank staff accumulate ‘points’ for each night of travel. At certain point levels such as 150 or 200, the points can be redeemed for Bank-paid airfare, hotel, meals and in-country travel to enable a spouse to go along on mission. We redeemed points for a round-trip plane ticket and paid ourselves for other expenses.
Magnificent snow-capped Mt. Egis, 7000 feet high, Kayseri
This is a fabulous program that all spouses should take advantage of. I diligently keep an accounting of my husband’s trips and remind him when it’s time for me to go along. On my first trip to Sofia, Bulgaria, I roamed the city with guidebook in hand during the day; and, at night sat at the long table of Bank staff for drinks and dinner, laughter and conversation. I met Ron’s colleagues and the next time I had lunch in the Bank cafeteria and went to the Bank Christmas party I felt at home. The mission staff remembered and warmly embraced me.
On this trip to Turkey our plane landed in Cappadocia on a chilly dark night after 18 hours of travel. A driver was waiting and drove us along a black road to our hotel.
Bank staff are often greeted with open arms and we were offered colorful, refreshing drinks before being ushered to our room across a cobblestone street. When the hotel clerk stepped aside we walked into a spectacular cave. The white walls joined the ceiling in a seamless curve. Hollowed niches held candles. Cappadocia is famous for cave resorts that are built into the mountainside.
Public art on the street in Adana, larger-than-lifesize bronze heads
In the morning I squealed when I looked outside. We were high on a mountain terrace overlooking miles of tall slender fairy-like castles. Giant colorful hot-air balloons hung in the sky.
This spouse trip was not a see-it-alone-city excursion. I was with the Bank group every minute and loved the camaraderie. After breakfast on the first morning we piled into vans and headed for field visits.
One mile up in the Seyhan Basin Watershed I rambled across the mountainside in thick-soled shoes. The ground was composed of hard volcanic rocks and reddish soil and dotted with tiny lilac and white flowers, sparse grasses and little junipers. While the Bankers discussed a reforestation project designed to halt erosion, I snapped pictures.
Next stop was at Molu Enerji, a reservoir and hydropower plant. The 34-year-old owner offered us tea in tulip-shaped glasses and talked about the future prospect of less rain as a likely result of climate change.
In Sultan National Park we saw the wide-open landscape stretch for miles. It was hot but dry in the bright sun. Four-hundred-and-fifty families once lived and made a living collecting reeds from the wetlands. Today only a couple dozen do because reeds require abundant water, which no longer is plentiful.
Dolmbahce Palace on the shore of the Bosphorous River, Istanbul
Our field excursion ended with a meeting of local officials and enabled me to compare professional gatherings in different countries. Years ago I worked for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Our meetings were typically conducted in an interior conference room around a rectangular table.
It was a little different in Turkey. The Provincial Governor of Nigde seated us on couches around a low coffee table spread with tea and chocolates. I could see a snow-covered mountain in the distance and the red Turkish flag flying above rooftops through the large windows. Through an interpreter I listened to his concerns that climate change could worsen the problem of decreasing water levels and increasing arsenic concentrations in the town’s water supply.
This World Bank mission opened my eyes to a new country on my world travel circuit in a way that wouldn’t have happened were I just a tourist. Now I read every article in the paper about Turkey as well as novels by esteemed Turkish authors. In addition, I’m more attuned to my husband’s life at the Bank and his travels, which is valuable in itself. I highly recommend a spouse point trip to any destination whenever you qualify. I guarantee it will be a once-in-a-lifetime not-to-be missed experience.
Get a caretaker for the children, kiss them goodbye and come back enriched with memories.
By Audrey Hoffer, freelance writer and wife of
Ron Hoffer, Environment and Water Advisor, ECA