Packing up here to fly to Istanbul tomorrow. Only ever been to the airport there (changing planes between Germany and Israel) so excited to cover some new territory. On the other hand, in my extensive travels (some 30 countries so far), I have never been someplace where the tear gas is flying with such regularity…and the government is bound and determined to block Twitter. There is also the fact that the popularity of Americans has dropped precipitously, and a visa requirement has been instated since I originally committed to the (academic) event I am attending. I will be speaking German instead of English and hoping for the best!