The First Step:Visa

Today I went to Turkish Consulate in NYC.

It was an interesting experience.
I arrived at 47th st around 2:15 pm. Right before I enter, a security guard stopped me at the door and demanded to check my bag. Ofcourse I obliged. While I tried to follow the instruction and gave him my ID, he simply waved me off.
Hmm, okay... Carry on...
After taking the elevator to the fifth floor, I find myself facing a dull whitish/yellowish room. With a few bleachers in the back, there is a row of glass windows facing directly to the elevator. Oddly enough, I find I am the only person in this empty waiting room. There was no people present at the window, there was no usual security guard stands to the door and hand off you a ticket to wait,

only...Me.....

I can hear voices in the background, but they all muffled by the glass windows. I peered into the glass windows, I can only see bunch empty desks.
hmm, am I arrived at the right time?
I check the schedule again, it shows the correct time for working hours.
But... where are all the people??

I am confused, and getting a little bit anxious. where d hell is the workers???

As I was standing alone in the middle of the room and anticipating my fate, other people arrived. There was a gentlemen who stands right behind me and start ponding me with same questions.
"are you waiting for them?"
"yeah, but there is no one here."
"hmm..."
Maybe due to his older age or impatience? he went to sit on one of the seat while I standing alone in front of the glass.
Hmm, okay... I nvr experienced this in Chinese or American consulate before.

As more people starting arriving, There was finally a sense of commotion in the background. I felt relieved. "Thank god, at least all my waiting are not for nothing."
While I getting my hopes up, i heard elevator opens and release a few more people. A midge couple and a brown hair, green eye girl came out. Neatly dressed and holding her papers, she seems just as bit confused as I was. hehe, at least she is cute.

One of the Turkish Consulate worker came to the window and began shouting something over the microphone. I could not hear clearly, it was all muffled by the wall.
Suddenly she waves me close, I took out my passport, visa application, acceptance letter, passport photo, and lastly.. money...

From today, from the position of monetary transactions, i believe i learned the basic of Turkish Bureaucracy.
EXACT CHANGE!!No quarters!!
hahaha, I thought i could just give her 4 quarters to replace the last dollar i was missing, well, that was no dice. So i turned to midage couple and asked them for an exchange. As understanding as they are, they helped me with this one dollar transaction.
With less than 10 secs, the lady wrote me a date on a piece of paper and ordered me to come back to pick my passport up.
Ofcourse, I am happily obliged.

There ends the first step of my odyssey to Turkey. I guess you can even say my first step starts on a island, after all, Manhattan is an island by itself.
Soon I will head off to my next destination.