Part 5

After I got all of my things retrieved, the police took me to the American Consulate in Istinye, Istanbul. By the time we got there, it was about 7:00 PM, so the embassy was already closed, however there were a few Turkish workers there to help me. They made several calls to figure out what to do with me, I had no money for a hotel, so they were looking into what the consulate could do for me.
After about two hours of waiting, and several  phone calls later, one worker offered to let me sleep in his car if they couldn’t find a hotel to donate a room for the night….and then, a hotel called back. I was told that the consulate would pay the expense and I would be able to have a quiet night to myself, I was told to prepare my things, since I would most likely be sent back to the U.S. the next day. I made them promise me that the consulate would pay, and not me, as I had no money, and no way of getting money. They swore up and down that everything was taken care of, then I was dropped of at the hotel.

This was the hotel I was taken to, managed to find a picture of it on Google Earth

I spent what I thought would be my last night in Turkey walking along the Bosphorus, past the boats, wishing that my trip would not end on a bad note. I thought that sadly, my only trip outside the U.S. was a horrible one, and I didn’t want to have a bad view on being in other countries. I was determined to not allow this to ruin my perception of foreign countries.
The next morning, I got all of my things, and began walking over to the American Consulate. As soon as I got there, I knew something was off. No one knew about my situation, nor did they care. In fact, the consulate then took away my passport. The reason: I now owed 125 Lira for the hotel room, the one they promised to pay.
So, there I was, on the street, all my belongings dragging behind me, no money, no where to go, I knew no one, and now, I owed money for something that I was promised would be paid for.

Part 4

I was panicking, the mother had taken off with my passport the first day I had arrived, saying she was going to extend my visa…yet she never gave it back…now what do I do?
May 21st, 2013 was my day of action, the mother and father were gone, I had pretended enough that everything was fine so the mother would not be suspicious, and now, both parents were gone. I grabbed my copy of my passport (they had no idea I had a copy) and I told the maid I was going for a walk, the maid refused to let me out the door. I told her to call the mother and tell her I need to talk. So I talked to her on the phone, saying everything is fine, I just want to go for a walk, and that’s it.
She gave the okay…
I walked straight to a grocery store, where I called the American Consulate, who then told me to talk to Turkish police first. I walked then to a little family owned restaurant, at this point, my anxiety has kicked in again, knowing that I am about to do something that might make things either EXTREMELY bad, or very good. The owner of the restaurant didn’t speak English, but his daughter did, so he called her over. I told her the situation, she then told her father, who made a giant tray of food for me, I believe it was his way of letting me know not all Turks are like this.
The woman talked me into calling the police, which we did, twice, and they still didn’t show up. So she jumped on the bus with me and we headed to the police station, where I talked personally with the chief.  He responded that this sort of thing had happened multiple times in that particular complex, and that he hadn’t heard of it happening to an American yet, I was the first. The chief decided to take me personally to the home to get my passport and collect my things. I asked the woman to come with me so I wouldn’t be so nervous. In the backseat of the police car, I had a meltdown.  The stress of the whole situation, the worry that for some reason I would be left with the family again, the fact that I only had 30 days left on my visa to somehow make enough money to get back to the United States…an impossible feat in Turkey…It all came crashing down, the burden on my shoulders, a giant weight on my chest…What do I do? Where do I go from here?
We arrived at the home, and after the police explained everything to the mother, she told me to get my luggage, and I felt the weight slowly lifting off my shoulders, step by step, breath by breath.
I began packing as fast as I could, the woman by my side, the mother screaming in the doorway, I ignored it, because hey, I am about to be free! I stayed calm, and spoke not one word.

Part 3

I had noticed them before, the cameras, but never really glanced at them too much..but this gave me chills, and I felt sick suddenly; what the maid had said about the woman from Turkmenistan could be true after all. I ran straight to my room and covered the camera with a scarf that I had.
What to do, what to do!? The panic got at me immediately, and I began to have an extreme anxiety attack, alone in my room, realizing what I might be in for. I decided that I needed to act normal, like nothing was wrong, I felt like the only way I would stay sane was to pretend that nothing was actually happening, and to just go with the flow.
That night, the mother confronted me about covering the camera in my room, proof that the maid wasn’t messing with me. She told me that since I decided to cover the camera in my room, that I must be doing something I shouldn’t be doing, and told me that she would make sure to watch the cameras more closely. I tried to play dumb, saying that I just put it there for decoration since the walls were bland. She didn’t buy it.
I continued with my plan of pretending everything was fine (still no pay at this point) and decided to try to be friendly with her, to try and get close, ( figured that would keep her from screaming at me, which she did constantly, every day). She decided to trust me a little, and took me to the mall where she worked, but I had to stay close enough where she could see me. On our trip back to the home, I told her about what had happened at the previous house, which she responded to, saying that it was my fault men were like that towards me, and that I obviously did something to deserve that treatment. That was it, I had it, but I didn’t let her see, I carried my brave and indifferent face.
On May 18th, I was screamed at like any other day, only this day, I had to go with the daughter to swimming lessons that were held inside the complex…the area where the big boss’ office was. The mother left me alone while the girl was at her lesson, I asked the guy at the desk inside he pool area for an English speaker. He retrieved one slowly, and I knew I only had 15 minutes to do what I was trying to do.
The woman who spoke English came, and I asked her for the American Consulate phone number, she wouldn’t give it to me until I told er what was going on, at this point, I was shaking in fear, afraid the mother would show up, and they would tell her what I was asking for. I told them the basics, and the woman just turned and walked away….no help, I was stuck.
That same day, I asked the father for my passport back, he told me he was not allowed to give it back to me unless we talked to his wife first. So we sat down, I told her I wanted to leave, I couldn’t handle her screaming at me for random reasons, I can handle the kids biting, kicking, hitting, screaming and so on, I couldn’t handle playing a game that only she knew the rules to…she broke down, screaming and crying, telling me that I am a heartless person to try to leave her to take care of her two kids…even typing that right now, it still makes me feel disgusted about her. She refused to return my passport, and locked the door to the luggage closet, told the maids to not let me out, if they did without her permission, they would be fired, unable to feed their families. She also made sure that if the security at the complex saw me, they were to contact her immediately.
May 19th was my 24th birthday, the family held an overpriced birthday party, for the son, who’s birthday was the next day (they also celebrated that day as well, making it 2 days in a row). The clowns at the party (whom I had seen multiple times at the family’s friends homes for other birthdays) pulled me aside and asked what was going on, I didn’t want them to try to help, so I pretended all was well, they saw right through me.

Part 2

After searching and interviewing quite a few families in Istanbul, one contacted me that wanted me straight away, which to me meant that I would not have to be in that house one more night with that horrible man.
I met the mother of the new family at Starbucks in the housing complex, so we could interview one another. It seemed rushed, and I noticed that she didn’t ask too many questions about me…I thought it was odd, because I would be with her children, but I blew off the feeling, because she sounded like she was in great need.
That same night, she picked me and my stuff up from the original house. When I got to her house, I met the kids and the husband, all seemed to be well, however, one lady (the son’s nanny) looked extremely depressed, and because she was from Turkmenistan, I could only understand some of the Russian she spoke.
The first couple of days at the home weren’t too bad, although there was one instance where the mother screamed at me, I blew it off as she has a lot of pressure on her from work. She blew up about something very trivial, for some reason she expected that I read her mind, I still don’t understand it…
My second day of work it was mother’s day. the nanny and I were to walk around a play area at a very classy outdoors restaurant while the mother and father and their parents were eating, then once they were done chatting, we were to hurry and eat (we had to stand to the side of the kids while they ate, then we were after, I suppose to “show us our place.”)
The next day, the woman from Turkmenistan disappeared completely. At first, no one would tell me what happened to her…then the mother came up with a story: That the woman had gone to send money to her family, and the police caught her (she was an illegal worker who had been there one and a half years). It wasnt until a week later that I found out what really happened from the maids that worked in the home.
The woman had been trapped in the house without pay for the last year and a half. One day, she got out with no one noticing, and went to the police, told them she was illegal, and was deported back to her family in Turkmenistan. At this point, I didn’t really understand how someone could be trapped in a normal home…until a few days later.
The mother and father were both out of the home, it was a couple of days before my birthday, so this was about May 17th. I had just gotten out of the shower, and the maid came running at me with a hair dryer (which I never use) and told me I must use it (the mother had been making me use one this whole time, I think its a crazy thing to need control over.) I told the maid, the mother is gone, I don’t like to use it because it damages my hair, (the house is already extremely warm because the mother thinks any bit of cold will have deadly affects on her children…they have to wear socks and sweaters in the heat as well).
That’s when the maid pointed out the cameras…

Problems, Part 1

Okay, so now that I am in a safe haven, and feel comfortable enough to talk about what was really going on in Istanbul, I will open up now.
I have not told anyone in my family about what has occurred, simply because there is nothing anyone could have done, or still can do….I got myself into this mess, and now I must get myself out. This process will give me the adventure of a lifetime, one that I originally never would have had the chance to have!
So, March 29th, 2013, I flew into Istanbul, Turkey.  I had made an agreement, $800 per month for 3 to 6 months, depending on visa issues. I was to only work when the kids were around and the rest of the time, do as I pleased. What actually happened was far from the agreement, and made me less free.
I ended up in a tight security housing complex in Beykoz, Istanbul, a part near the Black Sea. I had my own room, and everything seemed correct, as agreed upon, when I first arrived. The kids were at the house and we were talking a lot, spending time together…until one day the kids went to their mother’s house, in the same complex. The first three days of me being in Istanbul, the kids were where they were supposed to be, but now I was left alone with the father.
Th father didn’t necessarily try anything on me, but he suggested quit a bit that women are always looking for a free ride, but they “need to learn they have to pay up sometime.” This asshole could turn any conversation into a conversation about sex, and I was tired of it….he even told me that if I wanted to see Istanbul, I would have to sleep with him or his brother! Ew! 1. I am NOT that kind of woman, 2. he is old and gross
On top of this, I had to deal with the gardener, who was also the driver, who would enter my room without knocking and tried to get me drunk when the father was out of town. First of all, I don’t drink alone with a man, second, I HATE whiskey, and third, you are a disgusting excuse for a “man.”
So, by the end of the month, the kids have only been at the house for 3 days, the rest of the time, I am made to cook and clean and practically wipe this guy and his friends asses, getting woken up at 8 am and working non stop until 10 sometimes 11 pm. I had no time off, and no way of getting anywhere if I did have time off.
Now, its been one month, and no pay, and now the father tells me because I am not doing what he wants, I need to find a different family to work for…