Arrival Time

With my parents impeding arrival, Joe and I spent Monday re-arranging furniture in an attempt to make the house somewhat home-ier (we previously only spent time in the kitchen or bedroom as the couches were either broken or far too uncomfortable to sit on)- to be fair he did most of it, and I helped when things were too heavy or awkward- and then met Mustafa for coffee.  He had found a job for us that starts in September, saying it paid more than we make now (it doesn’t) and to which Joe and I told him in no uncertain terms that we have absolutely zero interest in staying in Malatya anyways.  He still dragged Joe to the meeting on Wednesday (I had a class, and even though it was cancelled last minute, I had no intention of going) as a favour to him.  No need to turn it down when it is as simple as that. 

Old living room furniture

The rest of the week has passed very quickly.  I have been busy sorting out bus cards and house keys and ensuring the sheets were clean- all things one does when expecting house guests, and Joe and I booked our bus tickets to Cappadocia (the first time I have booked tickets using Turkish with no one to help me) and I finally overcame my fears of getting a hair cut in foreign countries and found a place.  The guy cutting it was quite funny, my hair was seriously damaged- the bottom two inches especially, so he holds up the cut bit after his first cut and just says “kotu” which means “bad” in Turkish.  I laughed and agreed with him- it has probably been a good ten months since I last got a hair cut.  He spent a good hour working on my hair, bringing me baklava while he worked, and we chatted as far as my limited Turkish would take us.  When he showed me the cut at the end, it wasn’t as short as I had asked for, and he simply told me he didn’t want to cut it that short because it wouldn’t suit my face.  I said ok because I was happy with the length, but this is the third time I have been refused something.  The first time I was with a friend and we had salep (a Turkish cinnamon-y drink) and we tried to order French fries.  The waiter looked baffled and refused, and then last week Joe and I were at lunch and he tried to order a coffee. Again the waiter looked confused, “Yemek?” “Eating?” he said, and didn’t bring the coffee.  Coffee and food do not go together apparently.

The other main feature of the week has been furniture.  When we returned from our Christmas holiday, the freezer portion of the fridge stopped working.  The rest of the fridge stayed semi-cold, but things would go mouldy really quickly and I kept having to throw food away.  I approached Gungor about it a couple weeks ago, and he said to ask Onder for a new one but not to say that he had given me the idea.  I laughed, promised to keep him anonymous (I was pretty sure the fridge was older than I am) and then approached Onder.  He said he would send Wakas to look at it in a week, so two days later I lied and said it was getting worse and he sent Wakas the next morning.  Wakas confirmed my belief, that the fridge was indeed my age, and then said it was too old and he would get us a new one. 

New living room furniture

The next day (it was surprisingly prompt for Turkey) while I was at work, Wakas and two other guys showed up (three hours later than said) with a new fridge and four new pieces of furniture!  This was a huge surprise (my parents should have come months ago), and although they have a lingering smell of old cigarettes (clearly this is second hand furniture but beggars can’t be choosers) that I am hoping will air out soon.  This of course made our previous furniture arrangements moot, and so Joe and I spent this morning re-organizing, and although I would never have chosen this furniture it is a vast vast improvement.  The fridge has been an adjustment, as Joe and I had gotten so used to lukewarm food that we had forgotten what cold food or milk was supposed to taste like.  It was a minor readjustment for the taste-buds.  Only a day and a half to go, a few more final touches to be made and we will officially have visitors!  How exciting!