Bayrams and shopping

So as I mentioned in my last post, everything is closed during the Bayram.  The government basically stops for the week.  In addition to Istanbul being empty, this means I wont get my residency permit until next Monday at the earliest.  Not only is there no one on campus to help me with the paperwork, there is no one at the office that would issue it.  The unfortunate thing about that, is I need my residency permit before I can get my boxes out off the boat and through customs.  There are several unfortunate things about that, top among them is that all of my teacher clothes are in those boxes. 

This is my fault.  I was warned that the boxes can take forever to clear customs and that the dress code for teachers was strict.  Yet some how I didn't put the two together to carry with me at least a few of my teacher clothes just in case.  According to the shipping company, my boxes should be in Istanbul on the 31st , since I shipped on July 10th, this is just over the upper end of the 4-6 weeks I was told to expect, but the 31st is in the middle of the Bayram, in which the government shuts down.  So even though my boxes might be here, I can get to them, but since I dont have my residency permit, it doesnt really matter. 

If you know me at all, you probably know that I dont like making phone calls and I dont like shopping.  I also dont like dressing up and shopping for dress up clothes is a compound dislike on the way to hatred.  I did it back home, begrudingly, and coming to the realization that I would have to do it again here was quite a blow.  I have a hard enough time finding clothes that fit at home but to do it in a foreign country in which everyone is skinny was not something I was looking forward to.  Fortunately, everyone at RC knows everyones business and then is very helpful. As soon as I figure out that I probably wont have my teaching clothes in time for school to start, I ask one person about buying something here and then she tells someone who has a suggestion for where to look and another person who offers to take me.  Anyway, thanks much to Jenny for taking me to Deninhams where I bought three pairs of pants and three shirts, which will get me through the begining of school and hopefully my clothes will arrive soon.

Besides clothes, my boxes contain my kitchen things.  Today I was particularly missing a sharp knife as I prepared for my first dinner party and a tea strainer.  One cut thumb and a stained t shirt later, I have dinner and iced tea.  Better yet, I had a house full of people to enjoy them with.