October 1, 2011

Looking forward to meeting with Peter, the first ELF to get here, Nancy,the English Language Specialist I met on the flight from Istanbul, and Caroline for lunch today. My registration with the OVIR is completed and I should be able to get a SIM card and modem so I can have Internet access from the apartment. Peter has already done it and offered to help guide me through the process.

While having lunch at a nearby eatery, I got a frantic phone call from Tahmina informing me that my presence was needed immediately since the landlady had arrived with the remaining furniture and needed access to my apartment. We all trooped to my place and with the help of Peter, who speaks Russian, I was able to ask some of the numerous questions I had about the apartment. The landlord had brought me an obviously much-used book of common phrases in Russian and reassured me that I would be talking to him from now on with no problems whatsoever. The same guy who had brought in the fridge now sat in the living room fiddling endlessly with the two remote controls, one for the TV and the other for the satellite dish, spending considerable time showing me all the channels where porno was available and which, if I so desired, he could block. I find it most intriguing that I have access to channels from all over the world: Italy, Spain, Algeria, Egypt, Romania, Iran, Turkey, The U. K and others, but not the United States, not even CNN. I should be grateful to be able to get the BBC, TVE(Spain) and TeleSur (Latin America).

Caroline had selected a place and left to move in. Pete and Nancy stayed and I made them coffee at just the right time for the landlord had brought a four cup set, two shot glasses, some kitchen towels, a set of Calvin Klein bath towels and a really cute Italian-style dining room set which I simply adore. Peter was kind enough to translate, using an app in his cell phone, the items I need to buy for the apartment if the landlord does not provide them. I requested that the furniture be arranged as they had the two chairs and the sofa lined up against one wall. Apparently, I’m going to get a coffee table at some point. I really need a night stand and lamp to be able to read at night.