We've moved :-)))))))

We moved into the new place on Wednesday - finally!

Moving house here is relatively easy. We packed up all our things in the morning, the husband flagged down a guy with a pick-up truck, loaded it up and brought stuff to the new place!

We have a carpet, DIY sofas, a mattress and most of our kitchen appliances. Hopefully it will be easier to get everything else done now we have moved in. I'll post some pictures up on the blog once the Husband has shifted his stuff from the bedroom floor and into the wardrobes!

Our neighbours in the basement have 2 children who have adopted us as family. The kids come up to visit all the time. The kids speak Farsi and Urdu, which is a bit of a challenge for me, as I can't hold a conversation in either language! We somehow communicate using broken Farsi, Urdu and English, with the help of their picture books and my dictionary! The kids have been fascinated at how our place has gone from being a shell to a (nearly) fully furnished place. When our wardrobes arrived, they were so amazed that they opened all the drawers and doors! I have to get the husband to set some ground rules with them now that the drawers are filled. I'm sure I will enjoy watching him being the bad cop :-P

The city of Qum is on a 'save electricity' campaign. So everyday, there is a power cut for a couple of hours. In our area, the power goes out at noon. Yes, that's right. In the middle of the day, while the sun is at it's peak, we have no cooler or fan. In Iran, if the temperature goes above 50 degrees, people are not allowed to go to work or school. It's a well known fact that in the summer, the official weather reports are fudged and they NEVER go above 50!

The other day, the Husband and I were out shopping, with a friend, for mattresses, pillows and other things for the kitchen. We were in a taxi and the husband was complaining about how taxi drivers are always ripping people off. We get to Bazar Bozorg (literally means 'the big market'), where I buy some knives (side note - the knives here are rubbish! If you are planning to move here, bring knives with you!). We order the mattresses and then make our way to the fabric market by taxi. After a few shops, the husband realised that he'd left the knives behind. We re-traced our steps, but then realised that the knives had been left in the taxi. A few minutes later, we see the taxi driver, in the market, with the knives looking for us! So now, every time the Husband moans about Iranian taxi drivers, he has to give me 2000 tomans (roughly £1). He owes me at least £10!