Day 1
We arrive in our new city mid
afternoon. We arrived into Istanbul at midnight last night, got to bed
sometime after 1am and, after a fairly interrupted nights sleep, were
back at the airport by 10.30am for our domestic flight. So by the time
we (and quite a lot of luggage) have arrived at our friend's flat, where
we'll stay until we have a flat to move to, we're all completely
exhausted. Our friend welcomes us in, shows us round and chats to us in
Turkish while our brains scramble for Turkish words and grammar. After
she leaves, we collapse on the sofas for a couple of hours then head out
to try and find some dinner. However, we turned up on the second full
day of Kurban Bayramı, one of the Eid celebrations, and most places are
closed. We find a supermarket to stock up on some basics and also manage
to find a place that does Turkish pide (kind of like pizza) for tea. We
attempt to put the boys to bed at 8ish but it's soon very clear that
with all of us still on British time and late naps, no one is going to
sleep. So we go for a family film night instead.
Day 2
We
decide to start investigating the area that we think we want to live
in. İt's just outside the main city, next to the big university, and has
a population of about 50,000. İt's about five miles from the city centre
and connected to the city centre by a tram line. İt's hot but we wander
around one neighborhood that we were thinking about, have a picnic in a
park and start to get our bearings. Just by looking around, it's obvious
that almost everybody lives in big apartment blocks and realistically
that's what we're going to end up in. But there are lots of children's
parks around- and with grass as well! We're realising that coming back this time has been very different from when we first arrived in Istanbul. Although there have been some similarities (staying in temporary accommodation while we look for a house to rent), it feels very different. Some of the first time admin we obviously don't have to do this time and we have residence permits (although we do have to transfer them to this city), so things like setting up utilities will be a lot more straightforward. Plus we can communicate in Turkish so getting out and doing things by ourselves is not too daunting. Saying that, we're already feeling that this is going to be a very different place from Istanbul. There are a lot less foreigners here and almost everywhere we go we get stares or people giving us a second look.
Day 3
We go back to the neighborhood we've chosen today to start looking at flats. Someone we know shows us a flat, which is a possibility. It has some upsides (we know the landlords) but also some downsides too. We work through all the adverts for flats in the size we want in the neighbourhood we want. There's really not many available. A couple have gone already, one has changed his mind about renting, we can't get through to somebody else. But we find one more to view, which again has upsides and downsides. We head back to our short term accommodation torn about what to do. But then as I log onto the Turkish equivalent of Rightmove again, I spot another flat that has just come up for rent. We phone the estate agent and arrange to view it the following afternoon.
Day 4
We head out to view this last flat. Although the neighbourhood we want to be in is well connected by tram, getting to the city centre for the tram involves either walking a few minutes and waiting for a bus, or a 25 minute walk (at adult speed!). The temperature is in the low 30s every day and the travelling around, change of country and complete lack of routine is starting to show itself in the boys' behaviour. We really like this flat but decide to sleep on it first and continuing 'thinking' about it.
Day 5
Today we meet with the local gathering of God's people. We're excited to be back in a Turkish gathering. The place where they (now we) meet is undergoing some restorations but there's one room that can still be used. Afterwards everyone stays around and chats for a while. We telephone the estate agent to tell her that we'd like to take the flat we saw yesterday. She calls the landlord, then calls us back with the good news that there's no problem and we can rent it - and then asks if we can get to her office that afternoon. The type of flat in the neighbourhood we want is quite rare, so we don't want to lose out on it. By the time we've we've got to her office, it's tea time for the boys so I reach a new low of giving them grapes and biscuits for their tea. But we sign all the paperwork and put the deposit down - we'll complete the process tomorrow. The landlord lives about an hour's drive away, which means that he signs a scanned copy of the agreement we've signed and sends a photo back to us. We'll have to get the original agreement properly signed within a couple of weeks so that we can transfer our residence permits to this city but we'll sort that problem another day. We take the boys to a cafe for some proper tea and then get them home to bed late - but we've got a flat!
Day 6
This is a waiting day. Because of Kurban Bayramı last week, this is the first day since we've been back in Turkey that the banks are open. So we're waiting for money to arrive into our Turkish bank accounts from our British bank accounts before we can make the rent payment and take the keys to the flat. Other than a quick food shopping trip, I stay home with the boys as they badly need a day of normal routine and nap times. L, on the other hand, has a slightly more stressful time visiting banks etc. before finally meeting the estate agent at the flat and getting the keys. Once he's got the keys, I call the removal company who have all of our things in their depo to arrange moving. I want to arrange it for two days time, but they can't do that day so we settle on three days time. They say they'll be there about 11am.
Day 7
I spend the day at home with the boys. Having failed to get them out of the house first thing in the morning, we have to wait until mid-late afternoon to go to the park, as it's just too hot between 10am and 3pm. L, with the help of the estate agent, goes first to an insurance broker to get earthquake insurance (a requirement for setting up the electricity) then to the electricity, water and natural gas offices to get all of the utilities turned on. All the utilities have to be set up by going in person to a central office in an area. He calls in at the local Population Office too - we need to register there but they tell him that we won't be able to register until we've changed our residence permits. So he also stops by the Immigration Office in the city, who confirm that we can transfer our residence permits and give him the list of requirements. That will be a job for next week once we've sorted the contract.
Day 8
We make it out to a park in the morning! L has to be at the new flat in the afternoon because somebody from the gas company needs to come and turn something on. He heads off just before lunch to start the process of getting our Internet before going on the flat to await the gas man. It's also standard practice here to get the locks changed when you move in, so L gets this done as well. Meanwhile, the boys and I end up spending the rest of the day at the house as I pack up everything back up again and start cleaning the flat. After the best part of three months and staying in thirteen different places in total, while we are very grateful to everyone we've stayed with and have loved seeing so many different people and places in the UK, we are ready to be in our own space. Luckily tomorrow is moving day! And then the removal company call me in early evening and ask if they can do the move now - to which I politely say no, we are nowhere near the new flat and we agreed tomorrow. At 9.30pm I'm texting with the removal company to confirm our address. They tell me they'll turn up at 07.30am but we eventually settle on 09.30am.
Day 9
Moving day! A friend kindly takes us and all of our luggage to the new flat. The removal men arrive on time and within an hour and a half have got everything in. We start unpacking. J is delighted to see his train set and all his toys again, slightly less happy that he has to share all these toys with S. By late evening, we've assembled all the furniture and are well on the way with unpacking. There's still quite a few things more to sort and lots of uncertainty still around residence permits, jobs etc. But 'each day has enough trouble of its own' and we'll worry about those another day. For now, we're just thankful to God for our new flat and for everything we've been able to accomplish in these first few days here.
