It was very cold and bright this morning, though the flat was reasonably toasty. After a quiet start, the GF and I strolled out to see what is up with the flat, and found that the kitchen had been plastered and was looking very light and airy. It will be a shame to fill it all with kitchen cabinets, I must say. The bathroom window had also been enlarged and a bench constructed for the shower, though there was also a second bench which rather bulky and encroaching on the shower area, so we have asked the contractor to remove it. We spent some time there, thinking how we want it to be tiled. The bathroom space itself is in three parts due to the structural walls and pillars. Half is divided by a pillar (and now the bench) into two lobes, one each for a shower and the toilet, and the other half will have the sink, towel rack and a recessed washing machine. We are trying to decide whether it should all be marble, or if the outside bit should be something else, at least on the walls. We are both very clean on the polished concrete or Venetian plaster look for the outside bit, but maybe all marble would be nicer? Will mull a little on this.
Anyway, we soon got horribly cold and instead of going to Cihangir for groceries and coffee decided to go back to warm up at the radiator. This was a good decision as I realised that a birthday call for my university roommate was not at 10 at night as I’d thought but at 6 in the evening. So I went online and was delighted to see all three of my roommates and no one else – it was not a big party call as I’d thought, but a short slot just for us. It was delightful to see them all together; they are in more regular contact with each other than I am with any of them, as all three live in New England. It was easy to slip back into the persona that I was at university, at least one of the persona – the amusing, witty one rather than the glum, silent one. Aside from the toddlers appearing on two of the screens, it could have been twenty years ago. The two mothers were a little grumpy about their children adhering fiercely to gender stereotypes, even after months in lockdown when they were not exposed to the wider world’s stereotyping the boys remained obsessed with vehicles and the girl with glittery dresses. At one point we did compare our white hair – something that in my group of Pakistani friends I would find highly objectionable, but not in this group – discussion of appearances is different, perhaps, outside Pakistan.