One of the first things that S said on arriving at my flat was a reminder of how I had mentioned that I would like to paint my flat... and the offer of her expert painting assistance. Since this was her last week before returning to the UK, we caught a ride with Mu and headed to the paint shop... a big shop on a road somewhere behind the market selling primarily
Turkish paint. Shopping for paint in Kurdistan proved to be quite the experience as first of all, the shop clerks couldn't get over the fact that women were shopping and choosing colors that they clearly thought were absurd (Are you sure? That color is dark!)... and secondly was the incredible revelation that we were planning to paint the walls ourselves. Apparently DIY, especially for women, is not really a local custom. So anyway, we chose Bordeaux 75, Oase (sage green), natural white and Laches (the only color a man picked out and it was very light salmon pink) for one of the smaller rooms. The men found it so funny, they gave us Betek overalls, T-shirts and caps and asked us to take photos for them of the rooms before, during and after painting. We in turn found it funny that they had no idea what a paint tray was or even that you needed one to use a roller.
Anyway, yesterday we finally got rid of some the institutional all-beige feel of the flat. D and Mu's friend Haji came and we did the front hall and living room. Below are the "during" photos (by S).
And finally, after it was all over, Y made his way over in a taxi and we enjoyed a little post-painting party (photos by Y).
No comments:
Post a Comment