Nutshell nibblings

Despite having not much to do in my apartment in the afternoons with Ramadan hours limiting work I can get done at the university, I haven't been sticking to my goal to write at least 300 words a day as part of a larger writing project to better chronicle this new country and work contract. That being said, here's a small nutshell summary to placate those anticipating updates until I can get some more detailed and thoughtful writing in.

The past two weeks have been a daily routine of going to work at 8am, finishing at 1pm (Ramadan hours), then eating lunch in secret in my apartment, taking a long nap, cleaning the apartment, unpacking, playing a few rounds of Yahtzee (high score of 488!) and solving logic puzzles, waiting for B to pick me up so that we can find and purchase apartment necessities at City Centre (which has loads of people from 8pm until late late into the evening/night), then going home and hoping to get a full night's sleep.

"Going to work" really means going to various university and government offices to slowly dwindle the punch list of things required of me before I can become a full resident and guest worker in the Sultanate.

Items punched so far:

1. Part one of a medical exam
2. IT access and e-mail address for the university
3. Completed the furniture and amenities checklist for my apartment to communicate any issues that my apartment is experiencing (the roaches have subsided - thanks, Piff-Paff!; however, there is a water leakage in the spare bedroom wall from the upstairs apartment - It's now an owner issue, so hopefully that is resolved soon)
4. Degree attestation from the American Embassy and Omani Foreign Affairs office
5. Obtained an Omani residency card (good for 2 years)
6. Purchased a washing machine
7. Helped administer the placement test for the Language Centre (We tested over 2000 new students!)
8. Endured 2 hours of fascination, frustration, and heat at the Oman Air Cargo services to receive the 9 boxes of household items, books, and clothes that I shipped from Saudi
9. Purchased and installed wireless for my apartment
10. Purchased and received a Staff Club pass for the staff fitness and heated pool area
11. Got an office assignment (I'm sharing an office with three women: one from Britain, one from Poland, and one from Russia)
12. Attended an all-staff welcome session (we've got about 210 English instructors for the Language Centre!) and a smaller orientation session for new teachers
13. Received my teaching assignment - all skills for Level 2 (Beginners)
14. Opened a bank account, which has absolutely no money in it

Items that remain on my punch list are:
1. Omani driver's license transfer (next Sunday, hopefully)
2. Leasing a car (Before Eid, maybe? Whenever I get the rest of my MSU pay)
3. Finishing part two of my medical exam (scheduled for tomorrow)
4. Signing the official contract, which will then allow me to process payroll and receive my transportation allowance
5. Purchase a vacuum cleaner
6. Purchase a small table and chair set for the outdoor patio (can wait until September's pay)

My apologies for bullet points. I'll fill in the details this weekend, hopefully.