I guess the first thing I should mention in this entry is my visit to Dr Drinkoff. So many of you have very kindly and in some cases, very cautiously, asked how the checkup went and you’ll be pleased to know that everything appears to be in good shape. He’s happy with the appearance of my vocal chords and has assured me that the pain I’m experiencing is just part and parcel of the healing process. I’m not completely off the hook yet…I still have to go back in December and hopefully, this time, it will be the last visit. As much as I love to gaze into the soft, compassionate eyes of Ivan Drinkoff, the last visit hopefully means that I’m OK for the foreseeable future. And if everything continues on track, then I guess that’s the best Christmas present I could ever ask for….
And so to guests…..Jan & Harleys stay with me was coming to an end when Ivan asked me if I could accomodate six builders, men coming up from Bourgas to work in the area. Just the one night, and No, none of them spoke English….
I figured that I had to at least give it a try and see how I coped, though confess to feeling somewhat overwhelmed that night when six burly bits of Bulgarian rough invaded the house and Ivan jumped in his truck and disappeared home to Yambol….
I didn’t have to worry about an evening meal for them, as they had already decided that kebache and rakia at Micheals Bar was their preferred evening option…but they did want breakfast….at 6am !!! And what does an Australian, with limited Bulgarian cooking skills,feed to hungry Bulgarian men first thing in the morning ? Well, a great slab of freshly baked, warm banistas, that’s what. I cranked up the coffee machine, put tubs of yoghurt out and an enormous tray of banistas…..there was a brief pause as they all eyed them off and, for a moment, I thought that they were all going to decline. Perhaps they didn’t look like the ones their wives and mothers made, but then Dimitor the boss made the first move. He ate, he didn’t keel over and that was it. They got stuck in with great gusto and demolished everything on the tray….Phew, you have no idea how relieved I was.
I have often wondered how I would cope if non english speakers fronted at the house and though it was just the one night with these guys, I now know that I can deal with a houseful of non english speaking people and give them good service. Apparently, they were all very happy with the accomodation and the food and didn’t even mind that they had to go out onto the balconies to smoke…….
Jan, Harley and of course, the lovely Sally, were able to move into their own house last week and in true Sue Mercer style, I went from as busy as a bastard to crook as a dog. The moment I stopped running, the cold germs muscled in and laid me very low indeed for a couple of days. Mind you, a few days in my bed were very good for body and soul.
It was a very strange feeling though to have the house to myself again……Jan and Harley were with me for over five weeks and it was a very busy and enjoyable time. It’s a nice feeling to have someone to look after..and an even nicer feeling to get paid for doing it. But, suddenly, it stopped, and I felt quite lost for a few days…well, at least until the cold slapped me on the back of the head and saw me to my bed.
I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this, but every now and again Ivan, for no explainable reason, chucks me in his truck and takes me on what I call his ‘Magical Mystery Tours of Miladinovtsi’. Keep in mind that he grew up here and spent his childhood roaming the district, so he knows the place inside out. He’s taken me all over the place and shown me beautiful forests and interesting areas and has lots of tales to tell.
The other day I got the ‘Sue, come, come come…’ and off we went again. Just a brief aside here….the ‘Sue, come, come, come ..’ thing amuses me no end. It’s always done with Ivan heading off calling ‘Sue, come, come, come…’and is accompanied by him beckoning me towards him with his hand……little hard to describe, but maybe you get the picture. Now, I’m a woman who rarely does as she’s told and will rarely stop what I’m doing for anyone or anything. I can yell back ‘Ivan, I’m busy !!’. Does it make an iota of difference…does it f***. He just looks slightly perplexed that anything is more important than what he wants, he becomes more insistent, I drop what I’m doing and follow, like a small child……what’s happening to me ???!!! 🙂
Anyway…..I digress. Now, behind the village is the Manastirski Vazvishenia, and this is where we headed. At the large gate we disembarked from the vehicle and started walking up the hill. Suddenly I found myself standing in front of an enormous, though now derilict, building and Ivan then explained to me that this was the Hotel/Restuarant that served the village in it’s heyday. It was the place where all the village celebrations like weddings, christenings, birthdays etc, were held. The restuarant area must have seated hundreds and there was also a large floor of hotel rooms. This place was really big and the sight of it bought home the sad realisation of what the end of communism and the brave new democratic world was doing to these villages…….they are dying off one by one and probably in ten or twenty years time, some of them wont exist at all. The young have all left, the old are leaving or dying, and so the smaller villages must face probable extinction….it’s really very sad indeed. Ivan was also saying that at it’s peak the school had between 400 – 500 students…now there aren’t even that many people in the village.
To vaguely happier thoughts…. or maybe not. I’ve been really suffering from ‘family sickness’, as opposed to homesickness, just now. I don’t really know where ‘home’ is any more, but I sure as hell know where my family are and I’m missing them very badly at the moment. And I’m not really sure what to do about it. I’m supposed to be returning to Australia in February for my nephews wedding and am really struggling with feelings that if I do, I wont return here….
I dont think I want to live in Australia though, so where does that leave me ?
I’m seeing some behaviour patterns in a lot of non-Bulgarians in this country that are, quite frankly, leaving me flabbergasted and I’m wondering if I want to be surrounded by people like this. I’ve made some really lovely friends and if i go, I know I’ll miss them terribley. But I think I said once before, there are times in your life when we all have friends that need losing, and there are certainly some in this country that I could quite easily walk away from.
And, of course, while I’m struggling with this confusion of thoughts, I realise that things like the Real Estate business are starting to show promise and if I walk away, I’d be walking away from that….just when it looks promising. The Guest House is also starting to show signs of possibility. Do I walk away from that as well. ?
Is this lifes great irony ?….just when things are getting good for me, I want to walk away from it all.
OK, this time I’ll turn to happier thoughts….proper ones.
Christmas…….Ah yes, when all else fails, bring on Christmas so that I, the Queen of Christmas can be in my element…just for a wee while. I’ve already started the process of getting lights strung around the place, checking globes in the ones my sister put up for me last Christmas (god Jillian, I’m going to miss you this year) and making Christmas decorations for friends. I make these rather large and lavish door decorations, which I am currently bestowing upon friends here in the district. Another aside…..not sure if it’s a good thing or a bad, but the Chrstmas decorations in the shops this year are much bigger, bolder, brassier…good for me and my decoration making, because I can create ball bursting door garlands that are positively blinding…..
I’ve ordered the Christmas turkey from Christina….how much easier was it this year than last ?? You have no idea. Last year I phaffed around trying to buy one and ending up finding someone that spoke English to help me. This year I just asked Christina (in Bulgarian) if I could buy one of hers….no head, no guts, no feathers…just the meaty bits…and she understood me…Hooray !!!! And it’s cheaper than last years was ….Double Hooray !!!
I had a mob for dinner the other night and decided to give the fruit mince a practice run to see if it was edible. I made a kind of strudel thing and, Holy goodnight….it’s fantastic ( even if I say so myself). Laden with Whisky, it smells divine and tastes damned fine. Time to make the mince pies I think.
The Christmas cake has had it’s third and final drink of black rum and whisky and is now back under wraps until Christmas Eve.
The drunken berries are looking positively plastered and I’ve gathered most of the ingredients for the Christmas icecream.
And Yes, I have advised my Christmas guests that no one is to drive home, even if they don’t have a single drink, because the food will tip them over the limit anyway. 🙂
I’m heading off to Sofia next week to get another Christmas ham just like the one I had last year. Again, I’m searching the district for a good one but even the bigger supermarkets like Billa & Kaufland just don’t have what I want. I haven’t been in Sofia since February and I could really do with a day or two out of this place, so Louisa and I are jumping on the bus and off we’re going, ham hunting….
Is it too early to put up the Christmas decorations ???? must check my diary and see when they went up last year…. 🙂
I reckon that’s it for November…time to turn my thoughts to December…..I wonder what it has in store for me ??
ciao, ciao
mercer
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