Missing You, Part 3

Every summer since we were married, Irena has gone home to the Crimea for a month, to see all of her family and friends. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Hmm. Well, she simply must go to see her parents and friends every year. I cannot argue with that. Both Mamulichka and Papulichka are rather elderly and not in the best of health. Irisha’s visit is in many ways the high point of their year, something for them to look forward to.

There is, however, a more practical reason for Ira’s visit and that is that we do give some financial help to Mamulichka, as pensions in Russia are a bit of a joke (about 80 euros a month). Mamulichka has her datcha and her chickens, so in many ways she is a bit better off than many old people in the Crimea.

There is, nonetheless, one little drawback to Irisha’s yearly trips home: I miss her terribly. Yes, this summer I have had Peter and John, two old friends over from the UK, to stay for a while. We have had a good time, going kayaking on Lake Iskar, as well as visiting Rila monastery and Belogradchik. Well, yes, that has been fun, but I still miss her.

When couples are thinking about divorce, they sometimes have “trial separations”. Well, being away from Irena certainly is a trial! I just do not like it. Not having her near just seems to be weird, unnatural. The house in Kalotina is horribly quiet without her and I find myself listening for strange little noises. I also find that my natural “body clock” goes haywire, so I am wide awake late at night and then I want to sleep during the day.

One advantage of Ira being away has been that I have re-discovered the joys of cooking. I had seafood lasagna a couple of times while we were last on holiday in the Philippines, so that was something that I had been wanting to cook for a long time. A combination of prawns and sardines seems to work best, although tuna and mussels could be cheap alternatives. Today was my first-ever moussaka. It was absolutely delicious, though I say so myself. You are supposed to use Greek yoghurt and parmesan for the topping, but I did not have any of those and Bulgarian kislo mlako and grated kashkaval seemed to work very well. The Cabernet Sauvignon from Targovishte was also rather good. Couscous (no, please do not ask me what the plural is) is delicious, when it is done properly, but so far mine has either been a sort of yellow grit or a sandy sort of mush. More practice is needed! 

Now I want Irena to hurry up and come back, so that I can cook these dishes for her. Having been there with Peter and John, I also want to take Irena to some nice places in Bulgaria: Lake Iskar, Rila and Belogradchik. We even have to do the Sofia walking tour.

The good news is that on Wednesday I shall be driving to the airport in Sofia and meeting her flight from Moscow. It has only been a month, but it seems a lot longer.

In June I took my green X Trail to the Nissan garage in Sofia to be repaired and today I was able to collect it. The Nissan mechanics have done a good job, as now the engine purrs happily and the new shock absorbers mean that the ride is a lot better.