Gone Away! Part 1



Irena flew back to the Crimea on Friday morning. Now it is Tuesday and I am really feeling her absence. It is not a problem when I am at school, as there I usually have more than enough to do. (This morning I had the added joy of Grade 5’s charming company, with a double lesson of cover for a missing French teacher.) 

No, the problem comes at the weekends, when I have time on my hands and I do not know what to do with it. There is just a big empty space. Coming home to an empty apartment is horrible as well, but being on your own for a few hours after a busy day at school is not quite so difficult as a long weekend. This weekend was extra-long, as we also had Monday off from school. It was Bulgarian Army day.


Irena is probably with her mother, whom we usually refer to as Mamulichka, at her country house just outside Simferopol, usually called the datcha. Well, Mamulichka’s datcha has no Wifi or Internet connection, so that would explain why I have not had any message from her since she arrived on Friday night. She is flying back to Bulgaria on 31st May and that seems a long time in the future.


There is one consolation: Irena’s month in the Crimea will bring a lot of joy and happiness to her family, as well as some much-needed practical help. And her visit will not be all fun and games, as one of its purposes will be to get her teeth sorted out, as she needs to have some overdue dental work done. When I had a Facebook message from her the other day, I found out that the first thing she had to do, after arriving on the Friday night, was to go to a funeral on the Saturday morning. (This was the funeral of the mother-in-law of her twin sister, Lena.) 
Meanwhile, back here in Sofia, I have just found out that we are going to be having yet another extra holiday, from 23rd to 27th May, so I shall have even more time on my own, without my dear Irisha and with little or nothing to do! Maybe I will go to Veliko Tarnovo for a few days, as our neighbor Inge has sent me an e-mail to say that she has black mould on the ceiling of her bathroom. That means that we might have a burst pipe in our bathroom, as our apartment is above Inge's.

Comments

  1. Tasha11 May 2019 at 00:40

    I can empathize. My husband goes away for stretches at a time for work. I try to enjoy the time away by planning things I can do when he is not here, have some quiet time, see friends and do little jobs. It's hard of course, it soon passes though.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Unknown12 May 2019 at 22:13

    Thank you for your kind words, Tasha. Irena comes back on 31st May and not a day too soon!

    ReplyDelete
  3. JonnyT27 May 2019 at 06:03

    Hi Simon - sorry I could not visit you at the time you requested but you know that I was whizzing about England and next week I am off to Egypt to stay with friends. I am sure we will catch up soon.

    ReplyDelete

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