Yesterday was a long day of metro and tram riding to different parts of Sofia, just discovering and experiencing the place. We had a long walk back to our temporary place called home from somewhere in the city…long, long walk. It’s so funny, Jean-Pierre and I are such opposites! (just in case you had not previously noticed) When we travel like this, Jean-Pierre is forever expanding his understanding and knowledge of the layout of the land, while I am like a puppy in the car… I go along for the ride, am quite good company, but really useless when it comes to navigational skills or worth. Jean-Pierre told me how much he appreciates me being the dog, as he is as a blind man when it comes to language!

Where I come from chess is a two man game, here it seems to be a twelve man sport.

Breakfast in the park, apple strudel in the park (a different park) later. 

gotta love it!

good times

Wow, while Rita sits drinking coffee, made by her mista…eats meals prepared by the man wearing the correct outfit, said mista continues to do absolute miracles with the appearance of the house in Gostilitsa. 

This scribe is really proud of his achievements. He is working with materials that speak a different language, react in foreign manners and still manages to do all this. Whether inside or out.

We have been truly blessed to have the use of an apartment in Sofia, this is a good, good thing. Not just for the opportunity to visit the city but also because it means Rita is so much less frustrated having to ‘do nothing’ with her hand that is still misbehaving.

It’s that much easier to rest it when the todo list for the day involves long walks to the city centre through parks and interesting little side streets. Admiring the amazing talent of local artist....Talking to strangers in a challenging language, by the time she gets back to the apartment she’s too tired to do anything else…. Methinks that was the plan!

waiting...

It is really great seeing all the page views on this blog. Seems as if people are WAITING for me to post.... I will try and be more diligent here....
Feel free to leave comments, here or even on facebook, that way even more people get to read.... grin.

I remember driving in the car with my Mum as passenger, I needed to come to a rather quick stop and my arm automatically reached out to protect her. It suddenly dawned on me that I had, somewhere through the passage of time, become the parent.

How often have we looked at older people, dressed in jerseys that look as if the last time they were washed was sometime just prior to the war? How often have we seen old men playing checkers in the park and felt sad that they had nothing better to do with their days? Or known an old lady who would rather spend time in her Lazy-Boy stroking her mangy cat than get dressed up and go out with her family to a more ‘exciting’ time? Have we ever said out loud, or even thought the thought of “If I ever get like that, then shoot me”?

The funny thing is… you got it, this is who we are. It might not be right away, though we would probably not recognise it or ourselves when it does happen. But think about it…

That favourite pair of jeans, you were wearing them when you did the laundry, “Ah, never mind, I’ll put them through next time”, and

Wouldn’t it be great just to sit quietly with friends rather than dash about shopping or trying to impress people that don’t really give a care? And what about parking off in your lounge, reading a good book instead of the rush and noise and just plain busyness of young families, kids squabbling and raucous laughter at inane jokes? Then of course there’s that thought of something that needs doing, but you are quite sure that offspring one or two could take care of it for you quite easily…Aargh, so scary.

There are some things that happen that are funny…well laughable anyway, like looking for readers perched on your nose, trying to get that ‘something that was previously on your plate’ out from under your new bridge, while sounding like a kreepy krawly sucking air….lamenting gravity’s effects  when it’s been there all along and how Time flies when you are having fun. Never stop having fun.

Know that the definition of fun is certainly age related!

data again

It’s already April, we have been in Bulgaria now for near on a month! Can’t believe how the time has flown past. Yet at the same time, it feels as though we have just landed here.

We have experienced some truly wintery weather, which, I know, is a novelty for us, and surely the rosy glow will fade, but as we do not have to work outside, or get out of bed really early to ‘go to work’, we enjoy the serious change in tempo. Also really appreciate second fireplace the Van Tonders installed upstairs and the electric blankets we brought along in our luggage.

Revisiting places and people is rather wonderful.

Our focus has been primarily language but work on the house is a continual backdrop to our everyday life too.

Before leaving South Africa Rita was battling with a really troublesome wrist… that has not changed, and language learning acquired a whole new vocabulary boost when dealing with local doctors here. The villagers are very happy to cook meals and treats for the handicapped foreigners, though Jean-Pierre has been a model husband taking care of cooking and cleaning as well as his forays out and around the house.

 Take-aways take on a whole different shape here as it means food and goodies taken from other homes to ours.

Right now Spring is certainly in the air and summer is hard on her heels. I always wanted a “savage garden” definition being “untamed”, erm the garden here is more than I dreamed? Wild flowers everywhere, definition of wild flowers… weeds! And, methinks it will probably remain this way for a while yet.

Some crazy quirks of the house…the fridge sounds like a chicken cowering in the corner of the kitchen. When you run water in the kitchen sink, the radio gets all excited and loses its station (have since relocated said radio).

When you work on outside walls upstairs, debris falls in little puffs downstairs (similar to moving a toaster…little bits everywhere). If one sneezes loud enough an electronic rooster crows and the resident cat meows like a duck. (not when one sneezes – all the time)

On a more serious note we are here on a Type D visa on invitation of the Bulgarian Consulate in Pretoria, this means we get to apply for temporary residency. We have a few hurdles to climb before it is granted, however, one of them being that we need to present an unabridged marriage certificate, which has been applied for, but we have no idea how long it will take before we actually have it.