21 juin 2008
Update so far
Dear Everyone,
Happy Midsummer's Day!
Just to give news so far as tomorrow will surely be a long post full of details and info. You know about the a/c of course, which is a Godsend as today was 32°, tomorrow will be 36°...just perfect for Lucia and I to trot round Bellu in the shade of the oaktrees reading all those wonderful inscriptions whilst referring to Nicole's fabulous Nicole Tour 4 for additional information and sucking on water melon. I can't wait!
Yesterday, besides buying a vacuum cleaner (hurrah!) that's bright green, looks like an alien but does the biz, I had a highlight of the week, easily overtaking the installation of the a/c system - could this be possible, you ask, as Bucharest swelters. Well, yes it's very possible. Meeting incredible people hits the soul far deeper than Americool, even with remote control! I met Nicole's dear and much loved friend, Neli. Easy to see why they're friends - both equally adorable, kind, full of bounty and courage. It was as if Nicole was with us, her photo smiling back at us from several book shelves, as we sat in Neli's sitting room delecting on home-made chocolate mousse and icecream that makes life appear absolutely marvellous in every way! Neli is a maths teacher, and I can't believe it. I never met a nice one who didn't glare over the top of her glasses, scowl, snarl and snap requiring students to have anti-rabies vaccines!!! Neli is clearly an exception to the rule and an explosion of goodness, joy and kindness. You know how it is. You can just look at some people and the auror they give off is one of such positivity and goodness. And so it was with Neli.
My one regret was my crap Roumanian which was far worse than I had ever imagined. Now I've moved to the treetops and left Tantza and Mandita, my Roumanian conversation practice has fallen by the wayside. However, I was so excited to finally meet her that even my French wasn't that great! It means, though, that wanting to hear more of Neli's fascinating stories, I'm going to have to do some serious work on the lingo. What an après-midi d'un faun we had and how sorry I was to leave for a private lesson back near Pta Dorobantilor, the other side of town. I do hope we'll meet again soon. Nicole's right. She is an angel. She's a Bucuresti de alta data lady, one of the Rutzi and Milla clan, though much younger. She went to see 'Sex in the City' at the cinema the other day! Bless her. I await our next rencontre with much impatience. So concentrated was I on all she said that I forgot to take any pix. Sorry. Next time.
What else to tell you? Er...took Rosie to Parcul Verdi twice this week, our version of Wimbledon Common. She just adores it there and runs quite wild, ears flying behind her chasing butterflies, rolling in the long grass etc. No horse manure this time thank heavens!
Met up with Gaby, Aless and Oana last night at the Pink Café, bd. Decebal. Lola was
otherwise indisposed having mangled her leg with an epilator. Poor thing. She looks like she's been attacked by Freddy 
Kruger, apparently. How on earth could something like that happen? It was a new machine and the first time she's used it so I do hope she'll make a huge stink. It must have been faulty. This lead of course, to comparisons of horror stories with rasors, self nose piercing and other such joys, which drowned out the torrential rain, thunderstorm and Turkey v Croatia in the background. So nice to be back with the girls again. I see them much less often these days due to my horrendous BC timetable which has paralysed by social life during the week.
This morning, a couple of hours admin, lunch with friends and then mass and profound housework to clear up after installation of a/c system once and for all, using new alien vacuum cleaner, which works even though it only cost 30 euros at Billa! Fair do's, it does what it's supposed to. I even had to hoover the wall to get the red Martian dust off it. Now, my treetop residence is clean and dust-free, smelling nicely of furniture polish. Very satisfying.
Aura just called. She's been away in Istanbul since the beginning of the month, as you know, and I miss her. How lovely to hear her voice. She came back this weekend very briefly for a christening and flies back to Turkey tomorrow with Aylin. No time to get together before 14h tomorrow as I'm teaching in the morning and she has an appointment, too. She'll be back 6th July while I'm in Brasov, but the following week will see fiesta for her return, including champagne foot-spa (okay, Asti Spumanti from Carrefour) and other daft things we're going to put on a 'things to do' list.
All for now. Have a lovely evening. Off to watch Eastenders, the final 3 dvd's Adrian brought when he came. After a bowl of tortellini and pesto with Anna Netrebko singing in the background, I'm in the perfect mood for the goings-on of Albert Square!
Lots of love, Sarah xox