Dolna Banya, Bulgaria.. available for holidays!

It seems Jackie, while enjoying Dolna Banya as always, is having a bit of rough go.

When she first arrived in Bulgaria a few weeks ago, she would have been tired after the long trip from Qatar. Although she would have also been met with a better reception than she did in 2004 when they threw her in jail straight at the airport. I am pretty sure that going through customs in Sofia will always be a bit of an ordeal for her.

The first email I received after she arrived this time started “I’m in shock”…. “I need help,” which after the jail thing certainly got my attention.

But no.. it wasn’t a lawyer she needed, but a plumber.

She was south of Sofia, at her house in Dolna Banya and the pipes that were leaking last September, were still leaking and there was no way to get to them, hidden deep in the stone walls of the little house just a block from the town center. Water damage is a homeowner’s nightmare: even in a stone house.

Then there was the problem with the heat.

The system is a good one, but it is pressurized and you need someone around that can keep a fire going and is comfortable heating with hot water.

And the front door gave up closing.

When you are a homeowner, it never ends. And a home owner in a foreign country has a lot of other issues as well.

In Bulgaria they speak, well, Bulgarian. It is nothing like English and a new language is not easy to learn after 50. Heck, it is hard to remember where you put your keys! Yet Jackie built a house there. Not bad for an old girl!

And it is not just the language: there are also cultural issues: the tools are different, the concept of “plumber’ is different. The idea of what a woman can do and/or should be doing is often under discussion.

In Bulgaria, you aren’t in Doha anymore!

And then she twisted her ankle.

She would have had to go past the market: colorful stalls where they sell fresh bread and sausage, home made goat hair sweaters and slippers, fresh garden vegetables and fruit as well as brightly colored clothing and household goods made in China to do it.

My lovely sister would probably have used her limited vocabulary to initiate a conversation that would leave both her and the unsuspecting Bulgarian she had cornered, scratching their heads.

She would have then continued by the gypsies who would have been gathering up treasures along the river, gone over a little bridge and continued on the trail between the huge stone school house and the cultivated fields.

She would have gone past two churches, the tiny old one and the second that is still in use, even though you can’t drive to it. SHe would have taken a long drink from the fountain there and then continued up the narrow, steep trail that takes you through a maze of other paths through thick brush on the hills behind the little Bulgarian town.

Her little walk would have been almost a pilgrimage: relaxing and lovely and after six months in the desert country of Qatar, allowing the problems of the house to melt away. It probably felt cleansing, exhilarating: food for the soul!

At least until the part when she slipped and twisted her ankle… then: not so good I bet.

Then there is her back. We Crabbs are plagued by bad backs, not helped by her bed. It is fairly ancient. I suspect it is the same one she had in Nanaimo years before she left for the UAE. It may not be as old as she is, but pretty close. And, believe it or not, even in Bulgaria Jackie had so much company the couch wasn’t an option.

She didn’t mention bed bugs, but I am sure they were there: waiting.

She did say she got food poisoning: not good.

Yup..It’s always an adventure with that sister of mine. That is just one of the things I appreciate about her!

She got to see Nathan and Nina, and Anna arrived via Rome and left via Turkey, to the UAE where she lives and works. Dave was there with his daughter. Who doesn’t love a place where they get to spend time with their children? Quality time. Bulgarian time!

The yard was absolutely beautiful, thanks to Nathan and the neighbors.

They take care of her yard and keep it as though it were their own. When Jackie visits neighbors bring her soup and fresh produce from their own lovely garden. They lend her their car. They cry when she leaves.

The capital city of Sofia, just an hour away, besides having a Canadian Consulate and a good lawyer, is home to Carfour, a Costco equivalent and McDonalds. Plovdiv, just south of her has Roman ruins and a history as old as God. A huge ski resort is less than an hour away.

You can walk for just a few minutes, past friendly neighbors, gypsies, the homeless guy, interestingly constructed homes, goats and a wide variety of modes of transportation, and you are out of town where old men with canes sit with their goats, or sheep or whatever.

You can take some time out and soak in the naturally hot mineral water of the town baths, or swim in the naturally heated, outdoor swimming pool.

Beer is a buck.

The neighbors all make, sell and share a wide variety of sausages and sauerkraut.

Nathan and Nina are caring for a baby stork in the back yard: it has a five foot wing span, eats a ton of fish and apparently is fertilizing the whole yard rather thoroughly..

Ya.. it can be a pain to maintain the place, but I never wonder why she does it. I just wonder why more people don’t!