by A beautiful November day here. Not a cloud in the sky, and way warmer than it should be at this time of year. Weather-wise we’re now all far removed from “should be”, of course.
Mum and Dad left yesterday evening. They got a taxi in the middle of my online lesson, so it was a very quick and rather sad goodbye. It was a lovely moment to meet them at the airport on Saturday and to sit in the sun and wait for the bus to come. When they got to my place they quickly went to work on my main bedroom wardrobe whose doors weren’t shutting properly. They (and I) spent the best part of an hour opening and shutting doors and yanking them into or out of position. Then Dad and I went to the shop downstairs and quickly found ourselves grappling with unpredictable sliding cabinet doors. We found this very funny. “It’s like Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em,” Dad said. Dad liked that little shop, which sells (among other things) small bottles of gin, vodka, and other strong liquor. For dinner that evening we had sarmale and salată de boeuf that I’d made earlier, followed by some grapefruit-flavoured gin that they’d picked up at the duty-free shop.
On Sunday we walked down the river and into town. Dad took numerous photos of the marvellous architecture. My parents remarked on all the renovation that had been carried out in the previous 4½ years, especially in the central squares. In the afternoon I played tennis. A new guy, Sebi, was there. He’s more of a footballer than a tennis player, although he can certainly hold a racket. I played against him (in doubles) the whole time, and from my perspective we finished up 6-4, 6-2, 6-6, following a high prevalence of deuce games. We didn’t have time for a tie-break at the end. On Monday my lessons didn’t start until the afternoon, so we took a long tram trip across the city from east to west, to arrive at Dedeman, one of the big hardware stores. My parents were impressed by the variety of products available. Better than Mitre 10, they said. We looked at everything bathroom-related. Mum was also taken aback by the size of Timișoara. You get to see quite a cross-section of the city on the number 2 tram, rather like line 2 on the Paris Métro. That evening we went out for a takeaway pizza.
On Tuesday we went to the other of Timișoara’s two Dedeman stores, this time on foot. Mum often commented on the state of Timișoara relative to Geraldine. The rubbish strewn everywhere, the uneven surfaces, the lack of pavements. One time we disposed of bagfuls of rubbish, only to find it had been well and truly rifled through an hour later. I had an argument with Mum in Dedeman – luckily for me it blew over – as she insisted I ask a staff member about something even though I knew they would direct me to the front desk. Mum made a tasty meal with bacon and various vegetables from my fridge.
Wednesday was a big work day for me, and Mum spent most of the day tidying up and putting item X into cupboard Y so I won’t find it until year Z. There’s almost too much storage space here. Nice problem to have, I suppose, but in the old place I could always find things because there was literally only one option. After my lessons we went to the restaurant next to the beer factory just around the corner from here. It was hidden away (there’s something typically Romanian about that) and I had to ask a security guard where the entrance was. When we finally got inside, we found ourselves in a spectacular and cavernous room. We ordered beer, I had a substantial salad, and my parents both had cheesy pasta dishes which were much bigger than first appeared. After that we all had different desserts – papanași, cremeș and tiramisu – which we shared. Yum yum. The whole lot came to 206 lei (£37 or NZ$72) including a tip. That seemed a lot to me, but it would be cheap as chips in either the UK or NZ, not that chips are cheap anymore there either.
Yesterday I moved my afternoon lesson online so that they could get a taxi from my place at a non-ridiculously-early time. They had done a lot for me in their few days here. Mum is, and always has been, enormously helpful from a practical standpoint. Even if at times I wish she’d get her grubby mitts off whatever she happens to be intervening with, I can certainly cope with her involvement. And then it was time to say goodbye. I had a very quick Skype call from Mum at Timișoara airport, then this morning they called me again from their hotel room in Luton.
I had another argument with Mum on the phone this morning. While Dad wasn’t in the room, she said that Dad hadn’t been able to cope with the stress of travelling, while she’d been in control the whole time. You know you’re talking bollocks, don’t you? Or do you really, seriously think that’s true? Do you really lack self-awareness to that extent? I didn’t exactly say that, but I made it clear that I wouldn’t stand for her total disregard for the truth. She comes out with this steaming bullshit, which normally involves insulting Dad behind his back, so often. “He’s like a child.” Umm, hello! Anyone there? It’s tough for me because she’s so helpful and generous and loving to me, and she’s my mum, but I can’t help being appalled by this.
My brother, who is unaware that my parents have had a stressful trip, really wants them to make another journey down south before they fly back to NZ in a fortnight. If they don’t hire a car, it’s six hours each way on the bus. Dad’s had a cold for the last few days, and would prefer not to go, especially when they have a two-month-old baby. Mum probably has the beginnings of a cold too, but she feels obliged to make the trip. Ugh.
This morning I called the plumber that one of my students recommended to me; he should come early next week to look at the main bathroom. Then I got through to Barclays – amazingly they put me in the priority queue and I soon spoke to a real person based in Manchester with the accent to boot. He told me what I need to do to (hopefully) get my money back on my closed account.
A long one today. I’ve had (and will have) some new students, whom I’ll probably write about tomorrow.
