Day 64, Level 1: Prizegiving, Varna, Ellerslie and Indi & Kuz

This morning - attended EGGS (my old school) Junior Prizegiving - presented Service Awards (funded by the Old Girls Assn). Yikes, I arrived a bit late and made it by the skin of my teeth to the "official guest" gathering" in the ante-room before the official procession through the hall full of girls and parents onto the stage. Phew. I usually cut things a bit fine but this was cutting it really fine. But I made it and all was perfectly fine and well. As long as you make it in time, right?!?!? (Ok, so not everyone agrees!) Sang the School Song again - today's was not the most rousing rendition of it - it was junior school, they haven't quite got hooked into it yet, haha!

I've only ever completely missed one meeting in my entire life - I completely forgot about it. No excuse, just a complete "forgot about it". That's one meeting out of ... literally thousands in my life. It's not that bad! A few meetings I have been late for, but only a very few - blame bad Auckland traffic, or delayed flights. Everyone understands.

I've nearly missed a flight a couple of times for one absurd thing or another. But I've only ever actually missed one flight in my life. I'm ashamed about it - but at the same time can only blame early morning, and atrocious Auckland traffic and weather combined, as well as rude, unaccommodating and incompetent budget airline staff - hopeless! It actually ended up for the best in the end ... but that's another story!

On the flip side, quite a few delayed flights have almost made me miss important things. 

One time, in London, working for IPPF, Lyn and I were heading for Varna, Bulgaria, via Sofia, in June (summer), for a Regional Council meeting. Our Balkan Air flight from Heathrow was delayed. And delayed. And delayed. We were stuck inside the [hot as hell] plane for quite some hours without explanation (well, maybe a couple of words in Bulgarian). I think we got a limp sandwich to tide us over. We had no idea what was going on. Eventually some hammers and tools were employed - overseen by the pilots! I can't remember the detail (Lyn you probably can) but it was all very dubious. Bang bang bang - and finally we took off. Between us, Lyn and I had flown zillions of kms in our lives - but taking off in this plane had our nerves a little frayed and patience exasperated.

We arrived late into Sofia which meant we missed our connection to Varna and we had to overnight in Sofia. We made the most of it. Probably stayed up all night drinking vodka and being rather silly. Caught the early flight to Varna, which from memory also had delays and dramas. We finally arrived in Varna (conference venue) about the same time as the delegates - and after some had already landed. They were coming from all over Europe. Normally we'd arrive in advance to prep, welcome etc. One of my jobs was to coordinate everyone to arrive around the same time but after us (a huge logistical exercise!!) This time, it was them arriving before us.

It was all a bit chaotic. But at the same time, these savvy delegates knew a meeting in Bulgaria wasn't going to be quite the norm and were resourceful enough to cope.

Varna was an interesting place and we had many laughs, along with the various and inevitable challenges of running a meeting of 70-ish people from all over Europe in a seaside resort town in a [then] communist country. I think we all drank quite a lot of vodka in between the meetings and work! We also attended a "mock Bulgarian wedding" as part of a cultural dinner experience. I remember we offered the bride and groom (actors) some condoms! Well, the conference was about sexual and reproductive health and contraception was always top of the bill of discussion! This was about spreading the message ...

We sure had a LOT of fun. An experience to remember. Like every other Regional Council meeting we organised! Memories forever.  

My prior site visit to Bulgaria to check out potential conference venues was also an interesting escapade. I'd flown over several months earlier - we had pretty specific requirements for our meetings and my job was to check them out in advance to make sure they fit the bill. So I flew to Sofia and was to be met by the Bulgarian Family Planning delegates (who I knew from previous meetings). I got detained upon entry, questioned and whatnot. It wasn't clear to me why - language barrier too! Perhaps they liked a young blond woman with a Kiwi passport and wanted a longer look. I'm not joking. I was busy answering their questions when next minute good old Dr Vassilev is coming to my rescue - somehow he'd got onto the customs side of the airport (VIP - he was a doctor/scientist/govt official) and cleared me in a jiffy. 

Through we went, got my luggage and out of the airport. Next thing, I'm being photographed - with a camera with one of those big flash bulb thing like in the movies. WTF? I walk down the steps that camera and flash bulb keep flashing like there's a red carpet. Then there's a flock of people amassing to see what the fuss is about! I think WTF (and smile!) and we get down the steps and then Dr Vassilev apologises profusely for the fact I'll be travelling in his "old" car, a Lada. His "new" one is due next week. He's been waiting 10 years for it. Yes you read that correctly. Bless. So I hop in his old Lada (fun) and off we go. 

He'd ordered his new one 10 years earlier and was expecting it any day. Oh I can't tell you how gutted he was that he couldn't drive me in his new one. But truly, the old one was okay. I was mildly curious to have known what the new one might be like but, for me, a car has always been something that gets you from A to B - and that's what his old Lada was. My current car is probably older than his old Lada was! It gets me from A to B very reliably!

I had a wonderful day in Sofia, hosted by Dr Vassilev and his family. There's a mountain on the edge of the city and he knew I loved skiing. They took me up it. Wow. I didn't ski but people were. The amenities seemed pretty top notch to me, and the snow and runs looked awesome. Magic. 

Dr Vassilev (left) and other Bulgarian delegates

Dr Vassilev's wife and kids - daughter and twin sons - delightful!

 Then it was time to fly off to Varna. It's on the Black Sea. Now here's where it gets interesting. They took me to the venue they'd selected - it was a scientific institute. Looking at the outside made me nervous. Going inside - it was quickly evident it was a case of OMG no. We simply could not host our meeting here. The rooms were like cupboards and the feeling was austere. I felt stifled and still remember walking around the place and thinking "no, no, no, this can't work".  It was such a far cry from every other venue we'd had these meetings at. It was clinical and ... well austere is the word. I can still remember walking around that place and thinking "we cannot hold our meeting here".

The meeting room itself was okay and large enough (a meeting room is a meeting room but we often struggled to find one large enough). That was the only tick. But the facilities and amenities - OMG no. We're in communist days here - we weren't expecting frills but this was the complete opposite. I could tell the food experience would be dire and, bottom line, our meeting just couldn't happen here. Without being rude, I asked them to please show me other options.

So from that austere scientific institute, I then saw a couple of hotels. One no good. The other with definite potential. The rooms were fine, the amenities good, the cost similar. Varna is a resort on the Black Sea and this was a reasonably upmarket hotel near the water. But ... the meeting room wasn't huge and it would be a tight fit to get everyone in. Back in London I discussed all this with Lyn - my ultimate recommendation was to go with the hotel and squeeze everyone in. So we made the decision to go with it. It was a good call. I still can't imagine holding that meeting in that scientific institution - although I have to say that if we had, it would still be generating memories - just not necessarily for the right reasons! Even now, it still gets an OMG no from me!

This afternoon I headed up to my second home - Ellerslie racecourse! It was a Twilight meeting, first race 4.15pm. Great fun and I had friends with horses running. The weather looked ominous at one point but it held out and was okay. Thoroughly loved my afternoon at the races. 

 

Pre-race drinks in the owners enclosure with friends - oh so much fun

SHARE-NOTE OF THE DAY:
Cats ...

Indi turned 10 years old today. She's still as spritely as she was as a kitten to be honest. I think she's only been to the vet's three times. She's a healthy and lovely girl who is easy to care for and manage. She's smoochy when she feels like, aloof when she doesn't - but always loves a good dose of cuddles and rubs and pats and purrs. She loves home and Omaha and doesn't mind going between the two. A few meows in her cage in the car but mostly just happy to be en route even though she doesn't know it. Sometimes she goes AWOL which means heading home from Omaha is compromised, but overall she's the ideal cat. 

Here are some photos of Indi and her brother Kuz. They were born 10th December 2010 and we got them in February 2011. We were only having one (Indi) but ended with her brother Kuz. Now Kuz was the most amazing cat - but he was also too inquisitive for his own good and poked his nose where it wasn't required way too often. He would visit neighbours homes, hop into any car with a door open, smooch with anyone who passed by. I think he did one of these things one time too often. He went missing in March 2013 and was never seen again. I suspect he got into a tradie's van and ended up on the other side of town. We never saw him again. I was distraught. I still think about him most days. I even concocted a story about his adventures. I still miss him. He was an incredible cat. One out of the box.

But Indi is just perfect. 

Indi and Kuz - circa 2011

Young Indi, circa 2013

 

Taken tonight - in my office on my Turkish rug - aged 10 - a little older but equally as good and endearing as she ever was. It's hard to fault Indi, she's really truly is as pretty much as near perfect as you can get for a live being you have to take care of. She ticks all the boxes.