La vita è piena. Life has been full this summer, especially since I've been able to go out and explore a lot of things and places I've not really been able to do thus far. In so many ways I've *gone native*, as it were, more this year than I have. Partly it's because of our Russian circle of friends, who have been faithful and fun. More important it's thanks to my Inessa, with whom I've been peas in a pod, uñas y carne and due gocce d'aqua in the last three months. As one can imagine, we've not really been out of contact for any reasonable period of time for that duration.
And so it was that today we spent the evening apart with different company. I went to an Indonesian reception at the GlavUPK Cultural Centre at Ulofa Palme near Mosfilmovskaya while she met up with a fellow she got acquainted with at Pang's "official" send-off dinner a week ago at her boss' residence. Anyway, there was really little to do about it since I couldn't very much take her as of yet to these formal functions, while she also had to take advantage of the time apart to meet up with acquaintances and friends. (In fact her friend and former boss Q -very James Bond- was apparently back in town only for a couple of weeks and had asked if she was free.) For very trivial reasons I found myself behaving like a righteous royal pain afterwards, throwing a wobbly about how unpleasant it was to think she enjoyed her evening with someone else and all that. I probably need retraining as a human being. Sometimes it doesn't surprise me I've not been able to hold on to a relationship in the past. It's a good thing my muirnín didn't mind so much or consider this as a deal-breaking behaviour.
At the reception, I didn't get to know too many people. I guess I'm not at all like Borg, who manages to keep to the two-minute rule in cocktail parties and circulate efficiently and optimally. Typically the kind of conversations I get into tend to be long-winded, like that technical discussion of fifth freedom rights and the recent Virgin Airlines and Cathay Pacific deal with Cheong and Haberjan. Borg, meantime, would just pop up, say hello, ask a couple of pertinent but light enough questions, do small talk and then exeunt.
Anyway, one really felt the absence of Pang at the reception. Since Faizal (still down with chicken pox) wasn't there either, it was more difficult to go around this time. John and Karen are also gone. Chat with Fiona went even beyond the two-minute rule (as it should for friends) but there was still a lot of time to burn after that. All the Indonesians were very friendly to me, though, even calling me by name. To my utter shame, I didn't really remember all their names in return. The other funny thing was that they kept on asking me about the bespoke suit I was wearing. "Imperial Tailoring, is it?" Faizal's boss even called out to me on my way out. Everyone knew the special deal I had with Sammy Kotwani. I guess that's how word gets around among close friends.
And so it was that today we spent the evening apart with different company. I went to an Indonesian reception at the GlavUPK Cultural Centre at Ulofa Palme near Mosfilmovskaya while she met up with a fellow she got acquainted with at Pang's "official" send-off dinner a week ago at her boss' residence. Anyway, there was really little to do about it since I couldn't very much take her as of yet to these formal functions, while she also had to take advantage of the time apart to meet up with acquaintances and friends. (In fact her friend and former boss Q -very James Bond- was apparently back in town only for a couple of weeks and had asked if she was free.) For very trivial reasons I found myself behaving like a righteous royal pain afterwards, throwing a wobbly about how unpleasant it was to think she enjoyed her evening with someone else and all that. I probably need retraining as a human being. Sometimes it doesn't surprise me I've not been able to hold on to a relationship in the past. It's a good thing my muirnín didn't mind so much or consider this as a deal-breaking behaviour.
* * *
At the reception, I didn't get to know too many people. I guess I'm not at all like Borg, who manages to keep to the two-minute rule in cocktail parties and circulate efficiently and optimally. Typically the kind of conversations I get into tend to be long-winded, like that technical discussion of fifth freedom rights and the recent Virgin Airlines and Cathay Pacific deal with Cheong and Haberjan. Borg, meantime, would just pop up, say hello, ask a couple of pertinent but light enough questions, do small talk and then exeunt.
Anyway, one really felt the absence of Pang at the reception. Since Faizal (still down with chicken pox) wasn't there either, it was more difficult to go around this time. John and Karen are also gone. Chat with Fiona went even beyond the two-minute rule (as it should for friends) but there was still a lot of time to burn after that. All the Indonesians were very friendly to me, though, even calling me by name. To my utter shame, I didn't really remember all their names in return. The other funny thing was that they kept on asking me about the bespoke suit I was wearing. "Imperial Tailoring, is it?" Faizal's boss even called out to me on my way out. Everyone knew the special deal I had with Sammy Kotwani. I guess that's how word gets around among close friends.
