Dorota

When Moonface returned to work full-time, as the children were growing up, she did so upon condition that we hire a cleaner once per week, as she reckoned that I was too idle and slatternly to undertake my fair share of the household cleaning. She was probably right.

Somehow, we hired a series of East Europeans who had immigrated here, and who were happy to clean for us. Perhaps "happy" is the wrong word for domestic cleaning; "content" perhaps. Remember, this was several years before the expansion of the EU to the former Bloc countries. One of the girls (and they were all women) was Dorota, who was supporting herself during a year or so's postgraduate study at UWE. She was an expert in Indian art, on secondment from Torun University, and we talked enough to stay in touch.

She has done magnificently in the years since she returned, having taken her PhD, written a book, obtained a teaching post at Torun, and made study trips to India. This week she texted me to say that she is trying hard to complete another three books, and is teaching at Warsaw University as well as Torun. I really must go out to visit her, now that easyJet & Ryanair fly out there so regularly. God, I'm impressed by her.