GEORGI ZLATEV & DANCHE ZLATEVA spotted an advertising banner on their way to work at the roadside, hung on a construction fence. The inscription: The urban residential quarter in Moers. Well hidden behind this fence lies a building plot in a surprising location. Georgi and Danche are thrilled. The two note down the necessary contact details, and the crazy thing is that the doctor couple immediately cancel a viewing appointment for another house that had been arranged until then. They are certain: this is where they want to live. The couple listened to their heart – the search for their own home is over. The two decided on a modern semi-detached house. "Somehow I immediately pictured our little daughter playing in the garden here," Georgi recounts as he glances over at Danche, "and my wife and I sitting on the terrace with a coffee." Georgi and Danche met in the second year of their medical studies in Skopje, Macedonia. Both now work in the cardiology department of St. Josef Hospital in Moers. The young couple are qualifying as specialists in internal medicine. The shifts are sometimes hard. "After a 24-hour shift you just want to sleep," Danche and Georgi say, "our bedroom will be right at the top under the roof, so that only the sky is above us." Before going to sleep after the end of a shift, there is always a smoothie. "I'll then drink it on my counter stool in the kitchen and simply be happy that I live here." The couple often think of their families in Macedonia and tell how proud the parents and the others are that Danche and Georgi are getting on so well with their work and now also with building a house. "There is a place of honour for our family photos from Macedonia. We'll hang them on the wall behind the dining table, and when everyone comes to visit us, no problem, we'll have enough space in future," Georgi says happily. "I think we'll often walk to work; we love going for walks," says Danche. When the couple have a shift at the hospital in the morning, on the way they can take their daughter directly to the childminder, who lives barely five minutes away. "Our garden will be colourful," both agree. "Our daughter Iliana will play here with her friends from the neighbourhood." There will be many children in the urban residential quarter. "This is where the little ones will have their start in life, and perhaps friendships for life will be formed here too," Georgi and Danche say, smiling with delight for their daughter and the other children. "We wanted to register our daughter at the new day-care centre that is being built here in the residential quarter, but there we were probably a little too early," the parents recount, laughing. The young family will live on Marie-Curie-Straße in the quarter in Moers. That cannot be a coincidence. "Physics and chemistry were always my favourite subjects at school," Danche laughs. Now the family is looking forward to their house, the diversity and the open-mindedness of the new neighbourhood, which, just like them, is moving into its first own home. In the middle of Moers, peacefully framed between gardens and lots of greenery – that sounds like a wonderful start.
This article was originally published in the Tecklenburg GmbH news archive.
