Bulgarian Daze

Well, here we go…the big wrap up of the year in Bulgaria. Let’s see if we can sum it up!

Mostly, the whole year was a ginormous learning experience, which is oh-so-trite to say, I know. But really it was. If I had to narrow it down to one life lesson, I would say that I truly realized for the first time all the benefits there are to being a citizen of the United States. There are so many freedoms and opportunities that we have here on a daily basis that other countries don’t even know they exist. I think the Egyptian diplomat I befriended through the newspaper job captured it best when he said, “The number one export from America is not movies or products. It is the dream. The dream that you can determine your own life’s success”. I had never thought of that before, but when he said it (after my first two months of living there), I really understood what he meant. So, here is a list (in no particular order) of freedoms and opportunities, big and small, that we don’t even realize we have:

1. We travel freely. When we want to go somewhere on vacation, unless it is Iran, Iraq or Afghanistan, we go. We can literally close our eyes and point to a map, book a flight and go. Seems normal to us, but really, it isn’t. I witnessed the difference many times. Mark’s partners cannot come here unless they apply for and get a visa beforehand. This can take months. On the long train ride from Croatia to Prague, we stopped at every border to have our passports checked. Never one time did my passport ever warrant a second glance. Usually they just winked at me, stamped it and moved on. I inspected the stamp and cooed over how many I had acquired so far, like a game. But other people would get nervous, jittery, visibly uncomfortable. Several times the inspectors would take our special tools, mini flashlights or magnifying glasses, to really check out someone’s documents. There were even people taken off the train. We witnessed the same scene in the airport–when WE were the ones entering the country illegally!!.

2. We live in a fair and just society. Before you get all defiant on me, like “Ummm, no we don’t!!!, hear me out. Our government is a bit corrupt, sure. We have mobsters and gangsters that control some neighborhoods. But overall, that is not the case. When you feel like you have been wronged here in the States, you have recourse. You can call the police or go to court. Sure there are mistakes and it doesn’t work all the time–we don’t live in a utopia, you know. But in general, there is fairness and justice. You can stand up for yourself here. In other places, you can’t…AT ALL! For example, when Mark and I were getting treated poorly by the Bulgarian Consulate and we tried to file complaints, nobody cared. They just said “that’s how it is here”. We never did get answers or help, despite hiring lawyers and talking to judges. In the end, all those people just took our money and ignored us. Chances are, that wouldn’t happen here. And if it did, you could find a way to get some help.

3. We have social programs. I know, how very Democrat of me to say that. But you can’t truly appreciate our tax-funded benefits until you have been somewhere that doesn’t have them. Sure, our Social Security is a joke. But it is something. There, the old ladies just sell flowers or herbs they grew in a window box and hope to make enough money to live on. It’s really sad. They already live in near squalor and they can’t even afford that. The streets have huge holes in them. You can’t even call them potholes they are so big. When it rains, they are impassable. Their teachers make $200 a month, and you cannot live in Sofia on $200 a month…well, not if you want to eat, too. Many Roma (Gypsy) children run around with no shoes or jackets, even during the winter. They steal sugar from the restaurant tables to eat it.
4. We believe we control our destiny. I mean, think about it…can you remember when the first time was that someone said to you, “If you want something, you can do it, just work hard and you can do it”? That mantra is practically beaten into us here. “You can do anything you set your mind to” is like a national saying, like E pluribus unum is. And we believe it. More than that, it is like a deep part of our psyche that we don’t even think about. If you want to go to college, work hard and you will. If you want to make more money, work harder, get more jobs, and you will. Well, this was NOT the main way of thinking there. Most of the people we ran into were very fatalistic, shrugging and saying, “That’s just how it is here” or “you get what you get”. There is no sense of self-determination at all. Believe it or not, you need that self-determination to be happy. It’s not about money at all. It’s feeling like you can make yourself happy. Other countries feel like it’s all out of their grasp, they have no say, and so they should just plod along through life. Very depressing.

5. If you want something, you can find a way to get it. This seems insignificant in comparison to the previous ones, but it is crucial in day to day living. Here in the U.S., if we want peaches in January, we can find a way to get them. If we want a special out-of-print book, we can find it. We can even get medications sent to our very doorstep from other countries! But that is not the case in the rest of the world. “You get what you get”. Amazon does not even ship to Bulgaria. If you get someone to ship something, it is subject to very corrupt customs officials who usually rifle through it, take what they want and then tell you that it never came. There are no luxuries for the common folk over there.

I’m sure there are many more, and I could go on and on, but probably you are snoozing by now. The point is that there is no other country on earth that has what we have. There is a feeling, an atmosphere, here that just doesn’t exist in other places. I’m sure some of that comes from feeling at home here and not feeling so at home there. But then, I think that is the bottom line. I could never feel totally at home there. I feel like there are so many programs and so much plurality here that our immigrants can eventually feel at home. And they must….’cause they keep on comin’!

With all that said, I am so glad we spent the year in Bulgaria. We are different people now…and for the better. I learned a lot about life and myself. It is not in my nature to take many risks. I like a calm and predictable life. Going over there was a HUGE risk for me (I’ve lived in the same 10 mile radius for my entire life!). And I survived. I did more than survive. I thrived. I made friends, found a job or two, learned a bit of the language, got over my immense fear of flying, even traveled BY MYSELF!, and even kept a public journal (hint: THIS IS IT!) I came back with new ideas on how I want to live my life. I loved the simplicity of our lives over there and I am working everyday to keep our lives simple here–no unnecessary junk, no wasteful consumerism, cut down on the drama, etc. We ate fresh, seasonal food over there and we have never felt healthier, so we are trying to do that here.

But most importantly, we missed our family and friends, all the little stories and jokes that really give meaning to life. Sure, we had a bit of that there with our new friends, but it wasn’t the same. It wasn’t like here, when you have known someone for 20 years and with just a look or a few words, you know the joke that’s about to come. (Plus, the language barrier was difficult to get over in the joke department). So we are making a pointed effort to stay more connected without family and friends. We are notorious hermits, but we are slowly breaking out of that, and MAN….you socialites are definitely night owls, you must not go to bed at 8:00pm like me…!

Well, I hope you have enjoyed the whole year we have recorded here. If nothing else, I hope it entertained you. I know I really enjoyed writing it! It’s not often that people get all these chances to see and experience the world like I have, so I hope I have sincerely expressed my appreciation for all these adventures. And if it got lost in my humor and sarcasm….well…just know that I have had an awesome year and wouldn’t have changed a thing. Well, except for that whole living illegally because we couldn’t get a visa from the Bulgarian government part–I might have changed that.

And there you have it…that’s what it all meant!

My, but you are all a demanding bunch.  Apparently I have a few readers who refuse to let go.  I thought I had lost you all, what with my four month hiatus and all (who knew that going back to a job I had done perfectly well for 11 years would be so time-consuming?  And then the whole move back into the house….)  But no.  During the holiday family extravaganza, I heard from people that you still check the blog.  One uncle (who shall remain nameless, but you know who you are!) felt “a lack of closure”.  In-laws are searching for photos of those final 3 weeks when we made stops in Spain and Canada on the way home.

Ok, ok, I get the hint.  I got you all into our lives and now you are addicted, like a sick reality-TV thing.  But I understand. I, too, tune into reality television–particularly now that those writers are on strike and there is nothing.new.on.EVER!  To think, I waited an entire year to watch American TV and almost as soon as we get the cable hooked up in the casa, the writers quit on us.  The irony is not lost on us.

Anyways,  I will do a few last posts here.  A Spain post.  A Canada post.  An album for each.  And then my uncle’s closure piece entitled “What does it all mean?”  And then, sorry my little addicts, but then I am done.  D.O.N.E.  Here at least.  I am working on the next big thing, though.  Well, at least the next blog.  In truth, I, too got a little addicted.  I actually enjoyed writing here, joking about our absurd lives, listening to your sarcastic little comments.  And so I will move to a new place, a secret location if you will, to write about our next life adventure.  If you know me, you know what it is and I will email you the info at the appropriate time.  We just aren’t so interested in having the whole world know all about it, especially the public education world, if you know what I mean…*wink* *wink*

So keep checking, there will be a few more.  And then….when there are no more….might I recommend a therapist or some pharmaceuticals to help you with the withdrawal.  You’ll get through it, you will, I promise.  Just look at me…I lived without real TV for an entire YEAR (I know, it seems unbelievable to me now!).

Here is the post I had planned to put up before our last internet outage in BG.  It is a selection of some photos that pretty much sum up the year.  No words, just pictures…
  

Before I tell you how terrific Spain and Barcelona are, I must vent one small thing.  The language here.  The whole s/th thing drives me CRAZY.  Gracias is grathias.  Barcelona is Barthelona.  You get the idea.  Now I can adjust to this.  But when we went to Barcelona, the language changed completely…to Catalan (I think that is what it is called), which seems to be some bizarre mix of French and Spanish.  I could figure out the writing, but when people spoke…forget it!  I could understand like one out of every four words.  So, here I am, in Spain, as a fluent Spanish speaker, and I CAN´T UNDERSTAND people.  Oh well.  The same thing happened in London…(but in English.  duh!)

Ok.  That is the end of my little rant.  Barcelona.  The short version…loved it!  We drove up there on Monday.  We have a little travel alarm clock with us, so I left it to Mark to set it for like 5:30 in the morning.  It went off in the dark and we dutifully got up, showered, packed the car with a a small bag of clothes and snacks and set off to Barcelona.  And then we looked at the clock.

It said 3:30 am. 

Which explains the complete darkness.  Mark tried to pin it on some clock malfunction, but I investigated and saw that Mark set the minutes instead of the hours.  So instead of putting the alarm hand near the 5, he put it on the 3, thinking 15 minutes after 5.  Oh well.  We were up and driving, so off we went.

We found Barcelona and our little hotel easily.  We got all settled in and since we had arrived a few hours earlier than expected (eh hem), we set out to explore.  We walked around for a while and noticed a place that was offering a Spanish cooking class the next day at 6:00 pm.  We noted it and put it on the agenda.  We found a place for tapas, ate, and then crashed into bed. 

On Day 2, we set out to see the sites.  We started at the rare, hardly-ever-seen-before Starbucks.  We were so excited to find a Starbucks–we´ve been without for most of the year you know!–so we just had to stop in!  Then we went directly to the Picasso Museum.  The line stretched across the whole city.  Ok, maybe not that far, but a long LONG ways.  So we decided to come back later.  Instead we got on the metro and went to the Sagrada Familia.

For those of you who don´t already know, the Sagrada Familia is a ginormous church that has been under construction for like 125 years already.  It looks like it will be under construction for 125 more.  But it was cool.  The original architect was the artist Gaudi, so there were bright colors and mosaics and just general big-ness.

Then we decided to go straight to Gaudi´s house.  It is in a park called Gruell Park and there are some of his statues there as well.  Little did we know that the walk up to the park was straight uphill.  STRAIGHT uphill. Like so steep I wouldn´t have skiied down it in the winter.  But we pressed on and survived.  Since it is located up next to the sun, the park offers beautiful views of the city.  We cruised around, rested in the shade, and eventually found Gaudi´s house.  Of course the park is full of huge mosaics.  Oddly enough, his house is not.  It is just a regular house.  But in a very cool location.

Next we headed back to Picasso.  This time the line was only like a third of the size.  So we waited in it.  It only took ike half an hour to get in.  I have to say…me not being an art connoisseur in any form…I was really impressed with that place.  They have many of his first works from when he was like 13 years old, which are quite amazing.  Then of course the art work progresses through his life.  I always made jokes about this Blue Period of his.  How some people spend a lifetime studying one of Picasso´s periods.  Ok, I will still make fun of that, but…it was cool to see how his work changed.  The last exhibit features his study of Las Meninas and they do this overlay where they show how his cubism stuff really is representing this classic painting.  I was intrigued.  I don´t think I will devote my life to the study of it, but I would definitely like to learn a bit more.  Mark was impressed, too, which tells you a lot.

By now it was time to head to the cooking class.  We got there and…it was cancelled.  So I was bummed.  We decided to go back to the hotel and have a siesta and a shower.  Then we headed to the Olympic Port for dinner.  But before dinner, we saw the most unusual sport.  These guys were playing beach volleyball, only it wasn´t volleyball.  They could not use their hands.  It had the same rules as volleyball (3 touches, then over the net, etc), but they had to use their feet and heads and shoulders.  Kind of like volley soccer I guess.  We watched it for a long time.  Then we ate–paella, of course.  We were exhausted so it was back to the hotel and to sleep. 

The next day we headed home.  10 hours in a car.  It wasn´t as bad as it seems because the scenery was beautiful, but still, it was good to be back.

We have spent the last 2 days lounging on various beaches.  Yesterday we went down to Torrox Costa and rented a very comfortable sun bed and palapa.  That bed was more comfortable than our bed in Bulgaria! We stayed there all day and all evening…swimming, reading, napping, playing smash ball.  You get the idea.

Today we went on the hunt for a little cove Mark saw while we were driving home from Barcelona.  We found it but we couldn´t find a way down the cliffside without harnesses and ropes.  So we forged on and found another one which was perfect.  There weren´t too many people, we had our snacks and an umbrella, and we read and swam and lounged all afternoon.  Now we will head to dinner.

Our plan for the last two days here is pretty much the same.  We might go into Malaga tomorrow just to check things out.  It will depend on how we feel in the morning.  Because that´s how we roll.  We lounge in the morning and then decide where to lounge the rest of the day.  The life of a lizard….

Oh speaking of lizards….we saw a HUGE gecko looking thing in the middle of the road today.  The dude just hung out there and there were like 6 cars waiting on him to move.  Hilarious!

And so I´m off, for a little more tasty cuisine and beverage next to the beach.  I know.  You´re jealous!

p.s.  Just so you know…about the reverse (since I was asked), Mark did not look in the glove compartment for car instructions…but I did.  And all that was there were instructions on what to do if you got into an accident–which was appropriate for us given that we were headed for one that very moment.  Luckily Mark´s fine car pushing skills saved us!

I’ve been meaning to photo-journal my daily walk to and from Mark’s office–my main source of daily exercise. But it was raining or I kept forgetting my camera or, or, or….you get the idea. Well, I finally did it. So here it is:

From our flat, I go out to the corner and turn left. Here is what I see:

Notice how the cars are parked all willy-nilly, on the streets and on the sidewalks, wherever there is space. This gets a little irritating when you are walking, especially if someone is walking on the same patch of sidewalk, but coming towards you. Then it is this weird dance/wait, you-go, no-I-go thing. This is one reason why you should always walk with headphones on, so you can just act oblivious that someone is walking right at you. You just walk right at them back!

Then I pass the British Ambassador’s house and the Hungarian Ambassador’s house, neither of which are photographed here. Ever since the time (years ago, on his first visit here) that Mark nearly got arrested for photographing government buildings and had to relinquish his camera, we opt NOT to photograph government facilities. Just imagine a nice house with a UK flag, and then another one next door with a Hungarian flag. There you have it.

Next, I go over the little river, which is actually some kind of run-off ditch that is always flowing:

Next I pass a playground, but it so happens that it is near an area frequented by, ummm….how to say……corrupt individuals who happen to drive Mercedes and wear all black…you get the idea. So I chose not to photograph the playground. But I have shown you playgrounds before–same idea, different locale.

Then it is up the hill I go:

This is my favorite part of the walk. There are lots of trees and it is almost a little jungly. To the right of this photo is yet another government residence. It used to be one of the homes of the dictator, years ago, and now it is another government residence, but no one seems to know whose or why or anything. Very odd…. And this, too, is not photographed (see reasons above).

Once I climb the hill, I find the little coffee shop on the corner and turn left. Here is what I see:

More willy-nilly parking, narrow streets which cause many arguments among drivers who are in a constant state of road rage. At the end of this street, a right turn, a short walk, and then I’m there. Voila!

That is pretty much my life there, and it should give you a good idea of what things generally look like here. Mark’s office is in a nice area of town, so you probably noticed it is not so dirty or graffiti’d. There is some trash and graffiti (definitely more than you would ever find in San Diego), but not as much as in the center of the city where we live, which is why I enjoy walking up there. Altogether it is like three and a half miles or so round trip.

Tomorrow is our last day here. This was my last walk to the office…kind of sad…but only until we visit again!

Time to start packing and cleaning baby.  I’m off to start.  The landlords are coming to inspect the place Thursday morning, so all must be done by then.  And it will, beeeeeelieeeeeeve me.

So I’m off.  Out!

So…you’ll remember all the times I bored you with the stories of how freakin’ hot it is here? Well, apparently the Winter Gods heard me because now we are heading into Day 4 of solid rain. And not just little dribbles of rain like we get in San Diego. R.A.I.N. people. Pouring, endless rain complete with thunder and lightning. I am currently wearing a long-sleeved shirt, sweats, furry socks and slippers. Here’s a look:

‘Nuff said.
And that about sums up our year here. Like the weather—super hot and then freezing cold. There have been amazing experiences and then days of dread. An emotional roller coaster, I tell you. And it’s hard to categorize what was great and what was horrible. For example, one of the things we love about this place is the simplicity of life. There is not this whole status thing here–you are either a rich member of the mafia society or you are not. And most people are not. And if you are not (like us), then you have a simple existence…work, housework, shopping, maybe a meal or drinks with friends. That’s it. It’s nice not to have all the pressure–though we pretty much ignore all that nonsense at home anyways. That said, this life can be booooooooooooooooooring at times. Like right now. I am not interested in having another tomato and cucumber (shopska) salad with a barbecued piece of mincemeat (kebapche/kyufte). Frankly, I am not even in the mood to eat at another restaurant. Ever. And I have eaten the same meal of chicken in some form, tomatoes and squash for the past two weeks. So I have learned something….

Simple=Boring (at times)
I need a little more stimulation. Really, I learned that I need outdoor activities. I have watched more movies, read more books, and solved more sudoku puzzles in this past year than I will in the rest of my life. Even on days that it is sunny, I find myself feeling trapped in the apartment, because really, what are my outdoor options? I can walk to the park to the left of the flat or the one to the right, both of which are packed with people and full of graffiti and dog pee (and now that I am dog-less, I have no desire to admire other people’s dogs). I can eat somewhere. I can shop. Blech to all of those options. And so I read. And re-watch movies. And to mix it up, download old songs from my youth.

Another hot/cold example: Food. I love, love, LOVE the whole fresh fruit and vegetables thing. They are delicious and good for you. But here is the problem. They last for maybe 2-3 days. So let’s just say….that maybe……it rains for 4 solid days. Or worse. SNOWS! Well, you still have to go out almost everyday to get food. With no car. Just two little feet to trounce through the city. And odds are, they won’t have what you are looking for at the market nearby, so you end up walking across town to find it. Which we just had to do on Sunday. Grrrrr!!!

And finally….the biggest hot/cold: No family, no friends. Hey, let’s all just be honest here. Sometimes, you get a little tired of your peeps. Or they annoy you. Or you are in a bad mood so really you are annoying them when you think they are annoying you. You know what I’m talking about. It’s nice to be away for such a long time that you really, truly miss your peeps. The downside? Man, it’s lonely here. I’m not that introspective of a person that I actually like to be by myself for long stretches of time. In fact, I think the longest I’ve been alone is when I sleep.

Until this year.

Turns out, I’m alone for days on end, especially with Mark’s wacky work schedule. I even get excited to see him. (Pathetic, I know….ok, ok, just kidding!) But in all seriousness, I prefer to live near my peeps. I like to actually SEE people, not just read their emails…

In sum? I suppose it’s been a bipolar year. And as it so happens, I am a San Diego girl—I like my weather to be the exact same temperature every day of my life. Enough of this “season” nonsense. I’m ready for a little stability! And in just a few days, I’ll have it….and that makes no one happier than Mark me!

6 The number of days we have left here.

14 The number of mosquito bites I got in ONE night–last night.

2 The number of bags I have to pack.

3  The current number of seconds between the time the lightning strikes and the thunder crashes.  We have had a couple of nasty thunderstorms lately.
6  The probable number of loads of laundry I will do in the next few days.  That means I will only have to hang laundry six more times! Woooohoooo!

1,200  My estimate of the number of cucumbers I have eaten this year alone.

1,800  My estimate of the number of tomatoes I have eaten this year alone.

3  The number of times I plan to beat Mark in our backgammon tournament tonight.  Yeah, I know.  We are raging partiers here!

4  The number of times I have watched the following movies this year: Bridget Jones’ Diary, Notting Hill, Blood Diamond.  All other movies have been viewed at least twice.

50  The estimate of the number of books I have read this year.

526  About how many sudoku puzzles I have successfully completed this year.

812  The number of songs I have on my iPod, and I have certainly listened to each one many times.

6  The number of days I have left here.  Oh, did I already mention that???  SIX MORE DAYS!!!!!!

Tonight we were invited to a tasting at a new Egyptian restaurant in town. Of course, this invitation stems from the diplomat friend I made way back at the beginning of our stay here. I have never eaten Egyptian food, but it was…..AWESOME!! EXCELLENT!! I cannot say enough about it!

I am not sure what all I ate, but I do know that I HATE EGGPLANT in real life, but for some reason, the Egyptians have a magical way about them that cooks it just right. They had all kinds of spices and seasonings, meat, rice, bread things, grape leaves, sauces, and a whole bunch more. Every single thing was delicious. Even the desserts (and you should note that I am not much of a dessert person–that is not my favorite part of a meal…weird I know….). Oh, and they also had special juices, one that was made from cane juice and one that was a form of coconut milk, both super yummy!
There was a whole room full of diplomats from all kinds of countries–Austria, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Croatia….and then there were Mark and me. We were among two other non-embassy people. But everyone was nice and friendly and by the end of the night we had business cards and email addresses, and a feeling of regret that we had not met all these people before.

We really needed a fun night out like tonight. We are a little down on BG right now. We are tired of the same old food, the same old routine, the same grouchy storekeepers, etc. To have a meal that was so so so different in a room full of English-speaking professionals really was a treat. When we come back here–and you know we will since the business is here and bigger than ever–I plan on going to this place for sure. I will even make sure the newspaper does a good write up on the gig.

I am sorry I didn’t make more of an effort to hang out with my Egyptian friend more often. The year was just so crazy and we were here and then gone and then here and then gone again. But I know we will see him again when Mark has to come back for a week or two here to check on things. And we both vowed to make more of an effort to hang out with him, along with other people we met tonight.

And to top the evening off, we even got a cheesy little Cleopatra pen, which, oddly enough, we desperately needed. No one seemed to have a pen on them and we needed to exchange email addies with people. Leave it to Cleopatra to help out some Americans in trouble. hahahahaha!

Anyways, if you ever have the opportunity to eat Egyptian food or just hang out with Egyptian people, you should definitely do it!  Believe me, you won’t regret it!

You would think that a concrete building would sufficiently insulate for heat and noise.  Well, I think we have proven that we have virtually NO heat insulation (see all the winter blog entries), and we now realize we also have NO noise insulation.

As I mentioned before, we moved our mattress out to the living room and that is where we sleep.  It is approximately 4 paces from the tip of my head to the door of the apartment.  This means I can hear every single thing my neighbors are doing out there.  EVERY.SINGLE.THING.  They jiggle their keys all loud late at night and they gather in the area in front of the elevator at about 7:00 in the morning.  They talk and laugh and talk and laugh and it sounds LIKE THEY ARE YELLING.  Maybe they are yelling or maybe they are not, but is sure sounds like it.

While I get slightly irritated at all this noise, noise, noise, noise, I do realize this is just part of city living and being in close quarters.  I was disturbed, however, when I realized that if I can hear them, then they must be able to hear us!  That means they can hear the ape sounds emanating from the constant drone of Animal Planet on our T.V., they can hear us arguing discussing things, they can hear us rocking out, and most disturbing of all….they can hear us going to the bathroom!  Due to the bizarre layout of our flat, it turns out that our toilet room (here, the bath and the toilet are in separate rooms) is right next to the front door. Ewwwwwwwwwwwww! GROSS! I am hoping that closing the door extra tight and running water alleviates this issue.  Also, I carefully plan my toilet trips around the times I hear the neighbor party out in the hall.

All this does not bode well when you are the only foreigners in a building full of old timers who have known each other since….well….deep in the Communist times.  Already we figured out that they must talk about us because after about a month here, people kept trying to speak to us in English and smile all gratuitously.  Or they would mention the word “America” in conversation.  Which was nice….until I realized they can hear us. And now I just can’t stop thinking if while they are standing out in the hall chit-chatting, if one of them is whispering “Pssssst.  Are those Amerikanskis in the bathroom AGAIN???”