Life in BG mark on 29 Aug 2006 04:09 am
Landing on the Moon, Part 2
The second day we were here, we got started looking for a place to live. We can’t live in a hotel forever!!! Andrey had set up some meetings to look at some apartments. Apartments here are called “flats”. We spent the whole day looking at flats. Of course, we don’t have a car, so we had to walk all over town. We saw two flats that we liked and two flats that we didn’t like. Most of the flats cost about 1,000 Euro a month. Click here to figure out how many dollars that is. That seems like a lot of money, I know. But it includes ALL the bills, including the TV and the electricity. That means I can use the air conditioning all I want, and not pay extra for it!!
After looking at flats all day, we went back to the hotel, walked Guiseppe, and took a nice, long nap! Then we woke up, had a snack, and went back to sleep. The time here is opposite from San Diego. For example, when it is 10:00 at night here, it is 12:00 (lunch time) there. So we were all confused! We kept sleeping during the day and waking up in the middle of the night.
The third day we were here, we looked at a whole bunch of flats again. But we really did not like any of them. So, we looked again at two flats from yesterday that we liked. We picked one, signed up, and moved in, all in less than 2 hours. It is easy to move when you only have suitcases and no furniture!! Click in the pictures section on the side to see pictures of our new home.
Then, we set out to learn about our new city. Most of the weekend, we walked around to try to figure out where everything was. For example, where do you buy food? Well, there are markets for that. Only, the stores here are very small. You would never find a Wal Mart here. You have to go to different stores to buy all your food. We bought enough food to last a few days and went home and started cooking.
Since we don’t know the language too well (OK, we don’t know it at all, it sounds like Chinese to us!), it is hard to order at a restaurant without one of Mark’s partners to help us translate. I think we’ll figure this out quickly, since we like to eat!! We are starting to understand how things work here and we are feeling more comfortable about living here now. The first 3 days were a little difficult, but now we are doing better. It doesn’t feel so much like the moon!!
on 29 Aug 2006 at 11:52 am # Raquel (aka Broc)
I am amazed at how you are handling your new digs. I remember first moving to San Diego and feeling lost. If anyone could figue out a new language, it would have to be you. I know I am a little (well, a lot) computer challenged but I couldn’t find the pics on the side to see your new flat. Please help!
on 29 Aug 2006 at 12:44 pm # Kristy
The pictures should be there when you click on the picture of the yellow church on the right. It says pictures of Bulgaria on it, but you need a microscope to see it! Try it and let me know if it works….
on 29 Aug 2006 at 5:02 pm # Kathy
I have one word for you, Ms. Dolan. Wow. I’m loving the washing machine in the bathroom! I’m not Giuseppi likes that elevator all that much…just look at his face…hang in there! I’m proud of ya!
on 29 Aug 2006 at 11:01 pm # Deedra
Hey, what did you cook? What do they eat there? I imagine it is like Europe, perhaps cheese, bread, and maybe sausage etc. I used to love to read the Weekly Reader (back in the old days before computers) and it would tell you about kids in other countries and their natural resourses and what they had for breakfast and dinner, I always found it very interesting. I love this,Deedra