Life in BG

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!