Cart before the horse

As a history teacher you would expect that I would do well with dates. For instance, knowing that the Greeks came before the Romans; that World War I came before World War II; or that Thanksgiving come before Christmas. Ok, I can honestly say that I know all of these things, however, it does not excuse the fact that I have posted about Christmas before posting about Thanksgiving (sort of).
Thanksgiving actually came in two parts last year - the campus celebration, and the trip to Istanbul. As I'm sure you know, the Istanbul trip has been posted, but the campus celebration is truly blog worthy as well!

Questions: How many international teachers does it take to prepare a Thanksgiving feast for 150+ Bulgarians? And how many turkeys should be prepared?

Answer: About 20, if you include the bartenders and DJ. And at least 25!

That's right, in the American College of Sofia's effort to bring a little bit of American culture to Bulgaria, a former president thought it would be a great idea to introduce Thanksgiving to the Bulgarian staff by having the international staff cook for them and their families. The only problem this year? No one on staff had actually prepared a full Thanksgiving meal before - including the turkeys. But we're a creative, resourceful, and adventurous group that is not going to let a little thing like ignorance stop us from having a successful party!

On the ambitious menu:
-25 turkeys
-braised carrots
-homemade potato biscuits
-mashed potatoes
-garlic-rosemary roasted potatoes, made by yours truly (thank you Gretchen for the recipe)
-homemade apple pie
-homemade pumpkin pie, made from real pumpkins we split ourselves!
-two types of stuffing
-sweet potatoes
-gravy
-wine
-beer
-rakia (Nikolai's homemade goodness!)
-a few other things that I can't remember at the moment, but hopefully will be added in the comment section below

Let me start by saying "hats off" to Will Heron, our resident Econ/Math teacher who took on the challenge of prepping and making 25 turkeys that came out DELICIOUS!!! Well done, Will! In fact, for having little-to-no experience with most of these dishes, everything came out really good. The hit of the meal, however, was those tasty garlic-rosemary potatoes. No, seriously, they got a lot of compliments. I know this sounds rather conceited, but they were very popular. Perhaps someone who was there can post a comment about them so I don't seem too egotistical.

Regardless, the meal was an enormous undertaking involving two days worth of prep by the staff, strong coordination (thank you, Derek), a lot of beer drinking, and a hefty bill covered by the College. And on top of all this good food, we had handmade decorations (nicely done Jaime and crew), dancing, and open bar, a great DJ (DJ B-Ranch) who also created a trivia game, and 150+ Bulgarian who thanked us for days after the party.

Here are just few pictures of the event so you can get an idea of the undertaking. As always click on any of the captions to bring you to the Picasa page to see more.

Abby making sweet-taters

Amanda heating things up!

Enough turkey to feed a Bulgarian army

You want turkey? We got turkey.

Nobody panic!  We're professionals.

Jamie making fresh dough with the ACS rolling pin

More butter than you can shake a carrot at

Potato biscuits for everybody!

DJ B mixin' it up on the 1s and the 2s

Culture successfully shared!

Nazdrave.

Our first Bulgarian Christmas

In our first year abroad, we have tried to be smart travelers. And as they say in Bulgaria, "sometime win, sometime loon." (Yes, this is quite a popular phrase; it was originated by the Bulgarian national superstar soccer player Hristo Stoichkov, the player-turned-coach who led them to fourth place in the World Cup in 1994, and whose English is only slightly better than my Bulgarian [check out the video here]; Bulgarians take their soccer seriously). And while we have had our share of "loons", one of our wins was definitely the choice to take a few days to ourselves before traveling for Christmas. And we seemed to be some of the few that made this decision. Our co-worker Jess White, and her brother who braved the elements and came from America, were the only others with this ingenious plan.

I find Christmas travel is always a gamble. When I was younger, we would open presents at our home in the morning, then head to my grandmother's house about an hour away for dinner and family-time. For a number of years I failed to notice the traffic on the freeway from everybody who, I assume, was doing the same thing. As I got older, not only did I notice the traffic, but I began traveling longer distances to see people; and the most important thing that I learned was the following: airport traveling at Christmas is comparable to having a root canal done by a epileptic dentist. And this last year, I hear it was worse. Many of our co-workers decided to go home to the states to visit family, and all of their stories were remarkably similar. Remember the storm that dumped on the East Coast last Christmas? You know, the one that shut down airports, train travel, roads, and public transit? Yeah well, our great win of the season was NOT putting ourselves on a 24-hour intercontinental flight, infested with cranky air-travelers, to fly through the century's worst blizzard. To those of our friends who did, our hats are off to you! You are seemingly more brave than we are. But would you choose to do it again? Yeah, I didn't think so. And what is it about the holiday season that puts everybody in a bad mood? You would think that at the time of "tidings of comfort and joy" that people would be more relaxed, friendly, and supportive. Not travelers.

So to continue with the "win" portion of the story, we decided to stay home, nearly alone on the campus, spend some quality time together, light fires in our fireplace, and dog-sit Jack, our friend Sarah's newly-adopted puppy.


Cute, isn't he? And while might have been a little rambunctious, he was so cute that we had a great time with him. That's right, no fighting with lines, being stranded by a delayed/canceled flight, risking life and limb aboard an airplane headed into the worst weather on the planet; just a lovely time enjoying a Christmas morning together, eating out, and watching movies.

And then once things calmed down, we flew to Prague for New Years. But that story is for another post.

Nazdrave!

The First Snow

Winter was not your normal winter this year. Supposedly, it wasn't as cold as it was the year before, although the people who are telling me that are also the ones who had to suffer through the heat being shut off by Russia at the height of the cold last year. Regardless, it was cold enough for this Southern California boy who has never lived an entire winter in a place that snows.

How did I survive? Quite well, actually. I wore thermal underwear everyday, we built fires in our fireplace, and I often found the snow to be particularly beautiful. Here are just a few pics of the first snowfall of the year.  Technically, it was the second, as the first occurred the night of Halloween, (and yes, we had an American-style Halloween party, but I've been asked not to post the pictures) but it didn't stick, and I was unable to get pictures of it at the time.

Roamin', Roman, Rome-an(d)...Istanbul!

Trivia time:  How many months will pass before I will finally post something about an event in November?
Answer:  9 months.  That's right, 9 months...the time it takes to carry a child to term; the length of an entire school year; three-fourths of the entire time we've been in Bulgaria so far.  You know, when I say it like that, it actually makes me feel worse.

To make this post a little more interesting though, I'm going to try to do something even more impressive just to win you all back.  No long, rambling text citing place and experience with links urging you to see my photo page (you really should though, I've at least managed to do a better job of keeping that up to date).  Instead, I'm going to attempt to insert a movie that tries to capture the excitement and adventure of an event that is more than 9 months old, and I promise the only children in it are the ones who are old enough to have them, but are still acting like them.

But before I begin, a short recap:  in the lovely month of November, the plague hit Bulgaria.  And by plague I mean Swine Flu.  You remember the swine flu, don't you?  No?  That's because it's been 9 months since this actually happened, so please just play along!  After more then 30% of our student body stopped showing up to school (30% was the magic number for the Ministry of Ed to cancel classes), we were informed that ACS would be shutting its doors for a week until the epidemic had passed.  Naturally, it then occurred to us that the best thing to do during a world-wide epidemic was to get in a tightly-sealed steel-tube, with recirculated air and travel!  So to Rome, Italy we flew.

The first half of this video is from our trip to Rome.  However, in order to save time and space, and because we got another vacation less than two weeks later for Thanksgiving, I've included in the second half of the video our trip with the illustrious Jeff and Shannon to Istanbul, Turkey for Turkey-day.  That's right, folks, get it here first - two for one trip videos!  Have we piqued your interest?  Good!  Now, without further adieu, the November trips to Rome and Istanbul...

A couple of closing comments about Rome and Istanbul - first Rome:  Rome is beautiful.  If you have any interest in history and culture, Rome is a great place.  I was told by a few that Rome was dirty and crowded and full of tourists - well, not in November (having the foresight of nine months before posting, I can honestly say that Central Italy is HOT in the summer - mid- to upper-90's).  While there will still a few people, Rome was every bit as enchanting as you might think it is.  The drawbacks, Rome is also EXPENSIVE.  Not only is it on the Euro, but prices are inflated for the many people that do come to visit, and I'm sure it's worse in the summer.  We spent 4 days there, and aside from the magnificent churches and frescos, Roman and Renaissance art around every corner, and entertaining piazzas, Rome managed to drain our accounts pretty fast.  The lev never looked better.

Istanbul:  In comparison to Rome, it wasn't nearly as enchanting, but was definitely as exciting.  The mosques are very cool to see (the ones you can go into), the Bosphorous is beautiful to sail up and down, history abounds, and the Grand Bazaar is definitely an adventure.  The Turkish Lira is also much more affordable (comparable to the lev), and if you like haggling, you can get some really good deals on some beautiful goods.  Oh, and Topkapi Palace is magnificent!  The one drawback that I had with Istanbul was that since it is a city that thrives on tourism and trade, I found the vendors to be EXTREMELY aggressive!  To even stop outside of a shop was to invite a salesperson to attempt to pressure you into buying something.  And putting them off didn't seem to work either.  It turns out that when you tell a merchant you may come back, they will be looking for you to do just that - and will call you out on it if they see you in the street again.  However, if you don't mind a little high pressure sales tactic, Istanbul is quite lovely and exciting, and many people there are very friendly.

Ok, so maybe this wasn't the "short" post I had hoped, but I hope you appreciate the effort, and in return for you renewed confidence, I will attempt to fill you all in on the many wonders of our year before the end of the summer - that's right, multiple posts per week.  I hope we've whet you whistle...

Nazdrave!

Playing catch-up

Blogging is a habit; a habit that I really need to work on. The plan was, of course, to give periodic updates on how Amanda and I are spending out time in Europe, the challenges and adventures we're having, and have some way of connecting with those we love. Going over our last post, it occurred to me that so much has happened that we have not blogged about. So much so that it's actually a little intimidating to write about all we have done. Date of our last blog: Jan 2 - I promised that I would write more and post more pictures. I have done little in that regard as evidenced by the date of the blog before that - Nov. 10.

Things that have happened since then: flu-vacation trip to Rome, Thanksgiving feast cooked for 150 Bulgarian teachers and family by an international staff of 20, Thanksgiving/Eid trip to Istanbul, the first snowstorm of the season, Christmas, the long awaited trip to Prague for New Years, the first ski trip, Valentine's Day, and my birthday trip to Munich to see Dave Matthews (and let's not forget the daily obligations of work - teaching, lesson planning, grading, assessing...)! For your benefit and mine, I will not recount all of these events in one post, but I thought I might get the ball rolling by talking about none of those things, and instead going back even further to the first week here in Bulgaria, and show you a little bit of Sofia.

It had been expressed to me by a fellow colleague, "Sofia is a great place to begin seeing European capitals." This is absolutely true. Sofia is definitely worth seeing on a European tour. It has quite a few historical sites to see, some lovely museums, and casinos aplenty! And if you like dogs, Sofia is the place to see them in their semi-natural habitat - living the pack life, roaming the streets. Attached are some pictures with links to my Picasa page showing some of the more interesting sites you can find in Sofia.

Sofia's most well known landmark - Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. Simply stunning both inside and out.

Church of St. George - Built by the Romans in the 4th century. Welcome to real history.

National Theater...very theatrical.

And don't forget the obligatory communist statue.












The few shots that I was able to take this day only begins to scratch the surface of the rapidly growing hub of commerce, travel, pollution, excitement, crazy drivers, and adventure that is Sofia. A little rough around the edges, sure. Diamonds in the rough to discover, yep. And once the snow melts, and the weather heats up again, I'll try to dig a little deeper.

Nazdrave!

Something old (pics), something new (resolutions)

I'm not one to really make New Year's Resolutions. I find them to not very effective, nor do I find any particular reason that January 1st should be held separately from any other day in the year when you really are committed to improving something about yourself. As of the date of this post, it is January 2nd, which seems as good a day as any to begin making some improvements...about blogging. There will be more. That is all.

So, in my attempt to resolutely begin this resolution, here are some long overdue pics and words:

I took these pictures some time ago with the intent of giving everyone a peek at the campus, but haven't had the time to organize the pictures and post them. But, for those that are curious or care, here is a few snippets of shots that I took around the campus, as well as a link to more shots (there are too many to put on the page). Follow the link to my Picasa page for a brief caption for each photo, then feel free to search around my Public Album. You can even add me as a favorite (in the upper right had corner), letting you get an email when I upload new photos. All of these were taken in the Fall, and include the pics of the first snow! It didn't last long, and we had unseasonably warm weather, but it was beautiful while it was here, and yes, the cold temps and snow finally arrived in the middle of December.

Nazdrave!

When in Sofia...

Question:  What do you do when the Bulgarian Ministry of Education shuts your school down because you have too many sick kids, forcing you to take 5 consecutive days off?

Answer:  Go Rome-ing, of course!

Faced with the prospect of having to spend 5 work-free days in Mladost (the not-so-pretty neighborhood around the campus), Amanda and I decided that since flu-days aren't very common, we should take advantage of every one of them.  Certainly, we did not ask for these days off, and disturbingly, if given the choice, we would rather just have ridden out the time until Thanksgiving so that we didn't have to rearrange our lesson plans, testing schedules, and all of the other bureaucratic junk that comes with teaching in Bulgaria.  But, since we have no choice, let us not dwell on the past - let's go make some memories instead!

The question became where to make them?  Having lived in Sofia for more than two months now, I can't actually say that I know the city very well, nor have we been to the second biggest city in Bulgaria - Plovdiv, which we both hear is great for a day-trip.  So, that became our plan.  Go into and explore Sofia for a few days, then head out to Plovdiv for a nice getaway.

That was until one of our colleagues brought up the idea of going to Italy!  Did I mention that Monday was Amanda and my 3rd anniversary?  And while I'm sure that there have been a few people who have written love sonnets and epic romance stories about Sofia and Plovdiv, I can't admit to reading any.  But Rome!  Now were talking romance, passion, great food, rich history, and an emergency vacation well spent!  And in about 6 hours, Amanda and I will be spending the beginning of our 3rd year together in a little town that became the seat of the world's greatest empire.

I should be able to get some wi-fi internet on my phone while we're there, so if you have any ideas about where to go or what to see, send it along, we'd be happy to take any suggestions.  Otherwise, be sure to check back next week to see how the trip went and catch some pics (if there's actually anything to take pictures of...maybe one or two things).

City #8 on the list - check.

Arrivederci and Nazdrave!

Vacations, vacations everywhere! They're falling like...students?

So it appears the country of Bulgaria has the flu. The whole country. Alright, maybe not every single person, but enough that it appears we're going to have a flu-vacation next week. Ever hear of a snow day? Well this is a flu day. And it might just smell of pork.

I haven't been able to figure out if most of the cases in Bulgaria have been swine flu, but here's what I do know:

1) A lot of people are sick! Today, in my class (I only teach one on Fridays) of 18, I had 7 students. Yep, 7. Supposedly, if the entire student body reaches 30% absent due to flu, they cancel school. I had 7 out of 18 present. For those playing along at home, that's a 61% absent rate!

2) This flu looks nasty! I'm not saying students and teachers are going to die from it, but those who have gotten it have looked like the walking dead for about 3 days, and don't fully recover for about 7.

3) The virus that is destroying the work and academic population is most likely H1N1 - the swine flu. What makes this one so bad? Nothing more than the regular flu, it's just that it was transmitted by animals; that's something that's pretty rare, so they are behind in making the vaccines. Can't blame them. You can't prepare for everything. The only people that really have to worry are the elderly, the very young who haven't developed their immune system yet, and those with compromised immune systems. The rest of us just get the flu.

4) Despite the jubilation of the students, I am not happy about this "vacation" for two reasons. First, it will be just my luck that I will get the damn thing at the beginning of next week, and spend the week actually being sick. So much for the "vacation". And second, students are required to be in school for a certain number of days. If the Ministry of Health closes the school, they will just have to add those 5 days on somewhere else - like Winter break, Spring break, Summer break, or even Saturday school. Swine flu, I am not impressed with you.

I find it somewhat fitting that I sign every blog at the end with the Bulgarian term "nazdrave", which literally means "too your health". Well dear readers, it with the utmost sincerity that I sign off on this one. May all your days be piggy-flu free!

Nazdrave.

A bad travel joke

What does a Southern Californian cow and Thanksgiving have in common...

Is-tan-bul, Turkey! And it where we're going for the break! Time to check another city off of the list.

Although maybe not all the way off. We're leaving Sofia by train on Wednesday night to arrive in Istanbul (not Constantinople; "Why did Constantinople get the works? That's nobody's business but the Turks...") on Thursday morning, and we'll be there until Saturday night when we take the train back. The only problem is that we might not get to see all of the sights we want. Turns out that our break coincides with Eid, one of the high holy days of Islam. Down side: many things will probably not be open, like the Grand Bazaar and the Spice Market. Up side: while it's not quite like going to Jerusalem for Rosh Hashana, or the Vatican at Christmas, you can't beat going to a major destination site for a major religious holiday in terms of cultural exposure! Eid marks the end of Ramadan, the month of fasting in the Islamic calendar, so it holds a special significants for it's adherents. This should be quite the adventure, and I promise pictures and stories for everyone that reads this blog! So, tell a friend.

Nazdrave!

Czech this out!

It's official! In the spirit of making the most of our short time in Europe, Amanda and I have made the executive decision (and the required purchases) to stay in Sofia for Christmas and perhaps attend a service at Nevsky Cathedral, and then the day after leave for a week in Prague! That's right, New Year's in Prague people!

Before leaving for Europe, I made a mental checklist of all of the major cities that I want to get to before I came back to the US, here is but a brief excerpt:

1. Barcelona
2. Prague (For New Years, 2010!)
3. Amsterdam (thinking maybe Spring Break 2010)
4. Venice
5. Vienna
6. Istanbul (how about Thanksgiving 2009?; check back next week)
7. London (technically already done, but for only 4 hours...not enough)
8. Rome
9. Paris
10. Munich (sad that I missed my chance to meet Ed and Jodie for Oktoberfest)

You may notice that Sofia is missing from that list. If I had only known of it's exquisite beauty before leaving America, it for sure would have cracked my top 50.

Honorable Mention: Copenhagen (just barely didn't make the top 10 before I left, but is quickly moving up); Stockholm (why? because Dave Matthews Band is playing in February, and Amanda has promised the little child in me that we can go for my birthday! *giddiness*); Moscow (this could be harder than expected since the Russians just don't let you stop in for a visit); Florence (I'm not sure why this didn't make the top 10).

Got any more suggestions for me? Any other cities that are a "must see" before the end of the Summer 2010? Click the link below and let me know. (We're going to Prague. Sweet.)

Nazdrave!

In times of tragedy...

...a community is defined.

This post has been a long time coming. And in truth, the biggest reason that I had yet to post up until now is that I just didn't know how to show the proper respect. Over the last month, the community at ACS has shown the strength and resolve in each other to help me find the words.

It is not uncommon for a school to lose a student. Tragically, too many students never get to see what the world has in store for them because their light is extinguished too soon. Teaching at my last job in Hayward, where the threat of violence was always present, I was always concerned with which students might not make it until the end of the year. I would hear stories about students who used to attend LPS, but for one reason or another left us, made bad choices, were caught at the wrong place at the wrong time, were mistaken for a gang member, and lost their lives to senseless violence. It seems even in Bulgaria, that relationship between student and teacher is no more diminished than if I were anywhere else on the planet.

I didn't know Bobby, but from his teachers and his peers, I hear he was a good kid. He was not the top of his class, and he was even a bit of a clown, but he was someone who liked to make others smile. He liked to have fun, and his charisma was infectious. On the very first day of school of his junior year, Bobby and another student were in a car accident on the way to the campus. The other student was lucky enough to walk away from the accident with some relatively minor injuries, but Bobby wasn't so lucky. He was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries, and was in a coma. Few people knew at the time, and the first-day's festivities went on with fanfare and celebration. The excitement was palpable, not just for us new international teachers, but for so many students who were happy to be back, seeing their friends, excited about moving forward in their academic careers. It wasn't until later that we learned about the accident. For the next two weeks Bobby fought for his life, however, the injuries were just too extreme. 13 days after the accident, Bobby left this world, and ACS.

I didn't know Bobby. And, truthfully, at that point, I didn't even know my students. I didn't know how they would react, how much he meant to them, how they would respond. The death of an esteemed one can devastate a community; and Bobby's loss was certainly devastating.

It has been about a month now, and things are "normal". Classes are held, seniors are worried about college, preps (8th graders) are worried about adjusting to high school, boys are worried about girls; but passing in the halls, or holding class with my 11th graders, Bobby's presence is still felt. Some students have a different perspective on their lives, and many still talk of him and miss him. But perhaps the most powerful thing for me has been the community. These students and teachers came together for each other. They hugged each other, cried on each other, and still push each other to find the future for themselves they know their friend will not get a chance to find. I could not be more proud of them. I could not be more proud of the maturity and dignity in which they choose to handle the situation. And it's noticed by many. A student writer for the school newspaper approached Amanda about doing a story about the accident and the aftermath. His angle - the community of support for those left behind; the ACS-family that loved Bobby, and how they will continue to celebrate him.

I didn't know Bobby, but in many ways I actually do. Being a teacher means intertwining your life with others at a very precarious time. I feel blessed to have been a teacher at two great schools. Schools that have been full of students that show me everyday what strength is, what courage is, what life is.

Rest in peace, Bobby. I hope you know how many lives you've touched. And that includes mine.



Nazdrave.

Now that's what I call a Vacation!

Did I mention this would be sporadically updated? Not that I really have time to be writing this, but before the memories are lost...

Greece. Oh what a wonderful place. Ok, maybe my perspective is slightly skewed because the only place I really spent any time is an island in the north Aegean called Thassos. It's not quite the tourist trap that some of the other islands are further south. In fact, since it was a four-day weekend for the country of Bulgaria, it seems as if the majority of the people there were Bulgarian.

Thassos was everything you'd expect a Greek Island to be. Beautiful blue skies, clear pristine water, topless beaches (not that there were many people you wanted to see topless there, but there were some), good beer, and great food! Oh, and let's throw in ancient (and I do really mean ancient; they got real history here) ruins to crawl over, and Vespas to ride around at our leisure. And I'm not sure we could have asked for better weather. This is part where you go down the bottom of the post, click the link that says "moment of envy", and say something about how cool and idyllic the whole scenario is. But, of course if I just waxed poetic about how perfect the whole trip was, that would just be boring...and of course there's always stories of adventure and adversity to keep things interesting.

So let's start with the drive. If you have ever had the pleasure of driving down Haight St. in SF on a tourist and tranny-filled Sunday afternoon, dodging addicts, rubber-neckers, and the accordion style buses that make their own lanes, then you have driven the training course for your average street in Sofia. The couple we drove down with are a bunch of fun-loving Canadians who have been working at the college for going on their 6th year. Last year they bought a 25-year old Volkswagon from a previous teacher who had bought it from one of the Bulgarian Phys Ed teachers. This car is old. This car is sometimes worrisome in driving just to downtown Sofia. This car was not going to get us to Greece. In fact, when the owner and I used it to go pick up the rental car, we weren't even sure it was going to get us to the rental shop. In a torrential downpour (making every taxi unavailable) we drove the Volkswagon, shuttering and shaking, 2 hours to the rental place! Why the hell would we drive 2 hours just to rent a car? Two reasons: 1) Greece is 6 hours away, and the VW surely wasn't going to make that, and 2) it really wasn't that far away! The traffic to get there was so bad due to the rain and normal Friday afternoon traffic, and add on that it was a 4-day weekend for the entire country, and the street outside the College looked like the 405 freeway on Labor Day weekend! (That reference was for all my SoCal readers, you know what I'm talking about.) It was so bad that just the first hour alone only got us 1/4 of a mile. A QUARTER OF A MILE, people! Wait, it gets better. We finally make it to the rental shop and pick up the car, but by this time I'm so hungry that I'm digesting my insides. My buddy tells me, "no problem, there's a hot dog stand just up the road. We can walk there." Evidently, the Bulgarians didn't receive the memo on a couple of things. One of the things is kinda cool. The other, not so much. The first is the hot dog bun (I'm not sure about the hot dog, cause I still haven't had one, but I'll get to that). So, the bun...in America, the bun is sliced in half, with the bottom still connected, and the dog rests comfortably nestled between the soft, bready goodness. In Bulgaria, the poor bun is impaled on a spike, driving a gaping hole lengthwise into the bun, where the dog is slipped inside to become one with the bread. A pretty cool concept! I wonder if this was Eddie Izzard's inspiration on how to serve babies? (That's for the few if you that will get that reference.) Anyways, I was super excited to both try this new method of hot dog cuisine, and cease the digesting of my own stomach when we hit a small snag. We were effectively 3rd & 4th in line, but before long it became readily apparent that #s 1 & 2 were not moving. It seems that the second thing Bulgaria missed the memo on was customer service. The lone lady working in the hot dog stand, that was the size of a parking lot attendant booth, decided that NOW was the perfect time to take a smoke break. And she didn't even leave the booth to do it! So, here we are, 4 semi-starving people, cash in hand, drooling over hot dogs with cool new buns, and the smoking lady is not only taking in the scenery, but is also getting indignant that we want to purchase her hot dogs! So in an exercise of pure American capitalism, my buddy and I walked 50 more feet to a dunner (it's like a gyro with fries in it) stand and were served by two Syrian guys who were so pleasant that we went back when we returned the car. The next day I drove 9 hours though the countryside of Bulgaria and northern Greece where a ferry the size of a football field swallowed the car into its underbelly (seriously, these guys know how to pack them in), and took us to our island destination. Which brings us to the ATM issue.

Amanda and I were blessed with some luck in getting some premium account from our bank that we not only don't technically qualify for, but will let us take out money from any ATM in the world with no fees or exchange rates. Sweet, right? It is when the ATMs work. So I go to the only ATM in the area to pull out some money for our Greek island excursion, and the damn thing won't give me money! But, of course, everything on the screen is in Greek, so I can't read it to figure out why. A quick scan through my memory recalls that I told my bank that I would be going to Greece within the first week of being there (an orientation trip was originally scheduled by the school, but was canceled right before we left the states). It's now almost a month into our move, and we're finally getting around to taking that trip, but perhaps the bank isn't "privy to all the new $#|+". Thinking they've placed a hold on my card, there is nothing I can do that day but borrow from some friends and go looking for an Internet cafe to Skype my bank the next day. Not a big problem, it would seem.

As a group we hit this great little restaurant, where I have some of the best calamari I have ever tasted, and two of my compatriots proceed to take down some Ouzo, the Greek national drink. Ouzo is an interesting liquor. If you've ever said to yourself, "self, what I would really like is some black liquorice, but I don't want to actually chew it and get it all stuck in my teeth and turn them black. Maybe if I blend them up into a purée, strain out all of the chunky bits, as well as the color, and then let it forment until it could get me REALLY drunk, then I could drink it. But who likes concentrated, clear, black liquorice purée warm? I know, I'll drop one ice cube in the liquid until it turns all murky white and looks like skim milk - black liqurice flavored skim milk - and them I'll sip it until I either vomit or pass out." Sounds like a national drink to me. My friends put away a litre. Then decided to play poker. I won 30 bucks that night.

The next morning I took Amanda's laptop (yes, Amanda brought her laptop to Greece, don't ask) and went hunting for an Internet cafe around 11am. Funny thing about island life, nothing is open in the morning hours. The one place that I as able to find with someone in it was a cafe/art gallery that didn't even serve coffee until 4pm. The only reason the woman was even there was so she could check her Facebook. After wondering for an hour, then pleading with her to let me use her wireless, I was finally able to call my bank. And you know what I found out? It wasn't my card, the damn ATM was just out of money! (I only know thus because when I found out they hadn't locked my card, I went back to the ATM only to find a Greek person there who was having the same problem, but could read the screen.) Thank goodness for generous friends who could float us some cash.

Other than this, the trip was fine. We ate at the same restaurant for two nights in a row and made friends with the owners, their crying 5-year old son, and the local feral cat that was very friendly when you pet it, but had horrible gas. We had some incredible gyros. And I don't know if it was because we were a large group of tourists willing to spend some money, or the Greeks are an overly friendly people as long as you aren't Turkish, or if it was just our charm and good looks, but everyplace we went, people gave us free food. We got free desserts everywhere, including a free cordial of lemonchello after lunch at the gyro stand!

The highlight of the trip, however, was by far the Vespa rides. On our third day we rented Vespas from the same place that I was able to get wireless from (this place did it all). Total cost for a full-day rental of 3 Vespas: $25.00. Beautiful. All I had to do was convince the guy renting them (the helpful girl wasn't working that day) that I knew how to ride one. After a rather brazen display of "of course I know how to ride one, I'm just a bit rusty, which is why I almost hit that parked car," we were on our way winding around this beautiful Greek paradise to go see some sites - monasteries on cliffs, topless beaches, and really old Greek ruins. In case you hadn't guessed by now, I'd never really ridden one of these things before, but I did manage to get Amanda and myself to all of the wonderful destinations without injury. Go me. The rest of the day was spent at all of these incredible places, sunning and enjoying ourselves, with our final destination a resort beach on the south side of the island where this tiny cafe served delicious cappuchinos and homemade ice cream. This cafe happens to be the only place where I've ever had the privlidge of talking to an Australian cab driver from Germany. Yes, that's right, he was an older German man who had spent the last 15 years driving a cab in Australia. Talk about your fun accents! Turns out his son owned the cafe. We got free food there too.



Now you would think that after just a few days in near-paradise, coming back to the land of stray dogs and backwards head gestures would be a little disheartening, but I have to admit, there was something quite nice about reentering Bulgaria. Sure, when I first crossed the border into Greece 4 days prior I commented on how it seemed that some had turned the color on, but maybe it was the fact that I could identify the letters on the road signs (not that I know what they mean yet), or maybe it was that the exchange rate was now 1 lv = $0.75 instead of $1 = €0.60, or maybe, just maybe, it was te sense of home that we were quickly developing in our new country. Either way, it was good to be back. But, damn, what a great vacation!

Until next time,


Views of Stara Potamia on Thassos

Why there are no bad children on Thassos


Views of the Villa we stayed at

Warning...Friendly Stanky Cat!

"If you wanna go and take a rid wit me..."

Jaime, Amanda, Rich, and I kickin' it Thassos-style!


Nazdrave!

A "quick" recap of the first month here

The flight from NY to London sucked. You know how Southwest Airlines makes you feel like a cow being herded from place to place? Well, they can take herding lessons from Virgin Atlantic. First of all, it was packed with people for a red-eye, and there had to have been at least 3 screaming babies on the flight. The seats were small and uncomfortable, and anyone with even moderately long legs (like myself) sat with their knees in the back of the seat in front of them. They were supposed to serve us dinner and breakfast, but breakfast never came. Sleeping was damn near impossible for two reasons, 1. the noise on the plane, and 2. the seats barely reclined, but since they were so close anyways, when the person in front of you reclined, they were in your lap. I’m not joking about this either. When the guy in front of me reclined, I could no longer touch my toes...even when I tried lifting my legs. Which really sucked when I dropped my chapstick, and realized that I was never going to get it back until the end of the flight. Amanda had an aisle seat and had to lean into the aisle to get something out of her bag at her feet, but nearly had her head taken off when the flight attendant came by with the cart. Oh, and the flight attendants could not have been more rude. Thank god we got in an hour early. And, once we got to London, things were pretty cool.

Amanda and I took the Tube (subway) into Picadilly Square, saw the end of the changing of the guard, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abby, Big Ben, and the Eye (an absolutely massive ferris wheel that takes a half-hour to go all the way around), although we didn’t have time to go on it. We also had a spot o’ lunch and a pint in a pub. All around, a good time. We were there for about 7 hours before boarding our plane to Bulgaria and leaving behind the English-speaking world. I think it was about this point were the months of level-head confidence in my ability to cope and adapt to any situation began to be put to the test. There truly is something quite scary about leaving behind everything you know and heading to a place that is completely foreign in every sense of the word. I know that Bulgaria is in Europe, and there are quite a few similarities between Europe and the US...even Eastern Europe; but it wasn't as if we were going for a vacation. We were going to live there. In Bulgaria. Did you read the article from my last post? I'm glad I didn't until I got here.

When we landed in Bulgaria, the school sent two vans to pick us and our luggage up. This was very smart on their end, as 9 of us came over on that flight alone; all with a retinue of baggage (Amanda and I had 9 pieces by ourselves). The president of the College told us not to judge Sofia by the first 20 mins of the drive from the airport, and it’s a good thing he had said this. The area around the airport is not pretty. And, sadly for some of the teachers, the ones who live off-campus, they live near the not-so-pretty parts (I have since been told that the area they live in is actually quite nice, and it's my bad for not getting out to find the charm of the neighborhood. Point well taken - I need to get out more). Fortunately for us, we live on a very nice campus (almost New England-like), and all of the returning teachers were here to great us with wine and beer when we got here. It was a very warm welcome, and everyone has been very friendly and supportive since we’ve arrived.

In order to get to know each other better, and not be so overwhelmed with the move, the school organized a 3-day trip to some really nice places in Bulgaria. Not only did we get to bond as a staff of new international teachers, but we got to see that Bulgaria is actually quite beautiful once you get out of Sofia. Actually, Sofia is even quite nice once you get out of Mladost (the neighborhood where we live). Our first stop was the Rila Monastery, which is breathtakingly beautiful and about 700 years old. It’s nestled up in the Rila Mountains, and is like a Jerusalem of the Eastern Orthodox church.

(The first picture is from a small restaurant on the way up to Rila)

(These are some of Rila in all of it's glory, on a beautiful day)

Rila in actually still a working monastery that you can stay at. You can rent humble lodgings for the night - a cot, a small share of the monks food, and some water - but they do lock you in at night. Maybe next year.

Next we went to the town of Melnik were Winston Churchill used to like to get his wine from when he was Prime Minister of England.The wine there is supposed to be something of a national treasure, but coming from California, and drinking wines from Napa/Sonoma, Amanda and I really found them to be not nearly as good. I found the rakiya to be a better drink. Rakiya is the national drink that is usually had with salad at the beginning of the meal. It’s a bit like mellow tequila, so you don’t want to drink too much of it. And while most people didn’t like it, I thought it was pretty good. Unfortunately, it doesn’t make up for the lack of good beer here.

After Melnik, we went to another monastery - Rozhen - that is about 300 year old (actually it’s more like 1200, but it has burned down a few times, and was destroyed by the Turks when they conquered Bulgaria, so the most recent incarnation is only about 300 years old). It wasn’t quite at awe-inspiring as Rila, but it was impressive nonetheless.

We only spent about an half-hour there before heading to a place called Kovachevitsa. Kovachevitsa is a small mountain town way up in the Rhodope Mountains, that is so far up that when the Turks invaded they decided not to bother taking over the town, and just left the people to be Bulgarian. Subsequently, it became sort of a stronghold of Bulgarian culture for 500 years while the Turks were here. We had a fun over-night trip there hiking, swimming, reading, drinking and just getting to know one another.

After that, we spent the next few weeks getting adjusted, lesson planning, and attending meetings (fun!). I’m at a particular handicap because I’ve been hired to teach International Baccalaureate history, or IB History. The problem is that I don’t even know what IB is. I’ve spent most of my time learning what is expected of the teachers and students for this program, and the training doesn’t start until mid-October (actually, it's been postponed indefinitely), so I’m flying blind a little bit. All of my free time is consumed with learning how to teach these kids, especially the 12^th graders, since they have to take the IB test this year. We’ve also had to get the lay of the land, figure out how to shop for groceries, decorate our home, get teaching supplies, as well as figure out how to get someone to fix a problem that our apartment building is having with our pipes. It smells like something covered in feces and mold has died in our piping, and the smell is emanating from the bathroom. As we’ve looked into it, the problem seems to stem from the fact that European showers are not enclosed in a tub/shower, they use the whole bathroom. It’s one of the more interesting differences between the US and Europe. In most Euro showers, the shower head is in the wall, but there are no doors/shower walls to contain the water, it just sprays onto the floor of the bathroom where there is a drain. I find this to be slightly humorous, but Amanda really doesn’t like it because it does mean that everything in the bathroom gets wet; including, oftentimes, the toilet paper (when there is toilet paper. Another interesting fact about Bulgaria is that public restrooms usually don’t have toilet paper, so you have to carry a pack of tissues with you where ever you go. And some toilets are Turkish-style – just a hole in the ground). Anyways, the problem with our bathroom is that it seems our bathroom was originally built in the European style, then a Western-style shower was installed. The deal with plumbing (in America as well) is that all plumbing is connected, and requires water to be consistently running through it to build up a reservoir that prevents smells coming back up the pipes. However, since no water goes down our floor drain, the smells keep coming back up. We’ve trying pouring water down it ourselves, but it doesn’t seem to be working. Maybe they didn’t bother installing the reservoir piece since we would be using the Western-style shower. We are desperately hoping they fix this soon, as the smell has become quite nauseating.

On the whole though, things have been good. Classes started three weeks ago, and the first two were 3-day weeks with a 4-day week sandwiched in between, which, of course, required a trip to Greece. But that is a topic for another blog; as is the tragic event that occurred yesterday that has significantly impacted our school. But given chronology, and bedtime, I will write about this at a time that gives it its due respect.

Two last things of note: I will be posting pics to my picasa account, where I will be able to upload a number of photos that I have taken as soon as I can find the time so that you have more to look at and less to read (yes, I understand this blog is of an opus level). And, while I'm excited to see a number of hits to the site, and followers (just click the "follow" box, and you will get an email when I update the blog), I am saddened that no one has yet to comment. So, in an effort to encourage a more interactive site, we will be taking requests of a sort. I know for a fact that very few of you have been to Eastern Europe, much less Bulgaria, so we would love to share our expertise. Send us questions in the form of Comments, and we will make sure to answer them and deepen everyone's knowledge of this tiny world we live in.

Until next time, nazdrave!