Lacey's Jewells: Adventures Abroad
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Spring Break, Part V

In an attempt to document all of the many stories from the trip before my feeble memory loses them, I decided to skip the photo montage for the next couple entries. I'll try to add some in later, but for now, here goes!

3/2/2010:

Tuesday morning I decided to wake up bright and early and strike out on my own. There were some places I wanted to check out that nobody else was interested in seeing, Sarah was tired and didn't want to explore, and I always enjoy wandering by myself anyway. 

Prior to our trip, I had done research into local craft stores in Prague (since I've been neglecting my craft here in Bulgaria...it's impossible to find bead stores or decent yarn stores - plenty of acrylic though, if you're into the fake stuff) and had a list of spots to look for. The first was "Star Beads" that had been reviewed here: http://www.alltangledup.com/movabletype/archives/000847.html Definitely a helpful blog post! I arrived earlier than the shop opened, so I took the time to stop for a bagel (oh, how I've missed bagels!) and coffee across the street. I absolutely loved the cafe scene in Prague! There were several chains (including Starbucks) but also countless independents. I miss having a local spot to go have a coffee and read or study, in Blagoevgrad there are plenty of "coffee shops" but it is very rare to see anybody bring books or homework and spend a significant amount of time there. 

After enjoying my breakfast, the bead shop was just opening. As the review said, the owner was a very friendly Japanese man who spoke excellent English. After stocking up on my crafting needs, I wandered through Old Town some more. I had read that there was a yarn shop "somewhere after Charles Bridge." This vague information encouraged my wandering, however, I never found the illusive shop. I did find myself back in the Jewish Quarter and this time Kafka's house was open! I was surprised at how small the museum was - only one room - but there was a lot of information on his life in Prague. 

I spent some more time wandering before deciding to be brave and venture out of the area I was most comfortable in. Veronika's boyfriend had recommended a Mexican restaurant to me and I was definitely wanting to try it. It took a few tram/bus rides to get there, but I eventually found 'La Cantina.' Though not very authentic, they did a very decent job on making some tasty Tex-Mex style food. I ordered chips and salsa, followed by cheese enchiladas, and washed down with an ice cold Corona and lime. It helped to satisfy my craving, at least for a little while! Now that I'm back in Blago, the cravings are coming back full force. I suppose the lack of Mexican food is going to be something to consider when figuring out how long I'm going to stay in Europe.

Terka and I had made plans to meet up once she was out of class, so after my delectable lunch I headed back downtown. She wanted to take me shopping! That's always fine by me! We went to a few of her favorite shops and I picked up a top for her birthday night at H&M (yes! There was an H&M!!). After enjoying our girly catch up time, we went and met Sarah at 5pm. We had a little bit longer to kill before Veronika would be free, so I convinced the girls to help me look for a yarn store in another part of town. We managed to locate it, but it was closed (big surprise, since I was there! Confirming that I was jinxed). There was a number on the door so we called and the owner promised to be open the next day. We were all needing to unwind, so Terka took us to a local pub/brewery to have some beer. She had actually been informed they served banana beer, which I was going crazy wanting to try, but they weren't serving it that night. We tried one of their standard brews instead and then decided it was time to go get some dinner at Kobylisy again.  Another delicious meal - I had gnocchi (not Czech in the least, but I still enjoyed it). 



3/3/2010:

March 3 has always been a significant day in our family. It was my Grandma's birthday and on the third one since her passing, it is still a rough day emotionally. I was thankful to spend it in such a beautiful city with wonderful friends, especially because it is also Terka's birthday! What a lucky girl because I am obviously very partial to the day. 

Sarah woke up early with me because I was going crazy with wanting to see the National Museum. I had heard there was a great exhibit on the 'Velvet Revolution,' however, we were very disappointed once we got there to discover the exhibit had already closed. They should actually refer to it as the Museum of Natural History because the majority of exhibits were on artifacts, rocks, and other natural specimens. It was fairly interesting, especially a short exhibit of memorabilia from childhood Holocaust victims, as well as one called, 'Earth,' all about how the planet functions ( I loved the part about earthquakes!). 

After about two hours in the museum, Sarah wanted to see Old Town again so we headed there for a quick breakfast and coffee. Then we wandered until we found the, 'Communist Museum.' We went inside and checked out the gift shop but didn't have time to actually enter the museum. Sarah picked up some cool postcards though! On our way to meet Veronika, we discovered a 'Ben & Jerry's!!' We absolutely had to stop for some Cherry Garcia ice cream (no offense Bulgaria, but you seriously lack good ice cream). 

Once hooking up with Veronika, she had our whole afternoon planned out. First we headed to the highest point in Prague, the look-out tower of Petrin. Nobody else wanted to take the stairs all the way to the top, so I went on my own. The view was so worth it! Right next door is an old attraction, a house of mirrors. We went inside and took lots of pictures of our bodies being morphed into different shapes. Next up was a stroll down the hill towards Prague Castle. We passed by several vineyards - they weren't in season, of course, but I would love to come back and see the grapes in bloom! My first impression of the castle was awe and I could not wait to go inside on a tour. But, alas, my jinx of the trip - all tours were closed for the day. It was still great to walk around the outdoor plazas and see the huge cathedral up close. 

We were all get hungry so Veronika suggested we pick up some food and take it to eat at one of her favorite outdoor spots in the city, Vyšehrad. According to wikipedia (I'm cheating here to remember all the info) it is a, "...castle located in the Czech Republic, built in the 10th century, on a hill over the Vltava River. Situated within the castle is the Basilica of St Peter and St Paul, as well as the Vyšehrad Cemetery, containing the remains of many famous people from Czech history, among them Antonin Dvorak, Bedrich Smetana, and Karel Capek." It was a beautiful place but the temperature had dropped dramatically by the time we arrived so we didn't manage to stay outside for long. We hopped back on the metro and headed to Veronika's mother's bar for a coffee before we had to get ready for Terka's birthday outing. At the bar, Veronika's mom wanted to celebrate our trip, so she gave each Sarah and I a special dessert of pancakes with banana and chocolate, complete with a sparkler on top! I'll add a picture of it soon because it was beautiful! Such a sweet gesture. 

After getting all dolled up, Sarah and I headed back to Terka's favorite pub for her celebration. Veronika was exhausted and decided to stay at home for the evening to catch up on rest. Us girls were taken to a special room reserved for the event and each ordered a drink (I finally had a good martini). We visited and opened presents (Ania had sent a gift with me since she couldn't be there) and took lots of pictures! Joseph also joined us for a couple hours after basketball practice. We had hoped to go out to a club afterwards but both of the ones Terka knew of were closed for the night! Of course...because I was there...We still had a great night though! I couldn't believe how fast time was going though. Only one more day in Prague!



Spring Break, Part IV

Day 4 - 

First thing Monday morning, we headed to Veronika's mom's house to <finally> see Pupiček. For those of you who don't know the story: here in Bulgaria there is a major issue with stray animals. Dogs and cats (even the occasional goat, donkey, or horse) roam the streets everywhere. Last semester, there was a large community of these strays that decided to live around Skapto (I'm sure because of all the sympathetic students who would leave food out for them). At the beginning of the term, one of the strays had a litter of puppies. There was one especially sweet puppy that captured the heart of Veronika while she was here on exchange. She wound up falling so in love with her that she decided to take her back home with her. It took a lot of time, energy, and paperwork (including getting Pupiček her own EU Passport!) but she was successful. It's been very different so far this semester without her friendly puppy eyes around and everybody misses her terribly! However, she is definitely not the same little size she was last time we saw her! She's gotten huge:









We enjoyed visiting with Veronika's mom for a few hours. She prepared us a peach cobbler with tea as soon as we got there, and then later made us tasty dumplings and eggs for lunch. 





In between, she showed us pictures of Veronika's childhood (I promised I wouldn't put any of those pictures online!) and several books on Prague. It definitely fueled my desire to see the National Museum and Prague Castle! While there, we also were able to use the internet. I submitted my AIESEC internship application (it's an international student run organization for facilitating internship exchanges - check them out: www.aiesec.org ).

We had a date to meet with Terka and Josef again at 2pm at Kobylisy Restaurant. Once we got there, we had trouble figuring out a plan for the day because the weather was really windy and cold. We said we didn't have a problem handling it though, so Terka decided to go ahead with her plan to take us to Troja River for a walk and then over to their favorite amusement park - Matejska Pout. The walk along the river was a little much for everybody:







After the "lovely" stroll (glad we managed to make it without anybody being blown into the water), we headed towards the amusement park. Unfortunately, it was closed! Both Terka and Josef were surprised by this and it became the first of many things I wanted to go to that were closed (it became a running joke, that I jinxed the group). We weren't sure what to do with the spare time, so we decided to go downtown for a treat and then another walk through old town. I thoroughly enjoyed my banana split!





Our stomachs very content, we walked around to work off the additional sugar. Somehow though, we ended up at "Viva Praha! Finest Belgian Chocolates" (also the location of the Chocolate Museum) where they were doing demonstrations on making rock candy (as well as handing out free samples). It was incredible to watch these guys work! It took so much manual labor and muscle power to pull on these massive rolls of hard tacky. They then made these incredible designs seemingly out of nowhere! I have no idea how they were able to create itty bitty messages of Happy Birthday and little pineapple, strawberries, hearts, etc.







I really wanted to see the Jewish part of town (especially Kafka's house), so we walked that direction next. Once again, passed through the Old Town Square and wandering a bit before finding the synagogues. 







By the time we got there though, everything was closed! Again, just my luck. It was about the time Josef had to head off anyway, so us girls went to watch the show at the Astronomical Show. Not too sure it should be called a show since it lasted all of 30 seconds! You could hear the collective sigh from the crowd at the end. I did get my first cup of gluhwein (Mulled Wine) to keep warm. Definitely a perk of Prague! 



Terka had some homework to do and Sarah was getting tired, so I decided to go to the top of the tower by myself. The view was a-m-a-z-i-n-g! Worth every cent, as well as the long walk up.
















Left with some spare time, Veronika took us deeper into old town to explore the little side streets. We stumbled on some fun spots, including a Hard Rock Cafe (just for you mom!) and many marionette shops (I had no idea Prague was known for their puppets).






Following our stroll, we were all seriously hungry. Veronika volunteered to take us to her mom's bar, Zanzibar, located in the bottom of her apartment building (quite convenient!). But before going, she decided to play dress up with one of her many wigs:



I wasn't sure what to have, so Veronika suggested I try a Czech specialty - fried cheese. It was delicious! I also had some potato pancakes on the side. Towards the end of the meal, Veronika's boyfriend came by. It was great to finally meet him! He was really funny and said he enjoyed practicing his English with us. The prior night I had learned from Terka and Veronika that when they first met me, they were afraid to talk with me for long because I spoke too fast and it was hard for them to understand (I had no idea!), so I intentionally spoke slower with him. At one point Veronika yelled, "That's not fair! You weren't that nice with me when I first met you!"





Spring Break, Part III

Day 3 - "Are Your Parents Huge?"

Our morning moved slowly. We finished Sarah's hair first thing while drinking coffee and enjoying the banana bread I brought for Veronika. Here we have the end result:



At about noon, Veronika informed us that she had our day all planned out already! We would be leaving Prague and going to visit one of the most beautiful castles nearby: Karlštejn Castle. The train ride there took about 45 minutes which gave us even more time to catch up (and admire Sarah's new punk style).

 

Once we arrived at the station, we could immediately see the castle at the top or a large hill. It took about a 20 minute walk through a very quaint old town which was lovely. Veronika explained lots of the history to us and we got a lot of information from the signs posted nearby. The castle was founded in the 14th century by Charles IV, the King of Bohemia and the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. 









Veronika explained to us that when she was growing up, schools' would frequently make field trips to the various castles all over Czech Republic. At the gift shop, there was a map that showed all of the castles locations - there are so many! She said a lot of her schoolmates would buy the map and mark everywhere they had been. Normally, the maps would end up covered with pins! I, of course, wanted to tour the inside of the castle. I was mesmerized by it! Sarah, however, wasn't too interested so her and Veronika planned on getting food while I walked through. The next English tour wasn't for 30 minutes so we decided to try out some traditional Czech Spa Wafers (still slightly confused by the name...). They are thin sweet crackers. Not much sustenance but definitely tasty.





Once it was time for the tour, I was enchanted. I couldn't stop imagining the regal royalty strolling through the rooms as other dignitaries rode to meet them for important negotiations (yes, my fantasy imagination ran away with me). I loved learning about King Karl's 6 wives. He was educated in France and met a princess there who became his first wife. She died without bearing him a son so he married again. Eventually, he did get his son: Wenceslaus. All in all, he married 6 times (a German princess, two Polish princesses...and I forget the other two, oops!). We went through the majority of the royal palace, saw the guard's chambers, the royal chapel (Karl was devoutly religious), the King's private chambers, and many other rooms. A wonderful tour! After, I strolled around outside a bit more before meeting back up with Sarah and Veronika.



We spent about 3.5 hours there all together and realized we needed to rush  back to Prague for our meeting with Terka and Josef. We made it just on time. It was so great seeing them again! We spent 30 minutes wandering around trying to find this perfect place Terka knew about. We started to doubt we'd ever find it when we finally did. It was a lovely little tea house (perfect planning, Terka! A tea house was on my list of places to visit). I enjoyed some tasty hot masala and we all shared a waterpipe. I enjoyed my tea so much I bought some to bring back to school (I hope it lasts awhile, I'm drinking it as I write this!). There was a hysterical moment when Sarah randomly asked Josef, "Are your parents huge?" We all looked at her very confused, especially him. She meant are his parents tall, so Josef responds, "My dad's tall, my mom's huge!" We all cracked up! Then he had to leave early to meet up with his girlfriend so we all headed to Terka's favorite pub to try some more Czech beer. While there, she taught me my first Czech phrase: "Můžu dostat jedno pivo, prosím?" Translation: "May I have one beer, please?" Very useful! We noticed that the Olympic hockey match between Canada and the U.S. was on so we watched for a while. During a break between periods, we decided to rush home to finish watching it in the comfort of Veronika's flat. It was an intense game! It even went into overtime before Canada won. The whole day we'd been asking Sarah what she wanted to do and she kept reiterating she wanted to see Pupiček so we made plans to go visit Veronika's mom in the morning.







Spring Break, Part II

Day 2 - Traveling

We woke up later than we intended on Saturday (see post below for details of our crazy night), so we didn't manage to see any other significant places in Wien. We did, however, get to enjoy lattes and crepes made by Ashley! They were quite tasty. We realized at 11:30am that our train left in an hour and we were dangerously close to be late for it, so we rushed out to catch the tram. We just barely made it to the station in time to buy tickets and snacks for the train and after a quick goodbye with Ashley, we settled in on the train. 
There was a gentleman from Texas sitting by us who immediately recognized our American accents and decided to strike up a conversation. Unfortunately, he was incredibly boring and didn't realize we just wanted to sleep, not chat! We were saved when the ticket collector came around and informed us we were sitting in the wrong cab - apparently we had second class tickets but managed to make ourselves quite comfortable in first class. It was the first time I was glad to be downgraded! Just to avoid the chit-chatter. The ride took about 4.5 hours - Sarah slept the entire time but I couldn't get comfortable to I alternated between writing in my journal and playing sudoku (excellent time killer).

We arrived in Prague a little bit early (there was no stop at customs/the border...I was actually disappointed to not get a Czech Republic stamp in my passport) so we spent some time waiting for Veronika at the station (Hlavní Nádraži). It was easy to spot her once she arrived - all decked out in violet of course! 



She took us straight to her flat to drop off our luggage. The original plan had been to stay at her mom's house with Pupiček but timing/logistics didn't work out. Her apartment seemed perfect for a student! It was a studio with a small kitchen and bathroom (with a huge tub!). She kept saying how it was too small but I would love to live someplace like that instead of Skapto  We were starving after a long day of traveling, so she took us to a small restaurant just down the street. She kept apologizing for not taking us someplace nicer our first night but we had a great meal! Sarah and I both ordered pasta with Salmon and olives - it was delicious. The place was also full of people from the neighborhood. It was nice to feel immersed immediately (especially when the tipsy guys from the next table over tried chatting us up, in Czech. Sarah and I just looked at them perplexed while Veronika laughed. Sarah reminded me they must have come over because I'm, "So hideous!" - Prosper reference!).



Following dinner, we headed to the center of town. We took the metro to the Muzeum stop, which later ended up being the favorite meeting spot for everybody. It's at the top of Wenceslas Square (the main boulevard in Prague). Behind the station is the National Museum, a striking building. After seeing it, I could not wait to visit! However, there was confusion about when it was open so we didn't make it there until Wednesday. Those stories will come later!



We strolled down the square, past all the various shops (I definitely took note of the Sephora and H&M - yay! and McDonald's, KFC, and Starbucks - ugh...). There were also lots of food vendors. Veronika explained to us that most of them are open 24/7, so if we ever needed a midnight snack that was where to head. After passing by several little streets lined with souvenir shops, we emerged in Old Town Square. Standing in the middle of it and looking at the famous astronomical clock was somewhat overwhelming and I ended up getting emotional! Ever since high school when my friend Hannah visited Prague and brought me back a small purple crystal perfume bottle, I've dreamed of visiting. I couldn't believe I was finally there! 





Once I composed myself, we walked across the famed Charles Bridge. The views were breathtaking!





And I loved the man busking on his violin:



We also had our first view of Prague Castle from the bridge. It looked just as incredible in person as all the pictures I've seen before. I could not wait to see it up close! Just past the bridge was a park we strolled through before circling back across another bridge past the national theater. Close by was Veronika's favorite pub, which we of course insisted she take us to. We each enjoyed some wine and had fun catching up for a couple hours. An advertisement for their daily specials entertained us: "Baklava - Bulgarian Cake"!! We headed back to Veronika's flat pretty early because Sarah was feeling exhausted (she was still a little sick from the trip). Once there, she insisted we give her a special new haircut! We started on it but did not finish until the following morning. Here's a teaser though:






Spring Break, Part I

I have made a resolution to update this blog more frequently (how many times have I said that before?) and what better way than to start with stories from an incredible trip to Wien, Austria and Prague, Czech Republic.

The plans for this trip began last semester. There was a group of students on exchange at AUBG from Czech Republic and Slovakia that I became good friends with and we would always talk about the possibility of visiting. The idea definitely stuck in my head and all of winter break I worked with my parents on figuring out how to make it work. After arriving back in Bulgaria, I started checking on plane tickets regularly. At first it seemed outrageously expensive to go, but eventually I was able to find a flight to Wien for only $75! Such a sweet deal. So, I convinced my roommate Sarah that we should go together and bought the tickets. From there, everything just fell into place. Veronika offered us a place to stay and we began making the finalized plans!

Day 1 - "Last night we were in Piano Bar listening to karaoke and tonight we're listening to Mozart from a public toilet under the Opera House of Vienna!"

    We made the mistake of going out Thursday night to Piano Bar, so after 2.5 hours of sleep we began our journey. As soon as we made it to the local bus station and were safely on board, I fell asleep but Sarah wasn't feeling well. I kept hoping she wouldn't come down with anything on the trip! Luckily she felt better after a couple days. It took just under two hours to get to Sofia and I managed to remember Vladi's advice from when I went to Berlin - get off at РУСКИ ПАМЕТНИК instead of waiting for the central АВТОГАРА. We then found an 'O.K.' taxi and headed off to the airport. We were lucky to be charged a reasonable 10 lev for the trip (BG taxi drivers have a reputation of taking advantage of foreigners and charging them outrageous prices - just ask Prosper!). 
    We arrived at the Sofia airport at 9:45am and went through security quickly to find out our plane was delayed. We succumbed to our exhaustion and decided to purchase two terribly overpriced coffee's from Jimmy's. They tasted awful! Mine was called 'coffee ice-cream' and was literally 1/2 a scoop of vanilla ice cream with coffee poured over it. Fancy, right? The plane finally arrived at 12:30pm and took off at 12:45 (quick boarding!). The flight was painless and they even served a tasty salmon/cucumber/cream cheese sandwich for lunch (I love Austrian Air). I had a window seat and the views were breathtaking the entire way! Snowcapped mountains, frozen lakes, and quaint villages I love how the world below seems like a collection of doll houses and toy cars from up above.
    Our plan landed at 2:15pm, almost two hours later than we were supposed to. After a brief stop as passport control, we breezed through customs and entered the Vienna Airport. There was an unexpected guest waiting there for us which was a
 nice surprise. It was an old friend that I needed to have an over-due conversation with. Sarah was very patient and read for a bit to give us space. Afterwards, it was an easy bus ride to the city center. It took us a while to find a bus station with lockers for our luggage (we didn't want to carry everything around while touring the city since my friend Ashley couldn't meet us until 8pm) and once we did we were starving. There was a Sushi Bar close by advertising all-you-can-eat happy hour so we decided to give it a try. Absolutely worth it! Both Sarah and I ate so much! We planned out what we wanted to see the rest of the afternoon but kept getting lost in the rainy weather. We did manage to see Mozart's House and Stephansdom but we couldn't find the Belvedere which was a major disappointment for Sarah. We did ourselves a disservice only allotting one afternoon for Wien - not enough time to see anything! Mozart's apartment was a highlight of the trip though. There were three floors full of information about his life. I loved imagining him walking through the various rooms and halls and picturing his creative genius penning some of the greatest works of his life - such as the opera, 'The Marriage of Figaro.'





By the time we finished our tour, it was close to time to meet Ashley. Ashley is a girl I went to high school with. We were incredibly close friends the first couple years and then life happened and we drifted apart. Coincidentally, we both decided to go abroad at the same time. She's currently living just outside of Wien, Austria with a host family working as an Au pair (sweet deal!). She invited me to come visit last fall but it didn't work out. I messaged her about this trip and she immediately offered us a place to stay with her host family! So, we planned on meeting her at 8pm at the fountain next to the Opera House after she finished work.

It was so great to see her walk up! What a small world, two girls from San Jose meeting up for a night in Austria! Her boyfriend came with her as well to drive so we wouldn't have to take public transportation out to her house. After dropping our stuff off, we went to her neighbors house to meet up with a group of people for dinner. Following dinner, they took us to their favorite pub. It seemed like a place out of Harry Potter! It was an unmarked building with a single lantern hanging outside, but if you knew where to go there was a great little bar inside! We did have a bit of an adventure at the end of the night. Ashley lost her phone and house-keys so we ended up crashing at her neighbors house until her host family woke up, then we moved into her room. She definitely made up for it though in the morning when she made us lattes and crepes! It was lovely getting to spend time with her (being around somebody I have history with!) and getting caught up. We swapped stories all night about people and places from the past. It did my heart gooood!

Cooking!

While living at home, I was never one to catch the cooking bug. Baking was fun occasionally, but for the most part my knowledge in the kitchen was limited to pasta (I'm talking, boiling water, cooking it up, throwing some sauce out of a jar on it, voila!). I've discovered while living abroad, that I actually love to cook! I'm unsure if this newfound passion stems from the kitchen being slightly "off-limits" (one kitchen for approximately 400 students makes it frustrating to book time), or the fact that I crave diversity in my food (and in town, the options are rather limited, especially for a veg head), or simply my desperate need to save money (without turning into the cliche starving college student). 

What's on the menu for tonight? What appears to be a tasty recipe for potato & tomato soup:

Ingredients: (approximate amounts)

4-5 cups vegetable or chicken stock, or water
1 medium onion 
3 medium potatoes, scrubbed and grated,
1-2 cloves garlic (optional)
2 medium tomatoes
2 Tbsp olive oil or butter
2 Tbsp white wine (optional)
Fresh dill, basil, cilantro or parsley
Or 1 Tbsp each dried basil and dill weed
Salt and pepper or cayenne pepper to taste
2 Tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)


Method:

Melt the butter in the bottom of a 2-3 litre (or quart) pot. Gently fry the onion, then when starting to get soft add potatoes and garlic (if using) as well as dried basil and dill weed if not using fresh herbs. Stirring frequantly, fry over low heat until potatoes begin to get transparant.

Add white wine, stirring around quickly until mostly gone. Add stock or water. Let simmer for about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, chop the tomatoes. Add to the soup and simmer for 15 minutes more. Add the fresh herbs if using about 5 minutes before soup is done. Taste and season. Just before stirring, add the nutritional yeast (if using). 

Serves 2 as a main course, 4 as a starter or light lunch

And giving credit where credit is due: http://www.superchick.com/recipes/potosoup.html , All recipes © Katie Kelly

I'll get back to you when I know how it turns out! Wish me luck.

BERLIN!!

What do you get when you take a Philly girl living in Switzerland and a Cali girl living in Bulgaria and put them in an incredible cultural/artistic mecca of a city, and then add in an awesome band touring from New York? Some A-M-A-Z-I-N-G and U-N-F-O-R-G-E-T-T-A-B-L-E stories. Here's a glimpse into Miriam and my weekend (well, week for her...lucky girl...) in Berlin.

Day 1:
I left AUBG at the crack of dawn on Thursday, October 11 and began quite the day of travel. I walked to the bus station (actually, to the wrong bus station where I hung out for ten minutes before realizing my bus was about to leave down the street). I managed to catch it and settled in for the two hour ride to Sofia. Once there, I had been prepped by Vladi (an RA in my Skapto) on how to properly catch a taxi to the airport without being overcharged. Basically, this consisted of getting in, mumbling where I wanted to go in Bulgarian, putting my headphones in, and ignoring the driver the rest of the way. Guess what? Method was successful! I was only charged 10 lev (which is a very reasonable price). I had alloted plenty of time for getting to the airport in case any problems arose (none did) so I wound up with three hours to kill at my gate. I choose to use this time effectively and managed to complete my reading assignment for International Relations - this was the only time I spent studying the entire trip (oops!). 

My flight arrived on time and I had no problems making my connection in Munich. However, my flight to Berlin had slight issues. Lufthansa "forgot" to book a crew so we had to wait for the back-up folks to arrive. Once they did, we were only a half an hour behind schedule. I eventually arrived at Tegal Airport and was ecstatic to see Miriam waiting for me right outside the security check-point. Following plenty of screaming and a huge hug, we headed out to the buses. It was a quick ride to the Circus Hostel ( http://www.circus-berlin.de/circus_berlin_hostel.html  



<Another belated and incomplete post... I regret neglecting this post, there were a lot more wonderful stories to share>

Plovdiv

After three days of dragging Sarah all over town, I finally got my Plovdiv bearings again. Successfully found: the Art Academy, the cafe Petko Radev tried to kill me at with ridiculously spicy peppers, the outdoor market we bought our produce at once upon a time, and the YARN STORE!!! Very happy...now, back to baking!

<Very belated and short posting of Sarah and my Fall Break trip to Plovdiv, October 23 - 27>

A Walking Tour of Blagoevgrad (Special Post for Michele)

Many people told me wonderful things about this city prior to my arriving in Blagoevgrad, but nobody was more enthusiastic than Michele Simon. So, in honor of her and her great experiences here in the past, I give you a glimpse into my (almost daily) walk between the school's Main Building and Skaptopara (the dorms).

Starting out! This is a view of the main building where most general ed classes happen and the administrative offices are located. We share the building with another, much larger, school, South West University, which has about 20,000 students. The current plan is to expand the campus with a new main building by the dormitories (across town, pictures down below) and sell this building entirely to SWU. Something I recently discovered, Ensemble Pirin actually uses the same building for their rehearsal hall! I still have not been able to make direct contact with them but knowing where they rehearse is helpful.



Down the steps from the main building...



Continuing down the steps, toward the "Alan Mak Hotel."



The sign for the "Alen Mak Mexana," which I have yet to visit but have every intention of doing soon!



Strolling past the beautiful park! I can't wait to see it in the winter, covered in snow!







To the right is South West University's secondary campus (and cafeteria).



One of the main walking/shopping strips (goes through the middle of town).




This building is the "Green Market," a large shopping center where local farmers bring their produce to sell. I love coming here to pick up tasty fruits and vegis. Not only is it convenient and I feel good supporting the local industry, but it's much more affordable than going to the supermarket Kaufland.





One of the main streets. I have to cross it daily and hope that the crazy taxi drivers don't run me over (the norms/laws about Pedestrian right away don't apply here like they do at home). 



Same street, different view.



The stream that runs through town and goes right alongside the dorms. During our orientation week, we had to participate in a community service activity of cleaning the river (since it sadly has a tendency to fill up with liter).



The dormitories! The one closest in the picture is Skaptopara III, the brand new/still under construction building that is supposed to be open next semester. The rumor around school is that it will have a kitchen on every floor (as opposed to one kitchen for the entire building). Hopefully it's true and I can move over! Behind Skapto III are the other two dorms (creatively named Skapto I and II). 



Home sweet home (for the meantime), my dorm! Skapto II:





The end! There you have it. I hope you enjoyed this brief tour of Blagoevgrad. If you ever want to see any of the above in person, visitors are very welcome (translation - please come visit me!). Ciao for now!


Getting Started in BG

I finally have internet access in my dorm!! So I can update everybody on the past two weeks (has it really been that long?!). Well, settle in...

8/15 - 8/22: BALKAN CAMP!!! Probably the most fun thing you can spend a week doing in the summer (check out www.eefc.org for info). For the second year in a row I was able to go to the East Coast camp, which is so much fun. A very different experience from Mendo but it has a lot of perks (electricity and bathrooms in the cabins?!). I could write for days about the experience but I'm bursting to talk about AUBG so...

Post-camp: went to stay with my Aunt Monica, Robert, and their twin boys Mason and Max in Pittstown, New Jersey. Seriously, the cuteness factor of one of them is insane but then add a second one? Needless to say, those sweet little smiles captured my heart from the first time I saw them and they still have me wrapped around their little fingers!

A pic of the boys from their trip to California for Joelle's graduation in June:



8/18/2009: DEPARTURE DAY!! After a morning full of running around doing last minute laundry/packing, I finally felt prepared to leave. Just to check in, I decided to call Tanya Varimezova....


Okay, so I have tried several times to complete the preceding blog for all you fine folks that wanted to read about my journey to get here. But, the page keeps resetting and losing what I have worked on. So, I'm just going to give a brief summary of my life for the past month or so, and then get to the more exciting/more recent stuff.

There wound up being a conflict with the Varimezovi picking me up from the airport in Sofia. At the last minute, we were able to make arrangements with Georgi Petrov's son Vasil to come get me and take me to their apartment for a few days. Since I had never met the guy, it was quite the experience looking for him in the Sofia airport based on this description from Georgi, "He looks like me, only bigger." 

Some pics/video of our trip to Newark Airport/goodbyes...






Both flights (Newark to Dusseldorf and Dusseldorf to Sofia) went smoothly, aside from my paranoia that the massive bruise on my leg (obtained from the great Balkan Camp Soccer Tournament - Brass versus Trans-Carp...only injury of the year!) would develop into a blood clot and cause DVT. This paranoia translated to not sleeping a wink on the flight and being incredibly sleepy in Dusseldorf. The very sweet Italian woman sitting next to me on the first flight seemed to notice my drowsiness and insisted on buying me a cappuccino during our layover. 

Once I made it to Sofia, I was eventually able to figure out who Vasil was and we headed to the apartment in his giant delivery van/truck. There, I met his wife Eva, son GoGo, and sister Geri - all completely wonderful people! We had a great three days together. GoGo actually wound up being an invaluable help with learning Bulgarian! He's three and didn't understand why I didn't speak his language. He would stand up on the chair in the kitchen and grab my face and say words over and over until I repeated them correctly (to his satisfaction). I still miss him! I'm hoping to visit them again in Sofia sometime soon.

The next week was orientation week at AUBG - a ridiculously fun week, full of meeting new people, figuring out the city, and just generally settling in. There are lots of pictures from it up on facebook!

The following week was the start of classes. Since then time has flown at such a fast pace! I cannot believe it is already mid-October. I've settled in now to a routine, full of classes/rehearsals/studying/socializing. My class load is not terribly intense this first semester, which I really appreciate now because it definitely takes mental/emotional adjusting to move to a new country! My classes are: History of Bulgaria, International Relations, English Persuasion, and Bulgarian Language. But, due to the easy load right now I will probably have to do overload (more than 17 units) the next couple semesters, as well as take a couple classes over the summer. 

Aside from classes, I joined the AUBG Choir ( http://www.aubg.bg/template5.aspx?page=4342&menu=004009000  which rehearses several times a week in preparation for our tour to Turkey (Antalya to be specific) the first week of November. We have a very eclectic repertoire, with songs in Bulgarian, Russian, Latin, and English, amongst others. I am also participating in the school's Musical, Hairspray! So far, it has been a learning experience. I am so used to the show's done at Lincoln but the style here is very different. Plus, it's completely student produced. We'll see how it goes as it develops more! (FYI - I did get a somewhat named part! I'll be singing in a trio a song from the movie version of the show: "New Girl in Town", I get the special line, "She's got the coolest hair!"). I also <finally> found a folk dance group here in Blagoevgrad. It's called Ensemble Biser and we rehearse twice a week. The group has no affiliation with AUBG which means only a couple of people speak English. It's going to give me a great opportunity to immerse myself in Bulgarian and hopefully pick up on the language more readily than at school. They have a varied repertoire as well, which you can check out at their website www.ensemblebiser.com/ . So far, they have done several dances I already know as well as many new ones. Most of the people were very surprised to see that the American girl actually knows their folk dances! It feels so good to be dancing again though. It's the perfect cure for the homesick blues (which have, thankfully, only set in a couple times).

In the free time that all of the above leaves me, I started tutoring in the school's Writing Center. I work there a few hours per week and so far have only had a couple tutees but I am anticipating more as the semester continues. The center is currently figuring out its future status within the AUBG community and undergoing many changes. It has been interesting and exciting to be involved with such a program!

That about wraps it up for now. Soon to come: Trips to Bansko, Berlin, and a walking tour of Blagoevgrad! 

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Recent Entries

  1. Spring Break, Part V
    Tuesday, March 23, 2010
  2. Spring Break, Part IV
    Friday, March 12, 2010
  3. Spring Break, Part III
    Wednesday, March 10, 2010
  4. Spring Break, Part II
    Tuesday, March 09, 2010
  5. Spring Break, Part I
    Monday, March 08, 2010
  6. Cooking!
    Wednesday, January 27, 2010
  7. BERLIN!!
    Tuesday, October 27, 2009
  8. Plovdiv
    Monday, October 26, 2009
  9. A Walking Tour of Blagoevgrad (Special Post for Michele)
    Friday, October 16, 2009
  10. Getting Started in BG
    Monday, August 31, 2009

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