Bulgaria the Wonderful

After several uneventful weeks of life and work in Istanbul, Gavin and I realized it was time for a little excitement: A trip to Bulgaria.

What's better than a trip to a beach town in the heat of the summer...nothing. Thus, our adventure to Varna began.

After an uncomfortable 10 hour bus trip, we arrived in the pre-dawn hours to a spectacular lightning storm. The increasing winds and parched electrical warmth should have warned us to take cover, but due to the early hour and lack of knowledge about Varna we wandered through the streets aimlessly. When the torrential downpour commenced we were lucky enough to be near to an outdoor tented cafe, where we managed to stay somewhat dry for the duration of the storm (Hurricane Katerina). Laying on benches, we attempted to sleep, while trying to keep the millions of beetles covering the ground off of us. When day light finally came we managed to get some directions to our hostel, but, alas, it was not open yet, so Gavin and I started our party early and downed a few beers (Beck's) in a breakfast cafe (thank you Kate Cambell for the six leva you left Katie, without which we would have been screwed!).

Around 8am we made our way to the hostel only to find it still closed, but where a wary traveler, Jon the Baptist, was waiting as well. He was easily persuaded into breakfast with us. After more beer and great food, we wondered over to the hostel (Flag Hostel, we recommend it for anyone traveling there alone), and finally got into a room by 11 and got some much needed rest.

By 2, Gavin and I hit the town. We discovered quickly that while there doesn't appear to be any Chinese people living in Bulgaria, there is a plethora of Chinese restaurants. After indulging in a feast of fried noodles with pork, Gavin and I wandered about the town. The town stretches along the Black Sea. There is a wonderful park that runs directly above the beach for what appears to be miles. We took a long walk through the town, park, and along the beach, finally laying out for a few hours and getting some much needed sun.

Bulgarian beaches are a very peculiar place. Women tend to go topless and often wear only a thong from age 6 - 85. There sure were some sights to see! There were many tourists there as well, due to a small cruise ship parked there the fist day of our trip. American women attempting to "go native" and exposing white flabby skin that no one wants to see... it was entertaining to say the least.

Later that night Gavin and I ran into two Canadian girls from our hostel, whom we enjoyed another feast of traditional Bulgarian food (very home style baked casseroles, with a lot of cheese and potatoes and of course PORK.) After dinner and drinks (vodka was cheaper than water) the four of us made it to a beach bar, here we met up with other hostelers and Jon the Baptist for an all out Bulgarian beach party which lasted until the wee hours.

On Monday, Gavin and I celebrated our one and a half year anniversary. We decided that the hostel wasn't quite for us. Sleeping in bunk beds across the room from each other in a minuscule apartment inhabited by 8 strangers isn't quite our thing. We managed to find a wonderful room in The Hotel Splendid (We got a deal for the room after talking to the Manager, I would recommend it to any couples who go there, it was only 20 leva more than the hostel for two and very private/clean.) We ate Chinese again. Fried noodles with mushrooms and pork spareribs with spicy cabbage salad. you sure can't find that in Istanbul! Our day was spent swimming in the Black Sea and laying out on the beach reading and talking. When the sun finally set, we made our way to a beach bar for another night of fun. After meeting the veritable conflation of Mad Max and Johnny Knoxville, Uncle Petey, we went to an unimpressive fish dinner ("I'd rather eat a plate of bullocks than those fucking cold mussels!") and hit the town once again, this time in grand form - don't order the "love cocktails".

Tuesday was spent in the sun. Petey and his Lithuanian pals, Jon the Baptist, Gavin and I spent the whole day swimming, sunbathing, drinking Bulgarian beer and "taking the piss" out of life at the waters edge. We feasted one last time on Chinese food, this time getting even more dishes. The evening was spent laying in the sun in bean bag chairs; yet, after a few too many drinks our company sculpted the aforementioned bean bags into a large fort and took turns running into the pillow-fort at high speeds.

Then the "Choice" was made. Not quite as shocking as Sophie's, but difficult as we turned our backs on Varna and headed to the bus station. As a final send-off, we quickly stopped in a grocery store and stocked up on sausages, extremely cheap booze, and honey.

Upon arriving in Istanbul at 7 am we were reminded of all the faults of this city. No clear signs to the buses to get back into the city. Smelly buses/people. People staring at us like we were aliens. Having to walk on the side of a highway with no side walk to get home. Oh, the malignant woes of Istanbul. Next summer we will be spending three months in Bulgaria rather than just three days.

To the say the least, Eastern Europe is highly recommended by these pseudo-intrepid travelers.

Too Many Starbucks and Not Enough Screens

A couple of my friends from college (let's just refer to them as Tim and Sean) recently spent ten days in the city with Nellie and I. One of their countless observations concerning Istanbul was that there is "too many Starbucks". Agreed... there is too many of them on this planet. A second concerned windows and the lack of screens accompanying them in this country. At the time, the lively atmosphere prohibited deeper probing into the validity of the statement, but I was immediately skeptical as to the real practical utility of the screen. We composed a quick tune on the subject, moved on to greater philosophical ramblings, and let the question of supercilious window coverings disperse into the night air.
A normal being would let the subject die, but I had to exhume the corpse due to a throat illness and a glut of free time following the departure of my friends. Thus, over the next few days, I had little to do but vacillate internally over the need for screens on windows. Istanbul does indeed have a fair amount of mosquitoes; on the contrary, this is not sub-Saharan Africa and we follow local Istanbul custom by keeping numerous basil plants in the living space (according to Turks, mosquitoes don't like basil as much as Thais or Italians do). There is also the question of thieves and the easier access provided by a lack of screens, but the ubiquitous bars on all ground level homes usually provide a deterrence to would-be intruders. Points and counterpoints streamed through my consciousness until my brow burned and I gave up - banishing that silly debate from my addled brain. Flash forward to early this morning, when an event of such gravity occurred that my bi-partisan ramblings on the subject were forever quelled.
Our new apartment is located just a few blocks from this district's camii (mosque) and the first azan (call to prayer) woke me at ten to five. I generally tune-out the azan and rare is the time I am awoken by its cacophony. However, this time, the abrupt prelude of abrasive, crackling speakers led to such a sonorous, deeply beautiful melody that I was peacefully brought from my dreams. The nasal pitch of the call was softened by a wistful, melancholic undertone and as I listened in silence I felt that I could understand the Arabic words as though they were imperceptibly translated in my psyche. It was if I held my breath for the entire duration and when the speakers were disengaged and the crackling subsided, I gasped for air.
Severely self-satisfied and exhausted by this fleeting grasp of cosmic piety I quickly fell back asleep.
Albeit, there is no rest for the weary and, moments later, I was startled out of bed by a soft thud that emanated from the windowsill. It took my eyes but a moment to adjust to the darkness and to my great surprise a small ebony cat was perched on the cabinet beneath the window - in our room! My heart just about leaped from my chest and, invariably, the little brigand was as frightened as I. The critter hastily returned to the night scape from whence he came and Nellie woke up to me shrieking that our luck is forever marred as great Providence has bestowed the ultimate sign of our demise upon us - the black cat!
I didn't enter into cardiac arrest, but the ordeal was less then ideal. Needless to say, I am now a card carrying member of the pro-window screen lobby.

Summer

They came, they saw, they conquered.

La Familia Pilisi left an indelible impression on this land and the whirlwind ten days was nothing short of a killer time. We thank them for being the first brave souls to head east. 

During their visit we headed down to the central Aegean coast of Turkey.  We meandered through the ruins of ancient civilizations, encountered cat orgies in quaint mountain villages, chilled at the beach with giant porcine beasts, and embraced the locavore movement by mowing down on the best local foods these Turks can offer.  Our battle scars were relegated to charred skin from the beaming sunshine and my Dad and I managed to avoid any monumental rows.

As for life post-Mel and Lou, we are working sparse hours and going to lovely Black Sea beaches as much as possible. Three of our good buddies are leaving soon so the upcoming weeks will be full of good ole' party-time-USA. Till' next time...

Negligence

I apologize to our parents and close relatives as we've been neglecting our limited, yet well-loved core readership by failing to post at least once in a while. I think Nell forgot we had a blog and I am slipping into the same languid river. Anyways I got ten minutes to update, here it goes...

WEATHER

The spring has been cold and we are still only into that temperate zone where the sun is warm but the shade uncomfortable. I've been told I shouldn't dwell on the fair weather as the summer here is supposedly brutal.

FOOD

Food is good here. I advise anyone to come and try it.

WORK

Consistent; albeit, at times, 4 hours in front of a class you have to jointly entertain and teach can be an uphill battle. Nellie has moved out of her previously typecasted role as the "beginners" teacher and seems happy with a couple intermediate classes. I, on the other hand, remain happily drifting in the seas of the middle. To put it basely - if the students don't know a lot or know too much I am not their teacher. Someone else is.

OUTSIDE OF HOME LIFE

Cool - we go to bars and drink beer.

HOME LIFE

I bought Nellie a 1000 piece puzzle. She is very happy. It actually only has 999 pieces according to a note on the inside of the box. We feel cheated.

A Long Overdue Spring Greeting

To prove just how lazy and negligent we have become with regards to this blog, I am just now posting this long overdue update almost two weeks after it was written.

Local elections are occurring, none of my students showed up for class, and thus I am currently getting paid to write a long overdue update for our friends and families. The last month or so has been quite eventful and I have decided that bullet points are the easiest way for a lazy writer to summarize past occurrences and random thoughts (readers beware: the following events are bereft of any semblance of order [chronological/logical/etc.])…

• After some classroom management problems resulted in a 32-year old man swearing at Nellie I lost my temper, turned vigilante, and accosted this miniature human being with a stream of obscenities outside our school. This small hiccup in customer service was invariably met with slight disappointment by my superiors and caused almost half of the class to revolt further against Nellie (once again proving that I am preternaturally skilled at exacerbating any situation to fever pitch levels). As I expected, the next day the aforementioned bag of scum and his gang of teenage accomplices barricaded the remaining loyal students in the classroom - admonishing them for choosing to remain under the tutelage of such a disrespectful foreigner. After they were ordered out of the building by staff, they subsequently followed us down the road for what I was convinced would culminate in a “Beat It”-esque, choreographed street brawl accompanied by hip thrusts and synthesizer (my advance apologies for the obligatory Michael Jackson reference). To my chagrin, their thinly veiled threats and insults never added up to much more than some obscene gestures and dirty looks. As for the aftermath… our brilliant employer chose the higher path, catered to this adolescent thuggery, and gave these ill-mannered bastards a private course at another school branch. Business as usual, Turkish style.
• Nellie has morphed into quite the housewife and won’t allow me to step foot into her private domain (the kitchen) while cooking is taking place.
• We have found a great group of buddies over here and the revolving cast of characters that accompanies us to various cafes, bars, and (inevitably) more bars has definitely made the assimilation process smoother. Initially, I thought Istanbul would provide a bit of respite from the fast pace of life I had become accustomed to in the States; nevertheless, only the scenery has changed and we are still finding ourselves constantly being entertained by (or entertaining) the homies.
• The weather has been miserable for the past three months; yet, as I write this entry the sun is shining for the second straight day and the cats in our neighborhood are exponentially multiplying in number. Judging by these two facts, spring is here my friends and love is in the air (at least for the omnipresent feline population).
• When we were recently invited to a sushi dinner by Nellie’s brother I was immediately reluctant to take part in a feast of raw fish in this land of lax health regulations; however, I naturally caved in to Nellie’s persistence and although the quality was by no means nonpareil, it was a nice change from our common means of weekly sustenance – homecooked pasta, chicken shish kebab, Efes pilsner, repeat.

Due to a 200,000 person protest/riot down the street, Gavin has forbid me from leaving the house with the exception of a visit to the Internet Café to post this blog.

Not too much to report. We had a really good Valentine’s Day. I ended up cooking us dinner: Turkish dolmas, carrot/yogurt salad, a cheese platter and salad to start, and creamy eggplant pasta for dinner. YUM!!

Last weekend we joined a group of our friends for a night out in Taksim. Unfortunately when we decided to leave at 2 am we were faced with the challenge of getting back to the Asian side from Europe. After about 11 all the ferries stop running and Gavin refuses to take the bus, so we were stuck taking the Domus (mini bus). After walking about a mile in the pouring rain (a torrential downpour that soaked me through my winter jacket, jeans, and shoes) we finally got to the domus stop. The five of us pilled into the vehicle, only for the driver to tell us we have to wait for two more passengers before he can leave. WTF. Gavin tried to bribe him with 4.80 TL (the price of one fare) but the driver refused. It took about 15 verses of “The wheels on the bus go round and round,” “This is the song that never ends,” and a 5 TL bribe to finally get him to drive us. I guess the “This is the song that never ends” is just as annoying if you don’t understand English.

I have become addicted to yet another Turkish food: Gozleme. Some of Gavin’s students recommended a gozleme restaurant near our school. We have dinned there 3 times in the past week. I cannot get enough of it!

This morning started like any other morning until on our walk to work we realized the main street we have to cross had been barricaded off with police fences and was being guarded by hundreds of armed policemen. When we got into work we found out there was going to be a protest along the waterfront today. Two hundred thousand people were expected to come from all over Istanbul, making it the largest protest in over 20 years. Rumors were flying about potential police brutality and what not. The noise on the street grew louder and louder throughout my morning class. When we left school just an hour and a half ago, the police force had tripled, if not quadrupled since the morning. There were soldiers with machine guns, army tanks and police in riot gear amongst the regular police. There were already thousands of protesters filling the street. From our apartment I can see helicopters flying over where the protest is happening. Pretty wild.

Tonight one of our fellow English Time teachers is having a Valentines Day party at her apartment in Moda. I am supposed to meet Gavin at work around 7 to go to the party. I hope I am not pummeled by the angry mob on the way over.

I guess that’s all for now. Hope all is well back home!!

Oh! Almost forgot… HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!

MAJOR EVENTS OF THE PAST TWO WEEKS

Gavin and I celebrated our one year anniversary on the 27th of January. Very exciting. I bought Gavin a guitar, which has led the creation of our music/art collective, “Beyaz Balina.” When we aren’t teaching Turks English, we are busy recording our album and working on our watercolors. Expect the album out soon!

We received 10 month residency permits last week. We can now legally live in Turkey for the rest of our contract.

I have finally recovered from my three week mysterious illness. Still finishing up my second round of antibiotics, but I am off pain killers and am feeling better. YAH!!!

Gavin got a weekend afternoon class assigned to him. He has not been very happy about it. He can’t handle the 32 hour work week.  Luckily I still have my afternoons free to do as I please.

We celebrated my 24th birthday on February 1st with a bang! I worked that morning. My students surprised me with a birthday party. They brought me a cake lit with candles and sparklers, cookies and tons of presents. What a sweet class I have. We spent the last hour of class talking and listening to American music,which for the most part my students like. I spent my free afternoon working on some art projects. Around 8, Gavin took me to dinner at Viktor Levi. We ordered steaks and wine. It was fabulous. After dinner had some friends over for cake and cocktails. Over all my birthday was perfect.

We went to our friend Andy’s apartment for a Super Bowl party on Monday night. All the guys watched the game, ate pizza and hooted and hollered over the plays. Amy, Shari, and I decided that in the future we will have to have some sort of girls night out whenever there is a sports event on TV.

Guess that’s all to report over here in Istanbul. Hope all is well back in the States.

Hilary Figgs: I have no idea if you read this blog, but I need your address. I have no idea where you are living now.