(4973,1,'2011-05-18 21:58:51','2011-05-18 19:58:51','Thank-you for all of the birthday greetings, messages and well wishes yesterday!!\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4966\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"630\" caption=\"Merci Chocolate\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4966\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4966\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4966   \" title=\"Merci Chocolate\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/DSC02529-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"630\" height=\"473\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nIf you\'d pumped into me yesterday, I\'d have given you chocolate to celebrate my birthday. One of these chocolates actually.\r\n\r\nYou have to buy a lot of chocolate when you teach more than 50 students in one day and you have just as many colleagues and friends at school.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4971\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Row after row of chocolate\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4971\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4971\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4971 \" title=\"Row after row of chocolate\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/DSC02530-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nI love the tradition of giving away chocolates on your birthday. I will definitely be doing this in the future no matter where I live. Only in English it doesn\'t sounds as nice to say \"here\'s a chocolate\" or \"have a chocolate\" or \"you\'re welcome to a chocolate.\" It sounds a lot nicer in Bulgarian: заповядйте.','Merci! ','','inherit','open','open','','4965-revision-6','','','2011-05-18 21:58:51','2011-05-18 19:58:51','',4965,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/05/18/4965-revision-6/',0,'revision','',0),(4974,1,'2011-05-18 21:58:51','2011-05-18 19:58:51','Thank-you for all of the birthday greetings, messages and well wishes yesterday!!\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4966\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"630\" caption=\"Merci Chocolate\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4966\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4966\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4966   \" title=\"Merci Chocolate\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/DSC02529-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"630\" height=\"473\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nIf you\'d pumped into me yesterday, I\'d have given you chocolate to celebrate my birthday. One of these chocolates actually.\r\n\r\nYou have to buy a lot of chocolate when you teach more than 50 students in one day and you have just as many colleagues and friends at school.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4971\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Row after row of chocolate\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4971\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4971\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4971 \" title=\"Row after row of chocolate\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/DSC02530-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nI love the tradition of giving away chocolates on your birthday. I will definitely be doing this in the future no matter where I live. Only in English it doesn\'t sounds as nice to say \"here\'s a chocolate\" or \"have a chocolate\" or \"you\'re welcome to a chocolate.\" It sounds a lot nicer in Bulgarian: заповядйте.','Merci! ','','inherit','open','open','','4965-revision-7','','','2011-05-18 21:58:51','2011-05-18 19:58:51','',4965,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/05/18/4965-revision-7/',0,'revision','',0),(4975,1,'2011-05-18 22:04:36','2011-05-18 20:04:36','Thank-you for all of the birthday greetings, messages and well wishes yesterday!!\r\n\r\nWhat a great way to start of the first day of my thirties!!\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4966\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"630\" caption=\"Merci Chocolate\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4966\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4966\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4966   \" title=\"Merci Chocolate\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/DSC02529-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"630\" height=\"473\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nIf you\'d bumped into me yesterday, I\'d have given you a chocolate to celebrate my birthday. One of these chocolates actually.\r\n\r\nIt\'s a tradition in Bulgaria. You give chocolates on your birthday. Then the receiver of the chocolate wishes you happiness, health, love and money. And if you\'re a middle-aged woman you may also a boyfriend to the list.\r\n\r\nYou have to buy a lot of chocolate when you teach more than 50 students in one day and you have just as many colleagues and friends at school.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4971\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Row after row of chocolate\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4971\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4971\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4971 \" title=\"Row after row of chocolate\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/DSC02530-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nI love the tradition of giving away chocolates on your birthday. I will definitely be doing this in the future no matter where I live. Only in English it doesn\'t sounds as nice to say \"here\'s a chocolate\" or \"have a chocolate\" or \"you\'re welcome to a chocolate.\" It sounds a lot nicer in Bulgarian: заповядйте.','Merci! ','','inherit','open','open','','4965-revision-8','','','2011-05-18 22:04:36','2011-05-18 20:04:36','',4965,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/05/18/4965-revision-8/',0,'revision','',0),(4976,1,'2011-05-18 22:04:36','2011-05-18 20:04:36','Thank-you for all of the birthday greetings, messages and well wishes yesterday!!\r\n\r\nWhat a great way to start of the first day of my thirties!!\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4966\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"630\" caption=\"Merci Chocolate\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4966\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4966\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4966   \" title=\"Merci Chocolate\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/DSC02529-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"630\" height=\"473\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nIf you\'d bumped into me yesterday, I\'d have given you a chocolate to celebrate my birthday. One of these chocolates actually.\r\n\r\nIt\'s a tradition in Bulgaria. You give chocolates on your birthday. Then the receiver of the chocolate wishes you happiness, health, love and money. And if you\'re a middle-aged woman you may also a boyfriend to the list.\r\n\r\nYou have to buy a lot of chocolate when you teach more than 50 students in one day and you have just as many colleagues and friends at school.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4971\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Row after row of chocolate\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4971\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4971\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4971 \" title=\"Row after row of chocolate\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/DSC02530-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nI love the tradition of giving away chocolates on your birthday. I will definitely be doing this in the future no matter where I live. Only in English it doesn\'t sounds as nice to say \"here\'s a chocolate\" or \"have a chocolate\" or \"you\'re welcome to a chocolate.\" It sounds a lot nicer in Bulgarian: заповядйте.','Merci! ','','inherit','open','open','','4965-revision-9','','','2011-05-18 22:04:36','2011-05-18 20:04:36','',4965,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/05/18/4965-revision-9/',0,'revision','',0),(4977,1,'2011-05-18 22:05:00','2011-05-18 20:05:00','Thank-you for all of the birthday greetings, messages and well wishes yesterday!!\r\n\r\nWhat a great way to start of the first day of my thirties!!\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4966\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"630\" caption=\"Merci Chocolate\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4966\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4966\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4966   \" title=\"Merci Chocolate\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/DSC02529-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"630\" height=\"473\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nIf you\'d bumped into me yesterday, I\'d have given you a chocolate to celebrate my birthday. One of these Merci chocolates actually.\r\n\r\nIt\'s a tradition in Bulgaria. You give chocolates on your birthday. Then the receiver of the chocolate wishes you happiness, health, love and money. And if you\'re a middle-aged woman you may also a boyfriend to the list.\r\n\r\nYou have to buy a lot of chocolate when you teach more than 50 students in one day and you have just as many colleagues and friends at school.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4971\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Row after row of chocolate\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4971\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4971\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4971 \" title=\"Row after row of chocolate\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/DSC02530-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nI love the tradition of giving away chocolates on your birthday. I will definitely be doing this in the future no matter where I live. Only in English it doesn\'t sounds as nice to say \"here\'s a chocolate\" or \"have a chocolate\" or \"you\'re welcome to a chocolate.\" It sounds a lot nicer in Bulgarian: заповядйте.','Merci! ','','inherit','open','open','','4965-revision-10','','','2011-05-18 22:05:00','2011-05-18 20:05:00','',4965,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/05/18/4965-revision-10/',0,'revision','',0),(4978,1,'2011-05-19 18:51:25','2011-05-19 16:51:25','Thank-you for all of the birthday greetings, messages and well wishes yesterday!!\n\nWhat a great way to start of the first day of my thirties.\n\nI really couldn\'t have nicer friends, colleagues, students and loyal blog readers. I was overwhelmed by the number of facebook messages, phone calls, emails and messages I got. Thank-you so very much.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4966\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"630\" caption=\"Merci Chocolate\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4966\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4966\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4966   \" title=\"Merci Chocolate\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/DSC02529-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"630\" height=\"473\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nIf you\'d bumped into me yesterday, I\'d have given you a chocolate to celebrate my birthday. One of these Merci chocolates actually. They are delicious. My favorite is chocolate marzipan--that\'s the one I always look for when students offer me chocolates for their birthdays or name days.\n\nIt\'s a tradition in Bulgaria to give chocolates to your friends on your birthday. Then the receiver of the chocolate wishes you happiness, health, love and money. And if you\'re a middle-aged woman wishing me a happy birthday you may also a boyfriend to the list and pinch my cheeks.\n\nThe thing is you have to buy a lot of chocolate when you teach more than 50 students in one day and you have just as many colleagues and friends at school as I do.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4971\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Row after row of chocolate\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4971\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4971\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4971 \" title=\"Row after row of chocolate\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/DSC02530-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nI love the tradition of giving away chocolates on your birthday. It\'s just so nice. I think it\'s because everyone loves chocolate and birthdays. I will definitely be continuing this in the future no matter where I live.\n\nThe only thing is in English it doesn\'t sounds as nice to say \"here\'s a chocolate\" or \"have a chocolate\" or \"you\'re welcome to a chocolate.\" It sounds a lot nicer in Bulgarian: заповядйте.','Merci! ','','inherit','open','open','','4965-revision-11','','','2011-05-19 18:51:25','2011-05-19 16:51:25','',4965,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/05/19/4965-revision-11/',0,'revision','',0),(4979,1,'2011-05-19 18:51:57','2011-05-19 16:51:57','Thank-you for all of the birthday greetings, messages and well wishes yesterday!!\r\n\r\nWhat a great way to start of the first day of my thirties.\r\n\r\nI really couldn\'t have nicer friends, colleagues, students and loyal blog readers. I was overwhelmed by the number of facebook messages, phone calls, emails and messages I got. Thank-you so very much.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4966\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"630\" caption=\"Merci Chocolate\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4966\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4966\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4966   \" title=\"Merci Chocolate\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/DSC02529-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"630\" height=\"473\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nIf you\'d bumped into me yesterday, I\'d have given you a chocolate to celebrate my birthday. One of these Merci chocolates actually. They are delicious. My favorite is chocolate marzipan--that\'s the one I always look for when students offer me chocolates for their birthdays or name days.\r\n\r\nIt\'s a tradition in Bulgaria to give chocolates to your friends on your birthday. Then the receiver of the chocolate wishes you happiness, health, love and money. And if you\'re a middle-aged woman wishing me a happy birthday you may also a boyfriend to the list and pinch my cheeks.\r\n\r\nThe thing is you have to buy a lot of chocolate when you teach more than 50 students in one day and you have just as many colleagues and friends at school as I do.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4971\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Row after row of chocolate\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4971\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4971\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4971 \" title=\"Row after row of chocolate\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/DSC02530-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nI love the tradition of giving away chocolates on your birthday. It\'s just so nice. I think it\'s because everyone loves chocolate and birthdays. I will definitely be continuing this in the future no matter where I live.\r\n\r\nThe only thing is in English it doesn\'t sounds as nice when offering another a chocolate to say \"here\'s a chocolate\" or \"have a chocolate\" or \"you\'re welcome to a chocolate.\" It sounds a lot nicer in Bulgarian: заповядйте.','Merci! ','','inherit','open','open','','4965-revision-12','','','2011-05-19 18:51:57','2011-05-19 16:51:57','',4965,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/05/19/4965-revision-12/',0,'revision','',0),(4980,1,'2011-05-19 18:51:57','2011-05-19 16:51:57','Thank-you for all of the birthday greetings, messages and well wishes yesterday!!\r\n\r\nWhat a great way to start of the first day of my thirties.\r\n\r\nI really couldn\'t have nicer friends, colleagues, students and loyal blog readers. I was overwhelmed by the number of facebook messages, phone calls, emails and messages I got. Thank-you so very much.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4966\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"630\" caption=\"Merci Chocolate\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4966\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4966\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4966   \" title=\"Merci Chocolate\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/DSC02529-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"630\" height=\"473\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nIf you\'d bumped into me yesterday, I\'d have given you a chocolate to celebrate my birthday. One of these Merci chocolates actually. They are delicious. My favorite is chocolate marzipan--that\'s the one I always look for when students offer me chocolates for their birthdays or name days.\r\n\r\nIt\'s a tradition in Bulgaria to give chocolates to your friends on your birthday. Then the receiver of the chocolate wishes you happiness, health, love and money. And if you\'re a middle-aged woman wishing me a happy birthday you may also a boyfriend to the list and pinch my cheeks.\r\n\r\nThe thing is you have to buy a lot of chocolate when you teach more than 50 students in one day and you have just as many colleagues and friends at school as I do.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4971\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Row after row of chocolate\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4971\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4971\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4971 \" title=\"Row after row of chocolate\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/DSC02530-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nI love the tradition of giving away chocolates on your birthday. It\'s just so nice. I think it\'s because everyone loves chocolate and birthdays. I will definitely be continuing this in the future no matter where I live.\r\n\r\nThe only thing is in English it doesn\'t sounds as nice when offering another a chocolate to say \"here\'s a chocolate\" or \"have a chocolate\" or \"you\'re welcome to a chocolate.\" It sounds a lot nicer in Bulgarian: заповядйте.','Merci! ','','inherit','open','open','','4965-revision-13','','','2011-05-19 18:51:57','2011-05-19 16:51:57','',4965,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/05/19/4965-revision-13/',0,'revision','',0),(4981,1,'2011-05-19 18:51:59','2011-05-19 16:51:59','Thank-you for all of the birthday greetings, messages and well wishes yesterday!!\r\n\r\nWhat a great way to start of the first day of my thirties.\r\n\r\nI really couldn\'t have nicer friends, colleagues, students and loyal blog readers. I was overwhelmed by the number of facebook messages, phone calls, emails and messages I got. Thank-you so very much.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4966\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"630\" caption=\"Merci Chocolate\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4966\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4966\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4966   \" title=\"Merci Chocolate\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/DSC02529-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"630\" height=\"473\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nIf you\'d bumped into me yesterday, I\'d have given you a chocolate to celebrate my birthday. One of these Merci chocolates actually. They are delicious. My favorite is chocolate marzipan--that\'s the one I always look for when students offer me chocolates for their birthdays or name days.\r\n\r\nIt\'s a tradition in Bulgaria to give chocolates to your friends on your birthday. Then the receiver of the chocolate wishes you happiness, health, love and money. And if you\'re a middle-aged woman wishing me a happy birthday you may also a boyfriend to the list and pinch my cheeks.\r\n\r\nThe thing is you have to buy a lot of chocolate when you teach more than 50 students in one day and you have just as many colleagues and friends at school as I do.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4971\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Row after row of chocolate\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4971\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4971\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4971 \" title=\"Row after row of chocolate\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/DSC02530-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nI love the tradition of giving away chocolates on your birthday. It\'s just so nice. I think it\'s because everyone loves chocolate and birthdays. I will definitely be continuing this in the future no matter where I live.\r\n\r\nThe only thing is in English it doesn\'t sounds as nice when offering another a chocolate to say \"here\'s a chocolate\" or \"have a chocolate\" or \"you\'re welcome to a chocolate.\" It sounds a lot nicer in Bulgarian: заповядйте.','Merci! ','','inherit','open','open','','4965-revision-14','','','2011-05-19 18:51:59','2011-05-19 16:51:59','',4965,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/05/19/4965-revision-14/',0,'revision','',0),(4982,1,'2011-05-19 18:53:05','2011-05-19 16:53:05','Thank-you for all of the birthday greetings, messages and well wishes yesterday!!\n\nWhat a great way to start of the first day of my thirties.\n\nI really couldn\'t have nicer friends, colleagues, students and loyal blog readers. I was overwhelmed by the number of facebook messages, phone calls, emails and messages I got. Thank-you so very much.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4966\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"630\" caption=\"Merci Chocolate\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4966\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4966\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4966   \" title=\"Merci Chocolate\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/DSC02529-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"630\" height=\"473\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nIf you\'d bumped into me yesterday, I\'d have given you a chocolate to celebrate my birthday. One of these Merci chocolates actually. They are delicious. My favorite is chocolate marzipan--that\'s the one I always look for when students offer me chocolates for their birthdays or name days.\n\nIt\'s a tradition in Bulgaria to give chocolates to your friends on your birthday. Then the receiver of the chocolate wishes you happiness, health, love and money. And if you\'re a middle-aged woman wishing me a happy birthday you may also a boyfriend to the list and pinch my cheeks.\n\nThe thing is you have to buy a lot of chocolate when you teach more than 50 students in one day and you have just as many colleagues and friends at school as I do.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4971\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Row after row of chocolate\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4971\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4971\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4971 \" title=\"Row after row of chocolate\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/DSC02530-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nI love the tradition of giving away chocolates on your birthday. It\'s just so nice. I think it\'s because everyone loves chocolate and birthdays. I will definitely be continuing this in the future no matter where I live.\n\nThe only thing is in English it doesn\'t sounds as nice when offering another a chocolate to say \"here\'s a chocolate\" or \"have a chocolate\" or \"you\'re welcome to a chocolate.\" It sounds a lot nicer in Bulgarian: заповядйте.','Merci! ','','inherit','open','open','','4965-revision-15','','','2011-05-19 18:53:05','2011-05-19 16:53:05','',4965,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/05/19/4965-revision-15/',0,'revision','',0),(4983,1,'2011-05-19 18:53:14','2011-05-19 16:53:14','Thank-you for all of the birthday greetings, messages and well wishes yesterday!!\r\n\r\nWhat a great way to start of the first day of my thirties.\r\n\r\nI really couldn\'t have nicer friends, colleagues, students and loyal blog readers. I was overwhelmed by the number of facebook messages, phone calls, emails and messages I got. Thank-you so very much.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4966\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"630\" caption=\"Merci Chocolate\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4966\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4966\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4966   \" title=\"Merci Chocolate\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/DSC02529-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"630\" height=\"473\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nIf you\'d bumped into me yesterday, I\'d have given you a chocolate to celebrate my birthday. One of these Merci chocolates actually. They are delicious. My favorite is chocolate marzipan--that\'s the one I always look for when students offer me chocolates for their birthdays or name days.\r\n\r\nIt\'s a tradition in Bulgaria to give chocolates to your friends on your birthday. Then the receiver of the chocolate wishes you happiness, health, love and money. And if you\'re a middle-aged woman wishing me a happy birthday you may also a boyfriend to the list and pinch my cheeks.\r\n\r\nThe thing is you have to buy a lot of chocolate when you teach more than 50 students in one day and you have just as many colleagues and friends at school as I do.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4971\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Row after row of chocolate\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4971\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4971\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4971 \" title=\"Row after row of chocolate\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/DSC02530-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nI love the tradition of giving away chocolates on your birthday. It\'s just so nice. I think it\'s because everyone loves chocolate and birthdays. I will definitely be continuing this in the future no matter where I live.\r\n\r\nThe only thing is in English it doesn\'t sounds as nice when offering another a chocolate to say \"here\'s a chocolate\" or \"have a chocolate\" or \"you\'re welcome to a chocolate.\" It sounds a lot nicer in Bulgarian: заповядйте.','Merci Mnogo! ','','inherit','open','open','','4965-revision-16','','','2011-05-19 18:53:14','2011-05-19 16:53:14','',4965,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/05/19/4965-revision-16/',0,'revision','',0),(4984,1,'2011-05-20 05:00:01','2011-05-20 03:00:01','I think that May is one of my favorite months. Okay, I may be partial to it given it\'s the month I was born but really May is a great month.\r\n\r\nIn no particular order, here are somethings that make May great:\r\n\r\nSpring. Flowers. Lambs. St George\'s Day. Fluffy clouds. Dresses. Sandals. Green grass. Hamburgers on the grill. White wine. Blue sky. Saints Kiril and Methodius and their Cyrillic alphabet. Sun glasses. Scarves. Graduation. Sparkling water.\r\n\r\nThis weekend I am heading to the <a title=\"Thassos\" href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thasos\" target=\"_blank\">island of Thassos</a> in Greece to celebrate Saints Kiril and Methodius and their creation of the Cyrillic alphabet. Hip-hip-hooray. Good things come in May.\r\n\r\nI\'ve got a five day weekend ahead of me.\r\n\r\nNo blogging. Just warm weather and an island to explore. Oh and my kindle.\r\n\r\nI couldn\'t be happier.','Good Things Come in May ','','publish','open','open','','good-things-come-in-may','','','2011-05-19 20:51:03','2011-05-19 18:51:03','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=4984',0,'post','',0),(4985,1,'2011-05-19 20:49:07','2011-05-19 18:49:07','I think that May is one of my favorite months. Okay, I may be partial to it given it\'s the month I was born but really May is a great month.\n\nIn no particular order, here are somethings that make May great:\n\nSpring. Flowers. Lambs. St George\'s Day. Fluffy clouds. Dresses. Sandals. Green grass. Hamburgers on the grill. White wine. Blue sky. Saints Kiril and Methodius and their Cyrillic alphabet. Sun glasses. Scarves. Graduation. Sparkling water.\n\nThis weekend I am heading to the <a title=\"Thassos\" href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thasos\" target=\"_blank\">island of Thassos</a> in Greece to celebrate Saints Kiril and Methodius. Hip-hip-hooray. Good things come in May.\n\nI\'ve got a five day weekend ahead of me.\n\nNo blogging. Just warm weather and an island to explore. Oh and my kindle.\n\nI couldn\'t be happier.','Good Things Come in May ','','inherit','open','open','','4984-revision','','','2011-05-19 20:49:07','2011-05-19 18:49:07','',4984,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/05/19/4984-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(4986,1,'2011-05-19 20:50:05','2011-05-19 18:50:05','I think that May is one of my favorite months. Okay, I may be partial to it given it\'s the month I was born but really May is a great month.\r\n\r\nIn no particular order, here are somethings that make May great:\r\n\r\nSpring. Flowers. Lambs. St George\'s Day. Fluffy clouds. Dresses. Sandals. Green grass. Hamburgers on the grill. White wine. Blue sky. Saints Kiril and Methodius and their Cyrillic alphabet. Sun glasses. Scarves. Graduation. Sparkling water.\r\n\r\nThis weekend I am heading to the <a title=\"Thassos\" href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thasos\" target=\"_blank\">island of Thassos</a> in Greece to celebrate Saints Kiril and Methodius. Hip-hip-hooray. Good things come in May.\r\n\r\nI\'ve got a five day weekend ahead of me.\r\n\r\nNo blogging. Just warm weather and an island to explore. Oh and my kindle.\r\n\r\nI couldn\'t be happier.','Good Things Come in May ','','inherit','open','open','','4984-revision-2','','','2011-05-19 20:50:05','2011-05-19 18:50:05','',4984,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/05/19/4984-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(4987,1,'2011-05-19 20:52:07','2011-05-19 18:52:07','I think that May is one of my favorite months. Okay, I may be partial to it given it\'s the month I was born but really May is a great month.\n\nIn no particular order, here are somethings that make May great:\n\nSpring. Flowers. Lambs. St George\'s Day. Fluffy clouds. Dresses. Sandals. Green grass. Hamburgers on the grill. White wine. Blue sky. Saints Kiril and Methodius and their Cyrillic alphabet. Sun glasses. Scarves. Graduation. Sparkling water.\n\nThis weekend I am heading to the <a title=\"Thassos\" href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thasos\" target=\"_blank\">island of Thassos</a> in Greece to celebrate Saints Kiril and Methodius and their creation of the Cyrillic alphabet. Hip-hip-hooray. Good things come in May.\n\nI\'ve got a five day weekend ahead of me.\n\nNo blogging. Just warm weather and an island to explore. Oh and my kindle.\n\nI couldn\'t be happier.','Good Things Come in May ','','inherit','open','open','','4984-autosave','','','2011-05-19 20:52:07','2011-05-19 18:52:07','',4984,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/05/19/4984-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(4989,1,'2011-05-26 21:06:09','2011-05-26 19:06:09','','Beach Chairs','Beach Chairs','inherit','open','open','','dsc02540','','','2011-05-26 21:06:09','2011-05-26 19:06:09','',4988,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/DSC02540.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(4990,1,'2011-05-26 21:07:45','2011-05-26 19:07:45','','The Beach','The Beach','inherit','open','open','','dsc02541','','','2011-05-26 21:07:45','2011-05-26 19:07:45','',4988,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/DSC02541.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(4991,1,'2011-05-26 21:10:33','2011-05-26 19:10:33','','The Ocean','The Ocean','inherit','open','open','','dsc02545','','','2011-05-26 21:10:33','2011-05-26 19:10:33','',4988,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/DSC02545.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(4992,1,'2011-05-26 21:06:49','2011-05-26 19:06:49','Thassos is a beautiful island.\n\nI went this past week with friends. As teachers we had two days off to celebrate the creators of the Cyrillic alphabet. Technically these days were Tuesday and Wednesday but then the Bulgarian government gave the country Monday off as well so all of a sudden we had a five day weekend.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4989\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"1024\" caption=\"Beach Chairs\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4989\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4989\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4989\" title=\"Beach Chairs\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/DSC02540-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nNot bad.\n\nEven better? Much of the country will be making the Monday holiday up this Saturday as the Bulgarian government made Saturday a work day but I don\'t have to work on Saturday either!!\n\nAnyhow, Thassos was great. Everything I hoped for and more. The only thing is that I am tired after this long holiday. Work was busy. I had a lot to catch up on. So this is a short, short post today as I am off to bed.','It\'s official: I\'m in love with Thassos','','inherit','open','open','','4988-revision','','','2011-05-26 21:06:49','2011-05-26 19:06:49','',4988,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/05/26/4988-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(4993,1,'2011-05-26 21:11:28','2011-05-26 19:11:28','Thassos is a beautiful island.\r\n\r\nI went this past week with friends. As teachers we had two days off to celebrate the creators of the Cyrillic alphabet. Technically these days were Tuesday and Wednesday but then the Bulgarian government gave the country Monday off as well so all of a sudden we had a five day weekend.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4989\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Beach Chairs\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4989\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4989\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4989 \" title=\"Beach Chairs\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/DSC02540-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nNot bad.\r\n\r\nEven better? Much of the country will be making the Monday holiday up this Saturday as the Bulgarian government made Saturday a work day but I don\'t have to work on Saturday either!!\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4990\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"The Beach\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4990\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4990\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4990 \" title=\"The Beach\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/DSC02541-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nAnyhow, Thassos was great. Everything I hoped for and more. The only thing is that I am tired after this long holiday. Work was busy. I had a lot to catch up on. So this is a short, short post today as I am off to bed.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4991\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"The Ocean\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4991\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4991\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4991 \" title=\"The Ocean\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/DSC02545-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]','It\'s official: I\'m in love with Thassos','','inherit','open','open','','4988-revision-2','','','2011-05-26 21:11:28','2011-05-26 19:11:28','',4988,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/05/26/4988-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(4994,1,'2011-05-26 21:11:28','2011-05-26 19:11:28','Thassos is a beautiful island.\r\n\r\nI went this past week with friends. As teachers we had two days off to celebrate the creators of the Cyrillic alphabet. Technically these days were Tuesday and Wednesday but then the Bulgarian government gave the country Monday off as well so all of a sudden we had a five day weekend.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4989\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Beach Chairs\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4989\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4989\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4989 \" title=\"Beach Chairs\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/DSC02540-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nNot bad.\r\n\r\nEven better? Much of the country will be making the Monday holiday up this Saturday as the Bulgarian government made Saturday a work day but I don\'t have to work on Saturday either!!\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4990\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"The Beach\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4990\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4990\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4990 \" title=\"The Beach\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/DSC02541-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nAnyhow, Thassos was great. Everything I hoped for and more. The only thing is that I am tired after this long holiday. Work was busy. I had a lot to catch up on. So this is a short, short post today as I am off to bed.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4991\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"The Ocean\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4991\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4991\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4991 \" title=\"The Ocean\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/DSC02545-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]','It\'s official: I\'m in love with Thassos','','inherit','open','open','','4988-revision-3','','','2011-05-26 21:11:28','2011-05-26 19:11:28','',4988,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/05/26/4988-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(4995,1,'2011-05-26 21:11:29','2011-05-26 19:11:29','Thassos is a beautiful island.\r\n\r\nI went this past week with friends. As teachers we had two days off to celebrate the creators of the Cyrillic alphabet. Technically these days were Tuesday and Wednesday but then the Bulgarian government gave the country Monday off as well so all of a sudden we had a five day weekend.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4989\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Beach Chairs\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4989\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4989\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4989 \" title=\"Beach Chairs\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/DSC02540-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nNot bad.\r\n\r\nEven better? Much of the country will be making the Monday holiday up this Saturday as the Bulgarian government made Saturday a work day but I don\'t have to work on Saturday either!!\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4990\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"The Beach\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4990\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4990\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4990 \" title=\"The Beach\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/DSC02541-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nAnyhow, Thassos was great. Everything I hoped for and more. The only thing is that I am tired after this long holiday. Work was busy. I had a lot to catch up on. So this is a short, short post today as I am off to bed.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4991\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"The Ocean\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4991\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4991\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4991 \" title=\"The Ocean\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/DSC02545-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]','It\'s official: I\'m in love with Thassos','','inherit','open','open','','4988-revision-4','','','2011-05-26 21:11:29','2011-05-26 19:11:29','',4988,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/05/26/4988-revision-4/',0,'revision','',0),(4996,1,'2011-05-26 21:15:33','2011-05-26 19:15:33','Thassos is a beautiful island.\n\nA <em>really</em> beautiful island.\n\nI went this past week with friends. As teachers we had two days off to celebrate the creators of the Cyrillic alphabet. Technically these days were Tuesday and Wednesday but then the Bulgarian government gave the country Monday off as well so all of a sudden we had a five day weekend.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4989\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Beach Chairs\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4989\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4989\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4989 \" title=\"Beach Chairs\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/DSC02540-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nNot bad. Not bad at all. We had great weather and great food.\n\n<em>Even better? </em>Much of the country will be making the Monday holiday up this Saturday as the Bulgarian government made Saturday a work day but I don\'t have to work on Saturday either!! Sometimes I can\'t believe how lucky I am.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4990\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"The Beach\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4990\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4990\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4990 \" title=\"The Beach\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/DSC02541-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nAnyhow, my Thassos holiday was fantastic. Everything I hoped for and more and that\'s saying a lot.\n\nThe only thing is that now I am tired after the five-day long holiday. Work was busy. I had a lot to catch up on. So this is a short, short post today as I am off to bed.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4991\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"The Ocean\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4991\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4991\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4991 \" title=\"The Ocean\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/DSC02545-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]','It\'s official: I\'m in love with Thassos','','inherit','open','open','','4988-revision-5','','','2011-05-26 21:15:33','2011-05-26 19:15:33','',4988,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/05/26/4988-revision-5/',0,'revision','',0),(4997,1,'2011-05-26 21:16:30','2011-05-26 19:16:30','Thassos is a beautiful island.\r\n\r\nA <em>really</em> beautiful island.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4991\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"The Ocean\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4991\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4991\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4991 \" title=\"The Ocean\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/DSC02545-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nI went this past week with friends. As teachers we had two days off to celebrate the creators of the Cyrillic alphabet. Technically these days were Tuesday and Wednesday but then the Bulgarian government gave the country Monday off as well so all of a sudden we had a five day weekend.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4989\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Beach Chairs\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4989\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4989\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4989 \" title=\"Beach Chairs\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/DSC02540-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nNot bad. Not bad at all. We had great weather and great food.\r\n\r\n<em>Even better? </em>Much of the country will be making the Monday holiday up this Saturday as the Bulgarian government made Saturday a work day but I don\'t have to work on Saturday either!! Sometimes I can\'t believe how lucky I am.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4990\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"The Beach\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4990\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4990\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4990 \" title=\"The Beach\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/DSC02541-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nAnyhow, my Thassos holiday was fantastic. Everything I hoped for and more and that\'s saying a lot.\r\n\r\nThe only thing is that now I am tired after the five-day long holiday. Work was busy today. I had a lot to catch up on. So this is a short, short post today as I am off to bed.','It\'s official: I\'m in love with Thassos','','inherit','open','open','','4988-revision-6','','','2011-05-26 21:16:30','2011-05-26 19:16:30','',4988,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/05/26/4988-revision-6/',0,'revision','',0),(4998,1,'2011-05-26 21:16:33','2011-05-26 19:16:33','Thassos is a beautiful island.\n\nA <em>really</em> beautiful island.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4991\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"The Ocean\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4991\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4991\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4991 \" title=\"The Ocean\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/DSC02545-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nI went this past week with friends. As teachers we had two days off to celebrate the creators of the Cyrillic alphabet. Technically these days were Tuesday and Wednesday but then the Bulgarian government gave the country Monday off as well so all of a sudden we had a five day weekend.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4989\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Beach Chairs\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4989\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4989\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4989 \" title=\"Beach Chairs\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/DSC02540-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nNot bad. Not bad at all. We had great weather and great food.\n\n<em>Even better? </em>Much of the country will be making the Monday holiday up this Saturday as the Bulgarian government made Saturday a work day but I don\'t have to work on Saturday either!! Sometimes I can\'t believe how lucky I am.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4990\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"The Beach\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4990\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4990\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4990 \" title=\"The Beach\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/DSC02541-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nAnyhow, my Thassos holiday was fantastic. Everything I hoped for and more and that\'s saying a lot.\n\nThe only thing is that now I am tired after the five-day long holiday. Work was busy today. I had a lot to catch up on. So this is a short, short post today as I am off to bed.','It\'s official: I\'m in love with Thassos','','inherit','open','open','','4988-autosave','','','2011-05-26 21:16:33','2011-05-26 19:16:33','',4988,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/05/26/4988-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(5018,1,'2011-06-03 06:16:03','2011-06-03 04:16:03','I\'ve been living in Sofia and writing a blog for three years now about life in Bulgaria. This morning I woke up and was greeted by this comment on my blog:\r\n<blockquote>Thanks for all of the information, for someone who is considering  applying to the Bulgarian Fulbright. Something that you don’t say is why  you chose Bulgaria? I have been fascinated with the country for some  time now. I am also curious, if you don’t mind taking the time to  answer, were most of your fellow teachers placed in Sofia, or was  everyone dispersed, and you just got lucky in a large city?</blockquote>\r\nI read it and thought: hey, she\'s got a point. I\'ve never really talked about why I picked Bulgaria. <em>Silly me.<!--more--></em>\r\n\r\nOne afternoon about this time of year four years ago, I chose Bulgaria sitting on my spinning chair at my desk at work staring at a huge world map on the wall behind my desk. I worked at Georgetown University so in June if you work with undergraduates as I did campus (and work) is pretty dead.  I was delaying a little longer sending a few tedious emails.\r\n\r\nI\'d known for a while that I wanted to apply for the Fulbright. I\'d known that the Fulbright office in New York recommends that students apply to less competitive countries and while the application process for the Fulbright is inherently competitive the statistics are pretty dramatic. I\'d looked at the stats in most of Western Europe the application acceptance rate is something less than 10% and in the UK it hoovers about 1%.  Eastern Europe in contrast had acceptance rates closer to 20% give or take.\r\n\r\nSo in the beginning two things drew me to Bulgaria: location and program stats. It was important for me to set myself up for the best chance of winning a Fulbright and seeing as I didn\'t know any Eastern European languages this wasn\'t going to help me (or hurt me at least in Eastern Europe). I desperately wanted to experience life abroad.\r\n\r\nAfter I narrowed in on Bulgaria, I did a <em>lot</em> of internet research and I liked everything I found (except for the fact that there weren\'t any serious English language blogs being written about Bulgaria).\r\n\r\nI guess now is also the time to explain that I like things that are different, out of the ordinary, unexpected and a challenge. Pretty clearly Bulgaria was going to be all of these things. Bulgaria is really not a country that is in any way shape or form part of American memories or dreams unlike cities like Paris, Rome or Berlin.  But I like that. I like the dark horse.\r\n\r\nThe year I applied to be a Fulbright ETA there were only two positions in the country so I took took a risk with that but now it looks like there are <a href=\"http://us.fulbrightonline.org/program_country.html?id=17\" target=\"_blank\">17 grants for ETAs</a>. I was lucky to be placed in Sofia. This said the other ETA wasn\'t placed in the middle of nowhere--she ended up in Plovdiv. I know now that ETAs are being placed all over the country and I think that this is a great thing. Bulgarian high school students are hungry for contact with native speakers and I think that life outside of a big city like Sofia allows ETAs more direct contact with the people, culture and language.\r\n\r\nToday though when people ask I usually say that I picked Bulgaria and Bulgaria picked me. The things is, I didn\'t know how much I was going to like Bulgaria and more specifically Sofia when I applied and when I won a Fulbright I was racked with anxiety and haunted by what if\'s--what if I can\'t do this, what if people don\'t speak English, what if I can\'t learn the language, what if I hate it? But I figured that I could do anything for a year.\r\n\r\nAnd look at me now, I just signed a contract for my fourth year in Bulgaria. Not bad, all things considered.','Why did I choose Bulgaria? ','','publish','open','open','','why-did-i-choose-bulgaria','','','2011-06-03 06:16:03','2011-06-03 04:16:03','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=5018',0,'post','',1),(5000,1,'2011-05-28 11:04:39','2011-05-28 09:04:39','The Greek island of Thassos is about 7 hours away from Bulgaria. Last Friday after graduation we packed up our car and started driving to the Greek port town of Kavala. We spent the night in Kavala which I am told was a Bulgarian port during WWII. The next morning we drove about 45 minutes to the ferry and caught the boat to Thassos which apparently was a Bulgarian island during WWII.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5002\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"On the Ferry Boat\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5002\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/05/28/thassos-sun-olives-and-a-sea-urchin/img_8296/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5002 \" title=\"On the Ferry Boat\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/IMG_8296-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nI however never confirmed either of these WWII facts but I no reason not to believe the facts. It\'s just funny that you can say: I am going to Kavala and then on to Thassos and a Bulgarian to tell you a fact like this. Similar things happen if you tell a Bulgarian: I am going to Lake Ohrid in Macedonia, they will ask: why not go to the Black Sea?\r\n\r\nWell because I\'ve been before. And now I want to check out Thassos.\r\n\r\n<!--more-->\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5003\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Wine at Dinner\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5003\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/05/28/thassos-sun-olives-and-a-sea-urchin/img_8312/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5003 \" title=\"Wine at Dinner\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/IMG_8312-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nAnyhow, back to the ferry boat--it\'s about a 45 minute long ride. It\'s really wonderful to watch the island come into view from the ferry boat.\r\n\r\nWe rented a house on the island close to the beach. It was easy-peasy to check in and then we grabbed lunch and spent all afternoon on the beach.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5004\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Swimming Hole and Sea in one\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5004\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/05/28/thassos-sun-olives-and-a-sea-urchin/img_8364/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5004 \" title=\"Swimming Hole and Sea in one\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/IMG_8364-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nSunday was also a beach day. Sun, gobs of sunscreen, sea, sand, lemon fanta, an umbrella, a beach chair and a book. Things really don\'t get much better than that.  I read, swam, avoided a sunburn and napped on my chair. After six-plus hours, we headed back to our house--ate some snacks (olives and feta cheese), drank some wine and played some cards. That\'s when I noticed that I managed to sunburn two of my five toes on each foot. Apparently my sunscreen application was sort of haphazard when I got around to my toes.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5005\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Snap Dragons in Thassos\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5005\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/05/28/thassos-sun-olives-and-a-sea-urchin/img_8351/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5005 \" title=\"Snap Dragons in Thassos\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/IMG_8351-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nMonday we decided to drive around the island. It\'s about 100km around the island so we started in the morning--we hit up an outdoor market where I snatched up a hat and a sun dress and then we started our adventuring. We hiked to this wonderful little swimming hole that\'s been cut out of an old quarry right next to the sea. I managed to get stung by a sea urchin which was exciting. It stung a<em> lot</em>.\r\n\r\nDon\'t worry. I am okay. But holy-smokes, sea urchin stings burn. I had no idea.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5006\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Swimming (&amp; getting stung by a sea urchin)\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5006\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/05/28/thassos-sun-olives-and-a-sea-urchin/img_8452/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5006 \" title=\"Swimming (&amp; getting stung by a sea urchin)\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/IMG_8452-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nTuesday I went to the beach. It was great. I collected a bag of really white rocks on the beach. Apparently, the rocks are marble. I guess that Thassos has the second whitest marble in the world. And now, I have some of it too.\r\n\r\nWednesday morning I went to the beach. <em>Seeing a pattern?</em> Only on Wednesday I only got an hour at the beach because then we had to leave. That was not so great. I would have loved to say longer. Luckily, Thassos isn\'t actually so far from Sofia. I think that means that I can return again in the future.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5007\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Flower Boxes\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5007\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/05/28/thassos-sun-olives-and-a-sea-urchin/img_8474/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5007 \" title=\"Flower Boxes\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/IMG_8474-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]','Thassos: Sun, Olives and a Sea Urchin','','publish','open','open','','thassos-sun-olives-and-a-sea-urchin','','','2011-05-28 11:04:39','2011-05-28 09:04:39','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=5000',0,'post','',3),(5001,1,'2011-05-27 19:38:08','2011-05-27 17:38:08','The Greek island of Thassos is about 7 hours away from Bulgaria. Last Friday after graduation we packed up our car and started driving to the Greek port town of Kavala. We spent the night in Kavala which I am told was a Bulgarian port during WWII. The next morning we drove about 45 minutes to the ferry and caught the boat to Thassos which apparently was a Bulgarian island during WWII. \n\nI however never confirmed either of these WWII facts but I no reason not to believe the facts. It\'s just funny that you can say: I am going to Kavala and then on to Thassos and a Bulgarian to tell you a fact like this. Similar things happen if you tell a Bulgarian: I am going to Lake Ohrid in Macedonia, they will ask: why not go to the Black Sea?  \n\nAnyhow, back to the ferry boat--it\'s about a 45 minute','Getting to Thassos','','inherit','open','open','','5000-revision','','','2011-05-27 19:38:08','2011-05-27 17:38:08','',5000,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/05/27/5000-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(5002,1,'2011-05-28 10:43:44','2011-05-28 08:43:44','','On the Ferry Boat','On the Ferry Boat','inherit','open','open','','img_8296','','','2011-05-28 10:43:44','2011-05-28 08:43:44','',5000,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/IMG_8296.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(5003,1,'2011-05-28 10:45:11','2011-05-28 08:45:11','','Wine at Dinner','Wine at Dinner','inherit','open','open','','img_8312','','','2011-05-28 10:45:11','2011-05-28 08:45:11','',5000,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/IMG_8312.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(5004,1,'2011-05-28 10:47:16','2011-05-28 08:47:16','','Swimming Hole and Sea in one','Swimming Hole and Sea in one','inherit','open','open','','img_8364','','','2011-05-28 10:47:16','2011-05-28 08:47:16','',5000,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/IMG_8364.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(5005,1,'2011-05-28 10:48:49','2011-05-28 08:48:49','','Snap Dragons in Thassos','Snap Dragons in Thassos','inherit','open','open','','img_8351','','','2011-05-28 10:48:49','2011-05-28 08:48:49','',5000,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/IMG_8351.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(5006,1,'2011-05-28 10:54:14','2011-05-28 08:54:14','','Swimming (& getting stung by a sea urchin)','Swimming (& getting stung by a sea urchin)','inherit','open','open','','img_8452','','','2011-05-28 10:54:14','2011-05-28 08:54:14','',5000,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/IMG_8452.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(5007,1,'2011-05-28 10:58:01','2011-05-28 08:58:01','','Flower Boxes','Flower Boxes','inherit','open','open','','img_8474','','','2011-05-28 10:58:01','2011-05-28 08:58:01','',5000,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/IMG_8474.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(5008,1,'2011-05-28 10:59:57','2011-05-28 08:59:57','The Greek island of Thassos is about 7 hours away from Bulgaria. Last Friday after graduation we packed up our car and started driving to the Greek port town of Kavala. We spent the night in Kavala which I am told was a Bulgarian port during WWII. The next morning we drove about 45 minutes to the ferry and caught the boat to Thassos which apparently was a Bulgarian island during WWII.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_5002\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"On the Ferry Boat\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5002\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5002\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5002 \" title=\"On the Ferry Boat\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/IMG_8296-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nI however never confirmed either of these WWII facts but I no reason not to believe the facts. It\'s just funny that you can say: I am going to Kavala and then on to Thassos and a Bulgarian to tell you a fact like this. Similar things happen if you tell a Bulgarian: I am going to Lake Ohrid in Macedonia, they will ask: why not go to the Black Sea?\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_5003\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Wine at Dinner\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5003\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5003\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5003 \" title=\"Wine at Dinner\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/IMG_8312-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nAnyhow, back to the ferry boat--it\'s about a 45 minute long ride. It\'s really wonderful to watch the island come into view from the ferry boat.\n\nWe rented a house on the island close to the beach. It was easy-peasy to check in and then we grabbed lunch and spent all afternoon on the beach.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_5004\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Swimming Hole and Sea in one\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5004\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5004\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5004 \" title=\"Swimming Hole and Sea in one\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/IMG_8364-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nSunday was also a beach day. Sun, gobs of sunscreen, sea, sand, lemon fanta, an umbrella, a beach chair and a book. Things really don\'t get much better than that.  I read, swam, avoided a sunburn and napped on my chair. After six-plus hours, we headed back to our house--ate some snacks, drank some wine and played some cards. That\'s when I noticed that I managed to sunburn two of my five toes on each foot. Apparently my sunscreen application was sort of haphazard when I got around to my toes.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_5005\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"1024\" caption=\"Snap Dragons in Thassos\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5005\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5005\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5005\" title=\"Snap Dragons in Thassos\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/IMG_8351-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nMonday we decided to drive around the island. It\'s about 100km around the island so we started in the morning--we hit up an outdoor market where I snatched up a hat and a sun dress and then we started our adventuring. We hiked to this wonderful little swimming hole that\'s been cut out of an old quarry right next to the sea. I managed to get stung by a sea urchin which was exciting. It stung a<em> lot</em>.\n\nDon\'t worry. I am okay. But holy-smokes, sea urchin stings burn. I had no idea.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_5006\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"1024\" caption=\"Swimming (&amp; getting stung by a sea urchin)\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5006\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5006\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5006\" title=\"Swimming (&amp; getting stung by a sea urchin)\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/IMG_8452-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nTuesday I went to the beach. It was great. I collected a bag of really white rocks on the beach. Apparently, the rocks are marble. I guess that Thasso has the second whitest marble in the world. And now, I have some of it too.\n\nWednesday morning I went to the beach. <em>Seeing a pattern?</em> Only on Wednesday I only got an hour at the beach because then we had to leave. That was not so great. I would have loved to say longer. Luckily, Thassos isn\'t actually so far from Sofia. I think that means that I can return again in the future.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_5007\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"1024\" caption=\"Flower Boxes\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5007\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5007\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5007\" title=\"Flower Boxes\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/IMG_8474-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" /></a>[/caption]','Getting to Thassos','','inherit','open','open','','5000-revision-2','','','2011-05-28 10:59:57','2011-05-28 08:59:57','',5000,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/05/28/5000-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(5010,1,'2011-05-28 11:00:58','2011-05-28 09:00:58','The Greek island of Thassos is about 7 hours away from Bulgaria. Last Friday after graduation we packed up our car and started driving to the Greek port town of Kavala. We spent the night in Kavala which I am told was a Bulgarian port during WWII. The next morning we drove about 45 minutes to the ferry and caught the boat to Thassos which apparently was a Bulgarian island during WWII.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_5002\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"On the Ferry Boat\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5002\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5002\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5002 \" title=\"On the Ferry Boat\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/IMG_8296-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nI however never confirmed either of these WWII facts but I no reason not to believe the facts. It\'s just funny that you can say: I am going to Kavala and then on to Thassos and a Bulgarian to tell you a fact like this. Similar things happen if you tell a Bulgarian: I am going to Lake Ohrid in Macedonia, they will ask: why not go to the Black Sea?\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_5003\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Wine at Dinner\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5003\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5003\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5003 \" title=\"Wine at Dinner\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/IMG_8312-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nAnyhow, back to the ferry boat--it\'s about a 45 minute long ride. It\'s really wonderful to watch the island come into view from the ferry boat.\n\nWe rented a house on the island close to the beach. It was easy-peasy to check in and then we grabbed lunch and spent all afternoon on the beach.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_5004\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Swimming Hole and Sea in one\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5004\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5004\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5004 \" title=\"Swimming Hole and Sea in one\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/IMG_8364-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nSunday was also a beach day. Sun, gobs of sunscreen, sea, sand, lemon fanta, an umbrella, a beach chair and a book. Things really don\'t get much better than that.  I read, swam, avoided a sunburn and napped on my chair. After six-plus hours, we headed back to our house--ate some snacks, drank some wine and played some cards. That\'s when I noticed that I managed to sunburn two of my five toes on each foot. Apparently my sunscreen application was sort of haphazard when I got around to my toes.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_5005\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Snap Dragons in Thassos\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5005\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5005\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5005 \" title=\"Snap Dragons in Thassos\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/IMG_8351-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nMonday we decided to drive around the island. It\'s about 100km around the island so we started in the morning--we hit up an outdoor market where I snatched up a hat and a sun dress and then we started our adventuring. We hiked to this wonderful little swimming hole that\'s been cut out of an old quarry right next to the sea. I managed to get stung by a sea urchin which was exciting. It stung a<em> lot</em>.\n\nDon\'t worry. I am okay. But holy-smokes, sea urchin stings burn. I had no idea.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_5006\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Swimming (&amp; getting stung by a sea urchin)\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5006\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5006\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5006 \" title=\"Swimming (&amp; getting stung by a sea urchin)\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/IMG_8452-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nTuesday I went to the beach. It was great. I collected a bag of really white rocks on the beach. Apparently, the rocks are marble. I guess that Thasso has the second whitest marble in the world. And now, I have some of it too.\n\nWednesday morning I went to the beach. <em>Seeing a pattern?</em> Only on Wednesday I only got an hour at the beach because then we had to leave. That was not so great. I would have loved to say longer. Luckily, Thassos isn\'t actually so far from Sofia. I think that means that I can return again in the future.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_5007\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Flower Boxes\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5007\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5007\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5007 \" title=\"Flower Boxes\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/IMG_8474-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]','Getting to Thassos','','inherit','open','open','','5000-revision-4','','','2011-05-28 11:00:58','2011-05-28 09:00:58','',5000,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/05/28/5000-revision-4/',0,'revision','',0),(5009,1,'2011-05-28 11:00:54','2011-05-28 09:00:54','The Greek island of Thassos is about 7 hours away from Bulgaria. Last Friday after graduation we packed up our car and started driving to the Greek port town of Kavala. We spent the night in Kavala which I am told was a Bulgarian port during WWII. The next morning we drove about 45 minutes to the ferry and caught the boat to Thassos which apparently was a Bulgarian island during WWII.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5002\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"On the Ferry Boat\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5002\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5002\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5002 \" title=\"On the Ferry Boat\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/IMG_8296-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nI however never confirmed either of these WWII facts but I no reason not to believe the facts. It\'s just funny that you can say: I am going to Kavala and then on to Thassos and a Bulgarian to tell you a fact like this. Similar things happen if you tell a Bulgarian: I am going to Lake Ohrid in Macedonia, they will ask: why not go to the Black Sea?\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5003\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Wine at Dinner\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5003\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5003\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5003 \" title=\"Wine at Dinner\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/IMG_8312-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nAnyhow, back to the ferry boat--it\'s about a 45 minute long ride. It\'s really wonderful to watch the island come into view from the ferry boat.\r\n\r\nWe rented a house on the island close to the beach. It was easy-peasy to check in and then we grabbed lunch and spent all afternoon on the beach.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5004\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Swimming Hole and Sea in one\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5004\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5004\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5004 \" title=\"Swimming Hole and Sea in one\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/IMG_8364-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nSunday was also a beach day. Sun, gobs of sunscreen, sea, sand, lemon fanta, an umbrella, a beach chair and a book. Things really don\'t get much better than that.  I read, swam, avoided a sunburn and napped on my chair. After six-plus hours, we headed back to our house--ate some snacks, drank some wine and played some cards. That\'s when I noticed that I managed to sunburn two of my five toes on each foot. Apparently my sunscreen application was sort of haphazard when I got around to my toes.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5005\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Snap Dragons in Thassos\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5005\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5005\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5005 \" title=\"Snap Dragons in Thassos\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/IMG_8351-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nMonday we decided to drive around the island. It\'s about 100km around the island so we started in the morning--we hit up an outdoor market where I snatched up a hat and a sun dress and then we started our adventuring. We hiked to this wonderful little swimming hole that\'s been cut out of an old quarry right next to the sea. I managed to get stung by a sea urchin which was exciting. It stung a<em> lot</em>.\r\n\r\nDon\'t worry. I am okay. But holy-smokes, sea urchin stings burn. I had no idea.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5006\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Swimming (&amp; getting stung by a sea urchin)\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5006\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5006\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5006 \" title=\"Swimming (&amp; getting stung by a sea urchin)\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/IMG_8452-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nTuesday I went to the beach. It was great. I collected a bag of really white rocks on the beach. Apparently, the rocks are marble. I guess that Thasso has the second whitest marble in the world. And now, I have some of it too.\r\n\r\nWednesday morning I went to the beach. <em>Seeing a pattern?</em> Only on Wednesday I only got an hour at the beach because then we had to leave. That was not so great. I would have loved to say longer. Luckily, Thassos isn\'t actually so far from Sofia. I think that means that I can return again in the future.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5007\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Flower Boxes\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5007\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5007\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5007 \" title=\"Flower Boxes\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/IMG_8474-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]','Getting to Thassos','','inherit','open','open','','5000-revision-3','','','2011-05-28 11:00:54','2011-05-28 09:00:54','',5000,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/05/28/5000-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(5011,1,'2011-05-28 11:04:39','2011-05-28 09:04:39','The Greek island of Thassos is about 7 hours away from Bulgaria. Last Friday after graduation we packed up our car and started driving to the Greek port town of Kavala. We spent the night in Kavala which I am told was a Bulgarian port during WWII. The next morning we drove about 45 minutes to the ferry and caught the boat to Thassos which apparently was a Bulgarian island during WWII.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5002\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"On the Ferry Boat\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5002\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5002\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5002 \" title=\"On the Ferry Boat\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/IMG_8296-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nI however never confirmed either of these WWII facts but I no reason not to believe the facts. It\'s just funny that you can say: I am going to Kavala and then on to Thassos and a Bulgarian to tell you a fact like this. Similar things happen if you tell a Bulgarian: I am going to Lake Ohrid in Macedonia, they will ask: why not go to the Black Sea?\r\n\r\nWell because I\'ve been before. And now I want to check out Thassos.\r\n\r\n<!--more-->\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5003\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Wine at Dinner\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5003\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5003\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5003 \" title=\"Wine at Dinner\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/IMG_8312-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nAnyhow, back to the ferry boat--it\'s about a 45 minute long ride. It\'s really wonderful to watch the island come into view from the ferry boat.\r\n\r\nWe rented a house on the island close to the beach. It was easy-peasy to check in and then we grabbed lunch and spent all afternoon on the beach.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5004\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Swimming Hole and Sea in one\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5004\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5004\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5004 \" title=\"Swimming Hole and Sea in one\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/IMG_8364-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nSunday was also a beach day. Sun, gobs of sunscreen, sea, sand, lemon fanta, an umbrella, a beach chair and a book. Things really don\'t get much better than that.  I read, swam, avoided a sunburn and napped on my chair. After six-plus hours, we headed back to our house--ate some snacks (olives and feta cheese), drank some wine and played some cards. That\'s when I noticed that I managed to sunburn two of my five toes on each foot. Apparently my sunscreen application was sort of haphazard when I got around to my toes.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5005\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Snap Dragons in Thassos\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5005\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5005\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5005 \" title=\"Snap Dragons in Thassos\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/IMG_8351-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nMonday we decided to drive around the island. It\'s about 100km around the island so we started in the morning--we hit up an outdoor market where I snatched up a hat and a sun dress and then we started our adventuring. We hiked to this wonderful little swimming hole that\'s been cut out of an old quarry right next to the sea. I managed to get stung by a sea urchin which was exciting. It stung a<em> lot</em>.\r\n\r\nDon\'t worry. I am okay. But holy-smokes, sea urchin stings burn. I had no idea.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5006\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Swimming (&amp; getting stung by a sea urchin)\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5006\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5006\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5006 \" title=\"Swimming (&amp; getting stung by a sea urchin)\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/IMG_8452-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nTuesday I went to the beach. It was great. I collected a bag of really white rocks on the beach. Apparently, the rocks are marble. I guess that Thassos has the second whitest marble in the world. And now, I have some of it too.\r\n\r\nWednesday morning I went to the beach. <em>Seeing a pattern?</em> Only on Wednesday I only got an hour at the beach because then we had to leave. That was not so great. I would have loved to say longer. Luckily, Thassos isn\'t actually so far from Sofia. I think that means that I can return again in the future.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5007\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Flower Boxes\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5007\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5007\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5007 \" title=\"Flower Boxes\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/IMG_8474-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]','Thassos: Sun, Olives and a Sea Urchin','','inherit','open','open','','5000-revision-5','','','2011-05-28 11:04:39','2011-05-28 09:04:39','',5000,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/05/28/5000-revision-5/',0,'revision','',0),(5012,1,'2011-05-29 11:31:05','2011-05-29 09:31:05','I had a \"Yep-I\'m-still-an-American\" moment yesterday afternoon.\r\n\r\nAfter spending the afternoon with friends, I headed down the street to a little corner shop to buy some sparkling water and a bottle of wine. Only when I got to the shop there were three or four guys hanging outside the shop and I walked on by. The sales clerk, who works there every afternoon, appeared to be smoking cigarettes with his friends.\r\n\r\nYep. I didn\'t go in the shop. I went a little further to Billa to pickup the sparkling water and wine and while I was there some toilet paper.\r\n\r\nThe thing is I hate to go into shops when the shop owners/sales clerks are loitering outside smoking, drinking coffee, chatting/gossiping with friends or other sales clerks. It makes me feel bad. I know I shouldn\'t feel this way but I can\'t seem to help it.\r\n\r\nSo there you have it. It\'s clearly an American sentiment as these things never seem to hang Bulgarians up.  Or I am a crazy girl. I guess it could be that but I think it\'s more my understanding of American-style customer service.','The neighborhood corner shop','','publish','open','open','','the-neighborhood-corner-shop','','','2011-05-29 11:31:05','2011-05-29 09:31:05','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=5012',0,'post','',5),(5013,1,'2011-05-29 11:30:53','2011-05-29 09:30:53','I had a \"Yep-I\'m-still-an-American\" moment yesterday afternoon.\n\nAfter spending the afternoon with friends, I headed down the street to a little corner shop to buy some sparkling water and a bottle of wine. Only when I got to the shop there were three or four guys hanging outside the shop and I walked on by. The sales clerk, who works there every afternoon, appeared to be smoking cigarettes with his friends.\n\nYep. I didn\'t go in the shop. I went a little further to Billa to pickup the sparkling water and wine and while I was there some toilet paper.\n\nThe thing is I hate to go into shops when the shop owners/sales clerks are loitering outside smoking, drinking coffee, chatting/gossiping with friends or other sales clerks. It makes me feel bad. I know I shouldn\'t feel this way but I can\'t seem to help it.\n\nSo there you have it. It\'s clearly an American sentiment as these things never seem to hang Bulgarians up.  Or I am a crazy girl. I guess it could be that but I think it\'s more my understanding of American-style customer service.','The neighborhood corner shop','','inherit','open','open','','5012-revision','','','2011-05-29 11:30:53','2011-05-29 09:30:53','',5012,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/05/29/5012-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(5014,1,'2011-05-29 11:32:27','2011-05-29 09:32:27','I had a \"Yep-I\'m-still-an-American\" moment yesterday afternoon.\n\nAfter spending the afternoon with friends, I headed down the street to a little corner shop to buy some sparkling water and a bottle of wine. Only when I got to the shop there were three or four guys hanging outside the shop and I walked on by. The sales clerk, who works there every afternoon, appeared to be smoking cigarettes with his friends.\n\nYep. I didn\'t go in the shop. I went a little further to Billa to pickup the sparkling water and wine and while I was there some toilet paper.\n\nThe thing is I hate to go into shops when the shop owners/sales clerks are loitering outside smoking, drinking coffee, chatting/gossiping with friends or other sales clerks. It makes me feel bad. I know I shouldn\'t feel this way but I can\'t seem to help it.\n\nSo there you have it. It\'s clearly an American sentiment as these things never seem to hang Bulgarians up.  Or I am a crazy girl. I guess it could be that but I think it\'s more my understanding of American-style customer service.','The neighborhood corner shop','','inherit','open','open','','5012-autosave','','','2011-05-29 11:32:27','2011-05-29 09:32:27','',5012,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/05/29/5012-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(5015,1,'2011-05-31 20:15:43','2011-05-31 18:15:43','Phew. There are three weeks of classes left at ACS. Then we have two weeks of finals. Then comes the best part: two months of summer vacation.\r\n\r\nThe thing I\'ve found myself with a lot to do in the last three weeks. My students depending on their grade are either writing research papers or multi-draft compare and contrast essays and we\'re finishing reading Shakespeare\'s <em>Macbeth</em> or Kundera\'s <em>The Unbearable Lightness of Being </em>again depending on the grade.\r\n\r\nIt\'s clear that I am going to busy right up until the last day of the school year--July 1st.\r\n\r\nOn top of this, today I feel sort of feel like I\'ve been plowed down by a steamroller. A steamroller being driven by students. Today was an endless stream of: Ms Emighs, Miss Emighs and one Mrs Emigh.  My students are nothing if not polite but for whatever reason they were super needy today.  Neediness like this requires a lot of energy and attention.\r\n\r\nLuckily, there was yoga after school. One down, three yoga classes of the year left.','Three Weeks of Classes Left ','','publish','open','open','','three-weeks-of-classes-left','','','2011-05-31 20:15:43','2011-05-31 18:15:43','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=5015',0,'post','',0),(5016,1,'2011-05-31 20:15:27','2011-05-31 18:15:27','Phew. There are three weeks of classes left at ACS. Then we have two weeks of finals. Then comes the best part: two months of summer vacation.\n\nThe thing I\'ve found myself with a lot to do in the last three weeks. My students depending on their grade are either writing research papers or multi-draft compare and contrast essays and we\'re finishing reading Shakespeare\'s <em>Macbeth</em> or Kundera\'s <em>The Unbearable Lightness of Being </em>again depending on the grade.\n\nIt\'s clear that I am going to busy right up until the last day of the school year--July 1st.\n\nOn top of this, today I feel sort of feel like I\'ve been plowed down by a steamroller. A steamroller being driven by students. Today was an endless stream of: Ms Emighs, Miss Emighs and one Mrs Emigh.  My students are nothing if not polite but for whatever reason they were super needy today.  Neediness like this requires a lot of energy and attention.\n\nLuckily, there was yoga after school. One down, three yoga classes of the year left.','Three Weeks of Classes Left ','','inherit','open','open','','5015-revision','','','2011-05-31 20:15:27','2011-05-31 18:15:27','',5015,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/05/31/5015-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(5017,1,'2011-05-31 20:16:51','2011-05-31 18:16:51','Phew. There are three weeks of classes left at ACS. Then we have two weeks of finals. Then comes the best part: two months of summer vacation.\n\nThe thing I\'ve found myself with a lot to do in the last three weeks. My students depending on their grade are either writing research papers or multi-draft compare and contrast essays and we\'re finishing reading Shakespeare\'s <em>Macbeth</em> or Kundera\'s <em>The Unbearable Lightness of Being </em>again depending on the grade.\n\nIt\'s clear that I am going to busy right up until the last day of the school year--July 1st.\n\nOn top of this, today I feel sort of feel like I\'ve been plowed down by a steamroller. A steamroller being driven by students. Today was an endless stream of: Ms Emighs, Miss Emighs and one Mrs Emigh.  My students are nothing if not polite but for whatever reason they were super needy today.  Neediness like this requires a lot of energy and attention.\n\nLuckily, there was yoga after school. One down, three yoga classes of the year left.','Three Weeks of Classes Left ','','inherit','open','open','','5015-autosave','','','2011-05-31 20:16:51','2011-05-31 18:16:51','',5015,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/05/31/5015-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(5019,1,'2011-06-03 06:15:24','2011-06-03 04:15:24','I\'ve been living in Sofia and writing a blog for three years now about life in Bulgaria. This morning I woke up and was greeted by this comment on my blog:\n<blockquote>Thanks for all of the information, for someone who is considering  applying to the Bulgarian Fulbright. Something that you don’t say is why  you chose Bulgaria? I have been fascinated with the country for some  time now. I am also curious, if you don’t mind taking the time to  answer, were most of your fellow teachers placed in Sofia, or was  everyone dispersed, and you just got lucky in a large city?</blockquote>\nI read it and thought: hey, she\'s got a point. I\'ve never really talked about why I picked Bulgaria. <em>Silly me.<!--more--></em>\n\nOne afternoon about this time of year four years ago, I chose Bulgaria sitting on my spinning chair at my desk at work staring at a huge world map on the wall behind my desk. I worked at Georgetown University so in June if you work with undergraduates as I did campus (and work) is pretty dead.  I was delaying a little longer sending a few tedious emails.\n\nI\'d known for a while that I wanted to apply for the Fulbright. I\'d known that the Fulbright office in New York recommends that students apply to less competitive countries and while the application process for the Fulbright is inherently competitive the statistics are pretty dramatic. I\'d looked at the stats in most of Western Europe the application acceptance rate is something less than 10% and in the UK it hoovers about 1%.  Eastern Europe in contrast had acceptance rates closer to 20% give or take.\n\nSo in the beginning two things drew me to Bulgaria: location and program stats. It was important for me to set myself up for the best chance of winning a Fulbright and seeing as I didn\'t know any Eastern European languages this wasn\'t going to help me (or hurt me at least in Eastern Europe). I desperately wanted to experience life abroad.\n\nAfter I narrowed in on Bulgaria, I did a <em>lot</em> of internet research and I liked everything I found (except for the fact that there weren\'t any serious English language blogs being written about Bulgaria).\n\nI guess now is also the time to explain that I like things that are different, out of the ordinary, unexpected and a challenge. Pretty clearly Bulgaria was going to be all of these things. Bulgaria is really not a country that is in any way shape or form part of American memories or dreams unlike cities like Paris, Rome or Berlin.  But I like that. I like the dark horse.\n\nThe year I applied to be a Fulbright ETA there were only two positions in the country so I took took a risk with that but now it looks like there are <a href=\"http://us.fulbrightonline.org/program_country.html?id=17\" target=\"_blank\">17 grants for ETAs</a>. I was lucky to be placed in Sofia. This said the other ETA wasn\'t placed in the middle of nowhere--she ended up in Plovdiv. I know now that ETAs are being placed all over the country and I think that this is a great thing. Bulgarian high school students are hungry for contact with native speakers and I think that life outside of a big city like Sofia allows ETAs more direct contact with the people, culture and language.\n\nToday though when people ask I usually say that I picked Bulgaria and Bulgaria picked me. The things is, I didn\'t know how much I was going to like Bulgaria and more specifically Sofia when I applied and when I won a Fulbright I was racked with anxiety and haunted by what if\'s--what if I can\'t do this, what if people don\'t speak English, what if I can\'t learn the language, what if I hate it? But I figured that I could do anything for a year.\n\nAnd look at me now, I just signed a contract for my fourth year in Bulgaria. Not bad, all things considered.','Why did I choose Bulgaria? ','','inherit','open','open','','5018-revision','','','2011-06-03 06:15:24','2011-06-03 04:15:24','',5018,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/03/5018-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(5053,1,'2011-06-11 08:25:41','2011-06-11 06:25:41','But it\'s good for you.\r\n\r\nOn a daily basis I find myself insanely jealous of my students. They move back and forth between Bulgarian and English fairly seamlessly. My classroom is an English only \"zone\" and for the most parts kids respect this. It\'s interesting: I know when my kids slip into Bulgarian because the registrar changes and my kids know when I am listening to them because mid-sentence they\'ll switch back to English. While I am amazed by my kids fluency in English at a relatively young age what I\'m insanely jealous of is their ability to move between the two languages without much effort.\r\n\r\nMy Bulgarian (and even today, my German) hoovers at the margins of my consciousness and it\'s only with great effort that I can drag enough Bulgarian out to have a conversation. And of course, as it\'s coming out of my mouth I hear the crazy coming out. I can\'t always be bothered to conjugate verbs correctly or use the correct tense because while I\'m in the middle of trying to conjugate a given verb I am already thinking of what\'s coming next in the sentence.  The worst is when I realize that I am half way into a sentence and I don\'t have a big enough vocabulary to actually say what I want to. Or when I bump into German word.\r\n\r\nI hate bumping into German because when this happens it\'s hard for me to right myself and get back to Bulgarian.  The \"German-problem\" happens much less frequently these days.  I am not sure if that\'s a good think or a bad thing.\r\n\r\nAnyhow back to Bulgarian.  In my daily life my Bulgarian can be broken down into to two pieces: rote-scripted Bulgarian and free-form Bulgarian. <!--more-->Scripted Bulgarian is the Bulgarian that you need to get around--ordering coffee, buying lunch, taking a taxi, going grocery shopping. Basically, you get to say the same thing every time and you more or less know exactly what the other person will say to you.  Now don\'t get me wrong, this is important Bulgarian to know but it\'s generally contained within the parameters of the exchange at hand. The coffee. The cost of the groceries. The place that you want to go.\r\n\r\nThen there\'s the free-form Bulgarian which is much more challenging. It\'s the Bulgarian that I hear my kids speaking at lunch, the Bulgarian I need to use at a party, the Bulgarian I need to communicate with the cleaning woman at work or the Bulgarian I use with my the children of my colleagues. This Bulgarian is of course unscripted and doesn\'t have as clear parameters as my regular exchanges. The result is that I can\'t always keep up with the direction of the conversation nor can I can reliably keep up my half of a conversation.\r\n\r\nSo when I know I am going to be in one of these situations, I often think about what topics I could talk about. I think about the vocabulary I might need and I think about what kinds of questions I could ask people. I do this because it makes me less nervous to speak Bulgarian. Does it work? I don\'t know. Frankly, I guess it doesn\'t matter because it makes me feel better.\r\n\r\nLast week I was thinking about this and what kinds of things I could talk about at the <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/09/blogs-beer-and-bulgaria/\" target=\"_blank\">blog meet-up event</a> in Bulgarian and that\'s when I realized that the only words I know about computers/the internet/blogging are English words with a similar Bulgarian pronunciation. I was totally okay with this realization. It was the one that followed that I disliked.\r\n\r\nI thought: <em>Huna</em>. The words I use the most are all similar to their English counterpart. Enter: coffee and кафе (kafe), tomatoes and домати (domati), bus and автобус (aftobus), scarf and шал (shal), to read and чета (cheta), to make and правя (pravya). Only by the time I got to the verbs did I realize: I am nuts. The Bulgarian verbs are actually in no way shape or form related to the English verbs. I\'ve just used the words so much that I\'ve matched them up with their English language counterpart and now they come without thinking too much about it leading me to think they are they same when they aren\'t.\r\n\r\nSo there you have it: when you stop to think about it, minds are amazing. And learning a language is hard work but worth it.','Learning a Language is Hard Work','','publish','open','open','','learning-a-language-is-hard-work','','','2011-06-11 08:25:41','2011-06-11 06:25:41','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=5053',0,'post','',7),(5021,1,'2011-06-10 06:08:39','2011-06-10 04:08:39','After my <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/03/why-did-i-choose-bulgaria/\" target=\"_blank\">earlier post</a>, I\'ve been thinking a lot about the question:<em> why Bulgaria? </em>\r\n\r\nThis question and my post made me realize this: if I had to do it all over again, I\'d choose Bulgaria again. Only knowing what I know now, my reasons for picking Bulgaria would be different.\r\n\r\nOften it\'s easier to say what Bulgaria is not rather than what Bulgaria is. Bulgaria is not Vienna. Bulgaria is not Rome. Bulgaria is part of the European Union but don\'t confuse this with meaning Bulgaria is Western European. Bulgaria is not part of some romanticized European tradition of the Grand Tour.\r\n\r\nSofia doesn\'t have a single main square like Prague or Krakaw. Sofia doesn\'t have a river of any merit unlike Budapest the Danube cuts between Romania and Bulgaria rather than Buda and Pest. Sofia doesn\'t have a clearly defined or demarcated old town like Dubrovnik, Ljubljana or Bratislava. The Sofia doesn\'t have access to American\'s poetic memory--no one can imagine walking the streets of Sofia at dusk as one can in Paris under the long shadow of the Eiffel Tower.\r\n\r\nStill, given the opportunity, I\'d pick Bulgaria again. I didn\'t move to Europe to trace the footsteps of Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein or Ezra Pound (you\'d better head straight to Paris for that). No, I moved to experience first hand a new culture (and everything that comes with it), to push myself to learn a new language and rather perversely to see if I could do it.<!--more-->\r\n\r\nOnly given a second chance, I\'d pick Bulgaria again for the human element. What do I mean by that? Well, here it comes. It\'s the people. Especially my friends, colleagues and students not as much the surly waiters or grumpy women selling bus or train tickets. It\'s the language and the alphabet. Especially these letters  that I never knew I needed: я, ч, ш, щ, ж, и and a little less these two letters which I generally dislike: ь, ю. It\'s the food and rakiya. Two things which I especially like.\r\n\r\nSure you can find these things in any country--that is food, a foreign language and people but in my mind it\'s relatively easy to connect to these things in Bulgaria. I guess the difference in my mind is this, it\'s easy to be a tourist in much of Western Europe. There are signs in an alphabet that you can make out on the street, well translated English language menus, English language speakers in museums, public transportation that\'s simple and quick and a well-established network which supports tourism. It\'s harder to be a tourist in Bulgaria but the trade off is that you have to try new things, you have to test out the language, you have to stop and ask people for directions, you have to order unexpected things off of menus because who knows what a \"snowwhite salad\" will be?\r\n\r\nOh and did I mention that stereotype about Eastern Europeans being cold, unfriendly and standoffish? It is, <em>surprise, surprise</em>, totally false. I\'ve never had my cheeks pinched so much by older men and women that I barely know as I have in Bulgaria. Sure, I think that they don\'t fully know what to make of me and in the beginning I didn\'t know much Bulgaria but that\'s okay--a cheek pinch lets you know that people think you are cute, funny and a little crazy. Along the same line, I\'ve basically stopped shaking people\'s hands and instead I\'ve picked up the cheek-kiss. The cheek-kiss is really a much nicer habit.\r\n<ul></ul>\r\nAnyhow guide book can show you tourist sites. It can give you history. It can help you get started exploring a city (or a country) but the thing a guide book can never really capture or fully realize is this human element. Hell, I don\'t even think that I can capture it.  Here\'s what I can definitively tell you: Bulgaria is more than just a stop on the way to Turkey or Greece.','Why I\'d Pick Bulgaria again','','publish','open','open','','why-id-pick-bulgaria-again','','','2011-06-10 06:08:39','2011-06-10 04:08:39','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=5021',0,'post','',6),(5022,1,'2011-06-03 10:06:38','2011-06-03 08:06:38','After my earlier post, I\'ve been thinking a lot about the question:<em> why Bulgaria? </em>\n\nThis question and my post made me realize this: if I had to do it all over again, I\'d choose Bulgaria again. Only knowing what I know now, my <em>\n</em>','Why I\'d Pick Bulgaria again','','inherit','open','open','','5021-revision','','','2011-06-03 10:06:38','2011-06-03 08:06:38','',5021,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/03/5021-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(5023,1,'2011-06-03 10:10:19','2011-06-03 08:10:19','After my earlier post, I\'ve been thinking a lot about the question:<em> why Bulgaria? </em>\n\nThis question and my post made me realize this: if I had to do it all over again, I\'d choose Bulgaria again. Only knowing what I know now, my reasons for picking Bulgaria would be different. <em>\n</em>','Why I\'d Pick Bulgaria again','','inherit','open','open','','5021-revision-2','','','2011-06-03 10:10:19','2011-06-03 08:10:19','',5021,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/03/5021-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0);
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (5024,1,'2011-06-04 11:02:49','2011-06-04 09:02:49','Yesterday we had a party to celebrate a very late St George\'s Day at school. It\'s a super fun tradition that we have at ACS. In November, the Americans make Thanksgiving Dinner for our Bulgarian colleagues and in June our Bulgarian colleagues throw a St George\'s Day party for us.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5026\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Celebrating St George&#39;s Day\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5026\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/04/a-late-st-georges-day-party/dsc02571/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5026 \" title=\"Celebrating St George\'s Day\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02571-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nHere\'s the gist of the party: eat Bulgarian food (lamb, spring potatoes, shopska salad and rice with entrails), play a bunch of silly games, dance the horo.\r\n\r\nI had a great time. Even even despite the fact that I got kicked in the head playing one of the games.<!--more-->\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5029\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"After Winning Leap Frog\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5029\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/04/a-late-st-georges-day-party/dsc02572/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5029 \" title=\"After Winning Leap Frog\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02572-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nYep. During a Bulgarian game which is a modified version of leap-frog, one of my teammates kicked me in the head. Luckily we beat the other team we were playing so that made it totally okay.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5032\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"323\" caption=\"Me &amp; V.\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5032\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/04/a-late-st-georges-day-party/dsc02564/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5032  \" title=\"Me &amp; V. \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02564-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"323\" height=\"430\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nFor playing the game we were given these beautiful but extremely fragrant wreaths to wear around our necks.  As you can see in the picture below, there\'s a little bell attached to the wreath so I spent the rest of the night walking around sounding vaguely like a baby sheep. Or a cow or maybe even a goat but neither of those are as cute an image as a baby sheep.\r\n\r\nI ran into my good friend V. She\'s 5 now and I am happy to report that it\'s much, much easier to understand her Bulgarian now that she\'s older. She\'s still super-cute and spent a large part of the night wearing a little traditional Bulgarian folk costume.\r\n\r\nAfter the games, we danced to both pop music and traditional Bulgarian music.\r\n\r\nMost of the day rain was threatening--I am happy to report that it never opened up and rained--but we did experience a few stretches of drizzling rain. That\'s okay though because dancing the horo is so much fun the weather doesn\'t really matter.\r\n\r\nAnd that my friends was our St. George\'s Day party!!','A Late St George\'s Day Party ','','publish','open','open','','a-late-st-georges-day-party','','','2011-06-04 11:02:49','2011-06-04 09:02:49','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=5024',0,'post','',2),(5025,1,'2011-06-04 10:39:33','2011-06-04 08:39:33','Yesterday we had a party to celebrate a very late St George\'s Day at school. It\'s a super fun tradition that we have at ACS. In November, the Americans make Thanksgiving Dinner for our Bulgarian colleagues and in June our Bulgarian colleagues throw a St George\'s Day party for us.\n\nHere\'s the gist of the party: eat Bulgarian food (lamb, spring potatoes, shopska salad and rice with entrails), play a bunch of silly games, dance the horo.\n\nI had a great time. Even even despite the fact that I got kicked in the head playing one of the games.\n\nYep. During a Bulgarian game which is a modified version of leap-frog, one of my teammates kicked me in the head. Luckily we beat the other team we were playing so that made it totally okay.\n\nFor playing the game we were given these beautiful but extremely fragrant wreaths to wear around our necks.  As you can see in the picture below, there\'s a little bell attached to the wreath so I spent the rest of the night walking around sounding vaguely like a baby sheep. Or a cow or maybe even a goat but neither of those are as cute an image as a baby sheep.\n\nI ran into my good friend V. She\'s 5 now and I am happy to report that it\'s much, much easier to understand her Bulgarian now that she\'s older. She\'s still super-cute and spent a large part of the night wearing a little traditional Bulgarian folk costume.\n\nAfter the games, we danced to both pop music and traditional Bulgarian music.\n\nMost of the day rain was threatening--I am happy to report that it never opened up and rained--but we did experience a few stretches of drizzling rain. That\'s okay though because dancing the horo is so much fun the weather doesn\'t really matter.\n\nAnd that my friends was our St. George\'s Day party!!','A Late St George\'s Day Party ','','inherit','open','open','','5024-revision','','','2011-06-04 10:39:33','2011-06-04 08:39:33','',5024,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/04/5024-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(5026,1,'2011-06-04 10:46:49','2011-06-04 08:46:49','','Celebrating St George\'s Day','Celebrating St George\'s Day','inherit','open','open','','dsc02571','','','2011-06-04 10:46:49','2011-06-04 08:46:49','',5024,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02571.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(5027,1,'2011-06-04 10:48:38','2011-06-04 08:48:38','Yesterday we had a party to celebrate a very late St George\'s Day at school. It\'s a super fun tradition that we have at ACS. In November, the Americans make Thanksgiving Dinner for our Bulgarian colleagues and in June our Bulgarian colleagues throw a St George\'s Day party for us.\n\nHere\'s the gist of the party: eat Bulgarian food (lamb, spring potatoes, shopska salad and rice with entrails), play a bunch of silly games, dance the horo.\n\nI had a great time. Even even despite the fact that I got kicked in the head playing one of the games.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_5026\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Celebrating St George&#39;s Day\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5026\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5026\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5026 \" title=\"Celebrating St George\'s Day\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02571-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nYep. During a Bulgarian game which is a modified version of leap-frog, one of my teammates kicked me in the head. Luckily we beat the other team we were playing so that made it totally okay.\n\nFor playing the game we were given these beautiful but extremely fragrant wreaths to wear around our necks.  As you can see in the picture below, there\'s a little bell attached to the wreath so I spent the rest of the night walking around sounding vaguely like a baby sheep. Or a cow or maybe even a goat but neither of those are as cute an image as a baby sheep.\n\nI ran into my good friend V. She\'s 5 now and I am happy to report that it\'s much, much easier to understand her Bulgarian now that she\'s older. She\'s still super-cute and spent a large part of the night wearing a little traditional Bulgarian folk costume.\n\nAfter the games, we danced to both pop music and traditional Bulgarian music.\n\nMost of the day rain was threatening--I am happy to report that it never opened up and rained--but we did experience a few stretches of drizzling rain. That\'s okay though because dancing the horo is so much fun the weather doesn\'t really matter.\n\nAnd that my friends was our St. George\'s Day party!!','A Late St George\'s Day Party ','','inherit','open','open','','5024-revision-2','','','2011-06-04 10:48:38','2011-06-04 08:48:38','',5024,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/04/5024-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(5028,1,'2011-06-04 10:51:55','2011-06-04 08:51:55','Yesterday we had a party to celebrate a very late St George\'s Day at school. It\'s a super fun tradition that we have at ACS. In November, the Americans make Thanksgiving Dinner for our Bulgarian colleagues and in June our Bulgarian colleagues throw a St George\'s Day party for us.\r\n\r\nHere\'s the gist of the party: eat Bulgarian food (lamb, spring potatoes, shopska salad and rice with entrails), play a bunch of silly games, dance the horo.\r\n\r\nI had a great time. Even even despite the fact that I got kicked in the head playing one of the games.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5026\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Celebrating St George&#39;s Day\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5026\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5026\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5026 \" title=\"Celebrating St George\'s Day\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02571-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nYep. During a Bulgarian game which is a modified version of leap-frog, one of my teammates kicked me in the head. Luckily we beat the other team we were playing so that made it totally okay.\r\n\r\nFor playing the game we were given these beautiful but extremely fragrant wreaths to wear around our necks.  As you can see in the picture below, there\'s a little bell attached to the wreath so I spent the rest of the night walking around sounding vaguely like a baby sheep. Or a cow or maybe even a goat but neither of those are as cute an image as a baby sheep.\r\n\r\nI ran into my good friend V. She\'s 5 now and I am happy to report that it\'s much, much easier to understand her Bulgarian now that she\'s older. She\'s still super-cute and spent a large part of the night wearing a little traditional Bulgarian folk costume.\r\n\r\nAfter the games, we danced to both pop music and traditional Bulgarian music.\r\n\r\nMost of the day rain was threatening--I am happy to report that it never opened up and rained--but we did experience a few stretches of drizzling rain. That\'s okay though because dancing the horo is so much fun the weather doesn\'t really matter.\r\n\r\nAnd that my friends was our St. George\'s Day party!!','A Late St George\'s Day Party ','','inherit','open','open','','5024-revision-3','','','2011-06-04 10:51:55','2011-06-04 08:51:55','',5024,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/04/5024-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(5029,1,'2011-06-04 10:53:50','2011-06-04 08:53:50','','After Winning Leap Frog','After Winning Leap Frog','inherit','open','open','','dsc02572','','','2011-06-04 10:53:50','2011-06-04 08:53:50','',5024,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02572.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(5030,1,'2011-06-04 10:51:55','2011-06-04 08:51:55','Yesterday we had a party to celebrate a very late St George\'s Day at school. It\'s a super fun tradition that we have at ACS. In November, the Americans make Thanksgiving Dinner for our Bulgarian colleagues and in June our Bulgarian colleagues throw a St George\'s Day party for us.\r\n\r\nHere\'s the gist of the party: eat Bulgarian food (lamb, spring potatoes, shopska salad and rice with entrails), play a bunch of silly games, dance the horo.\r\n\r\nI had a great time. Even even despite the fact that I got kicked in the head playing one of the games.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5026\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Celebrating St George&#39;s Day\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5026\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5026\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5026 \" title=\"Celebrating St George\'s Day\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02571-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nYep. During a Bulgarian game which is a modified version of leap-frog, one of my teammates kicked me in the head. Luckily we beat the other team we were playing so that made it totally okay.\r\n\r\nFor playing the game we were given these beautiful but extremely fragrant wreaths to wear around our necks.  As you can see in the picture below, there\'s a little bell attached to the wreath so I spent the rest of the night walking around sounding vaguely like a baby sheep. Or a cow or maybe even a goat but neither of those are as cute an image as a baby sheep.\r\n\r\nI ran into my good friend V. She\'s 5 now and I am happy to report that it\'s much, much easier to understand her Bulgarian now that she\'s older. She\'s still super-cute and spent a large part of the night wearing a little traditional Bulgarian folk costume.\r\n\r\nAfter the games, we danced to both pop music and traditional Bulgarian music.\r\n\r\nMost of the day rain was threatening--I am happy to report that it never opened up and rained--but we did experience a few stretches of drizzling rain. That\'s okay though because dancing the horo is so much fun the weather doesn\'t really matter.\r\n\r\nAnd that my friends was our St. George\'s Day party!!','A Late St George\'s Day Party ','','inherit','open','open','','5024-revision-4','','','2011-06-04 10:51:55','2011-06-04 08:51:55','',5024,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/04/5024-revision-4/',0,'revision','',0),(5031,1,'2011-06-04 10:54:54','2011-06-04 08:54:54','Yesterday we had a party to celebrate a very late St George\'s Day at school. It\'s a super fun tradition that we have at ACS. In November, the Americans make Thanksgiving Dinner for our Bulgarian colleagues and in June our Bulgarian colleagues throw a St George\'s Day party for us.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5026\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Celebrating St George&#39;s Day\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5026\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5026\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5026 \" title=\"Celebrating St George\'s Day\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02571-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nHere\'s the gist of the party: eat Bulgarian food (lamb, spring potatoes, shopska salad and rice with entrails), play a bunch of silly games, dance the horo.\r\n\r\nI had a great time. Even even despite the fact that I got kicked in the head playing one of the games.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5029\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"After Winning Leap Frog\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5029\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5029\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5029 \" title=\"After Winning Leap Frog\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02572-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nYep. During a Bulgarian game which is a modified version of leap-frog, one of my teammates kicked me in the head. Luckily we beat the other team we were playing so that made it totally okay.\r\n\r\nFor playing the game we were given these beautiful but extremely fragrant wreaths to wear around our necks.  As you can see in the picture below, there\'s a little bell attached to the wreath so I spent the rest of the night walking around sounding vaguely like a baby sheep. Or a cow or maybe even a goat but neither of those are as cute an image as a baby sheep.\r\n\r\nI ran into my good friend V. She\'s 5 now and I am happy to report that it\'s much, much easier to understand her Bulgarian now that she\'s older. She\'s still super-cute and spent a large part of the night wearing a little traditional Bulgarian folk costume.\r\n\r\nAfter the games, we danced to both pop music and traditional Bulgarian music.\r\n\r\nMost of the day rain was threatening--I am happy to report that it never opened up and rained--but we did experience a few stretches of drizzling rain. That\'s okay though because dancing the horo is so much fun the weather doesn\'t really matter.\r\n\r\nAnd that my friends was our St. George\'s Day party!!','A Late St George\'s Day Party ','','inherit','open','open','','5024-revision-5','','','2011-06-04 10:54:54','2011-06-04 08:54:54','',5024,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/04/5024-revision-5/',0,'revision','',0),(5032,1,'2011-06-04 10:56:00','2011-06-04 08:56:00','','Me & V. ','Me & V.','inherit','open','open','','dsc02564','','','2011-06-04 10:56:00','2011-06-04 08:56:00','',5024,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02564.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(5033,1,'2011-06-04 10:54:54','2011-06-04 08:54:54','Yesterday we had a party to celebrate a very late St George\'s Day at school. It\'s a super fun tradition that we have at ACS. In November, the Americans make Thanksgiving Dinner for our Bulgarian colleagues and in June our Bulgarian colleagues throw a St George\'s Day party for us.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5026\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Celebrating St George&#39;s Day\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5026\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5026\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5026 \" title=\"Celebrating St George\'s Day\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02571-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nHere\'s the gist of the party: eat Bulgarian food (lamb, spring potatoes, shopska salad and rice with entrails), play a bunch of silly games, dance the horo.\r\n\r\nI had a great time. Even even despite the fact that I got kicked in the head playing one of the games.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5029\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"After Winning Leap Frog\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5029\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5029\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5029 \" title=\"After Winning Leap Frog\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02572-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nYep. During a Bulgarian game which is a modified version of leap-frog, one of my teammates kicked me in the head. Luckily we beat the other team we were playing so that made it totally okay.\r\n\r\nFor playing the game we were given these beautiful but extremely fragrant wreaths to wear around our necks.  As you can see in the picture below, there\'s a little bell attached to the wreath so I spent the rest of the night walking around sounding vaguely like a baby sheep. Or a cow or maybe even a goat but neither of those are as cute an image as a baby sheep.\r\n\r\nI ran into my good friend V. She\'s 5 now and I am happy to report that it\'s much, much easier to understand her Bulgarian now that she\'s older. She\'s still super-cute and spent a large part of the night wearing a little traditional Bulgarian folk costume.\r\n\r\nAfter the games, we danced to both pop music and traditional Bulgarian music.\r\n\r\nMost of the day rain was threatening--I am happy to report that it never opened up and rained--but we did experience a few stretches of drizzling rain. That\'s okay though because dancing the horo is so much fun the weather doesn\'t really matter.\r\n\r\nAnd that my friends was our St. George\'s Day party!!','A Late St George\'s Day Party ','','inherit','open','open','','5024-revision-6','','','2011-06-04 10:54:54','2011-06-04 08:54:54','',5024,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/04/5024-revision-6/',0,'revision','',0),(5034,1,'2011-06-04 10:58:37','2011-06-04 08:58:37','Yesterday we had a party to celebrate a very late St George\'s Day at school. It\'s a super fun tradition that we have at ACS. In November, the Americans make Thanksgiving Dinner for our Bulgarian colleagues and in June our Bulgarian colleagues throw a St George\'s Day party for us.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5026\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Celebrating St George&#39;s Day\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5026\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5026\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5026 \" title=\"Celebrating St George\'s Day\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02571-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nHere\'s the gist of the party: eat Bulgarian food (lamb, spring potatoes, shopska salad and rice with entrails), play a bunch of silly games, dance the horo.\r\n\r\nI had a great time. Even even despite the fact that I got kicked in the head playing one of the games.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5029\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"After Winning Leap Frog\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5029\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5029\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5029 \" title=\"After Winning Leap Frog\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02572-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nYep. During a Bulgarian game which is a modified version of leap-frog, one of my teammates kicked me in the head. Luckily we beat the other team we were playing so that made it totally okay.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5032\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"461\" caption=\"Me &amp; V.\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5032\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5032\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5032 \" title=\"Me &amp; V. \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02564-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"461\" height=\"614\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nFor playing the game we were given these beautiful but extremely fragrant wreaths to wear around our necks.  As you can see in the picture below, there\'s a little bell attached to the wreath so I spent the rest of the night walking around sounding vaguely like a baby sheep. Or a cow or maybe even a goat but neither of those are as cute an image as a baby sheep.\r\n\r\nI ran into my good friend V. She\'s 5 now and I am happy to report that it\'s much, much easier to understand her Bulgarian now that she\'s older. She\'s still super-cute and spent a large part of the night wearing a little traditional Bulgarian folk costume.\r\n\r\nAfter the games, we danced to both pop music and traditional Bulgarian music.\r\n\r\nMost of the day rain was threatening--I am happy to report that it never opened up and rained--but we did experience a few stretches of drizzling rain. That\'s okay though because dancing the horo is so much fun the weather doesn\'t really matter.\r\n\r\nAnd that my friends was our St. George\'s Day party!!','A Late St George\'s Day Party ','','inherit','open','open','','5024-revision-7','','','2011-06-04 10:58:37','2011-06-04 08:58:37','',5024,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/04/5024-revision-7/',0,'revision','',0),(5035,1,'2011-06-04 10:58:38','2011-06-04 08:58:38','Yesterday we had a party to celebrate a very late St George\'s Day at school. It\'s a super fun tradition that we have at ACS. In November, the Americans make Thanksgiving Dinner for our Bulgarian colleagues and in June our Bulgarian colleagues throw a St George\'s Day party for us.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5026\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Celebrating St George&#39;s Day\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5026\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5026\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5026 \" title=\"Celebrating St George\'s Day\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02571-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nHere\'s the gist of the party: eat Bulgarian food (lamb, spring potatoes, shopska salad and rice with entrails), play a bunch of silly games, dance the horo.\r\n\r\nI had a great time. Even even despite the fact that I got kicked in the head playing one of the games.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5029\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"After Winning Leap Frog\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5029\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5029\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5029 \" title=\"After Winning Leap Frog\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02572-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nYep. During a Bulgarian game which is a modified version of leap-frog, one of my teammates kicked me in the head. Luckily we beat the other team we were playing so that made it totally okay.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5032\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"461\" caption=\"Me &amp; V.\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5032\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5032\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5032 \" title=\"Me &amp; V. \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02564-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"461\" height=\"614\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nFor playing the game we were given these beautiful but extremely fragrant wreaths to wear around our necks.  As you can see in the picture below, there\'s a little bell attached to the wreath so I spent the rest of the night walking around sounding vaguely like a baby sheep. Or a cow or maybe even a goat but neither of those are as cute an image as a baby sheep.\r\n\r\nI ran into my good friend V. She\'s 5 now and I am happy to report that it\'s much, much easier to understand her Bulgarian now that she\'s older. She\'s still super-cute and spent a large part of the night wearing a little traditional Bulgarian folk costume.\r\n\r\nAfter the games, we danced to both pop music and traditional Bulgarian music.\r\n\r\nMost of the day rain was threatening--I am happy to report that it never opened up and rained--but we did experience a few stretches of drizzling rain. That\'s okay though because dancing the horo is so much fun the weather doesn\'t really matter.\r\n\r\nAnd that my friends was our St. George\'s Day party!!','A Late St George\'s Day Party ','','inherit','open','open','','5024-revision-8','','','2011-06-04 10:58:38','2011-06-04 08:58:38','',5024,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/04/5024-revision-8/',0,'revision','',0),(5036,1,'2011-06-04 10:58:38','2011-06-04 08:58:38','Yesterday we had a party to celebrate a very late St George\'s Day at school. It\'s a super fun tradition that we have at ACS. In November, the Americans make Thanksgiving Dinner for our Bulgarian colleagues and in June our Bulgarian colleagues throw a St George\'s Day party for us.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5026\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Celebrating St George&#39;s Day\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5026\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5026\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5026 \" title=\"Celebrating St George\'s Day\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02571-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nHere\'s the gist of the party: eat Bulgarian food (lamb, spring potatoes, shopska salad and rice with entrails), play a bunch of silly games, dance the horo.\r\n\r\nI had a great time. Even even despite the fact that I got kicked in the head playing one of the games.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5029\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"After Winning Leap Frog\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5029\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5029\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5029 \" title=\"After Winning Leap Frog\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02572-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nYep. During a Bulgarian game which is a modified version of leap-frog, one of my teammates kicked me in the head. Luckily we beat the other team we were playing so that made it totally okay.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5032\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"461\" caption=\"Me &amp; V.\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5032\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5032\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5032 \" title=\"Me &amp; V. \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02564-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"461\" height=\"614\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nFor playing the game we were given these beautiful but extremely fragrant wreaths to wear around our necks.  As you can see in the picture below, there\'s a little bell attached to the wreath so I spent the rest of the night walking around sounding vaguely like a baby sheep. Or a cow or maybe even a goat but neither of those are as cute an image as a baby sheep.\r\n\r\nI ran into my good friend V. She\'s 5 now and I am happy to report that it\'s much, much easier to understand her Bulgarian now that she\'s older. She\'s still super-cute and spent a large part of the night wearing a little traditional Bulgarian folk costume.\r\n\r\nAfter the games, we danced to both pop music and traditional Bulgarian music.\r\n\r\nMost of the day rain was threatening--I am happy to report that it never opened up and rained--but we did experience a few stretches of drizzling rain. That\'s okay though because dancing the horo is so much fun the weather doesn\'t really matter.\r\n\r\nAnd that my friends was our St. George\'s Day party!!','A Late St George\'s Day Party ','','inherit','open','open','','5024-revision-9','','','2011-06-04 10:58:38','2011-06-04 08:58:38','',5024,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/04/5024-revision-9/',0,'revision','',0),(5037,1,'2011-06-04 10:59:45','2011-06-04 08:59:45','Yesterday we had a party to celebrate a very late St George\'s Day at school. It\'s a super fun tradition that we have at ACS. In November, the Americans make Thanksgiving Dinner for our Bulgarian colleagues and in June our Bulgarian colleagues throw a St George\'s Day party for us.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_5026\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Celebrating St George&#39;s Day\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5026\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5026\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5026 \" title=\"Celebrating St George\'s Day\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02571-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nHere\'s the gist of the party: eat Bulgarian food (lamb, spring potatoes, shopska salad and rice with entrails), play a bunch of silly games, dance the horo.\n\nI had a great time. Even even despite the fact that I got kicked in the head playing one of the games.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_5029\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"After Winning Leap Frog\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5029\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5029\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5029 \" title=\"After Winning Leap Frog\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02572-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nYep. During a Bulgarian game which is a modified version of leap-frog, one of my teammates kicked me in the head. Luckily we beat the other team we were playing so that made it totally okay.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_5032\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"323\" caption=\"Me &amp; V.\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5032\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5032\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5032  \" title=\"Me &amp; V. \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02564-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"323\" height=\"430\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nFor playing the game we were given these beautiful but extremely fragrant wreaths to wear around our necks.  As you can see in the picture below, there\'s a little bell attached to the wreath so I spent the rest of the night walking around sounding vaguely like a baby sheep. Or a cow or maybe even a goat but neither of those are as cute an image as a baby sheep.\n\nI ran into my good friend V. She\'s 5 now and I am happy to report that it\'s much, much easier to understand her Bulgarian now that she\'s older. She\'s still super-cute and spent a large part of the night wearing a little traditional Bulgarian folk costume.\n\nAfter the games, we danced to both pop music and traditional Bulgarian music.\n\nMost of the day rain was threatening--I am happy to report that it never opened up and rained--but we did experience a few stretches of drizzling rain. That\'s okay though because dancing the horo is so much fun the weather doesn\'t really matter.\n\nAnd that my friends was our St. George\'s Day party!!','A Late St George\'s Day Party ','','inherit','open','open','','5024-revision-10','','','2011-06-04 10:59:45','2011-06-04 08:59:45','',5024,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/04/5024-revision-10/',0,'revision','',0),(5038,1,'2011-06-04 10:59:49','2011-06-04 08:59:49','Yesterday we had a party to celebrate a very late St George\'s Day at school. It\'s a super fun tradition that we have at ACS. In November, the Americans make Thanksgiving Dinner for our Bulgarian colleagues and in June our Bulgarian colleagues throw a St George\'s Day party for us.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5026\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Celebrating St George&#39;s Day\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5026\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5026\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5026 \" title=\"Celebrating St George\'s Day\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02571-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nHere\'s the gist of the party: eat Bulgarian food (lamb, spring potatoes, shopska salad and rice with entrails), play a bunch of silly games, dance the horo.\r\n\r\nI had a great time. Even even despite the fact that I got kicked in the head playing one of the games.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5029\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"After Winning Leap Frog\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5029\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5029\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5029 \" title=\"After Winning Leap Frog\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02572-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nYep. During a Bulgarian game which is a modified version of leap-frog, one of my teammates kicked me in the head. Luckily we beat the other team we were playing so that made it totally okay.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5032\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"323\" caption=\"Me &amp; V.\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5032\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5032\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5032  \" title=\"Me &amp; V. \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02564-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"323\" height=\"430\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nFor playing the game we were given these beautiful but extremely fragrant wreaths to wear around our necks.  As you can see in the picture below, there\'s a little bell attached to the wreath so I spent the rest of the night walking around sounding vaguely like a baby sheep. Or a cow or maybe even a goat but neither of those are as cute an image as a baby sheep.\r\n\r\nI ran into my good friend V. She\'s 5 now and I am happy to report that it\'s much, much easier to understand her Bulgarian now that she\'s older. She\'s still super-cute and spent a large part of the night wearing a little traditional Bulgarian folk costume.\r\n\r\nAfter the games, we danced to both pop music and traditional Bulgarian music.\r\n\r\nMost of the day rain was threatening--I am happy to report that it never opened up and rained--but we did experience a few stretches of drizzling rain. That\'s okay though because dancing the horo is so much fun the weather doesn\'t really matter.\r\n\r\nAnd that my friends was our St. George\'s Day party!!','A Late St George\'s Day Party ','','inherit','open','open','','5024-revision-11','','','2011-06-04 10:59:49','2011-06-04 08:59:49','',5024,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/04/5024-revision-11/',0,'revision','',0),(5039,1,'2011-06-04 10:59:49','2011-06-04 08:59:49','Yesterday we had a party to celebrate a very late St George\'s Day at school. It\'s a super fun tradition that we have at ACS. In November, the Americans make Thanksgiving Dinner for our Bulgarian colleagues and in June our Bulgarian colleagues throw a St George\'s Day party for us.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5026\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Celebrating St George&#39;s Day\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5026\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5026\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5026 \" title=\"Celebrating St George\'s Day\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02571-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nHere\'s the gist of the party: eat Bulgarian food (lamb, spring potatoes, shopska salad and rice with entrails), play a bunch of silly games, dance the horo.\r\n\r\nI had a great time. Even even despite the fact that I got kicked in the head playing one of the games.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5029\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"After Winning Leap Frog\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5029\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5029\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5029 \" title=\"After Winning Leap Frog\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02572-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nYep. During a Bulgarian game which is a modified version of leap-frog, one of my teammates kicked me in the head. Luckily we beat the other team we were playing so that made it totally okay.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5032\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"323\" caption=\"Me &amp; V.\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5032\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5032\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5032  \" title=\"Me &amp; V. \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02564-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"323\" height=\"430\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nFor playing the game we were given these beautiful but extremely fragrant wreaths to wear around our necks.  As you can see in the picture below, there\'s a little bell attached to the wreath so I spent the rest of the night walking around sounding vaguely like a baby sheep. Or a cow or maybe even a goat but neither of those are as cute an image as a baby sheep.\r\n\r\nI ran into my good friend V. She\'s 5 now and I am happy to report that it\'s much, much easier to understand her Bulgarian now that she\'s older. She\'s still super-cute and spent a large part of the night wearing a little traditional Bulgarian folk costume.\r\n\r\nAfter the games, we danced to both pop music and traditional Bulgarian music.\r\n\r\nMost of the day rain was threatening--I am happy to report that it never opened up and rained--but we did experience a few stretches of drizzling rain. That\'s okay though because dancing the horo is so much fun the weather doesn\'t really matter.\r\n\r\nAnd that my friends was our St. George\'s Day party!!','A Late St George\'s Day Party ','','inherit','open','open','','5024-revision-12','','','2011-06-04 10:59:49','2011-06-04 08:59:49','',5024,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/04/5024-revision-12/',0,'revision','',0),(5040,1,'2011-06-04 11:02:49','2011-06-04 09:02:49','Yesterday we had a party to celebrate a very late St George\'s Day at school. It\'s a super fun tradition that we have at ACS. In November, the Americans make Thanksgiving Dinner for our Bulgarian colleagues and in June our Bulgarian colleagues throw a St George\'s Day party for us.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5026\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Celebrating St George&#39;s Day\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5026\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5026\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5026 \" title=\"Celebrating St George\'s Day\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02571-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nHere\'s the gist of the party: eat Bulgarian food (lamb, spring potatoes, shopska salad and rice with entrails), play a bunch of silly games, dance the horo.\r\n\r\nI had a great time. Even even despite the fact that I got kicked in the head playing one of the games.<!--more-->\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5029\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"After Winning Leap Frog\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5029\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5029\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5029 \" title=\"After Winning Leap Frog\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02572-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nYep. During a Bulgarian game which is a modified version of leap-frog, one of my teammates kicked me in the head. Luckily we beat the other team we were playing so that made it totally okay.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5032\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"323\" caption=\"Me &amp; V.\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5032\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5032\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5032  \" title=\"Me &amp; V. \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02564-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"323\" height=\"430\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nFor playing the game we were given these beautiful but extremely fragrant wreaths to wear around our necks.  As you can see in the picture below, there\'s a little bell attached to the wreath so I spent the rest of the night walking around sounding vaguely like a baby sheep. Or a cow or maybe even a goat but neither of those are as cute an image as a baby sheep.\r\n\r\nI ran into my good friend V. She\'s 5 now and I am happy to report that it\'s much, much easier to understand her Bulgarian now that she\'s older. She\'s still super-cute and spent a large part of the night wearing a little traditional Bulgarian folk costume.\r\n\r\nAfter the games, we danced to both pop music and traditional Bulgarian music.\r\n\r\nMost of the day rain was threatening--I am happy to report that it never opened up and rained--but we did experience a few stretches of drizzling rain. That\'s okay though because dancing the horo is so much fun the weather doesn\'t really matter.\r\n\r\nAnd that my friends was our St. George\'s Day party!!','A Late St George\'s Day Party ','','inherit','open','open','','5024-revision-13','','','2011-06-04 11:02:49','2011-06-04 09:02:49','',5024,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/04/5024-revision-13/',0,'revision','',0),(5041,1,'2011-06-04 11:03:57','2011-06-04 09:03:57','Yesterday we had a party to celebrate a very late St George\'s Day at school. It\'s a super fun tradition that we have at ACS. In November, the Americans make Thanksgiving Dinner for our Bulgarian colleagues and in June our Bulgarian colleagues throw a St George\'s Day party for us.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_5026\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Celebrating St George&#39;s Day\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5026\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/04/a-late-st-georges-day-party/dsc02571/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5026 \" title=\"Celebrating St George\'s Day\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02571-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nHere\'s the gist of the party: eat Bulgarian food (lamb, spring potatoes, shopska salad and rice with entrails), play a bunch of silly games, dance the horo.\n\nI had a great time. Even even despite the fact that I got kicked in the head playing one of the games.<!--more-->\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_5029\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"After Winning Leap Frog\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5029\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/04/a-late-st-georges-day-party/dsc02572/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5029 \" title=\"After Winning Leap Frog\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02572-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nYep. During a Bulgarian game which is a modified version of leap-frog, one of my teammates kicked me in the head. Luckily we beat the other team we were playing so that made it totally okay.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_5032\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"323\" caption=\"Me &amp; V.\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5032\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/04/a-late-st-georges-day-party/dsc02564/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5032  \" title=\"Me &amp; V. \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02564-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"323\" height=\"430\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nFor playing the game we were given these beautiful but extremely fragrant wreaths to wear around our necks.  As you can see in the picture below, there\'s a little bell attached to the wreath so I spent the rest of the night walking around sounding vaguely like a baby sheep. Or a cow or maybe even a goat but neither of those are as cute an image as a baby sheep.\n\nI ran into my good friend V. She\'s 5 now and I am happy to report that it\'s much, much easier to understand her Bulgarian now that she\'s older. She\'s still super-cute and spent a large part of the night wearing a little traditional Bulgarian folk costume.\n\nAfter the games, we danced to both pop music and traditional Bulgarian music.\n\nMost of the day rain was threatening--I am happy to report that it never opened up and rained--but we did experience a few stretches of drizzling rain. That\'s okay though because dancing the horo is so much fun the weather doesn\'t really matter.\n\nAnd that my friends was our St. George\'s Day party!!','A Late St George\'s Day Party ','','inherit','open','open','','5024-autosave','','','2011-06-04 11:03:57','2011-06-04 09:03:57','',5024,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/04/5024-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(5042,1,'2011-06-05 08:23:33','2011-06-05 06:23:33','After my <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/03/why-did-i-choose-bulgaria/\" target=\"_blank\">earlier post</a>, I\'ve been thinking a lot about the question:<em> why Bulgaria? </em>\n\nThis question and my post made me realize this: if I had to do it all over again, I\'d choose Bulgaria again. Only knowing what I know now, my reasons for picking Bulgaria would be different.\n\nOften it\'s easier to say what Bulgaria is not rather than what Bulgaria is. Bulgaria is not Paris. Bulgaria is not Rome. Bulgaria is part of the European Union but don\'t confuse this with meaning Bulgaria is Western European. Bulgaria is not part of some romanticized European tradition of the Grand Tour.\n\nSofia doesn\'t have a single main square like Prague or Krakaw. Sofia doesn\'t have a river of any merit like Berlin, Paris or Moscow. Sofia doesn\'t have a clearly defined or demarcated old town like Dubrovnik, Ljubljana or\n\nI\'d pick Bulgaria because of the people (my friends, colleagues and students not the surly waiters or grumpy women selling bus or train tickets), the language, the food, <em>\n</em>','Why I\'d Pick Bulgaria again','','inherit','open','open','','5021-revision-3','','','2011-06-05 08:23:33','2011-06-05 06:23:33','',5021,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/05/5021-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(5043,1,'2011-06-07 21:33:24','2011-06-07 19:33:24','Ack. Glug. Gulp. Gasp.\r\n\r\nI had the worst idea for my blog today.\r\n\r\nSo I am writing to you let you know that you\'re pretty lucky that I edit myself and occasionally nix bad blog post ideas before I\'ve even written them.\r\n\r\nThe idea: take a photo a day of the hole that one day might just turn into a metro stop down the street from my apartment. It was a great idea for 30 seconds. Then I realized it was an idea borne out of desperation and these are never good ideas.\r\n\r\nHow did I get so desperate to find myself considering photographing a hole you may ask?\r\n\r\nWell, the end of the school year is closing in on me and once again I\'ve found myself with more work to do than hours in the day.\r\n\r\nMost days I walk to and from school. It\'s a good time to think. I think about a lot of great things: Music. Shoes. Books. Boys. Philosophy. Flowers. Travel. How horrible the traffic is in Sofia and how I hope to god that I don\'t get hit.\r\n\r\nSometimes I take the bus. A girl has got to do that from time to time. Like when I am running late or when I think I am going to get caught in a giant thunder storm. Recently I\'ve been thinking about what I\'ll be teaching, which students I need to touch bases with, how many photocopies I need to make and whether it\'s a one or a two coffee day. There\'ve been a lot of two coffee days recently.\r\n\r\nOn the way home from school, I think about how happy I am to be walking home (rather than still sitting at my desk), if I have anything to make for dinner (which has been pretty questionable recently), which things I can put off grading for another night (not much) and what I should write about on my blog. Given the current state of affairs in my life, it\'s actually pretty amazing that I ever get around to writing anything on my blog.\r\n\r\nBut back to the point, today I reached an all new low. <!--more-->\r\n\r\nI was thinking: What can I write a blog post about? What? What? What?\r\n\r\nFollowed by: Why am I such a boring person? How is it that I work so much? What have I done with my week?  (Yes, it\'s only Tuesday.)\r\n\r\nMaybe this is the end, maybe I will never write another blog post.\r\n\r\nThat\'s when I realized: I could start a photo of the day series! A photo a day of the giant hole that may in fact one day turn into the Mladost 3 Metro stop. The only problem is that the hole has basically looked exactly the same for the last three months.\r\n\r\nSometimes there\'s more garbage around the gaping hole in the ground than other times but really it\'s just a really big hole with concrete in it at this point. Sometimes I try to imagine what it will be like to have a metro stop down the street from me but I can\'t.\r\n\r\nAbout this point, I also realized: I am boring. Yes, <em>I am bored with my own idea</em>. Gross.\r\n\r\nSo I decided there will be no Mladost-3-metro-hole photo of the day series. See, this is why you\'re lucky that every once in a while I edit myself.\r\n\r\nI also decided that I should probably do something <em>really</em> fun this weekend. And maybe I\'ll start a count down to summer break.','Why You\'re Lucky that I Edit Myself ','','publish','open','open','','why-youre-lucky-that-i-edit-myself','','','2011-06-07 21:33:24','2011-06-07 19:33:24','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=5043',0,'post','',8),(5044,1,'2011-06-07 21:06:26','2011-06-07 19:06:26','Ack. Glug. Gulp. Gasp.\n\nI had the worst idea for an on going series for my blog today.\n\nSo I am writing to you let you know that you\'re pretty lucky that I edit myself and regularly nix bad blog post ideas before I\'ve even written them.\n\nMost days I walk to and from school--sometimes I take the bus. A girl has got to do that from time to time. Like when I am running late or when I think I am going to get caught in a giant thunder storm. Anyhow most days I think about what I\'ll be teaching, which students I need to touch bases with, how many photocopies I need to make and whether it\'s a one or a two coffee day. There\'ve been a lot of two coffee days recently.\n\nOn the way home from school, I think about how happy I am to be walking home (rather than still sitting at my desk), if I have anything to make for dinner, which things I can put off grading for another night and what I should write about on my blog. Usually in that order too so it\'s actually pretty amazing that I ever get around to writing anything on my blog.\n\nBut back to the point, today I reached an all new low. I was thinking: What can I write a blog post about? What? What? What? Followed by: Why am I such a boring person? How is it that I work so much? What have I done with my week?  (Yes, it\'s only Tuesday.) Maybe this is the end, maybe I will never write another blog post.\n\nThat\'s when I realized: I could start a photo of the day series. A photo a day of the giant hole that may in fact one day turn into the Mladost 3 Metro stop. The only problem is that the hole has basically looked exactly the same for the last three months. Sometimes there\'s more garbage around the gaping hole in the ground than other times but really it\'s just a really big hole with concrete in it at this point. Sometimes I try to imagine what it will be like to have a metro stop down the street from me but I can\'t.\n\nAbout this point, I also realized: I am board. So I decided there will be no Mladost-3-metro-hole photo of the day series. I also decided that you are lucky that I edit myself and that I should probably do something <em>really</em> fun this weekend. That way I\'ll have something really fun to write about on my blog.','Why You\'re Lucky that I Edit Myself ','','inherit','open','open','','5043-revision','','','2011-06-07 21:06:26','2011-06-07 19:06:26','',5043,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/07/5043-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(5045,1,'2011-06-07 21:06:30','2011-06-07 19:06:30','Ack. Glug. Gulp. Gasp.\r\n\r\nI had the worst idea for an on going series for my blog today.\r\n\r\nSo I am writing to you let you know that you\'re pretty lucky that I edit myself and regularly nix bad blog post ideas before I\'ve even written them.\r\n\r\nMost days I walk to and from school--sometimes I take the bus. A girl has got to do that from time to time. Like when I am running late or when I think I am going to get caught in a giant thunder storm. Anyhow most days I think about what I\'ll be teaching, which students I need to touch bases with, how many photocopies I need to make and whether it\'s a one or a two coffee day. There\'ve been a lot of two coffee days recently.\r\n\r\nOn the way home from school, I think about how happy I am to be walking home (rather than still sitting at my desk), if I have anything to make for dinner, which things I can put off grading for another night and what I should write about on my blog. Usually in that order too so it\'s actually pretty amazing that I ever get around to writing anything on my blog.\r\n\r\nBut back to the point, today I reached an all new low. I was thinking: What can I write a blog post about? What? What? What? Followed by: Why am I such a boring person? How is it that I work so much? What have I done with my week?  (Yes, it\'s only Tuesday.) Maybe this is the end, maybe I will never write another blog post.\r\n\r\nThat\'s when I realized: I could start a photo of the day series. A photo a day of the giant hole that may in fact one day turn into the Mladost 3 Metro stop. The only problem is that the hole has basically looked exactly the same for the last three months. Sometimes there\'s more garbage around the gaping hole in the ground than other times but really it\'s just a really big hole with concrete in it at this point. Sometimes I try to imagine what it will be like to have a metro stop down the street from me but I can\'t.\r\n\r\nAbout this point, I also realized: I am board. So I decided there will be no Mladost-3-metro-hole photo of the day series. I also decided that you are lucky that I edit myself and that I should probably do something <em>really</em> fun this weekend. That way I\'ll have something really fun to write about on my blog.','Why You\'re Lucky that I Edit Myself ','','inherit','open','open','','5043-revision-2','','','2011-06-07 21:06:30','2011-06-07 19:06:30','',5043,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/07/5043-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(5046,1,'2011-06-07 21:29:41','2011-06-07 19:29:41','Ack. Glug. Gulp. Gasp.\n\nI had the worst idea for my blog today.\n\nSo I am writing to you let you know that you\'re pretty lucky that I edit myself and occasionally nix bad blog post ideas before I\'ve even written them.\n\nThe idea: take a photo a day of the hole that one day might just turn into a metro stop down the street from my apartment. It was a great idea for 30 seconds. Then I realized it was an idea borne out of desperation and these are never good ideas.\n\nHow did I get so desperate to find myself considering photographing a hole you may ask?\n\nWell, the end of the school year is closing in on me and once again I\'ve found myself with more work to do than hours in the day.\n\nMost days I walk to and from school. It\'s a good time to think. I think about a lot of great things: Music. Shoes. Books. Boys. Philosophy. Flowers. Travel. How horrible the traffic is in Sofia and how I hope to god that I don\'t get hit.\n\nSometimes I take the bus. A girl has got to do that from time to time. Like when I am running late or when I think I am going to get caught in a giant thunder storm. Recently I\'ve been thinking about what I\'ll be teaching, which students I need to touch bases with, how many photocopies I need to make and whether it\'s a one or a two coffee day. There\'ve been a lot of two coffee days recently.\n\nOn the way home from school, I think about how happy I am to be walking home (rather than still sitting at my desk), if I have anything to make for dinner (which has been pretty questionable recently), which things I can put off grading for another night (not much) and what I should write about on my blog. Given the current state of affairs in my life, it\'s actually pretty amazing that I ever get around to writing anything on my blog.\n\nBut back to the point, today I reached an all new low. <!--more-->\n\nI was thinking: What can I write a blog post about? What? What? What?\n\nFollowed by: Why am I such a boring person? How is it that I work so much? What have I done with my week?  (Yes, it\'s only Tuesday.)\n\nMaybe this is the end, maybe I will never write another blog post.\n\nThat\'s when I realized: I could start a photo of the day series! A photo a day of the giant hole that may in fact one day turn into the Mladost 3 Metro stop. The only problem is that the hole has basically looked exactly the same for the last three months.\n\nSometimes there\'s more garbage around the gaping hole in the ground than other times but really it\'s just a really big hole with concrete in it at this point. Sometimes I try to imagine what it will be like to have a metro stop down the street from me but I can\'t.\n\nAbout this point, I also realized: I am boring. Yes, <em>I am bored with my own idea</em>. Gross.\n\nSo I decided there will be no Mladost-3-metro-hole photo of the day series. See, this is why you\'re lucky that every once in a while I edit myself.\n\nI also decided that I should probably do something <em>really</em> fun this weekend. And maybe I\'ll start a count down to summer break.','Why You\'re Lucky that I Edit Myself ','','inherit','open','open','','5043-revision-3','','','2011-06-07 21:29:41','2011-06-07 19:29:41','',5043,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/07/5043-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(5047,1,'2011-06-07 21:34:30','2011-06-07 19:34:30','Ack. Glug. Gulp. Gasp.\n\nI had the worst idea for my blog today.\n\nSo I am writing to you let you know that you\'re pretty lucky that I edit myself and occasionally nix bad blog post ideas before I\'ve even written them.\n\nThe idea: take a photo a day of the hole that one day might just turn into a metro stop down the street from my apartment. It was a great idea for 30 seconds. Then I realized it was an idea borne out of desperation and these are never good ideas.\n\nHow did I get so desperate to find myself considering photographing a hole you may ask?\n\nWell, the end of the school year is closing in on me and once again I\'ve found myself with more work to do than hours in the day.\n\nMost days I walk to and from school. It\'s a good time to think. I think about a lot of great things: Music. Shoes. Books. Boys. Philosophy. Flowers. Travel. How horrible the traffic is in Sofia and how I hope to god that I don\'t get hit.\n\nSometimes I take the bus. A girl has got to do that from time to time. Like when I am running late or when I think I am going to get caught in a giant thunder storm. Recently I\'ve been thinking about what I\'ll be teaching, which students I need to touch bases with, how many photocopies I need to make and whether it\'s a one or a two coffee day. There\'ve been a lot of two coffee days recently.\n\nOn the way home from school, I think about how happy I am to be walking home (rather than still sitting at my desk), if I have anything to make for dinner (which has been pretty questionable recently), which things I can put off grading for another night (not much) and what I should write about on my blog. Given the current state of affairs in my life, it\'s actually pretty amazing that I ever get around to writing anything on my blog.\n\nBut back to the point, today I reached an all new low. <!--more-->\n\nI was thinking: What can I write a blog post about? What? What? What?\n\nFollowed by: Why am I such a boring person? How is it that I work so much? What have I done with my week?  (Yes, it\'s only Tuesday.)\n\nMaybe this is the end, maybe I will never write another blog post.\n\nThat\'s when I realized: I could start a photo of the day series! A photo a day of the giant hole that may in fact one day turn into the Mladost 3 Metro stop. The only problem is that the hole has basically looked exactly the same for the last three months.\n\nSometimes there\'s more garbage around the gaping hole in the ground than other times but really it\'s just a really big hole with concrete in it at this point. Sometimes I try to imagine what it will be like to have a metro stop down the street from me but I can\'t.\n\nAbout this point, I also realized: I am boring. Yes, <em>I am bored with my own idea</em>. Gross.\n\nSo I decided there will be no Mladost-3-metro-hole photo of the day series. See, this is why you\'re lucky that every once in a while I edit myself.\n\nI also decided that I should probably do something <em>really</em> fun this weekend. And maybe I\'ll start a count down to summer break.','Why You\'re Lucky that I Edit Myself ','','inherit','open','open','','5043-autosave','','','2011-06-07 21:34:30','2011-06-07 19:34:30','',5043,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/07/5043-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(5048,1,'2011-06-09 20:27:55','2011-06-09 18:27:55','So I\'ve been living Sofia now for three years and in August, I\'ll be starting year four.  It\'s sort of hard to believe that I\'ve been living here three years and that I\'ve chronicled most of it on this blog. I hadn\'t blogged before moving to Bulgaria but I decided to move it seemed like the thing to do.\r\n\r\nThis blog was born as a result.\r\n\r\nAnyhow, this is a hugely nostalgic and self-indulgent introduction to a blog post titled: blogs, beer and Bulgaria. Yep. This is a post about beer (in this case Heineken) and Bulgarian blogs.\r\n\r\nLast night I tagged along with a friend to a get together for Bulgarian bloggers. I had no idea what to expect but after <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/07/why-youre-lucky-that-i-edit-myself/\">writing a blog post about a hole</a> recently I figured that I\'d better go. Of course, I had a great time.\r\n\r\nEveryone was very nice (and most people were sporting very cool glasses). I spoke some questionable Bulgarian. I met some long time readers. And I drank some beer (I guess I owe a quick thanks to Heineken for hosting the event. <em>Thanks</em>).\r\n\r\nI\'ve never been to an event like this before and truth be told, I probably wouldn\'t have gone on my own.<!--more--> In part, it\'s because I\'ve never really felt like I inherently fit into a niche blogging community--like a food blog, a healthy living blog or a daily fashion blog.  I write about life abroad. I write about navigating a new culture in a foreign language. I write about travel. I chronicle bits and pieces of my day-to-day life here.\r\n\r\nSure, I write a blog about Bulgaria. But at what point do you cross the  line from writing about a place to being a blogger from the place? I have no idea and I have a hunch it\'s an impossibly hard question to answer.\r\n\r\nLast night was super interesting for me because while I write extensively about life in Bulgaria, I don\'t write in Bulgarian. The community of bloggers in Bulgaria however do write in Bulgarian but in large part also can communicate in English.  My Bulgarian however isn\'t great and while I am working on it, I haven\'t really found many Bulgarian blogs that I feel connected to. Most of the Bulgarian blogs that I follow are picture heavy and text light and the people I follower on twitter post in a mix of Bulgarian and English. However the event last night really made me want to read more widely Bulgarian-language blogs.\r\n\r\nI just have no idea where to start. <em>Thoughts</em>?','Blogs, Beer and Bulgaria ','','publish','open','open','','blogs-beer-and-bulgaria','','','2011-06-09 20:27:55','2011-06-09 18:27:55','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=5048',0,'post','',10),(5049,1,'2011-06-09 20:20:18','2011-06-09 18:20:18','So I\'ve been living Sofia now for three years and in August, I\'ll be starting year four.  It\'s sort of hard to believe that I\'ve been living here three years and that I\'ve chronicled most of it on this blog. I hadn\'t blogged before moving to Bulgaria but I decided to move it seemed like the thing to do.\n\nThis blog was born as a result.\n\nAnyhow, this is a hugely nostalgic and self-indulgent introduction to a blog post titled: blogs, beer and Bulgaria. Yep. This is a post about beer (in this case Heineken) and Bulgarian blogs.\n\nLast night I tagged along with a friend to a get together for Bulgarian bloggers. I had no idea what to expect but after <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/07/why-youre-lucky-that-i-edit-myself/\">writing a blog post about a hole</a> recently I figured that I\'d better go. Of course, I had a great time.\n\nEveryone was very nice (and most people were sporting very cool glasses). I spoke some questionable Bulgarian. I met some long time readers. And I drank some beer (I guess I owe a quick thanks to Heineken for hosting the event. <em>Thanks</em>).\n\nI\'ve never been to an event like this before and truth be told, I probably wouldn\'t have gone on my own.<!--more--> In part, it\'s because I\'ve never really felt like I inherently fit into a niche blogging community--like a food blog, a healthy living blog or a daily fashion blog.  I write about life abroad. I write about navigating a new culture in a foreign language. I write about travel. I chronicle bits and pieces of my day-to-day life here.\n\nSure, I write a blog about Bulgaria. But at what point do you cross the  line from writing about a place to being a blogger from the place? I have no idea and I have a hunch it\'s an impossibly hard question to answer.\n\nLast night was super interesting for me because while I write extensively about life in Bulgaria, I don\'t write in Bulgarian. The community of bloggers in Bulgaria however do write in Bulgarian but in large part also can communicate in English.  My Bulgarian however isn\'t great and while I am working on it, I haven\'t really found many Bulgarian blogs that I feel connected to. Most of the Bulgarian blogs that I follow are picture heavy and text light and the people I follower on twitter post in a mix of Bulgarian and English. However the event last night really made me want to read more widely Bulgarian-language blogs.\n\nI just have no idea where to start. <em>Thoughts</em>?','Blogs, Beer and Bulgaria ','','inherit','open','open','','5048-revision','','','2011-06-09 20:20:18','2011-06-09 18:20:18','',5048,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/09/5048-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(5050,1,'2011-06-09 21:35:10','2011-06-09 19:35:10','After my <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/03/why-did-i-choose-bulgaria/\" target=\"_blank\">earlier post</a>, I\'ve been thinking a lot about the question:<em> why Bulgaria? </em>\n\nThis question and my post made me realize this: if I had to do it all over again, I\'d choose Bulgaria again. Only knowing what I know now, my reasons for picking Bulgaria would be different.\n\nOften it\'s easier to say what Bulgaria is not rather than what Bulgaria is. Bulgaria is not Vienna. Bulgaria is not Rome. Bulgaria is part of the European Union but don\'t confuse this with meaning Bulgaria is Western European. Bulgaria is not part of some romanticized European tradition of the Grand Tour.\n\nSofia doesn\'t have a single main square like Prague or Krakaw. Sofia doesn\'t have a river of any merit unlike Budapest the Danube cuts between Romania and Bulgaria rather than Buda and Pest. Sofia doesn\'t have a clearly defined or demarcated old town like Dubrovnik, Ljubljana or Bratislava. The Sofia doesn\'t have access to American\'s poetic memory--no one can imagine walking the streets of Sofia at dusk as one can in Paris under the long shadow of the Eiffel Tower.\n\nStill, given the opportunity, I\'d pick Bulgaria again. I didn\'t move to Europe to trace the footsteps of Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein or Ezra Pound (you\'d better head straight to Paris for that). No, I moved to experience first hand a new culture (and everything that comes with it), to push myself to learn a new language and rather perversely to see if I could do it.\n\nI\'d pick Bulgaria again for the human element. What do I mean by that? Well, here it comes:\n<ul>\n	<li>It\'s the people. Especially my friends, colleagues and students not as much the surly waiters or grumpy women selling bus or train tickets.</li>\n	<li>It\'s the language and the alphabet. Especially these letters  that I never knew I needed: я, ч, ш, щ, ж, и and a little less these two letters which I generally dislike: ь, ю.</li>\n	<li>It\'s the food and rakiya.</li>\n</ul>\nA guide book can show you tourist sites. It can give you history. It can help you get started exploring a city (or a country) but Bulgaria is more than just a stop on the way to','Why I\'d Pick Bulgaria again','','inherit','open','open','','5021-revision-4','','','2011-06-09 21:35:10','2011-06-09 19:35:10','',5021,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/09/5021-revision-4/',0,'revision','',0),(5051,1,'2011-06-10 06:08:03','2011-06-10 04:08:03','After my <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/03/why-did-i-choose-bulgaria/\" target=\"_blank\">earlier post</a>, I\'ve been thinking a lot about the question:<em> why Bulgaria? </em>\n\nThis question and my post made me realize this: if I had to do it all over again, I\'d choose Bulgaria again. Only knowing what I know now, my reasons for picking Bulgaria would be different.\n\nOften it\'s easier to say what Bulgaria is not rather than what Bulgaria is. Bulgaria is not Vienna. Bulgaria is not Rome. Bulgaria is part of the European Union but don\'t confuse this with meaning Bulgaria is Western European. Bulgaria is not part of some romanticized European tradition of the Grand Tour.\n\nSofia doesn\'t have a single main square like Prague or Krakaw. Sofia doesn\'t have a river of any merit unlike Budapest the Danube cuts between Romania and Bulgaria rather than Buda and Pest. Sofia doesn\'t have a clearly defined or demarcated old town like Dubrovnik, Ljubljana or Bratislava. The Sofia doesn\'t have access to American\'s poetic memory--no one can imagine walking the streets of Sofia at dusk as one can in Paris under the long shadow of the Eiffel Tower.\n\nStill, given the opportunity, I\'d pick Bulgaria again. I didn\'t move to Europe to trace the footsteps of Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein or Ezra Pound (you\'d better head straight to Paris for that). No, I moved to experience first hand a new culture (and everything that comes with it), to push myself to learn a new language and rather perversely to see if I could do it.\n\nOnly given a second chance, I\'d pick Bulgaria again for the human element. What do I mean by that? Well, here it comes. It\'s the people. Especially my friends, colleagues and students not as much the surly waiters or grumpy women selling bus or train tickets. It\'s the language and the alphabet. Especially these letters  that I never knew I needed: я, ч, ш, щ, ж, и and a little less these two letters which I generally dislike: ь, ю. It\'s the food and rakiya. Two things which I exp\n\nSure you can find these things in any country--that is food, a foreign language and people but in my mind it\'s relatively easy to connect to these things in Bulgaria. I guess the difference in my mind is this, it\'s easy to be a tourist in much of Western Europe. There are signs in an alphabet that you can make out on the street, well translated English language menus, English language speakers in museums, public transportation that\'s simple and quick and a well-established network which supports tourism. It\'s harder to be a tourist in Bulgaria but the trade off is that you have to try new things, you have to test out the language, you have to stop and ask people for directions, you have to order unexpected things off of menus because who knows what a \"snowwhite salad\" will be?\n\nOh and did I mention that stereotype about Eastern Europeans being cold, unfriendly and standoffish? It is, <em>surprise, surprise</em>, totally false. I\'ve never had my cheeks pinched so much by older men and women that I barely know as I have in Bulgaria. Sure, I think that they don\'t fully know what to make of me and in the beginning I didn\'t know much Bulgaria but that\'s okay--a cheek pinch lets you know that people think you are cute, funny and a little crazy. Along the same line, I\'ve basically stopped shaking people\'s hands and instead I\'ve picked up the cheek-kiss. The cheek-kiss is really a much nicer habit.\n<ul></ul>\nAnyhow guide book can show you tourist sites. It can give you history. It can help you get started exploring a city (or a country) but the thing a guide book can never really capture or fully realize is this human element. Hell, I don\'t even think that I can capture it.  Here\'s what I can definitively tell you: Bulgaria is more than just a stop on the way to Turkey or Greece.','Why I\'d Pick Bulgaria again','','inherit','open','open','','5021-revision-5','','','2011-06-10 06:08:03','2011-06-10 04:08:03','',5021,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/10/5021-revision-5/',0,'revision','',0),(5052,1,'2011-06-10 06:09:46','2011-06-10 04:09:46','After my <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/03/why-did-i-choose-bulgaria/\" target=\"_blank\">earlier post</a>, I\'ve been thinking a lot about the question:<em> why Bulgaria? </em>\n\nThis question and my post made me realize this: if I had to do it all over again, I\'d choose Bulgaria again. Only knowing what I know now, my reasons for picking Bulgaria would be different.\n\nOften it\'s easier to say what Bulgaria is not rather than what Bulgaria is. Bulgaria is not Vienna. Bulgaria is not Rome. Bulgaria is part of the European Union but don\'t confuse this with meaning Bulgaria is Western European. Bulgaria is not part of some romanticized European tradition of the Grand Tour.\n\nSofia doesn\'t have a single main square like Prague or Krakaw. Sofia doesn\'t have a river of any merit unlike Budapest the Danube cuts between Romania and Bulgaria rather than Buda and Pest. Sofia doesn\'t have a clearly defined or demarcated old town like Dubrovnik, Ljubljana or Bratislava. The Sofia doesn\'t have access to American\'s poetic memory--no one can imagine walking the streets of Sofia at dusk as one can in Paris under the long shadow of the Eiffel Tower.\n\nStill, given the opportunity, I\'d pick Bulgaria again. I didn\'t move to Europe to trace the footsteps of Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein or Ezra Pound (you\'d better head straight to Paris for that). No, I moved to experience first hand a new culture (and everything that comes with it), to push myself to learn a new language and rather perversely to see if I could do it.<!--more-->\n\nOnly given a second chance, I\'d pick Bulgaria again for the human element. What do I mean by that? Well, here it comes. It\'s the people. Especially my friends, colleagues and students not as much the surly waiters or grumpy women selling bus or train tickets. It\'s the language and the alphabet. Especially these letters  that I never knew I needed: я, ч, ш, щ, ж, и and a little less these two letters which I generally dislike: ь, ю. It\'s the food and rakiya. Two things which I especially like.\n\nSure you can find these things in any country--that is food, a foreign language and people but in my mind it\'s relatively easy to connect to these things in Bulgaria. I guess the difference in my mind is this, it\'s easy to be a tourist in much of Western Europe. There are signs in an alphabet that you can make out on the street, well translated English language menus, English language speakers in museums, public transportation that\'s simple and quick and a well-established network which supports tourism. It\'s harder to be a tourist in Bulgaria but the trade off is that you have to try new things, you have to test out the language, you have to stop and ask people for directions, you have to order unexpected things off of menus because who knows what a \"snowwhite salad\" will be?\n\nOh and did I mention that stereotype about Eastern Europeans being cold, unfriendly and standoffish? It is, <em>surprise, surprise</em>, totally false. I\'ve never had my cheeks pinched so much by older men and women that I barely know as I have in Bulgaria. Sure, I think that they don\'t fully know what to make of me and in the beginning I didn\'t know much Bulgaria but that\'s okay--a cheek pinch lets you know that people think you are cute, funny and a little crazy. Along the same line, I\'ve basically stopped shaking people\'s hands and instead I\'ve picked up the cheek-kiss. The cheek-kiss is really a much nicer habit.\n\nAnyhow guide book can show you tourist sites. It can give you history. It can help you get started exploring a city (or a country) but the thing a guide book can never really capture or fully realize is this human element. Hell, I don\'t even think that I can capture it.  Here\'s what I can definitively tell you: Bulgaria is more than just a stop on the way to Turkey or Greece.','Why I\'d Pick Bulgaria again','','inherit','open','open','','5021-autosave','','','2011-06-10 06:09:46','2011-06-10 04:09:46','',5021,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/10/5021-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(5054,1,'2011-06-11 08:25:20','2011-06-11 06:25:20','But it\'s good for you.\n\nOn a daily basis I find myself insanely jealous of my students. They move back and forth between Bulgarian and English fairly seamlessly. My classroom is an English only \"zone\" and for the most parts kids respect this. It\'s interesting: I know when my kids slip into Bulgarian because the registrar changes and my kids know when I am listening to them because mid-sentence they\'ll switch back to English. While I am amazed by my kids fluency in English at a relatively young age what I\'m insanely jealous of is their ability to move between the two languages without much effort.\n\nMy Bulgarian (and even today, my German) hoovers at the margins of my consciousness and it\'s only with great effort that I can drag enough Bulgarian out to have a conversation. And of course, as it\'s coming out of my mouth I hear the crazy coming out. I can\'t always be bothered to conjugate verbs correctly or use the correct tense because while I\'m in the middle of trying to conjugate a given verb I am already thinking of what\'s coming next in the sentence.  The worst is when I realize that I am half way into a sentence and I don\'t have a big enough vocabulary to actually say what I want to. Or when I bump into German word.\n\nI hate bumping into German because when this happens it\'s hard for me to right myself and get back to Bulgarian.  The \"German-problem\" happens much less frequently these days.  I am not sure if that\'s a good think or a bad thing.\n\nAnyhow back to Bulgarian.  In my daily life my Bulgarian can be broken down into to two pieces: rote-scripted Bulgarian and free-form Bulgarian. <!--more-->Scripted Bulgarian is the Bulgarian that you need to get around--ordering coffee, buying lunch, taking a taxi, going grocery shopping. Basically, you get to say the same thing every time and you more or less know exactly what the other person will say to you.  Now don\'t get me wrong, this is important Bulgarian to know but it\'s generally contained within the parameters of the exchange at hand. The coffee. The cost of the groceries. The place that you want to go.\n\nThen there\'s the free-form Bulgarian which is much more challenging. It\'s the Bulgarian that I hear my kids speaking at lunch, the Bulgarian I need to use at a party, the Bulgarian I need to communicate with the cleaning woman at work or the Bulgarian I use with my the children of my colleagues. This Bulgarian is of course unscripted and doesn\'t have as clear parameters as my regular exchanges. The result is that I can\'t always keep up with the direction of the conversation nor can I can reliably keep up my half of a conversation.\n\nSo when I know I am going to be in one of these situations, I often think about what topics I could talk about. I think about the vocabulary I might need and I think about what kinds of questions I could ask people. I do this because it makes me less nervous to speak Bulgarian. Does it work? I don\'t know. Frankly, I guess it doesn\'t matter because it makes me feel better.\n\nLast week I was thinking about this and what kinds of things I could talk about at the <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/09/blogs-beer-and-bulgaria/\" target=\"_blank\">blog meet-up event</a> in Bulgarian and that\'s when I realized that the only words I know about computers/the internet/blogging are English words with a similar Bulgarian pronunciation. I was totally okay with this realization. It was the one that followed that I disliked.\n\nI thought: <em>Huna</em>. The words I use the most are all similar to their English counterpart. Enter: coffee and кафе (kafe), tomatoes and домати (domati), bus and автобус (aftobus), scarf and шал (shal), to read and чета (cheta), to make and правя (pravya). Only by the time I got to the verbs did I realize: I am nuts. The Bulgarian verbs are actually in no way shape or form related to the English verbs. I\'ve just used the words so much that I\'ve matched them up with their English language counterpart and now they come without thinking too much about it leading me to think they are they same when they aren\'t.\n\nSo there you have it: when you stop to think about it, minds are amazing. And learning a language is hard work but worth it.','Learning a Language is Hard Work','','inherit','open','open','','5053-revision','','','2011-06-11 08:25:20','2011-06-11 06:25:20','',5053,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/11/5053-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(5075,1,'2011-06-20 06:51:25','2011-06-20 04:51:25','I\'m back from a whirlwind weekend. It\'s 7am and I should probably be gearing up for the long week in front of me but the thing is I don\'t always do what I <em>should</em>. What I decidedly shouldn\'t do is spill coffee down the front of my dress after it\'s taken me 10 minutes to pick out. Only problem is that I don\'t really have much control over these things. Luckily it only took me two minutes to pick out my next outfit this morning. It\'s less cute but it\'s clothing and some days that what counts.\r\n\r\nAnyhow back to the whirlwind!\r\n\r\nFirst things first, Happy-Late-Father\'s-Day, dAd!\r\n\r\nI didn\'t get a chance to call my dAd yesterday because I didn\'t get home form my weekend adventure in the mountains until late. If I had made it home earlier this is what I would have said: Dad, I love you and thanks for everything. (He would have, of course, heard <a title=\"MoM and dAd\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2010/08/08/mom-dad/\" target=\"_blank\">dAd</a> but it\'s weird to say \"little-d\", \"big-A,\" \"little d\" I love you over skype.)\r\n\r\nEverything would have clearly included:\r\n<ul>\r\n	<li>giving me my first baseball glove,</li>\r\n	<li>teaching me how to make the best oatmeal waffles ever,</li>\r\n	<li>helping with my collections of 1989 Fleer baseball cards, my stamp collection and my sticker collection,</li>\r\n	<li>taking me camping and shopping (yeah, read that one over again. My dAd likes to shop <em>way more</em> than my MoM.),</li>\r\n	<li>convincing me to build birdhouses to sell</li>\r\n	<li>and generally inspiring me to try new things and not to take the easy way out.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\nMostly my dAd leads by example. Well aside from the sticker collection but in my defense when you\'re five-years old collecting stickers follows pretty naturally after you\'ve already been collecting stamps and baseball cards. <!--more-->\r\n\r\nEven today my dAd continues to inspire me (and I guess now that I am an adult the inspiration thing works both ways).\r\n\r\nA great example of this is when my dAd decided that it was high time to start his own blog last year. Mind you he doesn\'t have facebook, he doesn\'t tweet, he still has a cellphone from the early 2000\'s and I am pretty sure he has never-ever sent a text message. Anyhow, he tells me: Carolyn, I\'d like to start a blog. I said: okay. Here\'s his blog today: <a href=\"http://wallawallalocal.wordpress.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Work, Play, Eat, Live Local</a>. I think that he takes great photos and writes very well. Oh and he makes Walla Walla look like a million bucks. <em>And</em>, my MoM tells me that now he knows how to download all of his own photos to the computer. What a guy, what a guy.\r\n\r\nAnyhow, I\'ve never had another dad. So I don\'t really have anything to compare to but I have friends with dads and I\'ve read a lot of books with dads in them and I have to say, I got pretty lucky on the dad front. I am not sure how I got so lucky but I did get lucky.\r\n\r\nSo here\'s to my dAd, Dave, who is celebrating his 30th year of being a father. I feel like he deserves more than a blog post--probably he deserves a trophy or something because really 30 years is nothing to sneeze at but all I can do right now is write this. Maybe next year. That will be the year he\'s been a father longer than not and that\'s an achievement that certainly merits celebrating.\r\n\r\nThanks again for everything dAd!!','Back from the Mountains & Blogging about dAd','','publish','open','open','','back-from-the-mountains-blogging-about-dad','','','2011-06-20 06:51:25','2011-06-20 04:51:25','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=5075',0,'post','',5),(5056,1,'2011-06-12 10:32:57','2011-06-12 08:32:57','It\'s pretty safe to say that most people in Europe have been keeping an on the deadly E. Coli outbreak in Germany. Over the last few weeks there\'s been lots of worry about the cause, the source, the strain and the treatment. Based on this article in the NYT, <a href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/11/world/europe/11ecoli.html?bl\" target=\"_blank\">the culprit seems to have been bean sprouts</a>. Although at different points, tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce were suspected carriers.\r\n\r\nNow tomatoes and cucumbers are off the hook.\r\n\r\nStill there\'s a resurgence of worry about our food sources and our health. In another article about <a href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/12/weekinreview/12organic.html?src=recg\" target=\"_blank\">the fallout of E. Coli outbreak</a> in the NYT journalist Elisabeth Rosenthal writes:\r\n<blockquote>When we eat salad we rely on the sanitary vigilance of a long chain of  farmers, harvesters, baggers, shippers, and markets to maintain our  vegetables free of harmful germs. Every forkful is an extraordinary vote  of confidence in the food systems of the developed world that bring  greens to our plate.</blockquote>\r\nYep. She\'s got a good point. The problem of course is that I have very little control over my food before I buy it at the market. I wash it and eat it. I don\'t really even ever hope for the best. This is the food that I have access to and so I eat it.\r\n\r\nThen on Friday, I read this article <a href=\"http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=129158&amp;utm_source=twitterfeed&amp;utm_medium=twitter\" target=\"_blank\">Bulgaria\'s National Liquor Rakia Touted as Cure for Deadly E. Coli on Novinite.com</a> suggesting this:\r\n<blockquote>New data released in Bulgaria strongly suggests that the locally produced alcoholic drink rakia may be an efficient cure for the outbreak of E. Coli, which involves a previously unknown strain of the bacterium.\r\n\r\n\"The traditional Bulgarian shopska salad can easily get you infected with intestinal bacteria, including the deadly new strain of E. Coli. But if you also drink rakia, the risk decreases,\" Bozhidar Popov, head of the local diet association, announced.</blockquote>\r\n<em>Huna</em>. Rakiya to cure E. Coli.\r\n\r\nEverything I know I about E. Coli, granted it\'s not much, suggests that this is utterly false.\r\n\r\nStill, there you have it. The data says drink rakiya. <!--more-->As if you needed a reason to drink rakiya with the national salad, the skopska salad, now you have one. E. Coli prevention. Allegedly the rakiya kills the bacteria.\r\n\r\nSure this is probably data I should track down and take a closer look but that seems like a lot of work especially given the fact that I did the topic a quick once over on wikipedia. The claim may seem suspect considering the fact that many of the worst strains of E. Coli are becoming antibiotic resistant. But this why I am lead to believe that rakiya must actually be the wonder-child of alcohols <em>and</em> antibiotics.\r\n\r\nI am so lucky to live in Bulgaria.\r\n\r\nAnd so today, I\'d like to conclude with a quick note to my parents. That\'s right MoM and dAd, drinking rakiya will not only make you better people but will also kill E. Coli. So in addition to  your morning walks, taking the preventative heart-attack aspirin, you should probably pull out the rakiya either the homemade stuff or the Burgas 63 I brought home at Christmas and wash your salad down with an aperitif of rakiya.\r\n\r\nOh and as a final footnote, readers, ever wonder why I call my parents MoM and dAd? <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2010/08/08/mom-dad/\" target=\"_blank\">Here\'s a post I wrote explaining it a year ago or so</a>.','Rakiya the wonder-child of Alcohols ','','publish','open','open','','rakiya-the-wonder-child-of-alcohols','','','2011-06-12 10:32:57','2011-06-12 08:32:57','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=5056',0,'post','',5),(5057,1,'2010-08-08 17:19:42','2010-08-08 16:19:42','I\'ve been in Walla Walla now for about five days. So far so good.  It is funny-strange to go from living by yourself to traveling with a college friend and then spending all of your time with your family but all in all I feel pretty lucky to have a summer like this one.\n\nOn and off over the last two years, I\'ve gotten the question why do you refer to your parents as \"MoM &amp; dAd\"? But mostly this was from friends who thought I was somehow mis-typing their names and wanted to correct me.\n\nHowever, yesterday a reader posed this question to me and I figured now is as good a time as any to explain why I call my parents \"MoM  &amp; dAd\" on this blog.\n\nI am not sure it\'s the most interesting story ever but that happens from time to time on a blog.<!--more-->\n\nMy parents both have a great sense of humor.  Growing up my dad\'s was always a little bit bigger, a little bit stranger, a little bit more out there than my mom\'s which is more understated but just to be clear she\'s got a great sense of humor as well (I mean she has put up with my dad for 30+ years of marriage).\n\nAnyhow I grew up with the joking, the teasing, the banter so I never thought much about it but at some point you realize that not everyone\'s families are like this (which is kind of a shame). Then I went to college. And realized how lucky I am to have my parents as my parents.\n\nThen they started emailing me.\n\nMy mom would email me things like: are you going to call this weekend or when is Christmas break? And my dad would email me ridiculous stories about things that were happening at the Antique Store or in Walla Walla.\n\nHowever it wasn\'t until my sister went to college (and email etiquette started changing) that my dad started getting creative (and silly). I still signed my emails Carolyn but my sister Charlotte signed her emails \"char.\" Then one day, I think (but this is not confirmed) not to be out done by his youngest daughter in cuteness and creativity, I received an email from \"dAd.\"\n\nI didn\'t think much about it the first time. But then every single email started arriving this way. Funny guy. I mean, what\'s he up to? It would be weird if my dad all of a sudden felt the need to distinguish himself from every other dad emailing me by signing his emails dAd.  I mean, there aren\'t any other dads emailing me. Just him. I didn\'t say anything about this to him and he persisted.\n\nThe kicker was when he started signing emails from both parents Love, dAd &amp; MoM.\n\nNeedless to say, it stuck. Then my mom started signing her emails to us kids as MoM. I started writing to both of them as MoM and dAd.\n\nMy mom claims that she didn\'t jump on the band wagon right away but adopted the new signature \"MoM\" because of my dAd. <em>Aw.</em> For the record, I think that she like it now.\n\nWhen I started by blog, I referred to them them as MoM and dAd because it\'s silly and I am a silly person. I also figured it was an inside joke that I could take with me to Bulgaria.\n\nThe thing is, now I am in the habit of referring to them as MoM and dAd even though it\'s not at all natural to type.  In fact it really slows me down to type their names like this but I do it because that\'s how I think of them now.  I also do it because I love them and I figure it\'s a quick and easy sign of this when sometimes I am too busy to email or skype.  It\'s my short hand.\n\nAnd now you know.','MoM &amp; dAd','','inherit','open','open','','3123-revision','','','2010-08-08 17:19:42','2010-08-08 16:19:42','',3123,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2010/08/08/3123-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(5058,1,'2011-06-12 10:26:37','2011-06-12 08:26:37','It\'s pretty safe to say that most people in Europe have been keeping an on the deadly E. Coli outbreak in Germany. Over the last few weeks there\'s been lots of worry about the cause, the source, the strain and the treatment. Based on this article in the NYT, <a href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/11/world/europe/11ecoli.html?bl\" target=\"_blank\">the culprit seems to have been bean sprouts</a>. Although at different points, tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce were suspected carriers.\n\nNow tomatoes and cucumbers are off the hook.\n\nStill there\'s a resurgence of worry about our food sources and our health. In another article about <a href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/12/weekinreview/12organic.html?src=recg\" target=\"_blank\">the fallout of E. Coli outbreak</a> in the NYT journalist Elisabeth Rosenthal writes:\n<blockquote>When we eat salad we rely on the sanitary vigilance of a long chain of  farmers, harvesters, baggers, shippers, and markets to maintain our  vegetables free of harmful germs. Every forkful is an extraordinary vote  of confidence in the food systems of the developed world that bring  greens to our plate.</blockquote>\nYep. She\'s got a good point. The problem of course is that I have very little control over my food before I buy it at the market. I wash it and eat it. I don\'t really even ever hope for the best. This is the food that I have access to and so I eat it.\n\nThen on Friday, I read this article <a href=\"http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=129158&amp;utm_source=twitterfeed&amp;utm_medium=twitter\" target=\"_blank\">Bulgaria\'s National Liquor Rakia Touted as Cure for Deadly E. Coli on Novinite.com</a> suggesting this:\n<blockquote>New data released in Bulgaria strongly suggests that the locally produced alcoholic drink rakia may be an efficient cure for the outbreak of E. Coli, which involves a previously unknown strain of the bacterium.\n\n\"The traditional Bulgarian shopska salad can easily get you infected with intestinal bacteria, including the deadly new strain of E. Coli. But if you also drink rakia, the risk decreases,\" Bozhidar Popov, head of the local diet association, announced.</blockquote>\n<em>Huna</em>. Rakiya to cure E. Coli. Everything I know I about E. Coli, granted it\'s not much, suggests that this is utterly false. Still, there you have it. Drink rakiya. As if you needed a reason to drink rakiya with the national salad, the skopska salad, now you have one. E. Coli prevention. Allegedly the rakiya kills the bacteria.\n\nInteresting considering the fact that many of the worst strains are becoming antibiotic resistant. This why I am lead to believe that Rakiya the wonder-child of alcohols and antibiotics.\n\nI am so lucky to live in Bulgaria.\n\nAnd so today, I\'d like to conclude with a quick note to my parents. That\'s right MoM and dAd, drinking rakiya will not only make you better people but will also kill E. Coli. So in addition to  your morning walks, taking the preventative heart-attack aspirin, you should probably pull out the rakiya either the homemade stuff or the Burgas 63 I brought home at Christmas and wash your salad down with an aperitif of rakiya.\n\nReaders, ever wonder why I call my parents  them this? <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2010/08/08/mom-dad/\" target=\"_blank\">here\'s a post I wrote explaining it a year ago or so</a>)--','Rakiya the wonder-child of Alcohols ','','inherit','open','open','','5056-revision','','','2011-06-12 10:26:37','2011-06-12 08:26:37','',5056,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/12/5056-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(5059,1,'2011-06-12 10:27:17','2011-06-12 08:27:17','It\'s pretty safe to say that most people in Europe have been keeping an on the deadly E. Coli outbreak in Germany. Over the last few weeks there\'s been lots of worry about the cause, the source, the strain and the treatment. Based on this article in the NYT, <a href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/11/world/europe/11ecoli.html?bl\" target=\"_blank\">the culprit seems to have been bean sprouts</a>. Although at different points, tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce were suspected carriers.\r\n\r\nNow tomatoes and cucumbers are off the hook.\r\n\r\nStill there\'s a resurgence of worry about our food sources and our health. In another article about <a href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/12/weekinreview/12organic.html?src=recg\" target=\"_blank\">the fallout of E. Coli outbreak</a> in the NYT journalist Elisabeth Rosenthal writes:\r\n<blockquote>When we eat salad we rely on the sanitary vigilance of a long chain of  farmers, harvesters, baggers, shippers, and markets to maintain our  vegetables free of harmful germs. Every forkful is an extraordinary vote  of confidence in the food systems of the developed world that bring  greens to our plate.</blockquote>\r\nYep. She\'s got a good point. The problem of course is that I have very little control over my food before I buy it at the market. I wash it and eat it. I don\'t really even ever hope for the best. This is the food that I have access to and so I eat it.\r\n\r\nThen on Friday, I read this article <a href=\"http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=129158&amp;utm_source=twitterfeed&amp;utm_medium=twitter\" target=\"_blank\">Bulgaria\'s National Liquor Rakia Touted as Cure for Deadly E. Coli on Novinite.com</a> suggesting this:\r\n<blockquote>New data released in Bulgaria strongly suggests that the locally produced alcoholic drink rakia may be an efficient cure for the outbreak of E. Coli, which involves a previously unknown strain of the bacterium.\r\n\r\n\"The traditional Bulgarian shopska salad can easily get you infected with intestinal bacteria, including the deadly new strain of E. Coli. But if you also drink rakia, the risk decreases,\" Bozhidar Popov, head of the local diet association, announced.</blockquote>\r\n<em>Huna</em>. Rakiya to cure E. Coli. Everything I know I about E. Coli, granted it\'s not much, suggests that this is utterly false. Still, there you have it. Drink rakiya. As if you needed a reason to drink rakiya with the national salad, the skopska salad, now you have one. E. Coli prevention. Allegedly the rakiya kills the bacteria.\r\n\r\nInteresting considering the fact that many of the worst strains are becoming antibiotic resistant. This why I am lead to believe that Rakiya the wonder-child of alcohols and antibiotics.\r\n\r\nI am so lucky to live in Bulgaria.\r\n\r\nAnd so today, I\'d like to conclude with a quick note to my parents. That\'s right MoM and dAd, drinking rakiya will not only make you better people but will also kill E. Coli. So in addition to  your morning walks, taking the preventative heart-attack aspirin, you should probably pull out the rakiya either the homemade stuff or the Burgas 63 I brought home at Christmas and wash your salad down with an aperitif of rakiya.\r\n\r\nOh and as a final footnote, readers, ever wonder why I call my parents MoM and dAd? <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2010/08/08/mom-dad/\" target=\"_blank\">Here\'s a post I wrote explaining it a year ago or so</a>.','Rakiya the wonder-child of Alcohols ','','inherit','open','open','','5056-revision-2','','','2011-06-12 10:27:17','2011-06-12 08:27:17','',5056,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/12/5056-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(5060,1,'2011-06-12 10:32:23','2011-06-12 08:32:23','It\'s pretty safe to say that most people in Europe have been keeping an on the deadly E. Coli outbreak in Germany. Over the last few weeks there\'s been lots of worry about the cause, the source, the strain and the treatment. Based on this article in the NYT, <a href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/11/world/europe/11ecoli.html?bl\" target=\"_blank\">the culprit seems to have been bean sprouts</a>. Although at different points, tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce were suspected carriers.\n\nNow tomatoes and cucumbers are off the hook.\n\nStill there\'s a resurgence of worry about our food sources and our health. In another article about <a href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/12/weekinreview/12organic.html?src=recg\" target=\"_blank\">the fallout of E. Coli outbreak</a> in the NYT journalist Elisabeth Rosenthal writes:\n<blockquote>When we eat salad we rely on the sanitary vigilance of a long chain of  farmers, harvesters, baggers, shippers, and markets to maintain our  vegetables free of harmful germs. Every forkful is an extraordinary vote  of confidence in the food systems of the developed world that bring  greens to our plate.</blockquote>\nYep. She\'s got a good point. The problem of course is that I have very little control over my food before I buy it at the market. I wash it and eat it. I don\'t really even ever hope for the best. This is the food that I have access to and so I eat it.\n\nThen on Friday, I read this article <a href=\"http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=129158&amp;utm_source=twitterfeed&amp;utm_medium=twitter\" target=\"_blank\">Bulgaria\'s National Liquor Rakia Touted as Cure for Deadly E. Coli on Novinite.com</a> suggesting this:\n<blockquote>New data released in Bulgaria strongly suggests that the locally produced alcoholic drink rakia may be an efficient cure for the outbreak of E. Coli, which involves a previously unknown strain of the bacterium.\n\n\"The traditional Bulgarian shopska salad can easily get you infected with intestinal bacteria, including the deadly new strain of E. Coli. But if you also drink rakia, the risk decreases,\" Bozhidar Popov, head of the local diet association, announced.</blockquote>\n<em>Huna</em>. Rakiya to cure E. Coli.\n\nEverything I know I about E. Coli, granted it\'s not much, suggests that this is utterly false.\n\nStill, there you have it. The data says drink rakiya. As if you needed a reason to drink rakiya with the national salad, the skopska salad, now you have one. E. Coli prevention. Allegedly the rakiya kills the bacteria.\n\nSure this is probably data I should track down and take a closer look but that seems like a lot of work especially given the fact that I did the topic a quick once over on wikipedia. The claim may seem suspect considering the fact that many of the worst strains of E. Coli are becoming antibiotic resistant. But this why I am lead to believe that rakiya must actually be the wonder-child of alcohols <em>and</em> antibiotics.\n\nI am so lucky to live in Bulgaria.\n\nAnd so today, I\'d like to conclude with a quick note to my parents. That\'s right MoM and dAd, drinking rakiya will not only make you better people but will also kill E. Coli. So in addition to  your morning walks, taking the preventative heart-attack aspirin, you should probably pull out the rakiya either the homemade stuff or the Burgas 63 I brought home at Christmas and wash your salad down with an aperitif of rakiya.\n\nOh and as a final footnote, readers, ever wonder why I call my parents MoM and dAd? <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2010/08/08/mom-dad/\" target=\"_blank\">Here\'s a post I wrote explaining it a year ago or so</a>.','Rakiya the wonder-child of Alcohols ','','inherit','open','open','','5056-revision-3','','','2011-06-12 10:32:23','2011-06-12 08:32:23','',5056,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/12/5056-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(5061,1,'2011-06-12 10:34:02','2011-06-12 08:34:02','It\'s pretty safe to say that most people in Europe have been keeping an on the deadly E. Coli outbreak in Germany. Over the last few weeks there\'s been lots of worry about the cause, the source, the strain and the treatment. Based on this article in the NYT, <a href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/11/world/europe/11ecoli.html?bl\" target=\"_blank\">the culprit seems to have been bean sprouts</a>. Although at different points, tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce were suspected carriers.\n\nNow tomatoes and cucumbers are off the hook.\n\nStill there\'s a resurgence of worry about our food sources and our health. In another article about <a href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/12/weekinreview/12organic.html?src=recg\" target=\"_blank\">the fallout of E. Coli outbreak</a> in the NYT journalist Elisabeth Rosenthal writes:\n<blockquote>When we eat salad we rely on the sanitary vigilance of a long chain of  farmers, harvesters, baggers, shippers, and markets to maintain our  vegetables free of harmful germs. Every forkful is an extraordinary vote  of confidence in the food systems of the developed world that bring  greens to our plate.</blockquote>\nYep. She\'s got a good point. The problem of course is that I have very little control over my food before I buy it at the market. I wash it and eat it. I don\'t really even ever hope for the best. This is the food that I have access to and so I eat it.\n\nThen on Friday, I read this article <a href=\"http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=129158&amp;utm_source=twitterfeed&amp;utm_medium=twitter\" target=\"_blank\">Bulgaria\'s National Liquor Rakia Touted as Cure for Deadly E. Coli on Novinite.com</a> suggesting this:\n<blockquote>New data released in Bulgaria strongly suggests that the locally produced alcoholic drink rakia may be an efficient cure for the outbreak of E. Coli, which involves a previously unknown strain of the bacterium.\n\n\"The traditional Bulgarian shopska salad can easily get you infected with intestinal bacteria, including the deadly new strain of E. Coli. But if you also drink rakia, the risk decreases,\" Bozhidar Popov, head of the local diet association, announced.</blockquote>\n<em>Huna</em>. Rakiya to cure E. Coli.\n\nEverything I know I about E. Coli, granted it\'s not much, suggests that this is utterly false.\n\nStill, there you have it. The data says drink rakiya. <!--more-->As if you needed a reason to drink rakiya with the national salad, the skopska salad, now you have one. E. Coli prevention. Allegedly the rakiya kills the bacteria.\n\nSure this is probably data I should track down and take a closer look but that seems like a lot of work especially given the fact that I did the topic a quick once over on wikipedia. The claim may seem suspect considering the fact that many of the worst strains of E. Coli are becoming antibiotic resistant. But this why I am lead to believe that rakiya must actually be the wonder-child of alcohols <em>and</em> antibiotics.\n\nI am so lucky to live in Bulgaria.\n\nAnd so today, I\'d like to conclude with a quick note to my parents. That\'s right MoM and dAd, drinking rakiya will not only make you better people but will also kill E. Coli. So in addition to  your morning walks, taking the preventative heart-attack aspirin, you should probably pull out the rakiya either the homemade stuff or the Burgas 63 I brought home at Christmas and wash your salad down with an aperitif of rakiya.\n\nOh and as a final footnote, readers, ever wonder why I call my parents MoM and dAd? <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2010/08/08/mom-dad/\" target=\"_blank\">Here\'s a post I wrote explaining it a year ago or so</a>.','Rakiya the wonder-child of Alcohols ','','inherit','open','open','','5056-autosave','','','2011-06-12 10:34:02','2011-06-12 08:34:02','',5056,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/12/5056-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(5062,1,'2011-06-13 19:28:00','2011-06-13 17:28:00','On Friday after work, I popped into Hit to grab somethings. Saturday was Arts Fest at school and I volunteered to make a cake for the PTA table. That\'s the Parent-Teacher Association for those of you not in the know.\r\n\r\nThe cake I wanted to make requires: yogurt, sugar, eggs and vanilla among other things. Anyhow while picking up vanilla flavoring I saw that there was also kozunak flavoring. I bought that too.\r\n\r\nI mean, what is kozunak flavor?\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5063\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Kozunak Flavoring \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5063\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/13/maybe-i-should-only-shop-with-a-list/img_8481/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5063 \" title=\"Kozunak Flavoring \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/IMG_8481-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThe thing is after deciding to by kozunak favoring a number of other unexpected things also found their way into my basket.  Wine, a <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/28/sometimes-its-the-little-things/\" target=\"_blank\">Ritter Sport chocolate bar</a>, brie, bagel chips.  Then my entire walk home to Mladost 1A I cursed the fact that I thought I should buy flour, wine, yogurt, other heavy things and eggs.\r\n\r\nI also considered making a new rule: only shop with a list.\r\n\r\nLuckily the eggs made it home in one piece and the cake that I decided to make, a yogurt cake with bittersweet chocolate frosting, turned out great. The cake was a hit--it was sold by the slice in about an hour.\r\n\r\nNot bad, not bad at all.','Maybe I should only shop with a list','','publish','open','open','','maybe-i-should-only-shop-with-a-list','','','2011-06-13 19:28:00','2011-06-13 17:28:00','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=5062',0,'post','',2),(5063,1,'2011-06-13 19:23:21','2011-06-13 17:23:21','','Kozunak Flavoring ','Kozunak Flavoring ','inherit','open','open','','img_8481','','','2011-06-13 19:23:21','2011-06-13 17:23:21','',5062,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/IMG_8481.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(5064,1,'2011-06-13 19:26:24','2011-06-13 17:26:24','On Friday after work, I popped into Hit to grab somethings. Saturday was Arts Fest at school and I volunteered to make a cake for the PTA table. That\'s the Parent-Teacher Association for those of you not in the know.\n\nThe cake I wanted to make requires: yogurt, sugar, eggs and vanilla among other things. Anyhow while picking up vanilla flavoring I saw that there was also kozunak flavoring. I bought that too.\n\nI mean, what is kozunak flavor?\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_5063\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Kozunak Flavoring \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5063\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5063\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5063 \" title=\"Kozunak Flavoring \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/IMG_8481-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nThe thing is after deciding to by kozunak favoring a number of other unexpected things also found their way into my basket.  Wine, a <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/28/sometimes-its-the-little-things/\" target=\"_blank\">Ritter Sport chocolate bar</a>, brie, bagel chips.  Then my entire walk home to Mladost 1A I cursed the fact that I thought I should buy flour, wine, yogurt, other heavy things and eggs.\n\nI also considered making a new rule: only shop with a list.\n\nLuckily the eggs made it home in one piece and the cake that I decided to make, a yogurt cake with bittersweet chocolate frosting, turned out great. The cake was a hit--it was sold by the slice in about an hour.','Maybe I should only shop with a list','','inherit','open','open','','5062-revision','','','2011-06-13 19:26:24','2011-06-13 17:26:24','',5062,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/13/5062-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(5065,1,'2011-06-13 19:27:03','2011-06-13 17:27:03','On Friday after work, I popped into Hit to grab somethings. Saturday was Arts Fest at school and I volunteered to make a cake for the PTA table. That\'s the Parent-Teacher Association for those of you not in the know.\r\n\r\nThe cake I wanted to make requires: yogurt, sugar, eggs and vanilla among other things. Anyhow while picking up vanilla flavoring I saw that there was also kozunak flavoring. I bought that too.\r\n\r\nI mean, what is kozunak flavor?\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5063\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Kozunak Flavoring \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5063\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5063\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5063 \" title=\"Kozunak Flavoring \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/IMG_8481-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThe thing is after deciding to by kozunak favoring a number of other unexpected things also found their way into my basket.  Wine, a <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/28/sometimes-its-the-little-things/\" target=\"_blank\">Ritter Sport chocolate bar</a>, brie, bagel chips.  Then my entire walk home to Mladost 1A I cursed the fact that I thought I should buy flour, wine, yogurt, other heavy things and eggs.\r\n\r\nI also considered making a new rule: only shop with a list.\r\n\r\nLuckily the eggs made it home in one piece and the cake that I decided to make, a yogurt cake with bittersweet chocolate frosting, turned out great. The cake was a hit--it was sold by the slice in about an hour.','Maybe I should only shop with a list','','inherit','open','open','','5062-revision-2','','','2011-06-13 19:27:03','2011-06-13 17:27:03','',5062,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/13/5062-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(5066,1,'2011-06-13 19:27:03','2011-06-13 17:27:03','On Friday after work, I popped into Hit to grab somethings. Saturday was Arts Fest at school and I volunteered to make a cake for the PTA table. That\'s the Parent-Teacher Association for those of you not in the know.\r\n\r\nThe cake I wanted to make requires: yogurt, sugar, eggs and vanilla among other things. Anyhow while picking up vanilla flavoring I saw that there was also kozunak flavoring. I bought that too.\r\n\r\nI mean, what is kozunak flavor?\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5063\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Kozunak Flavoring \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5063\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5063\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5063 \" title=\"Kozunak Flavoring \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/IMG_8481-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThe thing is after deciding to by kozunak favoring a number of other unexpected things also found their way into my basket.  Wine, a <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/28/sometimes-its-the-little-things/\" target=\"_blank\">Ritter Sport chocolate bar</a>, brie, bagel chips.  Then my entire walk home to Mladost 1A I cursed the fact that I thought I should buy flour, wine, yogurt, other heavy things and eggs.\r\n\r\nI also considered making a new rule: only shop with a list.\r\n\r\nLuckily the eggs made it home in one piece and the cake that I decided to make, a yogurt cake with bittersweet chocolate frosting, turned out great. The cake was a hit--it was sold by the slice in about an hour.','Maybe I should only shop with a list','','inherit','open','open','','5062-revision-3','','','2011-06-13 19:27:03','2011-06-13 17:27:03','',5062,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/13/5062-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(5067,1,'2011-06-13 19:28:00','2011-06-13 17:28:00','On Friday after work, I popped into Hit to grab somethings. Saturday was Arts Fest at school and I volunteered to make a cake for the PTA table. That\'s the Parent-Teacher Association for those of you not in the know.\r\n\r\nThe cake I wanted to make requires: yogurt, sugar, eggs and vanilla among other things. Anyhow while picking up vanilla flavoring I saw that there was also kozunak flavoring. I bought that too.\r\n\r\nI mean, what is kozunak flavor?\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5063\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Kozunak Flavoring \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5063\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5063\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5063 \" title=\"Kozunak Flavoring \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/IMG_8481-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThe thing is after deciding to by kozunak favoring a number of other unexpected things also found their way into my basket.  Wine, a <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/28/sometimes-its-the-little-things/\" target=\"_blank\">Ritter Sport chocolate bar</a>, brie, bagel chips.  Then my entire walk home to Mladost 1A I cursed the fact that I thought I should buy flour, wine, yogurt, other heavy things and eggs.\r\n\r\nI also considered making a new rule: only shop with a list.\r\n\r\nLuckily the eggs made it home in one piece and the cake that I decided to make, a yogurt cake with bittersweet chocolate frosting, turned out great. The cake was a hit--it was sold by the slice in about an hour.\r\n\r\nNot bad, not bad at all.','Maybe I should only shop with a list','','inherit','open','open','','5062-revision-4','','','2011-06-13 19:28:00','2011-06-13 17:28:00','',5062,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/13/5062-revision-4/',0,'revision','',0),(5068,1,'2011-06-14 21:26:21','2011-06-14 19:26:21','You may remember that I made a big decision a few weeks ago rather than traveling or gallivanting around some corner of Europe I made <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/05/19/doing-whats-hard/\" target=\"_blank\">a decision to learn more Bulgarian this summer</a> in an immersion situation. Throughout the year I\'ve been actively seeking out ways to practice my Bulgarian and I\'ve been seeking out situations where I must speak Bulgarian.\r\n\r\nIt\'s been easy for me to learn enough Bulgarian to get by. After all, I do work at an English language school. The flip side is that it\'s been difficult to force myself to actually speak Bulgarian.\r\n\r\nA quick summary of my pursuit of Bulgarian would look like this: over the last three years I\'ve been working slowly but steadily at Bulgarian. I have a weekly lesson with my tutor Ivet. I practice with a teacher at school two hours a week as well as with student tutors two hours a week. So my pursuit of Bulgarian has been going: little by little.\r\n\r\nAdmittedly I could also stand to study more but such is life.\r\n\r\nHowever this little by little business is slow going and I am ready to know more, to be more fluent and to be able to communicate better.\r\n\r\nSo I am happy to report that during the month of August I am going to be at a summer camp/summer school for Bulgarian children outside of the Bulgarian town Elena. Yep. I\'ll be teaching English a couple of hours a morning a week and then doing crafts and playing sports with the kids in Bulgarian.\r\n\r\nDid you know that I could do those things? <em>Yes</em>. I\'ve got skills outside of English and blogging.\r\n\r\nI told my student tutors this today and get this, they laughed at me. That didn\'t necessarily inspire confidence. Then we practiced imperatives in Bulgarian.  That made me feel a little better about whole thing. Not much better but a little better.\r\n\r\nI\'ve got a lot to learn.\r\n\r\nBut then again, I already knew that. That\'s why I am doing this.','In Pursuit of Bulgarian ','','publish','open','open','','in-pursuit-of-bulgarian-2','','','2011-06-14 21:26:21','2011-06-14 19:26:21','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=5068',0,'post','',11),(5069,1,'2011-06-13 19:44:30','2011-06-13 17:44:30','You may remember that I made a big decision a few weeks ago--<a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/05/19/doing-whats-hard/\" target=\"_blank\">a decision to learn more Bulgarian this summer</a> in an immersion situation.  I am actively seeking out ways to practice my Bulgarian and I am seeking out situations where I must speak Bulgarian. It\'s been easy for me to learn enough Bulgarian to get by. After all, I do work at an English language school.\n\nOver the last three years I\'ve been working slowly but steadily at Bulgarian. I have a weekly lesson with my tutor Ivet and I practice with a teacher at school two hours a week as well as with student tutors two hours a week.','In Pursuit of Bulgarian ','','inherit','open','open','','5068-revision','','','2011-06-13 19:44:30','2011-06-13 17:44:30','',5068,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/13/5068-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(5070,1,'2011-06-14 21:22:51','2011-06-14 19:22:51','You may remember that I made a big decision a few weeks ago rather than traveling or gallivanting around some corner of Europe I made <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/05/19/doing-whats-hard/\" target=\"_blank\">a decision to learn more Bulgarian this summer</a> in an immersion situation. Throughout the year I\'ve been actively seeking out ways to practice my Bulgarian and I\'ve been seeking out situations where I must speak Bulgarian.\n\nIt\'s been easy for me to learn enough Bulgarian to get by. After all, I do work at an English language school. The flip side is that it\'s been difficult to force myself to actually speak Bulgarian.\n\nA quick summary of my pursuit of Bulgarian would look like this: over the last three years I\'ve been working slowly but steadily at Bulgarian. I have a weekly lesson with my tutor Ivet. I practice with a teacher at school two hours a week as well as with student tutors two hours a week. So my pursuit of Bulgarian has been going: little by little.\n\nAdmittedly I could also stand to study more but such is life.\n\nHowever this little by little business is slow going and I am ready to know more, to be more fluent and to be able to communicate better.\n\nSo I am happy to report that during the month of August I am going to be at a summer camp/summer school for Bulgarian children outside of the Bulgarian town Elena. Yep. I\'ll be teaching English a couple of hours a morning a week and then doing crafts and playing sports with the kids in Bulgarian.\n\nDid you know that I could do those things? <em>Yes</em>. I\'ve got skills outside of English and blogging.\n\nI told my student tutors this today and get this, they laughed at me. That didn\'t necessarily inspire confidence. Then we practiced imperatives in Bulgarian.  That made me feel a little better about whole thing. Not much better but a little better.\n\nI\'ve got a lot to learn. But then again, I already knew that.','In Pursuit of Bulgarian ','','inherit','open','open','','5068-revision-2','','','2011-06-14 21:22:51','2011-06-14 19:22:51','',5068,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/14/5068-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(5071,1,'2011-06-14 21:23:24','2011-06-14 19:23:24','You may remember that I made a big decision a few weeks ago rather than traveling or gallivanting around some corner of Europe I made <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/05/19/doing-whats-hard/\" target=\"_blank\">a decision to learn more Bulgarian this summer</a> in an immersion situation. Throughout the year I\'ve been actively seeking out ways to practice my Bulgarian and I\'ve been seeking out situations where I must speak Bulgarian.\r\n\r\nIt\'s been easy for me to learn enough Bulgarian to get by. After all, I do work at an English language school. The flip side is that it\'s been difficult to force myself to actually speak Bulgarian.\r\n\r\nA quick summary of my pursuit of Bulgarian would look like this: over the last three years I\'ve been working slowly but steadily at Bulgarian. I have a weekly lesson with my tutor Ivet. I practice with a teacher at school two hours a week as well as with student tutors two hours a week. So my pursuit of Bulgarian has been going: little by little.\r\n\r\nAdmittedly I could also stand to study more but such is life.\r\n\r\nHowever this little by little business is slow going and I am ready to know more, to be more fluent and to be able to communicate better.\r\n\r\nSo I am happy to report that during the month of August I am going to be at a summer camp/summer school for Bulgarian children outside of the Bulgarian town Elena. Yep. I\'ll be teaching English a couple of hours a morning a week and then doing crafts and playing sports with the kids in Bulgarian.\r\n\r\nDid you know that I could do those things? <em>Yes</em>. I\'ve got skills outside of English and blogging.\r\n\r\nI told my student tutors this today and get this, they laughed at me. That didn\'t necessarily inspire confidence. Then we practiced imperatives in Bulgarian.  That made me feel a little better about whole thing. Not much better but a little better.\r\n\r\nI\'ve got a lot to learn.\r\n\r\nBut then again, I already knew that. That\'s why I am doing this.','In Pursuit of Bulgarian ','','inherit','open','open','','5068-revision-3','','','2011-06-14 21:23:24','2011-06-14 19:23:24','',5068,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/14/5068-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(5072,1,'2011-06-14 21:24:21','2011-06-14 19:24:21','You may remember that I made a big decision a few weeks ago rather than traveling or gallivanting around some corner of Europe I made <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/05/19/doing-whats-hard/\" target=\"_blank\">a decision to learn more Bulgarian this summer</a> in an immersion situation. Throughout the year I\'ve been actively seeking out ways to practice my Bulgarian and I\'ve been seeking out situations where I must speak Bulgarian.\r\n\r\nIt\'s been easy for me to learn enough Bulgarian to get by. After all, I do work at an English language school. The flip side is that it\'s been difficult to force myself to actually speak Bulgarian.\r\n\r\nA quick summary of my pursuit of Bulgarian would look like this: over the last three years I\'ve been working slowly but steadily at Bulgarian. I have a weekly lesson with my tutor Ivet. I practice with a teacher at school two hours a week as well as with student tutors two hours a week. So my pursuit of Bulgarian has been going: little by little.\r\n\r\nAdmittedly I could also stand to study more but such is life.\r\n\r\nHowever this little by little business is slow going and I am ready to know more, to be more fluent and to be able to communicate better.\r\n\r\nSo I am happy to report that during the month of August I am going to be at a summer camp/summer school for Bulgarian children outside of the Bulgarian town Elena. Yep. I\'ll be teaching English a couple of hours a morning a week and then doing crafts and playing sports with the kids in Bulgarian.\r\n\r\nDid you know that I could do those things? <em>Yes</em>. I\'ve got skills outside of English and blogging.\r\n\r\nI told my student tutors this today and get this, they laughed at me. That didn\'t necessarily inspire confidence. Then we practiced imperatives in Bulgarian.  That made me feel a little better about whole thing. Not much better but a little better.\r\n\r\nI\'ve got a lot to learn.\r\n\r\nBut then again, I already knew that. That\'s why I am doing this.','In Pursuit of Bulgarian ','','inherit','open','open','','5068-revision-4','','','2011-06-14 21:24:21','2011-06-14 19:24:21','',5068,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/14/5068-revision-4/',0,'revision','',0),(5073,1,'2011-06-14 21:26:15','2011-06-14 19:26:15','You may remember that I made a big decision a few weeks ago rather than traveling or gallivanting around some corner of Europe I made <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/05/19/doing-whats-hard/\" target=\"_blank\">a decision to learn more Bulgarian this summer</a> in an immersion situation. Throughout the year I\'ve been actively seeking out ways to practice my Bulgarian and I\'ve been seeking out situations where I must speak Bulgarian.\r\n\r\nIt\'s been easy for me to learn enough Bulgarian to get by. After all, I do work at an English language school. The flip side is that it\'s been difficult to force myself to actually speak Bulgarian.\r\n\r\nA quick summary of my pursuit of Bulgarian would look like this: over the last three years I\'ve been working slowly but steadily at Bulgarian. I have a weekly lesson with my tutor Ivet. I practice with a teacher at school two hours a week as well as with student tutors two hours a week. So my pursuit of Bulgarian has been going: little by little.\r\n\r\nAdmittedly I could also stand to study more but such is life.\r\n\r\nHowever this little by little business is slow going and I am ready to know more, to be more fluent and to be able to communicate better.\r\n\r\nSo I am happy to report that during the month of August I am going to be at a summer camp/summer school for Bulgarian children outside of the Bulgarian town Elena. Yep. I\'ll be teaching English a couple of hours a morning a week and then doing crafts and playing sports with the kids in Bulgarian.\r\n\r\nDid you know that I could do those things? <em>Yes</em>. I\'ve got skills outside of English and blogging.\r\n\r\nI told my student tutors this today and get this, they laughed at me. That didn\'t necessarily inspire confidence. Then we practiced imperatives in Bulgarian.  That made me feel a little better about whole thing. Not much better but a little better.\r\n\r\nI\'ve got a lot to learn.\r\n\r\nBut then again, I already knew that. That\'s why I am doing this.','In Pursuit of Bulgarian ','','inherit','open','open','','5068-revision-5','','','2011-06-14 21:26:15','2011-06-14 19:26:15','',5068,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/14/5068-revision-5/',0,'revision','',0),(5074,1,'2011-06-14 21:27:26','2011-06-14 19:27:26','You may remember that I made a big decision a few weeks ago rather than traveling or gallivanting around some corner of Europe I made <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/05/19/doing-whats-hard/\" target=\"_blank\">a decision to learn more Bulgarian this summer</a> in an immersion situation. Throughout the year I\'ve been actively seeking out ways to practice my Bulgarian and I\'ve been seeking out situations where I must speak Bulgarian.\n\nIt\'s been easy for me to learn enough Bulgarian to get by. After all, I do work at an English language school. The flip side is that it\'s been difficult to force myself to actually speak Bulgarian.\n\nA quick summary of my pursuit of Bulgarian would look like this: over the last three years I\'ve been working slowly but steadily at Bulgarian. I have a weekly lesson with my tutor Ivet. I practice with a teacher at school two hours a week as well as with student tutors two hours a week. So my pursuit of Bulgarian has been going: little by little.\n\nAdmittedly I could also stand to study more but such is life.\n\nHowever this little by little business is slow going and I am ready to know more, to be more fluent and to be able to communicate better.\n\nSo I am happy to report that during the month of August I am going to be at a summer camp/summer school for Bulgarian children outside of the Bulgarian town Elena. Yep. I\'ll be teaching English a couple of hours a morning a week and then doing crafts and playing sports with the kids in Bulgarian.\n\nDid you know that I could do those things? <em>Yes</em>. I\'ve got skills outside of English and blogging.\n\nI told my student tutors this today and get this, they laughed at me. That didn\'t necessarily inspire confidence. Then we practiced imperatives in Bulgarian.  That made me feel a little better about whole thing. Not much better but a little better.\n\nI\'ve got a lot to learn.\n\nBut then again, I already knew that. That\'s why I am doing this.','In Pursuit of Bulgarian ','','inherit','open','open','','5068-autosave','','','2011-06-14 21:27:26','2011-06-14 19:27:26','',5068,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/14/5068-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(5076,1,'2011-06-20 06:46:04','2011-06-20 04:46:04','I\'m back from a whirlwind weekend. It\'s 7am and I should probably be gearing up for the long week in front of me but the thing is I don\'t always do what I <em>should</em>. What I decidedly shouldn\'t do is spill coffee down the front of my dress after it\'s taken me 10 minutes to pick out. Only problem is that I don\'t really have much control over these things. Luckily it only took me two minutes to pick out my next outfit this morning. It\'s less cute but it\'s clothing and some days that what counts.\n\nAnyhow back to the whirlwind!\n\nFirst things first, Happy-Late-Father\'s-Day, dAd!\n\nI didn\'t get a chance to call my dAd yesterday because I didn\'t get home form my weekend adventure in the mountains until late. If I had made it home earlier this is what I would have said: Dad, I love you and thanks for everything. (He would have, of course, heard <a title=\"MoM and dAd\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2010/08/08/mom-dad/\" target=\"_blank\">dAd</a> but it\'s weird to say \"little-d\", \"big-A,\" \"little d\" I love you over skype.)\n\nEverything would have clearly included: giving me my first baseball glove, teaching me how to make the best oatmeal waffles ever, helping with my collections of 1989 Fleer baseball cards, my stamp collection and my sticker collection, taking me camping and shopping (yeah, read that one over again. My dAd likes to shop <em>way more</em> than my MoM.), convincing me to build birdhouses to sell and generally inspiring me to try new things and not to take the easy way out.\n\nMostly my dAd leads by example. A great example of this? When my dAd decided that it was high time to start his own blog last year. Mind you he doesn\'t have facebook, he doesn\'t tweet, he still has a cellphone from the early 2000\'s and I am pretty sure he has never-ever sent a text message. Anyhow, he tells me: Carolyn, I\'d like to start a blog. I said: okay. Here\'s his blog today: <a href=\"http://wallawallalocal.wordpress.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Work, Play, Eat, Live Local</a>. I think that he takes great photos and writes very well. Oh and he makes Walla Walla look like a million bucks. <em>And</em>, my MoM tells me that now he knows how to download all of his own photos to the computer. What a guy, what a guy.\n\nAnyhow, I\'ve never had another dad. So I don\'t really have anything to compare to but I have friends with dads and I\'ve read a lot of books with dads in them and I have to say, I got pretty lucky on the dad front. I am not sure how I got so lucky but I did get lucky.\n\nSo here\'s to my dAd, Dave, who is celebrating his 30th year of being a father. I feel like he deserves more than a blog post--probably he deserves a trophy or something because really 30 years is nothing to sneeze at but all I can do right now is write this. Maybe next year. That will be the year he\'s been a father longer than not and that\'s an achievement that certainly merits celebrating.\n\nThanks again for everything dAd!!','Back from the Mountains & Blogging about dAd','','inherit','open','open','','5075-revision','','','2011-06-20 06:46:04','2011-06-20 04:46:04','',5075,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/20/5075-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(5077,1,'2011-06-20 06:47:04','2011-06-20 04:47:04','I\'m back from a whirlwind weekend. It\'s 7am and I should probably be gearing up for the long week in front of me but the thing is I don\'t always do what I <em>should</em>. What I decidedly shouldn\'t do is spill coffee down the front of my dress after it\'s taken me 10 minutes to pick out. Only problem is that I don\'t really have much control over these things. Luckily it only took me two minutes to pick out my next outfit this morning. It\'s less cute but it\'s clothing and some days that what counts.\n\nAnyhow back to the whirlwind!\n\nFirst things first, Happy-Late-Father\'s-Day, dAd!\n\nI didn\'t get a chance to call my dAd yesterday because I didn\'t get home form my weekend adventure in the mountains until late. If I had made it home earlier this is what I would have said: Dad, I love you and thanks for everything. (He would have, of course, heard <a title=\"MoM and dAd\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2010/08/08/mom-dad/\" target=\"_blank\">dAd</a> but it\'s weird to say \"little-d\", \"big-A,\" \"little d\" I love you over skype.)\n\nEverything would have clearly included:\n<ul>\n	<li>giving me my first baseball glove,</li>\n	<li>teaching me how to make the best oatmeal waffles ever, helping with my collections of 1989 Fleer baseball cards, my stamp collection and my sticker collection, taking me camping and shopping (yeah, read that one over again. My dAd likes to shop <em>way more</em> than my MoM.), convincing me to build birdhouses to sell and generally inspiring me to try new things and not to take the easy way out.</li>\n</ul>\nMostly my dAd leads by example. A great example of this? When my dAd decided that it was high time to start his own blog last year. Mind you he doesn\'t have facebook, he doesn\'t tweet, he still has a cellphone from the early 2000\'s and I am pretty sure he has never-ever sent a text message. Anyhow, he tells me: Carolyn, I\'d like to start a blog. I said: okay. Here\'s his blog today: <a href=\"http://wallawallalocal.wordpress.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Work, Play, Eat, Live Local</a>. I think that he takes great photos and writes very well. Oh and he makes Walla Walla look like a million bucks. <em>And</em>, my MoM tells me that now he knows how to download all of his own photos to the computer. What a guy, what a guy.\n\nAnyhow, I\'ve never had another dad. So I don\'t really have anything to compare to but I have friends with dads and I\'ve read a lot of books with dads in them and I have to say, I got pretty lucky on the dad front. I am not sure how I got so lucky but I did get lucky.\n\nSo here\'s to my dAd, Dave, who is celebrating his 30th year of being a father. I feel like he deserves more than a blog post--probably he deserves a trophy or something because really 30 years is nothing to sneeze at but all I can do right now is write this. Maybe next year. That will be the year he\'s been a father longer than not and that\'s an achievement that certainly merits celebrating.\n\nThanks again for everything dAd!!','Back from the Mountains & Blogging about dAd','','inherit','open','open','','5075-revision-2','','','2011-06-20 06:47:04','2011-06-20 04:47:04','',5075,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/20/5075-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(5078,1,'2011-06-20 06:52:35','2011-06-20 04:52:35','I\'m back from a whirlwind weekend. It\'s 7am and I should probably be gearing up for the long week in front of me but the thing is I don\'t always do what I <em>should</em>. What I decidedly shouldn\'t do is spill coffee down the front of my dress after it\'s taken me 10 minutes to pick out. Only problem is that I don\'t really have much control over these things. Luckily it only took me two minutes to pick out my next outfit this morning. It\'s less cute but it\'s clothing and some days that what counts.\n\nAnyhow back to the whirlwind!\n\nFirst things first, Happy-Late-Father\'s-Day, dAd!\n\nI didn\'t get a chance to call my dAd yesterday because I didn\'t get home form my weekend adventure in the mountains until late. If I had made it home earlier this is what I would have said: Dad, I love you and thanks for everything. (He would have, of course, heard <a title=\"MoM and dAd\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2010/08/08/mom-dad/\" target=\"_blank\">dAd</a> but it\'s weird to say \"little-d\", \"big-A,\" \"little d\" I love you over skype.)\n\nEverything would have clearly included:\n<ul>\n	<li>giving me my first baseball glove,</li>\n	<li>teaching me how to make the best oatmeal waffles ever,</li>\n	<li>helping with my collections of 1989 Fleer baseball cards, my stamp collection and my sticker collection,</li>\n	<li>taking me camping and shopping (yeah, read that one over again. My dAd likes to shop <em>way more</em> than my MoM.),</li>\n	<li>convincing me to build birdhouses to sell</li>\n	<li>and generally inspiring me to try new things and not to take the easy way out.</li>\n</ul>\nMostly my dAd leads by example. Well aside from the sticker collection but in my defense when you\'re five-years old collecting stickers follows pretty naturally after you\'ve already been collecting stamps and baseball cards. <!--more-->\n\nEven today my dAd continues to inspire me (and I guess now that I am an adult the inspiration thing works both ways).\n\nA great example of this is when my dAd decided that it was high time to start his own blog last year. Mind you he doesn\'t have facebook, he doesn\'t tweet, he still has a cellphone from the early 2000\'s and I am pretty sure he has never-ever sent a text message. Anyhow, he tells me: Carolyn, I\'d like to start a blog. I said: okay. Here\'s his blog today: <a href=\"http://wallawallalocal.wordpress.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Work, Play, Eat, Live Local</a>. I think that he takes great photos and writes very well. Oh and he makes Walla Walla look like a million bucks. <em>And</em>, my MoM tells me that now he knows how to download all of his own photos to the computer. What a guy, what a guy.\n\nAnyhow, I\'ve never had another dad. So I don\'t really have anything to compare to but I have friends with dads and I\'ve read a lot of books with dads in them and I have to say, I got pretty lucky on the dad front. I am not sure how I got so lucky but I did get lucky.\n\nSo here\'s to my dAd, Dave, who is celebrating his 30th year of being a father. I feel like he deserves more than a blog post--probably he deserves a trophy or something because really 30 years is nothing to sneeze at but all I can do right now is write this. Maybe next year. That will be the year he\'s been a father longer than not and that\'s an achievement that certainly merits celebrating.\n\nThanks again for everything dAd!!','Back from the Mountains & Blogging about dAd','','inherit','open','open','','5075-autosave','','','2011-06-20 06:52:35','2011-06-20 04:52:35','',5075,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/20/5075-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(5136,1,'2011-06-28 20:42:36','2011-06-28 18:42:36','Today I was at work finishing up grading a giant pile of exams, research papers and late homework all the while listening to NPR. I love to listen to NPR Music at work because most of the concerts that you can stream are between half an hour and an hour. It\'s the perfect amount of time and they\'ve got a lot of great groups to pick from. I don\'t have to think much about it and I never get sick of it because when I\'m getting close, I just pick a new group to listen to.\r\n\r\nI don\'t know how NPR recommends clips to listen to but I regularly like what they send my way.\r\n\r\nFor example, earlier today I was convinced that NPR and I are BFF. That\'s because they send my way a <a href=\"http://www.npr.org/2011/06/23/137372838/human-trafficking-the-terrible-price-of-sex\" target=\"_blank\">15 minute clip on a new documentary called \"The Price of Sex.\"</a> I thought: that sounds interesting.\r\n\r\nThen in the first 30 seconds of the clip I was convinced that the woman who made the film must be Bulgarian. Yes, I made this decision based solely on her name, Mimi Chakarova, and the content of the film--human trafficking in Eastern Europe after the fall of the Berlin Wall. A minute later my hunch was confirmed.\r\n\r\nShe\'s Bulgarian.\r\n\r\nAt this point, I was hooked.<!--more-->\r\n\r\nThe conversation/interview is great--heartbreaking but great. It really made me want to watch Mimi Chakarova\'s documentary. So tonight after work, I did the next best thing. I\'ve googled her and obsessively watched the <a href=\"http://priceofsex.org/content/previous-projects\" target=\"_blank\">three other projects she has posted on her website</a>.  Needless to say this has made it hard for me to actually write about her project, films and photos given the fact that I\'d rather be checking those out than actually writing.\r\n\r\nHere\'s what I\'ve got to say: Mimi Chakarova is doing really amazing work. She tells an incredible story--one that is well paced with a clear narrative. She\'s made this issue of human trafficking which I know something about (admittedly not much but something about) incredibly real to me.\r\n\r\nMaybe that shouldn\'t surprise me because I think that\'s what good story tellers are supposed to do and she\'s done it. She\'s taken this giant problem and make a single wedge of it real in the clips on her website. Mashing this up with the NPR interview and <a href=\"http://captivedaughters.org/mimi.htm\" target=\"_blank\">blog interview she did here</a>, I find myself amazed by her.\r\n\r\nNow I want do three things: 1. watch her documentary, 2. meet Mimi and 3. learn more about human trafficking in Bulgaria.\r\n\r\nYep, I got all of this from a 15 minute NPR interview--which you really should listen to--and three short film projects on her website.','NPR and a Documentary: The Price of Sex\"','','publish','open','open','','npr-and-a-documentary-the-price-of-sex','','','2011-06-28 20:42:36','2011-06-28 18:42:36','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=5136',0,'post','',0),(5080,1,'2011-06-20 20:49:52','2011-06-20 18:49:52','There\'s a little drugstore across the street from me. I really like it. There are two girls who work there and they are very nice to me even after all of the crazy things I\'ve said to them and the looks of helplessness I\'ve shot their way over the counter countless times. I am afraid that I am the customer that they see coming and think: Oh no, not her. <em>Again</em>.\r\n\r\nBut nothing in their body language ever tells me this so I just smile and hope that I can get what I need. Today it was sunscreen and aspirin. Neither one of these things seems very challenging and/or embarrassing.\r\n\r\nIt\'s nothing like  last summer when I was really sick and had to buy anti-diarrhea medicine.  Or more recently when I went to fill a prescription for a urinary tract infection and had a lot of back and forth over whether I was pregnant or not. For the record I am not.\r\n\r\nSo compared to these things sunscreen seems pretty straightforward. The stuff I want is in a glass cabinet so I have to ask for the pharmacist to open it for me which she does. Then I pick out what I want. It\'s not cheep but that\'s okay. I want something that I know works and that I know doesn\'t irritate my skin.\r\n\r\nHowever, the pharmacist doesn\'t like my selection. She sighs and looks at me. Then she tells me something in Bulgarian I don\'t understand. I tell her that I don\'t understand. Then she asks me something about my skin which I vaguely understand. Mind you the packaging of the sunscreen is in French with a Bulgarian label stuck haphazardly on top and some English on the front of the box. <!--more-->\r\n\r\nThe Bulgarian is very little and hard for me to read. At times like this I often pretend that I speak French because I can usually make more of that out than itsy-bitsy printed Bulgarian. So we\'re both peering at this relatively small box and I am wondering: Why is this such a big deal?\r\n\r\nThen I think: Hey, it\'s actually pretty nice that she wants me to buy the right thing. This would never happen in the States. So I buy what she tells me to because really, who am I to refuse her?\r\n\r\nI also pick up some aspirin. Only this time I get to pick between plain old every day aspirin and effervescent aspirin tablets with vitamin C.  I don\'t really know why I\'d want the effervescent aspirin tablets with vitamin C so I pick the plain kind. So 40 leva later I have two bottles of sunscreen--one for my face, one for my body--and some aspirin.\r\n\r\nI guess I am all but set for the Elevation Music Festival this next weekend!!','Buying Sunscreen at the Drugstore','','publish','open','open','','buying-sunscreen-at-the-drugstore','','','2011-06-20 20:49:52','2011-06-20 18:49:52','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=5080',0,'post','',2),(5081,1,'2011-06-20 20:49:27','2011-06-20 18:49:27','There\'s a little drugstore across the street from me. I really like it. There are two girls who work there and they are very nice to me even after all of the crazy things I\'ve said to them and the looks of helplessness I\'ve shot their way over the counter countless times. I am afraid that I am the customer that they see coming and think: Oh no, not her. <em>Again</em>.\n\nBut nothing in their body language ever tells me this so I just smile and hope that I can get what I need. Today it was sunscreen and aspirin. Neither one of these things seems very challenging and/or embarrassing.\n\nIt\'s nothing like  last summer when I was really sick and had to buy anti-diarrhea medicine.  Or more recently when I went to fill a prescription for a urinary tract infection and had a lot of back and forth over whether I was pregnant or not. For the record I am not.\n\nSo compared to these things sunscreen seems pretty straightforward. The stuff I want is in a glass cabinet so I have to ask for the pharmacist to open it for me which she does. Then I pick out what I want. It\'s not cheep but that\'s okay. I want something that I know works and that I know doesn\'t irritate my skin.\n\nHowever, the pharmacist doesn\'t like my selection. She sighs and looks at me. Then she tells me something in Bulgarian I don\'t understand. I tell her that I don\'t understand. Then she asks me something about my skin which I vaguely understand. Mind you the packaging of the sunscreen is in French with a Bulgarian label stuck haphazardly on top and some English on the front of the box. <!--more-->\n\nThe Bulgarian is very little and hard for me to read. At times like this I often pretend that I speak French because I can usually make more of that out than itsy-bitsy printed Bulgarian. So we\'re both peering at this relatively small box and I am wondering: Why is this such a big deal?\n\nThen I think: Hey, it\'s actually pretty nice that she wants me to buy the right thing. This would never happen in the States. So I buy what she tells me to because really, who am I to refuse her?\n\nI also pick up some aspirin. Only this time I get to pick between plain old every day aspirin and effervescent aspirin tablets with vitamin C.  I don\'t really know why I\'d want the effervescent aspirin tablets with vitamin C so I pick the plain kind. So 40 leva later I have two bottles of sunscreen--one for my face, one for my body--and some aspirin.\n\nI guess I am all but set for the Elevation Music Festival this ne','Buying Sunscreen at the Drugstore','','inherit','open','open','','5080-revision','','','2011-06-20 20:49:27','2011-06-20 18:49:27','',5080,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/20/5080-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(5082,1,'2011-06-20 20:50:57','2011-06-20 18:50:57','There\'s a little drugstore across the street from me. I really like it. There are two girls who work there and they are very nice to me even after all of the crazy things I\'ve said to them and the looks of helplessness I\'ve shot their way over the counter countless times. I am afraid that I am the customer that they see coming and think: Oh no, not her. <em>Again</em>.\n\nBut nothing in their body language ever tells me this so I just smile and hope that I can get what I need. Today it was sunscreen and aspirin. Neither one of these things seems very challenging and/or embarrassing.\n\nIt\'s nothing like  last summer when I was really sick and had to buy anti-diarrhea medicine.  Or more recently when I went to fill a prescription for a urinary tract infection and had a lot of back and forth over whether I was pregnant or not. For the record I am not.\n\nSo compared to these things sunscreen seems pretty straightforward. The stuff I want is in a glass cabinet so I have to ask for the pharmacist to open it for me which she does. Then I pick out what I want. It\'s not cheep but that\'s okay. I want something that I know works and that I know doesn\'t irritate my skin.\n\nHowever, the pharmacist doesn\'t like my selection. She sighs and looks at me. Then she tells me something in Bulgarian I don\'t understand. I tell her that I don\'t understand. Then she asks me something about my skin which I vaguely understand. Mind you the packaging of the sunscreen is in French with a Bulgarian label stuck haphazardly on top and some English on the front of the box. <!--more-->\n\nThe Bulgarian is very little and hard for me to read. At times like this I often pretend that I speak French because I can usually make more of that out than itsy-bitsy printed Bulgarian. So we\'re both peering at this relatively small box and I am wondering: Why is this such a big deal?\n\nThen I think: Hey, it\'s actually pretty nice that she wants me to buy the right thing. This would never happen in the States. So I buy what she tells me to because really, who am I to refuse her?\n\nI also pick up some aspirin. Only this time I get to pick between plain old every day aspirin and effervescent aspirin tablets with vitamin C.  I don\'t really know why I\'d want the effervescent aspirin tablets with vitamin C so I pick the plain kind. So 40 leva later I have two bottles of sunscreen--one for my face, one for my body--and some aspirin.\n\nI guess I am all but set for the Elevation Music Festival this next weekend!!','Buying Sunscreen at the Drugstore','','inherit','open','open','','5080-autosave','','','2011-06-20 20:50:57','2011-06-20 18:50:57','',5080,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/20/5080-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(5083,1,'2011-06-21 21:03:01','2011-06-21 19:03:01','I went hiking with my Bulgarian tutor I. and some of her friends this weekend. It was, of course, great fun. We did a lot of hiking, there was a ton of rapid fire Bulgarian being spoken and when we weren\'t hiking there was lots of eating and drinking to be done.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5086\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"View on the walk up the mountain\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5086\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/21/hiking-in-the-rila-mountains/dsc02627/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5086 \" title=\"View on the walk up the mountain\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02627-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThis is the second time I\'ve gone hiking with this group of friends. The first time was in <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/02/21/teteven-kind-of/\" target=\"_blank\">February for my tutor\'s birthday</a>. That time it was a bigger group and the conversations were much harder to follow along with. This time the group was smaller and I found conversations easier to follow along. Funny how that works. And/or four months later, I actually know more Bulgarian making it that much easier to follow along.  Granted I didn\'t understand everything but I didn\'t feel totally lost either.\r\n\r\nLittle things like this give me hope.\r\n\r\nAnyhow, back to the hiking. We parked outside of this little town in the foot hills of the Rila Mountains (whose name I cannot remember now that I am typing this post. For this I am deeply sorry and I do realize how totally lame it is that I\'ve forgotten. Maybe my tutor I. will read this and fill in the gaps in the comments section below. She\'s good like that.) We walked for about an hour or maybe slightly more up the mountain to a mountain hut (hija/cabin/camp/chalet/lodge) in the shadow of the<a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musala\" target=\"_blank\"> tallest peak in the Balkan Mountain Range--Musala</a>.<!--more-->\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5087\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"A big mountain \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5087\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/21/hiking-in-the-rila-mountains/dsc02631/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5087 \" title=\"A big mountain \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02631-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nGiven that the hike up to Musala was four hours each way, we didn\'t have enough time to climb the mountain from where we were but that didn\'t make it any less beautiful.\r\n\r\nThe weather was on the cold side--but I was prepared for this. Thanks to I. and Andreytcho who both warned me to bring plenty of warm weather gear with me. It\'s kind of like they were my moms.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5088\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Water on the Road\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5088\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/21/hiking-in-the-rila-mountains/dsc02633/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5088 \" title=\"Water on the Road\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02633-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nWe met up with some of I.\'s friends to hike up to the mountain cabin we were staying in. One of her friend\'s parents run the cabin and we walked up with the friend and her mother. After a round of introductions, her mother looked not at me but at I. and asked her if I\'d also brought along long pants. I said yes. I. looked at the mom and confirmed my long pants. The mom shakes her head and I. says: she\'s American. That seemed to clear the whole thing up. I couldn\'t help wondering if it was part clarification and part apology but really it doesn\'t matter.\r\n\r\nThis said, I was glad that I had my jeans. It was much colder at the cabin and when the sun went down I was very happy to have my sweatshirt, fleece jacket and windbreaker as well.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5089\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Water on the side of the road\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5089\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/21/hiking-in-the-rila-mountains/dsc02642/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5089 \" title=\"Water on the side of the road\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02642-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThe cabins/huts don\'t have electricity or source of heat so when I saw stacks of blankets on the foot of my bed I was worried that it was going to be a cold night. I layered on the blankets doubling some of them up and crawled into bed in my yoga pants, t-shirt, sweatshirt and fleece. I\'d rather be warm than cold. Luckily, I was too warm and ended up stripping off my fleece jacket in the middle of the night and let me tell you that\'s not easy under four thick, think wool blankets. I mean, I was basically pinned to the bed under a mound of blankets but really, I can\'t complain about that.\r\n\r\nThe water at the hut was delicious, very cold and fresh tasting. It was the kind of water that I wish I could drink all of the time but that you can really only get in the mountains.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5090\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Walking and walking\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5090\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/21/hiking-in-the-rila-mountains/dsc02644/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5090 \" title=\"Walking and walking\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02644-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nI am really a nature writer--so I\'ll keep this part of the post short. On the first day we climbed the ridge to check out the view. At the top we spent an hour or so lolling around in the grass on top of the ridge warming ourselves in the sun, talking, taking in the view and getting sunburns. Granted we weren\'t <em>trying</em> to get sunburns. Funny how I can remember to bring sunscreen to the beach but when I am packing for the mountains and worrying about taking enough warm clothes I forget to throw in sunscreen.\r\n\r\nIt was at the top of this ridge that my camera died. I guess that if you want to take pictures you should probably remember to charge the battery. Again, funny how that works.\r\n\r\nThe next day we decided to skirt around the lake in front of the cabins. It seemed like an easy enough plan and I am pretty sure we were told that it wouldn\'t take more than an hour. Well, t his turned out not to be the case. But we had a grand adventure where we scrambled over rocks, got a little lost, picked our way through scraggly tree-bushes, hopped and skipped over streams, spotted a number of brown frogs, picked some wildflowers, got our feet a little wet (or at least I did), threw some pine cones into the lake and finally made it back to our starting place.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5091\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Me and the view! \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5091\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/21/hiking-in-the-rila-mountains/dsc02648/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5091 \" title=\"Me and the view! \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02648-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThen we took our time walking back down the mountain to the car. No one was in a rush to get back to Sofia after a short weekend jaunt in the mountains. But really that\'s the way it\'s supposed to be. It makes you look forward to the next trip that much more.','Hiking in the Rila Mountains ','','publish','open','open','','hiking-in-the-rila-mountains','','','2011-06-21 21:03:01','2011-06-21 19:03:01','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=5083',0,'post','',1),(5084,1,'2011-06-21 06:42:04','2011-06-21 04:42:04','I went hiking with my Bulgarian tutor I. and some of her friends this weekend. It was, of course, great fun. We did a lot of hiking, there was a ton of rapid fire Bulgarian being spoken and when we weren\'t hiking there was lots of eating and drinking to be done.\n\nThis is the second time I\'ve gone hiking with this group of friends. The first time was in <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/02/21/teteven-kind-of/\" target=\"_blank\">February for my tutor\'s birthday</a>. That time it was a bigger group and the conversations were much harder to follow along with. This time the group was smaller and I found conversations easier to follow along. Funny how that works. And/or four months later, I actually know more Bulgarian making it that much easier to follow along.  Granted I didn\'t understand everything but I didn\'t feel totally lost either.\n\nLittle things like this give me hope.\n\nAnyhow, back to the hiking. We parked outside of this little town in the foot hills of the Rila Mountains (whose name I cannot remember now that I am typing this post. For this I am deeply sorry. Maybe my tutor I. will read this and fill in the gaps in the comments section below. She\'s good like that.) We walked for about an hour or maybe slightly more up the mountain to a mountain hut (hijacabin/camp/chalet)','Hiking in the Rila Mountains ','','inherit','open','open','','5083-revision','','','2011-06-21 06:42:04','2011-06-21 04:42:04','',5083,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/21/5083-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(5085,1,'2011-06-21 20:35:00','2011-06-21 18:35:00','I went hiking with my Bulgarian tutor I. and some of her friends this weekend. It was, of course, great fun. We did a lot of hiking, there was a ton of rapid fire Bulgarian being spoken and when we weren\'t hiking there was lots of eating and drinking to be done.\n\nThis is the second time I\'ve gone hiking with this group of friends. The first time was in <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/02/21/teteven-kind-of/\" target=\"_blank\">February for my tutor\'s birthday</a>. That time it was a bigger group and the conversations were much harder to follow along with. This time the group was smaller and I found conversations easier to follow along. Funny how that works. And/or four months later, I actually know more Bulgarian making it that much easier to follow along.  Granted I didn\'t understand everything but I didn\'t feel totally lost either.\n\nLittle things like this give me hope.\n\nAnyhow, back to the hiking. We parked outside of this little town in the foot hills of the Rila Mountains (whose name I cannot remember now that I am typing this post. For this I am deeply sorry. Maybe my tutor I. will read this and fill in the gaps in the comments section below. She\'s good like that.) We walked for about an hour or maybe slightly more up the mountain to a mountain hut (hija/cabin/camp/chalet/lodge) in the shadow of the<a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musala\" target=\"_blank\"> tallest peak in the Balkan Mountain Range--Musala</a>.\n\nGiven that the hike up to Musala was four hours each way, we didn\'t have enough time to climb the mountain from where we were but that didn\'t make it any less beautiful.\n\nThe weather was on the cold side--but I was prepared for this. Thanks to I. and Andreytcho who both warned me to bring plenty of warm weather gear with me. It\'s kind of like they were my moms.\n\nWe met up with some of I.\'s friends to hike up to the mountain cabin we were staying in. One of her friend\'s parents run the cabin and we walked up with the friend and her mother. After a round of introductions, her mother looked not at me but at I. and asked her if I\'d also brought along long pants. I said yes. I. looked at the mom and confirmed my long pants. The mom shakes her head and I. says: she\'s American. That seemed to clear the whole thing up. I couldn\'t help wondering if it was part clarification and part apology but really it doesn\'t matter.\n\nThis said, I was glad that I had my jeans. It was much colder at the cabin and when the sun went down I was very happy to have my sweatshirt, fleece jacket and windbreaker as well.\n\nThe cabins/huts don\'t have electricity or source of heat so when I saw stacks of blankets on the foot of my bed I was worried that it was going to be a cold night. I layered on the blankets doubling some of them up and crawled into bed in my yoga pants, t-shirt, sweatshirt and fleece. I\'d rather be warm than cold. Luckily, I was too warm and ended up stripping off my fleece jacket in the middle of the night and let me tell you that\'s not easy under four thick, think wool blankets. I mean, I was basically pinned to the bed under a mound of blankets but really, I can\'t complain about that.\n\nThe water at the hut was delicious, very cold and fresh tasting. It was the kind of water that I wish I could drink all of the time but that you can really only get in the mountains.\n\nI am really a nature writer--so I\'ll keep this part of the post short. On the first day we climbed the ridge to check out the view. At the top we spent an hour or so lolling around in the grass on top of the ridge warming ourselves in the sun, talking, taking in the view and getting sunburns. Granted we weren\'t <em>trying</em> to get sunburns. Funny how I can remember to bring sunscreen to the beach but when I am packing for the mountains and worrying about taking enough warm clothes I forget to throw in sunscreen.\n\nIt was at the top of this ridge that my camera died. I guess that if you want to take pictures you should probably remember to charge the battery. Again, funny how that works.\n\nThe next day we decided to skirt around the lake in front of the cabins. It seemed like an easy enough plan and I am pretty sure we were told that it wouldn\'t take more than an hour. Well, t his turned out not to be the case. But we had a grand adventure where we scrambled over rocks, got a little lost, picked our way through scraggly tree-bushes, hopped and skipped over streams, spotted a number of brown frogs, picked some wildflowers, got our feet a little wet (or at least I did), threw some pine cones into the lake and finally made it back to our starting place.\n\nThen we took our time walking back down the mountain to the car. No one was in a rush to get back to Sofia after a short weekend jaunt in the mountains. But really that\'s the way it\'s supposed to be. It makes you look forward to the next trip that much more.','Hiking in the Rila Mountains ','','inherit','open','open','','5083-revision-2','','','2011-06-21 20:35:00','2011-06-21 18:35:00','',5083,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/21/5083-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(5086,1,'2011-06-21 20:43:42','2011-06-21 18:43:42','','View on the walk up the mountain','View on the walk up the mountain','inherit','open','open','','dsc02627','','','2011-06-21 20:43:42','2011-06-21 18:43:42','',5083,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02627.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(5087,1,'2011-06-21 20:47:34','2011-06-21 18:47:34','','A big mountain ','A big mountain ','inherit','open','open','','dsc02631','','','2011-06-21 20:47:34','2011-06-21 18:47:34','',5083,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02631.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(5088,1,'2011-06-21 20:49:12','2011-06-21 18:49:12','','Water on the Road','Water on the Road','inherit','open','open','','dsc02633','','','2011-06-21 20:49:12','2011-06-21 18:49:12','',5083,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02633.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(5089,1,'2011-06-21 20:50:46','2011-06-21 18:50:46','','Water on the side of the road','Water on the side of the road','inherit','open','open','','dsc02642','','','2011-06-21 20:50:46','2011-06-21 18:50:46','',5083,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02642.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(5090,1,'2011-06-21 20:52:15','2011-06-21 18:52:15','','Walking and walking','Walking and walking','inherit','open','open','','dsc02644','','','2011-06-21 20:52:15','2011-06-21 18:52:15','',5083,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02644.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(5091,1,'2011-06-21 20:55:56','2011-06-21 18:55:56','','Me and the view! ','Me and the view! ','inherit','open','open','','dsc02648','','','2011-06-21 20:55:56','2011-06-21 18:55:56','',5083,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02648.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(5096,1,'2011-06-21 21:00:39','2011-06-21 19:00:39','I went hiking with my Bulgarian tutor I. and some of her friends this weekend. It was, of course, great fun. We did a lot of hiking, there was a ton of rapid fire Bulgarian being spoken and when we weren\'t hiking there was lots of eating and drinking to be done.\n[caption id=\"attachment_5086\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"View on the walk up the mountain\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5086\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5086\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5086 \" title=\"View on the walk up the mountain\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02627-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nThis is the second time I\'ve gone hiking with this group of friends. The first time was in <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/02/21/teteven-kind-of/\" target=\"_blank\">February for my tutor\'s birthday</a>. That time it was a bigger group and the conversations were much harder to follow along with. This time the group was smaller and I found conversations easier to follow along. Funny how that works. And/or four months later, I actually know more Bulgarian making it that much easier to follow along.  Granted I didn\'t understand everything but I didn\'t feel totally lost either.\n\n\nAnyhow, back to the hiking. We parked outside of this little town in the foot hills of the Rila Mountains (whose name I cannot remember now that I am typing this post. For this I am deeply sorry. Maybe my tutor I. will read this and fill in the gaps in the comments section below. She\'s good like that.) We walked for about an hour or maybe slightly more up the mountain to a mountain hut (hija/cabin/camp/chalet/lodge) in the shadow of the<a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musala\" target=\"_blank\"> tallest peak in the Balkan Mountain Range--Musala</a>.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_5087\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"A big mountain \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5087\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5087\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5087 \" title=\"A big mountain \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02631-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nGiven that the hike up to Musala was four hours each way, we didn\'t have enough time to climb the mountain from where we were but that didn\'t make it any less beautiful.\n\nThe weather was on the cold side--but I was prepared for this. Thanks to I. and Andreytcho who both warned me to bring plenty of warm weather gear with me. It\'s kind of like they were my moms.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_5088\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Water on the Road\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5088\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5088\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5088 \" title=\"Water on the Road\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02633-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nWe met up with some of I.\'s friends to hike up to the mountain cabin we were staying in. One of her friend\'s parents run the cabin and we walked up with the friend and her mother. After a round of introductions, her mother looked not at me but at I. and asked her if I\'d also brought along long pants. I said yes. I. looked at the mom and confirmed my long pants. The mom shakes her head and I. says: she\'s American. That seemed to clear the whole thing up. I couldn\'t help wondering if it was part clarification and part apology but really it doesn\'t matter.\n\nThis said, I was glad that I had my jeans. It was much colder at the cabin and when the sun went down I was very happy to have my sweatshirt, fleece jacket and windbreaker as well.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_5089\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Water on the side of the road\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5089\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5089\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5089 \" title=\"Water on the side of the road\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02642-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nThe cabins/huts don\'t have electricity or source of heat so when I saw stacks of blankets on the foot of my bed I was worried that it was going to be a cold night. I layered on the blankets doubling some of them up and crawled into bed in my yoga pants, t-shirt, sweatshirt and fleece. I\'d rather be warm than cold. Luckily, I was too warm and ended up stripping off my fleece jacket in the middle of the night and let me tell you that\'s not easy under four thick, think wool blankets. I mean, I was basically pinned to the bed under a mound of blankets but really, I can\'t complain about that.\n\nThe water at the hut was delicious, very cold and fresh tasting. It was the kind of water that I wish I could drink all of the time but that you can really only get in the mountains.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_5090\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Walking and walking\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5090\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5090\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5090 \" title=\"Walking and walking\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02644-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nI am really a nature writer--so I\'ll keep this part of the post short. On the first day we climbed the ridge to check out the view. At the top we spent an hour or so lolling around in the grass on top of the ridge warming ourselves in the sun, talking, taking in the view and getting sunburns. Granted we weren\'t <em>trying</em> to get sunburns. Funny how I can remember to bring sunscreen to the beach but when I am packing for the mountains and worrying about taking enough warm clothes I forget to throw in sunscreen.\n\nIt was at the top of this ridge that my camera died. I guess that if you want to take pictures you should probably remember to charge the battery. Again, funny how that works.\n\nThe next day we decided to skirt around the lake in front of the cabins. It seemed like an easy enough plan and I am pretty sure we were told that it wouldn\'t take more than an hour. Well, t his turned out not to be the case. But we had a grand adventure where we scrambled over rocks, got a little lost, picked our way through scraggly tree-bushes, hopped and skipped over streams, spotted a number of brown frogs, picked some wildflowers, got our feet a little wet (or at least I did), threw some pine cones into the lake and finally made it back to our starting place.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_5091\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Me and the view! \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5091\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5091\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5091 \" title=\"Me and the view! \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02648-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nThen we took our time walking back down the mountain to the car. No one was in a rush to get back to Sofia after a short weekend jaunt in the mountains. But really that\'s the way it\'s supposed to be. It makes you look forward to the next trip that much more.','Hiking in the Rila Mountains ','','inherit','open','open','','5083-revision-7','','','2011-06-21 21:00:39','2011-06-21 19:00:39','',5083,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/21/5083-revision-7/',0,'revision','',0),(5092,1,'2011-06-21 20:56:36','2011-06-21 18:56:36','I went hiking with my Bulgarian tutor I. and some of her friends this weekend. It was, of course, great fun. We did a lot of hiking, there was a ton of rapid fire Bulgarian being spoken and when we weren\'t hiking there was lots of eating and drinking to be done.\n\nThis is the second time I\'ve gone hiking with this group of friends. The first time was in <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/02/21/teteven-kind-of/\" target=\"_blank\">February for my tutor\'s birthday</a>. That time it was a bigger group and the conversations were much harder to follow along with. This time the group was smaller and I found conversations easier to follow along. Funny how that works. And/or four months later, I actually know more Bulgarian making it that much easier to follow along.  Granted I didn\'t understand everything but I didn\'t feel totally lost either.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_5086\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"1024\" caption=\"View on the walk up the mountain\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5086\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5086\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5086\" title=\"View on the walk up the mountain\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02627-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nLittle things like this give me hope.\n\nAnyhow, back to the hiking. We parked outside of this little town in the foot hills of the Rila Mountains (whose name I cannot remember now that I am typing this post. For this I am deeply sorry. Maybe my tutor I. will read this and fill in the gaps in the comments section below. She\'s good like that.) We walked for about an hour or maybe slightly more up the mountain to a mountain hut (hija/cabin/camp/chalet/lodge) in the shadow of the<a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musala\" target=\"_blank\"> tallest peak in the Balkan Mountain Range--Musala</a>.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_5087\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"1024\" caption=\"A big mountain \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5087\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5087\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5087\" title=\"A big mountain \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02631-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nGiven that the hike up to Musala was four hours each way, we didn\'t have enough time to climb the mountain from where we were but that didn\'t make it any less beautiful.\n\nThe weather was on the cold side--but I was prepared for this. Thanks to I. and Andreytcho who both warned me to bring plenty of warm weather gear with me. It\'s kind of like they were my moms.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_5088\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"1024\" caption=\"Water on the Road\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5088\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5088\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5088\" title=\"Water on the Road\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02633-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nWe met up with some of I.\'s friends to hike up to the mountain cabin we were staying in. One of her friend\'s parents run the cabin and we walked up with the friend and her mother. After a round of introductions, her mother looked not at me but at I. and asked her if I\'d also brought along long pants. I said yes. I. looked at the mom and confirmed my long pants. The mom shakes her head and I. says: she\'s American. That seemed to clear the whole thing up. I couldn\'t help wondering if it was part clarification and part apology but really it doesn\'t matter.\n\nThis said, I was glad that I had my jeans. It was much colder at the cabin and when the sun went down I was very happy to have my sweatshirt, fleece jacket and windbreaker as well.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_5089\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"1024\" caption=\"Water on the side of the road\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5089\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5089\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5089\" title=\"Water on the side of the road\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02642-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nThe cabins/huts don\'t have electricity or source of heat so when I saw stacks of blankets on the foot of my bed I was worried that it was going to be a cold night. I layered on the blankets doubling some of them up and crawled into bed in my yoga pants, t-shirt, sweatshirt and fleece. I\'d rather be warm than cold. Luckily, I was too warm and ended up stripping off my fleece jacket in the middle of the night and let me tell you that\'s not easy under four thick, think wool blankets. I mean, I was basically pinned to the bed under a mound of blankets but really, I can\'t complain about that.\n\nThe water at the hut was delicious, very cold and fresh tasting. It was the kind of water that I wish I could drink all of the time but that you can really only get in the mountains.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_5090\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"1024\" caption=\"Walking and walking\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5090\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5090\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5090\" title=\"Walking and walking\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02644-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nI am really a nature writer--so I\'ll keep this part of the post short. On the first day we climbed the ridge to check out the view. At the top we spent an hour or so lolling around in the grass on top of the ridge warming ourselves in the sun, talking, taking in the view and getting sunburns. Granted we weren\'t <em>trying</em> to get sunburns. Funny how I can remember to bring sunscreen to the beach but when I am packing for the mountains and worrying about taking enough warm clothes I forget to throw in sunscreen.\n\nIt was at the top of this ridge that my camera died. I guess that if you want to take pictures you should probably remember to charge the battery. Again, funny how that works.\n\nThe next day we decided to skirt around the lake in front of the cabins. It seemed like an easy enough plan and I am pretty sure we were told that it wouldn\'t take more than an hour. Well, t his turned out not to be the case. But we had a grand adventure where we scrambled over rocks, got a little lost, picked our way through scraggly tree-bushes, hopped and skipped over streams, spotted a number of brown frogs, picked some wildflowers, got our feet a little wet (or at least I did), threw some pine cones into the lake and finally made it back to our starting place.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_5091\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"1024\" caption=\"Me and the view! \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5091\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5091\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5091\" title=\"Me and the view! \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02648-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nThen we took our time walking back down the mountain to the car. No one was in a rush to get back to Sofia after a short weekend jaunt in the mountains. But really that\'s the way it\'s supposed to be. It makes you look forward to the next trip that much more.','Hiking in the Rila Mountains ','','inherit','open','open','','5083-revision-3','','','2011-06-21 20:56:36','2011-06-21 18:56:36','',5083,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/21/5083-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(5093,1,'2011-06-21 20:58:23','2011-06-21 18:58:23','I went hiking with my Bulgarian tutor I. and some of her friends this weekend. It was, of course, great fun. We did a lot of hiking, there was a ton of rapid fire Bulgarian being spoken and when we weren\'t hiking there was lots of eating and drinking to be done.\r\n\r\nThis is the second time I\'ve gone hiking with this group of friends. The first time was in <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/02/21/teteven-kind-of/\" target=\"_blank\">February for my tutor\'s birthday</a>. That time it was a bigger group and the conversations were much harder to follow along with. This time the group was smaller and I found conversations easier to follow along. Funny how that works. And/or four months later, I actually know more Bulgarian making it that much easier to follow along.  Granted I didn\'t understand everything but I didn\'t feel totally lost either.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5086\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"View on the walk up the mountain\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5086\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5086\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5086 \" title=\"View on the walk up the mountain\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02627-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nLittle things like this give me hope.\r\n\r\nAnyhow, back to the hiking. We parked outside of this little town in the foot hills of the Rila Mountains (whose name I cannot remember now that I am typing this post. For this I am deeply sorry. Maybe my tutor I. will read this and fill in the gaps in the comments section below. She\'s good like that.) We walked for about an hour or maybe slightly more up the mountain to a mountain hut (hija/cabin/camp/chalet/lodge) in the shadow of the<a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musala\" target=\"_blank\"> tallest peak in the Balkan Mountain Range--Musala</a>.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5087\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"A big mountain \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5087\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5087\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5087 \" title=\"A big mountain \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02631-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nGiven that the hike up to Musala was four hours each way, we didn\'t have enough time to climb the mountain from where we were but that didn\'t make it any less beautiful.\r\n\r\nThe weather was on the cold side--but I was prepared for this. Thanks to I. and Andreytcho who both warned me to bring plenty of warm weather gear with me. It\'s kind of like they were my moms.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5088\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Water on the Road\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5088\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5088\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5088 \" title=\"Water on the Road\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02633-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nWe met up with some of I.\'s friends to hike up to the mountain cabin we were staying in. One of her friend\'s parents run the cabin and we walked up with the friend and her mother. After a round of introductions, her mother looked not at me but at I. and asked her if I\'d also brought along long pants. I said yes. I. looked at the mom and confirmed my long pants. The mom shakes her head and I. says: she\'s American. That seemed to clear the whole thing up. I couldn\'t help wondering if it was part clarification and part apology but really it doesn\'t matter.\r\n\r\nThis said, I was glad that I had my jeans. It was much colder at the cabin and when the sun went down I was very happy to have my sweatshirt, fleece jacket and windbreaker as well.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5089\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Water on the side of the road\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5089\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5089\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5089 \" title=\"Water on the side of the road\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02642-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThe cabins/huts don\'t have electricity or source of heat so when I saw stacks of blankets on the foot of my bed I was worried that it was going to be a cold night. I layered on the blankets doubling some of them up and crawled into bed in my yoga pants, t-shirt, sweatshirt and fleece. I\'d rather be warm than cold. Luckily, I was too warm and ended up stripping off my fleece jacket in the middle of the night and let me tell you that\'s not easy under four thick, think wool blankets. I mean, I was basically pinned to the bed under a mound of blankets but really, I can\'t complain about that.\r\n\r\nThe water at the hut was delicious, very cold and fresh tasting. It was the kind of water that I wish I could drink all of the time but that you can really only get in the mountains.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5090\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Walking and walking\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5090\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5090\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5090 \" title=\"Walking and walking\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02644-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nI am really a nature writer--so I\'ll keep this part of the post short. On the first day we climbed the ridge to check out the view. At the top we spent an hour or so lolling around in the grass on top of the ridge warming ourselves in the sun, talking, taking in the view and getting sunburns. Granted we weren\'t <em>trying</em> to get sunburns. Funny how I can remember to bring sunscreen to the beach but when I am packing for the mountains and worrying about taking enough warm clothes I forget to throw in sunscreen.\r\n\r\nIt was at the top of this ridge that my camera died. I guess that if you want to take pictures you should probably remember to charge the battery. Again, funny how that works.\r\n\r\nThe next day we decided to skirt around the lake in front of the cabins. It seemed like an easy enough plan and I am pretty sure we were told that it wouldn\'t take more than an hour. Well, t his turned out not to be the case. But we had a grand adventure where we scrambled over rocks, got a little lost, picked our way through scraggly tree-bushes, hopped and skipped over streams, spotted a number of brown frogs, picked some wildflowers, got our feet a little wet (or at least I did), threw some pine cones into the lake and finally made it back to our starting place.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5091\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Me and the view! \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5091\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5091\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5091 \" title=\"Me and the view! \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02648-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThen we took our time walking back down the mountain to the car. No one was in a rush to get back to Sofia after a short weekend jaunt in the mountains. But really that\'s the way it\'s supposed to be. It makes you look forward to the next trip that much more.','Hiking in the Rila Mountains ','','inherit','open','open','','5083-revision-4','','','2011-06-21 20:58:23','2011-06-21 18:58:23','',5083,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/21/5083-revision-4/',0,'revision','',0),(5094,1,'2011-06-21 20:58:23','2011-06-21 18:58:23','I went hiking with my Bulgarian tutor I. and some of her friends this weekend. It was, of course, great fun. We did a lot of hiking, there was a ton of rapid fire Bulgarian being spoken and when we weren\'t hiking there was lots of eating and drinking to be done.\r\n\r\nThis is the second time I\'ve gone hiking with this group of friends. The first time was in <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/02/21/teteven-kind-of/\" target=\"_blank\">February for my tutor\'s birthday</a>. That time it was a bigger group and the conversations were much harder to follow along with. This time the group was smaller and I found conversations easier to follow along. Funny how that works. And/or four months later, I actually know more Bulgarian making it that much easier to follow along.  Granted I didn\'t understand everything but I didn\'t feel totally lost either.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5086\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"View on the walk up the mountain\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5086\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5086\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5086 \" title=\"View on the walk up the mountain\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02627-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nLittle things like this give me hope.\r\n\r\nAnyhow, back to the hiking. We parked outside of this little town in the foot hills of the Rila Mountains (whose name I cannot remember now that I am typing this post. For this I am deeply sorry. Maybe my tutor I. will read this and fill in the gaps in the comments section below. She\'s good like that.) We walked for about an hour or maybe slightly more up the mountain to a mountain hut (hija/cabin/camp/chalet/lodge) in the shadow of the<a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musala\" target=\"_blank\"> tallest peak in the Balkan Mountain Range--Musala</a>.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5087\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"A big mountain \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5087\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5087\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5087 \" title=\"A big mountain \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02631-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nGiven that the hike up to Musala was four hours each way, we didn\'t have enough time to climb the mountain from where we were but that didn\'t make it any less beautiful.\r\n\r\nThe weather was on the cold side--but I was prepared for this. Thanks to I. and Andreytcho who both warned me to bring plenty of warm weather gear with me. It\'s kind of like they were my moms.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5088\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Water on the Road\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5088\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5088\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5088 \" title=\"Water on the Road\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02633-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nWe met up with some of I.\'s friends to hike up to the mountain cabin we were staying in. One of her friend\'s parents run the cabin and we walked up with the friend and her mother. After a round of introductions, her mother looked not at me but at I. and asked her if I\'d also brought along long pants. I said yes. I. looked at the mom and confirmed my long pants. The mom shakes her head and I. says: she\'s American. That seemed to clear the whole thing up. I couldn\'t help wondering if it was part clarification and part apology but really it doesn\'t matter.\r\n\r\nThis said, I was glad that I had my jeans. It was much colder at the cabin and when the sun went down I was very happy to have my sweatshirt, fleece jacket and windbreaker as well.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5089\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Water on the side of the road\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5089\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5089\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5089 \" title=\"Water on the side of the road\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02642-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThe cabins/huts don\'t have electricity or source of heat so when I saw stacks of blankets on the foot of my bed I was worried that it was going to be a cold night. I layered on the blankets doubling some of them up and crawled into bed in my yoga pants, t-shirt, sweatshirt and fleece. I\'d rather be warm than cold. Luckily, I was too warm and ended up stripping off my fleece jacket in the middle of the night and let me tell you that\'s not easy under four thick, think wool blankets. I mean, I was basically pinned to the bed under a mound of blankets but really, I can\'t complain about that.\r\n\r\nThe water at the hut was delicious, very cold and fresh tasting. It was the kind of water that I wish I could drink all of the time but that you can really only get in the mountains.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5090\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Walking and walking\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5090\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5090\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5090 \" title=\"Walking and walking\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02644-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nI am really a nature writer--so I\'ll keep this part of the post short. On the first day we climbed the ridge to check out the view. At the top we spent an hour or so lolling around in the grass on top of the ridge warming ourselves in the sun, talking, taking in the view and getting sunburns. Granted we weren\'t <em>trying</em> to get sunburns. Funny how I can remember to bring sunscreen to the beach but when I am packing for the mountains and worrying about taking enough warm clothes I forget to throw in sunscreen.\r\n\r\nIt was at the top of this ridge that my camera died. I guess that if you want to take pictures you should probably remember to charge the battery. Again, funny how that works.\r\n\r\nThe next day we decided to skirt around the lake in front of the cabins. It seemed like an easy enough plan and I am pretty sure we were told that it wouldn\'t take more than an hour. Well, t his turned out not to be the case. But we had a grand adventure where we scrambled over rocks, got a little lost, picked our way through scraggly tree-bushes, hopped and skipped over streams, spotted a number of brown frogs, picked some wildflowers, got our feet a little wet (or at least I did), threw some pine cones into the lake and finally made it back to our starting place.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5091\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Me and the view! \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5091\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5091\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5091 \" title=\"Me and the view! \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02648-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThen we took our time walking back down the mountain to the car. No one was in a rush to get back to Sofia after a short weekend jaunt in the mountains. But really that\'s the way it\'s supposed to be. It makes you look forward to the next trip that much more.','Hiking in the Rila Mountains ','','inherit','open','open','','5083-revision-5','','','2011-06-21 20:58:23','2011-06-21 18:58:23','',5083,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/21/5083-revision-5/',0,'revision','',0),(5095,1,'2011-06-21 20:58:31','2011-06-21 18:58:31','I went hiking with my Bulgarian tutor I. and some of her friends this weekend. It was, of course, great fun. We did a lot of hiking, there was a ton of rapid fire Bulgarian being spoken and when we weren\'t hiking there was lots of eating and drinking to be done.\r\n\r\nThis is the second time I\'ve gone hiking with this group of friends. The first time was in <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/02/21/teteven-kind-of/\" target=\"_blank\">February for my tutor\'s birthday</a>. That time it was a bigger group and the conversations were much harder to follow along with. This time the group was smaller and I found conversations easier to follow along. Funny how that works. And/or four months later, I actually know more Bulgarian making it that much easier to follow along.  Granted I didn\'t understand everything but I didn\'t feel totally lost either.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5086\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"View on the walk up the mountain\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5086\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5086\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5086 \" title=\"View on the walk up the mountain\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02627-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nLittle things like this give me hope.\r\n\r\nAnyhow, back to the hiking. We parked outside of this little town in the foot hills of the Rila Mountains (whose name I cannot remember now that I am typing this post. For this I am deeply sorry. Maybe my tutor I. will read this and fill in the gaps in the comments section below. She\'s good like that.) We walked for about an hour or maybe slightly more up the mountain to a mountain hut (hija/cabin/camp/chalet/lodge) in the shadow of the<a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musala\" target=\"_blank\"> tallest peak in the Balkan Mountain Range--Musala</a>.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5087\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"A big mountain \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5087\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5087\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5087 \" title=\"A big mountain \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02631-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nGiven that the hike up to Musala was four hours each way, we didn\'t have enough time to climb the mountain from where we were but that didn\'t make it any less beautiful.\r\n\r\nThe weather was on the cold side--but I was prepared for this. Thanks to I. and Andreytcho who both warned me to bring plenty of warm weather gear with me. It\'s kind of like they were my moms.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5088\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Water on the Road\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5088\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5088\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5088 \" title=\"Water on the Road\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02633-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nWe met up with some of I.\'s friends to hike up to the mountain cabin we were staying in. One of her friend\'s parents run the cabin and we walked up with the friend and her mother. After a round of introductions, her mother looked not at me but at I. and asked her if I\'d also brought along long pants. I said yes. I. looked at the mom and confirmed my long pants. The mom shakes her head and I. says: she\'s American. That seemed to clear the whole thing up. I couldn\'t help wondering if it was part clarification and part apology but really it doesn\'t matter.\r\n\r\nThis said, I was glad that I had my jeans. It was much colder at the cabin and when the sun went down I was very happy to have my sweatshirt, fleece jacket and windbreaker as well.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5089\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Water on the side of the road\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5089\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5089\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5089 \" title=\"Water on the side of the road\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02642-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThe cabins/huts don\'t have electricity or source of heat so when I saw stacks of blankets on the foot of my bed I was worried that it was going to be a cold night. I layered on the blankets doubling some of them up and crawled into bed in my yoga pants, t-shirt, sweatshirt and fleece. I\'d rather be warm than cold. Luckily, I was too warm and ended up stripping off my fleece jacket in the middle of the night and let me tell you that\'s not easy under four thick, think wool blankets. I mean, I was basically pinned to the bed under a mound of blankets but really, I can\'t complain about that.\r\n\r\nThe water at the hut was delicious, very cold and fresh tasting. It was the kind of water that I wish I could drink all of the time but that you can really only get in the mountains.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5090\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Walking and walking\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5090\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5090\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5090 \" title=\"Walking and walking\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02644-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nI am really a nature writer--so I\'ll keep this part of the post short. On the first day we climbed the ridge to check out the view. At the top we spent an hour or so lolling around in the grass on top of the ridge warming ourselves in the sun, talking, taking in the view and getting sunburns. Granted we weren\'t <em>trying</em> to get sunburns. Funny how I can remember to bring sunscreen to the beach but when I am packing for the mountains and worrying about taking enough warm clothes I forget to throw in sunscreen.\r\n\r\nIt was at the top of this ridge that my camera died. I guess that if you want to take pictures you should probably remember to charge the battery. Again, funny how that works.\r\n\r\nThe next day we decided to skirt around the lake in front of the cabins. It seemed like an easy enough plan and I am pretty sure we were told that it wouldn\'t take more than an hour. Well, t his turned out not to be the case. But we had a grand adventure where we scrambled over rocks, got a little lost, picked our way through scraggly tree-bushes, hopped and skipped over streams, spotted a number of brown frogs, picked some wildflowers, got our feet a little wet (or at least I did), threw some pine cones into the lake and finally made it back to our starting place.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5091\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Me and the view! \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5091\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5091\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5091 \" title=\"Me and the view! \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02648-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThen we took our time walking back down the mountain to the car. No one was in a rush to get back to Sofia after a short weekend jaunt in the mountains. But really that\'s the way it\'s supposed to be. It makes you look forward to the next trip that much more.','Hiking in the Rila Mountains ','','inherit','open','open','','5083-revision-6','','','2011-06-21 20:58:31','2011-06-21 18:58:31','',5083,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/21/5083-revision-6/',0,'revision','',0),(5097,1,'2011-06-21 21:00:50','2011-06-21 19:00:50','I went hiking with my Bulgarian tutor I. and some of her friends this weekend. It was, of course, great fun. We did a lot of hiking, there was a ton of rapid fire Bulgarian being spoken and when we weren\'t hiking there was lots of eating and drinking to be done.\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5086\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"View on the walk up the mountain\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5086\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5086\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5086 \" title=\"View on the walk up the mountain\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02627-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThis is the second time I\'ve gone hiking with this group of friends. The first time was in <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/02/21/teteven-kind-of/\" target=\"_blank\">February for my tutor\'s birthday</a>. That time it was a bigger group and the conversations were much harder to follow along with. This time the group was smaller and I found conversations easier to follow along. Funny how that works. And/or four months later, I actually know more Bulgarian making it that much easier to follow along.  Granted I didn\'t understand everything but I didn\'t feel totally lost either.\r\n\r\nLittle things like this give me hope.\r\n\r\nAnyhow, back to the hiking. We parked outside of this little town in the foot hills of the Rila Mountains (whose name I cannot remember now that I am typing this post. For this I am deeply sorry. Maybe my tutor I. will read this and fill in the gaps in the comments section below. She\'s good like that.) We walked for about an hour or maybe slightly more up the mountain to a mountain hut (hija/cabin/camp/chalet/lodge) in the shadow of the<a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musala\" target=\"_blank\"> tallest peak in the Balkan Mountain Range--Musala</a>.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5087\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"A big mountain \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5087\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5087\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5087 \" title=\"A big mountain \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02631-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nGiven that the hike up to Musala was four hours each way, we didn\'t have enough time to climb the mountain from where we were but that didn\'t make it any less beautiful.\r\n\r\nThe weather was on the cold side--but I was prepared for this. Thanks to I. and Andreytcho who both warned me to bring plenty of warm weather gear with me. It\'s kind of like they were my moms.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5088\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Water on the Road\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5088\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5088\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5088 \" title=\"Water on the Road\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02633-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nWe met up with some of I.\'s friends to hike up to the mountain cabin we were staying in. One of her friend\'s parents run the cabin and we walked up with the friend and her mother. After a round of introductions, her mother looked not at me but at I. and asked her if I\'d also brought along long pants. I said yes. I. looked at the mom and confirmed my long pants. The mom shakes her head and I. says: she\'s American. That seemed to clear the whole thing up. I couldn\'t help wondering if it was part clarification and part apology but really it doesn\'t matter.\r\n\r\nThis said, I was glad that I had my jeans. It was much colder at the cabin and when the sun went down I was very happy to have my sweatshirt, fleece jacket and windbreaker as well.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5089\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Water on the side of the road\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5089\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5089\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5089 \" title=\"Water on the side of the road\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02642-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThe cabins/huts don\'t have electricity or source of heat so when I saw stacks of blankets on the foot of my bed I was worried that it was going to be a cold night. I layered on the blankets doubling some of them up and crawled into bed in my yoga pants, t-shirt, sweatshirt and fleece. I\'d rather be warm than cold. Luckily, I was too warm and ended up stripping off my fleece jacket in the middle of the night and let me tell you that\'s not easy under four thick, think wool blankets. I mean, I was basically pinned to the bed under a mound of blankets but really, I can\'t complain about that.\r\n\r\nThe water at the hut was delicious, very cold and fresh tasting. It was the kind of water that I wish I could drink all of the time but that you can really only get in the mountains.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5090\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Walking and walking\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5090\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5090\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5090 \" title=\"Walking and walking\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02644-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nI am really a nature writer--so I\'ll keep this part of the post short. On the first day we climbed the ridge to check out the view. At the top we spent an hour or so lolling around in the grass on top of the ridge warming ourselves in the sun, talking, taking in the view and getting sunburns. Granted we weren\'t <em>trying</em> to get sunburns. Funny how I can remember to bring sunscreen to the beach but when I am packing for the mountains and worrying about taking enough warm clothes I forget to throw in sunscreen.\r\n\r\nIt was at the top of this ridge that my camera died. I guess that if you want to take pictures you should probably remember to charge the battery. Again, funny how that works.\r\n\r\nThe next day we decided to skirt around the lake in front of the cabins. It seemed like an easy enough plan and I am pretty sure we were told that it wouldn\'t take more than an hour. Well, t his turned out not to be the case. But we had a grand adventure where we scrambled over rocks, got a little lost, picked our way through scraggly tree-bushes, hopped and skipped over streams, spotted a number of brown frogs, picked some wildflowers, got our feet a little wet (or at least I did), threw some pine cones into the lake and finally made it back to our starting place.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5091\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Me and the view! \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5091\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5091\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5091 \" title=\"Me and the view! \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02648-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThen we took our time walking back down the mountain to the car. No one was in a rush to get back to Sofia after a short weekend jaunt in the mountains. But really that\'s the way it\'s supposed to be. It makes you look forward to the next trip that much more.','Hiking in the Rila Mountains ','','inherit','open','open','','5083-revision-8','','','2011-06-21 21:00:50','2011-06-21 19:00:50','',5083,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/21/5083-revision-8/',0,'revision','',0),(5098,1,'2011-06-21 21:02:08','2011-06-21 19:02:08','I went hiking with my Bulgarian tutor I. and some of her friends this weekend. It was, of course, great fun. We did a lot of hiking, there was a ton of rapid fire Bulgarian being spoken and when we weren\'t hiking there was lots of eating and drinking to be done.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_5086\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"View on the walk up the mountain\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5086\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5086\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5086 \" title=\"View on the walk up the mountain\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02627-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nThis is the second time I\'ve gone hiking with this group of friends. The first time was in <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/02/21/teteven-kind-of/\" target=\"_blank\">February for my tutor\'s birthday</a>. That time it was a bigger group and the conversations were much harder to follow along with. This time the group was smaller and I found conversations easier to follow along. Funny how that works. And/or four months later, I actually know more Bulgarian making it that much easier to follow along.  Granted I didn\'t understand everything but I didn\'t feel totally lost either.\n\nLittle things like this give me hope.\n\nAnyhow, back to the hiking. We parked outside of this little town in the foot hills of the Rila Mountains (whose name I cannot remember now that I am typing this post. For this I am deeply sorry and I do realize how totally lame it is that I\'ve forgotten. Maybe my tutor I. will read this and fill in the gaps in the comments section below. She\'s good like that.) We walked for about an hour or maybe slightly more up the mountain to a mountain hut (hija/cabin/camp/chalet/lodge) in the shadow of the<a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musala\" target=\"_blank\"> tallest peak in the Balkan Mountain Range--Musala</a>.<!--more-->\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_5087\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"A big mountain \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5087\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5087\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5087 \" title=\"A big mountain \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02631-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nGiven that the hike up to Musala was four hours each way, we didn\'t have enough time to climb the mountain from where we were but that didn\'t make it any less beautiful.\n\nThe weather was on the cold side--but I was prepared for this. Thanks to I. and Andreytcho who both warned me to bring plenty of warm weather gear with me. It\'s kind of like they were my moms.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_5088\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Water on the Road\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5088\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5088\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5088 \" title=\"Water on the Road\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02633-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nWe met up with some of I.\'s friends to hike up to the mountain cabin we were staying in. One of her friend\'s parents run the cabin and we walked up with the friend and her mother. After a round of introductions, her mother looked not at me but at I. and asked her if I\'d also brought along long pants. I said yes. I. looked at the mom and confirmed my long pants. The mom shakes her head and I. says: she\'s American. That seemed to clear the whole thing up. I couldn\'t help wondering if it was part clarification and part apology but really it doesn\'t matter.\n\nThis said, I was glad that I had my jeans. It was much colder at the cabin and when the sun went down I was very happy to have my sweatshirt, fleece jacket and windbreaker as well.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_5089\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Water on the side of the road\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5089\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5089\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5089 \" title=\"Water on the side of the road\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02642-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nThe cabins/huts don\'t have electricity or source of heat so when I saw stacks of blankets on the foot of my bed I was worried that it was going to be a cold night. I layered on the blankets doubling some of them up and crawled into bed in my yoga pants, t-shirt, sweatshirt and fleece. I\'d rather be warm than cold. Luckily, I was too warm and ended up stripping off my fleece jacket in the middle of the night and let me tell you that\'s not easy under four thick, think wool blankets. I mean, I was basically pinned to the bed under a mound of blankets but really, I can\'t complain about that.\n\nThe water at the hut was delicious, very cold and fresh tasting. It was the kind of water that I wish I could drink all of the time but that you can really only get in the mountains.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_5090\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Walking and walking\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5090\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5090\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5090 \" title=\"Walking and walking\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02644-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nI am really a nature writer--so I\'ll keep this part of the post short. On the first day we climbed the ridge to check out the view. At the top we spent an hour or so lolling around in the grass on top of the ridge warming ourselves in the sun, talking, taking in the view and getting sunburns. Granted we weren\'t <em>trying</em> to get sunburns. Funny how I can remember to bring sunscreen to the beach but when I am packing for the mountains and worrying about taking enough warm clothes I forget to throw in sunscreen.\n\nIt was at the top of this ridge that my camera died. I guess that if you want to take pictures you should probably remember to charge the battery. Again, funny how that works.\n\nThe next day we decided to skirt around the lake in front of the cabins. It seemed like an easy enough plan and I am pretty sure we were told that it wouldn\'t take more than an hour. Well, t his turned out not to be the case. But we had a grand adventure where we scrambled over rocks, got a little lost, picked our way through scraggly tree-bushes, hopped and skipped over streams, spotted a number of brown frogs, picked some wildflowers, got our feet a little wet (or at least I did), threw some pine cones into the lake and finally made it back to our starting place.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_5091\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Me and the view! \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5091\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5091\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5091 \" title=\"Me and the view! \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02648-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nThen we took our time walking back down the mountain to the car. No one was in a rush to get back to Sofia after a short weekend jaunt in the mountains. But really that\'s the way it\'s supposed to be. It makes you look forward to the next trip that much more.','Hiking in the Rila Mountains ','','inherit','open','open','','5083-revision-9','','','2011-06-21 21:02:08','2011-06-21 19:02:08','',5083,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/21/5083-revision-9/',0,'revision','',0),(5099,1,'2011-06-21 21:03:01','2011-06-21 19:03:01','I went hiking with my Bulgarian tutor I. and some of her friends this weekend. It was, of course, great fun. We did a lot of hiking, there was a ton of rapid fire Bulgarian being spoken and when we weren\'t hiking there was lots of eating and drinking to be done.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5086\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"View on the walk up the mountain\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5086\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5086\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5086 \" title=\"View on the walk up the mountain\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02627-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThis is the second time I\'ve gone hiking with this group of friends. The first time was in <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/02/21/teteven-kind-of/\" target=\"_blank\">February for my tutor\'s birthday</a>. That time it was a bigger group and the conversations were much harder to follow along with. This time the group was smaller and I found conversations easier to follow along. Funny how that works. And/or four months later, I actually know more Bulgarian making it that much easier to follow along.  Granted I didn\'t understand everything but I didn\'t feel totally lost either.\r\n\r\nLittle things like this give me hope.\r\n\r\nAnyhow, back to the hiking. We parked outside of this little town in the foot hills of the Rila Mountains (whose name I cannot remember now that I am typing this post. For this I am deeply sorry and I do realize how totally lame it is that I\'ve forgotten. Maybe my tutor I. will read this and fill in the gaps in the comments section below. She\'s good like that.) We walked for about an hour or maybe slightly more up the mountain to a mountain hut (hija/cabin/camp/chalet/lodge) in the shadow of the<a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musala\" target=\"_blank\"> tallest peak in the Balkan Mountain Range--Musala</a>.<!--more-->\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5087\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"A big mountain \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5087\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5087\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5087 \" title=\"A big mountain \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02631-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nGiven that the hike up to Musala was four hours each way, we didn\'t have enough time to climb the mountain from where we were but that didn\'t make it any less beautiful.\r\n\r\nThe weather was on the cold side--but I was prepared for this. Thanks to I. and Andreytcho who both warned me to bring plenty of warm weather gear with me. It\'s kind of like they were my moms.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5088\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Water on the Road\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5088\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5088\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5088 \" title=\"Water on the Road\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02633-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nWe met up with some of I.\'s friends to hike up to the mountain cabin we were staying in. One of her friend\'s parents run the cabin and we walked up with the friend and her mother. After a round of introductions, her mother looked not at me but at I. and asked her if I\'d also brought along long pants. I said yes. I. looked at the mom and confirmed my long pants. The mom shakes her head and I. says: she\'s American. That seemed to clear the whole thing up. I couldn\'t help wondering if it was part clarification and part apology but really it doesn\'t matter.\r\n\r\nThis said, I was glad that I had my jeans. It was much colder at the cabin and when the sun went down I was very happy to have my sweatshirt, fleece jacket and windbreaker as well.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5089\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Water on the side of the road\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5089\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5089\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5089 \" title=\"Water on the side of the road\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02642-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThe cabins/huts don\'t have electricity or source of heat so when I saw stacks of blankets on the foot of my bed I was worried that it was going to be a cold night. I layered on the blankets doubling some of them up and crawled into bed in my yoga pants, t-shirt, sweatshirt and fleece. I\'d rather be warm than cold. Luckily, I was too warm and ended up stripping off my fleece jacket in the middle of the night and let me tell you that\'s not easy under four thick, think wool blankets. I mean, I was basically pinned to the bed under a mound of blankets but really, I can\'t complain about that.\r\n\r\nThe water at the hut was delicious, very cold and fresh tasting. It was the kind of water that I wish I could drink all of the time but that you can really only get in the mountains.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5090\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Walking and walking\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5090\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5090\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5090 \" title=\"Walking and walking\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02644-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nI am really a nature writer--so I\'ll keep this part of the post short. On the first day we climbed the ridge to check out the view. At the top we spent an hour or so lolling around in the grass on top of the ridge warming ourselves in the sun, talking, taking in the view and getting sunburns. Granted we weren\'t <em>trying</em> to get sunburns. Funny how I can remember to bring sunscreen to the beach but when I am packing for the mountains and worrying about taking enough warm clothes I forget to throw in sunscreen.\r\n\r\nIt was at the top of this ridge that my camera died. I guess that if you want to take pictures you should probably remember to charge the battery. Again, funny how that works.\r\n\r\nThe next day we decided to skirt around the lake in front of the cabins. It seemed like an easy enough plan and I am pretty sure we were told that it wouldn\'t take more than an hour. Well, t his turned out not to be the case. But we had a grand adventure where we scrambled over rocks, got a little lost, picked our way through scraggly tree-bushes, hopped and skipped over streams, spotted a number of brown frogs, picked some wildflowers, got our feet a little wet (or at least I did), threw some pine cones into the lake and finally made it back to our starting place.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5091\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Me and the view! \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5091\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5091\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5091 \" title=\"Me and the view! \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02648-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThen we took our time walking back down the mountain to the car. No one was in a rush to get back to Sofia after a short weekend jaunt in the mountains. But really that\'s the way it\'s supposed to be. It makes you look forward to the next trip that much more.','Hiking in the Rila Mountains ','','inherit','open','open','','5083-revision-10','','','2011-06-21 21:03:01','2011-06-21 19:03:01','',5083,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/21/5083-revision-10/',0,'revision','',0),(5100,1,'2011-06-21 21:04:12','2011-06-21 19:04:12','I went hiking with my Bulgarian tutor I. and some of her friends this weekend. It was, of course, great fun. We did a lot of hiking, there was a ton of rapid fire Bulgarian being spoken and when we weren\'t hiking there was lots of eating and drinking to be done.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_5086\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"View on the walk up the mountain\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5086\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/21/hiking-in-the-rila-mountains/dsc02627/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5086 \" title=\"View on the walk up the mountain\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02627-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nThis is the second time I\'ve gone hiking with this group of friends. The first time was in <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/02/21/teteven-kind-of/\" target=\"_blank\">February for my tutor\'s birthday</a>. That time it was a bigger group and the conversations were much harder to follow along with. This time the group was smaller and I found conversations easier to follow along. Funny how that works. And/or four months later, I actually know more Bulgarian making it that much easier to follow along.  Granted I didn\'t understand everything but I didn\'t feel totally lost either.\n\nLittle things like this give me hope.\n\nAnyhow, back to the hiking. We parked outside of this little town in the foot hills of the Rila Mountains (whose name I cannot remember now that I am typing this post. For this I am deeply sorry and I do realize how totally lame it is that I\'ve forgotten. Maybe my tutor I. will read this and fill in the gaps in the comments section below. She\'s good like that.) We walked for about an hour or maybe slightly more up the mountain to a mountain hut (hija/cabin/camp/chalet/lodge) in the shadow of the<a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musala\" target=\"_blank\"> tallest peak in the Balkan Mountain Range--Musala</a>.<!--more-->\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_5087\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"A big mountain \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5087\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/21/hiking-in-the-rila-mountains/dsc02631/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5087 \" title=\"A big mountain \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02631-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nGiven that the hike up to Musala was four hours each way, we didn\'t have enough time to climb the mountain from where we were but that didn\'t make it any less beautiful.\n\nThe weather was on the cold side--but I was prepared for this. Thanks to I. and Andreytcho who both warned me to bring plenty of warm weather gear with me. It\'s kind of like they were my moms.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_5088\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Water on the Road\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5088\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/21/hiking-in-the-rila-mountains/dsc02633/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5088 \" title=\"Water on the Road\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02633-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nWe met up with some of I.\'s friends to hike up to the mountain cabin we were staying in. One of her friend\'s parents run the cabin and we walked up with the friend and her mother. After a round of introductions, her mother looked not at me but at I. and asked her if I\'d also brought along long pants. I said yes. I. looked at the mom and confirmed my long pants. The mom shakes her head and I. says: she\'s American. That seemed to clear the whole thing up. I couldn\'t help wondering if it was part clarification and part apology but really it doesn\'t matter.\n\nThis said, I was glad that I had my jeans. It was much colder at the cabin and when the sun went down I was very happy to have my sweatshirt, fleece jacket and windbreaker as well.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_5089\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Water on the side of the road\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5089\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/21/hiking-in-the-rila-mountains/dsc02642/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5089 \" title=\"Water on the side of the road\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02642-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nThe cabins/huts don\'t have electricity or source of heat so when I saw stacks of blankets on the foot of my bed I was worried that it was going to be a cold night. I layered on the blankets doubling some of them up and crawled into bed in my yoga pants, t-shirt, sweatshirt and fleece. I\'d rather be warm than cold. Luckily, I was too warm and ended up stripping off my fleece jacket in the middle of the night and let me tell you that\'s not easy under four thick, think wool blankets. I mean, I was basically pinned to the bed under a mound of blankets but really, I can\'t complain about that.\n\nThe water at the hut was delicious, very cold and fresh tasting. It was the kind of water that I wish I could drink all of the time but that you can really only get in the mountains.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_5090\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Walking and walking\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5090\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/21/hiking-in-the-rila-mountains/dsc02644/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5090 \" title=\"Walking and walking\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02644-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nI am really a nature writer--so I\'ll keep this part of the post short. On the first day we climbed the ridge to check out the view. At the top we spent an hour or so lolling around in the grass on top of the ridge warming ourselves in the sun, talking, taking in the view and getting sunburns. Granted we weren\'t <em>trying</em> to get sunburns. Funny how I can remember to bring sunscreen to the beach but when I am packing for the mountains and worrying about taking enough warm clothes I forget to throw in sunscreen.\n\nIt was at the top of this ridge that my camera died. I guess that if you want to take pictures you should probably remember to charge the battery. Again, funny how that works.\n\nThe next day we decided to skirt around the lake in front of the cabins. It seemed like an easy enough plan and I am pretty sure we were told that it wouldn\'t take more than an hour. Well, t his turned out not to be the case. But we had a grand adventure where we scrambled over rocks, got a little lost, picked our way through scraggly tree-bushes, hopped and skipped over streams, spotted a number of brown frogs, picked some wildflowers, got our feet a little wet (or at least I did), threw some pine cones into the lake and finally made it back to our starting place.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_5091\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Me and the view! \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5091\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/21/hiking-in-the-rila-mountains/dsc02648/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5091 \" title=\"Me and the view! \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02648-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nThen we took our time walking back down the mountain to the car. No one was in a rush to get back to Sofia after a short weekend jaunt in the mountains. But really that\'s the way it\'s supposed to be. It makes you look forward to the next trip that much more.','Hiking in the Rila Mountains ','','inherit','open','open','','5083-autosave','','','2011-06-21 21:04:12','2011-06-21 19:04:12','',5083,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/21/5083-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(5101,1,'2011-06-22 07:11:58','2011-06-22 05:11:58','I had my first hamburger of the year two weeks ago.\r\n\r\nHip-hip-houray!!\r\n\r\nI also had my camera with me.  The result? The following picture and this post.\r\n\r\nHere\'s the thing, in my mind Hamburgers=Summer.\r\n\r\nI couldn\'t be happier about this fact. Especially because I am drowning in grading right now.\r\n\r\nThis said summer is right around the corner. I\'ll be home in Walla Walla on July 6th. Then I\'ll get to eat my dAd\'s hamburgers.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5102\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"My first hamburger of the season\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5102\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/22/first-hamburger-of-the-season/dsc02594/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5102 \" title=\"My first hamburger of the season\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02594-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]','First Hamburger of the Season ','','publish','open','open','','first-hamburger-of-the-season','','','2011-06-21 21:17:22','2011-06-21 19:17:22','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=5101',0,'post','',3),(5102,1,'2011-06-21 21:08:40','2011-06-21 19:08:40','','My first hamburger of the season','My first hamburger of the season','inherit','open','open','','dsc02594','','','2011-06-21 21:08:40','2011-06-21 19:08:40','',5101,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02594.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(5103,1,'2011-06-21 21:11:48','2011-06-21 19:11:48','I had my first hamburger of the year two weeks ago.\n\nHip-hip-hour\n\nI also had my camera with me.  This lead to the following picture and this post.\n\nIn my mind Hamburgers=Summer. I couldn\'t be happier about this fact. Especially because I am drowning in grading right now. This said summer is right around the corner. I\'ll be home in Walla Walla on July 6th. Then I\'ll get to eat my dAd\'s hamburgers.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_5102\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"My first hamburger of the season\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5102\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5102\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5102 \" title=\"My first hamburger of the season\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02594-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]','First Hamburger of the Season ','','inherit','open','open','','5101-revision','','','2011-06-21 21:11:48','2011-06-21 19:11:48','',5101,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/21/5101-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(5104,1,'2011-06-21 21:11:57','2011-06-21 19:11:57','I had my first hamburger of the year two weeks ago.\r\n\r\nHip-hip-houray!!\r\n\r\nI also had my camera with me.  This lead to the following picture and this post.\r\n\r\nIn my mind Hamburgers=Summer. I couldn\'t be happier about this fact. Especially because I am drowning in grading right now. This said summer is right around the corner. I\'ll be home in Walla Walla on July 6th. Then I\'ll get to eat my dAd\'s hamburgers.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5102\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"My first hamburger of the season\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5102\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5102\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5102 \" title=\"My first hamburger of the season\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02594-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]','First Hamburger of the Season ','','inherit','open','open','','5101-revision-2','','','2011-06-21 21:11:57','2011-06-21 19:11:57','',5101,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/21/5101-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(5105,1,'2011-06-21 21:11:57','2011-06-21 19:11:57','I had my first hamburger of the year two weeks ago.\r\n\r\nHip-hip-houray!!\r\n\r\nI also had my camera with me.  This lead to the following picture and this post.\r\n\r\nIn my mind Hamburgers=Summer. I couldn\'t be happier about this fact. Especially because I am drowning in grading right now. This said summer is right around the corner. I\'ll be home in Walla Walla on July 6th. Then I\'ll get to eat my dAd\'s hamburgers.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5102\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"My first hamburger of the season\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5102\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5102\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5102 \" title=\"My first hamburger of the season\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02594-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]','First Hamburger of the Season ','','inherit','open','open','','5101-revision-3','','','2011-06-21 21:11:57','2011-06-21 19:11:57','',5101,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/21/5101-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(5106,1,'2011-06-21 21:11:58','2011-06-21 19:11:58','I had my first hamburger of the year two weeks ago.\r\n\r\nHip-hip-houray!!\r\n\r\nI also had my camera with me.  This lead to the following picture and this post.\r\n\r\nIn my mind Hamburgers=Summer. I couldn\'t be happier about this fact. Especially because I am drowning in grading right now. This said summer is right around the corner. I\'ll be home in Walla Walla on July 6th. Then I\'ll get to eat my dAd\'s hamburgers.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5102\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"My first hamburger of the season\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5102\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5102\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5102 \" title=\"My first hamburger of the season\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02594-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]','First Hamburger of the Season ','','inherit','open','open','','5101-revision-4','','','2011-06-21 21:11:58','2011-06-21 19:11:58','',5101,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/21/5101-revision-4/',0,'revision','',0),(5107,1,'2011-06-21 21:13:03','2011-06-21 19:13:03','I had my first hamburger of the year two weeks ago.\n\nHip-hip-houray!!\n\nI also had my camera with me.  The result? The following picture and this post.\n\nHere\'s the thing, in my mind Hamburgers=Summer.\n\nI couldn\'t be happier about this fact. Especially because I am drowning in grading right now.\n\nThis said summer is right around the corner. I\'ll be home in Walla Walla on July 6th. Then I\'ll get to eat my dAd\'s hamburgers.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_5102\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"My first hamburger of the season\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5102\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5102\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5102 \" title=\"My first hamburger of the season\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02594-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]','First Hamburger of the Season ','','inherit','open','open','','5101-revision-5','','','2011-06-21 21:13:03','2011-06-21 19:13:03','',5101,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/21/5101-revision-5/',0,'revision','',0),(5108,1,'2011-06-21 21:17:21','2011-06-21 19:17:21','I had my first hamburger of the year two weeks ago.\r\n\r\nHip-hip-houray!!\r\n\r\nI also had my camera with me.  The result? The following picture and this post.\r\n\r\nHere\'s the thing, in my mind Hamburgers=Summer.\r\n\r\nI couldn\'t be happier about this fact. Especially because I am drowning in grading right now.\r\n\r\nThis said summer is right around the corner. I\'ll be home in Walla Walla on July 6th. Then I\'ll get to eat my dAd\'s hamburgers.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5102\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"My first hamburger of the season\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5102\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5102\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5102 \" title=\"My first hamburger of the season\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DSC02594-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]','First Hamburger of the Season ','','inherit','open','open','','5101-revision-6','','','2011-06-21 21:17:21','2011-06-21 19:17:21','',5101,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/21/5101-revision-6/',0,'revision','',0),(5109,1,'2011-06-23 07:00:03','2011-06-23 05:00:03','This weekend I am heading to Razlog to check out the <a href=\"http://elevation.bg/\" target=\"_blank\">Elevation Music Festival</a>. My friend and colleague M. is <em>really</em> into music and got a bunch of teachers lined up to attend.\r\n\r\nI wrote about the festival <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/30/elevation-music-festival-in-june/\" target=\"_blank\">on my blog couple of months ago</a> but it was a quick, quick post. Basically, I bought my tickets, wrote the date down in my planner and then promptly moved on to thinking/worrying about other things.\r\n\r\nThen two weeks ago M. started putting together a daily emailing highlighting bands and with links to YouTube videos.  It\'s been great fun to get an email with music to listen to and to get a little more familiar with some of the groups I don\'t know (or don\'t know as well).\r\n\r\nThe best part of this set up is that that M. does all the hard work and I get all the benefits. I am telling you this set-up really couldn\'t be better. It\'s kind of like he\'s an email DJ. That\'s pretty cool. Oh, and it\'s a heck of a lot better than spam.<!--more-->\r\n\r\nIt doesn\'t hurt that I\'ve been so busy recently that I probably wouldn\'t take the time to do it myself.  (Yeah, that\'s me complaining about work, grades, tests and what not. Luckily there are only two weeks of school left this year!!)\r\n\r\nOn a less woe-is-me note, the weather is going to be hot, hot this weekend and right now I can\'t imagine a better way to spend my weekend.\r\n\r\nHere are a couple of my favorites:\r\n\r\nMorcheeba and From Russia With Love / Rome Wasn\'t Built In A Day.\r\n\r\n<code><iframe width=\"560\" height=\"349\" src=\"http://www.youtube.com/embed/QxsfEs2fD8I\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen></iframe></code>\r\n\r\nParov Stelar - Catgroove. This guy (and his dancing) is out of control. Check out this video.\r\n\r\n<code><iframe width=\"425\" height=\"349\" src=\"http://www.youtube.com/embed/twqM56f_cVo\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen></iframe></code>\r\n\r\nThen there\'s Gentleman &amp; The Evolution and It no Pretty.  Turns out he\'s German\'s #1 reggae artist.\r\n<code><iframe width=\"560\" height=\"349\" src=\"http://www.youtube.com/embed/uwQ3fthvqtI\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen></iframe></code>\r\n\r\nSo dear readers, are you going? And which groups are you looking forward to?','One Day and Counting: Elevation Music Festival ','','publish','open','open','','one-day-and-counting-elevation-music-festival','','','2011-06-23 06:06:58','2011-06-23 04:06:58','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=5109',0,'post','',2),(5110,1,'2011-06-22 20:33:55','2011-06-22 18:33:55','This weekend I am heading to Razlog to check out the <a href=\"http://elevation.bg/\" target=\"_blank\">Elevation Music Festival</a>. My friend and colleague M. is <em>really</em> into music and got a bunch of teachers lined up to attend.\n\nI wrote about the festival <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/30/elevation-music-festival-in-june/\" target=\"_blank\">on my blog couple of months ago</a> but it was a quick, quick post. Basically, I bought my tickets, wrote the date down in my planner and then promptly moved on to thinking/worrying about other things.\n\nThe for the last two or so weeks he\'s been putting together a daily emailing highlighting bands and with links to YouTube videos.  It\'s been great fun to get an email with music to listen to and to get a little more familiar with some of the groups I don\'t know (or don\'t know as well).\n\nThe best part of this set up is that that M. does all the hard work and I get all the benefits. I am telling you this set-up really couldn\'t be better. It\'s kind of like he\'s an email DJ. That\'s pretty cool. Oh, and it\'s a heck of a lot better than spam.  It doesn\'t hurt that I\'ve been so busy recently that I probably wouldn\'t take the time to do it myself.','Elevation Music Festival ','','inherit','open','open','','5109-revision','','','2011-06-22 20:33:55','2011-06-22 18:33:55','',5109,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/22/5109-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(5111,1,'2011-06-22 20:36:23','2011-06-22 18:36:23','This weekend I am heading to Razlog to check out the <a href=\"http://elevation.bg/\" target=\"_blank\">Elevation Music Festival</a>. My friend and colleague M. is <em>really</em> into music and got a bunch of teachers lined up to attend.\n\nI wrote about the festival <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/30/elevation-music-festival-in-june/\" target=\"_blank\">on my blog couple of months ago</a> but it was a quick, quick post. Basically, I bought my tickets, wrote the date down in my planner and then promptly moved on to thinking/worrying about other things.\n\nThe for the last two or so weeks he\'s been putting together a daily emailing highlighting bands and with links to YouTube videos.  It\'s been great fun to get an email with music to listen to and to get a little more familiar with some of the groups I don\'t know (or don\'t know as well).\n\nThe best part of this set up is that that M. does all the hard work and I get all the benefits. I am telling you this set-up really couldn\'t be better. It\'s kind of like he\'s an email DJ. That\'s pretty cool. Oh, and it\'s a heck of a lot better than spam.\n\nIt doesn\'t hurt that I\'ve been so busy recently that I probably wouldn\'t take the time to do it myself.  (Yeah, that\'s me whining about work, grades, tests and what not. Luckily there are only two weeks of school left this year.)\n\nOn a less whiny note like the weather is going to be hot, hot this weekend. Really I can\'t imagine a better way to spend my weekend.','Elevation Music Festival ','','inherit','open','open','','5109-revision-2','','','2011-06-22 20:36:23','2011-06-22 18:36:23','',5109,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/22/5109-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(5112,1,'2011-06-22 20:37:23','2011-06-22 18:37:23','This weekend I am heading to Razlog to check out the <a href=\"http://elevation.bg/\" target=\"_blank\">Elevation Music Festival</a>. My friend and colleague M. is <em>really</em> into music and got a bunch of teachers lined up to attend.\n\nI wrote about the festival <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/30/elevation-music-festival-in-june/\" target=\"_blank\">on my blog couple of months ago</a> but it was a quick, quick post. Basically, I bought my tickets, wrote the date down in my planner and then promptly moved on to thinking/worrying about other things.\n\nThe for the last two or so weeks he\'s been putting together a daily emailing highlighting bands and with links to YouTube videos.  It\'s been great fun to get an email with music to listen to and to get a little more familiar with some of the groups I don\'t know (or don\'t know as well).\n\nThe best part of this set up is that that M. does all the hard work and I get all the benefits. I am telling you this set-up really couldn\'t be better. It\'s kind of like he\'s an email DJ. That\'s pretty cool. Oh, and it\'s a heck of a lot better than spam.\n\nIt doesn\'t hurt that I\'ve been so busy recently that I probably wouldn\'t take the time to do it myself.  (Yeah, that\'s me whining about work, grades, tests and what not. Luckily there are only two weeks of school left this year.)\n\nOn a less whiny note, the weather is going to be hot, hot this weekend and really right now I can\'t imagine a better way to spend my weekend.','Elevation Music Festival ','','inherit','open','open','','5109-revision-3','','','2011-06-22 20:37:23','2011-06-22 18:37:23','',5109,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/22/5109-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(5113,1,'2011-06-22 20:44:10','2011-06-22 18:44:10','This weekend I am heading to Razlog to check out the <a href=\"http://elevation.bg/\" target=\"_blank\">Elevation Music Festival</a>. My friend and colleague M. is <em>really</em> into music and got a bunch of teachers lined up to attend.\n\nI wrote about the festival <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/30/elevation-music-festival-in-june/\" target=\"_blank\">on my blog couple of months ago</a> but it was a quick, quick post. Basically, I bought my tickets, wrote the date down in my planner and then promptly moved on to thinking/worrying about other things.\n\nThe for the last two or so weeks he\'s been putting together a daily emailing highlighting bands and with links to YouTube videos.  It\'s been great fun to get an email with music to listen to and to get a little more familiar with some of the groups I don\'t know (or don\'t know as well).\n\nThe best part of this set up is that that M. does all the hard work and I get all the benefits. I am telling you this set-up really couldn\'t be better. It\'s kind of like he\'s an email DJ. That\'s pretty cool. Oh, and it\'s a heck of a lot better than spam.\n\nIt doesn\'t hurt that I\'ve been so busy recently that I probably wouldn\'t take the time to do it myself.  (Yeah, that\'s me whining about work, grades, tests and what not. Luckily there are only two weeks of school left this year.)\n\nOn a less whiny note, the weather is going to be hot, hot this weekend and really right now I can\'t imagine a better way to spend my weekend.\n\nSo who else is going? And which bands are you looking forward to?\n\nHere are a couple of my favorites:\n\nMorcheeba\n\nParov Stelar - Catgroove. This guy (and his dancing) is out of control. Check out this video.\n\n<a href=\"http://youtu.be/twqM56f_cVo\">Parov Stelar</a>','Elevation Music Festival ','','inherit','open','open','','5109-revision-4','','','2011-06-22 20:44:10','2011-06-22 18:44:10','',5109,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/22/5109-revision-4/',0,'revision','',0),(5114,1,'2011-06-22 20:44:46','2011-06-22 18:44:46','This weekend I am heading to Razlog to check out the <a href=\"http://elevation.bg/\" target=\"_blank\">Elevation Music Festival</a>. My friend and colleague M. is <em>really</em> into music and got a bunch of teachers lined up to attend.\r\n\r\nI wrote about the festival <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/30/elevation-music-festival-in-june/\" target=\"_blank\">on my blog couple of months ago</a> but it was a quick, quick post. Basically, I bought my tickets, wrote the date down in my planner and then promptly moved on to thinking/worrying about other things.\r\n\r\nThe for the last two or so weeks he\'s been putting together a daily emailing highlighting bands and with links to YouTube videos.  It\'s been great fun to get an email with music to listen to and to get a little more familiar with some of the groups I don\'t know (or don\'t know as well).\r\n\r\nThe best part of this set up is that that M. does all the hard work and I get all the benefits. I am telling you this set-up really couldn\'t be better. It\'s kind of like he\'s an email DJ. That\'s pretty cool. Oh, and it\'s a heck of a lot better than spam.\r\n\r\nIt doesn\'t hurt that I\'ve been so busy recently that I probably wouldn\'t take the time to do it myself.  (Yeah, that\'s me whining about work, grades, tests and what not. Luckily there are only two weeks of school left this year.)\r\n\r\nOn a less whiny note, the weather is going to be hot, hot this weekend and really right now I can\'t imagine a better way to spend my weekend.\r\n\r\nSo who else is going? And which bands are you looking forward to?\r\n\r\nHere are a couple of my favorites:\r\n\r\nMorcheeba and From Russia With Love / Rome Wasn\'t Built In A Day\r\n\r\nParov Stelar - Catgroove. This guy (and his dancing) is out of control. Check out this video.\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://youtu.be/twqM56f_cVo\">Parov Stelar</a>','Elevation Music Festival ','','inherit','open','open','','5109-revision-5','','','2011-06-22 20:44:46','2011-06-22 18:44:46','',5109,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/22/5109-revision-5/',0,'revision','',0),(5115,1,'2011-06-22 20:45:51','2011-06-22 18:45:51','This weekend I am heading to Razlog to check out the <a href=\"http://elevation.bg/\" target=\"_blank\">Elevation Music Festival</a>. My friend and colleague M. is <em>really</em> into music and got a bunch of teachers lined up to attend.\r\n\r\nI wrote about the festival <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/30/elevation-music-festival-in-june/\" target=\"_blank\">on my blog couple of months ago</a> but it was a quick, quick post. Basically, I bought my tickets, wrote the date down in my planner and then promptly moved on to thinking/worrying about other things.\r\n\r\nThe for the last two or so weeks he\'s been putting together a daily emailing highlighting bands and with links to YouTube videos.  It\'s been great fun to get an email with music to listen to and to get a little more familiar with some of the groups I don\'t know (or don\'t know as well).\r\n\r\nThe best part of this set up is that that M. does all the hard work and I get all the benefits. I am telling you this set-up really couldn\'t be better. It\'s kind of like he\'s an email DJ. That\'s pretty cool. Oh, and it\'s a heck of a lot better than spam.\r\n\r\nIt doesn\'t hurt that I\'ve been so busy recently that I probably wouldn\'t take the time to do it myself.  (Yeah, that\'s me whining about work, grades, tests and what not. Luckily there are only two weeks of school left this year.)\r\n\r\nOn a less whiny note, the weather is going to be hot, hot this weekend and really right now I can\'t imagine a better way to spend my weekend.\r\n\r\nSo who else is going? And which bands are you looking forward to?\r\n\r\nHere are a couple of my favorites:\r\n\r\nMorcheeba and From Russia With Love / Rome Wasn\'t Built In A Day\r\n\r\nParov Stelar - Catgroove. This guy (and his dancing) is out of control. Check out this video.\r\n\r\n<iframe width=\"425\" height=\"349\" src=\"http://www.youtube.com/embed/twqM56f_cVo\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen></iframe>','Elevation Music Festival ','','inherit','open','open','','5109-revision-6','','','2011-06-22 20:45:51','2011-06-22 18:45:51','',5109,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/22/5109-revision-6/',0,'revision','',0),(5116,1,'2011-06-22 20:45:53','2011-06-22 18:45:53','This weekend I am heading to Razlog to check out the <a href=\"http://elevation.bg/\" target=\"_blank\">Elevation Music Festival</a>. My friend and colleague M. is <em>really</em> into music and got a bunch of teachers lined up to attend.\r\n\r\nI wrote about the festival <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/30/elevation-music-festival-in-june/\" target=\"_blank\">on my blog couple of months ago</a> but it was a quick, quick post. Basically, I bought my tickets, wrote the date down in my planner and then promptly moved on to thinking/worrying about other things.\r\n\r\nThe for the last two or so weeks he\'s been putting together a daily emailing highlighting bands and with links to YouTube videos.  It\'s been great fun to get an email with music to listen to and to get a little more familiar with some of the groups I don\'t know (or don\'t know as well).\r\n\r\nThe best part of this set up is that that M. does all the hard work and I get all the benefits. I am telling you this set-up really couldn\'t be better. It\'s kind of like he\'s an email DJ. That\'s pretty cool. Oh, and it\'s a heck of a lot better than spam.\r\n\r\nIt doesn\'t hurt that I\'ve been so busy recently that I probably wouldn\'t take the time to do it myself.  (Yeah, that\'s me whining about work, grades, tests and what not. Luckily there are only two weeks of school left this year.)\r\n\r\nOn a less whiny note, the weather is going to be hot, hot this weekend and really right now I can\'t imagine a better way to spend my weekend.\r\n\r\nSo who else is going? And which bands are you looking forward to?\r\n\r\nHere are a couple of my favorites:\r\n\r\nMorcheeba and From Russia With Love / Rome Wasn\'t Built In A Day\r\n\r\nParov Stelar - Catgroove. This guy (and his dancing) is out of control. Check out this video.\r\n\r\n<iframe width=\"425\" height=\"349\" src=\"http://www.youtube.com/embed/twqM56f_cVo\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen></iframe>','Elevation Music Festival ','','inherit','open','open','','5109-revision-7','','','2011-06-22 20:45:53','2011-06-22 18:45:53','',5109,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/22/5109-revision-7/',0,'revision','',0),(5117,1,'2011-06-22 20:52:10','2011-06-22 18:52:10','This weekend I am heading to Razlog to check out the <a href=\"http://elevation.bg/\" target=\"_blank\">Elevation Music Festival</a>. My friend and colleague M. is <em>really</em> into music and got a bunch of teachers lined up to attend.\r\n\r\nI wrote about the festival <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/30/elevation-music-festival-in-june/\" target=\"_blank\">on my blog couple of months ago</a> but it was a quick, quick post. Basically, I bought my tickets, wrote the date down in my planner and then promptly moved on to thinking/worrying about other things.\r\n\r\nThe for the last two or so weeks he\'s been putting together a daily emailing highlighting bands and with links to YouTube videos.  It\'s been great fun to get an email with music to listen to and to get a little more familiar with some of the groups I don\'t know (or don\'t know as well).\r\n\r\nThe best part of this set up is that that M. does all the hard work and I get all the benefits. I am telling you this set-up really couldn\'t be better. It\'s kind of like he\'s an email DJ. That\'s pretty cool. Oh, and it\'s a heck of a lot better than spam.<!--more-->\r\n\r\nIt doesn\'t hurt that I\'ve been so busy recently that I probably wouldn\'t take the time to do it myself.  (Yeah, that\'s me whining about work, grades, tests and what not. Luckily there are only two weeks of school left this year.)\r\n\r\nOn a less whiny note, the weather is going to be hot, hot this weekend and really right now I can\'t imagine a better way to spend my weekend.\r\n\r\nHere are a couple of my favorites:\r\n\r\nMorcheeba and From Russia With Love / Rome Wasn\'t Built In A Day.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nParov Stelar - Catgroove. This guy (and his dancing) is out of control. Check out this video.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nThen there\'s Gentleman &amp; The Evolution and It no Pretty.  Turns out he\'s German\'s #1 reggae artist.\r\n\r\nSo who else is going? And which groups are you looking forward to?','Elevation Music Festival ','','inherit','open','open','','5109-revision-8','','','2011-06-22 20:52:10','2011-06-22 18:52:10','',5109,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/22/5109-revision-8/',0,'revision','',0),(5118,1,'2011-06-22 20:55:17','2011-06-22 18:55:17','This weekend I am heading to Razlog to check out the <a href=\"http://elevation.bg/\" target=\"_blank\">Elevation Music Festival</a>. My friend and colleague M. is <em>really</em> into music and got a bunch of teachers lined up to attend.\r\n\r\nI wrote about the festival <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/30/elevation-music-festival-in-june/\" target=\"_blank\">on my blog couple of months ago</a> but it was a quick, quick post. Basically, I bought my tickets, wrote the date down in my planner and then promptly moved on to thinking/worrying about other things.\r\n\r\nThe for the last two or so weeks he\'s been putting together a daily emailing highlighting bands and with links to YouTube videos.  It\'s been great fun to get an email with music to listen to and to get a little more familiar with some of the groups I don\'t know (or don\'t know as well).\r\n\r\nThe best part of this set up is that that M. does all the hard work and I get all the benefits. I am telling you this set-up really couldn\'t be better. It\'s kind of like he\'s an email DJ. That\'s pretty cool. Oh, and it\'s a heck of a lot better than spam.<!--more-->\r\n\r\nIt doesn\'t hurt that I\'ve been so busy recently that I probably wouldn\'t take the time to do it myself.  (Yeah, that\'s me whining about work, grades, tests and what not. Luckily there are only two weeks of school left this year.)\r\n\r\nOn a less whiny note, the weather is going to be hot, hot this weekend and really right now I can\'t imagine a better way to spend my weekend.\r\n\r\nHere are a couple of my favorites:\r\n\r\nMorcheeba and From Russia With Love / Rome Wasn\'t Built In A Day.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nParov Stelar - Catgroove. This guy (and his dancing) is out of control. Check out this video.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nThen there\'s Gentleman &amp; The Evolution and It no Pretty.  Turns out he\'s German\'s #1 reggae artist.\r\n<a href=\'http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwQ3fthvqtI\' >Music</a>\r\n\r\nSo who else is going? And which groups are you looking forward to?','Elevation Music Festival ','','inherit','open','open','','5109-revision-9','','','2011-06-22 20:55:17','2011-06-22 18:55:17','',5109,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/22/5109-revision-9/',0,'revision','',0),(5119,1,'2011-06-22 21:07:10','2011-06-22 19:07:10','This weekend I am heading to Razlog to check out the <a href=\"http://elevation.bg/\" target=\"_blank\">Elevation Music Festival</a>. My friend and colleague M. is <em>really</em> into music and got a bunch of teachers lined up to attend.\r\n\r\nI wrote about the festival <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/30/elevation-music-festival-in-june/\" target=\"_blank\">on my blog couple of months ago</a> but it was a quick, quick post. Basically, I bought my tickets, wrote the date down in my planner and then promptly moved on to thinking/worrying about other things.\r\n\r\nThe for the last two or so weeks he\'s been putting together a daily emailing highlighting bands and with links to YouTube videos.  It\'s been great fun to get an email with music to listen to and to get a little more familiar with some of the groups I don\'t know (or don\'t know as well).\r\n\r\nThe best part of this set up is that that M. does all the hard work and I get all the benefits. I am telling you this set-up really couldn\'t be better. It\'s kind of like he\'s an email DJ. That\'s pretty cool. Oh, and it\'s a heck of a lot better than spam.<!--more-->\r\n\r\nIt doesn\'t hurt that I\'ve been so busy recently that I probably wouldn\'t take the time to do it myself.  (Yeah, that\'s me whining about work, grades, tests and what not. Luckily there are only two weeks of school left this year.)\r\n\r\nOn a less whiny note, the weather is going to be hot, hot this weekend and really right now I can\'t imagine a better way to spend my weekend.\r\n\r\nHere are a couple of my favorites:\r\n\r\nMorcheeba and From Russia With Love / Rome Wasn\'t Built In A Day.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nParov Stelar - Catgroove. This guy (and his dancing) is out of control. Check out this video.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nThen there\'s Gentleman &amp; The Evolution and It no Pretty.  Turns out he\'s German\'s #1 reggae artist.\r\n<a href=\'http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwQ3fthvqtI\' >Music</a>\r\n\r\nSo who else is going? And which groups are you looking forward to?','Elevation Music Festival ','','inherit','open','open','','5109-revision-10','','','2011-06-22 21:07:10','2011-06-22 19:07:10','',5109,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/22/5109-revision-10/',0,'revision','',0),(5120,1,'2011-06-23 05:55:12','2011-06-23 03:55:12','This weekend I am heading to Razlog to check out the <a href=\"http://elevation.bg/\" target=\"_blank\">Elevation Music Festival</a>. My friend and colleague M. is <em>really</em> into music and got a bunch of teachers lined up to attend.\r\n\r\nI wrote about the festival <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/30/elevation-music-festival-in-june/\" target=\"_blank\">on my blog couple of months ago</a> but it was a quick, quick post. Basically, I bought my tickets, wrote the date down in my planner and then promptly moved on to thinking/worrying about other things.\r\n\r\nThe for the last two or so weeks he\'s been putting together a daily emailing highlighting bands and with links to YouTube videos.  It\'s been great fun to get an email with music to listen to and to get a little more familiar with some of the groups I don\'t know (or don\'t know as well).\r\n\r\nThe best part of this set up is that that M. does all the hard work and I get all the benefits. I am telling you this set-up really couldn\'t be better. It\'s kind of like he\'s an email DJ. That\'s pretty cool. Oh, and it\'s a heck of a lot better than spam.<!--more-->\r\n\r\nIt doesn\'t hurt that I\'ve been so busy recently that I probably wouldn\'t take the time to do it myself.  (Yeah, that\'s me whining about work, grades, tests and what not. Luckily there are only two weeks of school left this year.)\r\n\r\nOn a less whiny note, the weather is going to be hot, hot this weekend and really right now I can\'t imagine a better way to spend my weekend.\r\n\r\nHere are a couple of my favorites:\r\n\r\nMorcheeba and From Russia With Love / Rome Wasn\'t Built In A Day.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nParov Stelar - Catgroove. This guy (and his dancing) is out of control. Check out this video.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nThen there\'s Gentleman &amp; The Evolution and It no Pretty.  Turns out he\'s German\'s #1 reggae artist.\r\n<a href=\'\' >Raggae!</a>\r\n\r\nSo who else is going? And which groups are you looking forward to?','Elevation Music Festival ','','inherit','open','open','','5109-revision-11','','','2011-06-23 05:55:12','2011-06-23 03:55:12','',5109,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/23/5109-revision-11/',0,'revision','',0),(5121,1,'2011-06-23 05:58:44','2011-06-23 03:58:44','This weekend I am heading to Razlog to check out the <a href=\"http://elevation.bg/\" target=\"_blank\">Elevation Music Festival</a>. My friend and colleague M. is <em>really</em> into music and got a bunch of teachers lined up to attend.\r\n\r\nI wrote about the festival <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/30/elevation-music-festival-in-june/\" target=\"_blank\">on my blog couple of months ago</a> but it was a quick, quick post. Basically, I bought my tickets, wrote the date down in my planner and then promptly moved on to thinking/worrying about other things.\r\n\r\nThe for the last two or so weeks he\'s been putting together a daily emailing highlighting bands and with links to YouTube videos.  It\'s been great fun to get an email with music to listen to and to get a little more familiar with some of the groups I don\'t know (or don\'t know as well).\r\n\r\nThe best part of this set up is that that M. does all the hard work and I get all the benefits. I am telling you this set-up really couldn\'t be better. It\'s kind of like he\'s an email DJ. That\'s pretty cool. Oh, and it\'s a heck of a lot better than spam.<!--more-->\r\n\r\nIt doesn\'t hurt that I\'ve been so busy recently that I probably wouldn\'t take the time to do it myself.  (Yeah, that\'s me whining about work, grades, tests and what not. Luckily there are only two weeks of school left this year.)\r\n\r\nOn a less whiny note, the weather is going to be hot, hot this weekend and really right now I can\'t imagine a better way to spend my weekend.\r\n\r\nHere are a couple of my favorites:\r\n\r\nMorcheeba and From Russia With Love / Rome Wasn\'t Built In A Day.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nParov Stelar - Catgroove. This guy (and his dancing) is out of control. Check out this video.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nThen there\'s Gentleman &amp; The Evolution and It no Pretty.  Turns out he\'s German\'s #1 reggae artist.\r\n<code><iframe width=\"560\" height=\"349\" src=\"http://www.youtube.com/embed/uwQ3fthvqtI\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen></iframe></code>\r\n\r\nSo who else is going? And which groups are you looking forward to?','Elevation Music Festival ','','inherit','open','open','','5109-revision-12','','','2011-06-23 05:58:44','2011-06-23 03:58:44','',5109,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/23/5109-revision-12/',0,'revision','',0),(5122,1,'2011-06-23 06:01:39','2011-06-23 04:01:39','This weekend I am heading to Razlog to check out the <a href=\"http://elevation.bg/\" target=\"_blank\">Elevation Music Festival</a>. My friend and colleague M. is <em>really</em> into music and got a bunch of teachers lined up to attend.\r\n\r\nI wrote about the festival <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/30/elevation-music-festival-in-june/\" target=\"_blank\">on my blog couple of months ago</a> but it was a quick, quick post. Basically, I bought my tickets, wrote the date down in my planner and then promptly moved on to thinking/worrying about other things.\r\n\r\nThe for the last two or so weeks he\'s been putting together a daily emailing highlighting bands and with links to YouTube videos.  It\'s been great fun to get an email with music to listen to and to get a little more familiar with some of the groups I don\'t know (or don\'t know as well).\r\n\r\nThe best part of this set up is that that M. does all the hard work and I get all the benefits. I am telling you this set-up really couldn\'t be better. It\'s kind of like he\'s an email DJ. That\'s pretty cool. Oh, and it\'s a heck of a lot better than spam.<!--more-->\r\n\r\nIt doesn\'t hurt that I\'ve been so busy recently that I probably wouldn\'t take the time to do it myself.  (Yeah, that\'s me whining about work, grades, tests and what not. Luckily there are only two weeks of school left this year.)\r\n\r\nOn a less whiny note, the weather is going to be hot, hot this weekend and really right now I can\'t imagine a better way to spend my weekend.\r\n\r\nHere are a couple of my favorites:\r\n\r\nMorcheeba and From Russia With Love / Rome Wasn\'t Built In A Day.\r\n\r\n<code><iframe width=\"560\" height=\"349\" src=\"http://www.youtube.com/embed/QxsfEs2fD8I\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen></iframe></code>\r\n\r\nParov Stelar - Catgroove. This guy (and his dancing) is out of control. Check out this video.\r\n\r\n<code><iframe width=\"425\" height=\"349\" src=\"http://www.youtube.com/embed/twqM56f_cVo\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen></iframe></code>\r\n\r\nThen there\'s Gentleman &amp; The Evolution and It no Pretty.  Turns out he\'s German\'s #1 reggae artist.\r\n<code><iframe width=\"560\" height=\"349\" src=\"http://www.youtube.com/embed/uwQ3fthvqtI\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen></iframe></code>\r\n\r\nSo who else is going? And which groups are you looking forward to?','Elevation Music Festival ','','inherit','open','open','','5109-revision-13','','','2011-06-23 06:01:39','2011-06-23 04:01:39','',5109,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/23/5109-revision-13/',0,'revision','',0),(5123,1,'2011-06-23 06:01:42','2011-06-23 04:01:42','This weekend I am heading to Razlog to check out the <a href=\"http://elevation.bg/\" target=\"_blank\">Elevation Music Festival</a>. My friend and colleague M. is <em>really</em> into music and got a bunch of teachers lined up to attend.\r\n\r\nI wrote about the festival <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/30/elevation-music-festival-in-june/\" target=\"_blank\">on my blog couple of months ago</a> but it was a quick, quick post. Basically, I bought my tickets, wrote the date down in my planner and then promptly moved on to thinking/worrying about other things.\r\n\r\nThe for the last two or so weeks he\'s been putting together a daily emailing highlighting bands and with links to YouTube videos.  It\'s been great fun to get an email with music to listen to and to get a little more familiar with some of the groups I don\'t know (or don\'t know as well).\r\n\r\nThe best part of this set up is that that M. does all the hard work and I get all the benefits. I am telling you this set-up really couldn\'t be better. It\'s kind of like he\'s an email DJ. That\'s pretty cool. Oh, and it\'s a heck of a lot better than spam.<!--more-->\r\n\r\nIt doesn\'t hurt that I\'ve been so busy recently that I probably wouldn\'t take the time to do it myself.  (Yeah, that\'s me whining about work, grades, tests and what not. Luckily there are only two weeks of school left this year.)\r\n\r\nOn a less whiny note, the weather is going to be hot, hot this weekend and really right now I can\'t imagine a better way to spend my weekend.\r\n\r\nHere are a couple of my favorites:\r\n\r\nMorcheeba and From Russia With Love / Rome Wasn\'t Built In A Day.\r\n\r\n<code><iframe width=\"560\" height=\"349\" src=\"http://www.youtube.com/embed/QxsfEs2fD8I\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen></iframe></code>\r\n\r\nParov Stelar - Catgroove. This guy (and his dancing) is out of control. Check out this video.\r\n\r\n<code><iframe width=\"425\" height=\"349\" src=\"http://www.youtube.com/embed/twqM56f_cVo\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen></iframe></code>\r\n\r\nThen there\'s Gentleman &amp; The Evolution and It no Pretty.  Turns out he\'s German\'s #1 reggae artist.\r\n<code><iframe width=\"560\" height=\"349\" src=\"http://www.youtube.com/embed/uwQ3fthvqtI\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen></iframe></code>\r\n\r\nSo who else is going? And which groups are you looking forward to?','Elevation Music Festival ','','inherit','open','open','','5109-revision-14','','','2011-06-23 06:01:42','2011-06-23 04:01:42','',5109,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/23/5109-revision-14/',0,'revision','',0),(5124,1,'2011-06-26 20:48:59','2011-06-26 18:48:59','So I am back from another weekend away. This past weekend I went to Razlog to hit up the Elevation Music Festival. Day one was pretty great aside from the fact that the headlining band Jamiroquai didn\'t play because the lead singer had a health issue of some sort and was checking out <a href=\"http://www.tokudabolnica.bg/en\" target=\"_blank\"> Tokuda hospital</a> in Sofia. Then day two was canceled due to wind. <em>Yes</em>, wind.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"640\" caption=\"On the way to the Elevation Festival\"]<img title=\"On the way to the Elevation Festival\" src=\"https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/262698_10150216614914632_647039631_7288293_1235789_n.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" />[/caption]\r\n\r\nYou might think that to have these two things would be incredibly disappointing and they were but I am happy to report that we managed to have a pretty good time in spite of these two setbacks. Part of that was due to the fact that Razlog even in the wind is beautiful and part of that was due to the fact that I was with friends.\r\n\r\nHere\'s to friends. Friends make everything better.\r\n\r\n<!--more-->\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"640\" caption=\"People at the Festival \"]<img title=\"People at the Festival \" src=\"https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/267688_10150216615049632_647039631_7288297_3865574_n.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" />[/caption]\r\n\r\nBefore the festival, I knew that I wanted to see Morcheeba play even though I hadn\'t listened to a lot of their music. Now I am in love. The same goes for the the Parov Stelar Band. I think I maybe listened to one of their songs but when they came on a little earlier on Friday night given the Jamiroquai cancellation they were great fun. This group can rock. The crowd loved them and danced their hearts out. I am now totally smitten.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"640\" caption=\"Hands of Fans \"]<img title=\"Hands of Fans \" src=\"https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/259963_10150216615179632_647039631_7288300_6254066_n.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" />[/caption]\r\n\r\nAs for the crowd? All in all they were great.\r\n\r\nBasically everyone was really chill even given the long lines at the gates (well, aside from the girls who were impatient in the line yelling \"faster\"). People were relatively patient for the long lines and bad service for beer (but not the guy selling beer at one tent never even looked at me but served my male friend pretty quickly).  The line at the food tent was pretty manageable (but slightly annoying given the fact that when I tried to order, get this, a hot dog the older woman working behind the counter told me that she doesn\'t speak English. The word is the same in Bulgarian. So I changed the emphasis a couple of times hoping to get a hot dog. No luck. However, I triumphed and another guy sold me a hot dog no problem).\r\n\r\nThe one big thing that the organizers seemed to get right: plenty of toilets. What could they work on? Garbage cans.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"640\" caption=\"Stage at Dusk\"]<img title=\"Stage at Dusk\" src=\"https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/269983_10150216615299632_647039631_7288302_8085811_n.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" />[/caption]\r\n\r\nAfter six hours or so at the festival on Friday, I was pooped out and preceded to sleep, sleep, sleep. I managed to sleep in until almost 12 noon and I haven\'t managed to do that in months. Doing so usually makes me feel so lazy but on Saturday it felt just perfect and very luxurious.\r\n\r\nOn Saturday, we got up, ate by the windy pool, went swimming in the indoor pool and then got ready to head to the festival. We made it about 10 minutes to the festival when two really nice Bulgarian girls stopped us to tell us the festival was canceled due to high winds. Sure it was windy, windy, windy but none of us guessed that it would result in a cancellation.\r\n\r\nNeedless to say that was hugely disappointing but after a little complaining, a lot of joking and some time thinking about options we headed out to Bansko for the evening. Pizza and beer was far from the perfect solution to this problem but in a pinch it worked. We had a good time and managed to salvage the night.\r\n\r\nSure it would be much, much more fun to watch the groups scheduled for the second night which included Cypress Hill and 30 Seconds to Mars but it\'s not like anyone can control the weather and it was really be a lot worse for someone to get hurt because of wind and things being blown around rather than to cancel the show.\r\n----------\r\nAnd a very special thank-you to my friend M. who took all of these pictures and who organized this whole adventure!!','I am back from the Elevation Music Festival ','','publish','open','open','','i-am-back-from-the-elevation-music-festival','','','2011-06-26 20:48:59','2011-06-26 18:48:59','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=5124',0,'post','',1),(5125,1,'2011-06-26 19:59:13','2011-06-26 17:59:13','So I am back from another weekend away. This past weekend I went to Razlog to hit up the Elevation Music Festival. Day one was pretty great aside from the fact that the headlining band Jamiroquai didn\'t play because the lead singer had a health issue of some sort and was checking out <a href=\"http://www.tokudabolnica.bg/en\" target=\"_blank\"> Tokuda hospital</a> in Sofia. Then day two was canceled due to wind. <em>Yes</em>, wind.\n\nYou might think that to have these two things would be incredibly disappointing and it was but I am happy to report that we managed to have a pretty good time in spite of these two setbacks.\n\nFirst off, Morcheeba and the Parov Stelar Band on Friday night were great fun. The crowd loved both groups and danced their hearts out. There were also some great DJs playing.\n\nAs for the crowd?\n\nBasically everyone was really chill even given the long lines at the gates (well, aside from the girls who were impatient in the line yelling \"faster\"). People were relatively patient for the long lines and bad service for beer (but not the guy selling beer at one tent never even looked at me but served my male friend pretty quickly).  The line at the food tent was pretty manageable (but slightly annoying given the fact that when I tried to order, get this, a hot dog the older woman working behind the counter told me that she doesn\'t speak English. The word is the same in Bulgarian. So I changed the emphasis a couple of times hoping to get a hot dog. No luck. However, I triumphed and another guy sold me a hot dog no problem). The one big thing that the organizers seemed to get right: plenty of toilets.\n\nOn Saturday, we got up, ate by the windy pool, went swimming in the indoor pool and then got ready to head to the festival. We made it about 10 minutes to the festival when two really nice Bulgarian girls stopped us to tell us the festival was canceled due to high winds. Sure it was windy, windy, windy but none of us guessed that it would result in a cancellation.\n\nNeedless to say that was hugely disappointing but after a little complaining, a lot of joking and some time thinking about options we headed out to Bansko for the evening. Pizza and beer was far from the perfect solution to this problem but in a pinch it worked. We had a good time and managed to salvage the night.\n\nSure it would be much, much more fun to watch the groups scheduled for the second night which included Cypruss Hill and 30 Seconds to Mars but it\'s not like anyone can control the weather and it was really be a lot worse for someone to get hurt because of wind and things being blown around rather than to cancel the show.','I am back from the Elevation Music Festival ','','inherit','open','open','','5124-revision','','','2011-06-26 19:59:13','2011-06-26 17:59:13','',5124,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/26/5124-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(5126,1,'2011-06-26 20:03:48','2011-06-26 18:03:48','So I am back from another weekend away. This past weekend I went to Razlog to hit up the Elevation Music Festival. Day one was pretty great aside from the fact that the headlining band Jamiroquai didn\'t play because the lead singer had a health issue of some sort and was checking out <a href=\"http://www.tokudabolnica.bg/en\" target=\"_blank\"> Tokuda hospital</a> in Sofia. Then day two was canceled due to wind. <em>Yes</em>, wind.\n\nYou might think that to have these two things would be incredibly disappointing and it was but I am happy to report that we managed to have a pretty good time in spite of these two setbacks.\n\nFirst off, Morcheeba and the Parov Stelar Band on Friday night were great fun. The crowd loved both groups and danced their hearts out. There were also some great DJs playing.\n\nAs for the crowd?\n\nBasically everyone was really chill even given the long lines at the gates (well, aside from the girls who were impatient in the line yelling \"faster\"). People were relatively patient for the long lines and bad service for beer (but not the guy selling beer at one tent never even looked at me but served my male friend pretty quickly).  The line at the food tent was pretty manageable (but slightly annoying given the fact that when I tried to order, get this, a hot dog the older woman working behind the counter told me that she doesn\'t speak English. The word is the same in Bulgarian. So I changed the emphasis a couple of times hoping to get a hot dog. No luck. However, I triumphed and another guy sold me a hot dog no problem). The one big thing that the organizers seemed to get right: plenty of toilets.\n\nOn Saturday, we got up, ate by the windy pool, went swimming in the indoor pool and then got ready to head to the festival. We made it about 10 minutes to the festival when two really nice Bulgarian girls stopped us to tell us the festival was canceled due to high winds. Sure it was windy, windy, windy but none of us guessed that it would result in a cancellation.\n\nNeedless to say that was hugely disappointing but after a little complaining, a lot of joking and some time thinking about options we headed out to Bansko for the evening. Pizza and beer was far from the perfect solution to this problem but in a pinch it worked. We had a good time and managed to salvage the night.\n\nSure it would be much, much more fun to watch the groups scheduled for the second night which included Cypruss Hill and 30 Seconds to Mars but it\'s not like anyone can control the weather and it was really be a lot worse for someone to get hurt because of wind and things being blown around rather than to cancel the show.','I am back from the Elevation Music Festival ','','inherit','open','open','','5124-revision-2','','','2011-06-26 20:03:48','2011-06-26 18:03:48','',5124,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/26/5124-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(5127,1,'2011-06-26 20:21:50','2011-06-26 18:21:50','[caption id=\"\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"640\" caption=\"On the way to the Elevation Festival\"]<img title=\"On the way to the Elevation Festival\" src=\"https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/262698_10150216614914632_647039631_7288293_1235789_n.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" />[/caption]\n\nSo I am back from another weekend away. This past weekend I went to Razlog to hit up the Elevation Music Festival. Day one was pretty great aside from the fact that the headlining band Jamiroquai didn\'t play because the lead singer had a health issue of some sort and was checking out <a href=\"http://www.tokudabolnica.bg/en\" target=\"_blank\"> Tokuda hospital</a> in Sofia. Then day two was canceled due to wind. <em>Yes</em>, wind.\n\n[caption id=\"\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"640\" caption=\"People at the Festival \"]<img title=\"People at the Festival \" src=\"https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/267688_10150216615049632_647039631_7288297_3865574_n.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" />[/caption]\n\nYou might think that to have these two things would be incredibly disappointing and it was but I am happy to report that we managed to have a pretty good time in spite of these two setbacks.\n\n[caption id=\"\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"640\" caption=\"Hands of Fans \"]<img title=\"Hands of Fans \" src=\"https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/259963_10150216615179632_647039631_7288300_6254066_n.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" />[/caption]\n\nFirst off, Morcheeba and the Parov Stelar Band on Friday night were great fun. The crowd loved both groups and danced their hearts out. There were also some great DJs playing.\n\nAs for the crowd?\n\nBasically everyone was really chill even given the long lines at the gates (well, aside from the girls who were impatient in the line yelling \"faster\"). People were relatively patient for the long lines and bad service for beer (but not the guy selling beer at one tent never even looked at me but served my male friend pretty quickly).  The line at the food tent was pretty manageable (but slightly annoying given the fact that when I tried to order, get this, a hot dog the older woman working behind the counter told me that she doesn\'t speak English. The word is the same in Bulgarian. So I changed the emphasis a couple of times hoping to get a hot dog. No luck. However, I triumphed and another guy sold me a hot dog no problem). The one big thing that the organizers seemed to get right: plenty of toilets.\n\nOn Saturday, we got up, ate by the windy pool, went swimming in the indoor pool and then got ready to head to the festival. We made it about 10 minutes to the festival when two really nice Bulgarian girls stopped us to tell us the festival was canceled due to high winds. Sure it was windy, windy, windy but none of us guessed that it would result in a cancellation.\n\nNeedless to say that was hugely disappointing but after a little complaining, a lot of joking and some time thinking about options we headed out to Bansko for the evening. Pizza and beer was far from the perfect solution to this problem but in a pinch it worked. We had a good time and managed to salvage the night.\n\nSure it would be much, much more fun to watch the groups scheduled for the second night which included Cypruss Hill and 30 Seconds to Mars but it\'s not like anyone can control the weather and it was really be a lot worse for someone to get hurt because of wind and things being blown around rather than to cancel the show.','I am back from the Elevation Music Festival ','','inherit','open','open','','5124-revision-3','','','2011-06-26 20:21:50','2011-06-26 18:21:50','',5124,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/26/5124-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(5128,1,'2011-06-26 20:22:02','2011-06-26 18:22:02','[caption id=\"\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"640\" caption=\"On the way to the Elevation Festival\"]<img title=\"On the way to the Elevation Festival\" src=\"https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/262698_10150216614914632_647039631_7288293_1235789_n.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" />[/caption]\r\n\r\nSo I am back from another weekend away. This past weekend I went to Razlog to hit up the Elevation Music Festival. Day one was pretty great aside from the fact that the headlining band Jamiroquai didn\'t play because the lead singer had a health issue of some sort and was checking out <a href=\"http://www.tokudabolnica.bg/en\" target=\"_blank\"> Tokuda hospital</a> in Sofia. Then day two was canceled due to wind. <em>Yes</em>, wind.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"640\" caption=\"People at the Festival \"]<img title=\"People at the Festival \" src=\"https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/267688_10150216615049632_647039631_7288297_3865574_n.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" />[/caption]\r\n\r\nYou might think that to have these two things would be incredibly disappointing and it was but I am happy to report that we managed to have a pretty good time in spite of these two setbacks.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"640\" caption=\"Hands of Fans \"]<img title=\"Hands of Fans \" src=\"https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/259963_10150216615179632_647039631_7288300_6254066_n.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" />[/caption]\r\n\r\nFirst off, Morcheeba and the Parov Stelar Band on Friday night were great fun. The crowd loved both groups and danced their hearts out. There were also some great DJs playing.\r\n\r\nAs for the crowd?\r\n\r\nBasically everyone was really chill even given the long lines at the gates (well, aside from the girls who were impatient in the line yelling \"faster\"). People were relatively patient for the long lines and bad service for beer (but not the guy selling beer at one tent never even looked at me but served my male friend pretty quickly).  The line at the food tent was pretty manageable (but slightly annoying given the fact that when I tried to order, get this, a hot dog the older woman working behind the counter told me that she doesn\'t speak English. The word is the same in Bulgarian. So I changed the emphasis a couple of times hoping to get a hot dog. No luck. However, I triumphed and another guy sold me a hot dog no problem). The one big thing that the organizers seemed to get right: plenty of toilets.\r\n\r\nOn Saturday, we got up, ate by the windy pool, went swimming in the indoor pool and then got ready to head to the festival. We made it about 10 minutes to the festival when two really nice Bulgarian girls stopped us to tell us the festival was canceled due to high winds. Sure it was windy, windy, windy but none of us guessed that it would result in a cancellation.\r\n\r\nNeedless to say that was hugely disappointing but after a little complaining, a lot of joking and some time thinking about options we headed out to Bansko for the evening. Pizza and beer was far from the perfect solution to this problem but in a pinch it worked. We had a good time and managed to salvage the night.\r\n\r\nSure it would be much, much more fun to watch the groups scheduled for the second night which included Cypruss Hill and 30 Seconds to Mars but it\'s not like anyone can control the weather and it was really be a lot worse for someone to get hurt because of wind and things being blown around rather than to cancel the show.','I am back from the Elevation Music Festival ','','inherit','open','open','','5124-revision-4','','','2011-06-26 20:22:02','2011-06-26 18:22:02','',5124,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/26/5124-revision-4/',0,'revision','',0),(5129,1,'2011-06-26 20:22:12','2011-06-26 18:22:12','[caption id=\"\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"640\" caption=\"On the way to the Elevation Festival\"]<img title=\"On the way to the Elevation Festival\" src=\"https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/262698_10150216614914632_647039631_7288293_1235789_n.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" />[/caption]\r\n\r\nSo I am back from another weekend away. This past weekend I went to Razlog to hit up the Elevation Music Festival. Day one was pretty great aside from the fact that the headlining band Jamiroquai didn\'t play because the lead singer had a health issue of some sort and was checking out <a href=\"http://www.tokudabolnica.bg/en\" target=\"_blank\"> Tokuda hospital</a> in Sofia. Then day two was canceled due to wind. <em>Yes</em>, wind.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"640\" caption=\"People at the Festival \"]<img title=\"People at the Festival \" src=\"https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/267688_10150216615049632_647039631_7288297_3865574_n.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" />[/caption]\r\n\r\nYou might think that to have these two things would be incredibly disappointing and it was but I am happy to report that we managed to have a pretty good time in spite of these two setbacks.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"640\" caption=\"Hands of Fans \"]<img title=\"Hands of Fans \" src=\"https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/259963_10150216615179632_647039631_7288300_6254066_n.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" />[/caption]\r\n\r\nFirst off, Morcheeba and the Parov Stelar Band on Friday night were great fun. The crowd loved both groups and danced their hearts out. There were also some great DJs playing.\r\n\r\nAs for the crowd?\r\n\r\nBasically everyone was really chill even given the long lines at the gates (well, aside from the girls who were impatient in the line yelling \"faster\"). People were relatively patient for the long lines and bad service for beer (but not the guy selling beer at one tent never even looked at me but served my male friend pretty quickly).  The line at the food tent was pretty manageable (but slightly annoying given the fact that when I tried to order, get this, a hot dog the older woman working behind the counter told me that she doesn\'t speak English. The word is the same in Bulgarian. So I changed the emphasis a couple of times hoping to get a hot dog. No luck. However, I triumphed and another guy sold me a hot dog no problem). The one big thing that the organizers seemed to get right: plenty of toilets.\r\n\r\nOn Saturday, we got up, ate by the windy pool, went swimming in the indoor pool and then got ready to head to the festival. We made it about 10 minutes to the festival when two really nice Bulgarian girls stopped us to tell us the festival was canceled due to high winds. Sure it was windy, windy, windy but none of us guessed that it would result in a cancellation.\r\n\r\nNeedless to say that was hugely disappointing but after a little complaining, a lot of joking and some time thinking about options we headed out to Bansko for the evening. Pizza and beer was far from the perfect solution to this problem but in a pinch it worked. We had a good time and managed to salvage the night.\r\n\r\nSure it would be much, much more fun to watch the groups scheduled for the second night which included Cypruss Hill and 30 Seconds to Mars but it\'s not like anyone can control the weather and it was really be a lot worse for someone to get hurt because of wind and things being blown around rather than to cancel the show.','I am back from the Elevation Music Festival ','','inherit','open','open','','5124-revision-5','','','2011-06-26 20:22:12','2011-06-26 18:22:12','',5124,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/26/5124-revision-5/',0,'revision','',0),(5130,1,'2011-06-26 20:37:23','2011-06-26 18:37:23','So I am back from another weekend away. This past weekend I went to Razlog to hit up the Elevation Music Festival. Day one was pretty great aside from the fact that the headlining band Jamiroquai didn\'t play because the lead singer had a health issue of some sort and was checking out <a href=\"http://www.tokudabolnica.bg/en\" target=\"_blank\"> Tokuda hospital</a> in Sofia. Then day two was canceled due to wind. <em>Yes</em>, wind.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"640\" caption=\"On the way to the Elevation Festival\"]<img title=\"On the way to the Elevation Festival\" src=\"https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/262698_10150216614914632_647039631_7288293_1235789_n.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" />[/caption]\r\n\r\nYou might think that to have these two things would be incredibly disappointing and it was but I am happy to report that we managed to have a pretty good time in spite of these two setbacks. Part of that was due to the fact that Razlog even in the wind is beautiful and part of that was due to the fact that I was with friends.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"640\" caption=\"People at the Festival \"]<img title=\"People at the Festival \" src=\"https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/267688_10150216615049632_647039631_7288297_3865574_n.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" />[/caption]\r\n\r\nBefore the festival, I knew that I wanted to see Morcheeba play even though I hadn\'t listened to a lot of their music. Now I am in love. The same goes for the the Parov Stelar Band. I think I maybe listened to one of their songs but when they came on a little earlier on Friday night given the Jamiroquai cancellation they were great fun. This group can rock. The crowd loved them and danced their hearts out. I am now totally smitten. \r\n\r\n[caption id=\"\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"640\" caption=\"Hands of Fans \"]<img title=\"Hands of Fans \" src=\"https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/259963_10150216615179632_647039631_7288300_6254066_n.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" />[/caption]\r\n\r\nAs for the crowd? All in all they were great.\r\n\r\nBasically everyone was really chill even given the long lines at the gates (well, aside from the girls who were impatient in the line yelling \"faster\"). People were relatively patient for the long lines and bad service for beer (but not the guy selling beer at one tent never even looked at me but served my male friend pretty quickly).  The line at the food tent was pretty manageable (but slightly annoying given the fact that when I tried to order, get this, a hot dog the older woman working behind the counter told me that she doesn\'t speak English. The word is the same in Bulgarian. So I changed the emphasis a couple of times hoping to get a hot dog. No luck. However, I triumphed and another guy sold me a hot dog no problem). \r\n\r\nThe one big thing that the organizers seemed to get right: plenty of toilets. What could they work on? Garbage cans. \r\n\r\n[caption id=\"\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"640\" caption=\"Stage at Dusk\"]<img alt=\"\" src=\"https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/269983_10150216615299632_647039631_7288302_8085811_n.jpg\" title=\"Stage at Dusk\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" />[/caption]\r\n\r\nAfter six hours or so at the festival on Friday, I was pooped out and preceded to sleep, sleep, sleep. I managed to sleep in until almost 12 noon and I haven\'t managed to do that in months. Doing so usually makes me feel so lazy but on Saturday it felt just perfect and very luxurious. \r\n\r\nOn Saturday, we got up, ate by the windy pool, went swimming in the indoor pool and then got ready to head to the festival. We made it about 10 minutes to the festival when two really nice Bulgarian girls stopped us to tell us the festival was canceled due to high winds. Sure it was windy, windy, windy but none of us guessed that it would result in a cancellation.\r\n\r\nNeedless to say that was hugely disappointing but after a little complaining, a lot of joking and some time thinking about options we headed out to Bansko for the evening. Pizza and beer was far from the perfect solution to this problem but in a pinch it worked. We had a good time and managed to salvage the night.\r\n\r\nSure it would be much, much more fun to watch the groups scheduled for the second night which included Cypruss Hill and 30 Seconds to Mars but it\'s not like anyone can control the weather and it was really be a lot worse for someone to get hurt because of wind and things being blown around rather than to cancel the show.','I am back from the Elevation Music Festival ','','inherit','open','open','','5124-revision-6','','','2011-06-26 20:37:23','2011-06-26 18:37:23','',5124,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/26/5124-revision-6/',0,'revision','',0),(5131,1,'2011-06-26 20:43:49','2011-06-26 18:43:49','So I am back from another weekend away. This past weekend I went to Razlog to hit up the Elevation Music Festival. Day one was pretty great aside from the fact that the headlining band Jamiroquai didn\'t play because the lead singer had a health issue of some sort and was checking out <a href=\"http://www.tokudabolnica.bg/en\" target=\"_blank\"> Tokuda hospital</a> in Sofia. Then day two was canceled due to wind. <em>Yes</em>, wind.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"640\" caption=\"On the way to the Elevation Festival\"]<img title=\"On the way to the Elevation Festival\" src=\"https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/262698_10150216614914632_647039631_7288293_1235789_n.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" />[/caption]\r\n\r\nYou might think that to have these two things would be incredibly disappointing and it was but I am happy to report that we managed to have a pretty good time in spite of these two setbacks. Part of that was due to the fact that Razlog even in the wind is beautiful and part of that was due to the fact that I was with friends.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"640\" caption=\"People at the Festival \"]<img title=\"People at the Festival \" src=\"https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/267688_10150216615049632_647039631_7288297_3865574_n.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" />[/caption]\r\n\r\nBefore the festival, I knew that I wanted to see Morcheeba play even though I hadn\'t listened to a lot of their music. Now I am in love. The same goes for the the Parov Stelar Band. I think I maybe listened to one of their songs but when they came on a little earlier on Friday night given the Jamiroquai cancellation they were great fun. This group can rock. The crowd loved them and danced their hearts out. I am now totally smitten. \r\n\r\n[caption id=\"\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"640\" caption=\"Hands of Fans \"]<img title=\"Hands of Fans \" src=\"https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/259963_10150216615179632_647039631_7288300_6254066_n.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" />[/caption]\r\n\r\nAs for the crowd? All in all they were great.\r\n\r\nBasically everyone was really chill even given the long lines at the gates (well, aside from the girls who were impatient in the line yelling \"faster\"). People were relatively patient for the long lines and bad service for beer (but not the guy selling beer at one tent never even looked at me but served my male friend pretty quickly).  The line at the food tent was pretty manageable (but slightly annoying given the fact that when I tried to order, get this, a hot dog the older woman working behind the counter told me that she doesn\'t speak English. The word is the same in Bulgarian. So I changed the emphasis a couple of times hoping to get a hot dog. No luck. However, I triumphed and another guy sold me a hot dog no problem). \r\n\r\nThe one big thing that the organizers seemed to get right: plenty of toilets. What could they work on? Garbage cans. \r\n\r\n[caption id=\"\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"640\" caption=\"Stage at Dusk\"]<img alt=\"\" src=\"https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/269983_10150216615299632_647039631_7288302_8085811_n.jpg\" title=\"Stage at Dusk\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" />[/caption]\r\n\r\nAfter six hours or so at the festival on Friday, I was pooped out and preceded to sleep, sleep, sleep. I managed to sleep in until almost 12 noon and I haven\'t managed to do that in months. Doing so usually makes me feel so lazy but on Saturday it felt just perfect and very luxurious. \r\n\r\nOn Saturday, we got up, ate by the windy pool, went swimming in the indoor pool and then got ready to head to the festival. We made it about 10 minutes to the festival when two really nice Bulgarian girls stopped us to tell us the festival was canceled due to high winds. Sure it was windy, windy, windy but none of us guessed that it would result in a cancellation.\r\n\r\nNeedless to say that was hugely disappointing but after a little complaining, a lot of joking and some time thinking about options we headed out to Bansko for the evening. Pizza and beer was far from the perfect solution to this problem but in a pinch it worked. We had a good time and managed to salvage the night.\r\n\r\nSure it would be much, much more fun to watch the groups scheduled for the second night which included Cypress Hill and 30 Seconds to Mars but it\'s not like anyone can control the weather and it was really be a lot worse for someone to get hurt because of wind and things being blown around rather than to cancel the show.\r\n----------\r\nAnd a very special thank-you to my friend M. who took all of these pictures and who organized this whole adventure!! ','I am back from the Elevation Music Festival ','','inherit','open','open','','5124-revision-7','','','2011-06-26 20:43:49','2011-06-26 18:43:49','',5124,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/26/5124-revision-7/',0,'revision','',0),(5165,1,'2011-07-05 09:42:51','2011-07-05 07:42:51','I am flying back to the States for three weeks tomorrow. I really don\'t know how it works but these days it seems like there is always one more thing to do. I seem incapable of getting ahead of my to-do list.\r\n\r\nFor example, more than three days ago I ran out dish soap while washing dishes. I was forced to stop half way through. Then for three days dish soap sat on the middle of my to-do list without ever getting crossed off. Meanwhile, dirty dishes were piling up. At one point, I wondered: does this mean I can just throw my dirty dishes out? Answer: no. Finally I picked up dish soap and this morning I tackled my giant stack of dirty dishes. The pile is especially impressive considering the fact I haven\'t had any real food in my refrigerator more than a week.\r\n\r\nToday, I\'ve got to pack. I\'ve got to clean up my apartment. I\'ve got to touch bases with some friends. I\'ve got take out the garbage. I\'ve got to scrounge up my passport and some euro for the three hour layover I\'ve got in Paris. I\'ve got to download some books for my kindle and make sure that my ipod is charged. None of these things is hard in and of itself each one just takes time and attention.\r\n\r\nWish me luck!','Always one more thing to do','','publish','open','open','','always-one-more-thing-to-do','','','2011-07-05 18:11:42','2011-07-05 16:11:42','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=5165',0,'post','',0),(5133,1,'2011-06-27 21:09:47','2011-06-27 19:09:47','I just looked at my calendar and realized that I\'ll be home one week and one day from now. Sure I am going to be spending a ton of time flying--almost a day but I\'m getting more and more excited about the thought of home. Well, the other one. The first one.\r\n\r\nThere are four days of school left. <em>Phew</em>. That means I\'ve got to grade, grade, grade and get busy writing first drafts for all of the letters of recommendation I promised my current 11th graders--soon to be 12th graders.\r\n\r\nThen on July 2nd, I\'ll be celebrating the 4th of July at the American College of Sofia thanks to the American Chamber of Commerce. Sure, it\'s a little funny to celebrate on the 2nd--I mean we\'d never do that in the States but when in Bulgaria I guess a girl\'s got to do what a girl\'s got to do.\r\n\r\nMaybe this means that I can try to convince my parents to move both my 30th birthday and the 4th of July so that I can celebrate both of these holidays with them in July when I am home. You may remember that my MoM has the power to move holidays like when I missed Christmas earlier this year and <a href=\"http://wallawallalocal.wordpress.com/2010/12/31/christmas-on-december-30th-and-happy-new-year/\" target=\"_blank\">she decided that we\'d celebrate a few days later</a>. That was pretty great of her.\r\n\r\nIf I can convince them to celebrate by 30th birthday, I hope that my parents will make me grilled pizzas, that we\'ll wash down with local beer and that I can have a non-traditional strawberry shortcake birthday cake. I am just not sure how you get candles on a piece of strawberry shortcake. And if they dig my 30th birthday party then maybe I can convince them to also throw a late 4th of July party. This of course will include beer, hamburgers, sausages, a leafy green salad and a potato salad. (<em>Hint, hint, hint.</em>)','Home again, home again','','publish','open','open','','home-again-home-again','','','2011-06-27 21:09:47','2011-06-27 19:09:47','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=5133',0,'post','',2),(5134,1,'2011-06-27 21:09:26','2011-06-27 19:09:26','I just looked at my calendar and realized that I\'ll be home one week and one day from now. Sure I am going to be spending a ton of time flying--almost a day but I\'m getting more and more excited about the thought of home. Well, the other one. The first one.\n\nThere are four days of school left. <em>Phew</em>. That means I\'ve got to grade, grade, grade and get busy writing first drafts for all of the letters of recommendation I promised my current 11th graders--soon to be 12th graders.\n\nThen on July 2nd, I\'ll be celebrating the 4th of July at the American College of Sofia thanks to the American Chamber of Commerce. Sure, it\'s a little funny to celebrate on the 2nd--I mean we\'d never do that in the States but when in Bulgaria I guess a girl\'s got to do what a girl\'s got to do.\n\nMaybe this means that I can try to convince my parents to move both my 30th birthday and the 4th of July so that I can celebrate both of these holidays with them in July when I am home. You may remember that my MoM has the power to move holidays like when I missed Christmas earlier this year and <a href=\"http://wallawallalocal.wordpress.com/2010/12/31/christmas-on-december-30th-and-happy-new-year/\" target=\"_blank\">she decided that we\'d celebrate a few days later</a>. That was pretty great of her.\n\nIf I can convince them to celebrate by 30th birthday, I hope that my parents will make me grilled pizzas, that we\'ll wash down with local beer and that I can have a non-traditional strawberry shortcake birthday cake. I am just not sure how you get candles on a piece of strawberry shortcake. And if they dig my 30th birthday party then maybe I can convince them to also throw a late 4th of July party. This of course will include beer, hamburgers, sausages, a leafy green salad and a potato salad.','Home again, home again','','inherit','open','open','','5133-revision','','','2011-06-27 21:09:26','2011-06-27 19:09:26','',5133,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/27/5133-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(5135,1,'2011-06-27 21:10:58','2011-06-27 19:10:58','I just looked at my calendar and realized that I\'ll be home one week and one day from now. Sure I am going to be spending a ton of time flying--almost a day but I\'m getting more and more excited about the thought of home. Well, the other one. The first one.\n\nThere are four days of school left. <em>Phew</em>. That means I\'ve got to grade, grade, grade and get busy writing first drafts for all of the letters of recommendation I promised my current 11th graders--soon to be 12th graders.\n\nThen on July 2nd, I\'ll be celebrating the 4th of July at the American College of Sofia thanks to the American Chamber of Commerce. Sure, it\'s a little funny to celebrate on the 2nd--I mean we\'d never do that in the States but when in Bulgaria I guess a girl\'s got to do what a girl\'s got to do.\n\nMaybe this means that I can try to convince my parents to move both my 30th birthday and the 4th of July so that I can celebrate both of these holidays with them in July when I am home. You may remember that my MoM has the power to move holidays like when I missed Christmas earlier this year and <a href=\"http://wallawallalocal.wordpress.com/2010/12/31/christmas-on-december-30th-and-happy-new-year/\" target=\"_blank\">she decided that we\'d celebrate a few days later</a>. That was pretty great of her.\n\nIf I can convince them to celebrate by 30th birthday, I hope that my parents will make me grilled pizzas, that we\'ll wash down with local beer and that I can have a non-traditional strawberry shortcake birthday cake. I am just not sure how you get candles on a piece of strawberry shortcake. And if they dig my 30th birthday party then maybe I can convince them to also throw a late 4th of July party. This of course will include beer, hamburgers, sausages, a leafy green salad and a potato salad. (<em>Hint, hint, hint.</em>)','Home again, home again','','inherit','open','open','','5133-autosave','','','2011-06-27 21:10:58','2011-06-27 19:10:58','',5133,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/27/5133-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(5137,1,'2011-06-28 20:32:49','2011-06-28 18:32:49','Today I was finishing up grading a giant stack of things and listening to NPR. I love to listen to NPR Music at work because most of the concerts that you can stream are between half an hour and an hour. It\'s the perfect amount of time and they\'ve got a lot of great groups to pick from. I don\'t have to think much about it and I never get sick of it because when I\'m getting close, I just pick a new group to listen to.\n\nWell it turns out that NPR can read my mind because they recommended that I listen to a <a href=\"http://www.npr.org/2011/06/23/137372838/human-trafficking-the-terrible-price-of-sex\" target=\"_blank\">15 minute clip on a new documentary called \"The Price of Sex.\"</a> In the first 30 seconds of the clip I was convinced that the woman who made the film must be Bulgarian. I made this decision based solely on her name, Mimi Chakarova, and the content of the film--human trafficking in Eastern Europe after the fall of the Berlin Wall. A minute later my hunch was confirmed.\n\nShe\'s Bulgarian.\n\nAt this point, I was hooked.\n\nThe conversation/interview is great--heartbreaking but great. It really made me want to watch Mimi Chakarova\'s documentary. So I did the next best thing. I\'ve googled her and obsessively watched the <a href=\"http://priceofsex.org/content/previous-projects\" target=\"_blank\">three other projects she has posted on her website</a>.  Needless to say this has made it hard for me to actually write about her project, films and photos given the fact that I\'d rather be checking those out than actually writing.\n\nHere\'s what I\'ve got to say: Mimi Chakarova is doing really amazing work. She tells an incredible story--one that is well paced with a clear narrative. She\'s made this issue of human trafficking which I know something about (admittedly not much but something about) incredibly real to me.  (I think that\'s what good story tellers are supposed to do.)\n\nNow I want do three things: 1. watch her documentary, 2. meet Mimi and 3. learn more about human trafficking in Bulgaria.\n\nYep, I got all of this from a 15 minute NPR interview--which you really should listen to--and three short film projects on her website.','NPR and a Documentary: The Price of Sex\"','','inherit','open','open','','5136-revision','','','2011-06-28 20:32:49','2011-06-28 18:32:49','',5136,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/28/5136-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(5138,1,'2011-06-28 20:32:57','2011-06-28 18:32:57','Today I was finishing up grading a giant stack of things and listening to NPR. I love to listen to NPR Music at work because most of the concerts that you can stream are between half an hour and an hour. It\'s the perfect amount of time and they\'ve got a lot of great groups to pick from. I don\'t have to think much about it and I never get sick of it because when I\'m getting close, I just pick a new group to listen to.\r\n\r\nWell it turns out that NPR can read my mind because they recommended that I listen to a <a href=\"http://www.npr.org/2011/06/23/137372838/human-trafficking-the-terrible-price-of-sex\" target=\"_blank\">15 minute clip on a new documentary called \"The Price of Sex.\"</a> In the first 30 seconds of the clip I was convinced that the woman who made the film must be Bulgarian. I made this decision based solely on her name, Mimi Chakarova, and the content of the film--human trafficking in Eastern Europe after the fall of the Berlin Wall. A minute later my hunch was confirmed.\r\n\r\nShe\'s Bulgarian.\r\n\r\nAt this point, I was hooked.\r\n\r\nThe conversation/interview is great--heartbreaking but great. It really made me want to watch Mimi Chakarova\'s documentary. So I did the next best thing. I\'ve googled her and obsessively watched the <a href=\"http://priceofsex.org/content/previous-projects\" target=\"_blank\">three other projects she has posted on her website</a>.  Needless to say this has made it hard for me to actually write about her project, films and photos given the fact that I\'d rather be checking those out than actually writing.\r\n\r\nHere\'s what I\'ve got to say: Mimi Chakarova is doing really amazing work. She tells an incredible story--one that is well paced with a clear narrative. She\'s made this issue of human trafficking which I know something about (admittedly not much but something about) incredibly real to me.  (I think that\'s what good story tellers are supposed to do.)\r\n\r\nNow I want do three things: 1. watch her documentary, 2. meet Mimi and 3. learn more about human trafficking in Bulgaria.\r\n\r\nYep, I got all of this from a 15 minute NPR interview--which you really should listen to--and three short film projects on her website.','NPR and a Documentary: The Price of Sex\"','','inherit','open','open','','5136-revision-2','','','2011-06-28 20:32:57','2011-06-28 18:32:57','',5136,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/28/5136-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(5139,1,'2011-06-28 20:41:05','2011-06-28 18:41:05','Today I was at work finishing up grading a giant pile of exams, research papers and late homework all the while listening to NPR. I love to listen to NPR Music at work because most of the concerts that you can stream are between half an hour and an hour. It\'s the perfect amount of time and they\'ve got a lot of great groups to pick from. I don\'t have to think much about it and I never get sick of it because when I\'m getting close, I just pick a new group to listen to.\n\nI don\'t know how NPR recommends clips to listen to but I regularly like what they send my way.\n\nFor example, earlier today I was convinced that NPR and I are BFF. That\'s because they send my way a <a href=\"http://www.npr.org/2011/06/23/137372838/human-trafficking-the-terrible-price-of-sex\" target=\"_blank\">15 minute clip on a new documentary called \"The Price of Sex.\"</a> I thought: that sounds interesting.\n\nThen in the first 30 seconds of the clip I was convinced that the woman who made the film must be Bulgarian. Yes, I made this decision based solely on her name, Mimi Chakarova, and the content of the film--human trafficking in Eastern Europe after the fall of the Berlin Wall. A minute later my hunch was confirmed.\n\nShe\'s Bulgarian.\n\nAt this point, I was hooked.\n\nThe conversation/interview is great--heartbreaking but great. It really made me want to watch Mimi Chakarova\'s documentary. So tonight after work, I did the next best thing. I\'ve googled her and obsessively watched the <a href=\"http://priceofsex.org/content/previous-projects\" target=\"_blank\">three other projects she has posted on her website</a>.  Needless to say this has made it hard for me to actually write about her project, films and photos given the fact that I\'d rather be checking those out than actually writing.\n\nHere\'s what I\'ve got to say: Mimi Chakarova is doing really amazing work. She tells an incredible story--one that is well paced with a clear narrative. She\'s made this issue of human trafficking which I know something about (admittedly not much but something about) incredibly real to me.\n\nMaybe that shouldn\'t surprise me because I think that\'s what good story tellers are supposed to do and she\'s done it. She\'s taken this giant problem and make a single wedge of it real in the clips on her website. Mashing this up with the NPR interview and blog interview she did here, I find myself amazed by her.\n\nNow I want do three things: 1. watch her documentary, 2. meet Mimi and 3. learn more about human trafficking in Bulgaria.\n\nYep, I got all of this from a 15 minute NPR interview--which you really should listen to--and three short film projects on her website.','NPR and a Documentary: The Price of Sex\"','','inherit','open','open','','5136-revision-3','','','2011-06-28 20:41:05','2011-06-28 18:41:05','',5136,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/28/5136-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(5140,1,'2011-06-28 20:41:38','2011-06-28 18:41:38','Today I was at work finishing up grading a giant pile of exams, research papers and late homework all the while listening to NPR. I love to listen to NPR Music at work because most of the concerts that you can stream are between half an hour and an hour. It\'s the perfect amount of time and they\'ve got a lot of great groups to pick from. I don\'t have to think much about it and I never get sick of it because when I\'m getting close, I just pick a new group to listen to.\r\n\r\nI don\'t know how NPR recommends clips to listen to but I regularly like what they send my way.\r\n\r\nFor example, earlier today I was convinced that NPR and I are BFF. That\'s because they send my way a <a href=\"http://www.npr.org/2011/06/23/137372838/human-trafficking-the-terrible-price-of-sex\" target=\"_blank\">15 minute clip on a new documentary called \"The Price of Sex.\"</a> I thought: that sounds interesting.\r\n\r\nThen in the first 30 seconds of the clip I was convinced that the woman who made the film must be Bulgarian. Yes, I made this decision based solely on her name, Mimi Chakarova, and the content of the film--human trafficking in Eastern Europe after the fall of the Berlin Wall. A minute later my hunch was confirmed.\r\n\r\nShe\'s Bulgarian.\r\n\r\nAt this point, I was hooked.\r\n\r\nThe conversation/interview is great--heartbreaking but great. It really made me want to watch Mimi Chakarova\'s documentary. So tonight after work, I did the next best thing. I\'ve googled her and obsessively watched the <a href=\"http://priceofsex.org/content/previous-projects\" target=\"_blank\">three other projects she has posted on her website</a>.  Needless to say this has made it hard for me to actually write about her project, films and photos given the fact that I\'d rather be checking those out than actually writing.\r\n\r\nHere\'s what I\'ve got to say: Mimi Chakarova is doing really amazing work. She tells an incredible story--one that is well paced with a clear narrative. She\'s made this issue of human trafficking which I know something about (admittedly not much but something about) incredibly real to me.\r\n\r\nMaybe that shouldn\'t surprise me because I think that\'s what good story tellers are supposed to do and she\'s done it. She\'s taken this giant problem and make a single wedge of it real in the clips on her website. Mashing this up with the NPR interview and <a href=\"http://captivedaughters.org/mimi.htm\" target=\"_blank\">blog interview she did here</a>, I find myself amazed by her.\r\n\r\nNow I want do three things: 1. watch her documentary, 2. meet Mimi and 3. learn more about human trafficking in Bulgaria.\r\n\r\nYep, I got all of this from a 15 minute NPR interview--which you really should listen to--and three short film projects on her website.','NPR and a Documentary: The Price of Sex\"','','inherit','open','open','','5136-revision-4','','','2011-06-28 20:41:38','2011-06-28 18:41:38','',5136,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/28/5136-revision-4/',0,'revision','',0),(5141,1,'2011-06-28 20:43:49','2011-06-28 18:43:49','Today I was at work finishing up grading a giant pile of exams, research papers and late homework all the while listening to NPR. I love to listen to NPR Music at work because most of the concerts that you can stream are between half an hour and an hour. It\'s the perfect amount of time and they\'ve got a lot of great groups to pick from. I don\'t have to think much about it and I never get sick of it because when I\'m getting close, I just pick a new group to listen to.\n\nI don\'t know how NPR recommends clips to listen to but I regularly like what they send my way.\n\nFor example, earlier today I was convinced that NPR and I are BFF. That\'s because they send my way a <a href=\"http://www.npr.org/2011/06/23/137372838/human-trafficking-the-terrible-price-of-sex\" target=\"_blank\">15 minute clip on a new documentary called \"The Price of Sex.\"</a> I thought: that sounds interesting.\n\nThen in the first 30 seconds of the clip I was convinced that the woman who made the film must be Bulgarian. Yes, I made this decision based solely on her name, Mimi Chakarova, and the content of the film--human trafficking in Eastern Europe after the fall of the Berlin Wall. A minute later my hunch was confirmed.\n\nShe\'s Bulgarian.\n\nAt this point, I was hooked.<!--more-->\n\nThe conversation/interview is great--heartbreaking but great. It really made me want to watch Mimi Chakarova\'s documentary. So tonight after work, I did the next best thing. I\'ve googled her and obsessively watched the <a href=\"http://priceofsex.org/content/previous-projects\" target=\"_blank\">three other projects she has posted on her website</a>.  Needless to say this has made it hard for me to actually write about her project, films and photos given the fact that I\'d rather be checking those out than actually writing.\n\nHere\'s what I\'ve got to say: Mimi Chakarova is doing really amazing work. She tells an incredible story--one that is well paced with a clear narrative. She\'s made this issue of human trafficking which I know something about (admittedly not much but something about) incredibly real to me.\n\nMaybe that shouldn\'t surprise me because I think that\'s what good story tellers are supposed to do and she\'s done it. She\'s taken this giant problem and make a single wedge of it real in the clips on her website. Mashing this up with the NPR interview and <a href=\"http://captivedaughters.org/mimi.htm\" target=\"_blank\">blog interview she did here</a>, I find myself amazed by her.\n\nNow I want do three things: 1. watch her documentary, 2. meet Mimi and 3. learn more about human trafficking in Bulgaria.\n\nYep, I got all of this from a 15 minute NPR interview--which you really should listen to--and three short film projects on her website.','NPR and a Documentary: The Price of Sex\"','','inherit','open','open','','5136-autosave','','','2011-06-28 20:43:49','2011-06-28 18:43:49','',5136,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/28/5136-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(5142,1,'2011-06-29 12:11:58','2011-06-29 10:11:58','I\'ve been asked to give a 30 minutes interview with Bulgarian National Radio in honor of the 4th of July. Ha, ha! I love it. That\'s what happens when you\'re a foreigner. You get asked to do things simply because you\'re a foreigner and this foreigner status then crosses the slippery-slope into expert territory.\r\n\r\nThat\'s me: Fourth of July Expert. I mean I have a American passport. I must know a lot about the 4th of July.\r\n\r\nThe truth  is I am far from an expert on American History--I\'ve got a double major in English and Political Science so I am pretty comfortable with things like the American constitution and more generally speaking American Culture. So I figure that I\'ve got the basics down but I\'m going do a little research to do in preparation for this interview.\r\n\r\nMostly I don\'t want to come off like Sarah Palin and her Paul Revere gaff recently. For those of you living under a rock or somehow not in the know, Sarah Palin recently<a href=\"http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/richard-adams-blog/2011/jun/06/sarah-palin-paul-revere-british\" target=\"_blank\"> butchered the Paul Revere story</a>--shifting the focus to the right to bear arms. <em>Awesome</em>. Or not. Jon Stewart of the Daily Show also <a href=\"http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-june-6-2011/sarah-palin-s-folksy-word-salad\" target=\"_blank\">hit this one hard</a>. But really, how could he not?\r\n\r\nMaybe my goal: don\'t sound like Sarah Palin and don\'t screw up American history is too basic, but it seems like the perfect place to start for my first radio interview.\r\n\r\nI\'ve also been told that the interviewer is interested not only in the Fourth of July but also in my opinion and insight on the Bulgarian economy and politics. <em>Um</em>. Gulp. I guess that I should probably have one but I find these things incredibly hard to keep up with and most people that I know utter words like \"the crisis\" and shake their heads defeatedly. Some version of the same happens for politics in Bulgaria as well.  Maybe I need to find new friends.\r\n\r\nAnyhow, in preparation for this interview, what kinds of things do you think Bulgarians are most interested in when it comes to the Fourth of July?','4th of July Interview with Bulgarian National Radio','','publish','open','open','','4th-of-july-interview-with-bulgarian-national-radio','','','2011-06-29 12:11:58','2011-06-29 10:11:58','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=5142',0,'post','',9),(5143,1,'2011-06-29 06:53:02','2011-06-29 04:53:02','I\'ve been asked to give a 30 minutes interview with Radio Bulgaria in honor of the 4th of July. Ha, ha! I love it. That\'s what happens when you\'re a foreigner. You get asked to do things simply because you\'re a foreigner and this foreigner status then crosses the slippery-slope into expert territory.\n\nThe thing is I am far from an expert on American History--I\'ve got a double major in English and Political Science so I am pretty comfortable with things like the American constitution and more generally speaking American Culture. So I figure that I\'ve got the basics down but I\'m going do a little research to do in preparation for this interview.\n\nMostly I don\'t want to come off like Sarah Palin and her Paul Revere gaff recently. For those of you living under a rock or somehow not in the know, Sarah Palin recently<a href=\"http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/richard-adams-blog/2011/jun/06/sarah-palin-paul-revere-british\" target=\"_blank\"> butchered the Paul Revere story</a>--shifting the focus to the right to bear arms. <em>Awesome</em>. Or not. Jon Stewart of the Daily Show also <a href=\"http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-june-6-2011/sarah-palin-s-folksy-word-salad\" target=\"_blank\">hit this one hard</a>. But really, how could he not?\n\nMaybe my goal: don\'t sound like Sarah Palin and don\'t screw up American history is too basic, but it seems like the perfect place to start for my first radio interview.\n\nI\'ve also been told that the interviewer is interested not only in the Fourth of July but also in my opinion and insight on the Bulgarian economy and politics. <em>Um</em>. Gulp. I guess that I should probably have one but I find these things incredibly hard to keep up with and most people that I know utter words like \"the crisis\" and shake their heads defeatedly. Some version of the same happens for politics in Bulgaria as well.  Maybe I need to find new friends.\n\nAnyhow, in preparation for this interview, what kinds of things do you think Bulgarians are most interested in when it comes to the Fourth of July? History, culture,','4th of July Interview with Radio Bulgaria ','','inherit','open','open','','5142-revision','','','2011-06-29 06:53:02','2011-06-29 04:53:02','',5142,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/29/5142-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(5172,1,'2011-07-08 20:59:27','2011-07-08 18:59:27','It\'s official, I think my dAd loves me and so does my MoM. They picked me up at that Walla Walla airport yesterday at 9pm. My MoM wore her Bulgarian alphabet t-shirt so that I\'d know when one she was. My dAd brought his camera.\r\n\r\nI got home yesterday at 9pm after traveling for nearly 24 hours. My parents fed me some dinner and then I was off to bed. I woke up at 4:30 am convinced it was time to wake up but somehow I forced myself back to sleep. When I finally got up a 7am, I had a cup of coffee and went for a walk.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5175\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"In the backyard\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5175\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/07/08/i-think-my-dad-loves-me/img_8496/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5175 \" title=\"In the backyard\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/IMG_8496-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThen MoM and I went to the grocery store--Albertson\'s. I was overwhelmed, once again, by the size and the amount of <em>stuff</em> for sale.  At Kmart I bought some clear storage boxes determined to clean up/contain/corral the stuff in my room but I was too tired to deal with that after I came home from lunch at my brother N. and his fiancee K.\'s new house. For the record, my brother makes a killer ham and cheese sandwich. Thanks N.\r\n\r\nAfter lunch it was nap time. I told my MoM: just an hour. <!--more-->But at the hour mark I couldn\'t move from my bed--so she let me sleep for another hour. At the two hour and fifteen minute mark, I wrenched myself out of bed and climbed into my swimsuit. I hopped into the pool and then about 15 minutes later my MoM brought me a beer.\r\n\r\n<em>A beer in the pool</em>.\r\n\r\nMind you this breaks the no glass by the pool rule. Apparently when you turn 30 Mom trusts  you to drink a beer in the pool without breaking it. Turns out being 30 has a few perks.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5178\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Beer and wine by the pool\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5178\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/07/08/i-think-my-dad-loves-me/img_8492/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5178 \" title=\"Beer and wine by the pool\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/IMG_8492-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThe best part of the day?\r\n\r\nWhen my dAd fired up the grill to make grilled pizzas and my MoM steamed asparagus and snow peas. It\'s like <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/27/home-again-home-again/\" target=\"_blank\">they read my blog</a>. Only last night I forgot to eat my strawberry short cake birthday cake.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5179\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"My dAd making pizza\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5179\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/07/08/i-think-my-dad-loves-me/img_8488/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5179 \" title=\"My dAd making pizza\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/IMG_8488-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nWhat\'s on the menu for today? A walk with my dAd, some cleaning, a little exploring and then we\'re going to head over to N. and K.\'s new house for dinner. I\'m looking forward to the grilled hamburgers, tortilla chips and salsa, home made potato salad, spinach salad and local wine.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5180\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Grilled Pizzas!\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5180\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/07/08/i-think-my-dad-loves-me/img_8493/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5180 \" title=\"Grilled Pizzas \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/IMG_8493-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nYep, the first two days home are going to revolve around jet-lag and food. Not bad, not bad.\r\n\r\nMy life is <em>clearly</em> so hard.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5181\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Dinner: grilled and steamed!\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5181\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/07/08/i-think-my-dad-loves-me/img_8495/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5181 \" title=\"Dinner: grilled and steamed!\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/IMG_8495-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]','I think my dAd loves me','','publish','open','open','','i-think-my-dad-loves-me','','','2011-07-08 20:59:27','2011-07-08 18:59:27','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=5172',0,'post','',6),(5145,1,'2011-06-29 12:07:34','2011-06-29 10:07:34','I\'ve been asked to give a 30 minutes interview with Bulgarian National Radio in honor of the 4th of July. Ha, ha! I love it. That\'s what happens when you\'re a foreigner. You get asked to do things simply because you\'re a foreigner and this foreigner status then crosses the slippery-slope into expert territory.\n\nThat\'s me: Fourth of July Expert. I mean I have a American passport. I must know a lot about the 4th of July.\n\nThe truth  is I am far from an expert on American History--I\'ve got a double major in English and Political Science so I am pretty comfortable with things like the American constitution and more generally speaking American Culture. So I figure that I\'ve got the basics down but I\'m going do a little research to do in preparation for this interview.\n\nMostly I don\'t want to come off like Sarah Palin and her Paul Revere gaff recently. For those of you living under a rock or somehow not in the know, Sarah Palin recently<a href=\"http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/richard-adams-blog/2011/jun/06/sarah-palin-paul-revere-british\" target=\"_blank\"> butchered the Paul Revere story</a>--shifting the focus to the right to bear arms. <em>Awesome</em>. Or not. Jon Stewart of the Daily Show also <a href=\"http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-june-6-2011/sarah-palin-s-folksy-word-salad\" target=\"_blank\">hit this one hard</a>. But really, how could he not?\n\nMaybe my goal: don\'t sound like Sarah Palin and don\'t screw up American history is too basic, but it seems like the perfect place to start for my first radio interview.\n\nI\'ve also been told that the interviewer is interested not only in the Fourth of July but also in my opinion and insight on the Bulgarian economy and politics. <em>Um</em>. Gulp. I guess that I should probably have one but I find these things incredibly hard to keep up with and most people that I know utter words like \"the crisis\" and shake their heads defeatedly. Some version of the same happens for politics in Bulgaria as well.  Maybe I need to find new friends.\n\nAnyhow, in preparation for this interview, what kinds of things do you think Bulgarians are most interested in when it comes to the Fourth of July?','4th of July Interview with Bulgarian National Radio','','inherit','open','open','','5142-revision-2','','','2011-06-29 12:07:34','2011-06-29 10:07:34','',5142,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/29/5142-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(5146,1,'2011-06-29 12:13:03','2011-06-29 10:13:03','I\'ve been asked to give a 30 minutes interview with Bulgarian National Radio in honor of the 4th of July. Ha, ha! I love it. That\'s what happens when you\'re a foreigner. You get asked to do things simply because you\'re a foreigner and this foreigner status then crosses the slippery-slope into expert territory.\n\nThat\'s me: Fourth of July Expert. I mean I have a American passport. I must know a lot about the 4th of July.\n\nThe truth  is I am far from an expert on American History--I\'ve got a double major in English and Political Science so I am pretty comfortable with things like the American constitution and more generally speaking American Culture. So I figure that I\'ve got the basics down but I\'m going do a little research to do in preparation for this interview.\n\nMostly I don\'t want to come off like Sarah Palin and her Paul Revere gaff recently. For those of you living under a rock or somehow not in the know, Sarah Palin recently<a href=\"http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/richard-adams-blog/2011/jun/06/sarah-palin-paul-revere-british\" target=\"_blank\"> butchered the Paul Revere story</a>--shifting the focus to the right to bear arms. <em>Awesome</em>. Or not. Jon Stewart of the Daily Show also <a href=\"http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-june-6-2011/sarah-palin-s-folksy-word-salad\" target=\"_blank\">hit this one hard</a>. But really, how could he not?\n\nMaybe my goal: don\'t sound like Sarah Palin and don\'t screw up American history is too basic, but it seems like the perfect place to start for my first radio interview.\n\nI\'ve also been told that the interviewer is interested not only in the Fourth of July but also in my opinion and insight on the Bulgarian economy and politics. <em>Um</em>. Gulp. I guess that I should probably have one but I find these things incredibly hard to keep up with and most people that I know utter words like \"the crisis\" and shake their heads defeatedly. Some version of the same happens for politics in Bulgaria as well.  Maybe I need to find new friends.\n\nAnyhow, in preparation for this interview, what kinds of things do you think Bulgarians are most interested in when it comes to the Fourth of July?','4th of July Interview with Bulgarian National Radio','','inherit','open','open','','5142-autosave','','','2011-06-29 12:13:03','2011-06-29 10:13:03','',5142,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/29/5142-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(5147,1,'2011-07-02 08:18:54','2011-07-02 06:18:54','Let me start with the big news: I\'ve started a side-project. Well, side-blog if you will.\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://daybyeday.tumblr.com/\" target=\"_blank\">In Bulgarian</a>. Yep.\r\n\r\nA simple blog in Bulgarian. It\'s streamlined. No bells or whistles. Just me and the Bulgarian language.\r\n\r\nA friend of mine once told me that the language of your friendships with foreigners is cemented in your first few exchanges. After that if the language of your friendship is English it will always be English. It\'s incredibly hard to change once established. He was right of course. (There are some friends who are like that. Maddeningly correct. Even when you wish they weren\'t.)\r\n\r\nAnyhow two things came together recently that lead me to thinking more and more about Bulgarian. It\'s sort of becoming an obsession.\r\n\r\nThe first thing was this. I <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/21/hiking-in-the-rila-mountains/\" target=\"_blank\">went hiking with some Bulgarian friends </a>recently. On this trip a few people admitted to <a href=\"https://twitter.com/#!/CarolynEmigh\" target=\"_blank\">following me on twitter </a>and others I knew already were reading my blog. They asked me a lot of questions like: how many followers I had, what kind of traffic I had, where my readers were from (Bulgaria vs. the States). Then someone said: wow and your blog isn\'t even in Bulgarian.\r\n\r\nIt\'s true. <!--more-->My blog is not in Bulgarian. I\'m making my blog friendships in English.\r\n\r\nThe second thing was this. A few weeks ago I found this blog, <a href=\"http://the99percent.com/\" target=\"_blank\">the 99%</a>, and I subscribed to the RSS feed. Then two weeks ago, this article on bad habits appeared in my feed. Of course I was trying to procrastinate (is that a bad habit?!) so I decided that reading an article titled, <a href=\"http://the99percent.com/tips/7040/Fix-Bad-Habits-Insights-from-a-7-Year-Obsession\" target=\"_blank\">Fix Bad Habits: Insights from a 7-year Obsession</a>, was the perfect use of my time. Turns out it was. These lines caught my eye:\r\n<blockquote>If the first step required the most conscious control, then habituating that first step would cover most of the habit itself. This  means that learning a new skill or language doesn’t need to begin with  commitments to invest dozens of hours each week. Simply committing to  starting for five minutes every day conditions you to get used to  performing the habit.</blockquote>\r\nIt\'s pretty hard to refute this idea of conscious control and breaking the task down into manageable pieces in order to create a new habit (or to break an old habit).\r\n\r\nThese two moments--one in the woods and the other at my computer--came together and I realized it was time to start writing in Bulgarian. But I also realized that this blog isn\'t the place or space for that. You know because we\'ve already cemented our friendship in English!! (And it kind of annoys my MoM when she can\'t read my posts in Bulgarian.)\r\n\r\nSo I started a <a href=\"http://daybyeday.tumblr.com/\" target=\"_blank\">new blog</a>. It\'s not much to look at but it\'s all in Bulgarian. I have a hunch it\'s kind of questionable Bulgarian but so be it. Read it if you want. Comment if you want or in this case, if you <em>can</em>. For whatever reason, I decided to give tumblr a go only to learn that they don\'t have a built in comment function which lead me to disqus.com in order to make this happen and now I am not sure if one can actually comment.','Bulgarian bit by bit','','publish','open','open','','bulgarian-bit-by-bit','','','2011-07-02 08:18:54','2011-07-02 06:18:54','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=5147',0,'post','',3),(5148,1,'2011-07-01 07:25:00','2011-07-01 05:25:00','A friend of mine once told me that the language of your friendships with foreigners is cemented in your first few exchanges. After that if the language of your friendship is English it will always be English. It\'s incredibly hard to change once established. He was right of course. (There are some friends who are like that. Maddeningly correct. Even when you wish they weren\'t.)\n\nAnyhow two things came together recently that lead me to thinking more and more about Bulgarian. It\'s sort of becoming an obsession.\n\nThe first thing was this. I <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/21/hiking-in-the-rila-mountains/\" target=\"_blank\">went hiking with some Bulgarian friends </a>recently. On this trip a few people admitted to <a href=\"https://twitter.com/#!/CarolynEmigh\" target=\"_blank\">following me on twitter </a>and others I knew already were reading my blog. They asked me a lot of questions like: how many followers I had, what kind of traffic I had, where my readers were from (Bulgaria vs. the States). Then someone said: wow and your blog isn\'t even in Bulgarian.\n\nThe second thing was this. A few weeks ago I found this blog, 99%, and subscribed to the RSS feed. Then two weeks ago, this article on bad habits appeared in my feed. I, of course, was trying to procrastinate so I decided that reading an article titled, <a href=\"http://the99percent.com/tips/7040/Fix-Bad-Habits-Insights-from-a-7-Year-Obsession\" target=\"_blank\">Fix Bad Habits: Insights from a 7-year Obsession</a>, was the perfect use of my time. Turns out it was. These lines caught my eye:\n<blockquote>If the first step required the most conscious control, then habituating that first step would cover most of the habit itself. This  means that learning a new skill or language doesn’t need to begin with  commitments to invest dozens of hours each week. Simply committing to  starting for five minutes every day conditions you to get used to  performing the habit.</blockquote>\nIt\'s pretty hard to refute this idea of conscious control and breaking the task down into manageable pieces.\n\nThese two moments came together and I realized it was time to start writing in Bulgarian. But I also realized that this blog isn\'t the place or space for that. You know because we\'ve already cemented our friendship in English!! (And it kind of annoys my MoM when she can\'t read my posts in Bulgarian.)\n\nSo I started a <a href=\"http://daybyeday.tumblr.com/\" target=\"_blank\">new blog</a>. It\'s not much to look at but it\'s all in Bulgarian. I have a hunch it\'s kind of questionable Bulgarian but so be it. Read it if you want. Comment if you want.','Bulgarian bit by bit','','inherit','open','open','','5147-revision','','','2011-07-01 07:25:00','2011-07-01 05:25:00','',5147,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/07/01/5147-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(5149,1,'2011-07-01 18:05:06','2011-07-01 16:05:06','I finished my grades today. That means all I have to do is go to school on Monday and sign-out with a couple of administrators and I am on Summer Vacation!!\r\n\r\nSchool\'s out! School\'s out!!\r\n\r\nHip-hip-houray.\r\n\r\nAnd tomorrow we\'re celebrating the 4th of July with the Bulgarian American Chamber of Commerce and others. Oh and it gets even better--my favorite Bulgarian cover band Dirty Purchase is playing!!\r\n\r\nI don\'t have any food in my apartment so even after spending 10 hours at school, I am heading back to hang out with my friends who live on campus and help them eat what food they have left before they go home for the summer. It\'s a hard life.','Hip-hip-houray! ','','publish','open','open','','hip-hip-houray','','','2011-07-01 18:05:06','2011-07-01 16:05:06','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=5149',0,'post','',0),(5150,1,'2011-07-01 18:04:39','2011-07-01 16:04:39','I finished my grades today. That means all I have to do is go to school on Monday and sign-out with a couple of administrators and I am on Summer Vacation!!\n\nSchool\'s out! School\'s out!!\n\nHip-hip-houray.\n\nAnd tomorrow we\'re celebrating the 4th of July with the Bulgarian American Chamber of Commerce and others. Oh and it gets even better--my favorite Bulgarian cover band Dirty Purchase is playing!!\n\nI don\'t have any food in my apartment so even after spending 10 hours at school, I am heading back to hang out with my friends who live on campus and help them eat what food they have left before they go home for the summer. It\'s a hard life.','Hip-hip-houray! ','','inherit','open','open','','5149-revision','','','2011-07-01 18:04:39','2011-07-01 16:04:39','',5149,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/07/01/5149-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(5151,1,'2011-07-01 18:06:19','2011-07-01 16:06:19','I finished my grades today. That means all I have to do is go to school on Monday and sign-out with a couple of administrators and I am on Summer Vacation!!\n\nSchool\'s out! School\'s out!!\n\nHip-hip-houray.\n\nAnd tomorrow we\'re celebrating the 4th of July with the Bulgarian American Chamber of Commerce and others. Oh and it gets even better--my favorite Bulgarian cover band Dirty Purchase is playing!!\n\nI don\'t have any food in my apartment so even after spending 10 hours at school, I am heading back to hang out with my friends who live on campus and help them eat what food they have left before they go home for the summer. It\'s a hard life.','Hip-hip-houray! ','','inherit','open','open','','5149-autosave','','','2011-07-01 18:06:19','2011-07-01 16:06:19','',5149,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/07/01/5149-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(5152,1,'2011-07-02 08:03:36','2011-07-02 06:03:36','Let me start with the big news: I\'ve started a side-project. Well, side-blog if you will.\n\n<a href=\"http://daybyeday.tumblr.com/\" target=\"_blank\">In Bulgarian</a>. Yep.\n\nA simple blog in Bulgarian. It\'s streamlined. No bells or whistles. Just me and the Bulgarian language.\n\nA friend of mine once told me that the language of your friendships with foreigners is cemented in your first few exchanges. After that if the language of your friendship is English it will always be English. It\'s incredibly hard to change once established. He was right of course. (There are some friends who are like that. Maddeningly correct. Even when you wish they weren\'t.)\n\nAnyhow two things came together recently that lead me to thinking more and more about Bulgarian. It\'s sort of becoming an obsession.\n\nThe first thing was this. I <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/21/hiking-in-the-rila-mountains/\" target=\"_blank\">went hiking with some Bulgarian friends </a>recently. On this trip a few people admitted to <a href=\"https://twitter.com/#!/CarolynEmigh\" target=\"_blank\">following me on twitter </a>and others I knew already were reading my blog. They asked me a lot of questions like: how many followers I had, what kind of traffic I had, where my readers were from (Bulgaria vs. the States). Then someone said: wow and your blog isn\'t even in Bulgarian.\n\nIt\'s true. My blog is not in Bulgarian. I\'m making my blog friendships in English.\n\nThe second thing was this. A few weeks ago I found this blog, <a href=\"http://the99percent.com/\" target=\"_blank\">the 99%</a>, and I subscribed to the RSS feed. Then two weeks ago, this article on bad habits appeared in my feed. Of course I was trying to procrastinate (is that a bad habit?!) so I decided that reading an article titled, <a href=\"http://the99percent.com/tips/7040/Fix-Bad-Habits-Insights-from-a-7-Year-Obsession\" target=\"_blank\">Fix Bad Habits: Insights from a 7-year Obsession</a>, was the perfect use of my time. Turns out it was. These lines caught my eye:\n<blockquote>If the first step required the most conscious control, then habituating that first step would cover most of the habit itself. This  means that learning a new skill or language doesn’t need to begin with  commitments to invest dozens of hours each week. Simply committing to  starting for five minutes every day conditions you to get used to  performing the habit.</blockquote>\nIt\'s pretty hard to refute this idea of conscious control and breaking the task down into manageable pieces in order to create a new habit (or to break an old habit).\n\nThese two moments--one in the woods and the other at my computer--came together and I realized it was time to start writing in Bulgarian. But I also realized that this blog isn\'t the place or space for that. You know because we\'ve already cemented our friendship in English!! (And it kind of annoys my MoM when she can\'t read my posts in Bulgarian.)\n\nSo I started a <a href=\"http://daybyeday.tumblr.com/\" target=\"_blank\">new blog</a>. It\'s not much to look at but it\'s all in Bulgarian. I have a hunch it\'s kind of questionable Bulgarian but so be it. Read it if you want. Comment if you want or in this case, if you <em>can</em>. For whatever reason, I decided to give tumblr a go only to learn that they don\'t have a built in comment function which lead me to disqus.com in order to make this happen and now I am not sure if one can actually comment.','Bulgarian bit by bit','','inherit','open','open','','5147-revision-2','','','2011-07-02 08:03:36','2011-07-02 06:03:36','',5147,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/07/02/5147-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(5153,1,'2011-07-02 08:04:25','2011-07-02 06:04:25','Let me start with the big news: I\'ve started a side-project. Well, side-blog if you will.\n\n<a href=\"http://daybyeday.tumblr.com/\" target=\"_blank\">In Bulgarian</a>. Yep.\n\nA simple blog in Bulgarian. It\'s streamlined. No bells or whistles. Just me and the Bulgarian language.\n\nA friend of mine once told me that the language of your friendships with foreigners is cemented in your first few exchanges. After that if the language of your friendship is English it will always be English. It\'s incredibly hard to change once established. He was right of course. (There are some friends who are like that. Maddeningly correct. Even when you wish they weren\'t.)\n\nAnyhow two things came together recently that lead me to thinking more and more about Bulgarian. It\'s sort of becoming an obsession.\n\nThe first thing was this. I <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/21/hiking-in-the-rila-mountains/\" target=\"_blank\">went hiking with some Bulgarian friends </a>recently. On this trip a few people admitted to <a href=\"https://twitter.com/#!/CarolynEmigh\" target=\"_blank\">following me on twitter </a>and others I knew already were reading my blog. They asked me a lot of questions like: how many followers I had, what kind of traffic I had, where my readers were from (Bulgaria vs. the States). Then someone said: wow and your blog isn\'t even in Bulgarian.\n\nIt\'s true. My blog is not in Bulgarian. I\'m making my blog friendships in English.<!--more-->\n\nThe second thing was this. A few weeks ago I found this blog, <a href=\"http://the99percent.com/\" target=\"_blank\">the 99%</a>, and I subscribed to the RSS feed. Then two weeks ago, this article on bad habits appeared in my feed. Of course I was trying to procrastinate (is that a bad habit?!) so I decided that reading an article titled, <a href=\"http://the99percent.com/tips/7040/Fix-Bad-Habits-Insights-from-a-7-Year-Obsession\" target=\"_blank\">Fix Bad Habits: Insights from a 7-year Obsession</a>, was the perfect use of my time. Turns out it was. These lines caught my eye:\n<blockquote>If the first step required the most conscious control, then habituating that first step would cover most of the habit itself. This  means that learning a new skill or language doesn’t need to begin with  commitments to invest dozens of hours each week. Simply committing to  starting for five minutes every day conditions you to get used to  performing the habit.</blockquote>\nIt\'s pretty hard to refute this idea of conscious control and breaking the task down into manageable pieces in order to create a new habit (or to break an old habit).\n\nThese two moments--one in the woods and the other at my computer--came together and I realized it was time to start writing in Bulgarian. But I also realized that this blog isn\'t the place or space for that. You know because we\'ve already cemented our friendship in English!! (And it kind of annoys my MoM when she can\'t read my posts in Bulgarian.)\n\nSo I started a <a href=\"http://daybyeday.tumblr.com/\" target=\"_blank\">new blog</a>. It\'s not much to look at but it\'s all in Bulgarian. I have a hunch it\'s kind of questionable Bulgarian but so be it. Read it if you want. Comment if you want or in this case, if you <em>can</em>. For whatever reason, I decided to give tumblr a go only to learn that they don\'t have a built in comment function which lead me to disqus.com in order to make this happen and now I am not sure if one can actually comment.','Bulgarian bit by bit','','inherit','open','open','','5147-revision-3','','','2011-07-02 08:04:25','2011-07-02 06:04:25','',5147,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/07/02/5147-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(5154,1,'2011-07-02 08:20:01','2011-07-02 06:20:01','Let me start with the big news: I\'ve started a side-project. Well, side-blog if you will.\n\n<a href=\"http://daybyeday.tumblr.com/\" target=\"_blank\">In Bulgarian</a>. Yep.\n\nA simple blog in Bulgarian. It\'s streamlined. No bells or whistles. Just me and the Bulgarian language.\n\nA friend of mine once told me that the language of your friendships with foreigners is cemented in your first few exchanges. After that if the language of your friendship is English it will always be English. It\'s incredibly hard to change once established. He was right of course. (There are some friends who are like that. Maddeningly correct. Even when you wish they weren\'t.)\n\nAnyhow two things came together recently that lead me to thinking more and more about Bulgarian. It\'s sort of becoming an obsession.\n\nThe first thing was this. I <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/21/hiking-in-the-rila-mountains/\" target=\"_blank\">went hiking with some Bulgarian friends </a>recently. On this trip a few people admitted to <a href=\"https://twitter.com/#!/CarolynEmigh\" target=\"_blank\">following me on twitter </a>and others I knew already were reading my blog. They asked me a lot of questions like: how many followers I had, what kind of traffic I had, where my readers were from (Bulgaria vs. the States). Then someone said: wow and your blog isn\'t even in Bulgarian.\n\nIt\'s true. <!--more-->My blog is not in Bulgarian. I\'m making my blog friendships in English.\n\nThe second thing was this. A few weeks ago I found this blog, <a href=\"http://the99percent.com/\" target=\"_blank\">the 99%</a>, and I subscribed to the RSS feed. Then two weeks ago, this article on bad habits appeared in my feed. Of course I was trying to procrastinate (is that a bad habit?!) so I decided that reading an article titled, <a href=\"http://the99percent.com/tips/7040/Fix-Bad-Habits-Insights-from-a-7-Year-Obsession\" target=\"_blank\">Fix Bad Habits: Insights from a 7-year Obsession</a>, was the perfect use of my time. Turns out it was. These lines caught my eye:\n<blockquote>If the first step required the most conscious control, then habituating that first step would cover most of the habit itself. This  means that learning a new skill or language doesn’t need to begin with  commitments to invest dozens of hours each week. Simply committing to  starting for five minutes every day conditions you to get used to  performing the habit.</blockquote>\nIt\'s pretty hard to refute this idea of conscious control and breaking the task down into manageable pieces in order to create a new habit (or to break an old habit).\n\nThese two moments--one in the woods and the other at my computer--came together and I realized it was time to start writing in Bulgarian. But I also realized that this blog isn\'t the place or space for that. You know because we\'ve already cemented our friendship in English!! (And it kind of annoys my MoM when she can\'t read my posts in Bulgarian.)\n\nSo I started a <a href=\"http://daybyeday.tumblr.com/\" target=\"_blank\">new blog</a>. It\'s not much to look at but it\'s all in Bulgarian. I have a hunch it\'s kind of questionable Bulgarian but so be it. Read it if you want. Comment if you want or in this case, if you <em>can</em>. For whatever reason, I decided to give tumblr a go only to learn that they don\'t have a built in comment function which lead me to disqus.com in order to make this happen and now I am not sure if one can actually comment.','Bulgarian bit by bit','','inherit','open','open','','5147-autosave','','','2011-07-02 08:20:01','2011-07-02 06:20:01','',5147,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/07/02/5147-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(5155,1,'2011-07-03 20:06:41','2011-07-03 18:06:41','We celebrated the 4th of July a couple of days early, yesterday at school. The weather was cool but I still rocked my red and blue party dress. I think it\'s my patriotic duty to don a cute dress and sandals for this holiday. Only thing is, I had to top it off with a blazer. The sunglasses on my head? Unnecessary. That was clearly wishful thinking on my part.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5156\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Happy 4th of July!\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5156\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/07/03/happy-fourth-of-july/dsc02689/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5156 \" title=\"Happy 4th of July!\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/DSC02689-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThe party was great fun. I ate a giant hamburger. Drank some beer. Danced my heart out--here\'s to the cover band Dirty Purchase!!\r\n\r\nThere\'s something funny about celebrating the holiday a few days early and in Bulgaria--it feels a little surreal. This year I was surprised by an overwhelming sense of nostalgia when the fireworks were going off. So I did the only thing I could think of--sang patriotic songs from my childhood with a few fellow Americans including the Star Spangled Banner, You\'re A Grand Old Flag, My Country \'Tis of Thee and I\'m a Yankee Doodle Dandy.\r\n\r\nHappy (early) Independence Day!!','Happy Fourth of July! ','','publish','open','open','','happy-fourth-of-july','','','2011-07-03 20:06:41','2011-07-03 18:06:41','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=5155',0,'post','',0),(5156,1,'2011-07-03 19:24:10','2011-07-03 17:24:10','','Happy 4th of July!','Happy 4th of July!','inherit','open','open','','dsc02689','','','2011-07-03 19:24:10','2011-07-03 17:24:10','',5155,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/DSC02689.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(5157,1,'2011-07-03 20:01:39','2011-07-03 18:01:39','We celebrated the 4th of July a couple of days early, yesterday at school. The weather was cool but I still rocked my red and blue party dress. I think it\'s my patriotic duty to don a cute dress and sandals for this holiday. Only thing is, I had to top it off with a blazer. The sunglasses on my head? Unnecessary. That was clearly wishful thinking on my part.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_5156\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Happy 4th of July!\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5156\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5156\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5156 \" title=\"Happy 4th of July!\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/DSC02689-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nThe party was great fun. I ate a giant hamburger. Drank some beer. Danced my heart out--here\'s to the cover band Dirty Purchase!!\n\nThere\'s something funny about celebrating the holiday a few days early and in Bulgaria--it feels a little surreal. This year I was surprised by an overwhelming sense of nostalgia when the fireworks were going off. So I did the only thing I could think of--sang patriotic songs from my childhood with a few fellow Americans including the Star Spangled Banner, You\'re A Grand Old Flag, My Country \'Tis of Thee, I\'m a Yankee Doodle Dandy,\n\nHappy Independence Day!!','Happy Fourth of July! ','','inherit','open','open','','5155-revision','','','2011-07-03 20:01:39','2011-07-03 18:01:39','',5155,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/07/03/5155-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(5158,1,'2011-07-03 20:02:27','2011-07-03 18:02:27','We celebrated the 4th of July a couple of days early, yesterday at school. The weather was cool but I still rocked my red and blue party dress. I think it\'s my patriotic duty to don a cute dress and sandals for this holiday. Only thing is, I had to top it off with a blazer. The sunglasses on my head? Unnecessary. That was clearly wishful thinking on my part.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5156\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Happy 4th of July!\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5156\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5156\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5156 \" title=\"Happy 4th of July!\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/DSC02689-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThe party was great fun. I ate a giant hamburger. Drank some beer. Danced my heart out--here\'s to the cover band Dirty Purchase!!\r\n\r\nThere\'s something funny about celebrating the holiday a few days early and in Bulgaria--it feels a little surreal. This year I was surprised by an overwhelming sense of nostalgia when the fireworks were going off. So I did the only thing I could think of--sang patriotic songs from my childhood with a few fellow Americans including the Star Spangled Banner, You\'re A Grand Old Flag, My Country \'Tis of Thee and I\'m a Yankee Doodle Dandy.\r\n\r\nHappy (early) Independence Day!!','Happy Fourth of July! ','','inherit','open','open','','5155-revision-2','','','2011-07-03 20:02:27','2011-07-03 18:02:27','',5155,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/07/03/5155-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(5159,1,'2011-07-03 20:03:32','2011-07-03 18:03:32','We celebrated the 4th of July a couple of days early, yesterday at school. The weather was cool but I still rocked my red and blue party dress. I think it\'s my patriotic duty to don a cute dress and sandals for this holiday. Only thing is, I had to top it off with a blazer. The sunglasses on my head? Unnecessary. That was clearly wishful thinking on my part.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_5156\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Happy 4th of July!\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5156\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5156\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5156 \" title=\"Happy 4th of July!\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/DSC02689-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nThe party was great fun. I ate a giant hamburger. Drank some beer. Danced my heart out--here\'s to the cover band Dirty Purchase!!\n\nThere\'s something funny about celebrating the holiday a few days early and in Bulgaria--it feels a little surreal. This year I was surprised by an overwhelming sense of nostalgia when the fireworks were going off. So I did the only thing I could think of--sang patriotic songs from my childhood with a few fellow Americans including the Star Spangled Banner, You\'re A Grand Old Flag, My Country \'Tis of Thee and I\'m a Yankee Doodle Dandy.\n\nHappy (early) Independence Day!!','Happy Fourth of July! ','','inherit','open','open','','5155-revision-3','','','2011-07-03 20:03:32','2011-07-03 18:03:32','',5155,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/07/03/5155-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(5160,1,'2011-07-03 20:06:41','2011-07-03 18:06:41','We celebrated the 4th of July a couple of days early, yesterday at school. The weather was cool but I still rocked my red and blue party dress. I think it\'s my patriotic duty to don a cute dress and sandals for this holiday. Only thing is, I had to top it off with a blazer. The sunglasses on my head? Unnecessary. That was clearly wishful thinking on my part.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5156\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Happy 4th of July!\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5156\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5156\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5156 \" title=\"Happy 4th of July!\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/DSC02689-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThe party was great fun. I ate a giant hamburger. Drank some beer. Danced my heart out--here\'s to the cover band Dirty Purchase!!\r\n\r\nThere\'s something funny about celebrating the holiday a few days early and in Bulgaria--it feels a little surreal. This year I was surprised by an overwhelming sense of nostalgia when the fireworks were going off. So I did the only thing I could think of--sang patriotic songs from my childhood with a few fellow Americans including the Star Spangled Banner, You\'re A Grand Old Flag, My Country \'Tis of Thee and I\'m a Yankee Doodle Dandy.\r\n\r\nHappy (early) Independence Day!!','Happy Fourth of July! ','','inherit','open','open','','5155-revision-4','','','2011-07-03 20:06:41','2011-07-03 18:06:41','',5155,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/07/03/5155-revision-4/',0,'revision','',0),(5161,1,'2011-07-03 20:07:47','2011-07-03 18:07:47','We celebrated the 4th of July a couple of days early, yesterday at school. The weather was cool but I still rocked my red and blue party dress. I think it\'s my patriotic duty to don a cute dress and sandals for this holiday. Only thing is, I had to top it off with a blazer. The sunglasses on my head? Unnecessary. That was clearly wishful thinking on my part.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_5156\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Happy 4th of July!\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5156\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/07/03/happy-fourth-of-july/dsc02689/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5156 \" title=\"Happy 4th of July!\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/DSC02689-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nThe party was great fun. I ate a giant hamburger. Drank some beer. Danced my heart out--here\'s to the cover band Dirty Purchase!!\n\nThere\'s something funny about celebrating the holiday a few days early and in Bulgaria--it feels a little surreal. This year I was surprised by an overwhelming sense of nostalgia when the fireworks were going off. So I did the only thing I could think of--sang patriotic songs from my childhood with a few fellow Americans including the Star Spangled Banner, You\'re A Grand Old Flag, My Country \'Tis of Thee and I\'m a Yankee Doodle Dandy.\n\nHappy (early) Independence Day!!','Happy Fourth of July! ','','inherit','open','open','','5155-autosave','','','2011-07-03 20:07:47','2011-07-03 18:07:47','',5155,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/07/03/5155-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(5162,1,'2011-07-04 17:27:50','2011-07-04 15:27:50','So as promised, I\'ve been obsessing about Bulgarian this week. A couple of days ago, I announced that I\'d started a blog in Bulgarian. Since then I\'ve been thinking about it a lot. About what I want to post about. About spelling. About grammar. About comments that have been left for me. And,yes for the record, some of those comments were too difficult for me to understand and I had to use google to translate them for me.\r\n\r\nNow there are a couple of interesting things I\'ve noticed since starting this \"write in Bulgarian\" blog. One is that I have no sense of which words are capitalized or not. I think that this is due to the fact that I never think about Bulgarian being in capital and lower case letters because all Cyrillic looks like it\'s in capital letters to me. The other reason is because I am so happy to sound out what a word is and understand it that the capitol letters get lost on me. I also dislike the Cyrillic \"script\" where the \"T\" looks more like an \"m\" so I avoid it. <em>Right?!</em> That\'s an awesome solution.\r\n\r\nThe other thing I\'ve been struggling with is spelling. This is clearly because I am not a great speller in English but also because I can\'t reliably hear the differences between certain letters in Bulgarian. Mostly it\'s this letter which trips me up: ъ as in скъпo. The result of my uncertainty about leads me to pronouncing a word a few times with different emphasis to see if it sound better that way and then I do the same thing different vowels until I have not idea which spelling or pronunciation is correct and I\'m forced to look it up on google translate.\r\n\r\nThe last thing I really like to do which is apparently really annoying to Bulgarian readers is to use \"I\" way too much. Now this happens because in English a girl has got to use pronouns but in Bulgarian each verb conjugates different for 1-3person singular and plural. Yeah so all you really need is the verb to know who the who of the sentence is. This is a hard one for me to get used to but I am trying.\r\n\r\nNeedless to say, sometimes it\'s hard to put yourself out there but I am glad that I am mostly because I don\'t want people to think I am stupid so I am trying to listen to everyone\'s advice and apply it right away. Oh and I don\'t want to accidentally cement any bad habits/mistakes in Bulgarian because as I am sure you know it\'s much harder to get things right after you\'ve done it wrong a few times.\r\n\r\nThanks for all of the support!!','It\'s hard to put yourself out there sometimes ','','publish','open','open','','its-hard-to-put-yourself-out-there-sometimes','','','2011-07-04 17:27:50','2011-07-04 15:27:50','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=5162',0,'post','',7),(5163,1,'2011-07-04 17:27:31','2011-07-04 15:27:31','So as promised, I\'ve been obsessing about Bulgarian this week. A couple of days ago, I announced that I\'d started a blog in Bulgarian. Since then I\'ve been thinking about it a lot. About what I want to post about. About spelling. About grammar. About comments that have been left for me. And,yes for the record, some of those comments were too difficult for me to understand and I had to use google to translate them for me.\n\nNow there are a couple of interesting things I\'ve noticed since starting this \"write in Bulgarian\" blog. One is that I have no sense of which words are capitalized or not. I think that this is due to the fact that I never think about Bulgarian being in capital and lower case letters because all Cyrillic looks like it\'s in capital letters to me. The other reason is because I am so happy to sound out what a word is and understand it that the capitol letters get lost on me. I also dislike the Cyrillic \"script\" where the \"T\" looks more like an \"m\" so I avoid it. <em>Right?!</em> That\'s an awesome solution.\n\nThe other thing I\'ve been struggling with is spelling. This is clearly because I am not a great speller in English but also because I can\'t reliably hear the differences between certain letters in Bulgarian. Mostly it\'s this letter which trips me up: ъ as in скъпo. The result of my uncertainty about leads me to pronouncing a word a few times with different emphasis to see if it sound better that way and then I do the same thing different vowels until I have not idea which spelling or pronunciation is correct and I\'m forced to look it up on google translate.\n\nThe last thing I really like to do which is apparently really annoying to Bulgarian readers is to use \"I\" way too much. Now this happens because in English a girl has got to use pronouns but in Bulgarian each verb conjugates different for 1-3person singular and plural. Yeah so all you really need is the verb to know who the who of the sentence is. This is a hard one for me to get used to but I am trying.\n\nNeedless to say, sometimes it\'s hard to put yourself out there but I am glad that I am mostly because I don\'t want people to think I am stupid so I am trying to listen to everyone\'s advice and apply it right away. Oh and I don\'t want to accidentally cement any bad habits/mistakes in Bulgarian.t\'s much harder to get things right after you\'ve done it wrong a few times.\n\nThanks for all of the support!!','It\'s hard to put yourself out there sometimes ','','inherit','open','open','','5162-revision','','','2011-07-04 17:27:31','2011-07-04 15:27:31','',5162,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/07/04/5162-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(5164,1,'2011-07-05 08:28:46','2011-07-05 06:28:46','So as promised, I\'ve been obsessing about Bulgarian this week. A couple of days ago, I announced that I\'d started a blog in Bulgarian. Since then I\'ve been thinking about it a lot. About what I want to post about. About spelling. About grammar. About comments that have been left for me. And,yes for the record, some of those comments were too difficult for me to understand and I had to use google to translate them for me.\n\nNow there are a couple of interesting things I\'ve noticed since starting this \"write in Bulgarian\" blog. One is that I have no sense of which words are capitalized or not. I think that this is due to the fact that I never think about Bulgarian being in capital and lower case letters because all Cyrillic looks like it\'s in capital letters to me. The other reason is because I am so happy to sound out what a word is and understand it that the capitol letters get lost on me. I also dislike the Cyrillic \"script\" where the \"T\" looks more like an \"m\" so I avoid it. <em>Right?!</em> That\'s an awesome solution.\n\nThe other thing I\'ve been struggling with is spelling. This is clearly because I am not a great speller in English but also because I can\'t reliably hear the differences between certain letters in Bulgarian. Mostly it\'s this letter which trips me up: ъ as in скъпo. The result of my uncertainty about leads me to pronouncing a word a few times with different emphasis to see if it sound better that way and then I do the same thing different vowels until I have not idea which spelling or pronunciation is correct and I\'m forced to look it up on google translate.\n\nThe last thing I really like to do which is apparently really annoying to Bulgarian readers is to use \"I\" way too much. Now this happens because in English a girl has got to use pronouns but in Bulgarian each verb conjugates different for 1-3person singular and plural. Yeah so all you really need is the verb to know who the who of the sentence is. This is a hard one for me to get used to but I am trying.\n\nNeedless to say, sometimes it\'s hard to put yourself out there but I am glad that I am mostly because I don\'t want people to think I am stupid so I am trying to listen to everyone\'s advice and apply it right away. Oh and I don\'t want to accidentally cement any bad habits/mistakes in Bulgarian because as I am sure you know it\'s much harder to get things right after you\'ve done it wrong a few times.\n\nThanks for all of the support!!','It\'s hard to put yourself out there sometimes ','','inherit','open','open','','5162-autosave','','','2011-07-05 08:28:46','2011-07-05 06:28:46','',5162,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/07/04/5162-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(5166,1,'2011-07-05 09:41:53','2011-07-05 07:41:53','I am flying back to the States for three weeks tomorrow. I really don\'t know how it works but these days it seems like there is always one more thing to do. I seem incapable of getting ahead of my to-do list.\n\nFor example, more than three days ago I ran out dish soap while washing dishes. I was forced to stop half way through. Then for three days dish soap sat on the middle of my to-do list without ever getting crossed off. Meanwhile, dirty dishes were piling up. At one point, I wondered: does this mean I can just through my dirty dishes out? Answer: no. Finally I picked up dish soap and this morning I tackled my giant stack of dirty dishes. The pile is especially impressive considering the fact I haven\'t had any real food in my refrigerator more than a week.\n\nToday, I\'ve got to pack. I\'ve got to clean up my apartment. I\'ve got to touch bases with some friends. I\'ve got take out the garbage. I\'ve got to scrounge up my passport and some euro for the three hour layover I\'ve got in Paris. I\'ve got to download some books for my kindle and make sure that my ipod is charged. None of these things is hard in and of itself each one just takes time and attention.','Always one more thing to do','','inherit','open','open','','5165-revision','','','2011-07-05 09:41:53','2011-07-05 07:41:53','',5165,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/07/05/5165-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(5167,1,'2011-07-05 18:12:47','2011-07-05 16:12:47','I am flying back to the States for three weeks tomorrow. I really don\'t know how it works but these days it seems like there is always one more thing to do. I seem incapable of getting ahead of my to-do list.\n\nFor example, more than three days ago I ran out dish soap while washing dishes. I was forced to stop half way through. Then for three days dish soap sat on the middle of my to-do list without ever getting crossed off. Meanwhile, dirty dishes were piling up. At one point, I wondered: does this mean I can just throw my dirty dishes out? Answer: no. Finally I picked up dish soap and this morning I tackled my giant stack of dirty dishes. The pile is especially impressive considering the fact I haven\'t had any real food in my refrigerator more than a week.\n\nToday, I\'ve got to pack. I\'ve got to clean up my apartment. I\'ve got to touch bases with some friends. I\'ve got take out the garbage. I\'ve got to scrounge up my passport and some euro for the three hour layover I\'ve got in Paris. I\'ve got to download some books for my kindle and make sure that my ipod is charged. None of these things is hard in and of itself each one just takes time and attention.\n\nWish me luck!','Always one more thing to do','','inherit','open','open','','5165-autosave','','','2011-07-05 18:12:47','2011-07-05 16:12:47','',5165,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/07/05/5165-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(5168,1,'2011-07-06 23:14:28','2011-07-06 21:14:28','I don\'t swear very much, if ever on this blog, but holy shit, I just finished my third year in Bulgaria!\r\n\r\nI am sitting in the Seattle airport waiting for my flight to Walla Walla thinking about my last three years abroad and I\'ve got plenty of time to think considering the fact that my flight isn\'t until 8pm and it\'s only 1pm right now. Don\'t ask, don\'t ask. Walla Walla is about 5 hours by car from Walla Walla and flights didn\'t line up very well on this trip.\r\n\r\nBut back to the point of this post, it feels crazy and I can\'t believe that I get to write this sentence: I\'ve lived in Sofia for three years.\r\n\r\nYou know what else this means? I\'ve been blogging for three years about me, my life in Sofia and all of my various adventures. That also sort of doesn\'t seem possible but it\'s true. I wrote my first post <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2008/07/11/hello-world-2/\" target=\"_blank\">July 11, 2008 on winning a Fulbright</a>. Rereading that post reminds me of just how excited and terrified I was of moving to Bulgaria. Then there\'s the post about<a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2008/08/05/its-real-i-am-moving/\" target=\"_blank\"> the day I left DC for good</a>.\r\n\r\nGod. It makes me nervous and anxious to read those posts again <em>and</em> I know how the story goes.<!--more-->\r\n\r\nI really didn\'t know anything about the country. I had a vague idea of what I was going to do on my Fulbright. I had a general sense of life in post-communist Eastern Europe but I had no clue what I was getting myself into. Just to put this in perspective, <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2008/08/07/my-apartment/\" target=\"_blank\">I\'d never even lived on my own before</a>.  I\'d never spent any real time traveling. I didn\'t know the language or the alphabet and I packed up two suitcases and a carry-on and moved to Sofia.\r\n\r\nYep. These early posts sort of want to make me puke. Not in that they are poorly written or they are embarrassing to read again. No. These posts make my stomach flip-flop. They give me butterflies. Reading them makes my heart beat-faster. Now, I know that the story works out okay but it doesn\'t make rereading the posts any less intense.\r\n\r\nIt\'s just that after three years living and working in Sofia, it\'s become easier and easier to forget those earlier feelings about starting a new life abroad. Bulgaria is less scary. I know more of the language. I know my way around the city and I\'ve made it a point to explore the city.\r\n\r\nThis is, I think, the thing that\'s made the biggest difference in my life. Early on I made it a priority to find my favorite coffee shop, to eat in new-to-me restaurants or these days--just new restaurants, to keep an eye out for the coolest shops with the most unique and interesting things. This pursuit let me dig into the city, try new things and find out a lot about the city and myself in the process. The funny thing? More and more Bulgarians tell me that I know the city better than they do.\r\n\r\nI take this as a huge complement. It wasn\'t easy to get to know this city. Sofia is a maze of winding streets--often unlabeled in either Bulgarian or English. The sidewalks are a mess with uneven cobble stones and cars regularly parking <em>on</em> them rather than next to them. And more often than not, you can\'t judge a book by it\'s cover. Some places look great but have horrible service. Other places seem shabby but have great food and even better prices. There are gems in this city--you just have to be willing to look for them.\r\n\r\nI wrote a couple of years ago that I am in love with this city even though it\'s not an easy city to love. It\'s still true but like all romances it has had its ups and downs.  Over the course of three years, I\'ve seen the good, the bad and the ugly but I am still here. I am still sticking it out. Moreover, I\'ve committed myself to a fourth year. While I am not convinced that the city loves me as much as I love it, I am here and I am trying to make it work.\r\n\r\nIn rereading what I\'ve written, it\'s funny the way fear and uneasiness can turn into longing and nostalgia so quickly. It\'s also incredible the way time can pass so quickly. Three years ago, I couldn\'t imagine what life in Sofia would be like and now three years later, I can\'t imagine what my life would look like without Sofia.','I just finished three years in Bulgaria','','publish','open','open','','i-just-finished-three-years-in-bulgaria','','','2011-07-06 23:14:28','2011-07-06 21:14:28','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=5168',0,'post','',11),(5169,1,'2011-07-05 09:42:51','2011-07-05 07:42:51','I am flying back to the States for three weeks tomorrow. I really don\'t know how it works but these days it seems like there is always one more thing to do. I seem incapable of getting ahead of my to-do list.\r\n\r\nFor example, more than three days ago I ran out dish soap while washing dishes. I was forced to stop half way through. Then for three days dish soap sat on the middle of my to-do list without ever getting crossed off. Meanwhile, dirty dishes were piling up. At one point, I wondered: does this mean I can just through my dirty dishes out? Answer: no. Finally I picked up dish soap and this morning I tackled my giant stack of dirty dishes. The pile is especially impressive considering the fact I haven\'t had any real food in my refrigerator more than a week.\r\n\r\nToday, I\'ve got to pack. I\'ve got to clean up my apartment. I\'ve got to touch bases with some friends. I\'ve got take out the garbage. I\'ve got to scrounge up my passport and some euro for the three hour layover I\'ve got in Paris. I\'ve got to download some books for my kindle and make sure that my ipod is charged. None of these things is hard in and of itself each one just takes time and attention.\r\n\r\nWish me luck!','Always one more thing to do','','inherit','open','open','','5165-revision-2','','','2011-07-05 09:42:51','2011-07-05 07:42:51','',5165,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/07/05/5165-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(5170,1,'2011-07-05 18:41:30','2011-07-05 16:41:30','I don\'t swear very much, if ever on this blog, but holy shit, I just finished my third year in Bulgaria!\n\nIt feels crazy and I can\'t believe that I get to write this sentence: I\'ve lived in Sofia for three years.\n\nYou know what else this means? I\'ve been blogging for three years about me, my life in Sofia and all of my various adventures. That sort of doesn\'t seem possible but it\'s true. I wrote my first post <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2008/07/11/hello-world-2/\" target=\"_blank\">July 11, 2008 on winning a Fulbright</a>. Rereading that post reminds me of just how excited and terrified I was of moving to Bulgaria. Then there\'s the post about<a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2008/08/05/its-real-i-am-moving/\" target=\"_blank\"> the day I left DC for good</a>.\n\nGod. It makes me nervous and anxious to read those posts again <em>and</em> I know how the story goes.\n\nI really didn\'t know anything about the country. I had a vague idea of what I was going to do on my Fulbright. I had a general sense of life in post-communist Eastern Europe but I had no clue what I was getting myself into. Just to put this in perspective, <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2008/08/07/my-apartment/\" target=\"_blank\">I\'d never even lived on my own before</a>.  I\'d never spent any real time traveling. I didn\'t know the language or the alphabet and I packed up two suitcases and a carry-on and moved to Sofia.\n\nYep. These early posts sort of want to make me puke. Not in that they are poorly written or they are embarrassing to read again. No. These posts make my stomach flip-flop. They give me butterflies. Reading them makes my heart beat-faster.\n\nNow','I just finished three years in Bulgaria','','inherit','open','open','','5168-revision','','','2011-07-05 18:41:30','2011-07-05 16:41:30','',5168,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/07/05/5168-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(5171,1,'2011-07-06 23:13:57','2011-07-06 21:13:57','I don\'t swear very much, if ever on this blog, but holy shit, I just finished my third year in Bulgaria!\n\nI am sitting in the Seattle airport waiting for my flight to Walla Walla thinking about my last three years abroad and I\'ve got plenty of time to think considering the fact that my flight isn\'t until 8pm and it\'s only 1pm right now. Don\'t ask, don\'t ask. Walla Walla is about 5 hours by car from Walla Walla and flights didn\'t line up very well on this trip.\n\nBut back to the point of this post, it feels crazy and I can\'t believe that I get to write this sentence: I\'ve lived in Sofia for three years.\n\nYou know what else this means? I\'ve been blogging for three years about me, my life in Sofia and all of my various adventures. That also sort of doesn\'t seem possible but it\'s true. I wrote my first post <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2008/07/11/hello-world-2/\" target=\"_blank\">July 11, 2008 on winning a Fulbright</a>. Rereading that post reminds me of just how excited and terrified I was of moving to Bulgaria. Then there\'s the post about<a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2008/08/05/its-real-i-am-moving/\" target=\"_blank\"> the day I left DC for good</a>.\n\nGod. It makes me nervous and anxious to read those posts again <em>and</em> I know how the story goes.\n\nI really didn\'t know anything about the country. I had a vague idea of what I was going to do on my Fulbright. I had a general sense of life in post-communist Eastern Europe but I had no clue what I was getting myself into. Just to put this in perspective, <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2008/08/07/my-apartment/\" target=\"_blank\">I\'d never even lived on my own before</a>.  I\'d never spent any real time traveling. I didn\'t know the language or the alphabet and I packed up two suitcases and a carry-on and moved to Sofia.\n\nYep. These early posts sort of want to make me puke. Not in that they are poorly written or they are embarrassing to read again. No. These posts make my stomach flip-flop. They give me butterflies. Reading them makes my heart beat-faster. Now, I know that the story works out okay but it doesn\'t make rereading the posts any less intense.\n\nIt\'s just that after three years living and working in Sofia, it\'s become easier and easier to forget those earlier feelings about starting a new life abroad. Bulgaria is less scary. I know more of the language. I know my way around the city and I\'ve made it a point to explore the city.\n\nThis is, I think, the thing that\'s made the biggest difference in my life. Early on I made it a priority to find my favorite coffee shop, to eat in new-to-me restaurants or these days--just new restaurants, to keep an eye out for the coolest shops with the most unique and interesting things. This pursuit let me dig into the city, try new things and find out a lot about the city and myself in the process. The funny thing? More and more Bulgarians tell me that I know the city better than they do.\n\nI take this as a huge complement. It wasn\'t easy to get to know this city. Sofia is a maze of winding streets--often unlabeled in either Bulgarian or English. The sidewalks are a mess with uneven cobble stones and cars regularly parking <em>on</em> them rather than next to them. And more often than not, you can\'t judge a book by it\'s cover. Some places look great but have horrible service. Other places seem shabby but have great food and even better prices. There are gems in this city--you just have to be willing to look for them.\n\nI wrote a couple of years ago that I am in love with this city even though it\'s not an easy city to love. It\'s still true but like all romances it has had its ups and downs.  Over the course of three years, I\'ve seen the good, the bad and the ugly but I am still here. I am still sticking it out. Moreover, I\'ve committed myself to a fourth year. While I am not convinced that the city loves me as much as I love it, I am here and I am trying to make it work.\n\nIn rereading what I\'ve written, it\'s funny the way fear and uneasiness can turn into longing and nostalgia so quickly. It\'s also incredible the way time can pass so quickly. Three years ago, I couldn\'t imagine what life in Sofia would be like and now three years later, I can\'t imagine what my life would look like without Sofia.','I just finished three years in Bulgaria','','inherit','open','open','','5168-revision-2','','','2011-07-06 23:13:57','2011-07-06 21:13:57','',5168,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/07/06/5168-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(5173,1,'2011-07-08 17:09:40','2011-07-08 15:09:40','It\'s official, I think my dAd loves me and so does my MoM. They picked me up at that Walla Walla airport yesterday at 9pm. My MoM wore her Bulgarian alphabet t-shirt so that I\'d know when one she was. My dAd brought his camera.\n\nI got home yesterday at 9pm after traveling for nearly 24 hours. My parents fed me some dinner and then I was off to bed. I woke up at 4:30 am convinced it was time to wake up but somehow I forced myself back to sleep. When I finally got up a 7am, I had a cup of coffee and went for a walk.\n\nThen MoM and I went to the grocery store--Albertson\'s. I was overwhelmed, once again, by the size and the amount of <em>stuff</em> for sale.  At Kmart I bought some clear storage boxes determined to clean up/contain/corral the stuff in my room but I was too tired to deal with that after I came home from lunch at my brother N. and his financee K.\'s new house. For the record, my brother makes a killer ham and cheese sandwich. Thanks N.\n\nAfter lunch it was nap time. I told my MoM: just an hour. But at the hour mark I couldn\'t move from my bed--so she let me sleep for another hour. At the two hour and fifiteen minute','I think my dAd loves me','','inherit','open','open','','5172-revision','','','2011-07-08 17:09:40','2011-07-08 15:09:40','',5172,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/07/08/5172-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(5174,1,'2011-07-08 18:29:27','2011-07-08 16:29:27','It\'s official, I think my dAd loves me and so does my MoM. They picked me up at that Walla Walla airport yesterday at 9pm. My MoM wore her Bulgarian alphabet t-shirt so that I\'d know when one she was. My dAd brought his camera.\n\nI got home yesterday at 9pm after traveling for nearly 24 hours. My parents fed me some dinner and then I was off to bed. I woke up at 4:30 am convinced it was time to wake up but somehow I forced myself back to sleep. When I finally got up a 7am, I had a cup of coffee and went for a walk.\n\nThen MoM and I went to the grocery store--Albertson\'s. I was overwhelmed, once again, by the size and the amount of <em>stuff</em> for sale.  At Kmart I bought some clear storage boxes determined to clean up/contain/corral the stuff in my room but I was too tired to deal with that after I came home from lunch at my brother N. and his fiancee K.\'s new house. For the record, my brother makes a killer ham and cheese sandwich. Thanks N.\n\nAfter lunch it was nap time. I told my MoM: just an hour. But at the hour mark I couldn\'t move from my bed--so she let me sleep for another hour. At the two hour and fifteen minute mark, I wrenched myself out of bed and climbed into my swimsuit. I hopped into the pool and then about 15 minutes later my MoM brought me a beer. A beer in the pool. Mind you this breaks the no glass by the pool rule. Apparently when you turn 30 Mom trusts  you to drink a beer in the pool without breaking it.\n\nThe best part of the day?\n\nWhen my dAd fired up the grill to make grilled pizzas and my MoM steamed asparagus and snow peas. It\'s like <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/27/home-again-home-again/\" target=\"_blank\">they read my blog</a>. Only last night I forgot to eat my strawberry short cake birthday cake.\n\nWhat\'s on the menu for today? A walk with my dAd, some cleaning, a little exploring and then we\'re going to head over to N. and K.\'s new house for dinner. I\'m looking forward to the grilled hamburgers, tortilla chips and salsa, home made potato salad, spinach salad and local wine.\n\nYep, the first two days home are going to revolve around jet-lag and food. Not bad, not bad.','I think my dAd loves me','','inherit','open','open','','5172-revision-2','','','2011-07-08 18:29:27','2011-07-08 16:29:27','',5172,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/07/08/5172-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(5175,1,'2011-07-08 18:47:08','2011-07-08 16:47:08','','In the backyard','In the backyard','inherit','open','open','','img_8496','','','2011-07-08 18:47:08','2011-07-08 16:47:08','',5172,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/IMG_8496.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(5176,1,'2011-07-08 18:47:51','2011-07-08 16:47:51','It\'s official, I think my dAd loves me and so does my MoM. They picked me up at that Walla Walla airport yesterday at 9pm. My MoM wore her Bulgarian alphabet t-shirt so that I\'d know when one she was. My dAd brought his camera.\n\nI got home yesterday at 9pm after traveling for nearly 24 hours. My parents fed me some dinner and then I was off to bed. I woke up at 4:30 am convinced it was time to wake up but somehow I forced myself back to sleep. When I finally got up a 7am, I had a cup of coffee and went for a walk.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_5175\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"1024\" caption=\"In the backyard\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5175\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5175\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5175\" title=\"In the backyard\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/IMG_8496-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nThen MoM and I went to the grocery store--Albertson\'s. I was overwhelmed, once again, by the size and the amount of <em>stuff</em> for sale.  At Kmart I bought some clear storage boxes determined to clean up/contain/corral the stuff in my room but I was too tired to deal with that after I came home from lunch at my brother N. and his fiancee K.\'s new house. For the record, my brother makes a killer ham and cheese sandwich. Thanks N.\n\nAfter lunch it was nap time. I told my MoM: just an hour. But at the hour mark I couldn\'t move from my bed--so she let me sleep for another hour. At the two hour and fifteen minute mark, I wrenched myself out of bed and climbed into my swimsuit. I hopped into the pool and then about 15 minutes later my MoM brought me a beer. A beer in the pool. Mind you this breaks the no glass by the pool rule. Apparently when you turn 30 Mom trusts  you to drink a beer in the pool without breaking it.\n\nThe best part of the day?\n\nWhen my dAd fired up the grill to make grilled pizzas and my MoM steamed asparagus and snow peas. It\'s like <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/27/home-again-home-again/\" target=\"_blank\">they read my blog</a>. Only last night I forgot to eat my strawberry short cake birthday cake.\n\nWhat\'s on the menu for today? A walk with my dAd, some cleaning, a little exploring and then we\'re going to head over to N. and K.\'s new house for dinner. I\'m looking forward to the grilled hamburgers, tortilla chips and salsa, home made potato salad, spinach salad and local wine.\n\nYep, the first two days home are going to revolve around jet-lag and food. Not bad, not bad.','I think my dAd loves me','','inherit','open','open','','5172-revision-3','','','2011-07-08 18:47:51','2011-07-08 16:47:51','',5172,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/07/08/5172-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(5178,1,'2011-07-08 20:45:29','2011-07-08 18:45:29','','Beer and wine by the pool','Beer and wine by the pool','inherit','open','open','','img_8492','','','2011-07-08 20:45:29','2011-07-08 18:45:29','',5172,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/IMG_8492.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(5177,1,'2011-07-08 18:48:32','2011-07-08 16:48:32','It\'s official, I think my dAd loves me and so does my MoM. They picked me up at that Walla Walla airport yesterday at 9pm. My MoM wore her Bulgarian alphabet t-shirt so that I\'d know when one she was. My dAd brought his camera.\r\n\r\nI got home yesterday at 9pm after traveling for nearly 24 hours. My parents fed me some dinner and then I was off to bed. I woke up at 4:30 am convinced it was time to wake up but somehow I forced myself back to sleep. When I finally got up a 7am, I had a cup of coffee and went for a walk.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5175\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"In the backyard\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-5175\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5175\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-5175 \" title=\"In the backyard\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/IMG_8496-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThen MoM and I went to the grocery store--Albertson\'s. I was overwhelmed, once again, by the size and the amount of <em>stuff</em> for sale.  At Kmart I bought some clear storage boxes determined to clean up/contain/corral the stuff in my room but I was too tired to deal with that after I came home from lunch at my brother N. and his fiancee K.\'s new house. For the record, my brother makes a killer ham and cheese sandwich. Thanks N.\r\n\r\nAfter lunch it was nap time. I told my MoM: just an hour. But at the hour mark I couldn\'t move from my bed--so she let me sleep for another hour. At the two hour and fifteen minute mark, I wrenched myself out of bed and climbed into my swimsuit. I hopped into the pool and then about 15 minutes later my MoM brought me a beer. A beer in the pool. Mind you this breaks the no glass by the pool rule. Apparently when you turn 30 Mom trusts  you to drink a beer in the pool without breaking it.\r\n\r\nThe best part of the day?\r\n\r\nWhen my dAd fired up the grill to make grilled pizzas and my MoM steamed asparagus and snow peas. It\'s like <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/06/27/home-again-home-again/\" target=\"_blank\">they read my blog</a>. Only last night I forgot to eat my strawberry short cake birthday cake.\r\n\r\nWhat\'s on the menu for today? A walk with my dAd, some cleaning, a little exploring and then we\'re going to head over to N. and K.\'s new house for dinner. I\'m looking forward to the grilled hamburgers, tortilla chips and salsa, home made potato salad, spinach salad and local wine.\r\n\r\nYep, the first two days home are going to revolve around jet-lag and food. Not bad, not bad.','I think my dAd loves me','','inherit','open','open','','5172-revision-4','','','2011-07-08 18:48:32','2011-07-08 16:48:32','',5172,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/07/08/5172-revision-4/',0,'revision','',0),(5179,1,'2011-07-08 20:48:54','2011-07-08 18:48:54','','My dAd making pizza','My dAd making pizza','inherit','open','open','','img_8488','','','2011-07-08 20:48:54','2011-07-08 18:48:54','',5172,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/IMG_8488.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(5180,1,'2011-07-08 20:52:05','2011-07-08 18:52:05','','Grilled Pizzas ','Grilled Pizzas!','inherit','open','open','','img_8493','','','2011-07-08 20:52:05','2011-07-08 18:52:05','',5172,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/IMG_8493.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(5181,1,'2011-07-08 20:54:38','2011-07-08 18:54:38','','Dinner: grilled and steamed!','Dinner: grilled and steamed!','inherit','open','open','','img_8495','','','2011-07-08 20:54:38','2011-07-08 18:54:38','',5172,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/IMG_8495.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),