(7381,1,'2012-12-05 06:38:42','2012-12-05 04:38:42','We had our first snow storm yesterday afternoon. Ug. Snow in early December. No thanks. I\'m not sure why I can\'t be in charge of these things--but I\'m not. Anyhow, the snow fall was beautiful but getting around in the snow less so. This morning the air was cold and crisp and the sidewalks were covered in ice. I took these photos this morning and now I guess winter is officially here. At least this means, coffee tastes that much better on dark weekday mornings, I can cozy up in sweaters<em> and</em> I can throw snowballs!! <a title=\"snow at ACS by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8244434553/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8200/8244434553_38e78646f5_z.jpg\" alt=\"snow at ACS\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a> <a title=\"snow and sunrise by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8244432437/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8067/8244432437_6b9f1e3107_z.jpg\" alt=\"snow and sunrise\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a> <a title=\"snowy day at school by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8245498286/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8486/8245498286_acd6db7efd_z.jpg\" alt=\"snowy day at school\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a> <a title=\"ACS in the snow by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8245497014/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8204/8245497014_3ca70c86c1_z.jpg\" alt=\"ACS in the snow\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>','The first snow of the season and campus','','inherit','open','open','','7377-autosave','','','2012-12-05 06:38:42','2012-12-05 04:38:42','',7377,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2012/12/04/7377-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(7382,1,'2012-12-05 07:27:24','2012-12-05 05:27:24','This is a truth widely accepted among foreigners living in Sofia: Bulgarians are bad at standing in lines.\r\n\r\nMostly they like to cluster and clump up. Places this happens:\r\n<ul>\r\n	<li>Coffee shops.</li>\r\n	<li>Sofia Airport.</li>\r\n	<li>The post office.</li>\r\n	<li>At the movie theater.</li>\r\n	<li>The mall.</li>\r\n	<li>Mtel anytime, on any day, at any one of their 100+ shops trying to pay your bill.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\nYou name it, <em>clumping</em>.\r\n\r\nBasically there\'s a clear group of people waiting and no clear order to the waiting. This encourages cutting and grumbling and some how I always end up at the end of the \"line.\"  Often even when more people arrive, I still find myself at the end of the \"line\" because they have somehow merged into the middle.\r\n\r\nBulgarians stand in line like they drive.<!--more-->\r\n\r\nAnyhow, I\'ve given up fighting this. When I was younger my MoM told told me to pick my battles and this is clearly not a fight I\'m ever going to win.\r\n\r\nI\'ve given up being angry about it. I\'m resigned to the fact that I\'ll be the tall blond at the end of the line waiting for her turn. I know I\'ll eventually get to the front and that\'s enough for me. I just don\'t know how long it will take.\r\n\r\nTruth be told these days when the barista at Onda skips over the 5 students in front of me to ask me for my order I <em>always</em> give it to her.\r\n\r\nI no longer feel badly about this. Although I probably should.\r\n\r\nAt times like this, a part of me wonders how many people there actually are in this city and how many of them are standing in line at any single time. Because really, the amount of time I\'ve spent over the last four years in Bulgaria standing in line verges on absurd.\r\n\r\nSo I take the coffee and run.\r\n\r\nNo wonder Bulgarians have given up the line in favor of the clump. There is something semi-hopeful about the line if you\'re willing to be wily.\r\n\r\nFor the rest of us, a line gives us plenty of time to think.\r\n\r\nYou might ask yourself, about what?\r\n\r\nWell the Awl may sum it up best in this post titled: <a href=\"http://www.theawl.com/2012/12/sad-places\" target=\"_blank\">The Worst Places To Wait On Line In Order Of How Much Time They Allow You To Imagine The Sad, Everyday Lives Of The People In Front Of You Until You Eventually Confront The Depressing Reality Of Your Own Existence And The Crushing Burden Of Being For All Of Us—A Pain Which Only Ends With Death, But Never Soon Enough</a>. Aptly part of the url for this post is simply: sad places.\r\n\r\nJust for the record, these places are definitely less sad when you have your coffee in hand and are no longer in line.','Bulgarians are bad at standing in lines ','','publish','open','open','','bulgarians-are-bad-at-standing-in-lines','','','2012-12-05 07:27:24','2012-12-05 05:27:24','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7382',0,'post','',10),(7383,1,'2012-12-05 07:14:09','2012-12-05 05:14:09','This is a truth widely accepted among foreigners living in Sofia. Bulgarians are bad at standing in lines.\n\nMostly they like to clump up. Coffee shops. Sofia Airport. The post office. At the movie theater. Shops. Mtel anytime, on any day, at any one of their 100+ shops trying to pay your bill. You name it, clumping.\n\nBasically there\'s a clear group of people waiting and no clear order to the waiting. This encourages cutting and grumbling and some how I always end up at the end of the \"line.\"  Often even when more people arrive, I still find myself at the end of the \"line\" because they have somehow merged into the middle.\n\nBulgarians stand in line like they drive.\n\nAnyhow, I\'ve given up fighting this. When I was younger my MoM told told me to pick my battles and this is clearly not a fight I\'m ever going to win.\n\nI\'ve given up being angry about it. I\'m resigned to the fact that I\'ll be the tall blond at the end of the line waiting for her turn. I know I\'ll eventually get to the front and that\'s enough for me. I just don\'t know how long it will take.\n\nA part of me wonders how many people there actually are in this city and how many of them are standing in line at any single time. Because really, the amount of time I\'ve spent over the last four years in Bulgaria standing in line verges on absurd. No wonder Bulgarians have given up the line in favor of the clump. There is something semi-hopeful about the line if you\'re willing to be wily.\n\nFor the rest of us, a line gives us plenty of time to think.\n\n&nbsp;','Bulgarians are bad at standing in lines ','','inherit','open','open','','7382-revision','','','2012-12-05 07:14:09','2012-12-05 05:14:09','',7382,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2012/12/05/7382-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7384,1,'2012-12-05 07:17:19','2012-12-05 05:17:19','This is a truth widely accepted among foreigners living in Sofia. Bulgarians are bad at standing in lines.\n\nMostly they like to clump up. Coffee shops. Sofia Airport. The post office. At the movie theater. Shops. Mtel anytime, on any day, at any one of their 100+ shops trying to pay your bill. You name it, clumping.\n\nBasically there\'s a clear group of people waiting and no clear order to the waiting. This encourages cutting and grumbling and some how I always end up at the end of the \"line.\"  Often even when more people arrive, I still find myself at the end of the \"line\" because they have somehow merged into the middle.\n\nBulgarians stand in line like they drive.<!--more-->\n\nAnyhow, I\'ve given up fighting this. When I was younger my MoM told told me to pick my battles and this is clearly not a fight I\'m ever going to win.\n\nI\'ve given up being angry about it. I\'m resigned to the fact that I\'ll be the tall blond at the end of the line waiting for her turn. I know I\'ll eventually get to the front and that\'s enough for me. I just don\'t know how long it will take.\n\nA part of me wonders how many people there actually are in this city and how many of them are standing in line at any single time. Because really, the amount of time I\'ve spent over the last four years in Bulgaria standing in line verges on absurd. No wonder Bulgarians have given up the line in favor of the clump. There is something semi-hopeful about the line if you\'re willing to be wily.\n\nFor the rest of us, a line gives us plenty of time to think.\n\nAbout what?\n\nWell the Awl may sum it up best in this post titled: <a href=\"http://www.theawl.com/2012/12/sad-places\" target=\"_blank\">The Worst Places To Wait On Line In Order Of How Much Time They Allow You To Imagine The Sad, Everyday Lives Of The People In Front Of You Until You Eventually Confront The Depressing Reality Of Your Own Existence And The Crushing Burden Of Being For All Of Us—A Pain Which Only Ends With Death, But Never Soon Enough</a>. Aptly their url for this post is simply: sad places.','Bulgarians are bad at standing in lines ','','inherit','open','open','','7382-revision-2','','','2012-12-05 07:17:19','2012-12-05 05:17:19','',7382,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2012/12/05/7382-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(7385,1,'2012-12-05 07:18:19','2012-12-05 05:18:19','This is a truth widely accepted among foreigners living in Sofia Bulgarians are bad at standing in lines.\n\nMostly they like to clump up. Coffee shops. Sofia Airport. The post office. At the movie theater. Shops. Mtel anytime, on any day, at any one of their 100+ shops trying to pay your bill. You name it, clumping.\n\nBasically there\'s a clear group of people waiting and no clear order to the waiting. This encourages cutting and grumbling and some how I always end up at the end of the \"line.\"  Often even when more people arrive, I still find myself at the end of the \"line\" because they have somehow merged into the middle.\n\nBulgarians stand in line like they drive.<!--more-->\n\nAnyhow, I\'ve given up fighting this. When I was younger my MoM told told me to pick my battles and this is clearly not a fight I\'m ever going to win.\n\nI\'ve given up being angry about it. I\'m resigned to the fact that I\'ll be the tall blond at the end of the line waiting for her turn. I know I\'ll eventually get to the front and that\'s enough for me. I just don\'t know how long it will take.\n\nA part of me wonders how many people there actually are in this city and how many of them are standing in line at any single time. Because really, the amount of time I\'ve spent over the last four years in Bulgaria standing in line verges on absurd. No wonder Bulgarians have given up the line in favor of the clump. There is something semi-hopeful about the line if you\'re willing to be wily.\n\nFor the rest of us, a line gives us plenty of time to think.\n\nAbout what?\n\nWell the Awl may sum it up best in this post titled: <a href=\"http://www.theawl.com/2012/12/sad-places\" target=\"_blank\">The Worst Places To Wait On Line In Order Of How Much Time They Allow You To Imagine The Sad, Everyday Lives Of The People In Front Of You Until You Eventually Confront The Depressing Reality Of Your Own Existence And The Crushing Burden Of Being For All Of Us—A Pain Which Only Ends With Death, But Never Soon Enough</a>. Aptly their url for this post is simply: sad places.','Bulgarians are bad at standing in lines ','','inherit','open','open','','7382-revision-3','','','2012-12-05 07:18:19','2012-12-05 05:18:19','',7382,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2012/12/05/7382-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(7386,1,'2012-12-05 07:19:24','2012-12-05 05:19:24','This is a truth widely accepted among foreigners living in Sofia: Bulgarians are bad at standing in lines.\r\n\r\nMostly they like to cluster and clump up.\r\n\r\nCoffee shops.\r\n\r\nSofia Airport.\r\n\r\nThe post office.\r\n\r\nAt the movie theater.\r\n\r\nShops.\r\n\r\nMtel anytime, on any day, at any one of their 100+ shops trying to pay your bill.\r\n\r\nYou name it, <em>clumping</em>.\r\n\r\nBasically there\'s a clear group of people waiting and no clear order to the waiting. This encourages cutting and grumbling and some how I always end up at the end of the \"line.\"  Often even when more people arrive, I still find myself at the end of the \"line\" because they have somehow merged into the middle.\r\n\r\nBulgarians stand in line like they drive.<!--more-->\r\n\r\nAnyhow, I\'ve given up fighting this. When I was younger my MoM told told me to pick my battles and this is clearly not a fight I\'m ever going to win.\r\n\r\nI\'ve given up being angry about it. I\'m resigned to the fact that I\'ll be the tall blond at the end of the line waiting for her turn. I know I\'ll eventually get to the front and that\'s enough for me. I just don\'t know how long it will take.\r\n\r\nA part of me wonders how many people there actually are in this city and how many of them are standing in line at any single time. Because really, the amount of time I\'ve spent over the last four years in Bulgaria standing in line verges on absurd. No wonder Bulgarians have given up the line in favor of the clump. There is something semi-hopeful about the line if you\'re willing to be wily.\r\n\r\nFor the rest of us, a line gives us plenty of time to think.\r\n\r\nAbout what?\r\n\r\nWell the Awl may sum it up best in this post titled: <a href=\"http://www.theawl.com/2012/12/sad-places\" target=\"_blank\">The Worst Places To Wait On Line In Order Of How Much Time They Allow You To Imagine The Sad, Everyday Lives Of The People In Front Of You Until You Eventually Confront The Depressing Reality Of Your Own Existence And The Crushing Burden Of Being For All Of Us—A Pain Which Only Ends With Death, But Never Soon Enough</a>. Aptly their url for this post is simply: sad places.','Bulgarians are bad at standing in lines ','','inherit','open','open','','7382-revision-4','','','2012-12-05 07:19:24','2012-12-05 05:19:24','',7382,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2012/12/05/7382-revision-4/',0,'revision','',0),(7387,1,'2012-12-05 07:20:27','2012-12-05 05:20:27','This is a truth widely accepted among foreigners living in Sofia: Bulgarians are bad at standing in lines.\n\nMostly they like to cluster and clump up. Places this happens:\n<ul>\n	<li>Coffee shops.</li>\n	<li>Sofia Airport.</li>\n	<li>The post office.</li>\n	<li>At the movie theater.</li>\n	<li>Shops.</li>\n	<li>Mtel anytime, on any day, at any one of their 100+ shops trying to pay your bill.</li>\n</ul>\nYou name it, <em>clumping</em>.\n\nBasically there\'s a clear group of people waiting and no clear order to the waiting. This encourages cutting and grumbling and some how I always end up at the end of the \"line.\"  Often even when more people arrive, I still find myself at the end of the \"line\" because they have somehow merged into the middle.\n\nBulgarians stand in line like they drive.<!--more-->\n\nAnyhow, I\'ve given up fighting this. When I was younger my MoM told told me to pick my battles and this is clearly not a fight I\'m ever going to win.\n\nI\'ve given up being angry about it. I\'m resigned to the fact that I\'ll be the tall blond at the end of the line waiting for her turn. I know I\'ll eventually get to the front and that\'s enough for me. I just don\'t know how long it will take.\n\nA part of me wonders how many people there actually are in this city and how many of them are standing in line at any single time. Because really, the amount of time I\'ve spent over the last four years in Bulgaria standing in line verges on absurd. No wonder Bulgarians have given up the line in favor of the clump. There is something semi-hopeful about the line if you\'re willing to be wily.\n\nFor the rest of us, a line gives us plenty of time to think.\n\nAbout what?\n\nWell the Awl may sum it up best in this post titled: <a href=\"http://www.theawl.com/2012/12/sad-places\" target=\"_blank\">The Worst Places To Wait On Line In Order Of How Much Time They Allow You To Imagine The Sad, Everyday Lives Of The People In Front Of You Until You Eventually Confront The Depressing Reality Of Your Own Existence And The Crushing Burden Of Being For All Of Us—A Pain Which Only Ends With Death, But Never Soon Enough</a>. Aptly their url for this post is simply: sad places.','Bulgarians are bad at standing in lines ','','inherit','open','open','','7382-revision-5','','','2012-12-05 07:20:27','2012-12-05 05:20:27','',7382,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2012/12/05/7382-revision-5/',0,'revision','',0),(7388,1,'2012-12-05 07:21:27','2012-12-05 05:21:27','This is a truth widely accepted among foreigners living in Sofia: Bulgarians are bad at standing in lines.\n\nMostly they like to cluster and clump up. Places this happens:\n<ul>\n	<li>Coffee shops.</li>\n	<li>Sofia Airport.</li>\n	<li>The post office.</li>\n	<li>At the movie theater.</li>\n	<li>The mall.</li>\n	<li>Mtel anytime, on any day, at any one of their 100+ shops trying to pay your bill.</li>\n</ul>\nYou name it, <em>clumping</em>.\n\nBasically there\'s a clear group of people waiting and no clear order to the waiting. This encourages cutting and grumbling and some how I always end up at the end of the \"line.\"  Often even when more people arrive, I still find myself at the end of the \"line\" because they have somehow merged into the middle.\n\nBulgarians stand in line like they drive.<!--more-->\n\nAnyhow, I\'ve given up fighting this. When I was younger my MoM told told me to pick my battles and this is clearly not a fight I\'m ever going to win.\n\nI\'ve given up being angry about it. I\'m resigned to the fact that I\'ll be the tall blond at the end of the line waiting for her turn. I know I\'ll eventually get to the front and that\'s enough for me. I just don\'t know how long it will take.\n\nA part of me wonders how many people there actually are in this city and how many of them are standing in line at any single time. Because really, the amount of time I\'ve spent over the last four years in Bulgaria standing in line verges on absurd. No wonder Bulgarians have given up the line in favor of the clump. There is something semi-hopeful about the line if you\'re willing to be wily.\n\nFor the rest of us, a line gives us plenty of time to think.\n\nAbout what?\n\nWell the Awl may sum it up best in this post titled: <a href=\"http://www.theawl.com/2012/12/sad-places\" target=\"_blank\">The Worst Places To Wait On Line In Order Of How Much Time They Allow You To Imagine The Sad, Everyday Lives Of The People In Front Of You Until You Eventually Confront The Depressing Reality Of Your Own Existence And The Crushing Burden Of Being For All Of Us—A Pain Which Only Ends With Death, But Never Soon Enough</a>. Aptly their url for this post is simply: sad places.','Bulgarians are bad at standing in lines ','','inherit','open','open','','7382-revision-6','','','2012-12-05 07:21:27','2012-12-05 05:21:27','',7382,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2012/12/05/7382-revision-6/',0,'revision','',0),(7389,1,'2012-12-05 07:28:28','2012-12-05 05:28:28','This is a truth widely accepted among foreigners living in Sofia: Bulgarians are bad at standing in lines.\n\nMostly they like to cluster and clump up. Places this happens:\n<ul>\n	<li>Coffee shops.</li>\n	<li>Sofia Airport.</li>\n	<li>The post office.</li>\n	<li>At the movie theater.</li>\n	<li>The mall.</li>\n	<li>Mtel anytime, on any day, at any one of their 100+ shops trying to pay your bill.</li>\n</ul>\nYou name it, <em>clumping</em>.\n\nBasically there\'s a clear group of people waiting and no clear order to the waiting. This encourages cutting and grumbling and some how I always end up at the end of the \"line.\"  Often even when more people arrive, I still find myself at the end of the \"line\" because they have somehow merged into the middle.\n\nBulgarians stand in line like they drive.<!--more-->\n\nAnyhow, I\'ve given up fighting this. When I was younger my MoM told told me to pick my battles and this is clearly not a fight I\'m ever going to win.\n\nI\'ve given up being angry about it. I\'m resigned to the fact that I\'ll be the tall blond at the end of the line waiting for her turn. I know I\'ll eventually get to the front and that\'s enough for me. I just don\'t know how long it will take.\n\nTruth be told these days when the barista at Onda skips over the 5 students in front of me to ask me for my order I <em>always</em> give it to her.\n\nI no longer feel badly about this. Although I probably should.\n\nAt times like this, a part of me wonders how many people there actually are in this city and how many of them are standing in line at any single time. Because really, the amount of time I\'ve spent over the last four years in Bulgaria standing in line verges on absurd.\n\nSo I take the coffee and run.\n\nNo wonder Bulgarians have given up the line in favor of the clump. There is something semi-hopeful about the line if you\'re willing to be wily.\n\nFor the rest of us, a line gives us plenty of time to think.\n\nYou might ask yourself, about what?\n\nWell the Awl may sum it up best in this post titled: <a href=\"http://www.theawl.com/2012/12/sad-places\" target=\"_blank\">The Worst Places To Wait On Line In Order Of How Much Time They Allow You To Imagine The Sad, Everyday Lives Of The People In Front Of You Until You Eventually Confront The Depressing Reality Of Your Own Existence And The Crushing Burden Of Being For All Of Us—A Pain Which Only Ends With Death, But Never Soon Enough</a>. Aptly part of the url for this post is simply: sad places.\n\nJust for the record, these places are definitely less sad when you have your coffee in hand and are no longer in line.','Bulgarians are bad at standing in lines ','','inherit','open','open','','7382-autosave','','','2012-12-05 07:28:28','2012-12-05 05:28:28','',7382,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2012/12/05/7382-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(7390,1,'2012-12-06 07:02:24','2012-12-06 05:02:24','I\'ve been busy this week. At school, I gave one too many in-class essays and now I am going to spend the rest of my life grading. Oh well, these things happen. At home, I agreed to make a snapfish calendar with my sister for Christmas and doing so via email and the internets is both amazing, rewarding and totally frustrating at times. On top of all of this, I am running away to Vienna for the weekend.\r\n\r\nI went to <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/11/27/viennathanksgiving-and-mulled-wine/\" target=\"_blank\">Vienna last year for the Thanksgiving break</a> and had a great time at the museums, at <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/12/04/christmas-markets-in-vienna/\" target=\"_blank\">the Christmas markets</a> and <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/11/28/drinking-mulled-wine/\" target=\"_blank\">drinking mulled wine outside</a>. This weekend is going to be a mini-repeat of that.  I am <em>so</em> looking forward to it.\r\n\r\nThis said, I\'ve had blogs on my mind this week. I had my mind blown when <a href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/02/fashion/maria-popova-has-some-big-ideas.html?pagewanted=all&amp;_r=1&amp;\" target=\"_blank\">the NYT ran an article on Maria Popova</a> the creator of <a href=\"http://www.brainpickings.org/\" target=\"_blank\">a blog-- Brain Pickings</a>--that I read fairly regularly and I realized that she\'s a Bulgarian <em>and</em> she graduated from the American College of Sofia where I teach. I am not sure how both of these things surprised me but they did.\r\n\r\nTwo other blogs that I\'ve found interesting these days are written by Americans in Sofia.\r\n\r\nOne you may know already. <a href=\"http://girlmeetsbulgaria.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Girl Meets Bulgaria</a>. Whitney is back in Bulgaria and this time living in Sofia. Her writing is infused with a new enthusiasm for life in Bulgaria that I think is contagious. I suspect that it doesn\'t hurt that she\'s got her long stay visa and can actually begin building a life with her Bulgarian husband.\r\n\r\nThe other is probably new to you. This one is written by a Fulbrighter living in Smolyan and teaching English at a local high school. Her blog is <a href=\"http://unintentionalexplorer.wordpress.com/\" target=\"_blank\">the Unintentional Explorer</a> and much of what she writes about reminds me of my early days in Bulgaria. It doesn\'t hurt that we both came to Bulgaria on the Fulbright but it\'s harder for me to imagine what like in Smolyan is like given the fact that I\'ve only ever lived in Sofia.\r\n\r\nWhat blogs are you reading and loving these days?','Blogs to keep you busy ','','private','open','open','','blogs-to-keep-you-busy','','','2012-12-10 07:49:40','2012-12-10 05:49:40','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?page_id=7390',0,'page','',0),(7391,1,'2012-12-06 07:02:15','2012-12-06 05:02:15','I\'ve been busy this week. At school, I gave one too many in-class essays and now I am going to spend the rest of my life grading. Oh well, these things happen. At home, I agreed to make a snapfish calendar with my sister for Christmas and doing so via email and the internets is both amazing, rewarding and totally frustrating at times. On top of all of this, I am running away to Vienna for the weekend.\n\nI went to <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/11/27/viennathanksgiving-and-mulled-wine/\" target=\"_blank\">Vienna last year for the Thanksgiving break</a> and had a great time at the museums, at <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/12/04/christmas-markets-in-vienna/\" target=\"_blank\">the Christmas markets</a> and <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/11/28/drinking-mulled-wine/\" target=\"_blank\">drinking mulled wine outside</a>. This weekend is going to be a mini-repeat of that.  I am <em>so</em> looking forward to it.\n\nThis said, I\'ve had blogs on my mind this week. I had my mind blown when <a href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/02/fashion/maria-popova-has-some-big-ideas.html?pagewanted=all&amp;_r=1&amp;\" target=\"_blank\">the NYT ran an article on Maria Popova</a> the creator of <a href=\"http://www.brainpickings.org/\" target=\"_blank\">a blog-- Brain Pickings</a>--that I read fairly regularly and I realized that she\'s a Bulgarian <em>and</em> she graduated from the American College of Sofia where I teach. I am not sure how both of these things surprised me but they did.\n\nTwo other blogs that I\'ve found interesting these days are written by Americans in Sofia.\n\nOne you may know already. <a href=\"http://girlmeetsbulgaria.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Girl Meets Bulgaria</a>. Whitney is back in Bulgaria and this time living in Sofia. Her writing is infused with a new enthusiasm for life in Bulgaria that I think is contagious. I suspect that it doesn\'t hurt that she\'s got her long stay visa and can actually begin building a life with her Bulgarian husband.\n\nThe other is probably new to you. This one is written by a Fulbrighter living in Smolyan and teaching English at a local high school. Her blog is <a href=\"http://unintentionalexplorer.wordpress.com/\" target=\"_blank\">the Unintentional Explorer</a> and much of what she writes about reminds me of my early days in Bulgaria. It doesn\'t hurt that we both came to Bulgaria on the Fulbright but it\'s harder for me to imagine what like in Smolyan is like given the fact that I\'ve only ever lived in Sofia.\n\nWhat blogs are you reading and loving these days?','Blogs to keep you busy ','','inherit','open','open','','7390-revision','','','2012-12-06 07:02:15','2012-12-06 05:02:15','',7390,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2012/12/06/7390-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7392,1,'2012-12-10 07:49:10','2012-12-10 05:49:10','I\'ve been busy this week. At school, I gave one too many in-class essays and now I am going to spend the rest of my life grading. Oh well, these things happen. At home, I agreed to make a snapfish calendar with my sister for Christmas and doing so via email and the internets is both amazing, rewarding and totally frustrating at times. On top of all of this, I am running away to Vienna for the weekend.\n\nI went to <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/11/27/viennathanksgiving-and-mulled-wine/\" target=\"_blank\">Vienna last year for the Thanksgiving break</a> and had a great time at the museums, at <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/12/04/christmas-markets-in-vienna/\" target=\"_blank\">the Christmas markets</a> and <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/11/28/drinking-mulled-wine/\" target=\"_blank\">drinking mulled wine outside</a>. This weekend is going to be a mini-repeat of that.  I am <em>so</em> looking forward to it.\n\nThis said, I\'ve had blogs on my mind this week. I had my mind blown when <a href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/02/fashion/maria-popova-has-some-big-ideas.html?pagewanted=all&amp;_r=1&amp;\" target=\"_blank\">the NYT ran an article on Maria Popova</a> the creator of <a href=\"http://www.brainpickings.org/\" target=\"_blank\">a blog-- Brain Pickings</a>--that I read fairly regularly and I realized that she\'s a Bulgarian <em>and</em> she graduated from the American College of Sofia where I teach. I am not sure how both of these things surprised me but they did.\n\nTwo other blogs that I\'ve found interesting these days are written by Americans in Sofia.\n\nOne you may know already. <a href=\"http://girlmeetsbulgaria.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Girl Meets Bulgaria</a>. Whitney is back in Bulgaria and this time living in Sofia. Her writing is infused with a new enthusiasm for life in Bulgaria that I think is contagious. I suspect that it doesn\'t hurt that she\'s got her long stay visa and can actually begin building a life with her Bulgarian husband.\n\nThe other is probably new to you. This one is written by a Fulbrighter living in Smolyan and teaching English at a local high school. Her blog is <a href=\"http://unintentionalexplorer.wordpress.com/\" target=\"_blank\">the Unintentional Explorer</a> and much of what she writes about reminds me of my early days in Bulgaria. It doesn\'t hurt that we both came to Bulgaria on the Fulbright but it\'s harder for me to imagine what like in Smolyan is like given the fact that I\'ve only ever lived in Sofia.\n\nWhat blogs are you reading and loving these days?','Blogs to keep you busy ','','inherit','open','open','','7390-autosave','','','2012-12-10 07:49:10','2012-12-10 05:49:10','',7390,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2012/12/06/7390-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(7393,1,'2012-12-07 06:00:19','2012-12-07 04:00:19','Great news. <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/woktowalkinternational?fref=ts\" target=\"_blank\">Wok to Walk on Vitosha</a> is open and the food is great.\r\n\r\nI\'ve been eyeing this shop for a while. <a href=\"http://http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2012/10/17/wok-to-walk-joining-us-in-sofia/\" target=\"_blank\">I spotted it the first time in October</a>. Since then I\'ve thought regularly about the restaurant but not until this week, did I hear anything else about Wok to Walk.\r\n\r\nFlyers appeared at school and I was determined to try it out and I am glad that I did. Really glad.\r\n\r\nI had the whole-wheat noodles with chicken and broccoli and Saigon sauce (that\'s garlic and black pepper). Yum. It was a little spicy, the broccoli was fresh and the noodles were perfect. The whole combination was delicious.\r\n<a title=\"Me at Wok to Walk Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8249829515/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8342/8249829515_5d3614d3e2_z.jpg\" alt=\"Me at Wok to Walk Sofia\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\r\nA. had the udon noodles,broccoli, mushrooms and she topped it off with tthe Tokyo sauce--otherwise know as teriyaki sauce. She\'d asked for tofu but we were told that there wasn\'t any tofu. Apparently, it\'s hard to get tofu in Sofia.\r\n\r\nWho knew?! I buy it fairly regularly at Billa.\r\n\r\nAnyhow her dish looked pretty great too. Next time,I think that I\'ll get the udon noodles too.\r\n<a title=\"Wok to Walk Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8249828827/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8339/8249828827_29de65cfe2_z.jpg\" alt=\"Wok to Walk Sofia\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\r\nOur dishes came out quickly and were piping hot. What\'s more, the employees at Wok to Walk spoke excellent English and were very helpful. They also put up with two giggling girls who were giddy with excitement at the thought of Asian food.\r\n\r\nThen they asked us what we were doing here. <em>Eating noodles? </em> Actually we explained that we\'re teaching English at ACS.\r\n<!--more-->\r\n<a title=\"Wok to Walk Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8250878020/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8068/8250878020_999c6c2e3f_z.jpg\" alt=\"Wok to Walk Sofia\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" />\r\n</a><a title=\"A at Wok to Walk Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8250880036/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8206/8250880036_cbd790b333_z.jpg\" alt=\"A at Wok to Walk Sofia\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"Wok to Walk Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8249808037/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8066/8249808037_bf16ea4f87_z.jpg\" alt=\"Wok to Walk Sofia\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\r\nAs it turned out, we were both inordinately happy with our orders and more generally with Wok to Walk.\r\n\r\nBetween bites we decided that this is what Sofia has been missing. Really it doesn\'t get better than noddles, chopsticks and mixing and matching your own ingredients.\r\n<a title=\"Wok to Walk Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8250873572/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8477/8250873572_43222f5ef9_z.jpg\" alt=\"Wok to Walk Sofia\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a><a title=\"Wok to Walk Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8250875762/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8200/8250875762_50a4517dd6_z.jpg\" alt=\"Wok to Walk Sofia\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\r\nA. liked it so much that she bought noodles for lunch tomorrow!! I didn\'t buy noodles for lunch mostly because I didn\'t want to eat cold noodles tomorrow. There\'s not a great system for reheating brought-lunch at school.\r\n\r\nAfter A. bought her noodles, she told me: I\'m a regular now.\r\n\r\nI asked: how do you figure?\r\n\r\nHer response: I\'ve just bought Wok to Walk twice in 24 hours!\r\n\r\nActually, she bought it twice in an hour--but who\'s counting?! Being a regular is a state of mind.\r\n<a title=\"Wok to Walk Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8249803739/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8067/8249803739_29b433cc85_z.jpg\" alt=\"Wok to Walk Sofia\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a><a title=\"Wok to Walk Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8249805577/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8486/8249805577_6849266fda_z.jpg\" alt=\"Wok to Walk Sofia\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\r\n\r\nIn conclusion, what\'s not to love--a great name and super tasty food!! It\'s a match made in heaven. Really the only thing that could be better is if there was a Wok to Walk in Mladost and/or if Wok to Walk Sofia delivered.','Wok to Walk in Sofia is finally open ','','publish','open','open','','wok-to-walk-in-sofia-is-finally-open','','','2012-12-06 22:28:54','2012-12-06 20:28:54','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7393',0,'post','',5),(7394,1,'2012-12-06 22:11:07','2012-12-06 20:11:07','Great news. Wok to Walk on Vitosha is open and the food is great.\n\nI had the whole-wheat noodles with chicken and broccoli and Saigon sauce (that\'s garlic and black pepper). Yum. It was a little spicy, the broccoli was fresh and the noodles were perfect. The whole combination was delicious.\n\nA. had the udon noodles,broccoli, mushrooms and she topped it off with tthe Tokyo sauce--otherwise know as teriyaki sauce. She\'d asked for tofu but we were told that there wasn\'t any tofu. Apparently, it\'s hard to get tofu in Sofia. Who knew?! I buy it fairly regularly at Billa.\n\nAnyhow her dish looked pretty great too. Next time,I think that I\'ll get the udon noodles too.\n\nOur dishes came out quickly and were piping hot. What\'s more, the employees at Wok to Walk spoke excellent English and were very helpful. They also put up with two giggling girls who were giddy with excitement at the thought of Asian food.\n\nAs it turned out, we were both inordinately happy with our orders and more generally with Wok to Walk. Between bites we decided that this is what Sofia has been missing. Really it doesn\'t get better than noddles, chopsticks and mixing and matching your own ingredients.\n\nA. liked it so much that she bought noodles for lunch tomorrow. After she did so, she told me: I\'m a regular now. I asked: how do you figure? Her response: I\'ve just bought Wok to Walk twice in 24 hours!\n\nActually, she bought it twice in an hour--but who\'s counting?! Being a regular is a state of mind.\n\nWhat\'s not to love--a great name and good food!!','Wok to Walk in Sofia is finally open ','','inherit','open','open','','7393-revision','','','2012-12-06 22:11:07','2012-12-06 20:11:07','',7393,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2012/12/06/7393-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7395,1,'2012-12-06 22:14:57','2012-12-06 20:14:57','Great news. <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/woktowalkinternational?fref=ts\" target=\"_blank\">Wok to Walk on Vitosha</a> is open and the food is great.\n\nI had the whole-wheat noodles with chicken and broccoli and Saigon sauce (that\'s garlic and black pepper). Yum. It was a little spicy, the broccoli was fresh and the noodles were perfect. The whole combination was delicious.\n<a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8249829515/\" title=\"Me at Wok to Walk Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8342/8249829515_5d3614d3e2_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" alt=\"Me at Wok to Walk Sofia\"></a>\nA. had the udon noodles,broccoli, mushrooms and she topped it off with tthe Tokyo sauce--otherwise know as teriyaki sauce. She\'d asked for tofu but we were told that there wasn\'t any tofu. Apparently, it\'s hard to get tofu in Sofia. Who knew?! I buy it fairly regularly at Billa.\n\nAnyhow her dish looked pretty great too. Next time,I think that I\'ll get the udon noodles too.\n<a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8249828827/\" title=\"Wok to Walk Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8339/8249828827_29de65cfe2_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" alt=\"Wok to Walk Sofia\"></a>\nOur dishes came out quickly and were piping hot. What\'s more, the employees at Wok to Walk spoke excellent English and were very helpful. They also put up with two giggling girls who were giddy with excitement at the thought of Asian food.\n<a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8250880036/\" title=\"A at Wok to Walk Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8206/8250880036_cbd790b333_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" alt=\"A at Wok to Walk Sofia\"></a>\n<a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8249808037/\" title=\"Wok to Walk Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8066/8249808037_bf16ea4f87_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" alt=\"Wok to Walk Sofia\"></a>\nAs it turned out, we were both inordinately happy with our orders and more generally with Wok to Walk. Between bites we decided that this is what Sofia has been missing. Really it doesn\'t get better than noddles, chopsticks and mixing and matching your own ingredients.\n<a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8250875762/\" title=\"Wok to Walk Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8200/8250875762_50a4517dd6_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" alt=\"Wok to Walk Sofia\"></a>\nA. liked it so much that she bought noodles for lunch tomorrow. After she did so, she told me: I\'m a regular now. I asked: how do you figure? Her response: I\'ve just bought Wok to Walk twice in 24 hours!\n\nActually, she bought it twice in an hour--but who\'s counting?! Being a regular is a state of mind.\n\nWhat\'s not to love--a great name and good food!!','Wok to Walk in Sofia is finally open ','','inherit','open','open','','7393-revision-2','','','2012-12-06 22:14:57','2012-12-06 20:14:57','',7393,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2012/12/06/7393-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(7396,1,'2012-12-06 22:15:57','2012-12-06 20:15:57','Great news. <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/woktowalkinternational?fref=ts\" target=\"_blank\">Wok to Walk on Vitosha</a> is open and the food is great.\n\nI had the whole-wheat noodles with chicken and broccoli and Saigon sauce (that\'s garlic and black pepper). Yum. It was a little spicy, the broccoli was fresh and the noodles were perfect. The whole combination was delicious.\n<a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8249829515/\" title=\"Me at Wok to Walk Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8342/8249829515_5d3614d3e2_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" alt=\"Me at Wok to Walk Sofia\"></a>\nA. had the udon noodles,broccoli, mushrooms and she topped it off with tthe Tokyo sauce--otherwise know as teriyaki sauce. She\'d asked for tofu but we were told that there wasn\'t any tofu. Apparently, it\'s hard to get tofu in Sofia. Who knew?! I buy it fairly regularly at Billa.\n\nAnyhow her dish looked pretty great too. Next time,I think that I\'ll get the udon noodles too.\n<a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8249828827/\" title=\"Wok to Walk Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8339/8249828827_29de65cfe2_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" alt=\"Wok to Walk Sofia\"></a>\nOur dishes came out quickly and were piping hot. What\'s more, the employees at Wok to Walk spoke excellent English and were very helpful. They also put up with two giggling girls who were giddy with excitement at the thought of Asian food.\n<a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8250880036/\" title=\"A at Wok to Walk Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8206/8250880036_cbd790b333_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" alt=\"A at Wok to Walk Sofia\"></a>\n<a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8249808037/\" title=\"Wok to Walk Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8066/8249808037_bf16ea4f87_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" alt=\"Wok to Walk Sofia\"></a>\nAs it turned out, we were both inordinately happy with our orders and more generally with Wok to Walk. Between bites we decided that this is what Sofia has been missing. Really it doesn\'t get better than noddles, chopsticks and mixing and matching your own ingredients.\n<a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8250873572/\" title=\"Wok to Walk Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8477/8250873572_43222f5ef9_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" alt=\"Wok to Walk Sofia\"></a><a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8250875762/\" title=\"Wok to Walk Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8200/8250875762_50a4517dd6_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" alt=\"Wok to Walk Sofia\"></a>\nA. liked it so much that she bought noodles for lunch tomorrow. After she did so, she told me: I\'m a regular now. I asked: how do you figure? Her response: I\'ve just bought Wok to Walk twice in 24 hours!\n<a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8249803739/\" title=\"Wok to Walk Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8067/8249803739_29b433cc85_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" alt=\"Wok to Walk Sofia\"></a><a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8249805577/\" title=\"Wok to Walk Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8486/8249805577_6849266fda_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" alt=\"Wok to Walk Sofia\"></a>\nActually, she bought it twice in an hour--but who\'s counting?! Being a regular is a state of mind.\n\nWhat\'s not to love--a great name and good food!!','Wok to Walk in Sofia is finally open ','','inherit','open','open','','7393-revision-3','','','2012-12-06 22:15:57','2012-12-06 20:15:57','',7393,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2012/12/06/7393-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(7397,1,'2012-12-06 22:26:18','2012-12-06 20:26:18','Great news. <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/woktowalkinternational?fref=ts\" target=\"_blank\">Wok to Walk on Vitosha</a> is open and the food is great.\r\n\r\nI\'ve been eyeing this shop for a while. <a href=\"http://http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2012/10/17/wok-to-walk-joining-us-in-sofia/\" target=\"_blank\">I spotted it the first time in October</a>. Since then I\'ve thought regularly about the restaurant but not until this week, did I hear anything else about Wok to Walk.\r\n\r\nFlyers appeared at school and I was determined to try it out and I am glad that I did. Really glad.\r\n\r\nI had the whole-wheat noodles with chicken and broccoli and Saigon sauce (that\'s garlic and black pepper). Yum. It was a little spicy, the broccoli was fresh and the noodles were perfect. The whole combination was delicious.\r\n<a title=\"Me at Wok to Walk Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8249829515/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8342/8249829515_5d3614d3e2_z.jpg\" alt=\"Me at Wok to Walk Sofia\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\r\nA. had the udon noodles,broccoli, mushrooms and she topped it off with tthe Tokyo sauce--otherwise know as teriyaki sauce. She\'d asked for tofu but we were told that there wasn\'t any tofu. Apparently, it\'s hard to get tofu in Sofia.\r\n\r\nWho knew?! I buy it fairly regularly at Billa.\r\n\r\nAnyhow her dish looked pretty great too. Next time,I think that I\'ll get the udon noodles too.\r\n<a title=\"Wok to Walk Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8249828827/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8339/8249828827_29de65cfe2_z.jpg\" alt=\"Wok to Walk Sofia\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\r\nOur dishes came out quickly and were piping hot. What\'s more, the employees at Wok to Walk spoke excellent English and were very helpful. They also put up with two giggling girls who were giddy with excitement at the thought of Asian food.\r\n\r\nThen they asked us what we were doing here. <em>Eating noodles? </em> Actually we explained that we were teaching English.\r\n<a title=\"Wok to Walk Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8250878020/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8068/8250878020_999c6c2e3f_z.jpg\" alt=\"Wok to Walk Sofia\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a><a title=\"A at Wok to Walk Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8250880036/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8206/8250880036_cbd790b333_z.jpg\" alt=\"A at Wok to Walk Sofia\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"Wok to Walk Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8249808037/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8066/8249808037_bf16ea4f87_z.jpg\" alt=\"Wok to Walk Sofia\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\r\nAs it turned out, we were both inordinately happy with our orders and more generally with Wok to Walk.\r\n\r\nBetween bites we decided that this is what Sofia has been missing. Really it doesn\'t get better than noddles, chopsticks and mixing and matching your own ingredients.\r\n<a title=\"Wok to Walk Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8250873572/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8477/8250873572_43222f5ef9_z.jpg\" alt=\"Wok to Walk Sofia\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a><a title=\"Wok to Walk Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8250875762/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8200/8250875762_50a4517dd6_z.jpg\" alt=\"Wok to Walk Sofia\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\r\nA. liked it so much that she bought noodles for lunch tomorrow!! I didn\'t buy noodles for lunch mostly because I didn\'t want to eat cold noodles tomorrow. There\'s not a great system for reheating brought-lunch at school.\r\n\r\nAfter A. bought her noodles, she told me: I\'m a regular now.\r\n\r\nI asked: how do you figure?\r\n\r\nHer response: I\'ve just bought Wok to Walk twice in 24 hours!\r\n\r\nActually, she bought it twice in an hour--but who\'s counting?! Being a regular is a state of mind.\r\n<a title=\"Wok to Walk Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8249803739/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8067/8249803739_29b433cc85_z.jpg\" alt=\"Wok to Walk Sofia\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a><a title=\"Wok to Walk Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8249805577/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8486/8249805577_6849266fda_z.jpg\" alt=\"Wok to Walk Sofia\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\r\n\r\nIn conclusion, what\'s not to love--a great name and super tasty food!! It\'s a match made in heaven. Really the only thing that could be better is if there was a Wok to Walk in Mladost and/or if Wok to Walk Sofia delivered.','Wok to Walk in Sofia is finally open ','','inherit','open','open','','7393-revision-4','','','2012-12-06 22:26:18','2012-12-06 20:26:18','',7393,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2012/12/06/7393-revision-4/',0,'revision','',0),(7398,1,'2012-12-06 22:26:21','2012-12-06 20:26:21','Great news. <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/woktowalkinternational?fref=ts\" target=\"_blank\">Wok to Walk on Vitosha</a> is open and the food is great.\r\n\r\nI\'ve been eyeing this shop for a while. <a href=\"http://http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2012/10/17/wok-to-walk-joining-us-in-sofia/\" target=\"_blank\">I spotted it the first time in October</a>. Since then I\'ve thought regularly about the restaurant but not until this week, did I hear anything else about Wok to Walk.\r\n\r\nFlyers appeared at school and I was determined to try it out and I am glad that I did. Really glad.\r\n\r\nI had the whole-wheat noodles with chicken and broccoli and Saigon sauce (that\'s garlic and black pepper). Yum. It was a little spicy, the broccoli was fresh and the noodles were perfect. The whole combination was delicious.\r\n<a title=\"Me at Wok to Walk Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8249829515/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8342/8249829515_5d3614d3e2_z.jpg\" alt=\"Me at Wok to Walk Sofia\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\r\nA. had the udon noodles,broccoli, mushrooms and she topped it off with tthe Tokyo sauce--otherwise know as teriyaki sauce. She\'d asked for tofu but we were told that there wasn\'t any tofu. Apparently, it\'s hard to get tofu in Sofia.\r\n\r\nWho knew?! I buy it fairly regularly at Billa.\r\n\r\nAnyhow her dish looked pretty great too. Next time,I think that I\'ll get the udon noodles too.\r\n<a title=\"Wok to Walk Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8249828827/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8339/8249828827_29de65cfe2_z.jpg\" alt=\"Wok to Walk Sofia\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\r\nOur dishes came out quickly and were piping hot. What\'s more, the employees at Wok to Walk spoke excellent English and were very helpful. They also put up with two giggling girls who were giddy with excitement at the thought of Asian food.\r\n\r\nThen they asked us what we were doing here. <em>Eating noodles? </em> Actually we explained that we were teaching English.\r\n<a title=\"Wok to Walk Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8250878020/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8068/8250878020_999c6c2e3f_z.jpg\" alt=\"Wok to Walk Sofia\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a><a title=\"A at Wok to Walk Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8250880036/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8206/8250880036_cbd790b333_z.jpg\" alt=\"A at Wok to Walk Sofia\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"Wok to Walk Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8249808037/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8066/8249808037_bf16ea4f87_z.jpg\" alt=\"Wok to Walk Sofia\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\r\nAs it turned out, we were both inordinately happy with our orders and more generally with Wok to Walk.\r\n\r\nBetween bites we decided that this is what Sofia has been missing. Really it doesn\'t get better than noddles, chopsticks and mixing and matching your own ingredients.\r\n<a title=\"Wok to Walk Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8250873572/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8477/8250873572_43222f5ef9_z.jpg\" alt=\"Wok to Walk Sofia\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a><a title=\"Wok to Walk Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8250875762/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8200/8250875762_50a4517dd6_z.jpg\" alt=\"Wok to Walk Sofia\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\r\nA. liked it so much that she bought noodles for lunch tomorrow!! I didn\'t buy noodles for lunch mostly because I didn\'t want to eat cold noodles tomorrow. There\'s not a great system for reheating brought-lunch at school.\r\n\r\nAfter A. bought her noodles, she told me: I\'m a regular now.\r\n\r\nI asked: how do you figure?\r\n\r\nHer response: I\'ve just bought Wok to Walk twice in 24 hours!\r\n\r\nActually, she bought it twice in an hour--but who\'s counting?! Being a regular is a state of mind.\r\n<a title=\"Wok to Walk Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8249803739/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8067/8249803739_29b433cc85_z.jpg\" alt=\"Wok to Walk Sofia\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a><a title=\"Wok to Walk Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8249805577/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8486/8249805577_6849266fda_z.jpg\" alt=\"Wok to Walk Sofia\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\r\n\r\nIn conclusion, what\'s not to love--a great name and super tasty food!! It\'s a match made in heaven. Really the only thing that could be better is if there was a Wok to Walk in Mladost and/or if Wok to Walk Sofia delivered.','Wok to Walk in Sofia is finally open ','','inherit','open','open','','7393-revision-5','','','2012-12-06 22:26:21','2012-12-06 20:26:21','',7393,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2012/12/06/7393-revision-5/',0,'revision','',0),(7399,1,'2012-12-06 22:28:20','2012-12-06 20:28:20','Great news. <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/woktowalkinternational?fref=ts\" target=\"_blank\">Wok to Walk on Vitosha</a> is open and the food is great.\r\n\r\nI\'ve been eyeing this shop for a while. <a href=\"http://http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2012/10/17/wok-to-walk-joining-us-in-sofia/\" target=\"_blank\">I spotted it the first time in October</a>. Since then I\'ve thought regularly about the restaurant but not until this week, did I hear anything else about Wok to Walk.\r\n\r\nFlyers appeared at school and I was determined to try it out and I am glad that I did. Really glad.\r\n\r\nI had the whole-wheat noodles with chicken and broccoli and Saigon sauce (that\'s garlic and black pepper). Yum. It was a little spicy, the broccoli was fresh and the noodles were perfect. The whole combination was delicious.\r\n<a title=\"Me at Wok to Walk Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8249829515/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8342/8249829515_5d3614d3e2_z.jpg\" alt=\"Me at Wok to Walk Sofia\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\r\nA. had the udon noodles,broccoli, mushrooms and she topped it off with tthe Tokyo sauce--otherwise know as teriyaki sauce. She\'d asked for tofu but we were told that there wasn\'t any tofu. Apparently, it\'s hard to get tofu in Sofia.\r\n\r\nWho knew?! I buy it fairly regularly at Billa.\r\n\r\nAnyhow her dish looked pretty great too. Next time,I think that I\'ll get the udon noodles too.\r\n<a title=\"Wok to Walk Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8249828827/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8339/8249828827_29de65cfe2_z.jpg\" alt=\"Wok to Walk Sofia\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\r\nOur dishes came out quickly and were piping hot. What\'s more, the employees at Wok to Walk spoke excellent English and were very helpful. They also put up with two giggling girls who were giddy with excitement at the thought of Asian food.\r\n\r\nThen they asked us what we were doing here. <em>Eating noodles? </em> Actually we explained that we\'re teaching English at ACS.\r\n<!--more-->\r\n<a title=\"Wok to Walk Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8250878020/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8068/8250878020_999c6c2e3f_z.jpg\" alt=\"Wok to Walk Sofia\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" />\r\n</a><a title=\"A at Wok to Walk Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8250880036/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8206/8250880036_cbd790b333_z.jpg\" alt=\"A at Wok to Walk Sofia\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"Wok to Walk Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8249808037/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8066/8249808037_bf16ea4f87_z.jpg\" alt=\"Wok to Walk Sofia\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\r\nAs it turned out, we were both inordinately happy with our orders and more generally with Wok to Walk.\r\n\r\nBetween bites we decided that this is what Sofia has been missing. Really it doesn\'t get better than noddles, chopsticks and mixing and matching your own ingredients.\r\n<a title=\"Wok to Walk Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8250873572/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8477/8250873572_43222f5ef9_z.jpg\" alt=\"Wok to Walk Sofia\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a><a title=\"Wok to Walk Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8250875762/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8200/8250875762_50a4517dd6_z.jpg\" alt=\"Wok to Walk Sofia\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\r\nA. liked it so much that she bought noodles for lunch tomorrow!! I didn\'t buy noodles for lunch mostly because I didn\'t want to eat cold noodles tomorrow. There\'s not a great system for reheating brought-lunch at school.\r\n\r\nAfter A. bought her noodles, she told me: I\'m a regular now.\r\n\r\nI asked: how do you figure?\r\n\r\nHer response: I\'ve just bought Wok to Walk twice in 24 hours!\r\n\r\nActually, she bought it twice in an hour--but who\'s counting?! Being a regular is a state of mind.\r\n<a title=\"Wok to Walk Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8249803739/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8067/8249803739_29b433cc85_z.jpg\" alt=\"Wok to Walk Sofia\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a><a title=\"Wok to Walk Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8249805577/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8486/8249805577_6849266fda_z.jpg\" alt=\"Wok to Walk Sofia\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\r\n\r\nIn conclusion, what\'s not to love--a great name and super tasty food!! It\'s a match made in heaven. Really the only thing that could be better is if there was a Wok to Walk in Mladost and/or if Wok to Walk Sofia delivered.','Wok to Walk in Sofia is finally open ','','inherit','open','open','','7393-revision-6','','','2012-12-06 22:28:20','2012-12-06 20:28:20','',7393,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2012/12/06/7393-revision-6/',0,'revision','',0),(7400,1,'2012-12-07 06:44:40','2012-12-07 04:44:40','Great news. <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/woktowalkinternational?fref=ts\" target=\"_blank\">Wok to Walk on Vitosha</a> is open and the food is great. I\'ve been eyeing this shop for a while. <a href=\"http://http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2012/10/17/wok-to-walk-joining-us-in-sofia/\" target=\"_blank\">I spotted it the first time in October</a>. Since then I\'ve thought regularly about the restaurant but not until this week, did I hear anything else about Wok to Walk. Flyers appeared at school and I was determined to try it out and I am glad that I did. Really glad. I had the whole-wheat noodles with chicken and broccoli and Saigon sauce (that\'s garlic and black pepper). Yum. It was a little spicy, the broccoli was fresh and the noodles were perfect. The whole combination was delicious. <a title=\"Me at Wok to Walk Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8249829515/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8342/8249829515_5d3614d3e2_z.jpg\" alt=\"Me at Wok to Walk Sofia\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a> A. had the udon noodles,broccoli, mushrooms and she topped it off with tthe Tokyo sauce--otherwise know as teriyaki sauce. She\'d asked for tofu but we were told that there wasn\'t any tofu. Apparently, it\'s hard to get tofu in Sofia. Who knew?! I buy it fairly regularly at Billa. Anyhow her dish looked pretty great too. Next time,I think that I\'ll get the udon noodles too. <a title=\"Wok to Walk Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8249828827/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8339/8249828827_29de65cfe2_z.jpg\" alt=\"Wok to Walk Sofia\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a> Our dishes came out quickly and were piping hot. What\'s more, the employees at Wok to Walk spoke excellent English and were very helpful. They also put up with two giggling girls who were giddy with excitement at the thought of Asian food. Then they asked us what we were doing here. <em>Eating noodles? </em> Actually we explained that we\'re teaching English at ACS. <!--more--> <a title=\"Wok to Walk Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8250878020/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8068/8250878020_999c6c2e3f_z.jpg\" alt=\"Wok to Walk Sofia\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /> </a><a title=\"A at Wok to Walk Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8250880036/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8206/8250880036_cbd790b333_z.jpg\" alt=\"A at Wok to Walk Sofia\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a> <a title=\"Wok to Walk Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8249808037/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8066/8249808037_bf16ea4f87_z.jpg\" alt=\"Wok to Walk Sofia\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a> As it turned out, we were both inordinately happy with our orders and more generally with Wok to Walk. Between bites we decided that this is what Sofia has been missing. Really it doesn\'t get better than noddles, chopsticks and mixing and matching your own ingredients. <a title=\"Wok to Walk Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8250873572/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8477/8250873572_43222f5ef9_z.jpg\" alt=\"Wok to Walk Sofia\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a><a title=\"Wok to Walk Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8250875762/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8200/8250875762_50a4517dd6_z.jpg\" alt=\"Wok to Walk Sofia\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a> A. liked it so much that she bought noodles for lunch tomorrow!! I didn\'t buy noodles for lunch mostly because I didn\'t want to eat cold noodles tomorrow. There\'s not a great system for reheating brought-lunch at school. After A. bought her noodles, she told me: I\'m a regular now. I asked: how do you figure? Her response: I\'ve just bought Wok to Walk twice in 24 hours! Actually, she bought it twice in an hour--but who\'s counting?! Being a regular is a state of mind. <a title=\"Wok to Walk Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8249803739/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8067/8249803739_29b433cc85_z.jpg\" alt=\"Wok to Walk Sofia\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a><a title=\"Wok to Walk Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8249805577/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8486/8249805577_6849266fda_z.jpg\" alt=\"Wok to Walk Sofia\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a> In conclusion, what\'s not to love--a great name and super tasty food!! It\'s a match made in heaven. Really the only thing that could be better is if there was a Wok to Walk in Mladost and/or if Wok to Walk Sofia delivered.','Wok to Walk in Sofia is finally open ','','inherit','open','open','','7393-autosave','','','2012-12-07 06:44:40','2012-12-07 04:44:40','',7393,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2012/12/06/7393-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(7402,1,'2012-12-10 07:46:13','2012-12-10 05:46:13','I got back to Sofia late last night in a snowstorm and was greeted by the coldest weather yet this winter in Sofia. <em>Welcome home? </em>\n\n<em></em>At least I\'ve got these photos (and more) to remind me of the weekend in Vienna. A weekend that I spent outside in Vienna wandering from Christmas market to market, sampling mulled wine and punch, eating noddles, bread-products and potatoes of all sorts, and spending plenty of Euro in the process. The whole thing was great fun.\n<a title=\"Christmas Market in Vienna by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8259491325/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8198/8259491325_bb710e6089_z.jpg\" alt=\"Christmas Market in Vienna\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\nAnyhow, it was nearly as cold in Vienna this past weekend as is now is in Sofia so I guess I wont worry about it too much. Frankly, I don\'t have any plans to  spend my whole day outside at Christmas markets shopping and drinking mulled wine this week in Sofia so I\'ll be okay.\n<a title=\"Untitled by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8259492443/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8057/8259492443_e6c01a9b17_z.jpg\" alt=\"Untitled\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\nNope, my plans are pretty boring and they include teaching and grading. Oh my, I have a lot to grade, grade, grade. I might do some laundry and I must go to the grocery store.\n<a title=\"Untitled by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8259496481/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8355/8259496481_2590ff35dd_z.jpg\" alt=\"Untitled\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\nThings will get busy at the end of the week with our school Christmas party. Good thing I bought my Secret Santa gift in Vienna this weekend!!\n\nI can\'t believe it\'s nearly the middle of December already. I\'ve got to put up my Christmas tree and get serious about baking Christmas cookies.\n\nMore on Vienna later!!','Back from a weekend in Vienna ','','inherit','open','open','','7401-revision','','','2012-12-10 07:46:13','2012-12-10 05:46:13','',7401,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2012/12/10/7401-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7403,1,'2012-12-10 07:46:30','2012-12-10 05:46:30','I got back to Sofia late last night in a snowstorm and was greeted by the coldest weather yet this winter in Sofia. <em>Welcome home? </em>\r\n\r\n<em></em>At least I\'ve got these photos (and more) to remind me of the weekend in Vienna. A weekend that I spent outside in Vienna wandering from Christmas market to market, sampling mulled wine and punch, eating noddles, bread-products and potatoes of all sorts, and spending plenty of Euro in the process. The whole thing was great fun.\r\n<a title=\"Christmas Market in Vienna by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8259491325/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8198/8259491325_bb710e6089_z.jpg\" alt=\"Christmas Market in Vienna\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\r\nAnyhow, it was nearly as cold in Vienna this past weekend as is now is in Sofia so I guess I wont worry about it too much. Frankly, I don\'t have any plans to  spend my whole day outside at Christmas markets shopping and drinking mulled wine this week in Sofia so I\'ll be okay.\r\n<a title=\"Untitled by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8259492443/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8057/8259492443_e6c01a9b17_z.jpg\" alt=\"Untitled\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\r\nNope, my plans are pretty boring and they include teaching and grading. Oh my, I have a lot to grade, grade, grade. I might do some laundry and I must go to the grocery store.\r\n<a title=\"Untitled by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8259496481/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8355/8259496481_2590ff35dd_z.jpg\" alt=\"Untitled\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\r\nOh and tdhings will get busy at the end of the week with our school Christmas party. Good thing I bought my Secret Santa gift in Vienna this weekend!!\r\n\r\nI can\'t believe it\'s nearly the middle of December already. I\'ve got to put up my Christmas tree and get serious about baking Christmas cookies.\r\n\r\nMore on Vienna later!!','Back from a weekend in Vienna ','','inherit','open','open','','7401-revision-2','','','2012-12-10 07:46:30','2012-12-10 05:46:30','',7401,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2012/12/10/7401-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(7404,1,'2012-12-10 07:47:56','2012-12-10 05:47:56','I got back to Sofia late last night in a snowstorm and was greeted by the coldest weather yet this winter in Sofia. <em>Welcome home? </em>\n\n<em></em>At least I\'ve got these photos (and more) to remind me of the weekend in Vienna. A weekend that I spent outside in Vienna wandering from Christmas market to market, sampling mulled wine and punch, eating noddles, bread-products and potatoes of all sorts, and spending plenty of Euro in the process. The whole thing was great fun.\n<a title=\"Christmas Market in Vienna by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8259491325/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8198/8259491325_bb710e6089_z.jpg\" alt=\"Christmas Market in Vienna\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\nAnyhow, it was nearly as cold in Vienna this past weekend as is now is in Sofia so I guess I wont worry about it too much. Frankly, I don\'t have any plans to  spend my whole day outside at Christmas markets shopping and drinking mulled wine this week in Sofia so I\'ll be okay.\n<a title=\"Untitled by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8259492443/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8057/8259492443_e6c01a9b17_z.jpg\" alt=\"Untitled\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\nNope, my plans are pretty boring and they include teaching and grading. Oh my, I have a lot to grade, grade, grade. I might do some laundry and I must go to the grocery store.\n<a title=\"Untitled by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8259496481/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8355/8259496481_2590ff35dd_z.jpg\" alt=\"Untitled\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\nOh and tdhings will get busy at the end of the week with our school Christmas party. Good thing I bought my Secret Santa gift in Vienna this weekend!!\n\nI can\'t believe it\'s nearly the middle of December already. I\'ve got to put up my Christmas tree and get serious about baking Christmas cookies.\n\nMore on Vienna later!!','Back from a weekend in Vienna ','','inherit','open','open','','7401-autosave','','','2012-12-10 07:47:56','2012-12-10 05:47:56','',7401,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2012/12/10/7401-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(7405,1,'2012-12-06 07:02:24','2012-12-06 05:02:24','I\'ve been busy this week. At school, I gave one too many in-class essays and now I am going to spend the rest of my life grading. Oh well, these things happen. At home, I agreed to make a snapfish calendar with my sister for Christmas and doing so via email and the internets is both amazing, rewarding and totally frustrating at times. On top of all of this, I am running away to Vienna for the weekend.\r\n\r\nI went to <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/11/27/viennathanksgiving-and-mulled-wine/\" target=\"_blank\">Vienna last year for the Thanksgiving break</a> and had a great time at the museums, at <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/12/04/christmas-markets-in-vienna/\" target=\"_blank\">the Christmas markets</a> and <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/11/28/drinking-mulled-wine/\" target=\"_blank\">drinking mulled wine outside</a>. This weekend is going to be a mini-repeat of that.  I am <em>so</em> looking forward to it.\r\n\r\nThis said, I\'ve had blogs on my mind this week. I had my mind blown when <a href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/02/fashion/maria-popova-has-some-big-ideas.html?pagewanted=all&amp;_r=1&amp;\" target=\"_blank\">the NYT ran an article on Maria Popova</a> the creator of <a href=\"http://www.brainpickings.org/\" target=\"_blank\">a blog-- Brain Pickings</a>--that I read fairly regularly and I realized that she\'s a Bulgarian <em>and</em> she graduated from the American College of Sofia where I teach. I am not sure how both of these things surprised me but they did.\r\n\r\nTwo other blogs that I\'ve found interesting these days are written by Americans in Sofia.\r\n\r\nOne you may know already. <a href=\"http://girlmeetsbulgaria.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Girl Meets Bulgaria</a>. Whitney is back in Bulgaria and this time living in Sofia. Her writing is infused with a new enthusiasm for life in Bulgaria that I think is contagious. I suspect that it doesn\'t hurt that she\'s got her long stay visa and can actually begin building a life with her Bulgarian husband.\r\n\r\nThe other is probably new to you. This one is written by a Fulbrighter living in Smolyan and teaching English at a local high school. Her blog is <a href=\"http://unintentionalexplorer.wordpress.com/\" target=\"_blank\">the Unintentional Explorer</a> and much of what she writes about reminds me of my early days in Bulgaria. It doesn\'t hurt that we both came to Bulgaria on the Fulbright but it\'s harder for me to imagine what like in Smolyan is like given the fact that I\'ve only ever lived in Sofia.\r\n\r\nWhat blogs are you reading and loving these days?','Blogs to keep you busy ','','inherit','open','open','','7390-revision-2','','','2012-12-06 07:02:24','2012-12-06 05:02:24','',7390,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2012/12/06/7390-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(7416,1,'2012-12-22 10:18:09','2012-12-22 08:18:09','','wpid-Christmas-cast.png','','inherit','open','open','','wpid-christmas-cast-png','','','2012-12-22 10:18:09','2012-12-22 08:18:09','',7417,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/wpid-Christmas-cast.png',0,'attachment','image/png',0),(7407,1,'2012-12-07 07:48:12','2012-12-07 05:48:12','I\'ve been busy this week. At school, I gave one too many in-class essays and now I am going to spend the rest of my life grading. Oh well, these things happen. At home, I agreed to make a snapfish calendar with my sister for Christmas and doing so via email and the internets is both amazing, rewarding and totally frustrating at times. On top of all of this, I am running away to Vienna for the weekend.\r\n\r\nI went to <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/11/27/viennathanksgiving-and-mulled-wine/\" target=\"_blank\">Vienna last year for the Thanksgiving break</a> and had a great time at the museums, at <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/12/04/christmas-markets-in-vienna/\" target=\"_blank\">the Christmas markets</a> and <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/11/28/drinking-mulled-wine/\" target=\"_blank\">drinking mulled wine outside</a>. This weekend is going to be a mini-repeat of that.  I am <em>so</em> looking forward to it.\r\n\r\nThis said, I\'ve had blogs on my mind this week. I had my mind blown when <a href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/02/fashion/maria-popova-has-some-big-ideas.html?pagewanted=all&amp;_r=1&amp;\" target=\"_blank\">the NYT ran an article on Maria Popova</a> the creator of <a href=\"http://www.brainpickings.org/\" target=\"_blank\">a blog-- Brain Pickings</a>--that I read fairly regularly and I realized that she\'s a Bulgarian <em>and</em> she graduated from the American College of Sofia where I teach. I am not sure how both of these things surprised me but they did.\r\n\r\nTwo other blogs that I\'ve found interesting these days are written by Americans in Sofia.\r\n\r\nOne you may know already. <a href=\"http://girlmeetsbulgaria.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Girl Meets Bulgaria</a>. Whitney is back in Bulgaria and this time living in Sofia. Her writing is infused with a new enthusiasm for life in Bulgaria that I think is contagious. I suspect that it doesn\'t hurt that she\'s got her long stay visa and can actually begin building a life with her Bulgarian husband.\r\n\r\nThe other is probably new to you. This one is written by a Fulbrighter living in Smolyan and teaching English at a local high school. Her blog is <a href=\"http://unintentionalexplorer.wordpress.com/\" target=\"_blank\">the Unintentional Explorer</a> and much of what she writes about reminds me of my early days in Bulgaria. It doesn\'t hurt that we both came to Bulgaria on the Fulbright but it\'s harder for me to imagine what like in Smolyan is like given the fact that I\'ve only ever lived in Sofia.\r\n\r\nWhat blogs are you reading and loving these days?','Blogs to Keep you Busy ','','publish','open','open','','blogs-to-keep-you-busy','','','2012-12-10 07:48:57','2012-12-10 05:48:57','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7407',0,'post','',4),(7408,1,'2012-12-10 07:48:28','2012-12-10 05:48:28','I\'ve been busy this week. At school, I gave one too many in-class essays and now I am going to spend the rest of my life grading. Oh well, these things happen. At home, I agreed to make a snapfish calendar with my sister for Christmas and doing so via email and the internets is both amazing, rewarding and totally frustrating at times. On top of all of this, I am running away to Vienna for the weekend.\n\nI went to <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/11/27/viennathanksgiving-and-mulled-wine/\" target=\"_blank\">Vienna last year for the Thanksgiving break</a> and had a great time at the museums, at <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/12/04/christmas-markets-in-vienna/\" target=\"_blank\">the Christmas markets</a> and <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/11/28/drinking-mulled-wine/\" target=\"_blank\">drinking mulled wine outside</a>. This weekend is going to be a mini-repeat of that.  I am <em>so</em> looking forward to it.\n\nThis said, I\'ve had blogs on my mind this week. I had my mind blown when <a href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/02/fashion/maria-popova-has-some-big-ideas.html?pagewanted=all&amp;_r=1&amp;\" target=\"_blank\">the NYT ran an article on Maria Popova</a> the creator of <a href=\"http://www.brainpickings.org/\" target=\"_blank\">a blog-- Brain Pickings</a>--that I read fairly regularly and I realized that she\'s a Bulgarian <em>and</em> she graduated from the American College of Sofia where I teach. I am not sure how both of these things surprised me but they did.\n\nTwo other blogs that I\'ve found interesting these days are written by Americans in Sofia.\n\nOne you may know already. <a href=\"http://girlmeetsbulgaria.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Girl Meets Bulgaria</a>. Whitney is back in Bulgaria and this time living in Sofia. Her writing is infused with a new enthusiasm for life in Bulgaria that I think is contagious. I suspect that it doesn\'t hurt that she\'s got her long stay visa and can actually begin building a life with her Bulgarian husband.\n\nThe other is probably new to you. This one is written by a Fulbrighter living in Smolyan and teaching English at a local high school. Her blog is <a href=\"http://unintentionalexplorer.wordpress.com/\" target=\"_blank\">the Unintentional Explorer</a> and much of what she writes about reminds me of my early days in Bulgaria. It doesn\'t hurt that we both came to Bulgaria on the Fulbright but it\'s harder for me to imagine what like in Smolyan is like given the fact that I\'ve only ever lived in Sofia.\n\nWhat blogs are you reading and loving these days?','Blogs to Keep you Busy ','','inherit','open','open','','7407-revision','','','2012-12-10 07:48:28','2012-12-10 05:48:28','',7407,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2012/12/10/7407-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7409,1,'2012-12-10 07:48:07','2012-12-10 05:48:07','I\'ve been busy this week. At school, I gave one too many in-class essays and now I am going to spend the rest of my life grading. Oh well, these things happen. At home, I agreed to make a snapfish calendar with my sister for Christmas and doing so via email and the internets is both amazing, rewarding and totally frustrating at times. On top of all of this, I am running away to Vienna for the weekend.\r\n\r\nI went to <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/11/27/viennathanksgiving-and-mulled-wine/\" target=\"_blank\">Vienna last year for the Thanksgiving break</a> and had a great time at the museums, at <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/12/04/christmas-markets-in-vienna/\" target=\"_blank\">the Christmas markets</a> and <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/11/28/drinking-mulled-wine/\" target=\"_blank\">drinking mulled wine outside</a>. This weekend is going to be a mini-repeat of that.  I am <em>so</em> looking forward to it.\r\n\r\nThis said, I\'ve had blogs on my mind this week. I had my mind blown when <a href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/02/fashion/maria-popova-has-some-big-ideas.html?pagewanted=all&amp;_r=1&amp;\" target=\"_blank\">the NYT ran an article on Maria Popova</a> the creator of <a href=\"http://www.brainpickings.org/\" target=\"_blank\">a blog-- Brain Pickings</a>--that I read fairly regularly and I realized that she\'s a Bulgarian <em>and</em> she graduated from the American College of Sofia where I teach. I am not sure how both of these things surprised me but they did.\r\n\r\nTwo other blogs that I\'ve found interesting these days are written by Americans in Sofia.\r\n\r\nOne you may know already. <a href=\"http://girlmeetsbulgaria.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Girl Meets Bulgaria</a>. Whitney is back in Bulgaria and this time living in Sofia. Her writing is infused with a new enthusiasm for life in Bulgaria that I think is contagious. I suspect that it doesn\'t hurt that she\'s got her long stay visa and can actually begin building a life with her Bulgarian husband.\r\n\r\nThe other is probably new to you. This one is written by a Fulbrighter living in Smolyan and teaching English at a local high school. Her blog is <a href=\"http://unintentionalexplorer.wordpress.com/\" target=\"_blank\">the Unintentional Explorer</a> and much of what she writes about reminds me of my early days in Bulgaria. It doesn\'t hurt that we both came to Bulgaria on the Fulbright but it\'s harder for me to imagine what like in Smolyan is like given the fact that I\'ve only ever lived in Sofia.\r\n\r\nWhat blogs are you reading and loving these days?','Blogs to keep you busy ','','inherit','open','open','','7390-revision-3','','','2012-12-10 07:48:07','2012-12-10 05:48:07','',7390,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2012/12/10/7390-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(7410,1,'2012-12-12 07:03:32','2012-12-12 05:03:32','Last night after work, A. and I went to check out the Sofia Christmas market. It\'s moved locations from last year. Unlike last last year when the market was near Sofia University, this year the market is in front of the National Theater.\r\n<a title=\"Sofia Christmas Market by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8266419758/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8484/8266419758_b8206b3c62_z.jpg\" alt=\"Sofia Christmas Market\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\r\nThe location is beautiful.\r\n\r\nThe weather last night was snowy and cold.<!--more-->\r\n<a title=\"Sofia Christmas Market by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8266423522/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8353/8266423522_e3b9387859_z.jpg\" alt=\"Sofia Christmas Market\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\r\nWe ate a few mini-sausages. I drank mulled wine and A. drank dark beer. We wandered through the market but this took almost no time as there were fewer than a dozen non-food stands.\r\n<a title=\"Untitled by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8265356951/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8067/8265356951_986977124e_z.jpg\" alt=\"Untitled\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"Sofia Christmas Market by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8265356447/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8199/8265356447_645dbffd3e_z.jpg\" alt=\"Sofia Christmas Market\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\r\nStill there was German Christmas music playing and I thought it was cute. Oh and the mulled wine was very tasty. Check it out.','Sofia Christmas Market ','','publish','open','open','','sofia-christmas-market','','','2012-12-12 07:03:32','2012-12-12 05:03:32','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7410',0,'post','',0),(7411,1,'2012-12-12 07:02:24','2012-12-12 05:02:24','Last night after work, A. and I went to check out the Sofia Christmas market. It\'s moved locations from last year. Unlike last last year when the market was near Sofia University, this year the market is in front of the National Theater.\n<a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8266419758/\" title=\"Sofia Christmas Market by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8484/8266419758_b8206b3c62_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" alt=\"Sofia Christmas Market\"></a>\nThe location is beautiful.\n\nThe weather last night was snowy and cold.\n<a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8266423522/\" title=\"Sofia Christmas Market by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8353/8266423522_e3b9387859_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" alt=\"Sofia Christmas Market\"></a>\nWe ate a few mini-sausages. I drank mulled wine and A. drank dark beer. We wandered through the market but this took almost no time as there were fewer than a dozen non-food stands.\n<a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8265356951/\" title=\"Untitled by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8067/8265356951_986977124e_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" alt=\"Untitled\"></a>\n<a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8265356447/\" title=\"Sofia Christmas Market by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8199/8265356447_645dbffd3e_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" alt=\"Sofia Christmas Market\"></a>\nStill there was German Christmas music playing and I thought it was cute. Oh and the mulled wine was very tasty. Check it out.','Sofia Christmas Market ','','inherit','open','open','','7410-revision','','','2012-12-12 07:02:24','2012-12-12 05:02:24','',7410,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2012/12/12/7410-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7412,1,'2012-12-12 07:03:24','2012-12-12 05:03:24','Last night after work, A. and I went to check out the Sofia Christmas market. It\'s moved locations from last year. Unlike last last year when the market was near Sofia University, this year the market is in front of the National Theater.\n<a title=\"Sofia Christmas Market by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8266419758/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8484/8266419758_b8206b3c62_z.jpg\" alt=\"Sofia Christmas Market\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\nThe location is beautiful.\n\nThe weather last night was snowy and cold.<!--more-->\n<a title=\"Sofia Christmas Market by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8266423522/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8353/8266423522_e3b9387859_z.jpg\" alt=\"Sofia Christmas Market\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\nWe ate a few mini-sausages. I drank mulled wine and A. drank dark beer. We wandered through the market but this took almost no time as there were fewer than a dozen non-food stands.\n<a title=\"Untitled by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8265356951/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8067/8265356951_986977124e_z.jpg\" alt=\"Untitled\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\n<a title=\"Sofia Christmas Market by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8265356447/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8199/8265356447_645dbffd3e_z.jpg\" alt=\"Sofia Christmas Market\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\nStill there was German Christmas music playing and I thought it was cute. Oh and the mulled wine was very tasty. Check it out.','Sofia Christmas Market ','','inherit','open','open','','7410-revision-2','','','2012-12-12 07:03:24','2012-12-12 05:03:24','',7410,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2012/12/12/7410-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(7414,1,'2012-12-13 07:01:47','2012-12-13 05:01:47','I\'m human. My life this week has reminded me of this. Sure I know it but this week I\'ve been confronted with life and the fact that I cannot do everything.\n\nI have dirty dishes in my sink. I should sweep my apartment. I need to do some laundry (but it turns out I\'m out of laundry detergent).  And I must take the garbage out this morning on my way to school.\n\nThe thing is, I am not sure what I have been doing.\n\nBasically, I\'ve been working or doing things related too work. The only problem right now is that I can\'t seem to get caught up. I grade work and then I get more. I read student work and then I get essay. I teach class and then I give a quiz. What\'s more, I\'ve also been going to Balkan dance practice two-plus times a week in the early evening preparing for the school Christmas concert.\n\nOn top of all of this, these days it seems to be constantly dark. It\'s dark in the mornings. So dark in fact that I wonder if I\'ve failed to correctly set my alarm when it goes off at 6am. Likewise it\'s dark when I leave work.\n\nAnyhow, Friday is our school faculty Christmas party and I\'m looking forward to that. We do a secret santa among teachers which is a lot of fun. For three days (Wednesday, Thursday and Friday) we leave clues and a little something (think chocolate) for the teachers who\'s name you drew. Then on Friday night at the party Santa comes (for real, in a Santa suit and everything) and he delivers presents and the secret santas are revealed.\n\nSo last night instead of doing any of the other things I\'ve listed, I made Christmas cookies to give to my santee while singing (poorly) christmas songs. I\'m human, too, you know.','I\'m Human, too, you know ','','inherit','open','open','','7413-revision','','','2012-12-13 07:01:47','2012-12-13 05:01:47','',7413,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2012/12/13/7413-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7415,1,'2012-12-13 19:18:21','2012-12-13 17:18:21','I\'m human. My life this week has reminded me of this. Sure I know it but this week I\'ve been confronted with life and the fact that I cannot do everything. I have dirty dishes in my sink. I should sweep my apartment. I need to do some laundry (but it turns out I\'m out of laundry detergent).  And I must take the garbage out this morning on my way to school. The thing is, I am not sure what I have been doing. Basically, I\'ve been working or doing things related too work. The only problem right now is that I can\'t seem to get caught up. I grade work and then I get more. I read student work and then I get essay. I teach class and then I give a quiz. What\'s more, I\'ve also been going to Balkan dance practice two-plus times a week in the early evening preparing for the school Christmas concert. On top of all of this, these days it seems to be constantly dark. It\'s dark in the mornings. So dark in fact that I wonder if I\'ve failed to correctly set my alarm when it goes off at 6am. Likewise it\'s dark when I leave work. Anyhow, Friday is our school faculty christmas party and I\'m looking forward to that. We do a secret santa among teachers which is a lot of fun. For three days (Wednesday, Thursday and Friday) we leave clues and a little something (think chocolate) for the teachers who\'s name you drew. Then on Friday night at the party Santa comes (for real, in a Santa suit and everything) and he delivers presents and the secret santas are revealed. So last night instead of doing any of the other things I\'ve listed, I made christmas cookies to give to my santee while singing (poorly) christmas songs. I\'m human, too, you know.','I\'m Human, too, you know ','','inherit','open','open','','7413-autosave','','','2012-12-13 19:18:21','2012-12-13 17:18:21','',7413,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2012/12/13/7413-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(7417,1,'2012-12-22 10:18:11','2012-12-22 08:18:11','This past weekend I slipped on some ice and I broke my left hand. Luckily I\'m right handed. \n\nNeedless to say, I didn\'t plan on this and I\'m not much of a surprise person. This past week has been hard. \n\nI\'ve had to ask lots of people for help with things I never have to ask for help with.\n\n\n<a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/wpid-Christmas-cast.png\"><img title=\"Christmas cast.png\" class=\"alignnone\" alt=\"image\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/wpid-Christmas-cast.png\" /></a>\n\n\n\nCan you carry these books for me? Can you move my computer from my desk to the projector? Can you hang up the posters which have fallen off the wall?\n\nThen there are the personal requests. Can you clip my hair back? Can you tie this bow on my shirt? Can you pull the arm of shirt srtaight on my right arm?\n\nCan you take me to the grocery store? Can you push the cart? Can you bag my things? Can you carry my things into my apartment?\n\nThe whole thing is very humbling. I\'ve even asked a friend\'s cleaning woman to come and clean my apartment for the next four weeks. I\'ve never had anyone do this before so this morning I spent some time doing a pre-clean clean.\n\nNow I\'m at The Mall having a muffin and coffee and thinking about how great pants/leggings with streachy waists are. Oh and I\'m also thinking about whether or not I can justify buying a capelet as my arm currently won\'t fit in my coat sleeve.','Christmas & a broken hand','','publish','open','open','','christmas-a-broken-hand','','','2012-12-22 10:18:14','2012-12-22 08:18:14','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7417',0,'post','',7),(7418,1,'2012-12-22 10:18:11','2012-12-22 08:18:11','','Auto Draft','','inherit','open','open','','7417-revision','','','2012-12-22 10:18:11','2012-12-22 08:18:11','',7417,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2012/12/22/7417-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7419,1,'2012-12-23 16:55:16','2012-12-23 14:55:16','','wpid-20121222_095129.jpg','','inherit','open','open','','wpid-20121222_095129-jpg','','','2012-12-23 16:55:16','2012-12-23 14:55:16','',7421,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/wpid-20121222_095129.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(7420,1,'2012-12-23 16:55:22','2012-12-23 14:55:22','','wpid-20121222_124916.jpg','','inherit','open','open','','wpid-20121222_124916-jpg','','','2012-12-23 16:55:22','2012-12-23 14:55:22','',7421,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/wpid-20121222_124916.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(7421,1,'2012-12-23 16:55:23','2012-12-23 14:55:23','I was told recently by a friend and reader that short posts are better than no posts. This one is for you T.\n\nOn Saturday I went to the Mall. I hired a cleaning wonan to clean my one-bedroom apt and I didn\'t want to be in her way. I drank a coffee and ate an orange cranberry muffin.\n\nThen I did some shopping. I popped into lots of different shops. I bought a few things--nothing to special. \n\nAfter a couple of hours the Mall actually got pretty busy but at 9:30 am there was almost no one in the mall and nearly every shop was still closed. Luckily Starbucks was open!!\n\n\n<a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/wpid-20121222_095129.jpg\"><img title=\"20121222_095129.jpg\" class=\"alignnone\" alt=\"image\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/wpid-20121222_095129.jpg\" /></a>\n\n\n\nI have to say it was an interesting shopping experience.\n\nI bought a sweater at H&M with my Bulgarian bank card. I was asked for id. No problem. I showed it and that was that. Interestingly not a single other shop asked me for my id but it\'s not such a big deal given the fact that I have to use a pin number.\n\nAfter doing a little more shopping I ended up At Orange Bookstore. I had a package in my good hand and my broken hand in a sling. There I wanted to buy a gift but I couldn\'t carry it to the register by myself. In Bulgarian I  asked an employee to help me with it and he was very nice to do so.\n\nAfter this I went to take a taxi home. My hands were full and I couldn\'t get the door open by myself. The taxi cab driver was also nice enough to help me and he didn\'t complain about only driving me to Mladost. At home he helped me with my packages by carrying them to the door.\n\nMan who knew that all it takes for Bulgarians to be nice to me is a broken hand?!\n\nI was greeted by a very clean apartment.\nInsanely clean.\n\n\n<a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/wpid-20121222_124916.jpg\"><img title=\"20121222_124916.jpg\" class=\"alignnone\" alt=\"image\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/wpid-20121222_124916.jpg\" /></a>\n\n\n\nI spent a little bit of time at home and then walked down the street for a coffee and a cake at the homemade cake shop in my neighborhood. Coffee and cake goes perfectly with my kindle. \n\nIt was the perfect way to pass my afternoon.','Saturday in Sofia','','publish','open','open','','saturday-in-sofia','','','2012-12-23 16:55:23','2012-12-23 14:55:23','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7421',0,'post','',6),(7422,1,'2012-12-23 16:55:23','2012-12-23 14:55:23','','Auto Draft','','inherit','open','open','','7421-revision','','','2012-12-23 16:55:23','2012-12-23 14:55:23','',7421,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2012/12/23/7421-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7423,1,'2012-12-24 10:24:51','2012-12-24 08:24:51','','wpid-PaperCamera2012-12-24-10-14-27.jpg','','inherit','open','open','','wpid-papercamera2012-12-24-10-14-27-jpg','','','2012-12-24 10:24:51','2012-12-24 08:24:51','',7424,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/wpid-PaperCamera2012-12-24-10-14-27.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(7424,1,'2012-12-25 08:16:00','2012-12-25 06:16:00','Wherever you are Merry Christmas. \n\n\n<a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/wpid-PaperCamera2012-12-24-10-14-27.jpg\"><img title=\"PaperCamera2012-12-24-10-14-27.jpg\" class=\"alignnone\" alt=\"image\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/wpid-PaperCamera2012-12-24-10-14-27.jpg\" /></a>\n\n\n\nWhile I\'m not home for the holidays this year, it doesn\'t mean that I\'m not thinking about my friends and family. In fact it\'s quite the opposite.\n\nI hope that you know that I love you thismuch. That\'s all the way around the world and back if your counting.','Merry Christmas from Bulgaria','','publish','open','open','','merry-christmas-from-bulgaria','','','2012-12-24 10:24:52','2012-12-24 08:24:52','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7424',0,'post','',4),(7425,1,'2012-12-24 10:24:52','2012-12-24 08:24:52','','Auto Draft','','inherit','open','open','','7424-revision','','','2012-12-24 10:24:52','2012-12-24 08:24:52','',7424,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2012/12/24/7424-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7426,1,'2012-12-24 10:55:11','2012-12-24 08:55:11','','wpid-20121224_100603.jpg','','inherit','open','open','','wpid-20121224_100603-jpg','','','2012-12-24 10:55:11','2012-12-24 08:55:11','',7428,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/wpid-20121224_100603.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(7427,1,'2012-12-24 10:55:13','2012-12-24 08:55:13','','wpid-20121224_100637.jpg','','inherit','open','open','','wpid-20121224_100637-jpg','','','2012-12-24 10:55:13','2012-12-24 08:55:13','',7428,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/wpid-20121224_100637.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(7428,1,'2012-12-24 10:55:14','2012-12-24 08:55:14','I worry that I\'m not good at giving gifts. I want find the perfect gift. I want the receiver of the gift to smile and smile. I also don\'t want to find myself in the position where someone gives me a gift but I don\'t have a gift for him or her. That\'s the worst.\n\nAnyhow gift giving produces a little bit of anxiety in me. Over the years I\'ve gotten better and better at it. \n\nThis year was no different. I participated in a couple of different gift exchanges/secret santas. I found some gifts for friends and family and I tried to buy all of Vienna recently. The gift ratio there--4 gifts for me 1 for other people. Ops.\n\n\n<a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/wpid-20121224_100603.jpg\"><img title=\"20121224_100603.jpg\" class=\"alignnone\" alt=\"image\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/wpid-20121224_100603.jpg\" /></a>\n\n\n\nThen I broke my hand. This didn\'t impeed my ability to buy gifts. Just to wrap them.\n\nMost gifts I wrestled into gift bags. \n\nBut there was one gift that I didn\'t have a big enough bag for. Turns out I didn\'t have enough wrapping paper either. Ha, ha.\n\nThis didn\'t stop me. \n\n\n<a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/wpid-20121224_100637.jpg\"><img title=\"20121224_100637.jpg\" class=\"alignnone\" alt=\"image\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/wpid-20121224_100637.jpg\" /></a>\n\n\n\nFor what it\'s worth I should point out that it does look better from one side than the other. Also the lined paper is red and green. Really that\'s got to count for something.\n\nPlease do note that I wrapped the gift one handed given my broken hand. I also used liberal amount of tape.','Giving gifts & Wrapping them','','publish','open','open','','giving-gifts-wrapping-them','','','2012-12-24 10:55:15','2012-12-24 08:55:15','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7428',0,'post','',2),(7429,1,'2012-12-24 10:55:14','2012-12-24 08:55:14','','Auto Draft','','inherit','open','open','','7428-revision','','','2012-12-24 10:55:14','2012-12-24 08:55:14','',7428,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2012/12/24/7428-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7430,1,'2012-12-27 14:37:29','2012-12-27 12:37:29','','wpid-20121227_102658.jpg','','inherit','open','open','','wpid-20121227_102658-jpg','','','2012-12-27 14:37:29','2012-12-27 12:37:29','',7431,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/wpid-20121227_102658.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(7431,1,'2012-12-27 14:37:30','2012-12-27 12:37:30','I\'m away from Sofia right now. To be specific I\'m in Bansko right now. \n\nDon\'t worry. I\'m not skiing. First I don\'t know how and second I have a broken hand and this prevents me from gripping anything. Oh well.\n\n\n<a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/wpid-20121227_102658.jpg\"><img title=\"20121227_102658.jpg\" class=\"alignnone\" alt=\"image\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/wpid-20121227_102658.jpg\" /></a>\n\n\n\nOur hotel has a spa center but even with a plastic bag on my arm after a few minutes in the steam room my hand felt damp in my cast. So I gave up on that.\n\nThis left me with reading.\n\nNot the worst thing if you ask me. Not at all.','On holiday in Bansko','','publish','open','open','','on-holiday-in-bansko','','','2012-12-27 14:37:30','2012-12-27 12:37:30','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7431',0,'post','',2),(7432,1,'2012-12-27 14:37:30','2012-12-27 12:37:30','','Auto Draft','','inherit','open','open','','7431-revision','','','2012-12-27 14:37:30','2012-12-27 12:37:30','',7431,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2012/12/27/7431-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7433,1,'2012-12-29 18:27:56','2012-12-29 16:27:56','','wpid-20121229_153334.jpg','','inherit','open','open','','wpid-20121229_153334-jpg','','','2012-12-29 18:27:56','2012-12-29 16:27:56','',7439,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/wpid-20121229_153334.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(7434,1,'2012-12-29 18:27:59','2012-12-29 16:27:59','','wpid-20121229_165049.jpg','','inherit','open','open','','wpid-20121229_165049-jpg','','','2012-12-29 18:27:59','2012-12-29 16:27:59','',7439,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/wpid-20121229_165049.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(7435,1,'2012-12-29 18:28:01','2012-12-29 16:28:01','','wpid-20121229_152754.jpg','','inherit','open','open','','wpid-20121229_152754-jpg','','','2012-12-29 18:28:01','2012-12-29 16:28:01','',7439,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/wpid-20121229_152754.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(7436,1,'2012-12-29 18:28:03','2012-12-29 16:28:03','','wpid-20121229_160411.jpg','','inherit','open','open','','wpid-20121229_160411-jpg','','','2012-12-29 18:28:03','2012-12-29 16:28:03','',7439,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/wpid-20121229_160411.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(7437,1,'2012-12-29 18:28:05','2012-12-29 16:28:05','','wpid-20121229_154505.jpg','','inherit','open','open','','wpid-20121229_154505-jpg','','','2012-12-29 18:28:05','2012-12-29 16:28:05','',7439,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/wpid-20121229_154505.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(7438,1,'2012-12-29 18:28:10','2012-12-29 16:28:10','','wpid-20121229_160331.jpg','','inherit','open','open','','wpid-20121229_160331-jpg','','','2012-12-29 18:28:10','2012-12-29 16:28:10','',7439,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/wpid-20121229_160331.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(7439,1,'2012-12-29 18:28:11','2012-12-29 16:28:11','After a couple of days in Bansko we headed to Melnik. Melnik is known for it\'s wine, history and it\'s size. \n\n\n<a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/wpid-20121229_153334.jpg\"><img title=\"20121229_153334.jpg\" class=\"alignnone\" alt=\"image\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/wpid-20121229_153334.jpg\" /></a>\n\n\n\nI\'ve been nearly a half dozen times but this is a town that never gets old. Or it does but it ages well. This tree is 800 years old and still going strong.\n\n\n<a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/wpid-20121229_165049.jpg\"><img title=\"20121229_165049.jpg\" class=\"alignnone\" alt=\"image\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/wpid-20121229_165049.jpg\" /></a>\n\n\n\nThe town is super small. Melnik has 350+ people and a single main street. The street isn\'t really paved. Mostly it is cobble stones and packed dirt. This time of year it means there\'s plenty of mud around town.\n\n\n<a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/wpid-20121229_152754.jpg\"><img title=\"20121229_152754.jpg\" class=\"alignnone\" alt=\"image\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/wpid-20121229_152754.jpg\" /></a>\n\n\n\nMelnik used to be a very rich town. I think there was lots of trade and as such lots of money flowed through Melnik. The best examples of this wealth now are the homes and houses which line the main street.\n\n\n<a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/wpid-20121229_160411.jpg\"><img title=\"20121229_160411.jpg\" class=\"alignnone\" alt=\"image\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/wpid-20121229_160411.jpg\" /></a>\n\n\n\nOne such home is now a house museum. It is at the far end of town and up on a hill. The house is large and looms over the town a reminder of the past and a link to the current wine trade. \n\n\n<a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/wpid-20121229_154505.jpg\"><img title=\"20121229_154505.jpg\" class=\"alignnone\" alt=\"image\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/wpid-20121229_154505.jpg\" /></a>\n\n\n\nThe house is beautiful both inside and out and not to be out done there is also a huge wine cellar under the house. In fact a poster outside the museum claims this is the best example of the period architecture in Bulgaria. I tend to agree (and I think I\'m allowed to do this 4+ years in).\n\n\n<a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/wpid-20121229_160331.jpg\"><img title=\"20121229_160331.jpg\" class=\"alignnone\" alt=\"image\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/wpid-20121229_160331.jpg\" /></a>\n\n\n\nMelnik is absolutely worth a visit, if not a long weekend.','Two days in Melnik','','publish','open','open','','two-days-in-melnik','','','2012-12-29 18:28:12','2012-12-29 16:28:12','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7439',0,'post','',2),(7440,1,'2012-12-29 18:28:11','2012-12-29 16:28:11','','Auto Draft','','inherit','open','open','','7439-revision','','','2012-12-29 18:28:11','2012-12-29 16:28:11','',7439,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2012/12/29/7439-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7441,1,'2012-12-31 15:01:57','2012-12-31 13:01:57','','wpid-Breakfast.png','','inherit','open','open','','wpid-breakfast-png','','','2012-12-31 15:01:57','2012-12-31 13:01:57','',7442,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/wpid-Breakfast.png',0,'attachment','image/png',0),(7442,1,'2012-12-31 15:01:58','2012-12-31 13:01:58','Well today marks the end of 2012. How did this happen already!? I really can\'t believe that 2013 is nearly here.\n\nHere\'s what I had for breakfast.\n\n\n<a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/wpid-Breakfast.png\"><img title=\"Breakfast.png\" class=\"alignnone\" alt=\"image\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/wpid-Breakfast.png\" /></a>\n\n\n\nHomemade makitsi. Yum, yum. Makitsti are kind of like doughnuts--fried dough which you can then top with powered sugar, honey or jam.\n\nI also had a mug of Turkish coffee and a bowl of yogurt. It was a great combination of sweet and savory.\n\nNo matter where you are or what time you\'ll be ringing in 2013--Happy New Year to each of you!!','Ringing in 2013','','publish','open','open','','ringing-in-2013','','','2012-12-31 15:01:58','2012-12-31 13:01:58','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7442',0,'post','',4),(7443,1,'2012-12-31 15:01:58','2012-12-31 13:01:58','','Auto Draft','','inherit','open','open','','7442-revision','','','2012-12-31 15:01:58','2012-12-31 13:01:58','',7442,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2012/12/31/7442-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7444,1,'2013-01-06 17:45:10','2013-01-06 15:45:10','','wpid-20130104_113625.jpg','','inherit','open','open','','wpid-20130104_113625-jpg','','','2013-01-06 17:45:10','2013-01-06 15:45:10','',7445,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/wpid-20130104_113625.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(7445,1,'2013-01-06 17:45:11','2013-01-06 15:45:11','Budapest with R. was wonderful. Then again it always is. \n\n\n<a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/wpid-20130104_113625.jpg\"><img title=\"20130104_113625.jpg\" class=\"alignnone\" alt=\"image\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/wpid-20130104_113625.jpg\" /></a>\n\n\n\nThis was the fifth time I\'ve been in five years  It\'s even better to be back in Sofia. I\'m looking to sleeping in my own bed tonight!!','Back from Budapest','','publish','open','open','','back-from-budapest','','','2013-01-06 17:45:11','2013-01-06 15:45:11','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7445',0,'post','',2),(7446,1,'2013-01-06 17:45:11','2013-01-06 15:45:11','','Auto Draft','','inherit','open','open','','7445-revision','','','2013-01-06 17:45:11','2013-01-06 15:45:11','',7445,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/01/06/7445-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7462,1,'2013-01-18 07:00:26','2013-01-18 05:00:26','It\'s official my dAd and sister are coming to visit for three weeks in late June/July. All I can say is watch out, Bulgaria. You\'ve probably never met a guy my dAd before.\r\n\r\nIn fact this is an excerpt of an email that I got from this week which demonstrates both his dedication to all things Bulgarian and his unique-dAd-ness.\r\n<blockquote>Heck, just yesterday a local college called to see if I would teach a Furniture Building class for Spring Term… I talked with MoM and I thought about it and I told them NO, I would be too busy planning a trip to Bulgaria.\r\n\r\nSo what have I done?  I talked with C. [my little sister] about when she could go and for how long.  Then I took a nap so that I would be well rested…\r\n\r\nNext, I looked a great blog about Bulgaria (and other stuff)…  “<a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Karolinka in and around Bulgaria</a>”.  It’s actually pretty good – maybe we can check out some of the places she has been.   Then I watched Andrew Zimmerman’s Bizzare Foods – he eats all sorts of unusual and gross foods.  I think he ate calf brains at the Grand Bazaar – no Mad Cow disease for me.\r\n\r\nI think I’ll just have a shot of Rakia instead… EAEKCNP!!!... <em>CHOUGH…CHOUGH…WHEEZ…WHOO…….WHOOOO!!!</em>\r\n\r\n<em> </em><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">I think that a ½ of shot will do… sipped slowly of course… whenever you ever try it, it warms all of the way down…</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">I also looked at the <a href=\"http://seattletimes.com/html/travel/2020113981_bestdestinationsxml.html\" target=\"_blank\">NY Times best “Places to go in 2013.”</a> </span><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\"> Istanbul was one of the places as well as several other in places in Eastern Europe… There were 46 places, in all, including the White Salmon River in the Columbia Gorge… [Note: this last place is not so far from my hometown of Walla Walla, WA.]</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">And MoM just rescued my whole email when I lost it – it had nothing to do the Rakia – but I’m going to send it before I lose it!</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">Love you,</span>\r\n\r\ndAd</blockquote>\r\nWhat can I say? I am clearly the luckiest girl in the world. I just can\'t believe that i have to wait for five months for their visit. Although maybe it\'s a good think. It will give me plenty of time to plan and obsess about their trip and to map out a route that loops through southern Bulgaria to Istanbul and back up to the Black Sea to northern Bulgaria and then back to Sofia.','My dAd and sister are coming to visit! ','','publish','open','open','','my-dad-and-sister-are-coming-to-visit','','','2013-01-18 07:00:26','2013-01-18 05:00:26','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7462',0,'post','',3);
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (7448,1,'2013-01-10 12:09:04','2013-01-10 10:09:04','I stumbled across this interesting this piece on entrepreneurship in Bulgaria. It\'s such a great glimpse into a world in Bulgaria that I know nothing about. The best part for me is how much energy and enthusiasm the men and women in this video have--it\'s almost palpable.\r\n<iframe src=\"http://www.youtube.com/embed/VVAF4nyMIfo\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\"></iframe>\r\nI\'m looking forward to the next video already. Hope that you enjoy this one!!\r\n\r\nOh and the clips shot in<a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/10/16/tova-coffee-the-arts-and-a-decent-dose-of-cool/\" target=\"_blank\"> +Tova </a>make me want to drop everything and go hang out there with a coffee and my book.','Entrepreneurship in Bulgaria','','publish','open','open','','entrepreneurship-in-bulgaria','','','2013-01-10 12:09:04','2013-01-10 10:09:04','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7448',0,'post','',2),(7449,1,'2013-01-10 12:07:49','2013-01-10 10:07:49','I stumbled across this interesting this piece on entrepreneurship in Bulgaria. It\'s such a great glimpse into a world in Bulgaria that I know nothing about. The best part for me is how much energy and enthusiasm the men and women in this video have--it\'s almost palpable.\n<iframe src=\"http://www.youtube.com/embed/VVAF4nyMIfo\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\"></iframe>\nI\'m looking forward to the next video already. Hope that you enjoy this one!!\n\nOh and the clips shot in +Tova make me want to drop everything and go hang out there with a coffee and my book.','Entrepreneurship in Bulgaria','','inherit','open','open','','7448-revision','','','2013-01-10 12:07:49','2013-01-10 10:07:49','',7448,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/01/10/7448-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7450,1,'2013-01-10 12:08:45','2013-01-10 10:08:45','I stumbled across this interesting this piece on entrepreneurship in Bulgaria. It\'s such a great glimpse into a world in Bulgaria that I know nothing about. The best part for me is how much energy and enthusiasm the men and women in this video have--it\'s almost palpable.\r\n<iframe src=\"http://www.youtube.com/embed/VVAF4nyMIfo\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\"></iframe>\r\nI\'m looking forward to the next video already. Hope that you enjoy this one!!\r\n\r\nOh and the clips shot in<a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/10/16/tova-coffee-the-arts-and-a-decent-dose-of-cool/\" target=\"_blank\"> +Tova </a>make me want to drop everything and go hang out there with a coffee and my book.','Entrepreneurship in Bulgaria','','inherit','open','open','','7448-revision-2','','','2013-01-10 12:08:45','2013-01-10 10:08:45','',7448,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/01/10/7448-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(7451,1,'2013-01-10 12:08:46','2013-01-10 10:08:46','I stumbled across this interesting this piece on entrepreneurship in Bulgaria. It\'s such a great glimpse into a world in Bulgaria that I know nothing about. The best part for me is how much energy and enthusiasm the men and women in this video have--it\'s almost palpable.\r\n<iframe src=\"http://www.youtube.com/embed/VVAF4nyMIfo\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\"></iframe>\r\nI\'m looking forward to the next video already. Hope that you enjoy this one!!\r\n\r\nOh and the clips shot in<a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/10/16/tova-coffee-the-arts-and-a-decent-dose-of-cool/\" target=\"_blank\"> +Tova </a>make me want to drop everything and go hang out there with a coffee and my book.','Entrepreneurship in Bulgaria','','inherit','open','open','','7448-revision-3','','','2013-01-10 12:08:46','2013-01-10 10:08:46','',7448,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/01/10/7448-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(7452,1,'2013-01-10 12:10:08','2013-01-10 10:10:08','I stumbled across this interesting this piece on entrepreneurship in Bulgaria. It\'s such a great glimpse into a world in Bulgaria that I know nothing about. The best part for me is how much energy and enthusiasm the men and women in this video have--it\'s almost palpable.\n<iframe src=\"http://www.youtube.com/embed/VVAF4nyMIfo\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\"></iframe>\nI\'m looking forward to the next video already. Hope that you enjoy this one!!\n\nOh and the clips shot in<a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/10/16/tova-coffee-the-arts-and-a-decent-dose-of-cool/\" target=\"_blank\"> +Tova </a>make me want to drop everything and go hang out there with a coffee and my book.','Entrepreneurship in Bulgaria','','inherit','open','open','','7448-autosave','','','2013-01-10 12:10:08','2013-01-10 10:10:08','',7448,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/01/10/7448-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(7453,1,'2013-01-11 07:03:59','2013-01-11 05:03:59','This is just to say, I hope my cast comes off today.\r\n\r\nIt wold be really nice to be able to use both of my hands again. Oh and it\'s winter in Sofia and this whole I can\'t button up my coat let alone get my arm in my coat sleeve thing is getting kind of old.\r\n\r\nThings that are significantly harder with one hand:\r\n<ul>\r\n	<li>opening doors</li>\r\n	<li>typing</li>\r\n	<li>pushing a shoppinng cart around</li>\r\n	<li>washing dishes</li>\r\n	<li>doing my hair</li>\r\n	<li>making my bed</li>\r\n	<li>hooking my bra strap</li>\r\n	<li>buttoning anything</li>\r\n</ul>\r\nIn fact I\'ve been wearing leggings everywhere four 4 weeks after I gave up on buttoning my pants after every trip to the toilet.  31 year-old me keeps thinking: leggings are not pants but 8 year-old me loves it and I wish my MoM were around to put a side-knot in an over-sized t-shirt for me 80s-style.','Me & my cast','','publish','open','open','','me-my-cast','','','2013-01-11 07:03:59','2013-01-11 05:03:59','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7453',0,'post','',3),(7454,1,'2013-01-11 07:03:16','2013-01-11 05:03:16','This is just to say, I hope my cast comes off today.\n\nIt wold be really nice to be able to use both of my hands again. Oh and it\'s winter in Sofia and this whole I can\'t button up my coat let alone get my arm in my coat sleeve thing is getting kind of old.\n\nThings that are significantly harder with one hand:\n<ul>\n	<li>opening doors</li>\n	<li>typing</li>\n	<li>pushing a shoppinng cart around</li>\n	<li>washing dishes</li>\n	<li>doing my hair</li>\n	<li>making my bed</li>\n	<li>hooking my bra strap</li>\n	<li>buttoning anything</li>\n</ul>\nIn fact I\'ve been wearing leggings everywhere four 4 weeks after I gave up on buttoning my pants after every trip to the toilet.  31 year-old me keeps thinking: leggings are not pants but 8 year-old me loves it and I wish my MoM were around to put a side-knot in an over-sized t-shirt for me 80s-style.','Me & my cast','','inherit','open','open','','7453-revision','','','2013-01-11 07:03:16','2013-01-11 05:03:16','',7453,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/01/11/7453-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7455,1,'2013-01-11 16:19:30','2013-01-11 14:19:30','This is just to say, I hope my cast comes off today. It wold be really nice to be able to use both of my hands again. Oh and it\'s winter in Sofia and this whole I can\'t button up my coat let alone get my arm in my coat sleeve thing is getting kind of old. Things that are significantly harder with one hand:\n<ul>\n	<li>opening doors</li>\n	<li>typing</li>\n	<li>pushing a shoppinng cart around</li>\n	<li>washing dishes</li>\n	<li>doing my hair</li>\n	<li>making my bed</li>\n	<li>hooking my bra strap</li>\n	<li>buttoning anything</li>\n</ul>\nIn fact I\'ve been wearing leggings everywhere four 4 weeks after I gave up on buttoning my pants after every trip to the toilet.  31 year-old me keeps thinking: leggings are not pants but 8 year-old me loves it and I wish my MoM were around to put a side-knot in an over-sized t-shirt for me 80s-style.','Me & my cast','','inherit','open','open','','7453-autosave','','','2013-01-11 16:19:30','2013-01-11 14:19:30','',7453,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/01/11/7453-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(7456,1,'2013-01-13 11:08:23','2013-01-13 09:08:23','Friday afternoon my cast came off. Yipee!\r\n\r\nIt was such a great feeling to have my hand back. Sure it is bruised, stiff and  much weaker than it was four weeks ago but that\'s to be expected.\r\n\r\nFirst off, it\'s been cold in Sofia this past week and I\'ve been walking around with my coat open and unbuttoned because I couldn\'t get my cast through the sleeve of my coat. Last night I went out to dinner with friends and buttoned my coat up at the end of the night and it felt great.\r\n\r\nI guess this is just to say, all of the day to day aspects of living are much, much easier with two hands.\r\n\r\nI\'ve still got some serious physical therapy to complete as my range of motion is pretty limited in my left hand but at least I don\'t have to take showers with a billa shopping bag wrapped around my cast. Right now I feel like I have one little-old-lady hand and one good hand but I am doing my exercises and hoping for the best. For example I am typing with both hands but my right hand is out typing my left hand so I\'ve had lots of strange typos to correct in this post.\r\n\r\nInterestingly the hand physical therapist at Pirogov Hospital is a Canadian woman who is the mother of an ACS student. So we had a nice talk about life in Bulgaria, ACS and the exercises that I need to complete each day. This was especially nice because  I am sorry to say that very little about Pirogov inspires confidence.\r\n\r\nAnyhow, this is just to say, so far so good.\r\n\r\nOnly now I no longer have any excuses for not doing my dishes, making my bed or cleaning my apartment. But really, I\'m okay with this!','The cast is off!!','','publish','open','open','','the-cast-is-off','','','2013-01-13 11:08:23','2013-01-13 09:08:23','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7456',0,'post','',1),(7457,1,'2013-01-13 11:07:49','2013-01-13 09:07:49','Friday afternoon my cast came off. Yipee!\n\nIt was such a great feeling to have my hand back. Sure it is bruised, stiff and  much weaker than it was four weeks ago but that\'s to be expected.\n\nFirst off, it\'s been cold in Sofia this past week and I\'ve been walking around with my coat open and unbuttoned because I couldn\'t get my cast through the sleeve of my coat. Last night I went out to dinner with friends and buttoned my coat up at the end of the night and it felt great.\n\nI guess this is just to say, all of the day to day aspects of living are much, much easier with two hands.\n\nI\'ve still got some serious physical therapy to complete as my range of motion is pretty limited in my left hand but at least I don\'t have to take showers with a billa shopping bag wrapped around my cast. Right now I feel like I have one little-old-lady hand and one good hand but I am doing my exercises and hoping for the best. For example I am typing with both hands but my right hand is out typing my left hand so I\'ve had lots of strange typos to correct in this post.\n\nInterestingly the hand physical therapist at Pirogov Hospital is a Canadian woman who is the mother of an ACS student. So we had a nice talk about life in Bulgaria, ACS and the exercises that I need to complete each day. This was especially nice because  I am sorry to say that very little about Pirogov inspires confidence.\n\nAnyhow, this is just to say, so far so good.\n\nOnly now I no longer have any excuses for not doing my dishes, making my bed or cleaning my apartment. But really, I\'m okay this!','The cast is off!!','','inherit','open','open','','7456-revision','','','2013-01-13 11:07:49','2013-01-13 09:07:49','',7456,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/01/13/7456-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7458,1,'2013-01-13 11:07:56','2013-01-13 09:07:56','Friday afternoon my cast came off. Yipee!\r\n\r\nIt was such a great feeling to have my hand back. Sure it is bruised, stiff and  much weaker than it was four weeks ago but that\'s to be expected.\r\n\r\nFirst off, it\'s been cold in Sofia this past week and I\'ve been walking around with my coat open and unbuttoned because I couldn\'t get my cast through the sleeve of my coat. Last night I went out to dinner with friends and buttoned my coat up at the end of the night and it felt great.\r\n\r\nI guess this is just to say, all of the day to day aspects of living are much, much easier with two hands.\r\n\r\nI\'ve still got some serious physical therapy to complete as my range of motion is pretty limited in my left hand but at least I don\'t have to take showers with a billa shopping bag wrapped around my cast. Right now I feel like I have one little-old-lady hand and one good hand but I am doing my exercises and hoping for the best. For example I am typing with both hands but my right hand is out typing my left hand so I\'ve had lots of strange typos to correct in this post.\r\n\r\nInterestingly the hand physical therapist at Pirogov Hospital is a Canadian woman who is the mother of an ACS student. So we had a nice talk about life in Bulgaria, ACS and the exercises that I need to complete each day. This was especially nice because  I am sorry to say that very little about Pirogov inspires confidence.\r\n\r\nAnyhow, this is just to say, so far so good.\r\n\r\nOnly now I no longer have any excuses for not doing my dishes, making my bed or cleaning my apartment. But really, I\'m okay with this!','The cast is off!!','','inherit','open','open','','7456-revision-2','','','2013-01-13 11:07:56','2013-01-13 09:07:56','',7456,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/01/13/7456-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(7459,1,'2013-01-13 11:09:28','2013-01-13 09:09:28','Friday afternoon my cast came off. Yipee!\n\nIt was such a great feeling to have my hand back. Sure it is bruised, stiff and  much weaker than it was four weeks ago but that\'s to be expected.\n\nFirst off, it\'s been cold in Sofia this past week and I\'ve been walking around with my coat open and unbuttoned because I couldn\'t get my cast through the sleeve of my coat. Last night I went out to dinner with friends and buttoned my coat up at the end of the night and it felt great.\n\nI guess this is just to say, all of the day to day aspects of living are much, much easier with two hands.\n\nI\'ve still got some serious physical therapy to complete as my range of motion is pretty limited in my left hand but at least I don\'t have to take showers with a billa shopping bag wrapped around my cast. Right now I feel like I have one little-old-lady hand and one good hand but I am doing my exercises and hoping for the best. For example I am typing with both hands but my right hand is out typing my left hand so I\'ve had lots of strange typos to correct in this post.\n\nInterestingly the hand physical therapist at Pirogov Hospital is a Canadian woman who is the mother of an ACS student. So we had a nice talk about life in Bulgaria, ACS and the exercises that I need to complete each day. This was especially nice because  I am sorry to say that very little about Pirogov inspires confidence.\n\nAnyhow, this is just to say, so far so good.\n\nOnly now I no longer have any excuses for not doing my dishes, making my bed or cleaning my apartment. But really, I\'m okay with this!','The cast is off!!','','inherit','open','open','','7456-autosave','','','2013-01-13 11:09:28','2013-01-13 09:09:28','',7456,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/01/13/7456-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(7460,1,'2013-01-14 06:45:09','0000-00-00 00:00:00','','The most beautiful national dance videos ','','draft','open','open','','','','','2013-01-14 06:45:09','2013-01-14 04:45:09','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7460',0,'post','',0),(7467,1,'2013-01-24 07:08:05','2013-01-24 05:08:05','I\'ve been in a bit of a rut in the new year.\r\n\r\nIt\'s funny because it started off with a bang. I rang in the New Year in Sofia, then flew to Budapest for a wedding and to see a friend.\r\n\r\nThen I spent <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/01/11/me-my-cast/\" target=\"_blank\">an extra week in my cast</a> all the while falling further and further behind in my grading and then <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/01/13/the-cast-is-off/\" target=\"_blank\">it came off</a>d but it took me another week-plus to catch-up-ish. In the midst of all of this, I\'ve battled the cold weather, a case of the I-don\'t-want-tos and there\'s been a <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/01/18/my-dad-and-sister-are-coming-to-visit/\" target=\"_blank\">flurry of decision making related to my summer plans and my dAd and little sister\'s visit</a>.\r\n\r\nAt school the quarter ends this week and final exams start next week. It\'s been a whirlwind of anxious students and stressed out teachers at school. So last night I went to cheer on our school basketball teams. The girls won easily (it wasn\'t necessarily pretty but they played with a lot of heart). The boys played full court press and unsettled their opponents early on--at one point they had a nearly a 20 point lead. Unfortunately our opponents adjusted their game accordingly and won by 1 point (okay maybe 3--I can\'t remember).\r\n<a title=\"pasta with arugula by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8410615322/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8191/8410615322_dfcf327751_z.jpg\" alt=\"pasta with arugula\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\r\nAfter the game I made this pasta-arugula-lemon-sirene cheese dish. It was tasty and very green. It\'s decidedly the prettiest meal I\'ve made in ages. Not that the bar has been set very high as I\'ve been eating the same pot of black-eyed peas stew for a week.\r\n\r\nAnyhow, this is all to say, I am here still. January is going slowly (but too fast at the same time) and sincerely hope that you all are having a more inspired January than I am.','Inspiration(less) ','','publish','open','open','','inspirationless','','','2013-01-24 07:08:05','2013-01-24 05:08:05','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7467',0,'post','',2),(7463,1,'2013-01-18 06:58:54','2013-01-18 04:58:54','It\'s official my dAd and sister are coming to visit for three weeks in late June/July. All I can say is watch out, Bulgaria. You\'ve probably never met a guy my dAd before.\n\nIn fact this is an excerpt of an email that I got from this week which demonstrates both his dedication to all things Bulgarian and his unique-dAd-ness.\n<blockquote>Heck, just yesterday a local college called to see if I would teach a Furniture Building class for Spring Term… I talked with MoM and I thought about it and I told them NO, I would be too busy planning a trip to Bulgaria.\n\nSo what have I done?  I talked with Charlotte about when she could go and for how long.  Then I took a nap so that I would be well rested…\n\nNext, I looked a great blog about Bulgaria (and other stuff)…  “<a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Karolinka in and around Bulgaria</a>”.  It’s actually pretty good – maybe we can check out some of the places she has been.   Then I watched Andrew Zimmerman’s Bizzare Foods – he eats all sorts of unusual and gross foods.  I think he ate calf brains at the Grand Bazaar – no Mad Cow disease for me.\n\nI think I’ll just have a shot of Rakia instead… EAEKCNP!!!... <em>CHOUGH…CHOUGH…WHEEZ…WHOO…….WHOOOO!!!</em>\n\n<em> </em><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">I think that a ½ of shot will do… sipped slowly of course… whenever you ever try it, it warms all of the way down…</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">I also looked at the <a href=\"http://seattletimes.com/html/travel/2020113981_bestdestinationsxml.html\" target=\"_blank\">NY Times best “Places to go in 2013.”</a> </span><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\"> Istanbul was one of the places as well as several other in places in Eastern Europe… There were 46 places, in all, including the White Salmon River in the Columbia Gorge… [Note: this last place is not so far from my hometown of Walla Walla, WA.]</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">And MoM just rescued my whole email when I lost it – it had nothing to do the Rakia – but I’m going to send it before I lose it!</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">Love you,</span>\n\ndAd\n\nWhat can I say? I am clearly the luckiest girl in the world. I just can\'t believe that i have to wait for five months for their visit. Although maybe it\'s a good think. It will give me plenty of time to plan and obsess about their trip and to map out a route that loops through southern Bulgaria to Istanbul and back up to the Black Sea to northern Bulgaria and then back to Sofia.</blockquote>','My dAd and sister are coming to visit! ','','inherit','open','open','','7462-revision','','','2013-01-18 06:58:54','2013-01-18 04:58:54','',7462,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/01/18/7462-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7464,1,'2013-01-18 06:59:54','2013-01-18 04:59:54','It\'s official my dAd and sister are coming to visit for three weeks in late June/July. All I can say is watch out, Bulgaria. You\'ve probably never met a guy my dAd before.\n\nIn fact this is an excerpt of an email that I got from this week which demonstrates both his dedication to all things Bulgarian and his unique-dAd-ness.\n<blockquote>Heck, just yesterday a local college called to see if I would teach a Furniture Building class for Spring Term… I talked with MoM and I thought about it and I told them NO, I would be too busy planning a trip to Bulgaria.\n\nSo what have I done?  I talked with C. [my little sister] about when she could go and for how long.  Then I took a nap so that I would be well rested…\n\nNext, I looked a great blog about Bulgaria (and other stuff)…  “<a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Karolinka in and around Bulgaria</a>”.  It’s actually pretty good – maybe we can check out some of the places she has been.   Then I watched Andrew Zimmerman’s Bizzare Foods – he eats all sorts of unusual and gross foods.  I think he ate calf brains at the Grand Bazaar – no Mad Cow disease for me.\n\nI think I’ll just have a shot of Rakia instead… EAEKCNP!!!... <em>CHOUGH…CHOUGH…WHEEZ…WHOO…….WHOOOO!!!</em>\n\n<em> </em><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">I think that a ½ of shot will do… sipped slowly of course… whenever you ever try it, it warms all of the way down…</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">I also looked at the <a href=\"http://seattletimes.com/html/travel/2020113981_bestdestinationsxml.html\" target=\"_blank\">NY Times best “Places to go in 2013.”</a> </span><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\"> Istanbul was one of the places as well as several other in places in Eastern Europe… There were 46 places, in all, including the White Salmon River in the Columbia Gorge… [Note: this last place is not so far from my hometown of Walla Walla, WA.]</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">And MoM just rescued my whole email when I lost it – it had nothing to do the Rakia – but I’m going to send it before I lose it!</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">Love you,</span>\n\ndAd</blockquote>\nWhat can I say? I am clearly the luckiest girl in the world. I just can\'t believe that i have to wait for five months for their visit. Although maybe it\'s a good think. It will give me plenty of time to plan and obsess about their trip and to map out a route that loops through southern Bulgaria to Istanbul and back up to the Black Sea to northern Bulgaria and then back to Sofia.','My dAd and sister are coming to visit! ','','inherit','open','open','','7462-revision-2','','','2013-01-18 06:59:54','2013-01-18 04:59:54','',7462,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/01/18/7462-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(7465,1,'2013-01-18 16:11:17','2013-01-18 14:11:17','It\'s official my dAd and sister are coming to visit for three weeks in late June/July. All I can say is watch out, Bulgaria. You\'ve probably never met a guy my dAd before.\n\nIn fact this is an excerpt of an email that I got from this week which demonstrates both his dedication to all things Bulgarian and his unique-dAd-ness.\n<blockquote>Heck, just yesterday a local college called to see if I would teach a Furniture Building class for Spring Term… I talked with MoM and I thought about it and I told them NO, I would be too busy planning a trip to Bulgaria.\n\nSo what have I done?  I talked with C. [my little sister] about when she could go and for how long.  Then I took a nap so that I would be well rested…\n\nNext, I looked a great blog about Bulgaria (and other stuff)…  “<a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Karolinka in and around Bulgaria</a>”.  It’s actually pretty good – maybe we can check out some of the places she has been.   Then I watched Andrew Zimmerman’s Bizzare Foods – he eats all sorts of unusual and gross foods.  I think he ate calf brains at the Grand Bazaar – no Mad Cow disease for me.\n\nI think I’ll just have a shot of Rakia instead… EAEKCNP!!!... <em>CHOUGH…CHOUGH…WHEEZ…WHOO…….WHOOOO!!!</em>\n\n<em> </em><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">I think that a ½ of shot will do… sipped slowly of course… whenever you ever try it, it warms all of the way down…</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">I also looked at the <a href=\"http://seattletimes.com/html/travel/2020113981_bestdestinationsxml.html\" target=\"_blank\">NY Times best “Places to go in 2013.”</a> </span><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\"> Istanbul was one of the places as well as several other in places in Eastern Europe… There were 46 places, in all, including the White Salmon River in the Columbia Gorge… [Note: this last place is not so far from my hometown of Walla Walla, WA.]</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">And MoM just rescued my whole email when I lost it – it had nothing to do the Rakia – but I’m going to send it before I lose it!</span>\n\n<span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">Love you,</span>\n\ndAd</blockquote>\nWhat can I say? I am clearly the luckiest girl in the world. I just can\'t believe that i have to wait for five months for their visit. Although maybe it\'s a good think. It will give me plenty of time to plan and obsess about their trip and to map out a route that loops through southern Bulgaria to Istanbul and back up to the Black Sea to northern Bulgaria and then back to Sofia.','My dAd and sister are coming to visit! ','','inherit','open','open','','7462-autosave','','','2013-01-18 16:11:17','2013-01-18 14:11:17','',7462,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/01/18/7462-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(7470,1,'2013-02-03 22:34:49','2013-02-03 20:34:49','I\'ve been away for a while. You may remember me as that girl who lives in Sofia and writes about her life on the blog Karolinkabulgaria. Then again you may not remember me as I\'ve been pretty bad about writing on this blog recently.\r\n\r\nIt may, just may, have to do with the fact that I haven\'t been up to much that seemed blog-worthy. I try not to complain about things on my blog as this blog could turn into one long rant.\r\n\r\nSo instead I took an extended blogging vacation. It\'s been a topsy-turvy month.\r\n\r\nAs you may remember, I broke my hand in December. This was unexpected and rather inconvenient. I couldn\'t cook for myself, I couldn\'t do my own laundry, I struggled to take a shower and I walked around for a month with my coat unbuttoned.  Since the cast came off, I\'ve been going to physical therapy and doing my exercises. It\'s neither interesting nor very sexy but I am happy to report that my hand feels better each day.\r\n\r\nCome January, after two weeks of Christmas vacation in Europe, I had a hard time getting back into the swing of things at work. We had two and half weeks of class in January before the semester ended and I spent most of that time teaching, grading, planning and writing exams.  I\'ve really struggled to get caught up at work after teaching for two weeks with a cast on and not being able to staple things easily let alone take the cap off of my white board markers with one hand. Things are getting better little by little but I really could use a few extra hours each day.\r\n\r\nThis past week and this next week, I\'ll be grading my heart out and getting ready for next semester. Sometimes I wonder if it ever gets any easier. Being a teacher is hard work.\r\n\r\nOkay, to be fair, being a student is hard work too.\r\n\r\nThis brings us to February. Right?! How did it get to be February already?!\r\n\r\nAnyhow, I\'m looking forward to February.  I plan to get out more in Sofia. There are some new restaurants that I want to check out and some favorites that I want to return to. Oh and I\'ve still got to go back to Wok to Walk as I haven\'t tried all of the flavor combinations and I\'m apparently giving it my best go.\r\n\r\nThen there\'s a spa weekend in my future as well as a long weekend in Prague with friends. How lucky am I?\r\n\r\nThe other great thing about February? It\'s a short month and that means spring is <em>almost</em> just around the corner.\r\n\r\nSo I\'ll end on this note: it\'s good to be back. I hope that you haven\'t missed me too much.','Why hello there! ','','publish','open','open','','why-hello-there','','','2013-02-03 22:34:49','2013-02-03 20:34:49','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7470',0,'post','',1),(7468,1,'2013-01-24 07:07:11','2013-01-24 05:07:11','I\'ve been in a bit of a rut in the new year.\n\nIt\'s funny because it started off with a bang. I rang in the New Year in Sofia, then flew to Budapest for a wedding and to see a friend.\n\nThen I spent <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/01/11/me-my-cast/\" target=\"_blank\">an extra week in my cast</a> all the while falling further and further behind in my grading and then <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/01/13/the-cast-is-off/\" target=\"_blank\">it came off</a>d but it took me another week-plus to catch-up-ish. In the midst of all of this, I\'ve battled the cold weather, a case of the I-don\'t-want-tos and there\'s been a <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/01/18/my-dad-and-sister-are-coming-to-visit/\" target=\"_blank\">flurry of decision making related to my summer plans and my dAd and little sister\'s visit</a>.\n\nAt school the quarter ends this week and final exams start next week. It\'s been a whirlwind of anxious students and stressed out teachers at school. So last night I went to cheer on our school basketball teams. The girls won easily (it wasn\'t necessarily pretty but they played with a lot of heart). The boys played full court press and unsettled their opponents early on--at one point they had a nearly a 20 point lead. Unfortunately our opponents adjusted their game accordingly and won by 1 point (okay maybe 3--I can\'t remember).\n<a title=\"pasta with arugula by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8410615322/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8191/8410615322_dfcf327751_z.jpg\" alt=\"pasta with arugula\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\nAfter the game I made this pasta-arugula-lemon-sirene cheese dish. It was tasty and very green. It\'s decidedly the prettiest meal I\'ve made in ages. Not that the bar has been set very high as I\'ve been eating the same pot of black-eyed peas stew for a week.\n\nAnyhow, this is','Inspiration(less) ','','inherit','open','open','','7467-revision','','','2013-01-24 07:07:11','2013-01-24 05:07:11','',7467,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/01/24/7467-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7469,1,'2013-01-24 07:09:09','2013-01-24 05:09:09','I\'ve been in a bit of a rut in the new year.\n\nIt\'s funny because it started off with a bang. I rang in the New Year in Sofia, then flew to Budapest for a wedding and to see a friend.\n\nThen I spent <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/01/11/me-my-cast/\" target=\"_blank\">an extra week in my cast</a> all the while falling further and further behind in my grading and then <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/01/13/the-cast-is-off/\" target=\"_blank\">it came off</a>d but it took me another week-plus to catch-up-ish. In the midst of all of this, I\'ve battled the cold weather, a case of the I-don\'t-want-tos and there\'s been a <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/01/18/my-dad-and-sister-are-coming-to-visit/\" target=\"_blank\">flurry of decision making related to my summer plans and my dAd and little sister\'s visit</a>.\n\nAt school the quarter ends this week and final exams start next week. It\'s been a whirlwind of anxious students and stressed out teachers at school. So last night I went to cheer on our school basketball teams. The girls won easily (it wasn\'t necessarily pretty but they played with a lot of heart). The boys played full court press and unsettled their opponents early on--at one point they had a nearly a 20 point lead. Unfortunately our opponents adjusted their game accordingly and won by 1 point (okay maybe 3--I can\'t remember).\n<a title=\"pasta with arugula by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8410615322/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8191/8410615322_dfcf327751_z.jpg\" alt=\"pasta with arugula\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\nAfter the game I made this pasta-arugula-lemon-sirene cheese dish. It was tasty and very green. It\'s decidedly the prettiest meal I\'ve made in ages. Not that the bar has been set very high as I\'ve been eating the same pot of black-eyed peas stew for a week.\n\nAnyhow, this is all to say, I am here still. January is going slowly (but too fast at the same time) and sincerely hope that you all are having a more inspired January than I am.','Inspiration(less) ','','inherit','open','open','','7467-autosave','','','2013-01-24 07:09:09','2013-01-24 05:09:09','',7467,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/01/24/7467-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(7471,1,'2013-02-03 22:34:09','2013-02-03 20:34:09','I\'ve been away for a while. You may remember me as that girl who lives in Sofia and writes about her life on the blog Karolinkabulgaria. Then again you may not remember me as I\'ve been pretty bad about writing on this blog recently.\n\nIt may, just may, have to do with the fact that I haven\'t been up to much that seemed blog-worthy. I try not to complain about things on my blog as this blog could turn into one long rant.\n\nSo instead I took an extended blogging vacation. It\'s been a topsy-turvy month.\n\nAs you may remember, I broke my hand in December. This was unexpected and rather inconvenient. I couldn\'t cook for myself, I couldn\'t do my own laundry, I struggled to take a shower and I walked around for a month with my coat unbuttoned.  Since the cast came off, I\'ve been going to physical therapy and doing my exercises. It\'s neither interesting nor very sexy but I am happy to report that my hand feels better each day.\n\nCome January, after two weeks of Christmas vacation in Europe, I had a hard time getting back into the swing of things at work. We had two and half weeks of class in January before the semester ended and I spent most of that time teaching, grading, planning and writing exams.  I\'ve really struggled to get caught up at work after teaching for two weeks with a cast on and not being able to staple things easily let alone take the cap off of my white board markers with one hand. Things are getting better little by little but I really could use a few extra hours each day.\n\nThis past week and this next week, I\'ll be grading my heart out and getting ready for next semester. Sometimes I wonder if it ever gets any easier. Being a teacher is hard work.\n\nOkay, to be fair, being a student is hard work too.\n\nThis brings us to February. Right?! How did it get to be February already?!\n\nAnyhow, I\'m looking forward to February.  I plan to get out more in Sofia. There are some new restaurants that I want to check out and some favorites that I want to return to. Oh and I\'ve still got to go back to Wok to Walk as I haven\'t tried all of the flavor combinations and I\'m apparently giving it my best go.\n\nThen there\'s a spa weekend in my future as well as a long weekend in Prague with friends. How lucky am I?\n\nThe other great thing about February? It\'s a short month and that means spring is <em>almost</em> just around the corner.\n\nSo I\'ll end on this notet\'s good to be back.','Why hello there! ','','inherit','open','open','','7470-revision','','','2013-02-03 22:34:09','2013-02-03 20:34:09','',7470,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/02/03/7470-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7472,1,'2013-02-03 22:34:44','2013-02-03 20:34:44','I\'ve been away for a while. You may remember me as that girl who lives in Sofia and writes about her life on the blog Karolinkabulgaria. Then again you may not remember me as I\'ve been pretty bad about writing on this blog recently.\r\n\r\nIt may, just may, have to do with the fact that I haven\'t been up to much that seemed blog-worthy. I try not to complain about things on my blog as this blog could turn into one long rant.\r\n\r\nSo instead I took an extended blogging vacation. It\'s been a topsy-turvy month.\r\n\r\nAs you may remember, I broke my hand in December. This was unexpected and rather inconvenient. I couldn\'t cook for myself, I couldn\'t do my own laundry, I struggled to take a shower and I walked around for a month with my coat unbuttoned.  Since the cast came off, I\'ve been going to physical therapy and doing my exercises. It\'s neither interesting nor very sexy but I am happy to report that my hand feels better each day.\r\n\r\nCome January, after two weeks of Christmas vacation in Europe, I had a hard time getting back into the swing of things at work. We had two and half weeks of class in January before the semester ended and I spent most of that time teaching, grading, planning and writing exams.  I\'ve really struggled to get caught up at work after teaching for two weeks with a cast on and not being able to staple things easily let alone take the cap off of my white board markers with one hand. Things are getting better little by little but I really could use a few extra hours each day.\r\n\r\nThis past week and this next week, I\'ll be grading my heart out and getting ready for next semester. Sometimes I wonder if it ever gets any easier. Being a teacher is hard work.\r\n\r\nOkay, to be fair, being a student is hard work too.\r\n\r\nThis brings us to February. Right?! How did it get to be February already?!\r\n\r\nAnyhow, I\'m looking forward to February.  I plan to get out more in Sofia. There are some new restaurants that I want to check out and some favorites that I want to return to. Oh and I\'ve still got to go back to Wok to Walk as I haven\'t tried all of the flavor combinations and I\'m apparently giving it my best go.\r\n\r\nThen there\'s a spa weekend in my future as well as a long weekend in Prague with friends. How lucky am I?\r\n\r\nThe other great thing about February? It\'s a short month and that means spring is <em>almost</em> just around the corner.\r\n\r\nSo I\'ll end on this note: it\'s good to be back. I hope that you haven\'t missed me too much.','Why hello there! ','','inherit','open','open','','7470-revision-2','','','2013-02-03 22:34:44','2013-02-03 20:34:44','',7470,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/02/03/7470-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(7473,1,'2013-02-03 22:35:52','2013-02-03 20:35:52','I\'ve been away for a while. You may remember me as that girl who lives in Sofia and writes about her life on the blog Karolinkabulgaria. Then again you may not remember me as I\'ve been pretty bad about writing on this blog recently.\n\nIt may, just may, have to do with the fact that I haven\'t been up to much that seemed blog-worthy. I try not to complain about things on my blog as this blog could turn into one long rant.\n\nSo instead I took an extended blogging vacation. It\'s been a topsy-turvy month.\n\nAs you may remember, I broke my hand in December. This was unexpected and rather inconvenient. I couldn\'t cook for myself, I couldn\'t do my own laundry, I struggled to take a shower and I walked around for a month with my coat unbuttoned.  Since the cast came off, I\'ve been going to physical therapy and doing my exercises. It\'s neither interesting nor very sexy but I am happy to report that my hand feels better each day.\n\nCome January, after two weeks of Christmas vacation in Europe, I had a hard time getting back into the swing of things at work. We had two and half weeks of class in January before the semester ended and I spent most of that time teaching, grading, planning and writing exams.  I\'ve really struggled to get caught up at work after teaching for two weeks with a cast on and not being able to staple things easily let alone take the cap off of my white board markers with one hand. Things are getting better little by little but I really could use a few extra hours each day.\n\nThis past week and this next week, I\'ll be grading my heart out and getting ready for next semester. Sometimes I wonder if it ever gets any easier. Being a teacher is hard work.\n\nOkay, to be fair, being a student is hard work too.\n\nThis brings us to February. Right?! How did it get to be February already?!\n\nAnyhow, I\'m looking forward to February.  I plan to get out more in Sofia. There are some new restaurants that I want to check out and some favorites that I want to return to. Oh and I\'ve still got to go back to Wok to Walk as I haven\'t tried all of the flavor combinations and I\'m apparently giving it my best go.\n\nThen there\'s a spa weekend in my future as well as a long weekend in Prague with friends. How lucky am I?\n\nThe other great thing about February? It\'s a short month and that means spring is <em>almost</em> just around the corner.\n\nSo I\'ll end on this note: it\'s good to be back. I hope that you haven\'t missed me too much.','Why hello there! ','','inherit','open','open','','7470-autosave','','','2013-02-03 22:35:52','2013-02-03 20:35:52','',7470,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/02/03/7470-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(7475,1,'2013-02-04 08:33:28','2013-02-04 06:33:28','Turns out that I\'ve everything I\'ve ever read about creating new routines or breaking a habit is true. You have to do it everyday. You have to set time aside for it. You have to do it even if you don\'t love it or feel like it a given day.\r\n\r\nFor four-plus years I\'ve blogged almost everyday.\r\n\r\nThen in December I broke my hand and got a crazy cast. (I know, I know, enough already about the damn cast but I just can\'t stop writing about it. Sorry.) All of a sudden my regular routine went out the window. Nothing was regular or normal anymore. I couldn\'t depend on sitting down and turning out a 500 word post in 20 minutes. Typing one handed really slowed things down so I typed up some posts on my smartphone which was only slightly faster and I got frustrated.\r\n\r\nHaving a blog isn\'t supposed to take this much time and it\'s supposed to be fun.\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">And that\'s how it happens.  </span>\r\n<a title=\"morning routine by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8444073580/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8220/8444073580_f9f5c4f5a9_z.jpg\" alt=\"morning routine\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\r\n\r\nThe slow and steady decline.\r\n\r\nSo I didn\'t write for a few mornings and that turned into a week. Then a week turned into 10 days and so on. After about 10 days I stopped feeling guilty about not writing and just started reading my kindle when I normally would have been writing on my blog.\r\n\r\nTruth be told I think about blog posts when I walk to work in the mornings but at 7am in January Sofia is cold and dark. It\'s also been snowy and icy--surprise, surprise. That\'s Sofia in winter. As such, I spent many of my walks to school repeating this mantra: go slow, be careful, you can\'t fall again, you can\'t break another bone.\r\n\r\nThis, of course, is less than interesting but it\'s just to say, I am a creature of habit.\r\n\r\nI need routines. This blog needs them too.\r\n\r\nSo I here I am. Drinking coffee, writing a blog post and hurrying to get ready for my day. The typing is nearly back up to full speed after some serious physical therapy. The coffee is great and nestled under it is some planning for a three week trip through the Baltics. My day is off to a pretty cloudy grey start and will be chocked full of grading but I am going to do it with a smile on my face. The end is within sight.\r\n\r\nI\'m re-establishing a routine. I am here writing this and you are there (wherever that is) reading this. That\'s that. I\'m happy and I hope you are too.','Routines: making them and breaking them','','publish','open','open','','routines-making-them-and-breaking-them','','','2013-02-04 08:33:28','2013-02-04 06:33:28','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7475',0,'post','',5),(7476,1,'2013-02-04 08:24:39','2013-02-04 06:24:39','Turns out that I\'ve everything I\'ve ever read about creating new routines or breaking a habit is true. You have to do it everyday. You have to set time aside for it. You have to do it even if you don\'t love it or feel like it a given day.\n\nFor fou-plus years I\'ve blogged almost everyday.\n\nThen in December I broke my hand and got a crazy cast. All of a sudden my regular routine went out the window. Nothing was regular or normal anymore. I couldn\'t depend on sitting down and turning out a 500 word post in 20 minutes. Typing one handed really slowed things down so I typed up some posts on my smartphone which was only slightly faster and I got frustrated.\n\nHaving a blog isn\'t supposed to take this much time and it\'s supposed to be fun. <span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">And that\'s how it happens.  </span>\n\nSo I didn\'t write for a few mornings and that turned into a week. Then a week turned into 10 days and so on. After about 10 days I stopped feeling guilty about not writing and just started reading my kindle when I normally would have been writing on my blog.\n\nTruth be told I think about blog posts when I walk to work in the mornings but at 7am in January Sofia is cold and dark. It\'s also been snowy and icy--surprise, surprise. That\'s Sofia in winter. As such, I spent many of my walks to school repeating this mantra: go slow, be careful, you can\'t fall again, you can\'t break another bone.\n\nThis, of course, is less than interesting but it\'s just to say, I am a creature of habit.\n\nI need routines. This blog needs them too.\n\nSo I here I am. Drinking coffee, writing a blog post and hurrying to get ready for my day. The typing is nearly back up to full speed after some serious physical therapy. The coffee is great and nestled under it is some planning for a three week trip through the Baltics. My day is off to a pretty grey start and will be chocked full of grading but I am going to do it with a smile on my face. The end is within sight.','Routines: making them and breaking them','','inherit','open','open','','7475-revision','','','2013-02-04 08:24:39','2013-02-04 06:24:39','',7475,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/02/04/7475-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7477,1,'2013-02-04 08:26:40','2013-02-04 06:26:40','Turns out that I\'ve everything I\'ve ever read about creating new routines or breaking a habit is true. You have to do it everyday. You have to set time aside for it. You have to do it even if you don\'t love it or feel like it a given day.\n\nFor fou-plus years I\'ve blogged almost everyday.\n\nThen in December I broke my hand and got a crazy cast. All of a sudden my regular routine went out the window. Nothing was regular or normal anymore. I couldn\'t depend on sitting down and turning out a 500 word post in 20 minutes. Typing one handed really slowed things down so I typed up some posts on my smartphone which was only slightly faster and I got frustrated.\n\nHaving a blog isn\'t supposed to take this much time and it\'s supposed to be fun. <span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">And that\'s how it happens.  </span>\n<a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8444073580/\" title=\"morning routine by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8220/8444073580_f9f5c4f5a9_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" alt=\"morning routine\"></a>\nSo I didn\'t write for a few mornings and that turned into a week. Then a week turned into 10 days and so on. After about 10 days I stopped feeling guilty about not writing and just started reading my kindle when I normally would have been writing on my blog.\n\nTruth be told I think about blog posts when I walk to work in the mornings but at 7am in January Sofia is cold and dark. It\'s also been snowy and icy--surprise, surprise. That\'s Sofia in winter. As such, I spent many of my walks to school repeating this mantra: go slow, be careful, you can\'t fall again, you can\'t break another bone.\n\nThis, of course, is less than interesting but it\'s just to say, I am a creature of habit.\n\nI need routines. This blog needs them too.\n\nSo I here I am. Drinking coffee, writing a blog post and hurrying to get ready for my day. The typing is nearly back up to full speed after some serious physical therapy. The coffee is great and nestled under it is some planning for a three week trip through the Baltics. My day is off to a pretty grey start and will be chocked full of grading but I am going to do it with a smile on my face. The end is within sight.','Routines: making them and breaking them','','inherit','open','open','','7475-revision-2','','','2013-02-04 08:26:40','2013-02-04 06:26:40','',7475,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/02/04/7475-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(7478,1,'2013-02-05 08:35:09','2013-02-05 06:35:09','Last week in January, I was struck by the fact that this is my fifth year in Sofia. Five. <em>Ha</em>.\r\n\r\nAnd I thought it would only last a year. <em>Silly me</em>.\r\n\r\nI was walking to school and trying to figure out how many times I\'d done this walk. Had I done this walk more than any other walk in my life? I decided that in fact I\'d probably walked from my house in Washington DC at 14th and U to Dupont Circle more than I\'ve made the trip from Mladost 1A to the American College of Sofia.\r\n\r\nSure I\'ve spent four years in both places after living for one year in different homes but the same cities. Remember when I used to live on a cute little street Strumitsa in downtown Sofia?! Miss you, Strumitsa.\r\n\r\nAnyhow, without actually having to do any math I decided that DC wins if only because I had many fewer vacations and had to go to work year round when I was at Georgetown and I got about two weeks of vacation for the year. Here in Sofia, I\'ve got lots of long weekends, Christmas break, Spring break and a two-month long Summer vacation!! Needless to say, with all of these holidays I\'ve clearly made the DC commute more times. Sorry, Sofia.\r\n\r\nStill all of this got me thinking about all of the things I\'ve outlived (or maybe it\'s better to say lived through) in Sofia. So here they are in no particular order:\r\n<ol>\r\n	<li><a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/08/29/what-what-a-bike-path-in-mladost/\" target=\"_blank\">The Mladsot Bike path</a> I don\'t even have a bike and I think this is a great addition to the city.</li>\r\n	<li><a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2008/12/13/starbucks-opened-in-sofia-bulgaria/\" target=\"_blank\">Starbucks</a> A little taste of home--I am a Washington State girl after all.</li>\r\n	<li><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">A Billa opening in downtown Sofia. Oh this would have made my life much, much easier my first year in Sofia.</span></li>\r\n	<li>Subway the sandwich shop--not to be confused with point #4 the actual metro.</li>\r\n	<li><a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2012/09/01/sofias-second-metro-line/\" target=\"_blank\">The second line of the Metro</a> and the Mladost 3 metro stop. It\'s like we\'re an actual city with public transportation. I can\'t wait for the airport stop. Now that will be something.</li>\r\n	<li>H&amp;M and <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2010/09/06/the-mall-and-me/\" target=\"_blank\">The Mall</a>--who names a mall that, <em>really</em>?! I will never get over that.</li>\r\n	<li><a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2009/12/14/memento-beans-grapes/\" target=\"_blank\">Memento Coffee Shop</a> My favorite coffee shop/bar in Sofia. Not to brag but I\'m a regular here. For the record, I love the Vitosha Memento best.</li>\r\n	<li><a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/10/08/cupcakes-in-sofia/\" target=\"_blank\">Take a Cake</a> I love it, love it. If only they\'d start making a red velvet cupcake my life would be complete.</li>\r\n	<li><a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2012/02/26/in-10-carrefour/\" target=\"_blank\">Carrefour</a> Who doesn\'t love a huge French grocery store?! And they carry at least tree different kinds of applesauce in case you\'re interested.</li>\r\n	<li><a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/09/11/notes-from-sofia-ikea-opening-in-september/\" target=\"_blank\">Ikea</a> I\'ve only been once since it opened but it made my heart race. They had everything I needed to get organized <em>and</em> meatballs. Why are the Swedes better at everything?!</li>\r\n</ol>\r\nThen I got on a 76 bus to get to school and I realized that this bus clearly has me beat. It\'s been around <em>forever</em>.\r\n\r\nThat\'s okay because I <em>actually</em> outlived the bus stop on Malinov at the corner near McDonalds. A couple of months ago, I think someone hit the bus stop with their car. The metal frame held on for a couple of days before it\'s mangled frame was removed. Now we all we\'ve got is the posted sign for the bus stop and the memories.\r\n\r\nI am sure that I\'ve left something awesome off the list so just add in the comments sections below if you think of something. <em>Thanks! </em>','10 things I\'ve outlived in Sofia ','','publish','open','open','','10-things-ive-outlived-in-sofia','','','2013-02-05 08:35:09','2013-02-05 06:35:09','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7478',0,'post','',5),(7479,1,'2013-02-05 08:18:36','2013-02-05 06:18:36','Last week in January, I was struck by the fact that this is my fifth year in Sofia. Five. Ha. And I thought it would only last a year. <em>Silly me</em>.\n\nI was walking to school and trying to figure out how many times I\'d done this walk. Had I done this walk more than any other walk in my life? I decided that in fact I\'d probably walked from my house in Washington DC at 14th and U to Dupont Circle more than I\'ve made the trip from Mladost 1A to the American College of Sofia.\n\nSure I\'ve spent four years in both places after living for one year in different homes but the same cities. Remember when I used to live on a cute little street Strumitsa in downtown Sofia?! Miss you, Strumitsa.\n\nAnyhow, DC wins if only because I had many fewer vacations and had to go to work year round when I was at Georgetown and I got about two weeks of vacation for the year. Here in Sofia, I\'ve got lots of long weekends, Christmas break, Spring break and a two-month long Summer vacation!! Needless to say, with all of these holidays I\'ve clearly made the DC commute more times.\n\nStill all of this got me thinking about all of the things I\'ve outlived (or maybe it\'s better to say lived through) in Sofia. So here they are in no particular order:\n<ol>\n	<li><a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/08/29/what-what-a-bike-path-in-mladost/\" target=\"_blank\">The Mladsot Bike path</a></li>\n	<li><a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2008/12/13/starbucks-opened-in-sofia-bulgaria/\" target=\"_blank\">Starbucks</a></li>\n	<li>A Billa opening in downtown Sofia</li>\n	<li>Subway (the sandwich shop--not to be confused with #4 the actual metro)</li>\n	<li><a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2012/09/01/sofias-second-metro-line/\" target=\"_blank\">The second line of the Metro</a></li>\n	<li>H&amp;M</li>\n	<li><a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2009/12/14/memento-beans-grapes/\" target=\"_blank\">Memento Coffee Shop</a></li>\n	<li><a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/10/08/cupcakes-in-sofia/\" target=\"_blank\">Take a Cake</a></li>\n	<li><a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2012/02/26/in-10-carrefour/\" target=\"_blank\">Carrefour</a></li>\n	<li><a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/09/11/notes-from-sofia-ikea-opening-in-september/\" target=\"_blank\">Ikea</a></li>\n</ol>\nThen I got on a 76 bus to get to school and I realized that this bus clearly has me beat. It\'s been around <em>forever</em>.\n\nThat\'s okay because I <em>actually</em> outlived the bus stop on Malinov at the corner near McDonalds. A couple of months ago, I think someone hit the bus stop with their car. The metal frame held on for a couple of days before it\'s mangled frame was removed. Now we all we\'ve got is the posted sign for the bus stop and the memories.\n\nI am sure that I\'ve left something awesome off the list so just add in the comments sections bel','10 things I\'ve outlived in Sofia ','','inherit','open','open','','7478-revision','','','2013-02-05 08:18:36','2013-02-05 06:18:36','',7478,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/02/05/7478-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7480,1,'2013-02-05 08:19:36','2013-02-05 06:19:36','Last week in January, I was struck by the fact that this is my fifth year in Sofia. Five. Ha. And I thought it would only last a year. <em>Silly me</em>.\n\nI was walking to school and trying to figure out how many times I\'d done this walk. Had I done this walk more than any other walk in my life? I decided that in fact I\'d probably walked from my house in Washington DC at 14th and U to Dupont Circle more than I\'ve made the trip from Mladost 1A to the American College of Sofia.\n\nSure I\'ve spent four years in both places after living for one year in different homes but the same cities. Remember when I used to live on a cute little street Strumitsa in downtown Sofia?! Miss you, Strumitsa.\n\nAnyhow, DC wins if only because I had many fewer vacations and had to go to work year round when I was at Georgetown and I got about two weeks of vacation for the year. Here in Sofia, I\'ve got lots of long weekends, Christmas break, Spring break and a two-month long Summer vacation!! Needless to say, with all of these holidays I\'ve clearly made the DC commute more times.\n\nStill all of this got me thinking about all of the things I\'ve outlived (or maybe it\'s better to say lived through) in Sofia. So here they are in no particular order:\n<ol>\n	<li><a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/08/29/what-what-a-bike-path-in-mladost/\" target=\"_blank\">The Mladsot Bike path</a></li>\n	<li><a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2008/12/13/starbucks-opened-in-sofia-bulgaria/\" target=\"_blank\">Starbucks</a></li>\n	<li>A Billa opening in downtown Sofia</li>\n	<li>Subway (the sandwich shop--not to be confused with #4 the actual metro)</li>\n	<li><a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2012/09/01/sofias-second-metro-line/\" target=\"_blank\">The second line of the Metro</a></li>\n	<li>H&amp;M</li>\n	<li><a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2009/12/14/memento-beans-grapes/\" target=\"_blank\">Memento Coffee Shop</a></li>\n	<li><a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/10/08/cupcakes-in-sofia/\" target=\"_blank\">Take a Cake</a></li>\n	<li><a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2012/02/26/in-10-carrefour/\" target=\"_blank\">Carrefour</a></li>\n	<li><a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/09/11/notes-from-sofia-ikea-opening-in-september/\" target=\"_blank\">Ikea</a></li>\n</ol>\nThen I got on a 76 bus to get to school and I realized that this bus clearly has me beat. It\'s been around <em>forever</em>.\n\nThat\'s okay because I <em>actually</em> outlived the bus stop on Malinov at the corner near McDonalds. A couple of months ago, I think someone hit the bus stop with their car. The metal frame held on for a couple of days before it\'s mangled frame was removed. Now we all we\'ve got is the posted sign for the bus stop and the memories.\n\nI am sure that I\'ve left something awesome off the list so just add in the comments sections below if you think of something. <em>Thanks! </em>','10 things I\'ve outlived in Sofia ','','inherit','open','open','','7478-revision-2','','','2013-02-05 08:19:36','2013-02-05 06:19:36','',7478,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/02/05/7478-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(7481,1,'2013-02-05 08:34:15','2013-02-05 06:34:15','Last week in January, I was struck by the fact that this is my fifth year in Sofia. Five. <em>Ha</em>.\r\n\r\nAnd I thought it would only last a year. <em>Silly me</em>.\r\n\r\nI was walking to school and trying to figure out how many times I\'d done this walk. Had I done this walk more than any other walk in my life? I decided that in fact I\'d probably walked from my house in Washington DC at 14th and U to Dupont Circle more than I\'ve made the trip from Mladost 1A to the American College of Sofia.\r\n\r\nSure I\'ve spent four years in both places after living for one year in different homes but the same cities. Remember when I used to live on a cute little street Strumitsa in downtown Sofia?! Miss you, Strumitsa.\r\n\r\nAnyhow, without actually having to do any math I decided that DC wins if only because I had many fewer vacations and had to go to work year round when I was at Georgetown and I got about two weeks of vacation for the year. Here in Sofia, I\'ve got lots of long weekends, Christmas break, Spring break and a two-month long Summer vacation!! Needless to say, with all of these holidays I\'ve clearly made the DC commute more times. Sorry, Sofia.\r\n\r\nStill all of this got me thinking about all of the things I\'ve outlived (or maybe it\'s better to say lived through) in Sofia. So here they are in no particular order:\r\n<ol>\r\n	<li><a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/08/29/what-what-a-bike-path-in-mladost/\" target=\"_blank\">The Mladsot Bike path</a> I don\'t even have a bike and I think this is a great addition to the city.</li>\r\n	<li><a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2008/12/13/starbucks-opened-in-sofia-bulgaria/\" target=\"_blank\">Starbucks</a> A little taste of home--I am a Washington State girl after all.</li>\r\n	<li><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">A Billa opening in downtown Sofia. Oh this would have made my life much, much easier my first year in Sofia.</span></li>\r\n	<li>Subway the sandwich shop--not to be confused with point #4 the actual metro.</li>\r\n	<li><a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2012/09/01/sofias-second-metro-line/\" target=\"_blank\">The second line of the Metro</a> and the Mladost 3 metro stop. It\'s like we\'re an actual city with public transportation. I can\'t wait for the airport stop. Now that will be something.</li>\r\n	<li>H&amp;M and <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2010/09/06/the-mall-and-me/\" target=\"_blank\">The Mall</a>--who names a mall that, <em>really</em>?! I will never get over that.</li>\r\n	<li><a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2009/12/14/memento-beans-grapes/\" target=\"_blank\">Memento Coffee Shop</a> My favorite coffee shop/bar in Sofia. Not to brag but I\'m a regular here. For the record, I love the Vitosha Memento best.</li>\r\n	<li><a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/10/08/cupcakes-in-sofia/\" target=\"_blank\">Take a Cake</a> I love it, love it. If only they\'d start making a red velvet cupcake my life would be complete.</li>\r\n	<li><a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2012/02/26/in-10-carrefour/\" target=\"_blank\">Carrefour</a> Who doesn\'t love a huge French grocery store?! And they carry at least tree different kinds of applesauce in case you\'re interested.</li>\r\n	<li><a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/09/11/notes-from-sofia-ikea-opening-in-september/\" target=\"_blank\">Ikea</a> I\'ve only been once since it opened but it made my heart race. They had everything I needed to get organized <em>and</em> meatballs. Why are the Swedes better at everything?!</li>\r\n</ol>\r\nThen I got on a 76 bus to get to school and I realized that this bus clearly has me beat. It\'s been around <em>forever</em>.\r\n\r\nThat\'s okay because I <em>actually</em> outlived the bus stop on Malinov at the corner near McDonalds. A couple of months ago, I think someone hit the bus stop with their car. The metal frame held on for a couple of days before it\'s mangled frame was removed. Now we all we\'ve got is the posted sign for the bus stop and the memories.\r\n\r\nI am sure that I\'ve left something awesome off the list so just add in the comments sections below if you think of something. <em>Thanks! </em>','10 things I\'ve outlived in Sofia ','','inherit','open','open','','7478-revision-3','','','2013-02-05 08:34:15','2013-02-05 06:34:15','',7478,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/02/05/7478-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(7482,1,'2013-02-05 08:36:13','2013-02-05 06:36:13','Last week in January, I was struck by the fact that this is my fifth year in Sofia. Five. <em>Ha</em>.\n\nAnd I thought it would only last a year. <em>Silly me</em>.\n\nI was walking to school and trying to figure out how many times I\'d done this walk. Had I done this walk more than any other walk in my life? I decided that in fact I\'d probably walked from my house in Washington DC at 14th and U to Dupont Circle more than I\'ve made the trip from Mladost 1A to the American College of Sofia.\n\nSure I\'ve spent four years in both places after living for one year in different homes but the same cities. Remember when I used to live on a cute little street Strumitsa in downtown Sofia?! Miss you, Strumitsa.\n\nAnyhow, without actually having to do any math I decided that DC wins if only because I had many fewer vacations and had to go to work year round when I was at Georgetown and I got about two weeks of vacation for the year. Here in Sofia, I\'ve got lots of long weekends, Christmas break, Spring break and a two-month long Summer vacation!! Needless to say, with all of these holidays I\'ve clearly made the DC commute more times. Sorry, Sofia.\n\nStill all of this got me thinking about all of the things I\'ve outlived (or maybe it\'s better to say lived through) in Sofia. So here they are in no particular order:\n<ol>\n	<li><a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/08/29/what-what-a-bike-path-in-mladost/\" target=\"_blank\">The Mladsot Bike path</a> I don\'t even have a bike and I think this is a great addition to the city.</li>\n	<li><a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2008/12/13/starbucks-opened-in-sofia-bulgaria/\" target=\"_blank\">Starbucks</a> A little taste of home--I am a Washington State girl after all.</li>\n	<li><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">A Billa opening in downtown Sofia. Oh this would have made my life much, much easier my first year in Sofia.</span></li>\n	<li>Subway the sandwich shop--not to be confused with point #4 the actual metro.</li>\n	<li><a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2012/09/01/sofias-second-metro-line/\" target=\"_blank\">The second line of the Metro</a> and the Mladost 3 metro stop. It\'s like we\'re an actual city with public transportation. I can\'t wait for the airport stop. Now that will be something.</li>\n	<li>H&amp;M and <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2010/09/06/the-mall-and-me/\" target=\"_blank\">The Mall</a>--who names a mall that, <em>really</em>?! I will never get over that.</li>\n	<li><a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2009/12/14/memento-beans-grapes/\" target=\"_blank\">Memento Coffee Shop</a> My favorite coffee shop/bar in Sofia. Not to brag but I\'m a regular here. For the record, I love the Vitosha Memento best.</li>\n	<li><a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/10/08/cupcakes-in-sofia/\" target=\"_blank\">Take a Cake</a> I love it, love it. If only they\'d start making a red velvet cupcake my life would be complete.</li>\n	<li><a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2012/02/26/in-10-carrefour/\" target=\"_blank\">Carrefour</a> Who doesn\'t love a huge French grocery store?! And they carry at least tree different kinds of applesauce in case you\'re interested.</li>\n	<li><a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/09/11/notes-from-sofia-ikea-opening-in-september/\" target=\"_blank\">Ikea</a> I\'ve only been once since it opened but it made my heart race. They had everything I needed to get organized <em>and</em> meatballs. Why are the Swedes better at everything?!</li>\n</ol>\nThen I got on a 76 bus to get to school and I realized that this bus clearly has me beat. It\'s been around <em>forever</em>.\n\nThat\'s okay because I <em>actually</em> outlived the bus stop on Malinov at the corner near McDonalds. A couple of months ago, I think someone hit the bus stop with their car. The metal frame held on for a couple of days before it\'s mangled frame was removed. Now we all we\'ve got is the posted sign for the bus stop and the memories.\n\nI am sure that I\'ve left something awesome off the list so just add in the comments sections below if you think of something. <em>Thanks! </em>','10 things I\'ve outlived in Sofia ','','inherit','open','open','','7478-autosave','','','2013-02-05 08:36:13','2013-02-05 06:36:13','',7478,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/02/05/7478-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(7483,1,'2013-02-06 07:00:31','2013-02-06 05:00:31','Among other things, I\'ve been reading real books recently.\r\n\r\nReal books, you ask?\r\n\r\nYep. I put down my kindle (which I adore) and picked up some real books. There\'s something so wonderful about reading a book, book.\r\n\r\nIt all started with a Margaret Atwood book that I borrowed from a friend over Christmas break--The Blind Assassin. The thing was, I wasn\'t able to read it easily with my clunky cast. I couldn\'t keep the book open and turn pages. This was frustrating to say least but I had my kindle so all was okay-ish.\r\n<a title=\"books I\'m reading by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8449924976/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8499/8449924976_9d41663096_z.jpg\" alt=\"books I\'m reading\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\r\n\r\nThen my cast came off and re-discovered books. Since then I\'ve read the Memory Keeper\'s Daughter and I am half way into both Night Soldiers by Alan Furst (part of it\'s set in Bulgaria) and a PD James mystery.\r\n\r\nOnce I am done with my current mystery novel Atwood here I come.\r\n\r\nIt\'s funny when I was younger, sometimes I was embarrassed to admit what I what I was reading if I didn\'t think it was great literature and worthy of my time. Thirty-something me is much less embarrassed by these things. I  haven\'t read Thirty Shades of Grey yet and I have no plans to but I no longer feel like I most only read those so-called important books just because they are important.\r\n\r\nHowever I am a <em>little</em> embarrassed to tell you what I\'m about to tell you.\r\n\r\nI\'ve decided that if I\'m reading in bed my kindle is much more convenient. My kindle is less bulky, it\'s easier to hold and I never have to adjust where I am in in bed or the lamp when I am reading because my kindle is always in the light. Oh and if you fall asleep with your kindle, you never lose your page!\r\n\r\nOh my. What\'s wrong with me?!\r\n\r\nAnd, you dear readers, are you reading anything interesting these days?','Reading real books ','','publish','open','open','','reading-real-books','','','2013-02-06 07:00:31','2013-02-06 05:00:31','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7483',0,'post','',2),(7484,1,'2013-02-05 22:23:03','2013-02-05 20:23:03','Among other things, I\'ve been reading real books recently. Yep. I put down my kindle (which I adore) and picked up some real books. There\'s something so wonderful about reading a book, book.\n\nI borrowed a Margaret Atwood book from a friend over Christmas break but I wasn\'t able to read it easily with my clunky cast. I couldn\'t keep the book open and turn pages.\n\nOnce I am done with my current mystery novel Atwood here I come.\n\nI will say though, if I\'m reading in bed my kindle is much more convenient. The book is always in the light and you never lose your page.\n\nOh my. What\'s wrong with me.','Reading real books ','','inherit','open','open','','7483-revision','','','2013-02-05 22:23:03','2013-02-05 20:23:03','',7483,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/02/05/7483-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7485,1,'2013-02-06 06:58:40','2013-02-06 04:58:40','Among other things, I\'ve been reading real books recently.\n\nYep. I put down my kindle (which I adore) and picked up some real books. There\'s something so wonderful about reading a book, book.\n\nIt all started with a Margaret Atwood book that I borrowed from a friend over Christmas break--The Blind Assassin. The thing was, I wasn\'t able to read it easily with my clunky cast. I couldn\'t keep the book open and turn pages. This was frustrating to say least but I had my kindle so all was okay-ish.\n<a title=\"books I\'m reading by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8449924976/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8499/8449924976_9d41663096_z.jpg\" alt=\"books I\'m reading\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\n\nThen my cast came off and re-discovered books. Since then I\'ve read the Memory Keeper\'s Daughter and I am half way into both Night Soldiers by Alan Furst (part of it\'s set in Bulgaria) and a PD James mystery.\n\nOnce I am done with my current mystery novel Atwood here I come.\n\nIt\'s funny when I was younger, sometimes I was embarrassed to admit what I what I was reading if I didn\'t think it was great literature and worthy of my time. Thirty-something me is much less embarrassed by these things. I  haven\'t read Thirty Shades of Grey yet and I have no plans to but I no longer feel like I most only read those so-called important books just because they are important.\n\nHowever I am a <em>little</em> embarrassed to tell you what I\'m about to tell you.\n\nI \'ve decided that if I\'m reading in bed my kindle is much more convenient. My kindle is less bulky, it\'s easier to hold and I never have to adjust where I am in in bed or the lamp when I am reading because my kindle is always in the light. Oh and if you fall asleep with your kindle, you never lose your page!\n\nOh my. What\'s wrong with me?!','Reading real books ','','inherit','open','open','','7483-revision-2','','','2013-02-06 06:58:40','2013-02-06 04:58:40','',7483,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/02/06/7483-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(7486,1,'2013-02-06 06:59:40','2013-02-06 04:59:40','Among other things, I\'ve been reading real books recently.\n\nReal books, you ask?\n\nYep. I put down my kindle (which I adore) and picked up some real books. There\'s something so wonderful about reading a book, book.\n\nIt all started with a Margaret Atwood book that I borrowed from a friend over Christmas break--The Blind Assassin. The thing was, I wasn\'t able to read it easily with my clunky cast. I couldn\'t keep the book open and turn pages. This was frustrating to say least but I had my kindle so all was okay-ish.\n<a title=\"books I\'m reading by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8449924976/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8499/8449924976_9d41663096_z.jpg\" alt=\"books I\'m reading\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\n\nThen my cast came off and re-discovered books. Since then I\'ve read the Memory Keeper\'s Daughter and I am half way into both Night Soldiers by Alan Furst (part of it\'s set in Bulgaria) and a PD James mystery.\n\nOnce I am done with my current mystery novel Atwood here I come.\n\nIt\'s funny when I was younger, sometimes I was embarrassed to admit what I what I was reading if I didn\'t think it was great literature and worthy of my time. Thirty-something me is much less embarrassed by these things. I  haven\'t read Thirty Shades of Grey yet and I have no plans to but I no longer feel like I most only read those so-called important books just because they are important.\n\nHowever I am a <em>little</em> embarrassed to tell you what I\'m about to tell you.\n\nI\'ve decided that if I\'m reading in bed my kindle is much more convenient. My kindle is less bulky, it\'s easier to hold and I never have to adjust where I am in in bed or the lamp when I am reading because my kindle is always in the light. Oh and if you fall asleep with your kindle, you never lose your page!\n\nOh my. What\'s wrong with me?!','Reading real books ','','inherit','open','open','','7483-revision-3','','','2013-02-06 06:59:40','2013-02-06 04:59:40','',7483,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/02/06/7483-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(7487,1,'2013-02-06 07:01:35','2013-02-06 05:01:35','Among other things, I\'ve been reading real books recently.\n\nReal books, you ask?\n\nYep. I put down my kindle (which I adore) and picked up some real books. There\'s something so wonderful about reading a book, book.\n\nIt all started with a Margaret Atwood book that I borrowed from a friend over Christmas break--The Blind Assassin. The thing was, I wasn\'t able to read it easily with my clunky cast. I couldn\'t keep the book open and turn pages. This was frustrating to say least but I had my kindle so all was okay-ish.\n<a title=\"books I\'m reading by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8449924976/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8499/8449924976_9d41663096_z.jpg\" alt=\"books I\'m reading\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\n\nThen my cast came off and re-discovered books. Since then I\'ve read the Memory Keeper\'s Daughter and I am half way into both Night Soldiers by Alan Furst (part of it\'s set in Bulgaria) and a PD James mystery.\n\nOnce I am done with my current mystery novel Atwood here I come.\n\nIt\'s funny when I was younger, sometimes I was embarrassed to admit what I what I was reading if I didn\'t think it was great literature and worthy of my time. Thirty-something me is much less embarrassed by these things. I  haven\'t read Thirty Shades of Grey yet and I have no plans to but I no longer feel like I most only read those so-called important books just because they are important.\n\nHowever I am a <em>little</em> embarrassed to tell you what I\'m about to tell you.\n\nI\'ve decided that if I\'m reading in bed my kindle is much more convenient. My kindle is less bulky, it\'s easier to hold and I never have to adjust where I am in in bed or the lamp when I am reading because my kindle is always in the light. Oh and if you fall asleep with your kindle, you never lose your page!\n\nOh my. What\'s wrong with me?!\n\nAnd, you dear readers, are you reading anything interesting these days?','Reading real books ','','inherit','open','open','','7483-autosave','','','2013-02-06 07:01:35','2013-02-06 05:01:35','',7483,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/02/06/7483-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(7488,1,'2013-02-07 06:43:41','2013-02-07 04:43:41','There are probably better things that I could be doing with my time other than watching the OC with a friend but I suspect only a few of them would be more fun.\r\n\r\nWe starting re-watching the OC last night and two episodes in I am hooked. <em>Again</em>. It\'s a terrible addiction. Two episodes in I wanted more. I didn\'t want to go home. I wanted to watch more of the OC.\r\n\r\nYou may be wondering: why oh why, given all of the tv ever created have you decided to re-watch the OC?\r\n\r\nI know, I know. Hear me out.\r\n\r\nI read <a href=\"http://www.theawl.com/2013/01/what-made-the-o-c-great-bitch\" target=\"_blank\">an article about it</a>. (Oh and if <a href=\"http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/328/transcript\" target=\"_blank\">Ira Glass from This American Life likes it</a> how bad can it be for me?!)\r\n\r\nThe same day my friend A. emailed me<a href=\"http://www.buzzfeed.com/fjelstud/the-oc-drinking-game-youve-been-waiting-for\" target=\"_blank\"> this piece on an OC drinking game</a>. I couldn\'t stop laughing and sent her a link to the piece I\'d just read.\r\n\r\nIt was then that we made a pact. Once a week we\'ll meet to watch the OC. We started last night with salads, calzones and glasses of wine. Only we\'re not playing the drinking game. We\'re not in college anymore. We know better.\r\n\r\nSeason one has a whopping 27 episodes so we\'ve got our work cut out for us. An Oh, what fun it\'s going to be.','Watching TV: The OC ','','publish','open','open','','watching-tv-the-oc','','','2013-02-07 06:43:41','2013-02-07 04:43:41','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7488',0,'post','',4),(7489,1,'2013-02-06 22:31:25','2013-02-06 20:31:25','There are probably better things that I could be doing with my time other than watching the OC with a friend but I suspect only a few of them would be more fun.\n\nWe starting re-watching the OC last night and two episodes in I am hooked. <em>Again</em>. It\'s a terrible addiction. Two episodes in I wanted more. I didn\'t want to go home. I wanted to watch more of the OC.\n\nYou may be wondering: why oh why, given all of the tv ever created have you decided to re-watch the OC?\n\nI know, I know. Hear me out.\n\nI read <a href=\"http://www.theawl.com/2013/01/what-made-the-o-c-great-bitch\" target=\"_blank\">an article about it</a>. (Oh and if <a href=\"http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/328/transcript\" target=\"_blank\">Ira Glass from This American Life likes it</a> how bad can it be for me?!)\n\nThe same day my friend A. emailed me<a href=\"http://www.buzzfeed.com/fjelstud/the-oc-drinking-game-youve-been-waiting-for\" target=\"_blank\"> this piece on an OC drinking game</a>. I couldn\'t stop laughing and sent her a link to the piece I\'d just read.\n\nWe made a pact. Once a week we\'ll meet to watch the OC. We started last night with salads, calzones and glasses of wine. Only we\'re not playing the drinking game. We\'re not in college anymore. We know better.\n\nSeason one has a whopping 27 episodes so we\'ve got our work cut out for us.','Watching TV: The OC ','','inherit','open','open','','7488-revision','','','2013-02-06 22:31:25','2013-02-06 20:31:25','',7488,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/02/06/7488-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7490,1,'2013-02-06 22:33:12','2013-02-06 20:33:12','There are probably better things that I could be doing with my time other than watching the OC with a friend but I suspect only a few of them would be more fun.\n\nWe starting re-watching the OC last night and two episodes in I am hooked. <em>Again</em>. It\'s a terrible addiction. Two episodes in I wanted more. I didn\'t want to go home. I wanted to watch more of the OC.\n\nYou may be wondering: why oh why, given all of the tv ever created have you decided to re-watch the OC?\n\nI know, I know. Hear me out.\n\nI read <a href=\"http://www.theawl.com/2013/01/what-made-the-o-c-great-bitch\" target=\"_blank\">an article about it</a>. (Oh and if <a href=\"http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/328/transcript\" target=\"_blank\">Ira Glass from This American Life likes it</a> how bad can it be for me?!)\n\nThe same day my friend A. emailed me<a href=\"http://www.buzzfeed.com/fjelstud/the-oc-drinking-game-youve-been-waiting-for\" target=\"_blank\"> this piece on an OC drinking game</a>. I couldn\'t stop laughing and sent her a link to the piece I\'d just read.\n\nIt was then that we made a pact. Once a week we\'ll meet to watch the OC. We started last night with salads, calzones and glasses of wine. Only we\'re not playing the drinking game. We\'re not in college anymore. We know better.\n\nSeason one has a whopping 27 episodes so we\'ve got our work cut out for us.','Watching TV: The OC ','','inherit','open','open','','7488-revision-2','','','2013-02-06 22:33:12','2013-02-06 20:33:12','',7488,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/02/06/7488-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(7513,1,'2013-02-19 19:22:44','2013-02-19 17:22:44','I had a great weekend. Friday night I went to <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2012/12/07/wok-to-walk-in-sofia-is-finally-open/\" target=\"_blank\">Wok to Walk</a> with two of my teacher friends A. and M. A. and I have have officially become regulars. That\'s fun. We walked in the line was a mile long--okay 6 to 8 people deep--and we both got big hellos from the employees. We ordered in Bulgarian--they laughed. The line stood still for us and the joking around.\r\n\r\nThen we walked down the street for a couple of beers with colleagues at Murphy\'s one of the Irish bars in town. It\'s always nice catching up with people outside of work or somewhere other than the lunch table when everyone in stressed out and rushing around.\r\n\r\nA. and I popped into the Vitosha Memento after Murphy\'s because they have a great atmosphere and had a glass of wine before heading home. Once again, we said hello to the staff there. Oh and many of our hellos were to people who weren\'t actively working there but hanging out at the cafe/bar that they also work at. I think it\'s a good sign if the staff like the place enough to spend their free time there!!\r\n\r\nSaturday morning I went to a yoga workshop at <a href=\"http://www.yogamandala.net/\" target=\"_blank\">Yoga Mendala</a> lead by<a href=\"http://yogadancelife.weebly.com/index.html\" target=\"_blank\"> Nanci Traynor</a>. She was really great and the class was very inspiring. I spent most of Sunday sore--but the good kind of sore where you realize, you\'d better get more serious about your yoga practice and that you weren\'t at fit as you were once were. This said, I was equally proud of myself to be able to do two hours of flow yoga after breaking my hand two months ago.\r\n\r\nThen I spend Saturday afternoon in a whirlwind of shopping and hanging out with friends. A. and I were clearly making shop owners\' afternoons, if not weekends. I found a couple of great new scarves, two new necklaces and some really wonderful handmade martenitsi.   We then met up with two other friends and played Settlers.\r\n\r\nSunday I got up and cleaned my apartment. A girl\'s got to do these things sometimes.\r\n\r\nSunday afternoon I met some friends at The Mall and we saw the movie Beautiful Creatures. It was amazingly awful but perfect for a movie at the mall at the end of the weekend.\r\n\r\nI capped the whole thing off with a two hour skype call with my parents. Oh how I love skype.','Weekend update: Fun','','publish','open','open','','weekend-update-fun','','','2013-02-19 19:22:44','2013-02-19 17:22:44','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7513',0,'post','',4),(7492,1,'2013-02-09 17:09:54','2013-02-09 15:09:54','I\'m really much to busy spa-ing, eating, drinking and relaxing to write on the blog today. Hope everyone is having a good weekend!! \n\nI know I am.','Spa-ing in Velingrad','','publish','open','open','','spa-ing-in-velingrad','','','2013-02-09 17:09:54','2013-02-09 15:09:54','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7492',0,'post','',3),(7493,1,'2013-02-09 17:09:54','2013-02-09 15:09:54','','Auto Draft','','inherit','open','open','','7492-revision','','','2013-02-09 17:09:54','2013-02-09 15:09:54','',7492,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/02/09/7492-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7494,1,'2013-02-10 22:32:14','2013-02-10 20:32:14','I had a wonderful weekend away with my friend A. On Friday we left school and by 6pm or so we were in Velingrad.\r\n\r\nIt\'s not a very long drive but the rental car arrived a little late, we took our time leaving school and unlike lots of other cars on the road we weren\'t in the business speeding.\r\n\r\nThe road from Sofia to Velingrad is generally very good. I\'d say from the Bulgarian town (village?) Varvara the road becomes narrower and twists  along a river for a bit until one gets to Velingrad.\r\n\r\n<a title=\"Velina Hotel in Velingrad by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8461605605/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8528/8461605605_3373bc6554_z.jpg\" alt=\"Velina Hotel in Velingrad\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\r\nWe arrived in Velingrad in the dark with a pretty questionable map from the hotel website and even worse google map directions as somehow the hotel is marked in two different places in Velingrad on google maps. But we\'re ever hopeful and A. and I made it through Romania last spring break with a map and basic directions, so we weren\'t too worried.\r\n\r\nWe found the hotel pretty quickly after an initial wrong turn.<!--more-->\r\n\r\n<a title=\"Velina Hotel in the sunlight by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8461607607/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8229/8461607607_6eb15f3afb_z.jpg\" alt=\"Velina Hotel in the sunlight\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a><a href=\"http://www.velinahotel.com/index_en.html\" target=\"_blank\">Velina Hotel</a> was wonderful (just as a quick note, the pictures on the website are true to life). It\'s a large hotel located on the south end of town.\r\n\r\nWe knew that we wanted to go to Velingrad for a spa weekend but we didn\'t know which hotel we wanted to go to. We searched around online for a number of different options and found the Velina Hotel this way and we were really happy with it. We reserved the basic room and while it was small, it was clean and the beds were super comfortable. Oh and the pillows were great.\r\n<a title=\"Wine at Velina Hotel by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8461611111/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8384/8461611111_b85138736e_z.jpg\" alt=\"Wine at Velina Hotel\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\r\nWe had dinner on Friday night in the hotel and Saturday morning we got up, had breakfast and started a day of spa-ing. The spa-ing was exactly what I needed after a kind of nuts-o January.\r\n\r\nNow the thing about the Velina Hotel is that everyone who worked there was super nice and very helpful but no one really spoke English. This is okay because I apparently speak enough Bulgarian to do things like: check in, order meals, ask where the spa center is, get rolls of toilet paper, book massages and other spa treatments, make a table reservation in the hotel restaurant, ask for an later check-out time, and then finally to check out.\r\n\r\nHa, I knew I was learning Bulgarian for a reason. I didn\'t really think this was it--but that\'s another story.\r\n\r\nAnyhow the women working in the Spa Center really didn\'t speak English--or at least the ones I interacted with--but that was just fine. It didn\'t prevent A. and I from both getting a special bath-massage treatment followed by an hour long full body massage. The whole thing was magical.\r\n\r\n<a title=\"Restaurant in Velina Hotel by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8462711542/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8250/8462711542_8f8643c485_z.jpg\" alt=\"Restaurant in Velina Hotel\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>After the spa services, we ate a late lunch and then spent the rest of our afternoon alternating between baking ourselves in the sauna and the steam room followed by dips in the cold pool. We also took a swim in the regular pool and we topped the whole thing off with the hot tub. The pool, sauna and steam rooms were all clean an well maintained making for a great afternoon.\r\n\r\nSunday was equally wonderful--maybe even better. Sunday morning we repeated our sauna-steam room routine. What was even better this time was the fact that there were many fewer people in the steam room, the sauna and the pool. Oh and we went out to take a lap in the outdoor pool. This was super. You get to swim in a not to hot mineral pool where the steam is rising off the surface of the water.\r\n\r\nWhen we left at 1pm, I was sad to go. We had such a relaxing weekend.','Spa Weekend in Velingrad and Velina Hotel ','','publish','open','open','','spa-weekend-in-velingrad-and-velina-hotel','','','2013-02-10 22:32:14','2013-02-10 20:32:14','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7494',0,'post','',0),(7495,1,'2013-02-10 22:26:01','2013-02-10 20:26:01','I had a wonderful weekend away with my friend A. On Friday we left school and by 6pm or so we were in Velingrad.\n\nIt\'s not a very long drive but the rental car arrived a little late, we took our time leaving school and unlike lots of other cars on the road we weren\'t in the business speeding.\n\nThe road from Sofia to Velingrad is generally very good. I\'d say from the Bulgarian town (village?) Varvara the road becomes narrower and twists  along a river for a bit until one gets to Velingrad.\n\nWe arrived in Velingrad in the dark with a pretty questionable map from the hotel website and even worse google map directions as somehow the hotel is marked in two different places in Velingrad on google maps. But we\'re ever hopeful and A. and I made it through Romania last spring break with a map and basic directions, so we weren\'t too worried.\n\nWe found the hotel pretty quickly after an initial wrong turn.\n\n<a href=\"http://www.velinahotel.com/index_en.html\" target=\"_blank\">Velina Hotel</a> was wonderful (just as a quick note, the pictures on the website are true to life). It\'s a large hotel located on the south end of town.\n\nWe knew that we wanted to go to Velingrad for a spa weekend but we didn\'t know which hotel we wanted to go to. We searched around online for a number of different options and found the Velina Hotel this way and we were really happy with it. We reserved the basic room and while it was small, it was clean and the beds were super comfortable. Oh and the pillows were great.\n\nWe had dinner on Friday night in the hotel and Saturday morning we got up, had breakfast and started a day of spa-ing. The spa-ing was exactly what I needed after a kind of nuts-o January.\n\nNow the thing about the Velina Hotel is that everyone who worked there was super nice and very helpful but no one really spoke English. This is okay because I apparently speak enough Bulgarian to do things like: check in, order meals, ask where the spa center is, get rolls of toilet paper, book massages and other spa treatments, make a table reservation in the hotel restaurant, ask for an later check-out time, and then finally to check out.\n\nHa, I knew I was learning Bulgarian for a reason. I didn\'t really think this was it--but that\'s another story.\n\nAnyhow the women working in the Spa Center really didn\'t speak English--or at least the ones I interacted with--but that was just fine. It didn\'t prevent A. and I from both getting a special bath-massage treatment followed by an hour long full body massage. The whole thing was magical.\n\nAfter the spa services, we spent the rest of our afternoon alternating between baking ourselves in the sauna and the steam room followed by dips in the cold pool. We also took a swim in the regular pool and we topped the whole thing off with the hot tub. The pool, sauna and steam rooms were all clean an well maintained making for a great afternoon.\n\nSunday was equally wonderful--maybe even better. Sunday morning we repeated our sauna-steam room routine. What was even better this time was the fact that there were many fewer people in the steam room, the sauna and the pool. Oh and we went out to take a lap in the outdoor pool. This was super. You get to swim in a not to hot mineral pool where the steam is rising off the surface of the water.\n\nWhen we left at 1pm, I was sad to go. We had such a relaxing weekend.','Spa Weekend and Velingrad Hotel ','','inherit','open','open','','7494-revision','','','2013-02-10 22:26:01','2013-02-10 20:26:01','',7494,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/02/10/7494-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7496,1,'2013-02-10 22:30:36','2013-02-10 20:30:36','I had a wonderful weekend away with my friend A. On Friday we left school and by 6pm or so we were in Velingrad.\n\nIt\'s not a very long drive but the rental car arrived a little late, we took our time leaving school and unlike lots of other cars on the road we weren\'t in the business speeding.\n\nThe road from Sofia to Velingrad is generally very good. I\'d say from the Bulgarian town (village?) Varvara the road becomes narrower and twists  along a river for a bit until one gets to Velingrad.\n\n<a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8461605605/\" title=\"Velina Hotel in Velingrad by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8528/8461605605_3373bc6554_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" alt=\"Velina Hotel in Velingrad\"></a>\nWe arrived in Velingrad in the dark with a pretty questionable map from the hotel website and even worse google map directions as somehow the hotel is marked in two different places in Velingrad on google maps. But we\'re ever hopeful and A. and I made it through Romania last spring break with a map and basic directions, so we weren\'t too worried.\n\nWe found the hotel pretty quickly after an initial wrong turn.\n\n<a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8461607607/\" title=\"Velina Hotel in the sunlight by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8229/8461607607_6eb15f3afb_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" alt=\"Velina Hotel in the sunlight\"></a><a href=\"http://www.velinahotel.com/index_en.html\" target=\"_blank\">Velina Hotel</a> was wonderful (just as a quick note, the pictures on the website are true to life). It\'s a large hotel located on the south end of town.\n\nWe knew that we wanted to go to Velingrad for a spa weekend but we didn\'t know which hotel we wanted to go to. We searched around online for a number of different options and found the Velina Hotel this way and we were really happy with it. We reserved the basic room and while it was small, it was clean and the beds were super comfortable. Oh and the pillows were great.\n<a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8461611111/\" title=\"Wine at Velina Hotel by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8384/8461611111_b85138736e_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" alt=\"Wine at Velina Hotel\"></a>\nWe had dinner on Friday night in the hotel and Saturday morning we got up, had breakfast and started a day of spa-ing. The spa-ing was exactly what I needed after a kind of nuts-o January.\n\nNow the thing about the Velina Hotel is that everyone who worked there was super nice and very helpful but no one really spoke English. This is okay because I apparently speak enough Bulgarian to do things like: check in, order meals, ask where the spa center is, get rolls of toilet paper, book massages and other spa treatments, make a table reservation in the hotel restaurant, ask for an later check-out time, and then finally to check out.\n\nHa, I knew I was learning Bulgarian for a reason. I didn\'t really think this was it--but that\'s another story.\n\nAnyhow the women working in the Spa Center really didn\'t speak English--or at least the ones I interacted with--but that was just fine. It didn\'t prevent A. and I from both getting a special bath-massage treatment followed by an hour long full body massage. The whole thing was magical.\n\nAfter the spa services, we spent the rest of our afternoon alternating between baking ourselves in the sauna and the steam room followed by dips in the cold pool. We also took a swim in the regular pool and we topped the whole thing off with the hot tub. The pool, sauna and steam rooms were all clean an well maintained making for a great afternoon.\n\nSunday was equally wonderful--maybe even better. Sunday morning we repeated our sauna-steam room routine. What was even better this time was the fact that there were many fewer people in the steam room, the sauna and the pool. Oh and we went out to take a lap in the outdoor pool. This was super. You get to swim in a not to hot mineral pool where the steam is rising off the surface of the water.\n\nWhen we left at 1pm, I was sad to go. We had such a relaxing weekend.','Spa Weekend and Velingrad Hotel ','','inherit','open','open','','7494-revision-2','','','2013-02-10 22:30:36','2013-02-10 20:30:36','',7494,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/02/10/7494-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(7497,1,'2013-02-10 22:31:27','2013-02-10 20:31:27','I had a wonderful weekend away with my friend A. On Friday we left school and by 6pm or so we were in Velingrad.\r\n\r\nIt\'s not a very long drive but the rental car arrived a little late, we took our time leaving school and unlike lots of other cars on the road we weren\'t in the business speeding.\r\n\r\nThe road from Sofia to Velingrad is generally very good. I\'d say from the Bulgarian town (village?) Varvara the road becomes narrower and twists  along a river for a bit until one gets to Velingrad.\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8461605605/\" title=\"Velina Hotel in Velingrad by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8528/8461605605_3373bc6554_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" alt=\"Velina Hotel in Velingrad\"></a>\r\nWe arrived in Velingrad in the dark with a pretty questionable map from the hotel website and even worse google map directions as somehow the hotel is marked in two different places in Velingrad on google maps. But we\'re ever hopeful and A. and I made it through Romania last spring break with a map and basic directions, so we weren\'t too worried.\r\n\r\nWe found the hotel pretty quickly after an initial wrong turn.\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8461607607/\" title=\"Velina Hotel in the sunlight by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8229/8461607607_6eb15f3afb_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" alt=\"Velina Hotel in the sunlight\"></a><a href=\"http://www.velinahotel.com/index_en.html\" target=\"_blank\">Velina Hotel</a> was wonderful (just as a quick note, the pictures on the website are true to life). It\'s a large hotel located on the south end of town.\r\n\r\nWe knew that we wanted to go to Velingrad for a spa weekend but we didn\'t know which hotel we wanted to go to. We searched around online for a number of different options and found the Velina Hotel this way and we were really happy with it. We reserved the basic room and while it was small, it was clean and the beds were super comfortable. Oh and the pillows were great.\r\n<a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8461611111/\" title=\"Wine at Velina Hotel by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8384/8461611111_b85138736e_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" alt=\"Wine at Velina Hotel\"></a>\r\nWe had dinner on Friday night in the hotel and Saturday morning we got up, had breakfast and started a day of spa-ing. The spa-ing was exactly what I needed after a kind of nuts-o January.\r\n\r\nNow the thing about the Velina Hotel is that everyone who worked there was super nice and very helpful but no one really spoke English. This is okay because I apparently speak enough Bulgarian to do things like: check in, order meals, ask where the spa center is, get rolls of toilet paper, book massages and other spa treatments, make a table reservation in the hotel restaurant, ask for an later check-out time, and then finally to check out.\r\n\r\nHa, I knew I was learning Bulgarian for a reason. I didn\'t really think this was it--but that\'s another story.\r\n\r\nAnyhow the women working in the Spa Center really didn\'t speak English--or at least the ones I interacted with--but that was just fine. It didn\'t prevent A. and I from both getting a special bath-massage treatment followed by an hour long full body massage. The whole thing was magical.\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8462711542/\" title=\"Restaurant in Velina Hotel by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8250/8462711542_8f8643c485_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" alt=\"Restaurant in Velina Hotel\"></a>After the spa services, we ate a late lunch and then spent the rest of our afternoon alternating between baking ourselves in the sauna and the steam room followed by dips in the cold pool. We also took a swim in the regular pool and we topped the whole thing off with the hot tub. The pool, sauna and steam rooms were all clean an well maintained making for a great afternoon.\r\n\r\nSunday was equally wonderful--maybe even better. Sunday morning we repeated our sauna-steam room routine. What was even better this time was the fact that there were many fewer people in the steam room, the sauna and the pool. Oh and we went out to take a lap in the outdoor pool. This was super. You get to swim in a not to hot mineral pool where the steam is rising off the surface of the water.\r\n\r\nWhen we left at 1pm, I was sad to go. We had such a relaxing weekend.','Spa Weekend and Velingrad Hotel ','','inherit','open','open','','7494-revision-3','','','2013-02-10 22:31:27','2013-02-10 20:31:27','',7494,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/02/10/7494-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(7498,1,'2013-02-11 06:26:43','2013-02-11 04:26:43','I had a wonderful weekend away with my friend A. On Friday we left school and by 6pm or so we were in Velingrad. It\'s not a very long drive but the rental car arrived a little late, we took our time leaving school and unlike lots of other cars on the road we weren\'t in the business speeding. The road from Sofia to Velingrad is generally very good. I\'d say from the Bulgarian town (village?) Varvara the road becomes narrower and twists  along a river for a bit until one gets to Velingrad. <a title=\"Velina Hotel in Velingrad by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8461605605/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8528/8461605605_3373bc6554_z.jpg\" alt=\"Velina Hotel in Velingrad\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a> We arrived in Velingrad in the dark with a pretty questionable map from the hotel website and even worse google map directions as somehow the hotel is marked in two different places in Velingrad on google maps. But we\'re ever hopeful and A. and I made it through Romania last spring break with a map and basic directions, so we weren\'t too worried. We found the hotel pretty quickly after an initial wrong turn.<!--more--> <a title=\"Velina Hotel in the sunlight by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8461607607/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8229/8461607607_6eb15f3afb_z.jpg\" alt=\"Velina Hotel in the sunlight\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a><a href=\"http://www.velinahotel.com/index_en.html\" target=\"_blank\">Velina Hotel</a> was wonderful (just as a quick note, the pictures on the website are true to life). It\'s a large hotel located on the south end of town. We knew that we wanted to go to Velingrad for a spa weekend but we didn\'t know which hotel we wanted to go to. We searched around online for a number of different options and found the Velina Hotel this way and we were really happy with it. We reserved the basic room and while it was small, it was clean and the beds were super comfortable. Oh and the pillows were great. <a title=\"Wine at Velina Hotel by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8461611111/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8384/8461611111_b85138736e_z.jpg\" alt=\"Wine at Velina Hotel\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a> We had dinner on Friday night in the hotel and Saturday morning we got up, had breakfast and started a day of spa-ing. The spa-ing was exactly what I needed after a kind of nuts-o January. Now the thing about the Velina Hotel is that everyone who worked there was super nice and very helpful but no one really spoke English. This is okay because I apparently speak enough Bulgarian to do things like: check in, order meals, ask where the spa center is, get rolls of toilet paper, book massages and other spa treatments, make a table reservation in the hotel restaurant, ask for an later check-out time, and then finally to check out. Ha, I knew I was learning Bulgarian for a reason. I didn\'t really think this was it--but that\'s another story. Anyhow the women working in the Spa Center really didn\'t speak English--or at least the ones I interacted with--but that was just fine. It didn\'t prevent A. and I from both getting a special bath-massage treatment followed by an hour long full body massage. The whole thing was magical. <a title=\"Restaurant in Velina Hotel by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8462711542/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8250/8462711542_8f8643c485_z.jpg\" alt=\"Restaurant in Velina Hotel\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>After the spa services, we ate a late lunch and then spent the rest of our afternoon alternating between baking ourselves in the sauna and the steam room followed by dips in the cold pool. We also took a swim in the regular pool and we topped the whole thing off with the hot tub. The pool, sauna and steam rooms were all clean an well maintained making for a great afternoon. Sunday was equally wonderful--maybe even better. Sunday morning we repeated our sauna-steam room routine. What was even better this time was the fact that there were many fewer people in the steam room, the sauna and the pool. Oh and we went out to take a lap in the outdoor pool. This was super. You get to swim in a not to hot mineral pool where the steam is rising off the surface of the water. When we left at 1pm, I was sad to go. We had such a relaxing weekend.','Spa Weekend in Velingrad and Velina Hotel ','','inherit','open','open','','7494-autosave','','','2013-02-11 06:26:43','2013-02-11 04:26:43','',7494,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/02/10/7494-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(7515,1,'2013-02-19 19:21:46','2013-02-19 17:21:46','I had a great weekend. Friday night I went to <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2012/12/07/wok-to-walk-in-sofia-is-finally-open/\" target=\"_blank\">Wok to Walk</a> with two of my teacher friends A. and M. A. and I have have officially become regulars. That\'s fun. We walked in the line was a mile long--okay 6 to 8 people deep--and we both got big hellos from the employees. We ordered in Bulgarian--they laughed. The line stood still for us and the joking around.\n\nThen we walked down the street for a couple of beers with colleagues at Murphy\'s one of the Irish bars in town. It\'s always nice catching up with people outside of work or somewhere other than the lunch table when everyone in stressed out and rushing around.\n\nA. and I popped into the Vitosha Memento after Murphy\'s because they have a great atmosphere and had a glass of wine before heading home. Once again, we said hello to the staff there. Oh and many of our hellos were to people who weren\'t actively working there but hanging out at the cafe/bar that they also work at. I think it\'s a good sign if the staff like the place enough to spend their free time there!!\n\nSaturday morning I went to a yoga workshop at <a href=\"http://www.yogamandala.net/\" target=\"_blank\">Yoga Mendala</a> lead by<a href=\"http://yogadancelife.weebly.com/index.html\" target=\"_blank\"> Nanci Traynor</a>. She was really great and the class was very inspiring. I spent most of Sunday sore--but the good kind of sore where you realize, you\'d better get more serious about your yoga practice and that you weren\'t at fit as you were once were. This said, I was equally proud of myself to be able to do two hours of flow yoga after breaking my hand two months ago.\n\nThen I spend Saturday afternoon in a whirlwind of shopping and hanging out with friends. A. and I were clearly making shop owners\' afternoons, if not weekends. I found a couple of great new scarves, two new necklaces and some really wonderful handmade martenitsi.   We then met up with two other friends and played Settlers.\n\nSunday I got up and cleaned my apartment. A girl\'s got to do these things sometimes.\n\nSunday afternoon I met some friends at The Mall and we saw the movie Beautiful Creatures. It was amazingl','Weekend update: Fun','','inherit','open','open','','7513-revision-2','','','2013-02-19 19:21:46','2013-02-19 17:21:46','',7513,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/02/19/7513-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(7519,1,'2013-03-01 06:40:06','0000-00-00 00:00:00','Earlier this week Bulgarians gathered in downtown Sofia to protest rising heating costs. The protests turned violent and then the Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and his cabinet resigned on Wednesday. Today <a href=\"http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/21/us-bulgaria-easteurope-idUSBRE91K0TO20130221\" target=\"_blank\">the analysis begins</a>.\n\nI don\'t really know what all of this means for the country.\n\nIt\'s changed very little in my day-to-day life. Well aside from this email from my parents titled: Riots in Sofia... The body of the email was a single line: Are you safe and alright?\n\nMy response: Yes.\n\nI know they would have liked a little more information from me on the nature of these news-worthy events but I don\'t really have one to give. At the beginning of the week, I never guessed that things would turn violent, let alone that the Prime Minister would step down (really, who does that?!).\n\nI find the whole thing is interesting and unexpected but I suspect that this may be because I am a foreigner. I think it must be wholly different if you\'re a Bulgarian. I suspect that if you\'re Bulgarian there\'s more eye rolling interspersed with heavy sighing and a lot of head shaking.\n\nMe? I find myself reading these stories and thinking: <em>Oh, Bulgaria</em>. The appropriate tone to read into the phrase \"<em>Oh, Bulgaria</em>\" is part exasperated, over-worked mother and part sing-song-y Disney musical fairy god-mother. Ideally the result is reproach and wonderment all at once.\n\nWhat\'s next, Bulgaria, what\'s next?!','Protests in Sofia and the MP Resigns ','','draft','open','open','','','','','2013-03-01 06:40:06','2013-03-01 04:40:06','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7519',0,'post','',0),(7502,1,'2013-02-13 20:19:01','2013-02-13 18:19:01','It\'s been a crazy 2 1/2 days. Grades and student comments were due to day and I\'ve been a busy cookie. The thing about the end of the first semester at school is that I always think I have more time than I do. Each year I think: no problem. Then it turns out that there is not enough time to do everything.\r\n\r\nSo I stop washing dishes. I keep cooking to a minimum. I don\'t fold my laundry and generally I live in a state of chaos until I finish all of my work.\r\n\r\nThis year I tried to keep things classy--and maybe just maybe fool others int thinking that I have it all together--by wearing blazers, a fancy necklace, and a sock bun in my hair.  I am not sure it worked and I think that there\'s a sock bun intervention in my near future.\r\n\r\nThen again, maybe it did work because today at the height of my craziness a student walked into my classroom and announced: Ms Emigh you look <em>so</em> pretty today! Me: Thanks! Student: No, no. I mean you look nice always you just look extra-pretty today. Um, little does this student know that this comment made my day. Made my day.\r\n\r\nI worked right down to the wire this time. Full disclosure: often it\'s close. But then again I\'ve never put grades and comments in with a head-cold. Yesterday after school, as I put in grades and comments I had to do so with a kleenex stuck up my nose because I couldn\'t tilt my head down without my nose running like crazy. I know that\'s totally gross but a girl\'s got to do these things sometimes. The grade due date really isn\'t flexible.\r\n\r\nWorking with a cold is hard. I still have a cold but I seem to have moved on from the runny nose to the sneezing part and the best part my world seems much less cloud-like.\r\n\r\nAnyhow, the last 2 1/2 days have passed in a blur and I couldn\'t be happier to have all of my grades in.','Blurry Eyed ','','publish','open','open','','blurry-eyed','','','2013-02-13 20:19:01','2013-02-13 18:19:01','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7502',0,'post','',1),(7521,1,'2013-02-22 18:17:48','2013-02-22 16:17:48','We have a three day weekend as a part of the end of the first semester. Yeah.\n\nI\'m going to Prague with friends. Friday night in Prague sounds pretty great to me. \n\nSometimes I\'m amazed by my life. \n\nHope you\'re having a great weekend wherever you find yourself!!','Winter Holiday in Prague','','publish','open','open','','winter-holiday-in-prague','','','2013-02-22 18:17:49','2013-02-22 16:17:49','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7521',0,'post','',1),(7504,1,'2013-02-13 20:18:57','2013-02-13 18:18:57','It\'s been a crazy 2 1/2 days. Grades and student comments were due to day and I\'ve been a busy cookie. The thing about the end of the first semester at school is that I always think I have more time than I do. Each year I think: no problem. Then it turns out that there is not enough time to do everything.\n\nSo I stop washing dishes. I keep cooking to a minimum. I don\'t fold my laundry and generally I live in a state of chaos until I finish all of my work.\n\nThis year I tried to keep things classy--and maybe just maybe fool others int thinking that I have it all together--by wearing blazers, a fancy necklace, and a sock bun in my hair.  I am not sure it worked and I think that there\'s a sock bun intervention in my near future.\n\nThen again, maybe it did work because today at the height of my craziness a student walked into my classroom and announced: Ms Emigh you look <em>so</em> pretty today! Me: Thanks! Student: No, no. I mean you look nice always you just look extra-pretty today. Um, little does this student know that this comment made my day. Made my day.\n\nI worked right down to the wire this time. Full disclosure: often it\'s close. But then again I\'ve never put grades and comments in with a head-cold. Yesterday after school, as I put in grades and comments I had to do so with a kleenex stuck up my nose because I couldn\'t tilt my head down without my nose running like crazy. I know that\'s totally gross but a girl\'s got to do these things sometimes. The grade due date really isn\'t flexible.\n\nWorking with a cold is hard. I still have a cold but I seem to have moved on from the runny nose to the sneezing part and the best part my world seems much less cloud-like.\n\nAnyhow, the last 2 1/2 days have passed in a blur and I couldn\'t be happier to have all of my grades in.','Blurry Eyed ','','inherit','open','open','','7502-revision','','','2013-02-13 20:18:57','2013-02-13 18:18:57','',7502,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/02/13/7502-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7505,1,'2013-02-14 17:02:31','2013-02-14 15:02:31','This week I started teaching both Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin and the Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera--a classic love story and a post-modern love story--if you can even call the Unbearable Lightness of Being this.\r\n\r\nAnyhow, this is just to say there\'s something odd about teaching these two books at the same time no matter what but then I tried to think about how I could link Valentine\'s Day into the mix. Needless to say, everything that I came up with was too cliched or maybe too kitsch for words so I gave up.\r\n\r\nInstead I started daydreaming of <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweethearts_(candy)\" target=\"_blank\">conversation candy hearts</a>. What I wouldn\'t give for some conversation hearts!!\r\n\r\nThis lead me to thinking about Bulgarian foods that would be even better in the shape of a heart:\r\n<ol>\r\n	<li>Slices of cucumber. Heart shaped cucumbers in a shopsa salad? Yes, please.</li>\r\n	<li>A large heart shaped banitza. Why aren\'t the babas all over this?</li>\r\n	<li>Grilled kyufte in the shape of hearts? If that\'s not perfect for meat-lover in your life, I don\'t know what is.</li>\r\n	<li>Baklava. Squares are so boring.</li>\r\n	<li>Anything in a heart shaped bowl--yogurt, tiny meatball soup (soupa topcheta), or french fries with sirene cheese are just a few that come to mind that could be made even better in a heart shaped dish.</li>\r\n</ol>\r\nJust for the record, I think all of these food are wonderful without being heart shaped. I\'d just squeal with delight if I could buy banitza in the shape of a heart.','Love Stories and Bulgarian Food','','publish','open','open','','love-stories-and-bulgarian-food','','','2013-02-14 17:02:31','2013-02-14 15:02:31','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7505',0,'post','',4),(7506,1,'2013-02-13 20:29:23','2013-02-13 18:29:23','This week I started teaching both Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin and the Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera--a classic love story and a post-modern love story--if you can even call the Unbearable Lightness of Being this.\n\nAnyhow, this is just to say there\'s something odd about teaching these two books at the same time no matter what but then I tried to think about how I link Valentine\'s Day into the mix. Needless to say, everything that I came up with was too cliched or maybe too kits for words.','Love Stories ','','inherit','open','open','','7505-revision','','','2013-02-13 20:29:23','2013-02-13 18:29:23','',7505,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/02/13/7505-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7507,1,'2013-02-13 20:44:49','2013-02-13 18:44:49','This week I started teaching both Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin and the Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera--a classic love story and a post-modern love story--if you can even call the Unbearable Lightness of Being this.\n\nAnyhow, this is just to say there\'s something odd about teaching these two books at the same time no matter what but then I tried to think about how I could link Valentine\'s Day into the mix. Needless to say, everything that I came up with was too cliched or maybe too kitsch for words so I gave up.\n\nInstead I started daydreaming of <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweethearts_(candy)\" target=\"_blank\">conversation candy hearts</a>.\n\nThis lead me to thinking about Bulgarian foods that would be even better in the shape of a heart.\n<ol>\n	<li>Slices of cucumber. Heart shaped cucumbers in a shopsa salad? Yes, please.</li>\n	<li>A large heart shaped banitza. Why aren\'t the babas all over this?</li>\n	<li>Grilled kyufte in the shape of hearts? If that\'s not perfect for meat-lover in your life, I don\'t know what is.</li>\n	<li>Baklava. Squares are so boring.</li>\n	<li>Anything in a heart shaped bowl--yogurt, tiny meatball soup (soupa topcheta), french fries with sirene cheese.</li>\n</ol>','Love Stories and Food','','inherit','open','open','','7505-revision-2','','','2013-02-13 20:44:49','2013-02-13 18:44:49','',7505,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/02/13/7505-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(7508,1,'2013-02-14 17:01:40','2013-02-14 15:01:40','This week I started teaching both Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin and the Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera--a classic love story and a post-modern love story--if you can even call the Unbearable Lightness of Being this.\n\nAnyhow, this is just to say there\'s something odd about teaching these two books at the same time no matter what but then I tried to think about how I could link Valentine\'s Day into the mix. Needless to say, everything that I came up with was too cliched or maybe too kitsch for words so I gave up.\n\nInstead I started daydreaming of <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweethearts_(candy)\" target=\"_blank\">conversation candy hearts</a>. What I wouldn\'t give for some conversation hearts!!\n\nThis lead me to thinking about Bulgarian foods that would be even better in the shape of a heart:\n<ol>\n	<li>Slices of cucumber. Heart shaped cucumbers in a shopsa salad? Yes, please.</li>\n	<li>A large heart shaped banitza. Why aren\'t the babas all over this?</li>\n	<li>Grilled kyufte in the shape of hearts? If that\'s not perfect for meat-lover in your life, I don\'t know what is.</li>\n	<li>Baklava. Squares are so boring.</li>\n	<li>Anything in a heart shaped bowl--yogurt, tiny meatball soup (soupa topcheta), or french fries with sirene cheese are just a few that come to mind that could be made even better in a heart shaped dish.</li>\n</ol>\nJust for the record, I think all of these food are wonderful without being heart shaped. I\'d just sqweal if','Love Stories and Food','','inherit','open','open','','7505-revision-3','','','2013-02-14 17:01:40','2013-02-14 15:01:40','',7505,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/02/14/7505-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(7509,1,'2013-02-15 12:56:15','2013-02-15 10:56:15','Upon noticing that you\'ve gotten a haircut, Bulgarians like to wish you a Happy New Haircut!\r\n\r\nIt\'s sort of like Happy Birthday for your hair. I think it\'s a charming tradition. I also think it sounds unbelievably funny in English because it\'s just not something we say to each other in the States. Just to be clear, I think it\'s funny and wonderful. I wouldn\'t change it for the world.\r\n\r\nThis said, today I\'ve had a number of people both students and colleagues wish me a Happy New Haircut.\r\n\r\nHere\'s the thing, I didn\'t get my haircut.\r\n\r\nI just<em> did</em> my hair--like instead of putting back in a bun. Specifically<a href=\"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8chvI7b9ZI8\" target=\"_blank\"> a sock bun</a>. I\'m obsessed with the sock bun.\r\n\r\nAnyhow, this morning I dried my hair with my hairdryer and then applied a little hairspray. Watch out world!\r\n\r\nThe first time it happened, I just said thanks but by the third Happy New Haircut, I said: thanks but I didn\'t get it cut. I just did it.\r\n\r\nThen I was embarrassed. A lot. Why would I say that?! What was I thinking?! I should clearly just keep saying thank-you and this should probably be a lesson for me to do my hair more often.\r\n\r\nThe problem is that it\'s winter and my bed is so cozy in the mornings and sock buns are so easy that I feel no real compulsion to get out of bed. Maybe today was just what I needed.','Happy New Haircut, or not','','publish','open','open','','happy-new-haircut-or-not','','','2013-02-15 12:56:15','2013-02-15 10:56:15','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7509',0,'post','',4),(7510,1,'2013-02-15 12:54:44','2013-02-15 10:54:44','Upon noticing that you\'ve gotten a haircut, Bulgarians like to wish you a Happy New Haircut! It\'s sort of like Happy Birthday for your hair. I think it\'s a charming tradition. I also think it sounds unbelievably funny in English because it\'s just not something we say to each other in the States. Just to be clear, I think it\'s funny and wonderful. I wouldn\'t change it for the world.\n\nThis said, today I\'ve had a number of people both students and colleagues wish me a Happy New Haircut.\n\nHere\'s the thing, I didn\'t get my haircut.\n\nI just<em> did</em> my hair--like instead of putting back in a bun. Specifically<a href=\"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8chvI7b9ZI8\" target=\"_blank\"> a sock bun</a>. I\'m obsessed with the sock bun.\n\nAnyhow, this morning I dried my hair with my hairdryer and then applied a little hairspray. Watch out world!\n\nThe first time it happened, I just said thanks but by the third Happy New Haircut, I said: thanks but I didn\'t get it cut. I just did it.\n\nThen I was embarrassed. A lot. Why would I say that?! What was I thinking?! I should clearly just keep saying thank-you and this should probably be a lesson for me to do my hair more often.\n\nThe problem is that it\'s winter and my bed is so cozy in the mornings and sock buns are so easy that I feel no real compulsion to get out of bed.','Happy New Haircut, or not','','inherit','open','open','','7509-revision','','','2013-02-15 12:54:44','2013-02-15 10:54:44','',7509,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/02/15/7509-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7511,1,'2013-02-15 12:55:22','2013-02-15 10:55:22','Upon noticing that you\'ve gotten a haircut, Bulgarians like to wish you a Happy New Haircut! It\'s sort of like Happy Birthday for your hair. I think it\'s a charming tradition. I also think it sounds unbelievably funny in English because it\'s just not something we say to each other in the States. Just to be clear, I think it\'s funny and wonderful. I wouldn\'t change it for the world.\r\n\r\nThis said, today I\'ve had a number of people both students and colleagues wish me a Happy New Haircut.\r\n\r\nHere\'s the thing, I didn\'t get my haircut.\r\n\r\nI just<em> did</em> my hair--like instead of putting back in a bun. Specifically<a href=\"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8chvI7b9ZI8\" target=\"_blank\"> a sock bun</a>. I\'m obsessed with the sock bun.\r\n\r\nAnyhow, this morning I dried my hair with my hairdryer and then applied a little hairspray. Watch out world!\r\n\r\nThe first time it happened, I just said thanks but by the third Happy New Haircut, I said: thanks but I didn\'t get it cut. I just did it.\r\n\r\nThen I was embarrassed. A lot. Why would I say that?! What was I thinking?! I should clearly just keep saying thank-you and this should probably be a lesson for me to do my hair more often.\r\n\r\nThe problem is that it\'s winter and my bed is so cozy in the mornings and sock buns are so easy that I feel no real compulsion to get out of bed. Maybe today was just what I needed.','Happy New Haircut, or not','','inherit','open','open','','7509-revision-2','','','2013-02-15 12:55:22','2013-02-15 10:55:22','',7509,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/02/15/7509-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(7512,1,'2013-02-15 12:55:23','2013-02-15 10:55:23','Upon noticing that you\'ve gotten a haircut, Bulgarians like to wish you a Happy New Haircut! It\'s sort of like Happy Birthday for your hair. I think it\'s a charming tradition. I also think it sounds unbelievably funny in English because it\'s just not something we say to each other in the States. Just to be clear, I think it\'s funny and wonderful. I wouldn\'t change it for the world.\r\n\r\nThis said, today I\'ve had a number of people both students and colleagues wish me a Happy New Haircut.\r\n\r\nHere\'s the thing, I didn\'t get my haircut.\r\n\r\nI just<em> did</em> my hair--like instead of putting back in a bun. Specifically<a href=\"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8chvI7b9ZI8\" target=\"_blank\"> a sock bun</a>. I\'m obsessed with the sock bun.\r\n\r\nAnyhow, this morning I dried my hair with my hairdryer and then applied a little hairspray. Watch out world!\r\n\r\nThe first time it happened, I just said thanks but by the third Happy New Haircut, I said: thanks but I didn\'t get it cut. I just did it.\r\n\r\nThen I was embarrassed. A lot. Why would I say that?! What was I thinking?! I should clearly just keep saying thank-you and this should probably be a lesson for me to do my hair more often.\r\n\r\nThe problem is that it\'s winter and my bed is so cozy in the mornings and sock buns are so easy that I feel no real compulsion to get out of bed. Maybe today was just what I needed.','Happy New Haircut, or not','','inherit','open','open','','7509-revision-3','','','2013-02-15 12:55:23','2013-02-15 10:55:23','',7509,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/02/15/7509-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(7514,1,'2013-02-18 07:12:11','2013-02-18 05:12:11','I had a great weekend. Friday night I went to <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2012/12/07/wok-to-walk-in-sofia-is-finally-open/\" target=\"_blank\">Wok to Walk</a> with two of my teacher friends A. and M. A. and I have have officially become regulars. That\'s fun. We walked in the line was a mile long--okay 6 to 8 people deep--and we both got big hellos from the employees. We ordered in Bulgarian--they laughed. The line stood still for us and the joking around.\n\nThen we walked down the street for a couple of beers with colleagues at Murphy\'s one of the Irish bars in town. It\'s always nice catching up with people outside of work or somewhere other than the lunch table when everyone in stressed out and rushing around.\n\nA. and I popped into the Vitosha Memento after Murphy\'s because they have a great atmosphere and had a glass of wine before heading home. Once again, we said hello to the staff there. Oh and many of our hellos were to people who weren\'t actively working there but hanging out at the cafe/bar that they also work at. I think it\'s a good sign if the staff like the place enough to spend their free time there!!\n\nSaturday morning I went to a yoga workshop at <a href=\"http://www.yogamandala.net/\" target=\"_blank\">Yoga Mendala</a> lead by<a href=\"http://yogadancelife.weebly.com/index.html\" target=\"_blank\"> Nanci Traynor</a>. She was really great and the class was very inspiring. I spent most of Sunday sore--but the good kind of sore where you realize, you\'d better get more serious about your yoga practice and that you weren\'t at fit as you were once were. This said, I was equally proud of myself to be able to do two hours of flow yoga after breaking my hand two months ago.\n\nThen I spend Saturday afternoon in a whirlwind of shopping and hanging out with friends. A. and I were clearly making shop owners\' afternoons, if not weekends. I found a couple of great new scarves, two new necklaces and some really wonderful handmade martenitsi.   We then met up with two other friends and played Settlers.\n\nSunday I got up and cleaned my apartment. A girl','Weekend update: Fun','','inherit','open','open','','7513-revision','','','2013-02-18 07:12:11','2013-02-18 05:12:11','',7513,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/02/18/7513-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7523,1,'2013-02-28 17:36:34','0000-00-00 00:00:00','I\'ve been to Prague once before in the middle of the summer. I liked it well enough but it was overrun with tourists and as such rather overwhelming. My experience was positive but I thought: hum, I don\'t get it. It\'s but nice but what\'s all the fuss about? It\'s not as cheap as many of it\'s Eastern European counterparts. It feels more Western European (or Central European) given the architecture but it\'s slightly more worn, dirty and gray than say Viennayen.','Prague was a wonderful whirlwind','','draft','open','open','','','','','2013-02-28 17:36:34','2013-02-28 15:36:34','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7523',0,'post','',0),(7517,1,'2013-02-20 06:52:12','0000-00-00 00:00:00','Learned how to drive a stick shift\n\nWatched Twin Peaks\n\nMade my own rakiya\n\nRoasted my own peppers on a chushkopek\n\n&nbsp;','','','draft','open','open','','','','','2013-02-20 06:52:12','2013-02-20 04:52:12','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7517',0,'post','',0),(7518,1,'2013-02-20 16:22:25','0000-00-00 00:00:00','Learned how to drive a stick shift Watched Twin Peaks Made my own rakiya Roasted my own peppers on a chushkopek','','','draft','open','open','','','','','2013-02-20 16:22:25','2013-02-20 14:22:25','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7518',0,'post','',0),(7520,1,'2013-02-21 06:58:56','2013-02-21 04:58:56','Earlier this week Bulgarian gathered in downtown Sofia to protest rising heating costs. The protests turned violent and then the MP resi','Protests in Sofia and the MP Resigns ','','inherit','open','open','','7519-revision','','','2013-02-21 06:58:56','2013-02-21 04:58:56','',7519,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/02/21/7519-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7522,1,'2013-02-22 18:17:48','2013-02-22 16:17:48','','Auto Draft','','inherit','open','open','','7521-revision','','','2013-02-22 18:17:48','2013-02-22 16:17:48','',7521,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/02/22/7521-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7524,1,'2013-02-28 10:24:09','2013-02-28 08:24:09','I\'ve been to Prague once before in the middle of the summer. I liked it well enough but it was overrun with tourists and as such rather overwhelming. My experience was positive but I thought: hum, I don\'t get it. It\'s but nice but what\'s all the fuss about? It\'s not as cheap as many of it\'s Eastern European counterparts. It feels more Western European (or Central European) given the architecture but it\'s slightly more worn, dirty and gray than say Viennayen.','Prague was a wonderful whirlwind','','inherit','open','open','','7523-revision','','','2013-02-28 10:24:09','2013-02-28 08:24:09','',7523,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/02/28/7523-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7525,1,'2013-03-05 21:48:32','2013-03-05 19:48:32','I\'ve been pretty MIA on this blog recently. It\'s not for any good reason. Nope. In fact it\'s a string of boring and rather mundane reasons.\r\n\r\nI had to make a new passport application. We had a book club meeting (<em>Buddha in the Attic</em>). I went to Prague for a long weekend and then I needed a week to recover from my long weekend.\r\n\r\nI\'ve been re-reading both <em>Pride and Prejudice</em> and <em>The Unbearable Lightness of Being</em> for school and the combination of reading and teaching these two books at the same time makes me both happy and hopeful as well as a depressed and certain that life is meaningless.\r\n\r\nSo I decided that I should also start reading the novel <em>Beautiful Ruins</em>. I don\'t think that I love it but I am only 47% of the way in and I\'ve been reading it before I fall asleep at night which means I have to do plenty of re-reading as I can never remember what I read the night before.\r\n\r\nI\'ve been out to dinner (and drinks) with friends more than normal. This past weekend I had Indian food at Saffron in Studentskigrad, I went to Blender club for drinks, I played a few games of pool (and I was horrible at it--like usual) and I\'ve eaten pizza out twice in the last week.\r\n\r\nI\'ve planned sprig break, a long holiday in May and most of my summer travel. There\'s still a short weekend in May that I need to figure out but I figure that there\'s time for that. Maybe I\'ll go to Athens. Maybe not. I really want to go to Kiev but there aren\'t any good flights.\r\n\r\nSo this is just to say, don\'t worry about me. I am doing okay. My laundry is clean, my dishes are washed, I\'ve got food in my fridge and I\'m getting plenty of sleep. It just turns out that I done all of this at the expense of my blog recently. I guess t<span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">hese things happen. </span>\r\n\r\nI hope that everyone else is having a great week!!','MIA in Sofia ','','publish','open','open','','mia-in-sofia','','','2013-03-05 21:48:32','2013-03-05 19:48:32','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7525',0,'post','',4),(7526,1,'2013-03-05 21:48:06','2013-03-05 19:48:06','I\'ve been pretty MIA on this blog recently. It\'s not for any good reason. Nope. In fact it\'s a string of boring and rather mundane reasons.\n\nI had to make a new passport application. We had a book club meeting (<em>Buddha in the Attic</em>). I went to Prague for a long weekend and then I needed a week to recover from my long weekend.\n\nI\'ve been re-reading both <em>Pride and Prejudice</em> and <em>The Unbearable Lightness of Being</em> for school and the combination of reading and teaching these two books at the same time makes me both happy and hopeful as well as a depressed and certain that life is meaningless.\n\nSo I decided that I should also start reading the novel <em>Beautiful Ruins</em>. I don\'t think that I love it but I am only 47% of the way in and I\'ve been reading it before I fall asleep at night which means I have to do plenty of re-reading as I can never remember what I read the night before.\n\nI\'ve been out to dinner (and drinks) with friends more than normal. This past weekend I had Indian food at Saffron in Studentskigrad, I went to Blender club for drinks, I played a few games of pool (and I was horrible at it--like usual) and I\'ve eaten pizza out twice in the last week.\n\nI\'ve planned sprig break, a long holiday in May and most of my summer travel. There\'s still a short weekend in May that I need to figure out but I figure that there\'s time for that. Maybe I\'ll go to Athens. Maybe not. I really want to go to Kiev but there aren\'t any good flights.\n\nSo this is just to say, don\'t worry about me. I am doing okay. My laundry is clean, my dishes are washed, I\'ve got food in my fridge and I\'m getting plenty of sleep. It just turns out that I done all of this at the expense of my blog recently. I guess t<span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">hese things happen. </span>\n\nI hope that everyone else is having a great week','MIA in Sofia ','','inherit','open','open','','7525-revision','','','2013-03-05 21:48:06','2013-03-05 19:48:06','',7525,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/03/05/7525-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7527,1,'2013-03-05 21:49:36','2013-03-05 19:49:36','I\'ve been pretty MIA on this blog recently. It\'s not for any good reason. Nope. In fact it\'s a string of boring and rather mundane reasons.\n\nI had to make a new passport application. We had a book club meeting (<em>Buddha in the Attic</em>). I went to Prague for a long weekend and then I needed a week to recover from my long weekend.\n\nI\'ve been re-reading both <em>Pride and Prejudice</em> and <em>The Unbearable Lightness of Being</em> for school and the combination of reading and teaching these two books at the same time makes me both happy and hopeful as well as a depressed and certain that life is meaningless.\n\nSo I decided that I should also start reading the novel <em>Beautiful Ruins</em>. I don\'t think that I love it but I am only 47% of the way in and I\'ve been reading it before I fall asleep at night which means I have to do plenty of re-reading as I can never remember what I read the night before.\n\nI\'ve been out to dinner (and drinks) with friends more than normal. This past weekend I had Indian food at Saffron in Studentskigrad, I went to Blender club for drinks, I played a few games of pool (and I was horrible at it--like usual) and I\'ve eaten pizza out twice in the last week.\n\nI\'ve planned sprig break, a long holiday in May and most of my summer travel. There\'s still a short weekend in May that I need to figure out but I figure that there\'s time for that. Maybe I\'ll go to Athens. Maybe not. I really want to go to Kiev but there aren\'t any good flights.\n\nSo this is just to say, don\'t worry about me. I am doing okay. My laundry is clean, my dishes are washed, I\'ve got food in my fridge and I\'m getting plenty of sleep. It just turns out that I done all of this at the expense of my blog recently. I guess t<span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">hese things happen. </span>\n\nI hope that everyone else is having a great week!!','MIA in Sofia ','','inherit','open','open','','7525-autosave','','','2013-03-05 21:49:36','2013-03-05 19:49:36','',7525,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/03/05/7525-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(7554,1,'2013-03-23 10:12:21','2013-03-23 08:12:21','I think that spring is going to find us in Sofia sooner than later. Yesterday, it snowed. Today it\'s sunny but cold.  Overall we\'ve had much, much less snow this year than past years but it\'s remained colder longer. In the past I\'ve been able to switch over to a lighter weight coat in March but this year I\'m still switching back and forth between my two winter coats.\r\n\r\nIt\'s been a strange few months in Bulgaria. After a series of protests (some of them violent) in February, the government (unexpectedly) resigned resulting in the formation of a care-taker government and the elections which had once been scheduled for July have moved moved up to May.\r\n\r\nAt the same time there have been an alarming number of self-immolation cases in Bulgaria over the past two months. This has been much more upsetting to me than the resignation of the government.\r\n\r\nIn the past week or so, Foreign Policy ran a piece titled: <a href=\"http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/03/14/self_immolation_is_not_new_to_bulgaria\" target=\"_blank\">Self-immolation isn\'t as new as you think in Bulgaria</a>. This article outlined two things. Bulgaria is second only to the Netherlands in average cases of self-immolation each year in Europe but only 1/3 of Bulgaria\'s cases are related to mental illness and this is the lowest correlation in Europe. Thus most of Bulgaria\'s cases of self-immolation are a form of political protest.\r\n\r\nNot to be left behind the Economist also ran <a href=\"http://www.economist.com/news/europe/21574034-desperate-demonstrations-against-ephemeral-government-poverty-protests?fsrc=scn/tw_ec/poverty_protests\" target=\"_blank\">an article on the intersection of poverty, protest and self-immolation in Bulgaria</a>. This piece led with the fact that:\r\n<blockquote>Six people have set themselves on fire in Bulgaria in less than a month. Three have died.</blockquote>\r\nI read this line a few times. It\'s hard for me to understand the kind of desperation, frustration and helplessness that leads to self-immolation.\r\n\r\nI don\'t know how to reconcile this with my experience in Sofia. I don\'t know what this increase of cases says about life in Bulgaria. I don\'t know how to make sense of any of this.\r\n\r\nI wonder if things will look better in spring. I wonder if the up-tick in self-immolation will fall off. I wonder if the upcoming elections will change anything. But mostly I wonder: how did things get so bad?','Spring, Sofia & Politics ','','publish','open','open','','spring-sofia-politics','','','2013-03-23 10:12:21','2013-03-23 08:12:21','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7554',0,'post','',1),(7529,1,'2013-03-06 17:19:12','2013-03-06 15:19:12','Two weeks ago--give or take--I applied for a new passport at the US Embassy in Sofia.\r\n\r\nDon\'t worry nothing bad happened--my passport was neither lost nor stolen (thought this is one of my worst nightmares). Nope, the most boring and mundane thing possible happened--my passport was merely in the process of expiring.\r\n\r\nSo I printed out the application for a new passport, I got American sized passport photos (turns out Americans want a 5x5 square while Bulgarians want a 5x something rectangle--I learned that the hard way) and I rounded up a enough leva to pay for my new passport. Turns out they aren\'t cheep at $110.\r\n<a title=\"My new passport and my old passport by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8533390429/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8525/8533390429_42ae5c346f_z.jpg\" alt=\"My new passport and my old passport\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\r\nThen 10 days later I went back at the embassy to pick up my new passport. Old passport meet new passport.\r\n\r\nFor the most part things at the embassy were pretty uneventful. I guess this is really all you can ever hope for. It wasn\'t perfect, it wasn\'t painless or stupidly easy but it wasn\'t horrible either. <!--more-->\r\n\r\nThe Bulgarian security staff asks you why you\'re there a few times. Once your visit has been confirmed and approved then you go through security. The security measures seem a little bit much. They take your cell phone and other other technology. They ask you about liquids, sharp objects and make-up and perfume. Then you go through a metal detector and your things do too. Upon clearing security you then have to wait to be buzzed out of the security area in order to walk down a path alongside the embassy before you reach the consular services area of the embassy.\r\n\r\nThen you check in again. As an American, I have it a little easier with a more private waiting room compared to the line that Bulgarians have to stand in. This said there\'s nothing really private about talking to someone about whatever has brought you to the US Embassy through a glass window and a speaker system. Case and point, I\'ve got to listen in on a lot of interesting problems and as such it seems to me based on my last few visits that the embassy deals a lot with paternity issues and citizenship--specifically American fathers and Bulgarian mothers. The take-away seems to be: get married before the baby is born and make sure the father\'s name is listed on the birth certificate.\r\n\r\nAnyhow, waiting at the embassy seems unavoidable. The last time I was there I waited long enough to grade a whole stack of quizzes. Lucky me! This most recent time it was much quicker but even though there was not physically in front of me in line I still had to wait.\r\n\r\nThe worst part of this whole thing is that I\'ve never left the US Embassy in Sofia and not felt vaguely abused by the whole process.\r\n\r\nToday for example, I was standing outside of the US Embassy after picking up my new passport and a guard came up to me and asked me if I was waiting for a taxi. I said, yes. Snarkey me wanted to say yes, why else would I be standing here on the sidewalk after exiting the embassy but I refrained. Then the guard told me that I needed to move to the other side of the garbage can to wait. Three to four steps later I was standing on the other side of the garbage can, the guard was happy, and I guess that the US Embassy in Sofia was now<em> that much</em> safer.\r\n\r\nAll of this said, I don\'t want to complain too much because I really am grateful that I am American and that it\'s relatively easy for me to travel internationally. I know that my Bulgarian friends don\'t have it as easy as I do--as they still need visas to enter the US.','I\'ve got a New Passport!','','publish','open','open','','ive-got-a-new-passport','','','2013-03-06 17:19:12','2013-03-06 15:19:12','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7529',0,'post','',3),(7530,1,'2013-03-06 17:16:24','2013-03-06 15:16:24','Two weeks ago--give or take--I applied for a new passport at the US Embassy in Sofia.\n\nDon\'t worry nothing bad happened--my passport was neither lost nor stolen (thought this is one of my worst nightmares). Nope, the most boring and mundane thing possible happened--my passport was merely in the process of expiring.\n\nSo I printed out the application for a new passport, I got American sized passport photos (turns out Americans want a 5x5 square while Bulgarians want a 5x something rectangle--I learned that the hard way) and I rounded up a enough leva to pay for my new passport. Turns out they aren\'t cheep at $110.\n<a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8533390429/\" title=\"My new passport and my old passport by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8525/8533390429_42ae5c346f_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" alt=\"My new passport and my old passport\"></a>\nThen 10 days later I was back at the embassy to pick up my new passport. \n\nFor the most part things at the embassy were pretty uneventful. I guess this is really all you can ever hope for.\n\nThe Bulgarian security staff asks you why you\'re there a few times. Once your visit has been confirmed and approved then you go through security. The security measures seem a little bit much. They take your cell phone and other other technology. They ask you about liquids, sharp objects and make-up and perfume. Then you go through a metal detector and your things do too. Upon clearing security you then have to wait to be buzzed out of the security area in order to walk down a path alongside the embassy before you reach the consular services area of the embassy.\n\nThen you check in again. As an American, I have it a little easier with a more private waiting room compared to the line that Bulgarians have to stand in. This said there\'s nothing really private about talking to someone about whatever has brought you to the US Embassy through a glass window and a speaker system. Case and point, I\'ve got to listen in on a lot of interesting problems and as such it seems to me based on my last few visits that the embassy deals a lot with paternity issues and citizenship--specifically American fathers and Bulgarian mothers. The take-away seems to be: get married before the baby is born and make sure the father\'s name is listed on the birth certificate.\n\nAnyhow, waiting at the embassy seems unavoidable. The last time I was there I waited long enough to grade a whole stack of quizzes. Lucky me! This most recent time it was much quicker but even though there was not physically in front of me in line I still had to wait.\n\nThe worst part of this whole thing is that I\'ve never left the US Embassy in Sofia and not felt vaguely abused by the whole process.\n\nToday for example, I was standing outside of the US Embassy after picking up my new passport and a guard came up to me and asked me if I was waiting for a taxi. I said, yes. Snarkey me wanted to say yes, why else would I be standing here on the sidewalk after exiting the embassy but I refrained. Then the guard told me that I needed to move to the other side of the garbage can to wait. Three to four steps later I was standing on the other side of the garbage can, the guard was happy, and I guess that the US Embassy in Sofia was now<em> that much</em> safer.\n\nAll of this said, I don\'t want to complain too much because I really am grateful that I am American and that it\'s relatively easy for me to travel internationally. I know that my Bulgarian friends don\'t have it as easy as I do--as they still need visas to enter the US.','I\'ve got a New Passport!','','inherit','open','open','','7529-revision','','','2013-03-06 17:16:24','2013-03-06 15:16:24','',7529,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/03/06/7529-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7531,1,'2013-03-06 17:16:36','2013-03-06 15:16:36','Two weeks ago--give or take--I applied for a new passport at the US Embassy in Sofia.\r\n\r\nDon\'t worry nothing bad happened--my passport was neither lost nor stolen (thought this is one of my worst nightmares). Nope, the most boring and mundane thing possible happened--my passport was merely in the process of expiring.\r\n\r\nSo I printed out the application for a new passport, I got American sized passport photos (turns out Americans want a 5x5 square while Bulgarians want a 5x something rectangle--I learned that the hard way) and I rounded up a enough leva to pay for my new passport. Turns out they aren\'t cheep at $110.\r\n<a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8533390429/\" title=\"My new passport and my old passport by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8525/8533390429_42ae5c346f_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" alt=\"My new passport and my old passport\"></a>\r\nThen 10 days later I was back at the embassy to pick up my new passport. \r\n\r\nFor the most part things at the embassy were pretty uneventful. I guess this is really all you can ever hope for.\r\n\r\nThe Bulgarian security staff asks you why you\'re there a few times. Once your visit has been confirmed and approved then you go through security. The security measures seem a little bit much. They take your cell phone and other other technology. They ask you about liquids, sharp objects and make-up and perfume. Then you go through a metal detector and your things do too. Upon clearing security you then have to wait to be buzzed out of the security area in order to walk down a path alongside the embassy before you reach the consular services area of the embassy.\r\n\r\nThen you check in again. As an American, I have it a little easier with a more private waiting room compared to the line that Bulgarians have to stand in. This said there\'s nothing really private about talking to someone about whatever has brought you to the US Embassy through a glass window and a speaker system. Case and point, I\'ve got to listen in on a lot of interesting problems and as such it seems to me based on my last few visits that the embassy deals a lot with paternity issues and citizenship--specifically American fathers and Bulgarian mothers. The take-away seems to be: get married before the baby is born and make sure the father\'s name is listed on the birth certificate.\r\n\r\nAnyhow, waiting at the embassy seems unavoidable. The last time I was there I waited long enough to grade a whole stack of quizzes. Lucky me! This most recent time it was much quicker but even though there was not physically in front of me in line I still had to wait.\r\n\r\nThe worst part of this whole thing is that I\'ve never left the US Embassy in Sofia and not felt vaguely abused by the whole process.\r\n\r\nToday for example, I was standing outside of the US Embassy after picking up my new passport and a guard came up to me and asked me if I was waiting for a taxi. I said, yes. Snarkey me wanted to say yes, why else would I be standing here on the sidewalk after exiting the embassy but I refrained. Then the guard told me that I needed to move to the other side of the garbage can to wait. Three to four steps later I was standing on the other side of the garbage can, the guard was happy, and I guess that the US Embassy in Sofia was now<em> that much</em> safer.\r\n\r\nAll of this said, I don\'t want to complain too much because I really am grateful that I am American and that it\'s relatively easy for me to travel internationally. I know that my Bulgarian friends don\'t have it as easy as I do--as they still need visas to enter the US.','I\'ve got a New Passport!','','inherit','open','open','','7529-revision-2','','','2013-03-06 17:16:36','2013-03-06 15:16:36','',7529,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/03/06/7529-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(7532,1,'2013-03-06 17:18:39','2013-03-06 15:18:39','Two weeks ago--give or take--I applied for a new passport at the US Embassy in Sofia.\n\nDon\'t worry nothing bad happened--my passport was neither lost nor stolen (thought this is one of my worst nightmares). Nope, the most boring and mundane thing possible happened--my passport was merely in the process of expiring.\n\nSo I printed out the application for a new passport, I got American sized passport photos (turns out Americans want a 5x5 square while Bulgarians want a 5x something rectangle--I learned that the hard way) and I rounded up a enough leva to pay for my new passport. Turns out they aren\'t cheep at $110.\n<a title=\"My new passport and my old passport by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8533390429/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8525/8533390429_42ae5c346f_z.jpg\" alt=\"My new passport and my old passport\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\nThen 10 days later I went back at the embassy to pick up my new passport. Old passport meet new passport.\n\nFor the most part things at the embassy were pretty uneventful. I guess this is really all you can ever hope for. It wasn\'t perfect, it wasn\'t painless or t<!--more-->\n\nThe Bulgarian security staff asks you why you\'re there a few times. Once your visit has been confirmed and approved then you go through security. The security measures seem a little bit much. They take your cell phone and other other technology. They ask you about liquids, sharp objects and make-up and perfume. Then you go through a metal detector and your things do too. Upon clearing security you then have to wait to be buzzed out of the security area in order to walk down a path alongside the embassy before you reach the consular services area of the embassy.\n\nThen you check in again. As an American, I have it a little easier with a more private waiting room compared to the line that Bulgarians have to stand in. This said there\'s nothing really private about talking to someone about whatever has brought you to the US Embassy through a glass window and a speaker system. Case and point, I\'ve got to listen in on a lot of interesting problems and as such it seems to me based on my last few visits that the embassy deals a lot with paternity issues and citizenship--specifically American fathers and Bulgarian mothers. The take-away seems to be: get married before the baby is born and make sure the father\'s name is listed on the birth certificate.\n\nAnyhow, waiting at the embassy seems unavoidable. The last time I was there I waited long enough to grade a whole stack of quizzes. Lucky me! This most recent time it was much quicker but even though there was not physically in front of me in line I still had to wait.\n\nThe worst part of this whole thing is that I\'ve never left the US Embassy in Sofia and not felt vaguely abused by the whole process.\n\nToday for example, I was standing outside of the US Embassy after picking up my new passport and a guard came up to me and asked me if I was waiting for a taxi. I said, yes. Snarkey me wanted to say yes, why else would I be standing here on the sidewalk after exiting the embassy but I refrained. Then the guard told me that I needed to move to the other side of the garbage can to wait. Three to four steps later I was standing on the other side of the garbage can, the guard was happy, and I guess that the US Embassy in Sofia was now<em> that much</em> safer.\n\nAll of this said, I don\'t want to complain too much because I really am grateful that I am American and that it\'s relatively easy for me to travel internationally. I know that my Bulgarian friends don\'t have it as easy as I do--as they still need visas to enter the US.','I\'ve got a New Passport!','','inherit','open','open','','7529-revision-3','','','2013-03-06 17:18:39','2013-03-06 15:18:39','',7529,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/03/06/7529-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(7533,1,'2013-03-09 09:46:37','2013-03-09 07:46:37','Two weeks ago--give or take--I applied for a new passport at the US Embassy in Sofia.\n\nDon\'t worry nothing bad happened--my passport was neither lost nor stolen (thought this is one of my worst nightmares). Nope, the most boring and mundane thing possible happened--my passport was merely in the process of expiring.\n\nSo I printed out the application for a new passport, I got American sized passport photos (turns out Americans want a 5x5 square while Bulgarians want a 5x something rectangle--I learned that the hard way) and I rounded up a enough leva to pay for my new passport. Turns out they aren\'t cheep at $110.\n<a title=\"My new passport and my old passport by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8533390429/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8525/8533390429_42ae5c346f_z.jpg\" alt=\"My new passport and my old passport\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\nThen 10 days later I went back at the embassy to pick up my new passport. Old passport meet new passport.\n\nFor the most part things at the embassy were pretty uneventful. I guess this is really all you can ever hope for. It wasn\'t perfect, it wasn\'t painless or stupidly easy but it wasn\'t horrible either. <!--more-->\n\nThe Bulgarian security staff asks you why you\'re there a few times. Once your visit has been confirmed and approved then you go through security. The security measures seem a little bit much. They take your cell phone and other other technology. They ask you about liquids, sharp objects and make-up and perfume. Then you go through a metal detector and your things do too. Upon clearing security you then have to wait to be buzzed out of the security area in order to walk down a path alongside the embassy before you reach the consular services area of the embassy.\n\nThen you check in again. As an American, I have it a little easier with a more private waiting room compared to the line that Bulgarians have to stand in. This said there\'s nothing really private about talking to someone about whatever has brought you to the US Embassy through a glass window and a speaker system. Case and point, I\'ve got to listen in on a lot of interesting problems and as such it seems to me based on my last few visits that the embassy deals a lot with paternity issues and citizenship--specifically American fathers and Bulgarian mothers. The take-away seems to be: get married before the baby is born and make sure the father\'s name is listed on the birth certificate.\n\nAnyhow, waiting at the embassy seems unavoidable. The last time I was there I waited long enough to grade a whole stack of quizzes. Lucky me! This most recent time it was much quicker but even though there was not physically in front of me in line I still had to wait.\n\nThe worst part of this whole thing is that I\'ve never left the US Embassy in Sofia and not felt vaguely abused by the whole process.\n\nToday for example, I was standing outside of the US Embassy after picking up my new passport and a guard came up to me and asked me if I was waiting for a taxi. I said, yes. Snarkey me wanted to say yes, why else would I be standing here on the sidewalk after exiting the embassy but I refrained. Then the guard told me that I needed to move to the other side of the garbage can to wait. Three to four steps later I was standing on the other side of the garbage can, the guard was happy, and I guess that the US Embassy in Sofia was now<em> that much</em> safer.\n\nAll of this said, I don\'t want to complain too much because I really am grateful that I am American and that it\'s relatively easy for me to travel internationally. I know that my Bulgarian friends don\'t have it as easy as I do--as they still need visas to enter the US.','I\'ve got a New Passport!','','inherit','open','open','','7529-autosave','','','2013-03-09 09:46:37','2013-03-09 07:46:37','',7529,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/03/06/7529-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(7534,1,'2013-03-09 09:21:48','2013-03-09 07:21:48','Yesterday as many of you will know was International Women\'s Day--those of you State side probably do not know this seeing as we celebrate Mother\'s Day in May instead (oh and we also celebrate Father\'s Day in June). <span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">The tradition in Bulgaria seems to be that men give the women in their lives flowers and then they make take that special someone out to dinner (so she don\'t have to cook her Mr. dinner on International Women\'s Day and then clean up afterwards). </span>\r\n\r\nAt school, students wish each other: Happy Holiday! Or Happy 8th of March! Aside from purchasing flowers it doesn\'t seem to be a very commercial holiday. I\'ve never seen greeting cards for the holiday nor are their large displays at the grocery store set up to encourage spending on this holiday.\r\n<a title=\"international women\'s day by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8540469179/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8230/8540469179_3a49a1de68_z.jpg\" alt=\"international women\'s day\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\r\nYesterday one of my students came with pink carnations for all of his classmates and teachers. He elicited huge smiles from the girls in his section. He gave one to me and we exchanged some pleasantries. It was about all I could do not to tell him my favorite 2nd grade joke about carnations but I didn\'t because I thought it would detract from the thoughtful act of bring flowers.<!--more-->\r\n\r\nQ: What would we have if everyone in the country drove pink cars?\r\n\r\nA: A pink car-nation!!  (Insert peals and peals of laughter.)\r\n\r\nOkay, okay. I know it\'s not<em> that</em> funny but in 2nd grade man I thought this joke was just great. I kind of still do.\r\n\r\nInternational Women\'s Day at school is fine but out in Sofia it\'s impossible to get a table at most restaurants and many bars and cafes have put out reserved signs on all open surfaces--tables of all types and even the bar. <em>The bar?!</em> I\'ve always thought of the bar as a sacred space that\'s un-reserve-able. Not in Bulgaria.\r\n\r\nThat gets me to the problem with reservations in Sofia. For the life of me I can\'t figure out system. Okay, it\'s not as if I don\'t understand out how it works. I understand this just fine it\'s just that it doesn\'t seem to make business sense.\r\n\r\nFor those of you unfamiliar with making reservations in Sofia here it is. You call and make a reservation. You say I want the table at 8:30 for 6 people. The restaurant says okay. Then sometime between 4 an 5pm they put a reserved sign on the table and they do not seat anyone else at the table before your reservation at 8:30pm so it stands empty until you show up. I\'ve definitely eaten early dinners before with friends in restaurants that are all but empty because the other tables are reserved and I\'ve seen others turned away because there are no free tables. <em>Ridiculous! </em>\r\n\r\nAnyhow, I know that the popular Bulgarian response to this is something along the lines of: we like to sit, to eat and to drink without being rushed. I understand and appreciate this but it seems to me that there\'s got to be some middle ground. I guess the American in me is never going to fully understand this tradition of making reservations in Sofia.\r\n\r\n<em>Thoughts?</em>','International Women\'s Day and Reservations','','publish','open','open','','international-womens-day-and-reservations','','','2013-03-09 09:21:48','2013-03-09 07:21:48','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7534',0,'post','',1),(7535,1,'2013-03-09 08:52:50','2013-03-09 06:52:50','Yesterday as many of you will know was International Women\'s Day--those of you State side probably do not know this seeing as we celebrate Mother\'s Day in May instead (oh and we also celebrate Father\'s Day in June). <span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">The tradition in Bulgaria seems to be that men give the women in their lives flowers and then they make take that special someone out to dinner (so she don\'t have to cook her Mr. dinner on International Women\'s Day and then clean up afterwards). </span>\n\nAt school, students wish each other: Happy Holiday! Or Happy 8th of March! Aside from purchasing flowers it doesn\'t seem to be a very commercial holiday. I\'ve never seen greeting cards for the holiday nor are their large displays at the grocery store set up to encourage spending on this holiday.\n\nYesterday one of my students came with pink carnations for all of his classmates and teachers. He elicited huge smiles from the girls in his section. He gave one to me and we exchanged some pleasantries. It was about all I could do not to tell him my favorite 2nd grade joke about carnations but I didn\'t because I thought it would detract from the thoughtful act of bring flowers.\n\nQ: What would we have if everyone in the country drove pink cars?\n\nA: A pink car-nation!!  (Insert peals and peals of laughter.)\n\nOkay, okay. I know it\'s not<em> that</em> funny but in 2nd grade man I thought this joke was just great. I kind of still do.\n\nInternational Women\'s Day at school is fine but out in Sofia it\'s impossible to get a table at most restaurants and many bars and cafes have put out reserved signs on all open surfaces--tables of all types and even the bar. <em>The bar?!</em> I\'ve always thought of the bar as a sacred space that\'s un-reserve-able. Not in Bulgaria.\n\nThat gets me to the problem with reservations in Sofia. For the life of me I can\'t figure out system. Okay, it\'s not as if I don\'t understand out how it works. I understand this just fine it\'s just that it doesn\'t seem to make business sense.\n\nFor those of you unfamiliar with making reservations in Sofia here it is. You call and make a reservation. You say I want the table at 8:30 for 6 people. The restaurant says okay. Then sometime between 4 an 5pm they put a reserved sign on the table and they do not seat anyone else at the table before your reservation at 8:30pm so it stands empty until you show up. I\'ve definitely eaten early dinners before with friends in restaurants that are all but empty because the other tables are reserved and I\'ve seen others turned away because there are no free tables. <em>Ridiculous! </em>\n\nAnyhow, I know that the popular Bulgarian response to this is something along the lines of: we like to sit, to eat and to drink without being rushed. I understand and appreciate this but it seems to me that there\'s got to be some middle ground. I guess the American in me is never going to fully understand this tradition of making reservations in Sofia.\n\n<em>Thoughts?</em>','International Women\'s Day and Reservations','','inherit','open','open','','7534-revision','','','2013-03-09 08:52:50','2013-03-09 06:52:50','',7534,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/03/09/7534-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7536,1,'2013-03-09 09:23:04','2013-03-09 07:23:04','Yesterday as many of you will know was International Women\'s Day--those of you State side probably do not know this seeing as we celebrate Mother\'s Day in May instead (oh and we also celebrate Father\'s Day in June). <span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">The tradition in Bulgaria seems to be that men give the women in their lives flowers and then they make take that special someone out to dinner (so she don\'t have to cook her Mr. dinner on International Women\'s Day and then clean up afterwards). </span>\n\nAt school, students wish each other: Happy Holiday! Or Happy 8th of March! Aside from purchasing flowers it doesn\'t seem to be a very commercial holiday. I\'ve never seen greeting cards for the holiday nor are their large displays at the grocery store set up to encourage spending on this holiday.\n<a title=\"international women\'s day by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8540469179/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8230/8540469179_3a49a1de68_z.jpg\" alt=\"international women\'s day\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\nYesterday one of my students came with pink carnations for all of his classmates and teachers. He elicited huge smiles from the girls in his section. He gave one to me and we exchanged some pleasantries. It was about all I could do not to tell him my favorite 2nd grade joke about carnations but I didn\'t because I thought it would detract from the thoughtful act of bring flowers.<!--more-->\n\nQ: What would we have if everyone in the country drove pink cars?\n\nA: A pink car-nation!!  (Insert peals and peals of laughter.)\n\nOkay, okay. I know it\'s not<em> that</em> funny but in 2nd grade man I thought this joke was just great. I kind of still do.\n\nInternational Women\'s Day at school is fine but out in Sofia it\'s impossible to get a table at most restaurants and many bars and cafes have put out reserved signs on all open surfaces--tables of all types and even the bar. <em>The bar?!</em> I\'ve always thought of the bar as a sacred space that\'s un-reserve-able. Not in Bulgaria.\n\nThat gets me to the problem with reservations in Sofia. For the life of me I can\'t figure out system. Okay, it\'s not as if I don\'t understand out how it works. I understand this just fine it\'s just that it doesn\'t seem to make business sense.\n\nFor those of you unfamiliar with making reservations in Sofia here it is. You call and make a reservation. You say I want the table at 8:30 for 6 people. The restaurant says okay. Then sometime between 4 an 5pm they put a reserved sign on the table and they do not seat anyone else at the table before your reservation at 8:30pm so it stands empty until you show up. I\'ve definitely eaten early dinners before with friends in restaurants that are all but empty because the other tables are reserved and I\'ve seen others turned away because there are no free tables. <em>Ridiculous! </em>\n\nAnyhow, I know that the popular Bulgarian response to this is something along the lines of: we like to sit, to eat and to drink without being rushed. I understand and appreciate this but it seems to me that there\'s got to be some middle ground. I guess the American in me is never going to fully understand this tradition of making reservations in Sofia.\n\n<em>Thoughts?</em>','International Women\'s Day and Reservations','','inherit','open','open','','7534-autosave','','','2013-03-09 09:23:04','2013-03-09 07:23:04','',7534,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/03/09/7534-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(7537,1,'2013-03-10 20:46:11','2013-03-10 18:46:11','I just got back from a weekend full of wine, spa-ing by soaking in a tub of wine and buying too much Bulgarian pottery. \n\nWe left Sofia Saturday morning and drove to Breastovitsa. It was and easy drive from Sofia. Maybe an hour and a half. Not more. In town though we got a little lost and drove through town. I had to ask for directions in Bulgarian a couple of times but luckily everyone was very nice and helpful. The thing is the hotel shouldn\'t have actually been that hard to find as it has a huge sign on top of it.\n\nBut after a couple of u-turns we ended up right at Todoroff Winery and Spa.\n\nThe hotel was wonderful. We engaged in spa treatments and later went on a wine tour and tasting. This was great fun. I also learned a lot. Then I bought not one but three bottles of wine!!\n\nNow I\'m off to bed but I promise to write more tomorrow.','Todoroff Winery and Spa','','publish','open','open','','todoroff-winery-and-spa','','','2013-03-10 21:17:13','2013-03-10 19:17:13','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7537',0,'post','',2),(7538,1,'2013-03-10 20:46:11','2013-03-10 18:46:11','','Auto Draft','','inherit','open','open','','7537-revision','','','2013-03-10 20:46:11','2013-03-10 18:46:11','',7537,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/03/10/7537-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7539,1,'2013-03-10 20:46:11','2013-03-10 18:46:11','I just got back from a weekend full of wine, spa-ing by soaking in a tub of wine and buying too much Bulgarian pottery. \n\nWe left Sofia Saturday morning and drove to Breastovitsa. It was and easy drive from Sofia. Maybe an hour and a half. Not more. In town though we got a little lost and drove through town. I had to ask for directions in Bulgarian a couple of times but luckily everyone was very nice and helpful. The thing is the hotel shouldn\'t have actually been that hard to find as it has a huge sign on top of it. \n\nThe hotel was wonderful. We engaged in spa treatments and later went on a wine tour and tasting. This was great fun.','Todoroff winery and Spa','','inherit','open','open','','7537-revision-2','','','2013-03-10 20:46:11','2013-03-10 18:46:11','',7537,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/03/10/7537-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(7540,1,'2013-03-11 07:00:33','2013-03-11 05:00:33','It\'s rainy this morning and for some reason I\'ve been up since 5:45am. I woke and up and couldn\'t go back to bed. So I\'ve been up reading the internet, drinking coffee and puttering around my apartment.\r\n\r\nMladost in the the rainy early morning seems especially Eastern European--or at least what I imagine when I think of stereotypical Eastern Europe.\r\n<a title=\"Mladost 1a and grey rain by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8546737057/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8086/8546737057_b9314f2d26_z.jpg\" alt=\"Mladost 1a and grey rain\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\r\nThe buildings are grey, the light is grey, the clouds are grey, the pavement is a rain-soaked grey, the unpaved pieces are dirt brown and the roads are asphalt black. The puddles reflect all of this back.\r\n<a title=\"mladost 1a in the rain by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8547829448/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8374/8547829448_5bd3797700_z.jpg\" alt=\"mladost 1a in the rain\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\r\nI\'m going to dig out a full-sized umbrella and my boots and call it a day.','Rainy Mladost ','','publish','open','open','','rainy-mladost','','','2013-03-11 07:00:33','2013-03-11 05:00:33','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7540',0,'post','',0),(7541,1,'2013-03-11 06:59:55','2013-03-11 04:59:55','It\'s rainy this morning and for some reason I\'ve been up since 5:45am. I woke and up and couldn\'t go back to bed. So I\'ve been up reading the internet, drinking coffee and puttering around my apartment.\n\nMladost in the the rainy early morning seems especially Eastern European--or at least what I imagine when I think of stereotypical Eastern Europe.\n<a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8546737057/\" title=\"Mladost 1a and grey rain by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8086/8546737057_b9314f2d26_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" alt=\"Mladost 1a and grey rain\"></a>\nThe buildings are grey, the light is grey, the clouds are grey, the pavement is a rain-soaked grey, the unpaved pieces are dirt brown and the roads are asphalt black. The puddles reflect all of this back.\n<a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8547829448/\" title=\"mladost 1a in the rain by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8374/8547829448_5bd3797700_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" alt=\"mladost 1a in the rain\"></a>\nI\'m going to dig out a full-sized umbrella and my boots and call it a day.','Rainy Mladost ','','inherit','open','open','','7540-revision','','','2013-03-11 06:59:55','2013-03-11 04:59:55','',7540,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/03/11/7540-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7542,1,'2013-03-11 07:02:31','2013-03-11 05:02:31','It\'s rainy this morning and for some reason I\'ve been up since 5:45am. I woke and up and couldn\'t go back to bed. So I\'ve been up reading the internet, drinking coffee and puttering around my apartment.\n\nMladost in the the rainy early morning seems especially Eastern European--or at least what I imagine when I think of stereotypical Eastern Europe.\n<a title=\"Mladost 1a and grey rain by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8546737057/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8086/8546737057_b9314f2d26_z.jpg\" alt=\"Mladost 1a and grey rain\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\nThe buildings are grey, the light is grey, the clouds are grey, the pavement is a rain-soaked grey, the unpaved pieces are dirt brown and the roads are asphalt black. The puddles reflect all of this back.\n<a title=\"mladost 1a in the rain by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8547829448/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8374/8547829448_5bd3797700_z.jpg\" alt=\"mladost 1a in the rain\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\nI\'m going to dig out a full-sized umbrella and my boots and call it a day.','Rainy Mladost ','','inherit','open','open','','7540-autosave','','','2013-03-11 07:02:31','2013-03-11 05:02:31','',7540,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/03/11/7540-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(7544,1,'2013-03-24 03:26:06','2013-03-24 01:26:06','The longer you live abroad the harder it is to imagine your life at home. That is until one day it isn\'t so hard.\r\n\r\nIt started for me this past summer. I went home for my brother\'s wedding and I experience my first twinge of <em>what if</em>. What if I lived closer to home? What if I missed out on this? What if something happened to my parents? What if, what if, what if.\r\n\r\nThen I returned to Sofia in August and the what-ifs went away. I was back in my Mladost apartment. I was in my classroom teaching once again. I had a routine. I was surrounded by my friend in a life had created for myself and I went on dates with my boyfriend. I was back in Sofia.\r\n\r\nThis was year five and I\'d found my stride.\r\n\r\nMy Bulgarian was better than ever. I knew the city well enough to navigate the city center map-less. I had broad spectrum of friends and I was having a great time in Sofia, in Bulgaria and traveling in Europe.\r\n\r\nThen because of the crazy hiring schedule of international schools after Thanksgiving, I was asked what my plans were for the next year. I was offered a contract for the 2013-14 school year but I was asked to decide before Christmas. I promptly broke my hand. So I asked for an extension which I was given.\r\n\r\nBut the <em>what if\'s</em> came back. <!--more-->\r\n\r\nIn January, it became clear to me that this was my last school year in Sofia. I decided not to sign a new contract with the school and then I broke up with my Bulgarian boyfriend (who had just moved to Dublin).\r\n\r\nThat\'s too much breaking up all at the same time for anyone --a job, a city,a country and a boyfriend all in one fell swoop--and as a result I spent a lot of January crying.\r\n\r\nI cried myself to sleep. I cried at my desk. I teared up on my way to the bus stop. I cried over skype.\r\n\r\nI cried and cried and cried. Then I cried some more.\r\n\r\nThe good news is that I spent a lot less of February crying. Still when I told my students that this is my last year I teared up and as I\'ve told friends and colleagues I\'ve definitely cried and I\'ve made some of them cry. That\'s the worst. I cried enough for everyone in the month of January. So to make other people cry seems incredibly cruel.\r\n\r\nIn someways I\'ve surprised myself. Before December and my broken hand, if you\'d asked me if I\'d be in Sofia and teaching at ACS for the next school year I\'d have said that I was 95% sure that I would be.\r\n\r\nAnd yet, here I am. This is it. This is my last year in Sofia and in Bulgaria. Actually if you\'re counting these are my last four and a half months in Sofia. It\'s bittersweet.\r\n\r\nI\'ll teach through the end June and travel in Bulgaria with my dAd and little sister in July. In August I\'ll meet my friend R. for what we\'ve fondly named our Baltic Adventure and in September I\'ll be back in the States.\r\n\r\nI\'ve started thinking about these last few months as my long good-bye.\r\n\r\nMy long good-bye as I do things for a last time, as I sneak in as much Sofia time as possible, and as I grieve the imminent loss of banitsa, sour-tart yet rich and creamy Bulgarian yogurt, sirene cheese on my french friends and in my shopska salads. Not to mention the loss of my friends, my school and the life that I\'ve built for myself here.\r\n\r\nDon\'t worry. I\'ll still be writing here in the upcoming months. It\'s not good bye yet.','A Long Good-bye','','publish','open','open','','a-long-good-bye','','','2013-03-23 10:34:38','2013-03-23 08:34:38','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7544',0,'post','',20),(7545,1,'2013-03-15 06:42:16','2013-03-15 04:42:16','','Auto Draft','','inherit','open','open','','7544-revision','','','2013-03-15 06:42:16','2013-03-15 04:42:16','',7544,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/03/15/7544-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7546,1,'2013-03-18 22:01:03','2013-03-18 20:01:03','I had the day off work today because on Sunday morning we administered the ACS entrance exam. As one of my ever positive colleagues said on Friday afternoon: it\'s like we have a two and half day weekend!! Still it wasn\'t easy to get out of bed on Sunday morning in order to drag myself to school.\r\n\r\nAnyhow things were much better this morning. I rolled out of bed at 7:30 am and snuggled up on my couch with a cup of coffee and caught up on some tv shows.\r\n\r\nThen at 10 am I went to <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2012/05/16/a-haircut-at-kalo/\" target=\"_blank\">Kalo</a> for a haircut. I walked out feeling like a new person. Seriously, haircuts are the best. I didn\'t even care when snow flakes started falling from the sky this afternoon.\r\n\r\nAfter my haircut, I met my friend A. at <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/10/16/tova-coffee-the-arts-and-a-decent-dose-of-cool/\" target=\"_blank\">+tova for coffee</a> and we then spent a lot of time oh-ing and ah-ing over a lot of the design work there. We both bought tote bags from Graphitine (a tote was 30 leva). Then we looked <a href=\"http://www.graphitine.com/coussins/\" target=\"_blank\">at decorative throw pillow cases made by Graphitine</a>.\r\n\r\nThe pillows were seriously cute and we both spent some time debating how many pillow cases we were \"allowed\" to buy. Only it turned out that the pillow cases were much, much to expensive for me to consider spending money on. They were exorbitantly expensive at something like 74 leva (for the pillow cases with gold print) and 49 leva (for those with black print).\r\n\r\nI have almost never felt like something was too expensive for me to buy in Bulgaria but I realized that I am more often than not the exception to the rule given the fact I\'m an expat. This said, I just about choked with the sales girl/barista told me the price of the pillow cases. A. and I exchanged looks and we both returned the pillow cases we\'d been considering. They were cute but really, who\'s buying these pillow cases at these prices? I quickly un-imagined them on sofa.\r\n\r\nHope that you all had a great day! Sorry I forgot to take a single photo today.','+Tova and Graphitine','','publish','open','open','','tova-and-graphitine','','','2013-03-18 22:01:03','2013-03-18 20:01:03','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7546',0,'post','',3),(7547,1,'2013-03-18 22:00:35','2013-03-18 20:00:35','I had the day off work today because on Sunday morning we administered the ACS entrance exam. As one of my ever positive colleagues said on Friday afternoon: it\'s like we have a two and half day weekend!! Still it wasn\'t easy to get out of bed on Sunday morning in order to drag myself to school.\n\nAnyhow things were much better this morning. I rolled out of bed at 7:30 am and snuggled up on my couch with a cup of coffee and caught up on some tv shows.\n\nThen at 10 am I went to <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2012/05/16/a-haircut-at-kalo/\" target=\"_blank\">Kalo</a> for a haircut. I walked out feeling like a new person. Seriously, haircuts are the best. I didn\'t even care when snow flakes started falling from the sky this afternoon.\n\nAfter my haircut, I met my friend A. at +tova for coffee and we then spent a lot of time oh-ing and ah-ing over a lot of the design work there. We both bought tote bags from Graphitine (a tote was 30 leva). Then we looked <a href=\"http://www.graphitine.com/coussins/\" target=\"_blank\">at decorative throw pillow cases made by Graphitine</a>.\n\nThe pillows were seriously cute and we both spent some time debating how many pillow cases we were \"allowed\" to buy. Only it turned out that the pillow cases were much, much to expensive for me to consider spending money on. They were exorbitantly expensive at something like 74 leva (for the pillow cases with gold print) and 49 leva (for those with black print).\n\nI have almost never felt like something was too expensive for me to buy in Bulgaria but I realized that I am more often than not the exception to the rule given the fact I\'m an expat. This said, I just about choked with the sales girl/barista told me the price of the pillow cases. A. and I exchanged looks and we both returned the pillow cases we\'d been considering. They were cute but really, who\'s buying these pillow cases at these prices? I quickly un-imagined them on sofa.\n\nHope that you all had a great day! Sorry I forgot to take a single photo today.','+Tova and Graphitine','','inherit','open','open','','7546-revision','','','2013-03-18 22:00:35','2013-03-18 20:00:35','',7546,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/03/18/7546-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7549,1,'2013-03-19 18:46:11','2013-03-19 16:46:11','I had the day off work today because on Sunday morning we administered the ACS entrance exam. As one of my ever positive colleagues said on Friday afternoon: it\'s like we have a two and half day weekend!! Still it wasn\'t easy to get out of bed on Sunday morning in order to drag myself to school. Anyhow things were much better this morning. I rolled out of bed at 7:30 am and snuggled up on my couch with a cup of coffee and caught up on some tv shows. Then at 10 am I went to <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2012/05/16/a-haircut-at-kalo/\" target=\"_blank\">Kalo</a> for a haircut. I walked out feeling like a new person. Seriously, haircuts are the best. I didn\'t even care when snow flakes started falling from the sky this afternoon. After my haircut, I met my friend A. at <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/10/16/tova-coffee-the-arts-and-a-decent-dose-of-cool/\" target=\"_blank\">+tova for coffee</a> and we then spent a lot of time oh-ing and ah-ing over a lot of the design work there. We both bought tote bags from Graphitine (a tote was 30 leva). Then we looked <a href=\"http://www.graphitine.com/coussins/\" target=\"_blank\">at decorative throw pillow cases made by Graphitine</a>. The pillows were seriously cute and we both spent some time debating how many pillow cases we were \"allowed\" to buy. Only it turned out that the pillow cases were much, much to expensive for me to consider spending money on. They were exorbitantly expensive at something like 74 leva (for the pillow cases with gold print) and 49 leva (for those with black print). I have almost never felt like something was too expensive for me to buy in Bulgaria but I realized that I am more often than not the exception to the rule given the fact I\'m an expat. This said, I just about choked with the sales girl/barista told me the price of the pillow cases. A. and I exchanged looks and we both returned the pillow cases we\'d been considering. They were cute but really, who\'s buying these pillow cases at these prices? I quickly un-imagined them on sofa. Hope that you all had a great day! Sorry I forgot to take a single photo today.','+Tova and Graphitine','','inherit','open','open','','7546-autosave','','','2013-03-19 18:46:11','2013-03-19 16:46:11','',7546,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/03/18/7546-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(7550,1,'2013-03-18 22:39:06','2013-03-18 20:39:06','The longer you live abroad the harder it is to imagine your life at home. That is until one day it isn\'t so hard.\n\nIt started for me this past summer. I went home for my brother\'s wedding and I experience my first twinge of <em>what if</em>. What if I lived closer to home? What if I missed out on this? What if something happened to my parents? What if, what if, what if.\n\nThen I returned to Sofia in August and the what-ifs went away. I was back in my Mladost apartment. I was in my classroom teaching once again. I had a routine. I was surrounded by my friend in a life had created for myself and I went on dates with my boyfriend. I was back in Sofia.\n\nThis was year five and I\'d found my stride.\n\nMy Bulgarian was better than ever. I knew the city well enough to navigate the city center map-less. I had broad spectrum of friends.\n\nThe thing is, given the hiring schedule of international schools after Thanksgiving, I was asked what my plans were for the next year. I was offered a contract for the 2013-14 school year but I was asked to decide before Christmas. I promptly broke my hand and so I asked for an extension which I was given.\n\nIn January it became clear to me that this was my last school year in Sofia. I decided not to sign a new contract with the school and then I broke up with boyfriend.\n\nThat\'s too much breaking up all at the same time for anyone --a job, a city,a country and a boyfriend all in one fell swoop--and as a result I spent a lot of January crying.\n\nI cried myself to sleep. I cried at my desk. I teared up on my way to the bus stop. I cried over skype.\n\nI cried and cried and cried. Then I cried some more.\n\nThe good news is that I spent a lot less of February crying. Still when I told my students that this is my last year I teared up and as I\'ve told friends and colleagues I\'ve definitely cried and I\'ve made some of them cry. That\'s the worst. I cried enough for everyone in the month of January. So to make other people cry seemed incrediably cruel.\n\nIn someways I\'ve surprised myself. Before December and my broken hand, if you\'d asked me if I\'d be in Sofia and teaching at ACS for the next school year I\'d have said that I was 95% sure that I would be.\n\nAnd yet, here I am. This is it. This is my last year in Sofia and in Bulgaria. Actually if you\'re counting these are my last four and a half months in Sofia.\n\nI\'ll teach through the end June and travel in Bulgaria with my dAd and little sister in July. In August I\'ll meet a friend for what we\'ve fondly named our Baltic Adventure and in September I\'ll be back in the States.\n\nI\'ve started thinking about these last few months as my long good-bye. My long good-bye as I do things for a last time, as I sneak in as much Sofia time as possible, and as I grieve the imminent loss of banitsa, sour-tart yet rich and creamy Bulgarian yogurt, sirene cheese on my french friends and in my shopska salads.\n\nDon\'t worry. I\'ll still be writing here in the upcoming months. It\'s not good bye yet.','A Long Good-bye','','inherit','open','open','','7544-revision-2','','','2013-03-18 22:39:06','2013-03-18 20:39:06','',7544,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/03/18/7544-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(7551,1,'2013-03-19 22:50:14','2013-03-19 20:50:14','I don\'t love Mtel but they happened to be the closest cellphone shop when I first moved to Sofia so by default they became my company. This said, I am not sure if I could choose all over again who I\'d go with. So maybe it doesn\'t matter.\r\n\r\nI\'ve had a prepaid phone for the last 4.5 years. At one point I thought about switching over to a plan but the expiration date on my Bulgarian ID card prevented this from happening. I moped around for a day or two. Okay maybe three and then I gave up caring.\r\n\r\nMost months I pay about 10 leva to make calls and send text messages. This seems totally okay with me. I like that I can just pay upfront, make the calls that I need and then a few months later pay again.\r\n\r\nOn Monday, I had to recharge my phone as I was totally out of credit to make calls or to text message. This is annoying but the only person I have to blame is me. The funny thing is, because Bulgaria is awesome--at least in this respect--I could still get calls and text messages. I just couldn\'t make any of my own.\r\n\r\nSo I stopped by Mtel while I was out running some other errands. I hardly had to wait in line and things were relatively quick. This isn\'t always the case.\r\n\r\nAnyhow, for the first time ever I had the sales girl really press me to switch to a 12.99 monthly leva plan. I said no. I said I didn\'t understand. I said that I didn\'t want it. She just wasn\'t taking no for an answer. She told me about free calls to five Mtel customers this month. That\'s when I realized none of my friends us Mtel. She told me other things too. I just smiled at her and said no thanks.\r\n\r\nI don\'t think that she understood why I wasn\'t interested in switching.\r\n\r\nFirst, I just don\'t think she understood that on average I pay less a month than the plan she was pushing. Then there\'s the fact that I  made no attempt to explain to her in Bulgarian that I don\'t really like Mtel but that  stick with it because I am too lazy to switch (and I am semi-convinced that all cell phone companies are basically the same). Oh and there\'s the fact that I finally memorized my number and I don\'t want to switch to another company and learn another number. That sounds horrible to me.\r\n\r\nSo that\'s that. Same phone number, same company, same general dislike of Mtel--just not enough to make some kind of a change.\r\n\r\nI  wonder, if you were new in Sofia and could choose any phone company which one would you pick?','Mtel and Me ','','publish','open','open','','mtel-and-me','','','2013-03-19 22:50:14','2013-03-19 20:50:14','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7551',0,'post','',7),(7552,1,'2013-03-19 22:49:49','2013-03-19 20:49:49','I don\'t love Mtel but they happened to be the closest cellphone shop when I first moved to Sofia so by default they became my company. This said, I am not sure if I could choose all over again who I\'d go with. So maybe it doesn\'t matter.\n\nI\'ve had a prepaid phone for the last 4.5 years. At one point I thought about switching over to a plan but the expiration date on my Bulgarian ID card prevented this from happening. I moped around for a day or two. Okay maybe three and then I gave up caring.\n\nMost months I pay about 10 leva to make calls and send text messages. This seems totally okay with me. I like that I can just pay upfront, make the calls that I need and then a few months later pay again.\n\nOn Monday, I had to recharge my phone as I was totally out of credit to make calls or to text message. This is annoying but the only person I have to blame is me. The funny thing is, because Bulgaria is awesome--at least in this respect--I could still get calls and text messages. I just couldn\'t make any of my own.\n\nSo I stopped by Mtel while I was out running some other errands. I hardly had to wait in line and things were relatively quick. This isn\'t always the case.\n\nAnyhow, for the first time ever I had the sales girl really press me to switch to a 12.99 monthly leva plan. I said no. I said I didn\'t understand. I said that I didn\'t want it. She just wasn\'t taking no for an answer. She told me about free calls to five Mtel customers this month. That\'s when I realized none of my friends us Mtel. She told me other things too. I just smiled at her and said no thanks.\n\nI don\'t think that she understood why I wasn\'t interested in switching.\n\nFirst, I just don\'t think she understood that on average I pay less a month than the plan she was pushing. Then there\'s the fact that I  made no attempt to explain to her in Bulgarian that I don\'t really like Mtel but that  stick with it because I am too lazy to switch (and I am semi-convinced that all cell phone companies are basically the same). Oh and there\'s the fact that I finally memorized my number and I don\'t want to switch to another company and learn another number. That sounds horrible to me.\n\nSo that\'s that. Same phone number, same company, same general dislike of Mtel--just not enough to make some kind of a change.\n\nI  wonder, if you were new in Sofia and could choose any phone company which one would you pick?','Mtel and Me ','','inherit','open','open','','7551-revision','','','2013-03-19 22:49:49','2013-03-19 20:49:49','',7551,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/03/19/7551-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7553,1,'2013-03-19 22:51:18','2013-03-19 20:51:18','I don\'t love Mtel but they happened to be the closest cellphone shop when I first moved to Sofia so by default they became my company. This said, I am not sure if I could choose all over again who I\'d go with. So maybe it doesn\'t matter.\n\nI\'ve had a prepaid phone for the last 4.5 years. At one point I thought about switching over to a plan but the expiration date on my Bulgarian ID card prevented this from happening. I moped around for a day or two. Okay maybe three and then I gave up caring.\n\nMost months I pay about 10 leva to make calls and send text messages. This seems totally okay with me. I like that I can just pay upfront, make the calls that I need and then a few months later pay again.\n\nOn Monday, I had to recharge my phone as I was totally out of credit to make calls or to text message. This is annoying but the only person I have to blame is me. The funny thing is, because Bulgaria is awesome--at least in this respect--I could still get calls and text messages. I just couldn\'t make any of my own.\n\nSo I stopped by Mtel while I was out running some other errands. I hardly had to wait in line and things were relatively quick. This isn\'t always the case.\n\nAnyhow, for the first time ever I had the sales girl really press me to switch to a 12.99 monthly leva plan. I said no. I said I didn\'t understand. I said that I didn\'t want it. She just wasn\'t taking no for an answer. She told me about free calls to five Mtel customers this month. That\'s when I realized none of my friends us Mtel. She told me other things too. I just smiled at her and said no thanks.\n\nI don\'t think that she understood why I wasn\'t interested in switching.\n\nFirst, I just don\'t think she understood that on average I pay less a month than the plan she was pushing. Then there\'s the fact that I  made no attempt to explain to her in Bulgarian that I don\'t really like Mtel but that  stick with it because I am too lazy to switch (and I am semi-convinced that all cell phone companies are basically the same). Oh and there\'s the fact that I finally memorized my number and I don\'t want to switch to another company and learn another number. That sounds horrible to me.\n\nSo that\'s that. Same phone number, same company, same general dislike of Mtel--just not enough to make some kind of a change.\n\nI  wonder, if you were new in Sofia and could choose any phone company which one would you pick?','Mtel and Me ','','inherit','open','open','','7551-autosave','','','2013-03-19 22:51:18','2013-03-19 20:51:18','',7551,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/03/19/7551-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(7555,1,'2013-03-23 09:54:53','2013-03-23 07:54:53','I think that spring is going to find us in Sofia sooner than later. Yesterday, it snowed. Today it\'s sunny but cold.\n\nIt\'s been a strange few months. After a series of protests in February, the government resigned resulting in the formation of a care-taker government and elections in May.\n\nThere have been an increasing number of self-immolation cases in Bulgaria in the past few months. This has been much more upsetting to me than the resignation of the government.\n\nForeign Policy ran a piece titled: <a href=\"http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/03/14/self_immolation_is_not_new_to_bulgaria\" target=\"_blank\">Self-immolation isn\'t as new as you think in Bulgaria</a>. This article outlined two things. Bulgaria is second only to the Netherlands in average cases of self-immolation each year in Europe but only 1/3 of Bulgaria\'s cases are related to mental illness and this is the lowest correlation in Europe. Thus most of Bulgaria\'s cases of self-immolation are a form of political protest.\n\nNot to be left behind the Economist also ran <a href=\"http://www.economist.com/news/europe/21574034-desperate-demonstrations-against-ephemeral-government-poverty-protests?fsrc=scn/tw_ec/poverty_protests\" target=\"_blank\">an article on the intersection of poverty, protest and self-immolation in Bulgaria</a>. This piece led with the fact that:\n<blockquote>Six people have set themselves on fire in Bulgaria in less than a month. Three have died.</blockquote>\nI read this line a few times. It\'s hard for me to understand the kind of desperation, frustration and helplessness that leads to self-immolation.','Spring & Sofia ','','inherit','open','open','','7554-revision','','','2013-03-23 09:54:53','2013-03-23 07:54:53','',7554,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/03/23/7554-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7556,1,'2013-03-23 09:55:30','2013-03-23 07:55:30','I think that spring is going to find us in Sofia sooner than later. Yesterday, it snowed. Today it\'s sunny but cold.\r\n\r\nIt\'s been a strange few months. After a series of protests in February, the government resigned resulting in the formation of a care-taker government and elections in May.\r\n\r\nThere have been an increasing number of self-immolation cases in Bulgaria in the past few months. This has been much more upsetting to me than the resignation of the government.\r\n\r\nForeign Policy ran a piece titled: <a href=\"http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/03/14/self_immolation_is_not_new_to_bulgaria\" target=\"_blank\">Self-immolation isn\'t as new as you think in Bulgaria</a>. This article outlined two things. Bulgaria is second only to the Netherlands in average cases of self-immolation each year in Europe but only 1/3 of Bulgaria\'s cases are related to mental illness and this is the lowest correlation in Europe. Thus most of Bulgaria\'s cases of self-immolation are a form of political protest.\r\n\r\nNot to be left behind the Economist also ran <a href=\"http://www.economist.com/news/europe/21574034-desperate-demonstrations-against-ephemeral-government-poverty-protests?fsrc=scn/tw_ec/poverty_protests\" target=\"_blank\">an article on the intersection of poverty, protest and self-immolation in Bulgaria</a>. This piece led with the fact that:\r\n<blockquote>Six people have set themselves on fire in Bulgaria in less than a month. Three have died.</blockquote>\r\nI read this line a few times. It\'s hard for me to understand the kind of desperation, frustration and helplessness that leads to self-immolation.','Spring & Sofia ','','inherit','open','open','','7554-revision-2','','','2013-03-23 09:55:30','2013-03-23 07:55:30','',7554,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/03/23/7554-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(7557,1,'2013-03-23 09:55:30','2013-03-23 07:55:30','I think that spring is going to find us in Sofia sooner than later. Yesterday, it snowed. Today it\'s sunny but cold.\r\n\r\nIt\'s been a strange few months. After a series of protests in February, the government resigned resulting in the formation of a care-taker government and elections in May.\r\n\r\nThere have been an increasing number of self-immolation cases in Bulgaria in the past few months. This has been much more upsetting to me than the resignation of the government.\r\n\r\nForeign Policy ran a piece titled: <a href=\"http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/03/14/self_immolation_is_not_new_to_bulgaria\" target=\"_blank\">Self-immolation isn\'t as new as you think in Bulgaria</a>. This article outlined two things. Bulgaria is second only to the Netherlands in average cases of self-immolation each year in Europe but only 1/3 of Bulgaria\'s cases are related to mental illness and this is the lowest correlation in Europe. Thus most of Bulgaria\'s cases of self-immolation are a form of political protest.\r\n\r\nNot to be left behind the Economist also ran <a href=\"http://www.economist.com/news/europe/21574034-desperate-demonstrations-against-ephemeral-government-poverty-protests?fsrc=scn/tw_ec/poverty_protests\" target=\"_blank\">an article on the intersection of poverty, protest and self-immolation in Bulgaria</a>. This piece led with the fact that:\r\n<blockquote>Six people have set themselves on fire in Bulgaria in less than a month. Three have died.</blockquote>\r\nI read this line a few times. It\'s hard for me to understand the kind of desperation, frustration and helplessness that leads to self-immolation.','Spring & Sofia ','','inherit','open','open','','7554-revision-2','','','2013-03-23 09:55:30','2013-03-23 07:55:30','',7554,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/03/23/7554-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(7558,1,'2013-03-23 10:11:56','2013-03-23 08:11:56','I think that spring is going to find us in Sofia sooner than later. Yesterday, it snowed. Today it\'s sunny but cold.  Overall we\'ve had much, much less snow this year than past years but it\'s remained colder longer. In the past I\'ve been able to switch over to a lighter weight coat in March but this year I\'m still switching back and forth between my two winter coats.\n\nIt\'s been a strange few months in Bulgaria. After a series of protests (some of them violent) in February, the government (unexpectedly) resigned resulting in the formation of a care-taker government and the elections which had once been scheduled for July have moved moved up to May.\n\nAt the same time there have been an alarming number of self-immolation cases in Bulgaria over the past two months. This has been much more upsetting to me than the resignation of the government.\n\nIn the past week or so, Foreign Policy ran a piece titled: <a href=\"http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/03/14/self_immolation_is_not_new_to_bulgaria\" target=\"_blank\">Self-immolation isn\'t as new as you think in Bulgaria</a>. This article outlined two things. Bulgaria is second only to the Netherlands in average cases of self-immolation each year in Europe but only 1/3 of Bulgaria\'s cases are related to mental illness and this is the lowest correlation in Europe. Thus most of Bulgaria\'s cases of self-immolation are a form of political protest.\n\nNot to be left behind the Economist also ran <a href=\"http://www.economist.com/news/europe/21574034-desperate-demonstrations-against-ephemeral-government-poverty-protests?fsrc=scn/tw_ec/poverty_protests\" target=\"_blank\">an article on the intersection of poverty, protest and self-immolation in Bulgaria</a>. This piece led with the fact that:\n<blockquote>Six people have set themselves on fire in Bulgaria in less than a month. Three have died.</blockquote>\nI read this line a few times. It\'s hard for me to understand the kind of desperation, frustration and helplessness that leads to self-immolation.\n\nI don\'t know how to reconcile this with my experience in Sofia. I don\'t know what this increase of cases says about life in Bulgaria. I don\'t know how to make sense of any of this.\n\nI wonder if things will look better in spring. I wonder if the up-tick in self-immolation will fall off. I wonder if the upcoming elections will change anything.','Spring, Sofia & Politics ','','inherit','open','open','','7554-revision-3','','','2013-03-23 10:11:56','2013-03-23 08:11:56','',7554,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/03/23/7554-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(7559,1,'2013-03-23 10:13:25','2013-03-23 08:13:25','I think that spring is going to find us in Sofia sooner than later. Yesterday, it snowed. Today it\'s sunny but cold.  Overall we\'ve had much, much less snow this year than past years but it\'s remained colder longer. In the past I\'ve been able to switch over to a lighter weight coat in March but this year I\'m still switching back and forth between my two winter coats.\n\nIt\'s been a strange few months in Bulgaria. After a series of protests (some of them violent) in February, the government (unexpectedly) resigned resulting in the formation of a care-taker government and the elections which had once been scheduled for July have moved moved up to May.\n\nAt the same time there have been an alarming number of self-immolation cases in Bulgaria over the past two months. This has been much more upsetting to me than the resignation of the government.\n\nIn the past week or so, Foreign Policy ran a piece titled: <a href=\"http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/03/14/self_immolation_is_not_new_to_bulgaria\" target=\"_blank\">Self-immolation isn\'t as new as you think in Bulgaria</a>. This article outlined two things. Bulgaria is second only to the Netherlands in average cases of self-immolation each year in Europe but only 1/3 of Bulgaria\'s cases are related to mental illness and this is the lowest correlation in Europe. Thus most of Bulgaria\'s cases of self-immolation are a form of political protest.\n\nNot to be left behind the Economist also ran <a href=\"http://www.economist.com/news/europe/21574034-desperate-demonstrations-against-ephemeral-government-poverty-protests?fsrc=scn/tw_ec/poverty_protests\" target=\"_blank\">an article on the intersection of poverty, protest and self-immolation in Bulgaria</a>. This piece led with the fact that:\n<blockquote>Six people have set themselves on fire in Bulgaria in less than a month. Three have died.</blockquote>\nI read this line a few times. It\'s hard for me to understand the kind of desperation, frustration and helplessness that leads to self-immolation.\n\nI don\'t know how to reconcile this with my experience in Sofia. I don\'t know what this increase of cases says about life in Bulgaria. I don\'t know how to make sense of any of this.\n\nI wonder if things will look better in spring. I wonder if the up-tick in self-immolation will fall off. I wonder if the upcoming elections will change anything. But mostly I wonder: how did things get so bad?','Spring, Sofia & Politics ','','inherit','open','open','','7554-autosave','','','2013-03-23 10:13:25','2013-03-23 08:13:25','',7554,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/03/23/7554-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(7562,1,'2013-04-21 21:45:16','2013-04-21 19:45:16','At school this week, I was contacted by a Bulgarian tv station NOVA tv for an interview. Every so often this happens to me. This time one of the afternoon tv talk shows wanted to interview me about the bombings at the Boston marathon.\r\n\r\nThe day I was contacted (Tuesday) I was teaching all morning and my contact information on this blog is pretty limited so the producer of the program contacted ACS\'s PR office. By lunch time, the program had become desperate to talk to me about whether or not I\'d do the interview.\r\n\r\nAt this point, I knew about the bombings. I\'d gone to be the night before having just read about them and I\'d woken up to slightly more information about them on the major news outlets in the States. This said, I didn\'t know what I\'d be able to add to a conversation or discussion about the bombings.\r\n\r\nStill I took the call and the conversation went something like this:\r\n<ul>\r\n	<li>Me: Hello?</li>\r\n	<li>Producer: Hello. You are Carolyn?</li>\r\n	<li>Me: Yes.</li>\r\n	<li>Producer, now in Bulgarian: we want to interview you.</li>\r\n	<li>Me, in Bulgarian: Okay.</li>\r\n	<li>Producer, in Bulgarian: We want to interview you about the bombings in Boston.</li>\r\n	<li>Me, in Bulgarian: My Bulgarian isn\'t good. I don\'t know enough words.</li>\r\n	<li>Producer, in Bulgarian: <em>Oh</em>. Are you sure?</li>\r\n	<li>Me, in Bulgarian: Yes.</li>\r\n	<li>Producer, in Bulgarian: Okay. Thanks.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\nI hung up inordinately proud of myself. I hate speaking Bulgarian on the phone. I often get confused (and/or nervous) and then I don\'t understand what\'s going on. I was super proud--I had a conversation in Bulgarian, on the phone.\r\n\r\nSure I\'d turned down the interview but I\'d done it in Bulgarian.\r\n\r\nThen for about 30 seconds I felt bad that my Bulgarian isn\'t good enough to discuss current events like this. Thirty seconds later, I was struck by the thought: maybe I\'d be able to if there were a chapter on terrorism in any of my Bulgarian text books. Then I realized: luckily there\'s not. Of all of the things I\'ve learned in my Bulgarian texts books there\'s on terrorism. It\'s not a part of daily life nor the larger culture and as such, not a topic that I am able to discuss in Bulgarian. I simply don\'t have the requisite vocabulary.\r\n\r\nI wish that we didn\'t need a vocabulary or a lexicon for these things in any language.\r\n\r\nI\'ve been surprised and saddened by events this week. I haven\'t really known what to make of the bombings or the subsequent pursuit of the two accused. I\'ve found myself strangely drawn to these events and the way they\'ve been covered. So much so I\'ve spent time in the last week reading the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Huffington Post as well as social watching CNN (something I<em> never</em> do).\r\n\r\nLiving in Bulgaria, I felt strangely removed from the events yet unable to look away.\r\n\r\nThe whole thing got me thinking about what it means to be a modern immigrant in the United States and how complicated it is to navigate these issues of integration, assimilation, alienation and marginalization. I also started reading (finally) <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Shopping-Better-Country-Josip-Novakovich/dp/1936873060\" target=\"_blank\">Josip Novakovich\'s book Shopping for a Better Country</a> and I added <a href=\"http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7816208-let-our-fame-be-great\" target=\"_blank\">Let our fame be great: journeys among the defiant people of the Caucasus</a> by journalist   Oliver Bullough to my to-read list.\r\n\r\nI don\'t feel like I have anything smart, unique or frankly even very interesting to say about these events. Ultimately the events of the past week reminded me that life is tenuous and precious and my heart breaks that we, as people, ever feel the need to resort to these kinds of violence.','Boston, the bombings and terror ','','publish','open','open','','boston-the-bombings-and-terror','','','2013-04-21 21:45:16','2013-04-21 19:45:16','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7562',0,'post','',2),(7561,1,'2013-03-23 10:33:08','2013-03-23 08:33:08','The longer you live abroad the harder it is to imagine your life at home. That is until one day it isn\'t so hard.\n\nIt started for me this past summer. I went home for my brother\'s wedding and I experience my first twinge of <em>what if</em>. What if I lived closer to home? What if I missed out on this? What if something happened to my parents? What if, what if, what if.\n\nThen I returned to Sofia in August and the what-ifs went away. I was back in my Mladost apartment. I was in my classroom teaching once again. I had a routine. I was surrounded by my friend in a life had created for myself and I went on dates with my boyfriend. I was back in Sofia.\n\nThis was year five and I\'d found my stride.\n\nMy Bulgarian was better than ever. I knew the city well enough to navigate the city center map-less. I had broad spectrum of friends and I was having a great time in Sofia, in Bulgaria and traveling in Europe.\n\nThen because of the crazy hiring schedule of international schools after Thanksgiving, I was asked what my plans were for the next year. I was offered a contract for the 2013-14 school year but I was asked to decide before Christmas. I promptly broke my hand. So I asked for an extension which I was given.\n\nBut the <em>what if\'s</em> came back.\n\nIn January, it became clear to me that this was my last school year in Sofia. I decided not to sign a new contract with the school and then I broke up with my Bulgarian boyfriend (who had just moved to Dublin).\n\nThat\'s too much breaking up all at the same time for anyone --a job, a city,a country and a boyfriend all in one fell swoop--and as a result I spent a lot of January crying.\n\nI cried myself to sleep. I cried at my desk. I teared up on my way to the bus stop. I cried over skype.\n\nI cried and cried and cried. Then I cried some more.\n\nThe good news is that I spent a lot less of February crying. Still when I told my students that this is my last year I teared up and as I\'ve told friends and colleagues I\'ve definitely cried and I\'ve made some of them cry. That\'s the worst. I cried enough for everyone in the month of January. So to make other people cry seems incredibly cruel.\n\nIn someways I\'ve surprised myself. Before December and my broken hand, if you\'d asked me if I\'d be in Sofia and teaching at ACS for the next school year I\'d have said that I was 95% sure that I would be.\n\nAnd yet, here I am. This is it. This is my last year in Sofia and in Bulgaria. Actually if you\'re counting these are my last four and a half months in Sofia. It\'s bittersweet.\n\nI\'ll teach through the end June and travel in Bulgaria with my dAd and little sister in July. In August I\'ll meet my friend R. for what we\'ve fondly named our Baltic Adventure and in September I\'ll be back in the States.\n\nI\'ve started thinking about these last few months as my long good-bye.\n\nMy long good-bye as I do things for a last time, as I sneak in as much Sofia time as possible, and as I grieve the imminent loss of banitsa, sour-tart yet rich and creamy Bulgarian yogurt, sirene cheese on my french friends and in my shopska salads. Not to mention the loss of my friends, my school and the life that I\'ve built for myself here.\n\nDon\'t worry. I\'ll still be writing here in the upcoming months. It\'s not good bye yet.','A Long Good-bye','','inherit','open','open','','7544-revision-3','','','2013-03-23 10:33:08','2013-03-23 08:33:08','',7544,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/03/23/7544-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(7563,1,'2013-04-21 21:44:34','2013-04-21 19:44:34','At school this week, I was contacted by a Bulgarian tv station NOVA tv for an interview. Every so often this happens to me. This time one of the afternoon tv talk shows wanted to interview me about the bombings at the Boston marathon.\n\nThe day I was contacted (Tuesday) I was teaching all morning and my contact information on this blog is pretty limited so the producer of the program contacted ACS\'s PR office. By lunch time, the program had become desperate to talk to me about whether or not I\'d do the interview.\n\nAt this point, I knew about the bombings. I\'d gone to be the night before having just read about them and I\'d woken up to slightly more information about them on the major news outlets in the States. This said, I didn\'t know what I\'d be able to add to a conversation or discussion about the bombings.\n\nStill I took the call and the conversation went something like this:\n<ul>\n	<li>Me: Hello?</li>\n	<li>Producer: Hello. You are Carolyn?</li>\n	<li>Me: Yes.</li>\n	<li>Producer, now in Bulgarian: we want to interview you.</li>\n	<li>Me, in Bulgarian: Okay.</li>\n	<li>Producer, in Bulgarian: We want to interview you about the bombings in Boston.</li>\n	<li>Me, in Bulgarian: My Bulgarian isn\'t good. I don\'t know enough words.</li>\n	<li>Producer, in Bulgarian: <em>Oh</em>. Are you sure?</li>\n	<li>Me, in Bulgarian: Yes.</li>\n	<li>Producer, in Bulgarian: Okay. Thanks.</li>\n</ul>\nI hung up inordinately proud of myself. I hate speaking Bulgarian on the phone. I often get confused (and/or nervous) and then I don\'t understand what\'s going on. I was super proud--I had a conversation in Bulgarian, on the phone.\n\nSure I\'d turned down the interview but I\'d done it in Bulgarian.\n\nThen for about 30 seconds I felt bad that my Bulgarian isn\'t good enough to discuss current events like this. Thirty seconds later, I was struck by the thought: maybe I\'d be able to if there were a chapter on terrorism in any of my Bulgarian text books. Then I realized: luckily there\'s not. Of all of the things I\'ve learned in my Bulgarian texts books there\'s on terrorism. It\'s not a part of daily life nor the larger culture and as such, not a topic that I am able to discuss in Bulgarian. I simply don\'t have the requisite vocabulary.\n\nI wish that we didn\'t need a vocabulary or a lexicon for these things in any language.\n\nI\'ve been surprised and saddened by events this week. I haven\'t really known what to make of the bombings or the subsequent pursuit of the two accused. I\'ve found myself strangely drawn to these events and the way they\'ve been covered. So much so I\'ve spent time in the last week reading the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Huffington Post as well as social watching CNN (something I<em> never</em> do).\n\nLiving in Bulgaria, I felt strangely removed from the events yet unable to look away.\n\nThe whole thing got me thinking about what it means to be a modern immigrant in the United States and how complicated it is to navigate these issues of integration, assimilation, alienation and marginalization. I also started reading (finally) <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Shopping-Better-Country-Josip-Novakovich/dp/1936873060\" target=\"_blank\">Josip Novakovich\'s book Shopping for a Better Country</a> and I added <a href=\"http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7816208-let-our-fame-be-great\" target=\"_blank\">Let our fame be great: journeys among the defiant people of the Caucasus</a> by journalist   Oliver Bullough to my to-read list.\n\nI don\'t feel like I have anything smart, unique or frankly even very interesting to say about these events. Ultimately the events of the past week reminded me that life is tenuous and precious and my heart breaks that','Boston, the bombings and terror ','','inherit','open','open','','7562-revision','','','2013-04-21 21:44:34','2013-04-21 19:44:34','',7562,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/04/21/7562-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7564,1,'2013-04-21 21:46:24','2013-04-21 19:46:24','At school this week, I was contacted by a Bulgarian tv station NOVA tv for an interview. Every so often this happens to me. This time one of the afternoon tv talk shows wanted to interview me about the bombings at the Boston marathon.\n\nThe day I was contacted (Tuesday) I was teaching all morning and my contact information on this blog is pretty limited so the producer of the program contacted ACS\'s PR office. By lunch time, the program had become desperate to talk to me about whether or not I\'d do the interview.\n\nAt this point, I knew about the bombings. I\'d gone to be the night before having just read about them and I\'d woken up to slightly more information about them on the major news outlets in the States. This said, I didn\'t know what I\'d be able to add to a conversation or discussion about the bombings.\n\nStill I took the call and the conversation went something like this:\n<ul>\n	<li>Me: Hello?</li>\n	<li>Producer: Hello. You are Carolyn?</li>\n	<li>Me: Yes.</li>\n	<li>Producer, now in Bulgarian: we want to interview you.</li>\n	<li>Me, in Bulgarian: Okay.</li>\n	<li>Producer, in Bulgarian: We want to interview you about the bombings in Boston.</li>\n	<li>Me, in Bulgarian: My Bulgarian isn\'t good. I don\'t know enough words.</li>\n	<li>Producer, in Bulgarian: <em>Oh</em>. Are you sure?</li>\n	<li>Me, in Bulgarian: Yes.</li>\n	<li>Producer, in Bulgarian: Okay. Thanks.</li>\n</ul>\nI hung up inordinately proud of myself. I hate speaking Bulgarian on the phone. I often get confused (and/or nervous) and then I don\'t understand what\'s going on. I was super proud--I had a conversation in Bulgarian, on the phone.\n\nSure I\'d turned down the interview but I\'d done it in Bulgarian.\n\nThen for about 30 seconds I felt bad that my Bulgarian isn\'t good enough to discuss current events like this. Thirty seconds later, I was struck by the thought: maybe I\'d be able to if there were a chapter on terrorism in any of my Bulgarian text books. Then I realized: luckily there\'s not. Of all of the things I\'ve learned in my Bulgarian texts books there\'s on terrorism. It\'s not a part of daily life nor the larger culture and as such, not a topic that I am able to discuss in Bulgarian. I simply don\'t have the requisite vocabulary.\n\nI wish that we didn\'t need a vocabulary or a lexicon for these things in any language.\n\nI\'ve been surprised and saddened by events this week. I haven\'t really known what to make of the bombings or the subsequent pursuit of the two accused. I\'ve found myself strangely drawn to these events and the way they\'ve been covered. So much so I\'ve spent time in the last week reading the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Huffington Post as well as social watching CNN (something I<em> never</em> do).\n\nLiving in Bulgaria, I felt strangely removed from the events yet unable to look away.\n\nThe whole thing got me thinking about what it means to be a modern immigrant in the United States and how complicated it is to navigate these issues of integration, assimilation, alienation and marginalization. I also started reading (finally) <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Shopping-Better-Country-Josip-Novakovich/dp/1936873060\" target=\"_blank\">Josip Novakovich\'s book Shopping for a Better Country</a> and I added <a href=\"http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7816208-let-our-fame-be-great\" target=\"_blank\">Let our fame be great: journeys among the defiant people of the Caucasus</a> by journalist   Oliver Bullough to my to-read list.\n\nI don\'t feel like I have anything smart, unique or frankly even very interesting to say about these events. Ultimately the events of the past week reminded me that life is tenuous and precious and my heart breaks that we, as people, ever feel the need to resort to these kinds of violence.','Boston, the bombings and terror ','','inherit','open','open','','7562-autosave','','','2013-04-21 21:46:24','2013-04-21 19:46:24','',7562,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/04/21/7562-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(7575,1,'2013-05-02 07:43:17','2013-05-02 05:43:17','I\'m getting ready to leave for Cyprus in a couple of hours. We\'ve got a six day holiday in Bulgaria thanks to Easter and St George\'s Day. I couldn\'t be happier. The holiday started on Wednesday but flights were much better today.\r\n\r\nAnyhow, the weather is Cyprus is supposed to be excellent and I\'ve got some books that I\'ve been dying to read.\r\n\r\nWe\'re going to rent a car to check out the island and for easier mobility over a holiday weekend--Orthodox Easter. The only thing is that Cyprus follows the British mode of driving. I\'ll be driving on the \"wrong\" side of the road and when I am driving I\'ll be on the \"wrong\" side of the car. Oh my. Good thing we rented an automatic.\r\n\r\nWish me luck!!','Cyprus for a 5-day weekend ','','publish','open','open','','cyprus-for-a-5-day-weekend','','','2013-05-02 07:43:17','2013-05-02 05:43:17','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7575',0,'post','',2),(7566,1,'2013-04-22 20:38:59','2013-04-22 18:38:59','I think it\'s finally safe to say that spring is here in Sofia.\r\n<a title=\"spring in bulgaria by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8671972381/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8525/8671972381_cc54837952_z.jpg\" alt=\"spring in bulgaria\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\r\nI know because:\r\n<ol>\r\n	<li>I can\'t stop sneezing.</li>\r\n	<li>I no longer need to wear my winter coat.</li>\r\n	<li>There are strawberries in the grocery store.</li>\r\n	<li>I wore my ballerina flats to work all of last week without socks. Okay, sure a little old baba at the bus stop heckled me in Bulgarian for not wearing better footwear but these things happen. I smiled at her told her I didn\'t speak Bulgarian and she told me the whole thing again, slower, while pointing at my feet.</li>\r\n	<li>I hate all of the clothes in my closet and want to throw away all of my sweaters.</li>\r\n	<li>I never want to look at my boots again.</li>\r\n	<li>I smile every time I put on my lightweight rain coat. Remind me of this later when I am complaining about wearing raincoats.</li>\r\n	<li>The heat was finally turned off in my classroom. I no longer have to strip down to my tank-top in the mornings upon unlocking my classroom.</li>\r\n	<li>There are flowers coming out of the earth. Out of the earth!!</li>\r\n	<li>Martenitsi are hung all over Sofia.</li>\r\n</ol>','Spring in Sofia ','','publish','open','open','','spring-in-sofia','','','2013-04-22 20:38:59','2013-04-22 18:38:59','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7566',0,'post','',0),(7567,1,'2013-04-22 20:38:55','2013-04-22 18:38:55','I think it\'s finally safe to say that spring is here in Sofia.\n<a title=\"spring in bulgaria by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8671972381/\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8525/8671972381_cc54837952_z.jpg\" alt=\"spring in bulgaria\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\nI know because:\n<ol>\n	<li>I can\'t stop sneezing.</li>\n	<li>I no longer need to wear my winter coat.</li>\n	<li>There are strawberries in the grocery store.</li>\n	<li>I wore my ballerina flats to work all of last week without socks. Okay, sure a little old baba at the bus stop heckled me in Bulgarian for not wearing better footwear but these things happen. I smiled at her told her I didn\'t speak Bulgarian and she told me the whole thing again, slower, while pointing at my feet.</li>\n	<li>I hate all of the clothes in my closet and want to throw away all of my sweaters.</li>\n	<li>I never want to look at my boots again.</li>\n	<li>I smile every time I put on my lightweight rain coat. Remind me of this later when I am complaining about wearing raincoats.</li>\n	<li>The heat was finally turned off in my classroom. I no longer have to strip down to my tank-top in the mornings upon unlocking my classroom.</li>\n	<li>There are flowers coming out of the earth. Out of the earth!!</li>\n	<li>Martenitsi are hung all over Sofia.</li>\n</ol>','Spring in Sofia ','','inherit','open','open','','7566-revision','','','2013-04-22 20:38:55','2013-04-22 18:38:55','',7566,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/04/22/7566-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7568,1,'2013-04-23 21:38:41','2013-04-23 19:38:41','I lost my Bulgarian debt card, um, a long time ago. I canceled it as soon as I knew it was gone but it\'s taken me an embarrassingly long time to replace it. It\'s been so long I don\'t even want to say how long it\'s been. For those of you now dying of curiosity, think months.\r\n\r\nI\'ve put off doing it for a lot of different reasons and truth be told none of which are really that good. Here they are: I was annoyed with myself that I lost it. I\'ve been busy at work. I\'ve been traveling. Bank hours aren\'t very convenient. There\'s not a branch close to work (and by that I really mean between my apartment and school). I thought it was going to be annoying and hard because I don\'t know any banking vocabulary and because I hate Bulgarian bureaucracy.\r\n\r\nTurns out it was none of these things.\r\n\r\nToday after school I marched over to Business Park to the Bulbank branch there. This didn\'t take me more than 15 minutes. Sure I snuck out the side gate rather the front gate but nobody seemed to care.\r\n\r\nI found the Bulbank branch pretty easily.\r\n\r\nWhat amazed me most was the customer service at this branch. Sure the space is lovely and modern but it was the customer service that wowed me. You get a ticket (or in my case a girl who works at the bank helps you get a ticket and then explains all of the following to you in  English), you wait for your desk number to appear on a screen, you go to that window and they help you. There are no lines to stand in and no one can cut you in line.\r\n\r\nThat last bit is my favorite. No one can cut you in line. (Ha, take that Bulgarian line-cutters!)\r\n\r\nI was in and out in 10 minutes. Okay the girl who actually waited on me was kind of surly but I think this may have been because her English wasn\'t very good and so when I switched into Bulgarian for her she seemed relieved. And I think, that she might have smiled at me on my way out.\r\n\r\nI topped the whole outing off with a Subway sandwich. Good thinking Business Park. I\'ve often wondered why there wasn\'t a Subway in Business Park and now there is.\r\n\r\nNow all I have to do is to remember to pick up my card!!','Banking with Bulbank','','publish','open','open','','banking-with-bulbank','','','2013-04-23 21:38:41','2013-04-23 19:38:41','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7568',0,'post','',1),(7569,1,'2013-04-23 21:37:47','2013-04-23 19:37:47','I lost my Bulgarian debt card, um, a long time ago. I canceled it as soon as I knew it was gone but it\'s taken me an embarrassingly long time to replace it. It\'s been so long I don\'t even want to say how long it\'s been. For those of you now dying of curiosity, think months.\n\nI\'ve put off doing it for a lot of different reasons and truth be told none of which are really that good. Here they are: I was annoyed with myself that I lost it. I\'ve been busy at work. I\'ve been traveling. Bank hours aren\'t very convenient. There\'s not a branch close to work (and by that I really mean between my apartment and school). I thought it was going to be annoying and hard because I don\'t know any banking vocabulary and because I hate Bulgarian bureaucracy.\n\nTurns out it was none of these things.\n\nToday after school I marched over to Business Park to the Bulbank branch there. This didn\'t take me more than 15 minutes. Sure I snuck out the side gate rather the front gate but nobody seemed to care.\n\nI found the Bulbank branch pretty easily.\n\nWhat amazed me most was the customer service at this branch. Sure the space is lovely and modern but it was the customer service that wowed me. You get a ticket (or in my case a girl who works at the bank helps you get a ticket and then explains all of the following to you in  English), you wait for your desk number to appear on a screen, you go to that window and they help you. There are no lines to stand in and no one can cut you in line.\n\nThat last bit is my favorite. No one can cut you in line. (Ha, take that Bulgarian line-cutters!)\n\nI was in and out in 10 minutes. Okay the girl who actually waited on me was kind of surly but I think this may have been because her English wasn\'t very good and so when I switched into Bulgarian for her she seemed relieved. And I think, that she might have smiled at me on my way out.\n\nI topped the whole outing off with a Subway sandwich. Good thinking Business Park. I\'ve often wondered why there wasn\'t a Subway in Business Park and no','Banking with Bulbank','','inherit','open','open','','7568-revision','','','2013-04-23 21:37:47','2013-04-23 19:37:47','',7568,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/04/23/7568-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7570,1,'2013-04-23 21:39:45','2013-04-23 19:39:45','I lost my Bulgarian debt card, um, a long time ago. I canceled it as soon as I knew it was gone but it\'s taken me an embarrassingly long time to replace it. It\'s been so long I don\'t even want to say how long it\'s been. For those of you now dying of curiosity, think months.\n\nI\'ve put off doing it for a lot of different reasons and truth be told none of which are really that good. Here they are: I was annoyed with myself that I lost it. I\'ve been busy at work. I\'ve been traveling. Bank hours aren\'t very convenient. There\'s not a branch close to work (and by that I really mean between my apartment and school). I thought it was going to be annoying and hard because I don\'t know any banking vocabulary and because I hate Bulgarian bureaucracy.\n\nTurns out it was none of these things.\n\nToday after school I marched over to Business Park to the Bulbank branch there. This didn\'t take me more than 15 minutes. Sure I snuck out the side gate rather the front gate but nobody seemed to care.\n\nI found the Bulbank branch pretty easily.\n\nWhat amazed me most was the customer service at this branch. Sure the space is lovely and modern but it was the customer service that wowed me. You get a ticket (or in my case a girl who works at the bank helps you get a ticket and then explains all of the following to you in  English), you wait for your desk number to appear on a screen, you go to that window and they help you. There are no lines to stand in and no one can cut you in line.\n\nThat last bit is my favorite. No one can cut you in line. (Ha, take that Bulgarian line-cutters!)\n\nI was in and out in 10 minutes. Okay the girl who actually waited on me was kind of surly but I think this may have been because her English wasn\'t very good and so when I switched into Bulgarian for her she seemed relieved. And I think, that she might have smiled at me on my way out.\n\nI topped the whole outing off with a Subway sandwich. Good thinking Business Park. I\'ve often wondered why there wasn\'t a Subway in Business Park and now there is.\n\nNow all I have to do is to remember to pick up my card!!','Banking with Bulbank','','inherit','open','open','','7568-autosave','','','2013-04-23 21:39:45','2013-04-23 19:39:45','',7568,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/04/23/7568-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(7571,1,'2013-04-25 05:55:30','0000-00-00 00:00:00','I moved to Bulgaria nearly five years ago (<em>five years ago?!</em> where does the time go?). So I\'ve more or less grown up here. I became an adult in Sofia. I don\'t know many other foreigners who can say this.','Bulgaria Taught me...','','draft','open','open','','','','','2013-04-25 05:55:30','2013-04-25 03:55:30','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7571',0,'post','',0),(7578,1,'2013-05-18 07:16:11','2013-05-18 05:16:11','I woke up in my bed in Mladosot 1A a neighborhood in Sofia, Bulgaria this morning and I found myself thinking about how lucky I am.  I know that I\'ve said this before but really, I am so lucky.\r\n\r\nThis is the fifth time I\'ve had a birthday in Bulgaria. I am 32 and living abroad. I\'m teaching high school English, traveling and (more or less these days) writing about it. I\'m living an adventure but after five years abroad, it\'s become the normal and sometimes I forget what an incredible thing it is to move abroad, to learn (or try to) the language, and to make a foreign city home.\r\n\r\nI am not one to worry about my age but it does seem like time flies by more quickly these days.\r\n\r\nFor example, I surprised a student of mine recently. We were talking informally about rereading books. I was saying that I don\'t love rereading books  because I already know what happens but that I think it\'s important to do because it helps you better understand a book and because it reminds you of who you were when you read the book the first time and what you cared about then. She told me that she like rereading the books because it brings her closer to the characters. (What a beautiful thing to say.) Then I told her that I was thinking about taking up a serious rereading project this fall.\r\n\r\nI told her that I had all of the novels that I read college as part of my English major and that this fallI was thinking about chronicling my experience rereading them, paying a careful attention to my notes and marginalia. She was encouraging and then I told her it would be especially interesting because I graduated from college in 2003 and now that it\'s 2013 it hss been 10+ years since I\'d read many of the books.\r\n\r\nThis student looked at me and said: What?!<em> No</em>. You\'re 30? Me: And then some.\r\n\r\nIt was so cute. She just kept saying, I can\'t believe you\'re not in your twenties and I kept assuring her that I was in my thirties. In a culture that values youth, there\'s something nice about being mistaken for being younger than you are.\r\n\r\nBut truth be told, I\'m happy being 32. I can\'t think of any year I\'d be willing to give up from my life to be younger.\r\n\r\nWhile it is bittersweet that this is my last birthday in Bulgaria (at least for a while I assume), I couldn\'t be happier to be celebrating 32 here in Sofia.','I woke up 32 today','','publish','open','open','','i-woke-up-32-today','','','2013-05-18 07:16:11','2013-05-18 05:16:11','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7578',0,'post','',7),(7573,1,'2013-04-27 14:19:03','2013-04-27 12:19:03','This past week I logged lots of extra hours at work.\r\n\r\nOn Wednesday my club Mock Trial presented a case and I was there until 6 pm. Thursday we had parent-teacher conferences and I was there until 8:15 pm. Friday morning I got up and I was back at school by 7:40. Normally I am at school a little earlier--say 7:30 am--but really, who can keep that up? I was even at 7:40 am I was back at school less 12 hours after I\'d left.  Friday I got my bag and locked up my classroom at 8:30 pm after watching our annual English-language musical.\r\n\r\n<em>Phew. </em>\r\n\r\nI am ready for the weekend. It\'s a beautiful day in Sofia.\r\n\r\nUnfortunately, I\'ve spent a large part of it cleaning my apartment. It\'s been getting less and less clean all week. These things happen after logging too many hours at work. Anyhow, now my clothes are clean and folded. My dishes are washed. My bathroom is clean and the sun is shining through all of the windows of my apartment.\r\n\r\nIt\'s wonderful.\r\n\r\nTonight I am heading to a birthday party for a friend and colleague. It\'s a big one for it him--it\'s one of the ones that ends in a zero. He and his wife are throwing a BBQ at their on campus apartment. It really couldn\'t be a better day for a BBQ and a beer (or two).','After multiple12-hour days at school and I\'m ready for the weekend','','publish','open','open','','after-multiple12-hour-days-at-school-and-im-ready-for-the-weekend','','','2013-04-27 14:19:03','2013-04-27 12:19:03','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7573',0,'post','',0),(7574,1,'2013-04-27 14:18:21','2013-04-27 12:18:21','This past week I logged lots of extra hours at work.\n\nOn Wednesday my club Mock Trial presented a case and I was there until 6 pm. Thursday we had parent-teacher conferences and I was there until 8:15 pm. Friday morning I got up and I was back at school by 7:40. Normally I am at school a little earlier--say 7:30 am--but really, who can keep that up? I was even at 7:40 am I was back at school less 12 hours after I\'d left.  Friday I got my bag and locked up my classroom at 8:30 pm after watching our annual English-language musical.\n\n<em>Phew. </em>\n\nI am ready for the weekend. It\'s a beautiful day in Sofia.\n\nUnfortunately, I\'ve spent a large part of it cleaning my apartment. It\'s been getting less and less clean all week. These things happen after logging too many hours at work. Anyhow, now my clothes are clean and folded. My dishes are washed. My bathroom is clean and the sun is shining through all of the windows of my apartment.\n\nIt\'s wonderful.\n\nTonight I am heading to a birthday party for a friend and colleague. It\'s a big one for it him--it\'s one of the ones that ends in a zero. He and his wife are throwing a BBQ at their on campus apartment. It really couldn\'t be a better day for a BBQ.','Multiple 12-hour days at school and I\'m ready for the weekend','','inherit','open','open','','7573-revision','','','2013-04-27 14:18:21','2013-04-27 12:18:21','',7573,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/04/27/7573-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7576,1,'2013-05-02 07:35:40','2013-05-02 05:35:40','I\'m getting ready to leave for Cyprus in a couple of hours. We\'ve got a six day holiday in Bulgaria thanks to Easter and St George\'s Day. I couldn\'t be happier. The holiday started on Wednesday but flights were much better today.\n\nAnyhow, the weather is Cyprus is supposed to be excellent and I\'ve got some books that I\'ve been dying to read.\n\nWe\'re going to rent a car to check out the island and for easier mobility over a holiday weekend--Orthodox Easter. The only thing is that Cyprus follows the British mode of driving. I\'ll be driving on the \"wrong\" side of the road and when I am driving I\'ll be on the \"wrong\" side of the car. Oh my. Good thing we rented an automatic.\n\nWish me luck!!','Cyprus for a 5-day weekend ','','inherit','open','open','','7575-revision','','','2013-05-02 07:35:40','2013-05-02 05:35:40','',7575,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/05/02/7575-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7577,1,'2013-05-02 07:44:23','2013-05-02 05:44:23','I\'m getting ready to leave for Cyprus in a couple of hours. We\'ve got a six day holiday in Bulgaria thanks to Easter and St George\'s Day. I couldn\'t be happier. The holiday started on Wednesday but flights were much better today.\n\nAnyhow, the weather is Cyprus is supposed to be excellent and I\'ve got some books that I\'ve been dying to read.\n\nWe\'re going to rent a car to check out the island and for easier mobility over a holiday weekend--Orthodox Easter. The only thing is that Cyprus follows the British mode of driving. I\'ll be driving on the \"wrong\" side of the road and when I am driving I\'ll be on the \"wrong\" side of the car. Oh my. Good thing we rented an automatic.\n\nWish me luck!!','Cyprus for a 5-day weekend ','','inherit','open','open','','7575-autosave','','','2013-05-02 07:44:23','2013-05-02 05:44:23','',7575,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/05/02/7575-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(7579,1,'2013-05-18 07:15:25','2013-05-18 05:15:25','I woke up in my bed in Mladosot 1A a neighborhood in Sofia, Bulgaria this morning and I found myself thinking about how lucky I am.  I know that I\'ve said this before but really, I am so lucky.\n\nThis is the fifth time I\'ve had a birthday in Bulgaria. I am 32 and living abroad. I\'m teaching high school English, traveling and (more or less these days) writing about it. I\'m living an adventure but after five years abroad, it\'s become the normal and sometimes I forget what an incredible thing it is to move abroad, to learn (or try to) the language, and to make a foreign city home.\n\nI am not one to worry about my age but it does seem like time flies by more quickly these days.\n\nFor example, I surprised a student of mine recently. We were talking informally about rereading books. I was saying that I don\'t love rereading books  because I already know what happens but that I think it\'s important to do because it helps you better understand a book and because it reminds you of who you were when you read the book the first time and what you cared about then. She told me that she like rereading the books because it brings her closer to the characters. (What a beautiful thing to say.) Then I told her that I was thinking about taking up a serious rereading project this fall.\n\nI told her that I had all of the novels that I read college as part of my English major and that this fallI was thinking about chronicling my experience rereading them, paying a careful attention to my notes and marginalia. She was encouraging and then I told her it would be especially interesting because I graduated from college in 2003 and now that it\'s 2013 it hss been 10+ years since I\'d read many of the books.\n\nThis student looked at me and said: What?!<em> No</em>. You\'re 30? Me: And then some.\n\nIt was so cute. She just kept saying, I can\'t believe you\'re not in your twenties and I kept assuring her that I was in my thirties. In a culture that values youth, there\'s something nice about being mistaken for being younger than you are.\n\nBut truth be told, I\'m happy being 32. I can\'t think of any year I\'d be willing to give up from my life to be younger.\n\nWhile it is bittersweet that this is my last birthday in Bulgaria (at least for a while I assume), I couldn\'t be happier to be cele','I woke up 32 today','','inherit','open','open','','7578-revision','','','2013-05-18 07:15:25','2013-05-18 05:15:25','',7578,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/05/18/7578-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7580,1,'2013-06-05 17:24:25','2013-06-05 15:24:25','As my time in Bulgaria comes to an end, I\'ve been thinking a lot about what a great experience this has been and continues to be. It\'s been harder for me to write these days as is evidenced by my inability to write a post.\r\n\r\nOn this blog, I\'ve tried to capture the youthful sense of exploration and joy that finding a new restaurant, discovering a new cafe, Bulgarian word, or city has brought me. There\'s a lot to Sofia just beneath the surface and I\'ve always tried to look for that and capture it here.\r\n\r\nFor the past month, I\'ve had this thought rattling around my head: Bulgaria has been good to me.\r\n\r\nStill I haven\'t been able to write.  I\'ve sat down a 100 times to write a new blog post and I\'ve failed to do so. Until now.\r\n\r\nIt\'s not that I haven\'t been exploring new places, going to new restaurants, visiting new cities. Nope, I\'ve been doing plenty of this. I\'ve been taking tons of photos. I\'ve been promising myself: this time I\'ll write about this. Then I don\'t.\r\n\r\nI don\'t because, now, finding a new restaurant or visiting a new city is bittersweet--it reminds me how little time I have left in Sofia.\r\n\r\nThis said, for the past two weeks I\'ve been making all sorts of silly top 10 lists in my head about Bulgaria. So get ready. The list (of lists) currently includes: 10 things I already know that I\'ll miss, 10 things I wish I\'d done, 10 things life in Bulgaria has taught me, 10 things I\'ve seen only here, and 10 reasons to make Bulgaria home.\r\n\r\nBack to the writing thing, I hope.','Endings ','','publish','open','open','','endings','','','2013-06-05 17:24:25','2013-06-05 15:24:25','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7580',0,'post','',0),(7581,1,'2013-06-05 11:06:13','2013-06-05 09:06:13','As my time in Bulgaria comes to an end, I\'ve been thinking a lot about what a great experience this has been and continues to be. It\'s been harder for me to write these days as is evidenced by my inability to write a post.\n\nOn this blog, I\'ve tried to capture the youthful sense of exploration and joy that finding a new restaurant, discovering a new cafe, Bulgarian word, or city has brought me. There\'s a lot to Sofia just beneath the surface and I\'ve always tried to look for that and capture it here.\n\nFor the past month, I\'ve had this thought rattling around my head: Bulgaria has been good to me.\n\nBack to the writing thing. I\'ve sat down a 100 times to write a new blog post and I\'ve failed to do so. Until now.\n\nIt\'s not that I haven\'t been exploring new places, going to new restaurants, visiting new cities. Nope, I\'ve been doing plenty of this. I\'ve been taking tons of photos. I\'ve been promising myself: this time I\'ll write about this. Then I don\'t.\n\nI don\'t because, now, finding a new restaurant or visiting a new city is bittersweet--it reminds me how little time I have left in Sofia.\n\nThis said, for the past two weeks I\'ve been making all sorts of silly top 10 lists in my head about Bulgaria. So get ready. The list (of lists) currently includes: 10 things I already know that I\'ll miss, 10 things I wish I\'d done, 10 things life in Bulgaria has taught me, 10 things I\'ve seen only here, and 10 reasons to make Bulgaria home.','Endings ','','inherit','open','open','','7580-revision','','','2013-06-05 11:06:13','2013-06-05 09:06:13','',7580,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/06/05/7580-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7582,1,'2013-06-06 06:58:07','2013-06-06 04:58:07','There are clearly more things that I\'ll miss both little and big about living in Bulgaria but this is a start.\r\n<ol>\r\n	<li>a.) <strong>Shopska Salad</strong>. Okay, I know that this salad has four or so ingredients and that it could be made at home but I suspect it\'s the kind of thing that tastes better in Bulgaria than it does anywhere else in the world. b.) <strong>French fries with cheese</strong>. Before I moved to Bulgaria, when I read about this, I thought: yeah, right--french fries with cheese. I can pass on that. Well it turns out that I cannot. This dish is strangely addictive. c.) <strong>Rakiya</strong>. A drink to have with salads? Yes, please. I don\'t even drink a lot of rakiya but the thought of not having the option of drinking it makes me miss it already. I\'ll especially miss drinking everyone\'s homemade version and the moment before you have your first drink. In this moment you need to prepare your face, have something nice to say about the rakiya and brace yourself for a sip that could be spicy but smooth (this is ideal), rubbing alcohol (clearly this is much less than ideal), or something in between (which is what I find most homemade rakiya is). Whatever variety of rakyia you\'re drinking, the pourer (and very likely the maker said drink) will watch you take your first sip, wait for your assessment and upon your positive review (it\'s always a positive review) pour you another or top off your glass!</li>\r\n	<li><strong>The smell of roasting peppers</strong> in late August and September.</li>\r\n	<li><strong>Memento</strong> on Vitosha Blvd. This is hands down my favorite bar/cafe in Sofia. The bartenders are super friendly. The drinks are high quality and I\'ve never once been disappointed by their coffee.</li>\r\n	<li><strong>Holidays that fall on a Tuesday and a Thursday</strong> and the Government extending this to a four-day weekend. In America, we\'ve fixed all of our major holidays to a Friday or a Monday so we get a three day weekend. One of the only ones we haven\'t a fixed is the Fourth of July and we probably would if we could figure out how to. This said, I don\'t think that anyone would go for working on a Saturday to make up for a four-day weekend so it\'s probably a good thing we\'ve worked out the three-day-weekend-holiday-thing.</li>\r\n	<li>Seeing <strong>Vitosha Mountain</strong> every morning on my way to school.</li>\r\n	<li><strong>OK Taxis</strong>. I\'ve almost never had a problem with taking OK taxis in Sofia. Actually, in five years, I can count the number of times I\'ve had issues with dishonest, rude or problematic taxis on one hand. I feel pretty lucky about that but I\'ve also been smart and I\'d guess 90% of the time I\'ve taken an OK taxi. I\'ll also miss chatting with taxi drivers in Bulgarian about where I am from, if I have a boyfriend and how much I like Bulgaria.</li>\r\n	<li>Seeing on menus <strong>yogurt for dessert</strong>. I\'ll generally miss Bulgarian yogurt but I love seeing thick Bulgarian yogurt on menus served with a variety of different toppings from strawberry jam to honey to walnuts. It\'s just so un-American.</li>\r\n	<li>My <strong>Bulgarian lessons</strong>. I\'ve taken regular lessons for five years. I\'ll miss the friendships I\'ve build steadily over the years while stumbling and bumbling my way through Bulgarian. I\'d like to think that my Bulgarian has finally gotten to be okay. Even thought I am not great, I already know  that I am going to miss not speaking Bulgarian daily.</li>\r\n	<li>Bulgarian dance classes and <strong>dancing the horo</strong> at parties and crowded restaurants. Americans don\'t break out into dance the same way Bulgarians do and the thought of a room full of people all knowing the same steps to a song is almost unimaginable. It\'s not to say that we don\'t dance we just don\'t dance <em>together</em> in same way.</li>\r\n	<li><strong>My friends, my colleagues </strong>and<strong> my students</strong>.</li>\r\n</ol>','10 things I already know that I\'ll miss','','publish','open','open','','10-things-i-already-know-that-ill-miss','','','2013-06-05 16:44:48','2013-06-05 14:44:48','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7582',0,'post','',9),(7583,1,'2013-06-05 11:15:23','2013-06-05 09:15:23','There are clearly more things that I\'ll miss but little and big but this is the start.\n<ol>\n	<li>Shopska Salad, french fries with cheese and rakiya.</li>\n	<li>The smell of roasting peppers in late August and September.</li>\n	<li>Memento on Vitosha Blvd.</li>\n	<li>Holidays that fall on a Tuesday and a Thursday and the Government extending this to a four-day weekend.</li>\n	<li>Seeing Vitosha every morning on my way to school.</li>\n	<li>OK Taxi.</li>\n	<li>Seeing on menus yogurt for dessert.</li>\n	<li>My Bulgaria</li>\n	<li>Bulgarian</li>\n</ol>','10 things I already know that I\'ll miss','','inherit','open','open','','7582-revision','','','2013-06-05 11:15:23','2013-06-05 09:15:23','',7582,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/06/05/7582-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7584,1,'2013-06-05 12:47:13','2013-06-05 10:47:13','There are clearly more things that I\'ll miss both little and big but this is a start.\n<ol>\n	<li>a.) <strong>Shopska Salad</strong>. Okay, I know that this salad has four or so ingredients and could be made at home but I suspect it\'s the kind of thing that tastes better in Bulgaria than it does anywhere else. b.) <strong>French fries with cheese</strong>. Before I moved to Bulgaria, when I read about this, I thought: yeah, right--french fries with cheese. I can pass on that. Well it turns out that I cannot. This dish is strangely addictive. c.) <strong>Rakiya</strong>. A drink to have with salads? Yes, please. I don\'t even drink a lot of rakiya but the thought of not having the option of drinking it makes me miss it already. I\'ll especially miss drinking everyone\'s homemade version and the moment before you have your first drink. In this moment you need to prepare your face, have something nice to say about the rakiya and brace yourself for a sip that could be spicy but smooth (this is ideal), rubbing alcohol (clearly this is much less than ideal), or something in between (which is what I find most homemade rakiya is). Whatever variety of rakyia you\'re drinking, the pourer (and very likely the maker said drink) will watch you take your first sip, wait for your assessment and upon your positive review (it\'s always a positive review) pour you another or top off your glass!</li>\n	<li><strong>The smell of roasting peppers</strong> in late August and September.</li>\n	<li><strong>Memento</strong> on Vitosha Blvd.</li>\n	<li><strong>Holidays that fall on a Tuesday and a Thursday</strong> and the Government extending this to a four-day weekend.</li>\n	<li>Seeing <strong>Vitosha Mountain</strong> every morning on my way to school.</li>\n	<li><strong>OK Taxi</strong>.</li>\n	<li>Seeing on menus yogurt for dessert.</li>\n	<li>My Bulgarian lessons.</li>\n	<li>Bulgarian dance classes and dancing the horo at parties and restaurants.</li>\n	<li>My friends, my colleagues and my students.</li>\n</ol>','10 things I already know that I\'ll miss','','inherit','open','open','','7582-revision-2','','','2013-06-05 12:47:13','2013-06-05 10:47:13','',7582,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/06/05/7582-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(7585,1,'2013-06-05 12:57:55','2013-06-05 10:57:55','There are clearly more things that I\'ll miss both little and big but this is a start.\n<ol>\n	<li>a.) <strong>Shopska Salad</strong>. Okay, I know that this salad has four or so ingredients and could be made at home but I suspect it\'s the kind of thing that tastes better in Bulgaria than it does anywhere else. b.) <strong>French fries with cheese</strong>. Before I moved to Bulgaria, when I read about this, I thought: yeah, right--french fries with cheese. I can pass on that. Well it turns out that I cannot. This dish is strangely addictive. c.) <strong>Rakiya</strong>. A drink to have with salads? Yes, please. I don\'t even drink a lot of rakiya but the thought of not having the option of drinking it makes me miss it already. I\'ll especially miss drinking everyone\'s homemade version and the moment before you have your first drink. In this moment you need to prepare your face, have something nice to say about the rakiya and brace yourself for a sip that could be spicy but smooth (this is ideal), rubbing alcohol (clearly this is much less than ideal), or something in between (which is what I find most homemade rakiya is). Whatever variety of rakyia you\'re drinking, the pourer (and very likely the maker said drink) will watch you take your first sip, wait for your assessment and upon your positive review (it\'s always a positive review) pour you another or top off your glass!</li>\n	<li><strong>The smell of roasting peppers</strong> in late August and September.</li>\n	<li><strong>Memento</strong> on Vitosha Blvd. This is hands down my favorite bar/cafe in Sofia. The bartenders are super friendly. The drinks are high quality and I\'ve never once been disappointed by their coffee.</li>\n	<li><strong>Holidays that fall on a Tuesday and a Thursday</strong> and the Government extending this to a four-day weekend. In America, we\'ve fixed all of our major holidays to a Friday or a Monday so we get a three day weekend. One of the only ones we haven\'t a fixed is the Fourth of July and we probably would if we could figure out how to. This said, I don\'t think that anyone would go for working on a Saturday to make up for a four-day weekend so it\'s probably a good thing we\'ve worked out the three-day weekend-holi</li>\n	<li>Seeing <strong>Vitosha Mountain</strong> every morning on my way to school.</li>\n	<li><strong>OK Taxi</strong>.</li>\n	<li>Seeing on menus <strong>yogurt for dessert</strong>.</li>\n	<li>My <strong>Bulgarian lessons</strong>.</li>\n	<li>Bulgarian dance classes and <strong>dancing the horo</strong> at parties and restaurants.</li>\n	<li><strong>My friends, my colleagues and my students</strong>.</li>\n</ol>','10 things I already know that I\'ll miss','','inherit','open','open','','7582-revision-3','','','2013-06-05 12:57:55','2013-06-05 10:57:55','',7582,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/06/05/7582-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(7586,1,'2013-06-05 12:59:10','2013-06-05 10:59:10','There are clearly more things that I\'ll miss both little and big but this is a start.\n<ol>\n	<li>a.) <strong>Shopska Salad</strong>. Okay, I know that this salad has four or so ingredients and could be made at home but I suspect it\'s the kind of thing that tastes better in Bulgaria than it does anywhere else. b.) <strong>French fries with cheese</strong>. Before I moved to Bulgaria, when I read about this, I thought: yeah, right--french fries with cheese. I can pass on that. Well it turns out that I cannot. This dish is strangely addictive. c.) <strong>Rakiya</strong>. A drink to have with salads? Yes, please. I don\'t even drink a lot of rakiya but the thought of not having the option of drinking it makes me miss it already. I\'ll especially miss drinking everyone\'s homemade version and the moment before you have your first drink. In this moment you need to prepare your face, have something nice to say about the rakiya and brace yourself for a sip that could be spicy but smooth (this is ideal), rubbing alcohol (clearly this is much less than ideal), or something in between (which is what I find most homemade rakiya is). Whatever variety of rakyia you\'re drinking, the pourer (and very likely the maker said drink) will watch you take your first sip, wait for your assessment and upon your positive review (it\'s always a positive review) pour you another or top off your glass!</li>\n	<li><strong>The smell of roasting peppers</strong> in late August and September.</li>\n	<li><strong>Memento</strong> on Vitosha Blvd. This is hands down my favorite bar/cafe in Sofia. The bartenders are super friendly. The drinks are high quality and I\'ve never once been disappointed by their coffee.</li>\n	<li><strong>Holidays that fall on a Tuesday and a Thursday</strong> and the Government extending this to a four-day weekend. In America, we\'ve fixed all of our major holidays to a Friday or a Monday so we get a three day weekend. One of the only ones we haven\'t a fixed is the Fourth of July and we probably would if we could figure out how to. This said, I don\'t think that anyone would go for working on a Saturday to make up for a four-day weekend so it\'s probably a good thing we\'ve worked out the three-day-weekend-holiday-thing.</li>\n	<li>Seeing <strong>Vitosha Mountain</strong> every morning on my way to school.</li>\n	<li><strong>OK Taxi</strong>.</li>\n	<li>Seeing on menus <strong>yogurt for dessert</strong>.</li>\n	<li>My <strong>Bulgarian lessons</strong>.</li>\n	<li>Bulgarian dance classes and <strong>dancing the horo</strong> at parties and restaurants.</li>\n	<li><strong>My friends, my colleagues and my students</strong>.</li>\n</ol>','10 things I already know that I\'ll miss','','inherit','open','open','','7582-revision-4','','','2013-06-05 12:59:10','2013-06-05 10:59:10','',7582,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/06/05/7582-revision-4/',0,'revision','',0),(7587,1,'2013-06-05 16:30:13','2013-06-05 14:30:13','There are clearly more things that I\'ll miss both little and big but this is a start.\r\n<ol>\r\n	<li>a.) <strong>Shopska Salad</strong>. Okay, I know that this salad has four or so ingredients and could be made at home but I suspect it\'s the kind of thing that tastes better in Bulgaria than it does anywhere else. b.) <strong>French fries with cheese</strong>. Before I moved to Bulgaria, when I read about this, I thought: yeah, right--french fries with cheese. I can pass on that. Well it turns out that I cannot. This dish is strangely addictive. c.) <strong>Rakiya</strong>. A drink to have with salads? Yes, please. I don\'t even drink a lot of rakiya but the thought of not having the option of drinking it makes me miss it already. I\'ll especially miss drinking everyone\'s homemade version and the moment before you have your first drink. In this moment you need to prepare your face, have something nice to say about the rakiya and brace yourself for a sip that could be spicy but smooth (this is ideal), rubbing alcohol (clearly this is much less than ideal), or something in between (which is what I find most homemade rakiya is). Whatever variety of rakyia you\'re drinking, the pourer (and very likely the maker said drink) will watch you take your first sip, wait for your assessment and upon your positive review (it\'s always a positive review) pour you another or top off your glass!</li>\r\n	<li><strong>The smell of roasting peppers</strong> in late August and September.</li>\r\n	<li><strong>Memento</strong> on Vitosha Blvd. This is hands down my favorite bar/cafe in Sofia. The bartenders are super friendly. The drinks are high quality and I\'ve never once been disappointed by their coffee.</li>\r\n	<li><strong>Holidays that fall on a Tuesday and a Thursday</strong> and the Government extending this to a four-day weekend. In America, we\'ve fixed all of our major holidays to a Friday or a Monday so we get a three day weekend. One of the only ones we haven\'t a fixed is the Fourth of July and we probably would if we could figure out how to. This said, I don\'t think that anyone would go for working on a Saturday to make up for a four-day weekend so it\'s probably a good thing we\'ve worked out the three-day-weekend-holiday-thing.</li>\r\n	<li>Seeing <strong>Vitosha Mountain</strong> every morning on my way to school.</li>\r\n	<li><strong>OK Taxi</strong>.</li>\r\n	<li>Seeing on menus <strong>yogurt for dessert</strong>.</li>\r\n	<li>My <strong>Bulgarian lessons</strong>.</li>\r\n	<li>Bulgarian dance classes and <strong>dancing the horo</strong> at parties and restaurants.</li>\r\n	<li><strong>My friends, my colleagues and my students</strong>.</li>\r\n</ol>','10 things I already know that I\'ll miss','','inherit','open','open','','7582-revision-5','','','2013-06-05 16:30:13','2013-06-05 14:30:13','',7582,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/06/05/7582-revision-5/',0,'revision','',0),(7588,1,'2013-06-05 16:45:51','2013-06-05 14:45:51','There are clearly more things that I\'ll miss both little and big about living in Bulgaria but this is a start.\n<ol>\n	<li>a.) <strong>Shopska Salad</strong>. Okay, I know that this salad has four or so ingredients and that it could be made at home but I suspect it\'s the kind of thing that tastes better in Bulgaria than it does anywhere else in the world. b.) <strong>French fries with cheese</strong>. Before I moved to Bulgaria, when I read about this, I thought: yeah, right--french fries with cheese. I can pass on that. Well it turns out that I cannot. This dish is strangely addictive. c.) <strong>Rakiya</strong>. A drink to have with salads? Yes, please. I don\'t even drink a lot of rakiya but the thought of not having the option of drinking it makes me miss it already. I\'ll especially miss drinking everyone\'s homemade version and the moment before you have your first drink. In this moment you need to prepare your face, have something nice to say about the rakiya and brace yourself for a sip that could be spicy but smooth (this is ideal), rubbing alcohol (clearly this is much less than ideal), or something in between (which is what I find most homemade rakiya is). Whatever variety of rakyia you\'re drinking, the pourer (and very likely the maker said drink) will watch you take your first sip, wait for your assessment and upon your positive review (it\'s always a positive review) pour you another or top off your glass!</li>\n	<li><strong>The smell of roasting peppers</strong> in late August and September.</li>\n	<li><strong>Memento</strong> on Vitosha Blvd. This is hands down my favorite bar/cafe in Sofia. The bartenders are super friendly. The drinks are high quality and I\'ve never once been disappointed by their coffee.</li>\n	<li><strong>Holidays that fall on a Tuesday and a Thursday</strong> and the Government extending this to a four-day weekend. In America, we\'ve fixed all of our major holidays to a Friday or a Monday so we get a three day weekend. One of the only ones we haven\'t a fixed is the Fourth of July and we probably would if we could figure out how to. This said, I don\'t think that anyone would go for working on a Saturday to make up for a four-day weekend so it\'s probably a good thing we\'ve worked out the three-day-weekend-holiday-thing.</li>\n	<li>Seeing <strong>Vitosha Mountain</strong> every morning on my way to school.</li>\n	<li><strong>OK Taxis</strong>. I\'ve almost never had a problem with taking OK taxis in Sofia. Actually, in five years, I can count the number of times I\'ve had issues with dishonest, rude or problematic taxis on one hand. I feel pretty lucky about that but I\'ve also been smart and I\'d guess 90% of the time I\'ve taken an OK taxi. I\'ll also miss chatting with taxi drivers in Bulgarian about where I am from, if I have a boyfriend and how much I like Bulgaria.</li>\n	<li>Seeing on menus <strong>yogurt for dessert</strong>. I\'ll generally miss Bulgarian yogurt but I love seeing thick Bulgarian yogurt on menus served with a variety of different toppings from strawberry jam to honey to walnuts. It\'s just so un-American.</li>\n	<li>My <strong>Bulgarian lessons</strong>. I\'ve taken regular lessons for five years. I\'ll miss the friendships I\'ve build steadily over the years while stumbling and bumbling my way through Bulgarian. I\'d like to think that my Bulgarian has finally gotten to be okay. Even thought I am not great, I already know  that I am going to miss not speaking Bulgarian daily.</li>\n	<li>Bulgarian dance classes and <strong>dancing the horo</strong> at parties and crowded restaurants. Americans don\'t break out into dance the same way Bulgarians do and the thought of a room full of people all knowing the same steps to a song is almost unimaginable. It\'s not to say that we don\'t dance we just don\'t dance <em>together</em> in same way.</li>\n	<li><strong>My friends, my colleagues </strong>and<strong> my students</strong>.</li>\n</ol>','10 things I already know that I\'ll miss','','inherit','open','open','','7582-autosave','','','2013-06-05 16:45:51','2013-06-05 14:45:51','',7582,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/06/05/7582-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(7589,1,'2013-06-09 22:06:27','2013-06-09 20:06:27','This is a list of a few things I maybe should have done in Bulgaria:\r\n\r\n<strong>Distilled my own rakiya</strong>. I hinted around at this a lot in my first few years but everyone seems to think that rakiya making is men\'s work. Or they didn\'t think that I was serious. I was serious, y\'all.  Either way, I have a fond spot in my heart for homemade rakiya.\r\n\r\n<strong>Lived in a village for a summer</strong>. I am sure that I\'ve romanticized this in my mind but it seems lovely. Get up, drink coffee in your garden, do some gardening, talk to your neighbors, have an afternoon coffee, read, eat dinner, look at the stars, go to bed. Repeat.\r\n\r\n<strong>Learned to drive a manual</strong>. I\'ve had lots of vague offers and when A. and were dating he promised to teach me but here I am five years later still unable to drive a manual transmission. I worry sometimes that I am less of a person for it. <em>But what\'s a girl to do?</em>\r\n\r\n<strong>Roasted peppers in a chushkopek</strong>. This seems to be one of the things that will prevent me from ever being fully Bulgarian. I\'ve never done this and I am kind of afraid to. I hear from someone (or very likely read somewhere) that the pepper roasting machine known in Bulgarian as the chushkopek was lined with <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asbestos\">asbestos</a>. I am trying to avoid asbestos related cancer so the line I\'ve drawn is a silly one. I\'ll eat roasted peppers but I don\'t want to know how they were roasted.\r\n\r\n<strong>Bought and tried to read a Bulgarian newspaper everyday</strong>. My Bulgarian would probably be leaps and bounds better than it is right now and I would know a lot more gossip about famous Bulgarians than I currently know. Also I might also know why so many newspapers run a full page of (nearly) naked girls each day. Instead I am just left to wonder: how is that news?\r\n\r\n<strong>Made my own yogurt</strong>. Bulgarians love yogurt. I love Bulgarian yogurt. Why I never did this is beyond me. Probably it boils down to the fact that I am rather lazy and given the fact that I am totally happy to buy yogurt in the store, I\'ve never actually been motivated to make my own yogurt.\r\n\r\n<strong>Paid for a bus ticket every time I took the bus</strong>. I do feel guilty-ish about this one. I currently owe a lot leva for the numerous illegal rides I\'ve taken on the 76 and 111 buses. I worried a lot about this my first two years and then I gave up. I settled on paying fines no questions asked, no complaints when caught without a ticket. Since instituting this policy I\'ve been caught fewer than 5 times.\r\n\r\n<strong>Made a go of buying underwear and bras in Bulgaria</strong>. I am unspeakably intimidated by this prospect. It seems much to difficult to do in Bulgarian. So I do this each year when I am home in the States because really, I hardly understand how bra sizes work in the States and I speak the language. <em>You want me to buy a bar in the metric system?</em> I think not. I also like my personal space and I am not sure that this is something that would be respected as much as I\'d like it to be in a lingerie shop in Bulgaria.\r\n\r\n<strong>Visited Viden</strong>. This is the northern most city/town in Bulgaria and I\'ve thought about going to visit. I\'ve just never made it. Such is life.\r\n\r\n<strong>Bought more scarves and Bulgarian pottery</strong>. Um, just kidding. I have so many scarves and a large enough Bulgarian pottery collection that I could start my own store State-side. If I start my own store in the States in keeping with long standing Bulgarian tradition, I will never have change for anything bigger than a 10. If you try to pay with a 20 I will look at you with disdain in an attempt to express my displeasure with you, the size of your bill, and the fact that because you entered my shop I was forced to put out the cigarette that I was smoking, half in and half out of my shop, while gossiping with another girl in the next shop over to sell something to you.','A few things I maybe should have done in Bulgaria','','publish','open','open','','a-few-things-i-maybe-should-have-done-in-bulgaria','','','2013-06-09 22:06:27','2013-06-09 20:06:27','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7589',0,'post','',6),(7590,1,'2013-06-05 16:48:19','2013-06-05 14:48:19','','Things I maybe should have done in Bulgaria','','inherit','open','open','','7589-revision','','','2013-06-05 16:48:19','2013-06-05 14:48:19','',7589,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/06/05/7589-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7591,1,'2013-06-05 11:07:53','2013-06-05 09:07:53','As my time in Bulgaria comes to an end, I\'ve been thinking a lot about what a great experience this has been and continues to be. It\'s been harder for me to write these days as is evidenced by my inability to write a post.\n\nOn this blog, I\'ve tried to capture the youthful sense of exploration and joy that finding a new restaurant, discovering a new cafe, Bulgarian word, or city has brought me. There\'s a lot to Sofia just beneath the surface and I\'ve always tried to look for that and capture it here.\n\nFor the past month, I\'ve had this thought rattling around my head: Bulgaria has been good to me.\n\nStill I haven\'t been able to write.  I\'ve sat down a 100 times to write a new blog post and I\'ve failed to do so. Until now.\n\nIt\'s not that I haven\'t been exploring new places, going to new restaurants, visiting new cities. Nope, I\'ve been doing plenty of this. I\'ve been taking tons of photos. I\'ve been promising myself: this time I\'ll write about this. Then I don\'t.\n\nI don\'t because, now, finding a new restaurant or visiting a new city is bittersweet--it reminds me how little time I have left in Sofia.\n\nThis said, for the past two weeks I\'ve been making all sorts of silly top 10 lists in my head about Bulgaria. So get ready. The list (of lists) currently includes: 10 things I already know that I\'ll miss, 10 things I wish I\'d done, 10 things life in Bulgaria has taught me, 10 things I\'ve seen only here, and 10 reasons to make Bulgaria home.\n\nBack to the writing thing, I hope.','Endings ','','inherit','open','open','','7580-revision-2','','','2013-06-05 11:07:53','2013-06-05 09:07:53','',7580,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/06/05/7580-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(7592,1,'2013-06-05 17:25:29','2013-06-05 15:25:29','As my time in Bulgaria comes to an end, I\'ve been thinking a lot about what a great experience this has been and continues to be. It\'s been harder for me to write these days as is evidenced by my inability to write a post.\n\nOn this blog, I\'ve tried to capture the youthful sense of exploration and joy that finding a new restaurant, discovering a new cafe, Bulgarian word, or city has brought me. There\'s a lot to Sofia just beneath the surface and I\'ve always tried to look for that and capture it here.\n\nFor the past month, I\'ve had this thought rattling around my head: Bulgaria has been good to me.\n\nStill I haven\'t been able to write.  I\'ve sat down a 100 times to write a new blog post and I\'ve failed to do so. Until now.\n\nIt\'s not that I haven\'t been exploring new places, going to new restaurants, visiting new cities. Nope, I\'ve been doing plenty of this. I\'ve been taking tons of photos. I\'ve been promising myself: this time I\'ll write about this. Then I don\'t.\n\nI don\'t because, now, finding a new restaurant or visiting a new city is bittersweet--it reminds me how little time I have left in Sofia.\n\nThis said, for the past two weeks I\'ve been making all sorts of silly top 10 lists in my head about Bulgaria. So get ready. The list (of lists) currently includes: 10 things I already know that I\'ll miss, 10 things I wish I\'d done, 10 things life in Bulgaria has taught me, 10 things I\'ve seen only here, and 10 reasons to make Bulgaria home.\n\nBack to the writing thing, I hope.','Endings ','','inherit','open','open','','7580-autosave','','','2013-06-05 17:25:29','2013-06-05 15:25:29','',7580,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/06/05/7580-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(7593,1,'2013-06-07 05:34:40','0000-00-00 00:00:00','A few classics.\r\n<ol>\r\n	<li>The nature.</li>\r\n	<li>Happy new haircut.</li>\r\n	<li>Is this obligatory?</li>\r\n	<li></li>\r\n</ol>','English phrases I\'ll miss hearing from Bulgarians. ','','draft','open','open','','','','','2013-06-07 05:34:40','2013-06-07 03:34:40','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7593',0,'post','',0),(7594,1,'2013-06-05 17:30:48','2013-06-05 15:30:48','','English phrases I\'ll miss hearing from Bulgarians. ','','inherit','open','open','','7593-revision','','','2013-06-05 17:30:48','2013-06-05 15:30:48','',7593,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/06/05/7593-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7595,1,'2013-06-07 05:33:02','2013-06-07 03:33:02','A few classics.\n<ol>\n	<li>The nature.</li>\n	<li>Happy new haircut.</li>\n	<li>Is this obligatory?</li>\n	<li></li>\n</ol>','English phrases I\'ll miss hearing from Bulgarians. ','','inherit','open','open','','7593-revision-2','','','2013-06-07 05:33:02','2013-06-07 03:33:02','',7593,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/06/07/7593-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(7596,1,'2013-06-07 05:56:25','2013-06-07 03:56:25','Two weeks ago this billboard went up in Mladost. If you look closely you\'ll see the building in the background is the one I\'ve used as my banner on my blog for ages. I got such a kick out of it. The sign says: it\'s time for something special and out of a giant Zagorka beer bottle all sorts of funny things are popping or possibly spraying out. The two things that I can clearly identify flying out of the bottle are a flip-flop and a light bulb.\r\n\r\n<a title=\"something special by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8967746042/\"><img alt=\"something special\" src=\"http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7323/8967746042_f79bf8f4bb_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\r\n\r\nI have no idea why. Aside from the obvious: Zagorka tastes better changing light bulbs in flip-flops.\r\n\r\nBut a girl can only change so many light bulbs. I suspect that after I changed the 10 light bulbs in my apartment I\'d still have a lot of beer left to drink. Then what?  Also, I don\'t really like heights very much so the thought of drinking beer and climbing up on a chair in flip-flops to precariously change light bulbs sounds way less fun than drinking a beer on my couch.\r\n\r\nAll joking aside, I do like the take irreverent take on the classic champagne ad.\r\n\r\nOh and the placement of the ad in Mladost really couldn\'t be better.  It really is something special--the cars parked on the grass, the intersection of the dirt path coming in from the left of the photo and the asphalt sidewalk (with power lines planted squarely in the middle of the sidewalk) on the right of the photo. This sidewalk is boarded by Malinov Blvd and on the far right the metal fence marking the construction of the new metro line to Business Park.\r\n\r\nThere\'s a lot of special happening in this photo.','Something Special ','','publish','open','open','','something-special','','','2013-06-07 05:56:25','2013-06-07 03:56:25','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7596',0,'post','',3),(7597,1,'2013-06-07 05:55:48','2013-06-07 03:55:48','Two weeks ago this billboard went up in Mladost. If you look closely you\'ll see the building in the background is the one I\'ve used as my banner on my blog for ages. I got such a kick out of it. The sign says: it\'s time for something special and out of a giant Zagorka beer bottle all sorts of funny things are popping or possibly spraying out. The two things that I can clearly identify flying out of the bottle are a flip-flop and a light bulb.\n\n<a title=\"something special by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8967746042/\"><img alt=\"something special\" src=\"http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7323/8967746042_f79bf8f4bb_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\n\nI have no idea why. Aside from the obvious: Zagorka tastes better changing light bulbs in flip-flops.\n\nBut a girl can only change so many light bulbs. I suspect that after I changed the 10 light bulbs in my apartment I\'d still have a lot of beer left to drink. Then what?  Also, I don\'t really like heights very much so the thought of drinking beer and climbing up on a chair in flip-flops to precariously change light bulbs sounds way less fun than drinking a beer on my couch.\n\nAll joking aside, I do like the take irreverent take on the classic champagne ad.\n\nOh and the placement of the ad in Mladost really couldn\'t be better.  It really is something special-the intersection of the dirt path coming in from the left of the photo and the asphalt sidewalk (with power lines planted squarely in the middle of the sidewalk) on the right of the photo. This sidewalk is boarded by Malinov Blvd and on the far right the metal fence marking the construction of the new metro line to Business Park.\n\nThere\'s a lot of special happening in this photo.','Something Special ','','inherit','open','open','','7596-revision','','','2013-06-07 05:55:48','2013-06-07 03:55:48','',7596,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/06/07/7596-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7598,1,'2013-06-07 05:57:29','2013-06-07 03:57:29','Two weeks ago this billboard went up in Mladost. If you look closely you\'ll see the building in the background is the one I\'ve used as my banner on my blog for ages. I got such a kick out of it. The sign says: it\'s time for something special and out of a giant Zagorka beer bottle all sorts of funny things are popping or possibly spraying out. The two things that I can clearly identify flying out of the bottle are a flip-flop and a light bulb.\n\n<a title=\"something special by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8967746042/\"><img alt=\"something special\" src=\"http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7323/8967746042_f79bf8f4bb_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" /></a>\n\nI have no idea why. Aside from the obvious: Zagorka tastes better changing light bulbs in flip-flops.\n\nBut a girl can only change so many light bulbs. I suspect that after I changed the 10 light bulbs in my apartment I\'d still have a lot of beer left to drink. Then what?  Also, I don\'t really like heights very much so the thought of drinking beer and climbing up on a chair in flip-flops to precariously change light bulbs sounds way less fun than drinking a beer on my couch.\n\nAll joking aside, I do like the take irreverent take on the classic champagne ad.\n\nOh and the placement of the ad in Mladost really couldn\'t be better.  It really is something special--the cars parked on the grass, the intersection of the dirt path coming in from the left of the photo and the asphalt sidewalk (with power lines planted squarely in the middle of the sidewalk) on the right of the photo. This sidewalk is boarded by Malinov Blvd and on the far right the metal fence marking the construction of the new metro line to Business Park.\n\nThere\'s a lot of special happening in this photo.','Something Special ','','inherit','open','open','','7596-autosave','','','2013-06-07 05:57:29','2013-06-07 03:57:29','',7596,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/06/07/7596-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(7600,1,'2013-06-07 06:14:27','2013-06-07 04:14:27','Learn to drive a manual.\n\nRoast peppers in a chukopeck.\n\nMake rakiya.\n\nLive in a village for a summer.\n\nBuy and try to read a Bulgarian newspaper everyday.\n\n&nbsp;','A few things I maybe should have done in Bulgaria','','inherit','open','open','','7589-revision-2','','','2013-06-07 06:14:27','2013-06-07 04:14:27','',7589,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/06/07/7589-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(7602,1,'2013-06-08 09:35:57','2013-06-08 07:35:57','Few things can pick a girl up like a new pair of glasses.\r\n\r\nI\'ve been meaning to get a new pair for a few months now but this past week I convinced my friend A. to come to the glasses shop in Hit and help me pick out a pair of new glasses. Sure I could probably pick a pair out on my own but it\'s so much more fun with a friend.\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8984960544/\" title=\"new glasses by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\"><img src=\"http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2873/8984960544_113830fb58_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" alt=\"new glasses\"></a>\r\n\r\nI ended up picking out a pair of navy blue glasses and a pair of sunglasses that I am getting prescription lenses put in. She ended up picking out a new pair of nerdy-cute computer- reading glasses. I was totally jealous of how nerdy-cute the glasses and I desperately wanted the same pair but they just weren\'t as cute on me.\r\n\r\nThat\'s probably okay. I don\'t really need to buy matching glasses with one of my best friends in Bulgaria. Sure shortly we\'re going to be living on different continents but unless matching classes are the new friendship bracelets, I think that I can pass on matching glasses.\r\n\r\nAnyhow my glasses were a great price. The frames were 36 leva and the lenses were something like 60 leva. So I got the glasses for under 100 leva.\r\n\r\nI got my new glasses on Thursday and I love them. The sunglasses take longer to get the lenses put in so I\'ve spent the last few days dreaming about these sunglasses. Good thing it has mostly been rainy and cloudy in Sofia. It hasn\'t made me want my new sunglasses as much as I might have otherwise.\r\n\r\nToo bad it seems like it\'s going to be a nice bright day today. Just kidding. I am going to put in my contacts, grab my regular sun glasses and head to ACS for Arts Fest.','New glasses ','','publish','open','open','','new-glasses-2','','','2013-06-08 09:35:57','2013-06-08 07:35:57','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7602',0,'post','',0),(7603,1,'2013-06-08 09:30:30','2013-06-08 07:30:30','Few things can pick a girl up like a new pair of glasses.\n\nI\'ve been meaning to get a new pair for a few months now but this past week I convinced my friend A. to come to the glasses shop in Hit and help me pick out a pair of new glasses. Sure I could probably pick a pair out on my own but it\'s so much more fun with a friend.\n\nI ended up picking out a pair of navy blue glasses and a pair of sunglasses that I am getting prescription lenses put in. She ended up picking out a new pair of nerdy-cute computer- reading glasses. I was totally jealous of how nerdy-cute the glasses and I desperately wanted the same pair but they just weren\'t as cute on me.\n\nThat\'s probably okay. I don\'t really need to buy matching glasses with one of my best friends in Bulgaria. Sure shortly we\'re going to be living on different continents but unless matching classes are the new friendship bracelets, I think that I can pass on matching glasses.\n\nAnyhow my glasses were a great price. The frames were 36 leva and the lenses were something like 60 leva. So I got the glasses for under 100 leva.\n\nI got my new glasses on Thursday and I love them. The sunglasses take longer to get the lenses put in so I\'ve spent the last few days dreaming about these sunglasses. Good thing it has mostly been rainy and cloudy in Sofia. It hasn\'t made me want my new sunglasses as much as I might have otherwise.\n\nToo bad it seems like it\'s going to be a nice bright day today. Just kidding. I am going to put in my contacts, grab my regular','New glasses ','','inherit','open','open','','7602-revision','','','2013-06-08 09:30:30','2013-06-08 07:30:30','',7602,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/06/08/7602-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7604,1,'2013-06-08 09:32:07','2013-06-08 07:32:07','Learned to drive a manual.\n\nRoasted peppers in a chushkopek.\n\nMade rakiya.\n\nLived in a village for a summer.\n\nBought and tried to read a Bulgarian newspaper everyday.\n\nMade my own yogurt.\n\nPaid for a bus ticket every time I took the bus.\n\nBought more scarves and Bulgarian pottery.\n\n&nbsp;\n\n&nbsp;','A few things I maybe should have done in Bulgaria','','inherit','open','open','','7589-revision-3','','','2013-06-08 09:32:07','2013-06-08 07:32:07','',7589,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/06/08/7589-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(7606,1,'2013-06-08 09:34:56','2013-06-08 07:34:56','Few things can pick a girl up like a new pair of glasses.\n\nI\'ve been meaning to get a new pair for a few months now but this past week I convinced my friend A. to come to the glasses shop in Hit and help me pick out a pair of new glasses. Sure I could probably pick a pair out on my own but it\'s so much more fun with a friend.\n\n<a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/8984960544/\" title=\"new glasses by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\"><img src=\"http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2873/8984960544_113830fb58_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" alt=\"new glasses\"></a>\n\nI ended up picking out a pair of navy blue glasses and a pair of sunglasses that I am getting prescription lenses put in. She ended up picking out a new pair of nerdy-cute computer- reading glasses. I was totally jealous of how nerdy-cute the glasses and I desperately wanted the same pair but they just weren\'t as cute on me.\n\nThat\'s probably okay. I don\'t really need to buy matching glasses with one of my best friends in Bulgaria. Sure shortly we\'re going to be living on different continents but unless matching classes are the new friendship bracelets, I think that I can pass on matching glasses.\n\nAnyhow my glasses were a great price. The frames were 36 leva and the lenses were something like 60 leva. So I got the glasses for under 100 leva.\n\nI got my new glasses on Thursday and I love them. The sunglasses take longer to get the lenses put in so I\'ve spent the last few days dreaming about these sunglasses. Good thing it has mostly been rainy and cloudy in Sofia. It hasn\'t made me want my new sunglasses as much as I might have otherwise.\n\nToo bad it seems like it\'s going to be a nice bright day today. Just kidding. I am going to put in my contacts, grab my regular sun glasses and head to ACS for Arts Fest.','New glasses ','','inherit','open','open','','7602-revision-3','','','2013-06-08 09:34:56','2013-06-08 07:34:56','',7602,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/06/08/7602-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(7605,1,'2013-06-08 09:31:56','2013-06-08 07:31:56','Few things can pick a girl up like a new pair of glasses.\n\nI\'ve been meaning to get a new pair for a few months now but this past week I convinced my friend A. to come to the glasses shop in Hit and help me pick out a pair of new glasses. Sure I could probably pick a pair out on my own but it\'s so much more fun with a friend.\n\nI ended up picking out a pair of navy blue glasses and a pair of sunglasses that I am getting prescription lenses put in. She ended up picking out a new pair of nerdy-cute computer- reading glasses. I was totally jealous of how nerdy-cute the glasses and I desperately wanted the same pair but they just weren\'t as cute on me.\n\nThat\'s probably okay. I don\'t really need to buy matching glasses with one of my best friends in Bulgaria. Sure shortly we\'re going to be living on different continents but unless matching classes are the new friendship bracelets, I think that I can pass on matching glasses.\n\nAnyhow my glasses were a great price. The frames were 36 leva and the lenses were something like 60 leva. So I got the glasses for under 100 leva.\n\nI got my new glasses on Thursday and I love them. The sunglasses take longer to get the lenses put in so I\'ve spent the last few days dreaming about these sunglasses. Good thing it has mostly been rainy and cloudy in Sofia. It hasn\'t made me want my new sunglasses as much as I might have otherwise.\n\nToo bad it seems like it\'s going to be a nice bright day today. Just kidding. I am going to put in my contacts, grab my regular sun glasses and head to ACS for Arts Fest.','New glasses ','','inherit','open','open','','7602-revision-2','','','2013-06-08 09:31:56','2013-06-08 07:31:56','',7602,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/06/08/7602-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(7607,1,'2013-06-09 06:44:52','2013-06-09 04:44:52','Learned to drive a manual.\n\nRoasted peppers in a chushkopek.\n\nMade rakiya.\n\nLived in a village for a summer.\n\nBought and tried to read a Bulgarian newspaper everyday.\n\nMade my own yogurt.\n\nPaid for a bus ticket every time I took the bus.\n\nMade a go of buying underwear and bras in Bulgaria.\n\nVisited Viden.\n\nBought more scarves and Bulgarian pottery.','A few things I maybe should have done in Bulgaria','','inherit','open','open','','7589-revision-4','','','2013-06-09 06:44:52','2013-06-09 04:44:52','',7589,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/06/09/7589-revision-4/',0,'revision','',0),(7608,1,'2013-06-09 06:45:59','2013-06-09 04:45:59','Learned to drive a manual.\r\n\r\nRoasted peppers in a chushkopek.\r\n\r\nMade rakiya.\r\n\r\nLived in a village for a summer.\r\n\r\nBought and tried to read a Bulgarian newspaper everyday.\r\n\r\nMade my own yogurt.\r\n\r\nPaid for a bus ticket every time I took the bus.\r\n\r\nMade a go of buying underwear and bras in Bulgaria.\r\n\r\nVisited Viden.\r\n\r\nBought more scarves and Bulgarian pottery.','A few things I maybe should have done in Bulgaria','','inherit','open','open','','7589-revision-5','','','2013-06-09 06:45:59','2013-06-09 04:45:59','',7589,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/06/09/7589-revision-5/',0,'revision','',0),(7609,1,'2013-06-09 22:06:24','2013-06-09 20:06:24','This is a list of a few things I maybe should have done in Bulgaria:\n\n<strong>Distilled my own rakiya</strong>. I hinted around at this a lot in my first few years but everyone seems to think that rakiya making is men\'s work. Or they didn\'t think that I was serious. I was serious, y\'all.  Either way, I have a fond spot in my heart for homemade rakiya.\n\n<strong>Lived in a village for a summer</strong>. I am sure that I\'ve romanticized this in my mind but it seems lovely. Get up, drink coffee in your garden, do some gardening, talk to your neighbors, have an afternoon coffee, read, eat dinner, look at the stars, go to bed. Repeat.\n\n<strong>Learned to drive a manual</strong>. I\'ve had lots of vague offers and when A. and were dating he promised to teach me but here I am five years later still unable to drive a manual transmission. I worry sometimes that I am less of a person for it. <em>But what\'s a girl to do?</em>\n\n<strong>Roasted peppers in a chushkopek</strong>. This seems to be one of the things that will prevent me from ever being fully Bulgarian. I\'ve never done this and I am kind of afraid to. I hear from someone (or very likely read somewhere) that the pepper roasting machine known in Bulgarian as the chushkopek was lined with <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asbestos\">asbestos</a>. I am trying to avoid asbestos related cancer so the line I\'ve drawn is a silly one. I\'ll eat roasted peppers but I don\'t want to know how they were roasted.\n\n<strong>Bought and tried to read a Bulgarian newspaper everyday</strong>. My Bulgarian would probably be leaps and bounds better than it is right now and I would know a lot more gossip about famous Bulgarians than I currently know. Also I might also know why so many newspapers run a full page of (nearly) naked girls each day. Instead I am just left to wonder: how is that news?\n\n<strong>Made my own yogurt</strong>. Bulgarians love yogurt. I love Bulgarian yogurt. Why I never did this is beyond me. Probably it boils down to the fact that I am rather lazy and given the fact that I am totally happy to buy yogurt in the store, I\'ve never actually been motivated to make my own yogurt.\n\n<strong>Paid for a bus ticket every time I took the bus</strong>. I do feel guilty-ish about this one. I currently owe a lot leva for the numerous illegal rides I\'ve taken on the 76 and 111 buses. I worried a lot about this my first two years and then I gave up. I settled on paying fines no questions asked, no complaints when caught without a ticket. Since instituting this policy I\'ve been caught fewer than 5 times.\n\n<strong>Made a go of buying underwear and bras in Bulgaria</strong>. I am unspeakably intimidated by this prospect. It seems much to difficult to do in Bulgarian. So I do this each year when I am home in the States because really, I hardly understand how bra sizes work in the States and I speak the language. <em>You want me to buy a bar in the metric system?</em> I think not. I also like my personal space and I am not sure that this is something that would be respected as much as I\'d like it to be in a lingerie shop in Bulgaria.\n\n<strong>Visited Viden</strong>. This is the northern most city/town in Bulgaria and I\'ve thought about going to visit. I\'ve just never made it. Such is life.\n\n<strong>Bought more scarves and Bulgarian pottery</strong>. Um, just kidding. I have so many scarves and a large enough Bulgarian pottery collection that I could start my own store State-side. If I start my own store in the States in keeping with long standing Bulgarian tradition, I will never have change for anything bigger than a 10. If you try to pay with a 20 I will look at you with disdain in an attempt to express my displeasure with you, the size of your bill, and the fact that because you entered my shop I was forced to put out the cigarette that I was smoking, half in and half out of my shop, while gossiping with another girl in the next shop over to sell something to you.','A few things I maybe should have done in Bulgaria','','inherit','open','open','','7589-revision-6','','','2013-06-09 22:06:24','2013-06-09 20:06:24','',7589,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/06/09/7589-revision-6/',0,'revision','',0),(7610,1,'2013-06-10 05:53:56','0000-00-00 00:00:00','I turned 32 in May and thought: I am half my parents age. Then I thought: If I am lucky I\'ve just lived a third of my life. This was followed by this thought: to date, I\'ve spent half of my adult life in Bulgaria. The cherry on top was this gem: I need to get back in shape.\n\nSo the day after this internal monologue, I pulled myself out of bed at 5:50am and went for a walk-jog through Mladost 1A. And, I\'ve done it every morning since (well aside from three when I thought I was dying of the fly/had strep throat). The thing is, I am not saying this to brag but to set this up, Mladost at 6am is totally different from the Mladost that I am used to.\n\nAt 6am Mladost is still asleep. It\'s peaceful and quiet. Cars aren\'t doing crazy things. The dogs are tucked away under bushes.  The garbage men haven\'t arrived yet and the only real people I see are making their way silently to the metro stop. At 6am the Banitsa shop seems ghostly but by 6:25 the lights are on and I can smell things baking.','Mladost at 6am ','','draft','open','open','','','','','2013-06-10 05:53:56','2013-06-10 03:53:56','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7610',0,'post','',0),(7611,1,'2013-06-10 05:52:41','2013-06-10 03:52:41','I turned 32 in May and thought: I am half my parents age. Then I thought: If I am lucky I\'ve just lived a third of my life. This was followed by this thought: to date, I\'ve spent half of my adult life in Bulgaria. The cherry on top was this gem: I need to get back in shape.\n\nSo the day after this internal monologue, I pulled myself out of bed at 5:50am and went for a walk-jog through Mladost 1A. And, I\'ve done it every morning since (well aside from three when I thought I was dying of the fly/had strep throat). The thing is, I am not saying this to brag but to set this up, Mladost at 6am is totally different from the Mladost that I am used to.\n\nAt 6am Mladost is still asleep. It\'s peaceful and quiet. Cars aren\'t doing crazy things. The dogs are tucked away under bushes.  The garbage men haven\'t arrived yet and the only real people I see are making their way silently to the metro stop. At 6am the Banitsa shop seems ghostly but by 6:25 the lights are on and I can s','Mladost at 6am ','','inherit','open','open','','7610-revision','','','2013-06-10 05:52:41','2013-06-10 03:52:41','',7610,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/06/10/7610-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7613,1,'2013-06-11 21:22:00','2013-06-11 19:22:00','My dAd and sister are coming to visit at the end of the month. They\'ll be here for almost three weeks. So this will give us plenty of time to explore Bulgaria and hopefully Istanbul.\r\n\r\nI got a hysterical email from my dAd today. Then he called me on skype to ask me if\' I\'d gotten his email. He\'s awesome like that.\r\n\r\nSo my dAd is not a big traveler. He\'s traveled pretty widely in the States but to date his only big international trip was to England maybe eight years ago. He\'s also not known for being a light packer. As such, he\'s been thinking, worrying and discussing this with me on and off for the last few weeks.\r\n\r\nHere\'s his most recent correspondence:\r\n<blockquote>Carolyn,\r\n\r\nI thought that I might head out to buy a few clothing items for our trip… googled up what to wear – Bulgaria, Europe, etc. Some things stood out:\r\n<ul>\r\n	<li>No athletic shoes – especially white – I have white Nike walking shoes that are my current favorite – should I look for a dark pair?</li>\r\n	<li>No t-shirts with writing</li>\r\n	<li>Wear slacks and summer shirts – I assume this means button down shirts and khaki pants</li>\r\n	<li>Not so much on wearing jeans?</li>\r\n	<li>Don’t wear shorts</li>\r\n	<li>Don’t carry camera bags – messenger type bags will fit in better (I’ve got that new small over the shoulder bag that I’m going to carry anyway…)</li>\r\n	<li>Rick Steves A.) only pack a carry-on bag, B.) wash/rinse clothes at night and wring out well to that they dry over night, and C.) neutrals are good – brown, black, dark blue.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\nSince we blonde people will look like foreigners perhaps respectful dress is more important? Perhaps I’ll wait a day or two to go shopping… if you want to respond in a blog post that is ok.\r\n\r\nLove, dAd</blockquote>\r\nUm, first and foremost, I LOVE my dAd.\r\n\r\nHe is at home in Walla Walla plotting his adventure in Bulgaria down to his clothes and what he should and should not pack. I guess it all stems from a moment in London when he looked around and realized that he was the only in shorts and a baseball cap (his standard uniform) and this made him feel out of place.\r\n\r\nI\'ve tried to tell him that in Bulgaria his clothes really don\'t matter that much and that he should wear what he\'s comfortable in. Because really, it\'s not like my 6\'2 blond father is going to blend in in Bulgaria. I\'ve also tried to warn him that he\'s probably going to feel out of place. He doesn\'t know the language and can\'t read the alphabet.\r\n\r\nLuckily the two words he does have down in Bulgarian are: beer and good-bye. You\'ll be proud of me I didn\'t cop out and teach him ciao. Nope I am serious about things and taught him довиждане (dovijdane).\r\n\r\nSo, thoughts? Have I lead my dAd astray? Would you give him different advice or have I done okay?','Question: what to wear in Bulgaria?','','publish','open','open','','question-what-to-wear-in-bulgaria','','','2013-06-11 21:22:00','2013-06-11 19:22:00','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7613',0,'post','',10),(7614,1,'2013-06-11 20:58:40','2013-06-11 18:58:40','My dAd and sister are coming to visit at the end of the month. They\'ll be here for almost three weeks. So this will give us plenty of time to explore Bulgaria and hopefully Istanbul.\n\nI got a hysterical email from my dAd today. Then he called me on skype to ask me if\' I\'d gotten his email. He\'s awesome like that.\n\nSo my dAd is not a big traveler. He\'s traveled pretty widely in the States but to date his only big international trip was to England maybe eight years ago.\n<blockquote>Carolyn,\n\nI thought that I might head out to buy a few clothing items for our trip… googled up what to wear – Bulgaria, Europe, etc. Some things stood out:\n<ul>\n	<li>No athletic shoes – especially white – I have white Nike walking shoes that are my current favorite – should I look for a dark pair?</li>\n	<li>No t-shirts with writing</li>\n	<li>Wear slacks and summer shirts – I assume this means button down shirts and khaki pants</li>\n	<li>Not so much on wearing jeans?</li>\n	<li>Don’t wear shorts</li>\n	<li>Don’t carry camera bags – messenger type bags will fit in better (I’ve got that new small over the shoulder bag that I’m going to carry anyway…)</li>\n	<li>Rick Steves A.) only pack a carry-on bag, B.) wash/rinse clothes at night and wring out well to that they dry over night, and C.) neutrals are good – brown, black, dark blue.</li>\n</ul>\nSince we blonde people will look like foreigners perhaps respectful dress is more important?\n\nPerhaps I’ll wait a day or two to go shopping… if you want to respond in a blog post that is ok.</blockquote>','Question: what to wear in Bulgaria?','','inherit','open','open','','7613-revision','','','2013-06-11 20:58:40','2013-06-11 18:58:40','',7613,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/06/11/7613-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7615,1,'2013-06-11 20:59:40','2013-06-11 18:59:40','My dAd and sister are coming to visit at the end of the month. They\'ll be here for almost three weeks. So this will give us plenty of time to explore Bulgaria and hopefully Istanbul.\n\nI got a hysterical email from my dAd today. Then he called me on skype to ask me if\' I\'d gotten his email. He\'s awesome like that.\n\nSo my dAd is not a big traveler. He\'s traveled pretty widely in the States but to date his only big international trip was to England maybe eight years ago. He\'s also not known for being a light packer. As such, he\'s been thinking, worrying and dsi\n<blockquote>Carolyn,\n\nI thought that I might head out to buy a few clothing items for our trip… googled up what to wear – Bulgaria, Europe, etc. Some things stood out:\n<ul>\n	<li>No athletic shoes – especially white – I have white Nike walking shoes that are my current favorite – should I look for a dark pair?</li>\n	<li>No t-shirts with writing</li>\n	<li>Wear slacks and summer shirts – I assume this means button down shirts and khaki pants</li>\n	<li>Not so much on wearing jeans?</li>\n	<li>Don’t wear shorts</li>\n	<li>Don’t carry camera bags – messenger type bags will fit in better (I’ve got that new small over the shoulder bag that I’m going to carry anyway…)</li>\n	<li>Rick Steves A.) only pack a carry-on bag, B.) wash/rinse clothes at night and wring out well to that they dry over night, and C.) neutrals are good – brown, black, dark blue.</li>\n</ul>\nSince we blonde people will look like foreigners perhaps respectful dress is more important?\n\nPerhaps I’ll wait a day or two to go shopping… if you want to respond in a blog post that is ok.</blockquote>','Question: what to wear in Bulgaria?','','inherit','open','open','','7613-revision-2','','','2013-06-11 20:59:40','2013-06-11 18:59:40','',7613,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/06/11/7613-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(7616,1,'2013-06-12 05:40:37','2013-06-12 03:40:37','My dAd and sister are coming to visit at the end of the month. They\'ll be here for almost three weeks. So this will give us plenty of time to explore Bulgaria and hopefully Istanbul. I got a hysterical email from my dAd today. Then he called me on skype to ask me if\' I\'d gotten his email. He\'s awesome like that. So my dAd is not a big traveler. He\'s traveled pretty widely in the States but to date his only big international trip was to England maybe eight years ago. He\'s also not known for being a light packer. As such, he\'s been thinking, worrying and discussing this with me on and off for the last few weeks. Here\'s his most recent correspondence:\n<blockquote>Carolyn, I thought that I might head out to buy a few clothing items for our trip… googled up what to wear – Bulgaria, Europe, etc. Some things stood out:\n<ul>\n	<li>No athletic shoes – especially white – I have white Nike walking shoes that are my current favorite – should I look for a dark pair?</li>\n	<li>No t-shirts with writing</li>\n	<li>Wear slacks and summer shirts – I assume this means button down shirts and khaki pants</li>\n	<li>Not so much on wearing jeans?</li>\n	<li>Don’t wear shorts</li>\n	<li>Don’t carry camera bags – messenger type bags will fit in better (I’ve got that new small over the shoulder bag that I’m going to carry anyway…)</li>\n	<li>Rick Steves A.) only pack a carry-on bag, B.) wash/rinse clothes at night and wring out well to that they dry over night, and C.) neutrals are good – brown, black, dark blue.</li>\n</ul>\nSince we blonde people will look like foreigners perhaps respectful dress is more important? Perhaps I’ll wait a day or two to go shopping… if you want to respond in a blog post that is ok. Love, dAd</blockquote>\nUm, first and foremost, I LOVE my dAd. He is at home in Walla Walla plotting his adventure in Bulgaria down to his clothes and what he should and should not pack. I guess it all stems from a moment in London when he looked around and realized that he was the only in shorts and a baseball cap (his standard uniform) and this made him feel out of place. I\'ve tried to tell him that in Bulgaria his clothes really don\'t matter that much and that he should wear what he\'s comfortable in. Because really, it\'s not like my 6\'2 blond father is going to blend in in Bulgaria. I\'ve also tried to warn him that he\'s probably going to feel out of place. He doesn\'t know the language and can\'t read the alphabet. Luckily the two words he does have down in Bulgarian are: beer and good-bye. You\'ll be proud of me I didn\'t cop out and teach him ciao. Nope I am serious about things and taught him довиждане (dovijdane). So, thoughts? Have I lead my dAd astray? Would you give him different advice or have I done okay?','Question: what to wear in Bulgaria?','','inherit','open','open','','7613-autosave','','','2013-06-12 05:40:37','2013-06-12 03:40:37','',7613,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/06/11/7613-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(7617,1,'2013-06-12 17:32:24','0000-00-00 00:00:00','','Rainy Sofia ','','draft','open','open','','','','','2013-06-12 17:32:24','2013-06-12 15:32:24','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7617',0,'post','',0),(7621,1,'2013-06-24 20:47:05','2013-06-24 18:47:05','I\'ve entered my last week of working at ACS--I\'m grading exams and packing up my classroom. My apartment is half-packed, half-hurricane and one-million degrees hot. I\'ve been saying goodbye to my friends and to my city.\n\nI don\'t actually fly home to the States until August 31st but I\'m going to spend a large part of my summer traveling in Europe. First with my dAd and sister in Bulgaria and Turkey and then onto the Baltics, Berlin and Barcelona.\n\nI\'ve known since January that this was my last year in Sofia after five wonderful years but in January I didn\'t know how sad I was going to be to be leaving.\n\nI teach this Elizabeth Bishop poem <a title=\"One Art\" href=\"http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15212\">\"One Art\"</a> in English 10 as a part of my poetry unit. Now I can\'t get it out of my head.\n<blockquote>The art of losing isn\'t hard to master;\n\nso many things seem filled with the intent\n\nto be lost that their loss is no disaster.\n\n&nbsp;\n\nLose something every day. Accept the fluster\n\nof lost door keys, the hour badly spent.\n\nThe art of losing isn\'t hard to master.\n\n&nbsp;\n\nThen practice losing farther, losing faster:\n\nplaces, and names, and where it was you meant\n\nto travel. None of these will bring disaster.\n\n&nbsp;\n\nI lost my mother\'s watch. And look! my last, or\n\nnext-to-last, of three loved houses went.\n\nThe art of losing isn\'t hard to master.\n\n&nbsp;\n\nI lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,\n\nsome realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.\n\nI miss them, but it wasn\'t a disaster.\n\n&nbsp;\n\n—Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture\n\nI love) I shan\'t have lied. It\'s evident\n\nthe art of losing\'s not too hard to master\n\nthough it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.\n\n- See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15212#sthash.XctPfOXl.dpuf</blockquote>','On poetry, moving and loss ','','inherit','open','open','','7620-revision','','','2013-06-24 20:47:05','2013-06-24 18:47:05','',7620,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/06/24/7620-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7620,1,'2013-06-24 21:03:11','2013-06-24 19:03:11','I\'ve entered my last week of working at ACS--I\'m grading exams and packing up my classroom. My apartment is half-packed, half-hurricane and one-million degrees hot. I\'ve been saying goodbye to my friends and to my city.\r\n\r\nI don\'t actually fly home to the States until August 31st but I\'m going to spend a large part of my summer traveling in Europe. First with my dAd and sister in Bulgaria and Turkey and then onto the Baltics, Berlin and Barcelona.\r\n\r\nI\'ve known since January that this was my last year in Sofia after five wonderful years but in January I didn\'t know how sad I was going to be to be leaving. This loss is eminent. It\'s around every corner.\r\n\r\nLoss is difficult. I teach this Elizabeth Bishop poem <a title=\"One Art\" href=\"http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15212\">\"One Art\"</a> in English 10 as a part of my poetry unit. Now I can\'t get it out of my head.  What\'s more, it\'s interesting how time and place can change your understanding of a poem. Here\'s the poem:\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<ol>\r\n	<li><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">The art of losing isn\'t hard to master;</span></li>\r\n	<li><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">so many things seem filled with the intent</span></li>\r\n	<li><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">to be lost that their loss is no disaster,</span></li>\r\n	<li><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\"> </span></li>\r\n	<li><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">Lose something every day. Accept the fluster</span></li>\r\n	<li><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.</span></li>\r\n	<li><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">The art of losing isn\'t hard to master.</span></li>\r\n	<li><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\"> </span></li>\r\n	<li><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">Then practice losing farther, losing faster:</span></li>\r\n	<li><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">places, and names, and where it was you meant</span></li>\r\n	<li><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">to travel. None of these will bring disaster.</span></li>\r\n	<li><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\"> </span></li>\r\n	<li><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">I lost my mother\'s watch. And look! my last, or</span></li>\r\n	<li><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">next-to-last, of three loved houses went.</span></li>\r\n	<li><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">The art of losing isn\'t hard to master.</span></li>\r\n	<li><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\"> </span></li>\r\n	<li><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,</span></li>\r\n	<li><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.</span></li>\r\n	<li><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">I miss them, but it wasn\'t a disaster.</span></li>\r\n	<li><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\"> </span></li>\r\n	<li><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">- Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture</span></li>\r\n	<li><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">I love) I shan\'t have lied. It\'s evident</span></li>\r\n	<li><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">the art of losing\'s not too hard to master</span></li>\r\n	<li><span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.</span></li>\r\n</ol>\r\n</blockquote>\r\nIt\'s the third stanza (line 9), \"practice losing farther, losing faster\" and the fifth stanza \"I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,/ some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent/ I miss them, but it wasn\'t a disaster\" that capture most of my attention.\r\n\r\nIt seems these days that I am losing more and losing it faster than ever but I keep reminding myself, \"none of these will bring disaster.\" This is not the end of love affair with Bulgaria. It\'s just going to be different in the autumn.\r\n\r\nBut the part that speaks the most to me is that it\'s okay to miss this place and my life here.','On poetry, moving and loss ','','publish','open','open','','on-poetry-moving-and-loss','','','2013-06-24 21:03:11','2013-06-24 19:03:11','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7620',0,'post','',4),(7622,1,'2013-06-24 20:47:06','2013-06-24 18:47:06','I\'ve entered my last week of working at ACS--I\'m grading exams and packing up my classroom. My apartment is half-packed, half-hurricane and one-million degrees hot. I\'ve been saying goodbye to my friends and to my city.\r\n\r\nI don\'t actually fly home to the States until August 31st but I\'m going to spend a large part of my summer traveling in Europe. First with my dAd and sister in Bulgaria and Turkey and then onto the Baltics, Berlin and Barcelona.\r\n\r\nI\'ve known since January that this was my last year in Sofia after five wonderful years but in January I didn\'t know how sad I was going to be to be leaving.\r\n\r\nI teach this Elizabeth Bishop poem <a title=\"One Art\" href=\"http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15212\">\"One Art\"</a> in English 10 as a part of my poetry unit. Now I can\'t get it out of my head.\r\n<blockquote>The art of losing isn\'t hard to master;\r\n\r\nso many things seem filled with the intent\r\n\r\nto be lost that their loss is no disaster.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nLose something every day. Accept the fluster\r\n\r\nof lost door keys, the hour badly spent.\r\n\r\nThe art of losing isn\'t hard to master.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nThen practice losing farther, losing faster:\r\n\r\nplaces, and names, and where it was you meant\r\n\r\nto travel. None of these will bring disaster.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nI lost my mother\'s watch. And look! my last, or\r\n\r\nnext-to-last, of three loved houses went.\r\n\r\nThe art of losing isn\'t hard to master.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nI lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,\r\n\r\nsome realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.\r\n\r\nI miss them, but it wasn\'t a disaster.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n—Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture\r\n\r\nI love) I shan\'t have lied. It\'s evident\r\n\r\nthe art of losing\'s not too hard to master\r\n\r\nthough it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.\r\n\r\n- See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15212#sthash.XctPfOXl.dpuf</blockquote>','On poetry, moving and loss ','','inherit','open','open','','7620-revision-2','','','2013-06-24 20:47:06','2013-06-24 18:47:06','',7620,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/06/24/7620-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(7623,1,'2013-06-24 20:48:05','2013-06-24 18:48:05','I\'ve entered my last week of working at ACS--I\'m grading exams and packing up my classroom. My apartment is half-packed, half-hurricane and one-million degrees hot. I\'ve been saying goodbye to my friends and to my city.\n\nI don\'t actually fly home to the States until August 31st but I\'m going to spend a large part of my summer traveling in Europe. First with my dAd and sister in Bulgaria and Turkey and then onto the Baltics, Berlin and Barcelona.\n\nI\'ve known since January that this was my last year in Sofia after five wonderful years but in January I didn\'t know how sad I was going to be to be leaving.\n\nI teach this Elizabeth Bishop poem <a title=\"One Art\" href=\"http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15212\">\"One Art\"</a> in English 10 as a part of my poetry unit. Now I can\'t get it out of my head.\n<blockquote>\n<pre>The art of losing isn\'t hard to master;</pre>\n<pre>so many things seem filled with the intent</pre>\n<pre>to be lost that their loss is no disaster.</pre>\n<pre></pre>\n<pre>Lose something every day. Accept the fluster</pre>\n<pre>of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.</pre>\n<pre>The art of losing isn\'t hard to master.</pre>\n<pre></pre>\n<pre>Then practice losing farther, losing faster:</pre>\n<pre>places, and names, and where it was you meant</pre>\n<pre>to travel. None of these will bring disaster.</pre>\n<pre></pre>\n<pre>I lost my mother\'s watch. And look! my last, or</pre>\n<pre>next-to-last, of three loved houses went.</pre>\n<pre>The art of losing isn\'t hard to master.</pre>\n<pre></pre>\n<pre>I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,</pre>\n<pre>some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.</pre>\n<pre>I miss them, but it wasn\'t a disaster.</pre>\n<pre></pre>\n<pre>—Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture</pre>\n<pre>I love) I shan\'t have lied. It\'s evident</pre>\n<pre>the art of losing\'s not too hard to master</pre>\n<pre>though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.</pre>\n</blockquote>','On poetry, moving and loss ','','inherit','open','open','','7620-revision-3','','','2013-06-24 20:48:05','2013-06-24 18:48:05','',7620,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/06/24/7620-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(7624,1,'2013-06-25 06:38:48','2013-06-25 04:38:48','My little sister has been plotting a trip to Sofia for ages and she threatened to bring along our dAd (<a title=\"dAd\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2010/08/08/mom-dad/\">wonder why I call him dAd?</a> You\'re not alone). Now I say threatened only because my dAd doesn\'t really <em>do</em> travel. People come to him. He\'s awesome like that. Oh and because he owns his own small business (hello, antique store) it\'s harder for him to wrap his head around traveling.\r\n\r\nAnyhow, I thought that my sister C. was going to come last summer but then she got a new job and her uber-responsible self decided that in no way shape or form could she ask for three weeks off to travel after only working at the new job for a month. Did I teach her that?\r\n\r\nSo I couldn\'t be happier that my dAd and sister arrive in Sofia on Friday.\r\n\r\nThis said I had a little heart attack when my dAd announced during regular Sunday night skype date: I\'ll see you in three days. Me: What?! Three days? Long pause. dAd: Yes. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. Then I fly out on Thursday. Me: Oh. Three days until the flight and then I\'ll see you Friday.\r\n\r\nBy this count, I\'ll see my dAd and sister in two days.\r\n\r\nI have a lot to do between then and now but I couldn\'t be happier.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;','A visit: my dAd and sister ','','publish','open','open','','a-visit-my-dad-and-sister','','','2013-06-25 06:38:48','2013-06-25 04:38:48','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7624',0,'post','',6),(7625,1,'2013-06-25 06:38:25','2013-06-25 04:38:25','My little sister has been plotting a trip to Sofia for ages and she threatened to bring along our dAd (wonder why I call him dAd? You\'re not alone). Now I say threatened only because my dAd doesn\'t really <em>do</em> travel. People come to him. He\'s awesome like that. Oh and because he owns his own small business (hello, antique store) it\'s harder for him to wrap his head around traveling.\n\nAnyhow, I thought that my sister C. was going to come last summer but then she got a new job and her uber-responsible self decided that in no way shape or form could she ask for three weeks off to travel after only working at the new job for a month. Did I teach her that?\n\nSo I couldn\'t be happier that my dAd and sister arrive in Sofia on Friday.\n\nThis said I had a little heart attack when my dAd announced during regular Sunday night skype date: I\'ll see you in three days. Me: What?! Three days? Long pause. dAd: Yes. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. Then I fly out on Thursday. Me: Oh. Three days until the flight and then I\'ll see you Friday.\n\nBy this count, I\'ll see my dAd and sister in two days.\n\nI have a lot to do between then and now but I couldn\'t be happier.\n\n&nbsp;','A visit: my dAd and sister ','','inherit','open','open','','7624-revision','','','2013-06-25 06:38:25','2013-06-25 04:38:25','',7624,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/06/25/7624-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7626,1,'2013-06-25 16:54:24','2013-06-25 14:54:24','My little sister has been plotting a trip to Sofia for ages and she threatened to bring along our dAd (<a title=\"dAd\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2010/08/08/mom-dad/\">wonder why I call him dAd?</a> You\'re not alone). Now I say threatened only because my dAd doesn\'t really <em>do</em> travel. People come to him. He\'s awesome like that. Oh and because he owns his own small business (hello, antique store) it\'s harder for him to wrap his head around traveling. Anyhow, I thought that my sister C. was going to come last summer but then she got a new job and her uber-responsible self decided that in no way shape or form could she ask for three weeks off to travel after only working at the new job for a month. Did I teach her that? So I couldn\'t be happier that my dAd and sister arrive in Sofia on Friday. This said I had a little heart attack when my dAd announced during regular Sunday night skype date: I\'ll see you in three days. Me: What?! Three days? Long pause. dAd: Yes. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. Then I fly out on Thursday. Me: Oh. Three days until the flight and then I\'ll see you Friday. By this count, I\'ll see my dAd and sister in two days. I have a lot to do between then and now but I couldn\'t be happier.','A visit: my dAd and sister ','','inherit','open','open','','7624-autosave','','','2013-06-25 16:54:24','2013-06-25 14:54:24','',7624,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/06/25/7624-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(7659,1,'2013-10-04 17:58:07','2013-10-04 15:58:07','After the Rila Seven Lakes, we drove to Plovdiv. I\'ve been to Plovdiv a few times but everyother time, I\'ve taken the train. Driving into Plovdiv was fine but I have to say the city itself has NO street signs.\r\n\r\nOnce we found our hotel, we had a great time in Plovdiv.\r\n\r\nWe spent the majority of our time in Old Town Plovdiv or along the main street in the city center. The highlights of our visit included the Free Plovdiv (Walking) Tour, poking around the Plovdiv Amphitheater and shopping for antiques.\r\n\r\nI have to say, Plovdiv was looking really good. The walking streets were well cobble-stoned, the buildings were well painted and there were more statues than I remembered. It turns out Plovdiv is a candidate for the European Capitol of Culture in 2019. 2019 seems to be pretty far off but I can\'t complain, the city is looking better than I\'ve ever seen it.\r\n\r\nThe walking tour is an off shoot of the Free Sofia Tour and it was so much fun. First it was much, much smaller than the tour we went on in Sofia and second there is so much to see in the city.\r\n\r\nThe weather threatened rain but we were super lucky and it didn\'t rain during the tour. It did make for some very dramatic photos. The lighting was unexpected and I might add excellent.\r\n\r\nAs I said, I\'ve been to Plovdiv but I didn\'t know very much about the history of the city or the sites. My previous visits were focused more on hanging out with friends than really exploring the city. When I visited four years ago with my MoM and aunt we poked around the old town and gave ourselves the Lonely Planet walk but a book can never replace a person. <em>Go figure</em>.\r\n\r\nI found myself impressed with the Revival Style homes in the Old Town. These houses are easy to pick out with their boxy shape, wooden lines and single color. So pretty.\r\n\r\nThe way they over hang the street makes for a dramatic look. I also loved the idea that two of the houses in the old town are almost kissing they are so close to each other.\r\n\r\nThere was some chatter over a new house in the Old Town--a house that mirrors or imitates the Revival Style but isn\'t in keeping with the other houses. A few found it very distasteful but I don\'t know. Is it better to have a new house that references the past or an empty shell of a house that no one is willing to invest in? I think it\'s complicated problem. One that deserves more attention than I can give it.\r\n\r\nWe spent a part of one morning climbing all over the Plovdiv Amphitheater. The Amphitheater is impressive. The size isn\'t <em>that</em> big but but the marble seats and stairs are in excellent shape and theater space at the front has multiple stories.\r\n<a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/10071267594/\" title=\"Me at the Plovdiv Amphitheater by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\"><img src=\"http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7377/10071267594_9a01592b38_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" alt=\"Me at the Plovdiv Amphitheater\"></a>\r\n<a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/10071297195/\" title=\"Me at the Plovdiv Amphitheater by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\"><img src=\"http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7416/10071297195_799e2bfe93_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" alt=\"Me at the Plovdiv Amphitheater\"></a>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/10071358376/\" title=\"Columns Plovdiv Amphitheater by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\"><img src=\"http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7404/10071358376_df6a736e8f_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" alt=\"Columns Plovdiv Amphitheater\"></a>\r\n<a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/10071281134/\" title=\"Plovdiv Amphitheater by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\"><img src=\"http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3666/10071281134_e3502b105c_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" alt=\"Plovdiv Amphitheater\"></a>\r\n<a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/10071279844/\" title=\"Plovdiv Amphitheater by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\"><img src=\"http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3801/10071279844_ab78a019e9_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" alt=\"Plovdiv Amphitheater\"></a>\r\nIf you walk around and look carefully you can see that in the past people carved their names in the seats in Greek. It seems to scream: <em>that\'s mine, that\'s mine!</em> or <em>look, I put my name on it! </em>\r\n<a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/10071271054/\" title=\"Stairs and seats, Plovdiv Amphitheater by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\"><img src=\"http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3729/10071271054_babc7c5039_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" alt=\"Stairs and seats, Plovdiv Amphitheater\"></a>\r\n<a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/10071344576/\" title=\"I put my name on this, Plovdiv Amphitheater by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\"><img src=\"http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2885/10071344576_f2603fb432_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" alt=\"I put my name on this, Plovdiv Amphitheater\"></a>\r\n<a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/10071427053/\" title=\"Arch detail Plovdiv Amphitheater by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\"><img src=\"http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2811/10071427053_4e051c208d_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" alt=\"Arch detail Plovdiv Amphitheater\"></a>\r\n<a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/10071328875/\" title=\"Plovdiv Amphitheater by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\"><img src=\"http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3682/10071328875_5fdb25fe65_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" alt=\"Plovdiv Amphitheater\"></a>\r\nThe stairs are steep but it\'s necessary for the sound. The seats are actually fairly comfortable. What\'s cool about the Plovdiv Amphitheater is that they still host concerts there (and maybe even productions). We didn\'t get to see one but it\'s cool to know.\r\n<a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/10071294695/\" title=\"Dad at Plovdiv Amphitheater by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\"><img src=\"http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5525/10071294695_c3ce1eaba7_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" alt=\"Dad at Plovdiv Amphitheater\"></a>\r\nWhat\'s cooler is the fact that after the amphitheater fell out of use (maybe 200 AD) no one knew it was there for centuries. I don\'t think that it was rediscovered until the 1960\'s--feel free to correct me if I\'m wrong. This is impressive because the theater is basically in the Old Town and it is big--even if it\'s not as big as the theater in Ephesus. It\'s just so hard to imagine that no one found the sizable ruins for years and years.\r\n\r\nThen we went to visit some antique stores. My dAd <em>loves</em> antiques. Then again he owns an antique store so this shouldn\'t come as such a big surprise.\r\n\r\nI like antiques too and I  found a small desk sized globe that at a glance seems to be post WWII and pre-1989. All of the countries are labeled in Bulgarian Cyrillic so it\'s super sweet. I haven\'t dated it because it\'s currently packed away. Luckily there are lots of guides online for this.\r\n\r\nMy dAd was really interested in these wooden gloves that were used for harvesting grains pre-combine in Bulgaria. To the best of my dAd\'s knowledge, we don\'t have anything similar in the States--specifically the Pacific Northwest.  The idea is that you wear the wooden glove on your less dominate hand (so for most people, the left hand) and in your dominate hand (right hand) you have the scythe. You use your left hand in the glove to collect the grain  and cut it with the right hand. The glove helps in collecting an armful of grain/wheat/grass and the glove protects your hand from the dry stems and chaff on the grain. That\'s seriously clever.\r\n<a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/10086205616/\" title=\"Harvesting Gloves by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\"><img src=\"http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7388/10086205616_7fc45c90a0_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" alt=\"Harvesting Gloves\"></a>\r\nSo my dAd being my dAd, didn\'t jut buy one. Nope. He bought 3+ and a scythe. The moral of this story: when you see cool stuff, buy it.\r\nOh and the ones in the picture are in a house museum in Plovdiv--not the one\'s my dAd bought. ','Exploring Old Town Plovdiv','','inherit','open','open','','7654-revision-v1','','','2013-10-04 17:58:07','2013-10-04 15:58:07','',7654,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/10/04/7654-revision-v1/',0,'revision','',0),(7628,1,'2013-09-26 18:53:52','2013-09-26 16:53:52','It\'s been a while since I\'ve written here--basically three months--but it feels like more time than this. A lot of things have happened in my life over the last three months. The long and short of it is this: I am good and I hope that you are too.\r\n\r\nIn the last three months, I have spent most of my time (and money) traveling. It was amazing. All of it.\r\n<a title=\"Dad, Char and me in Plovdiv on the Free Tour by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9953063535/\"><img alt=\"Dad, Char and me in Plovdiv on the Free Tour\" src=\"http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3816/9953063535_a47c9b269b_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\nHere\'s the rundown.\r\n<ol>\r\n	<li>I spent three weeks traveling all over Bulgaria and Istanbul with my dAd and sister. I rented a car and did most of the driving. Yep. Even in Istanbul. My dAd did most of the navigating. It was hysterical and went something like this. dAd: that road sign just said \"pie\" \"upside down V\" \"Ooo\" \"Bee\" \"backwards N\" \"triangle with feet\"... Me: dAd... that\'s Plovdiv... Пловдив.</li>\r\n	<li>The day my dAd and sister flew out, I cleaned up my apartment, checked out with the school, moved my things into a friend M.\'s apartment and then I caught a flight to Warsaw.</li>\r\n	<li>Then over the next four weeks I hopped around the greater Baltics with my friend R. Our first stop was Vilnius in Lithuania and then on to Nida on the Curonian Spit and finally Klaipeda. Then in Latvia we spent our time in Riga. From Riga we took the bus to Tartu, then went to Parnu, next to the Island of Saaremaa and we stayed in the town Kuressaare. We topped off our stay in Estonia in the capitol Tallinn.  From Tallinn we flew to St. Petersburg. R. and I parted ways after three days in Helsinki.</li>\r\n	<li>I went to poke around Berlin for a week.</li>\r\n	<li>After Berlin, I flew back to Sofia to pick up my friend A.\'s cat.  Fluffy and I then flew from Sofia to Barcelona. I was super nervous to fly with Fluffy (and I think that Fluffy wasn\'t too fond of it) but everyone loved him. I\'ve never received so much positive attention in airport security. Barcelona was super!</li>\r\n	<li>From Barcelona I flew back to Sofia and spent a couple of days there. I had a lot of good-byes to say (and some crying to do).</li>\r\n	<li>Then I few to Washington DC where I spent 5 days with friends from every stage of my life. I had a party where I had a friend from high school, from college, a roommate from the group house I lived in, friends from graduate school, friends from the Fulbright, and friends who I taught with at ACS. It was wonderful.</li>\r\n	<li>From DC, I took the bus to New York City for five days to catch up with friends who I lived with at 1324 the group house. I almost didn\'t leave. NYC is such an exciting, energetic city.</li>\r\n	<li>So after an extended summer of travel, I flew to Walla Walla and spent a week with my MoM and dAd. I flew into a whirlwind and packed up my childhood bedroom, went to loads of yard sales, washed lots of dishes for my future apartment and bought a couch at an auction.</li>\r\n	<li>Then I drove from Walla Walla to Seattle. I had a little delay when I got a flat tire five miles outside of Walla Walla. Luckily I had JUST purchased AAA coverage so I called and a guy came out and changed my tire on the side of the highway. I went back to town bought two new tires and then drove five hours to Seattle.</li>\r\n</ol>\r\nPew. That\'s a lot of traveling. I\'ve been in Seattle now for a week. I am staying with my little sister and so far so good. I\'ve been busy applying for jobs, reading teen fiction, stalking apartments on craig\'s list and thinking about how I should really make some friend in Seattle.','State Side in Seattle ','','publish','open','open','','state-side-in-seattle','','','2013-09-26 18:53:52','2013-09-26 16:53:52','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7628',0,'post','',5),(7629,1,'2013-09-26 18:53:52','2013-09-26 16:53:52','It\'s been a while since I\'ve written here--basically three months--but it feels like more time than this. A lot of things have happened in my life over the last three months. The long and short of it is this: I am good and I hope that you are too.\r\n\r\nIn the last three months, I have spent most of my time (and money) traveling. It was amazing. All of it.\r\n<a title=\"Dad, Char and me in Plovdiv on the Free Tour by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9953063535/\"><img alt=\"Dad, Char and me in Plovdiv on the Free Tour\" src=\"http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3816/9953063535_a47c9b269b_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\nHere\'s the rundown.\r\n<ol>\r\n	<li>I spent three weeks traveling all over Bulgaria and Istanbul with my dAd and sister. I rented a car and did most of the driving. Yep. Even in Istanbul. My dAd did most of the navigating. It was hysterical and went something like this. dAd: that road sign just said \"pie\" \"upside down V\" \"Ooo\" \"Bee\" \"backwards N\" \"triangle with feet\"... Me: dAd... that\'s Plovdiv... Пловдив.</li>\r\n	<li>The day my dAd and sister flew out, I cleaned up my apartment, checked out with the school, moved my things into a friend M.\'s apartment and then I caught a flight to Warsaw.</li>\r\n	<li>Then over the next four weeks I hopped around the greater Baltics with my friend R. Our first stop was Vilnius in Lithuania and then on to Nida on the Curonian Spit and finally Klaipeda. Then in Latvia we spent our time in Riga. From Riga we took the bus to Tartu, then went to Parnu, next to the Island of Saaremaa and we stayed in the town Kuressaare. We topped off our stay in Estonia in the capitol Tallinn.  From Tallinn we flew to St. Petersburg. R. and I parted ways after three days in Helsinki.</li>\r\n	<li>I went to poke around Berlin for a week.</li>\r\n	<li>After Berlin, I flew back to Sofia to pick up my friend A.\'s cat.  Fluffy and I then flew from Sofia to Barcelona. I was super nervous to fly with Fluffy (and I think that Fluffy wasn\'t too fond of it) but everyone loved him. I\'ve never received so much positive attention in airport security. Barcelona was super!</li>\r\n	<li>From Barcelona I flew back to Sofia and spent a couple of days there. I had a lot of good-byes to say (and some crying to do).</li>\r\n	<li>Then I few to Washington DC where I spent 5 days with friends from every stage of my life. I had a party where I had a friend from high school, from college, a roommate from the group house I lived in, friends from graduate school, friends from the Fulbright, and friends who I taught with at ACS. It was wonderful.</li>\r\n	<li>From DC, I took the bus to New York City for five days to catch up with friends who I lived with at 1324 the group house. I almost didn\'t leave. NYC is such an exciting, energetic city.</li>\r\n	<li>So after an extended summer of travel, I flew to Walla Walla and spent a week with my MoM and dAd. I flew into a whirlwind and packed up my childhood bedroom, went to loads of yard sales, washed lots of dishes for my future apartment and bought a couch at an auction.</li>\r\n	<li>Then I drove from Walla Walla to Seattle. I had a little delay when I got a flat tire five miles outside of Walla Walla. Luckily I had JUST purchased AAA coverage so I called and a guy came out and changed my tire on the side of the highway. I went back to town bought two new tires and then drove five hours to Seattle.</li>\r\n</ol>\r\nPew. That\'s a lot of traveling. I\'ve been in Seattle now for a week. I am staying with my little sister and so far so good. I\'ve been busy applying for jobs, reading teen fiction, stalking apartments on craig\'s list and thinking about how I should really make some friend in Seattle.','State Side in Seattle ','','inherit','open','open','','7628-revision-v1','','','2013-09-26 18:53:52','2013-09-26 16:53:52','',7628,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/09/26/7628-revision-v1/',0,'revision','',0),(7630,1,'2013-09-27 19:14:59','2013-09-27 17:14:59','My dAd and sister came to visit me after final exams. I was busy finishing things up--grades, packing up my classroom and saying goodbye to colleagues. They were busy being jet-lagged. It was perfect.\r\n\r\nI went to work; they slept.\r\n<a title=\"My dad and sister in front of TZUM by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968236316/\"><img alt=\"My dad and sister in front of TZUM\" src=\"http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7416/9968236316_9a0a0b7703_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\nWe spent their first weekend in Bulgaria close to home. I wanted my family to get a sense of Sofia the city lived in and called home for the past five years. I know that it\'s not actually possible to do something like this in just a weekend but I think that they got a taste of the city.\r\n<a title=\"Banitsa by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968248366/\"><img alt=\"Banitsa\" src=\"http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7306/9968248366_1ca5e6c20e_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\nSaturday morning we ate banitsa, drank coffee and went on a <a href=\"http://www.freesofiatour.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Free Sofia Tour</a> because <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/23/sofia-and-easter-weekend/\" target=\"_blank\">I LOVE the free walking tour</a>. This is also when I got my dAd and sister hooked on free tours. They liked the one in Sofia so much that we also went on the Plodiv tour and the Varna tour.\r\n\r\nIt\'s amazing seeing a city that you know through someone else\'s eyes.<!--more-->\r\n<a title=\"Couch on the street with flowers by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968220384/\"><img alt=\"Couch on the street with flowers\" src=\"http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7334/9968220384_bce34f885a_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"Window flowers on Strumitsa by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968218394/\"><img alt=\"Window flowers on Strumitsa\" src=\"http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3808/9968218394_cce7c349fb_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"Fence on Strumitsa by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968185385/\"><img alt=\"Fence on Strumitsa\" src=\"http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5516/9968185385_6602828d97_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n\r\nAt first I was surprised. I\'d think to myself: it will take 20 minutes to walk to X-spot in the city but with my dAd and sister it would take 30. At first I was annoyed. Then I realized it was because my dAd and sister were <em>actually</em> looking at everything. Oh and my dAd was taking hundreds of photos.\r\n\r\nBefore the tour started we made a loop through the first neighborhood I lived in Strumitsa Street. I adore this little horse-shoe shaped street and the larger neighborhood. I was so lucky to live in the heart of the city my first year. I lived at No. 3 Strumitsa.\r\n<a title=\"No. 3 Strumitsa by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968184205/\"><img alt=\"No. 3 Strumitsa\" src=\"http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3789/9968184205_4c65dccbc1_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"Graffiti downtown Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968249896/\"><img alt=\"Graffiti downtown Sofia\" src=\"http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3830/9968249896_8431e5468e_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n\r\nBut that\'s the thing, when you slow down and actually look at things you get to see the world in a new way. I realized that in many ways Sofia had become average, everyday, to me. Sure I noticed the big changes but I\'d stopped seeing the little things and my dAd and sister couldn\'t stop seeing everything.\r\n\r\nThe free tour starts at the National Court which is where these lions are. Then the tour makes a loop through the downtown.\r\n<a title=\"Lion in front of the National Courts in Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968179985/\"><img alt=\"Lion in front of the National Courts in Sofia\" src=\"http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5343/9968179985_f50fcb0c31_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"Zona by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968245776/\"><img alt=\"Zona\" src=\"http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3721/9968245776_7c2a78893e_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"St. Nedelya by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968207904/\"><img alt=\"St. Nedelya\" src=\"http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5350/9968207904_046de40a0b_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\nOn the Free Sofia Tour, we were always at the back. I am afraid that the tour guide was annoyed with us  but I told her not to worry that we\'d catch up and that I knew the basic route. I am not sure that this really helped the situation but it made me feel better.\r\n<a title=\"Central Department Store (TZUM) and St Petka Church by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968241916/\"><img alt=\"Central Department Store (TZUM) and St Petka Church\" src=\"http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5545/9968241916_87b68f940f_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"TZUM Central Department Store in Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968312803/\"><img alt=\"TZUM Central Department Store in Sofia\" src=\"http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5485/9968312803_73a65888e4_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"Sofia Baths by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968239466/\"><img alt=\"Sofia Baths\" src=\"http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7355/9968239466_f511b321aa_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"Close up of the Sofia Baths by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968170665/\"><img alt=\"Close up of the Sofia Baths\" src=\"http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5527/9968170665_1043999175_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\nI like the Free Sofia Tour so I always recommend that people go on it. There is a really good mix of history, culture and personal stories about life in Bulgaria. I\'ve been on the tour a few times but the thing that stood out to me this time was how people were on the tour. When we showed up it was the last weekend in June/first weekend in July and I think that there were nearly 100 people at the tour. Wow!\r\n<a title=\"Lions on the doors by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968198944/\"><img alt=\"Lions on the doors\" src=\"http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5471/9968198944_20770c854f_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"St George\'s Church Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968165675/\"><img alt=\"St George\'s Church Sofia\" src=\"http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2832/9968165675_debded53c5_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"My sister in the Park in front of Ivan Vazov Theater by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968231466/\"><img alt=\"My sister in the Park in front of Ivan Vazov Theater\" src=\"http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3792/9968231466_6e367ce9cb_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"in the Park in front of Ivan Vazov Theater by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968193444/\"><img alt=\"in the Park in front of Ivan Vazov Theater\" src=\"http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2892/9968193444_6319395293_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"Ivan Vazov Theater by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968159895/\"><img alt=\"Ivan Vazov Theater\" src=\"http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7359/9968159895_a0dbed7513_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\nIt\'s super exciting to think that so many people are visiting Sofia.  What\'s best? There was such an interesting mix of tourists both young and old.\r\n<a title=\"National Bank by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968191174/\"><img alt=\"National Bank\" src=\"http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7426/9968191174_72883d8005_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"Sofia Architecture by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968223886/\"><img alt=\"Sofia Architecture\" src=\"http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2817/9968223886_efc84b7800_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n\r\nI won\'t pretend to know exactly what my dAd or sister were thinking about the city nor will I put words in their mouths but I had a great time. Sofia was looking great on this bright sunny day.\r\n<a title=\"Dad, Char and Me in front of Nevski by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968294133/\"><img alt=\"Dad, Char and Me in front of Nevski\" src=\"http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2851/9968294133_b67f24141f_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"Alexander Nevski by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968153165/\"><img alt=\"Alexander Nevski\" src=\"http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3818/9968153165_277c95a70f_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"Alexander Nevsky in Sofia, Bulgaria by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968190285/\"><img alt=\"Alexander Nevsky in Sofia, Bulgaria\" src=\"http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5483/9968190285_b19d40fc7f_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"In front of the National Parliament by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968191434/\"><img alt=\"In front of the National Parliament\" src=\"http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3680/9968191434_59d8d5ddb1_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\nI know that I\'ve done a poor job narrating the photos in this post but if you click through to flickr you can read all of the descriptive title I\'ve given the photos. If you have more question, just let me know.','My dAd and Sister explore Sofia ','','publish','open','open','','my-dad-and-sister-explore-sofia','','','2013-09-27 19:46:38','2013-09-27 17:46:38','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7630',0,'post','',0),(7631,1,'2013-09-27 19:03:25','2013-09-27 17:03:25','My dAd and sister came to visit me after final exams. I was busy finishing things up--grades, packing up my classroom and saying goodbye to colleagues. They were busy being jet-lagged. It was perfect. I went to work; they slept.\r\n<a title=\"My dad and sister in front of TZUM by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968236316/\"><img alt=\"My dad and sister in front of TZUM\" src=\"http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7416/9968236316_9a0a0b7703_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\nWe spent their first weekend in Bulgaria close to home.\r\n<a title=\"Banitsa by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968248366/\"><img alt=\"Banitsa\" src=\"http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7306/9968248366_1ca5e6c20e_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\nSaturday morning we ate banitsa, drank coffee and went on a <a href=\"http://www.freesofiatour.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Free Sofia Tour</a> because <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/23/sofia-and-easter-weekend/\" target=\"_blank\">I LOVE the free walking tour</a>.\r\n\r\nIt\'s amazing seeing a city that you know through someone else\'s eyes.\r\n<a title=\"Couch on the street with flowers by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968220384/\"><img alt=\"Couch on the street with flowers\" src=\"http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7334/9968220384_bce34f885a_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"Window flowers on Strumitsa by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968218394/\"><img alt=\"Window flowers on Strumitsa\" src=\"http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3808/9968218394_cce7c349fb_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"Fence on Strumitsa by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968185385/\"><img alt=\"Fence on Strumitsa\" src=\"http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5516/9968185385_6602828d97_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n\r\nAt first I was surprised. I\'d think to myself: it will take 20 minutes to walk to X-spot in the city but with my dAd and sister it would take 30. At first I was annoyed. Then I realized it was because my dAd and sister were <em>actually</em> looking at everything. Oh and my dAd was taking hundreds of photos.\r\n<a title=\"No. 3 Strumitsa by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968184205/\"><img alt=\"No. 3 Strumitsa\" src=\"http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3789/9968184205_4c65dccbc1_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"Graffiti downtown Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968249896/\"><img alt=\"Graffiti downtown Sofia\" src=\"http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3830/9968249896_8431e5468e_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n\r\nBut that\'s the thing, when you slow down and actually look at things you get to see the world in a new way. I realized that in many ways Sofia had become average, everyday, to me. Sure I noticed the big changes but I\'d stopped seeing the little things and my dAd and sister couldn\'t stop seeing everything.\r\n<a title=\"Lion in front of the National Courts in Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968179985/\"><img alt=\"Lion in front of the National Courts in Sofia\" src=\"http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5343/9968179985_f50fcb0c31_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"Zona by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968245776/\"><img alt=\"Zona\" src=\"http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3721/9968245776_7c2a78893e_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"St. Nedelya by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968207904/\"><img alt=\"St. Nedelya\" src=\"http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5350/9968207904_046de40a0b_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\nOn the Free Sofia Tour, we were always at the back. I am afraid that the tour guide was annoyed with us  but I told her not to worry that we\'d catch up and that I knew the basic route. I am not sure that this really helped the situation but it made me feel better.\r\n<a title=\"Central Department Store (TZUM) and St Petka Church by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968241916/\"><img alt=\"Central Department Store (TZUM) and St Petka Church\" src=\"http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5545/9968241916_87b68f940f_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"TZUM Central Department Store in Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968312803/\"><img alt=\"TZUM Central Department Store in Sofia\" src=\"http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5485/9968312803_73a65888e4_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"Sofia Baths by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968239466/\"><img alt=\"Sofia Baths\" src=\"http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7355/9968239466_f511b321aa_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"Close up of the Sofia Baths by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968170665/\"><img alt=\"Close up of the Sofia Baths\" src=\"http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5527/9968170665_1043999175_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\nI like the Free Sofia Tour so I always recommend that people go on it. There is a really good mix of history, culture and personal stories about life in Bulgaria. I\'ve been on the tour a few times but the thing that stood out to me this time was how people were on the tour. When we showed up it was the last weekend in June/first weekend in July and I think that there were nearly 100 people at the tour. Wow!\r\n<a title=\"Lions on the doors by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968198944/\"><img alt=\"Lions on the doors\" src=\"http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5471/9968198944_20770c854f_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"St George\'s Church Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968165675/\"><img alt=\"St George\'s Church Sofia\" src=\"http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2832/9968165675_debded53c5_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"My sister in the Park in front of Ivan Vazov Theater by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968231466/\"><img alt=\"My sister in the Park in front of Ivan Vazov Theater\" src=\"http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3792/9968231466_6e367ce9cb_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"in the Park in front of Ivan Vazov Theater by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968193444/\"><img alt=\"in the Park in front of Ivan Vazov Theater\" src=\"http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2892/9968193444_6319395293_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"Ivan Vazov Theater by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968159895/\"><img alt=\"Ivan Vazov Theater\" src=\"http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7359/9968159895_a0dbed7513_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\nIt\'s super exciting to think that so many people are visiting Sofia.  What\'s best? There was such an interesting mix of tourists both young and old.\r\n<a title=\"National Bank by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968191174/\"><img alt=\"National Bank\" src=\"http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7426/9968191174_72883d8005_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"Sofia Architecture by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968223886/\"><img alt=\"Sofia Architecture\" src=\"http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2817/9968223886_efc84b7800_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n\r\nI won\'t pretend to know exactly what my dAd or sister were thinking about the city nor will I put words in their mouths but I had a great time. Sofia was looking great on this bright sunny day.\r\n<a title=\"Dad, Char and Me in front of Nevski by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968294133/\"><img alt=\"Dad, Char and Me in front of Nevski\" src=\"http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2851/9968294133_b67f24141f_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"Alexander Nevski by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968153165/\"><img alt=\"Alexander Nevski\" src=\"http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3818/9968153165_277c95a70f_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"Alexander Nevsky in Sofia, Bulgaria by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968190285/\"><img alt=\"Alexander Nevsky in Sofia, Bulgaria\" src=\"http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5483/9968190285_b19d40fc7f_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"In front of the National Parliament by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968191434/\"><img alt=\"In front of the National Parliament\" src=\"http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3680/9968191434_59d8d5ddb1_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>','Visitors in Bulgaria ','','inherit','open','open','','7630-revision-v1','','','2013-09-27 19:03:25','2013-09-27 17:03:25','',7630,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/09/27/7630-revision-v1/',0,'revision','',0),(7632,1,'2013-09-27 19:14:59','2013-09-27 17:14:59','My dAd and sister came to visit me after final exams. I was busy finishing things up--grades, packing up my classroom and saying goodbye to colleagues. They were busy being jet-lagged. It was perfect.\r\n\r\nI went to work; they slept.\r\n<a title=\"My dad and sister in front of TZUM by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968236316/\"><img alt=\"My dad and sister in front of TZUM\" src=\"http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7416/9968236316_9a0a0b7703_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\nWe spent their first weekend in Bulgaria close to home. I wanted my family to get a sense of Sofia the city lived in and called home for the past five years. I know that it\'s not actually possible to do something like this in just a weekend but I think that they got a taste of the city.\r\n<a title=\"Banitsa by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968248366/\"><img alt=\"Banitsa\" src=\"http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7306/9968248366_1ca5e6c20e_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\nSaturday morning we ate banitsa, drank coffee and went on a <a href=\"http://www.freesofiatour.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Free Sofia Tour</a> because <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/23/sofia-and-easter-weekend/\" target=\"_blank\">I LOVE the free walking tour</a>. This is also when I got my dAd and sister hooked on free tours. They liked the one in Sofia so much that we also went on the Plodiv tour and the Varna tour.\r\n\r\nIt\'s amazing seeing a city that you know through someone else\'s eyes.\r\n<a title=\"Couch on the street with flowers by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968220384/\"><img alt=\"Couch on the street with flowers\" src=\"http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7334/9968220384_bce34f885a_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"Window flowers on Strumitsa by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968218394/\"><img alt=\"Window flowers on Strumitsa\" src=\"http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3808/9968218394_cce7c349fb_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"Fence on Strumitsa by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968185385/\"><img alt=\"Fence on Strumitsa\" src=\"http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5516/9968185385_6602828d97_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n\r\nAt first I was surprised. I\'d think to myself: it will take 20 minutes to walk to X-spot in the city but with my dAd and sister it would take 30. At first I was annoyed. Then I realized it was because my dAd and sister were <em>actually</em> looking at everything. Oh and my dAd was taking hundreds of photos.\r\n\r\nBefore the tour started we made a loop through the first neighborhood I lived in Strumitsa Street. I adore this little horse-shoe shaped street and the larger neighborhood. I was so lucky to live in the heart of the city my first year. I lived at No. 3 Strumitsa.\r\n<a title=\"No. 3 Strumitsa by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968184205/\"><img alt=\"No. 3 Strumitsa\" src=\"http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3789/9968184205_4c65dccbc1_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"Graffiti downtown Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968249896/\"><img alt=\"Graffiti downtown Sofia\" src=\"http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3830/9968249896_8431e5468e_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n\r\nBut that\'s the thing, when you slow down and actually look at things you get to see the world in a new way. I realized that in many ways Sofia had become average, everyday, to me. Sure I noticed the big changes but I\'d stopped seeing the little things and my dAd and sister couldn\'t stop seeing everything.\r\n\r\nThe free tour starts at the National Court which is where these lions are. Then the tour makes a loop through the downtown.\r\n<a title=\"Lion in front of the National Courts in Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968179985/\"><img alt=\"Lion in front of the National Courts in Sofia\" src=\"http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5343/9968179985_f50fcb0c31_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"Zona by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968245776/\"><img alt=\"Zona\" src=\"http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3721/9968245776_7c2a78893e_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"St. Nedelya by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968207904/\"><img alt=\"St. Nedelya\" src=\"http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5350/9968207904_046de40a0b_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\nOn the Free Sofia Tour, we were always at the back. I am afraid that the tour guide was annoyed with us  but I told her not to worry that we\'d catch up and that I knew the basic route. I am not sure that this really helped the situation but it made me feel better.\r\n<a title=\"Central Department Store (TZUM) and St Petka Church by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968241916/\"><img alt=\"Central Department Store (TZUM) and St Petka Church\" src=\"http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5545/9968241916_87b68f940f_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"TZUM Central Department Store in Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968312803/\"><img alt=\"TZUM Central Department Store in Sofia\" src=\"http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5485/9968312803_73a65888e4_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"Sofia Baths by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968239466/\"><img alt=\"Sofia Baths\" src=\"http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7355/9968239466_f511b321aa_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"Close up of the Sofia Baths by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968170665/\"><img alt=\"Close up of the Sofia Baths\" src=\"http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5527/9968170665_1043999175_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\nI like the Free Sofia Tour so I always recommend that people go on it. There is a really good mix of history, culture and personal stories about life in Bulgaria. I\'ve been on the tour a few times but the thing that stood out to me this time was how people were on the tour. When we showed up it was the last weekend in June/first weekend in July and I think that there were nearly 100 people at the tour. Wow!\r\n<a title=\"Lions on the doors by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968198944/\"><img alt=\"Lions on the doors\" src=\"http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5471/9968198944_20770c854f_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"St George\'s Church Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968165675/\"><img alt=\"St George\'s Church Sofia\" src=\"http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2832/9968165675_debded53c5_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"My sister in the Park in front of Ivan Vazov Theater by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968231466/\"><img alt=\"My sister in the Park in front of Ivan Vazov Theater\" src=\"http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3792/9968231466_6e367ce9cb_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"in the Park in front of Ivan Vazov Theater by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968193444/\"><img alt=\"in the Park in front of Ivan Vazov Theater\" src=\"http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2892/9968193444_6319395293_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"Ivan Vazov Theater by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968159895/\"><img alt=\"Ivan Vazov Theater\" src=\"http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7359/9968159895_a0dbed7513_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\nIt\'s super exciting to think that so many people are visiting Sofia.  What\'s best? There was such an interesting mix of tourists both young and old.\r\n<a title=\"National Bank by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968191174/\"><img alt=\"National Bank\" src=\"http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7426/9968191174_72883d8005_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"Sofia Architecture by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968223886/\"><img alt=\"Sofia Architecture\" src=\"http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2817/9968223886_efc84b7800_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n\r\nI won\'t pretend to know exactly what my dAd or sister were thinking about the city nor will I put words in their mouths but I had a great time. Sofia was looking great on this bright sunny day.\r\n<a title=\"Dad, Char and Me in front of Nevski by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968294133/\"><img alt=\"Dad, Char and Me in front of Nevski\" src=\"http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2851/9968294133_b67f24141f_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"Alexander Nevski by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968153165/\"><img alt=\"Alexander Nevski\" src=\"http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3818/9968153165_277c95a70f_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"Alexander Nevsky in Sofia, Bulgaria by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968190285/\"><img alt=\"Alexander Nevsky in Sofia, Bulgaria\" src=\"http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5483/9968190285_b19d40fc7f_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"In front of the National Parliament by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968191434/\"><img alt=\"In front of the National Parliament\" src=\"http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3680/9968191434_59d8d5ddb1_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\nI know that I\'ve done a poor job narrating the photos in this post but if you click through to flickr you can read all of the descriptive title I\'ve given the photos. If you have more question, just let me know. ','My dAd and Sister explore Sofia ','','inherit','open','open','','7630-revision-v1','','','2013-09-27 19:14:59','2013-09-27 17:14:59','',7630,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/09/27/7630-revision-v1/',0,'revision','',0),(7633,1,'2013-09-27 19:46:38','2013-09-27 17:46:38','My dAd and sister came to visit me after final exams. I was busy finishing things up--grades, packing up my classroom and saying goodbye to colleagues. They were busy being jet-lagged. It was perfect.\r\n\r\nI went to work; they slept.\r\n<a title=\"My dad and sister in front of TZUM by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968236316/\"><img alt=\"My dad and sister in front of TZUM\" src=\"http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7416/9968236316_9a0a0b7703_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\nWe spent their first weekend in Bulgaria close to home. I wanted my family to get a sense of Sofia the city lived in and called home for the past five years. I know that it\'s not actually possible to do something like this in just a weekend but I think that they got a taste of the city.\r\n<a title=\"Banitsa by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968248366/\"><img alt=\"Banitsa\" src=\"http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7306/9968248366_1ca5e6c20e_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\nSaturday morning we ate banitsa, drank coffee and went on a <a href=\"http://www.freesofiatour.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Free Sofia Tour</a> because <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/23/sofia-and-easter-weekend/\" target=\"_blank\">I LOVE the free walking tour</a>. This is also when I got my dAd and sister hooked on free tours. They liked the one in Sofia so much that we also went on the Plodiv tour and the Varna tour.\r\n\r\nIt\'s amazing seeing a city that you know through someone else\'s eyes.<!--more-->\r\n<a title=\"Couch on the street with flowers by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968220384/\"><img alt=\"Couch on the street with flowers\" src=\"http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7334/9968220384_bce34f885a_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"Window flowers on Strumitsa by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968218394/\"><img alt=\"Window flowers on Strumitsa\" src=\"http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3808/9968218394_cce7c349fb_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"Fence on Strumitsa by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968185385/\"><img alt=\"Fence on Strumitsa\" src=\"http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5516/9968185385_6602828d97_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n\r\nAt first I was surprised. I\'d think to myself: it will take 20 minutes to walk to X-spot in the city but with my dAd and sister it would take 30. At first I was annoyed. Then I realized it was because my dAd and sister were <em>actually</em> looking at everything. Oh and my dAd was taking hundreds of photos.\r\n\r\nBefore the tour started we made a loop through the first neighborhood I lived in Strumitsa Street. I adore this little horse-shoe shaped street and the larger neighborhood. I was so lucky to live in the heart of the city my first year. I lived at No. 3 Strumitsa.\r\n<a title=\"No. 3 Strumitsa by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968184205/\"><img alt=\"No. 3 Strumitsa\" src=\"http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3789/9968184205_4c65dccbc1_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"Graffiti downtown Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968249896/\"><img alt=\"Graffiti downtown Sofia\" src=\"http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3830/9968249896_8431e5468e_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n\r\nBut that\'s the thing, when you slow down and actually look at things you get to see the world in a new way. I realized that in many ways Sofia had become average, everyday, to me. Sure I noticed the big changes but I\'d stopped seeing the little things and my dAd and sister couldn\'t stop seeing everything.\r\n\r\nThe free tour starts at the National Court which is where these lions are. Then the tour makes a loop through the downtown.\r\n<a title=\"Lion in front of the National Courts in Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968179985/\"><img alt=\"Lion in front of the National Courts in Sofia\" src=\"http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5343/9968179985_f50fcb0c31_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"Zona by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968245776/\"><img alt=\"Zona\" src=\"http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3721/9968245776_7c2a78893e_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"St. Nedelya by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968207904/\"><img alt=\"St. Nedelya\" src=\"http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5350/9968207904_046de40a0b_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\nOn the Free Sofia Tour, we were always at the back. I am afraid that the tour guide was annoyed with us  but I told her not to worry that we\'d catch up and that I knew the basic route. I am not sure that this really helped the situation but it made me feel better.\r\n<a title=\"Central Department Store (TZUM) and St Petka Church by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968241916/\"><img alt=\"Central Department Store (TZUM) and St Petka Church\" src=\"http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5545/9968241916_87b68f940f_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"TZUM Central Department Store in Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968312803/\"><img alt=\"TZUM Central Department Store in Sofia\" src=\"http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5485/9968312803_73a65888e4_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"Sofia Baths by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968239466/\"><img alt=\"Sofia Baths\" src=\"http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7355/9968239466_f511b321aa_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"Close up of the Sofia Baths by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968170665/\"><img alt=\"Close up of the Sofia Baths\" src=\"http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5527/9968170665_1043999175_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\nI like the Free Sofia Tour so I always recommend that people go on it. There is a really good mix of history, culture and personal stories about life in Bulgaria. I\'ve been on the tour a few times but the thing that stood out to me this time was how people were on the tour. When we showed up it was the last weekend in June/first weekend in July and I think that there were nearly 100 people at the tour. Wow!\r\n<a title=\"Lions on the doors by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968198944/\"><img alt=\"Lions on the doors\" src=\"http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5471/9968198944_20770c854f_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"St George\'s Church Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968165675/\"><img alt=\"St George\'s Church Sofia\" src=\"http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2832/9968165675_debded53c5_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"My sister in the Park in front of Ivan Vazov Theater by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968231466/\"><img alt=\"My sister in the Park in front of Ivan Vazov Theater\" src=\"http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3792/9968231466_6e367ce9cb_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"in the Park in front of Ivan Vazov Theater by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968193444/\"><img alt=\"in the Park in front of Ivan Vazov Theater\" src=\"http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2892/9968193444_6319395293_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"Ivan Vazov Theater by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968159895/\"><img alt=\"Ivan Vazov Theater\" src=\"http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7359/9968159895_a0dbed7513_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\nIt\'s super exciting to think that so many people are visiting Sofia.  What\'s best? There was such an interesting mix of tourists both young and old.\r\n<a title=\"National Bank by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968191174/\"><img alt=\"National Bank\" src=\"http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7426/9968191174_72883d8005_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"Sofia Architecture by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968223886/\"><img alt=\"Sofia Architecture\" src=\"http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2817/9968223886_efc84b7800_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n\r\nI won\'t pretend to know exactly what my dAd or sister were thinking about the city nor will I put words in their mouths but I had a great time. Sofia was looking great on this bright sunny day.\r\n<a title=\"Dad, Char and Me in front of Nevski by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968294133/\"><img alt=\"Dad, Char and Me in front of Nevski\" src=\"http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2851/9968294133_b67f24141f_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"Alexander Nevski by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968153165/\"><img alt=\"Alexander Nevski\" src=\"http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3818/9968153165_277c95a70f_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"Alexander Nevsky in Sofia, Bulgaria by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968190285/\"><img alt=\"Alexander Nevsky in Sofia, Bulgaria\" src=\"http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5483/9968190285_b19d40fc7f_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"In front of the National Parliament by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9968191434/\"><img alt=\"In front of the National Parliament\" src=\"http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3680/9968191434_59d8d5ddb1_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\nI know that I\'ve done a poor job narrating the photos in this post but if you click through to flickr you can read all of the descriptive title I\'ve given the photos. If you have more question, just let me know.','My dAd and Sister explore Sofia ','','inherit','open','open','','7630-revision-v1','','','2013-09-27 19:46:38','2013-09-27 17:46:38','',7630,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/09/27/7630-revision-v1/',0,'revision','',0),(7634,1,'2013-09-28 19:40:22','2013-09-28 17:40:22','This is a post where we eat things. By we, I really mean my dAd, my sister and me, and all of you who read the blog get to read about and look at some of the things that we ate in Sofia.\r\n\r\n<a title=\"Beer at Pizza Fritzi by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9984398254/\"><img alt=\"Beer at Pizza Fritzi\" src=\"http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7399/9984398254_eaa181ae91_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n\r\n<a title=\"dAd\'s dark beer by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9984443516/\"><img alt=\"dAd\'s dark beer\" src=\"http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5527/9984443516_e0bd52effd_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\nThe first night my family arrived they were pretty loopy and totally jet lagged. The thing is neither my dAd or sister wanted to admit it so dinner was super funny. We went to a pizza place in Mladost. One down the street from me and it\'s a good thing we didn\'t go any further because a large beer later my dAd and sister were even funnier and weirder than normal. The tell for me was the weirder than normal part. You see my dAd and sister are inherently funny people; it\'s basically impossible not to laugh when you\'re around them but they aren\'t normally as weird and off the wall as they were that first night.\r\n\r\nThis said, some of what was said in Bulgaria stays in Bulgaria so lets get back to the food! <!--more-->\r\n\r\n<a title=\"Me and a salad by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9984522983/\"><img alt=\"Me and a salad\" src=\"http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5530/9984522983_99137cd902_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\nDinner was a slow introduction to Bulgarian food. My dAd had a Shopska salad and my sister a Greek salad.  I had a mixed salad of some sort--you can see the corn, carrots, mushrooms and eggs in the salad and I think there might have been shredded cabbage and tomatoes on the bottom. We then shared a large pizza.\r\n\r\nThe Shopska salad and Greek salad were both a hit and interestingly neither salad was hugely foreign or strange to either my dAd or sister. I think that the surprising thing is the presentation of the salads. My dAd\'s was in a bowl while the Greek salad came out on a platter and was basically deconstructed. A 500 gram deconstructed Greek  salad is kind of intimidating.\r\n<a title=\"Char and dinner in Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9984381735/\"><img alt=\"Char and dinner in Sofia\" src=\"http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3749/9984381735_4d89952b76_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n\r\nI am a huge believer in the importance of eating plenty of veggies and drinking tons of water after any long flight not to mention a transatlantic flight. I think that both of these things are an excellent way to combat jet lag.\r\n\r\nThe next day we moved on to snacks and beer.\r\n<a title=\"dAds bulgaria Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9984438934/\"><img alt=\"dAds bulgaria Sofia\" src=\"http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3830/9984438934_ea4d49b9e3_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\nI wish that I could also recommend snacks and beer as an approved method of combating jet lag but alas I cannot. Nevertheless, when in a foreign country it is important to sample the local beer and eat local snacks. It\'s basically like conducing your own social anthropological study. (How\'s that for justifying my general beer and snack consumption?!)\r\n<a title=\"dAds bulgaria pics Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9984425095/\"><img alt=\"dAds bulgaria pics Sofia\" src=\"http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2852/9984425095_0a67fd30e7_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"dAds bulgaria pics Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9984493716/\"><img alt=\"dAds bulgaria pics Sofia\" src=\"http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7406/9984493716_1a99071a97_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\nThere\'s a little snack shop in the first floor of my building and I mean little. I think that in terms of the lay of the shop there is more floor space committed to food and beverages than to customers. This is both wonderful, overwhelming and a little bit claustrophobic.\r\n<a title=\"dAds bulgaria pics 343 by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9984534043/\"><img alt=\"dAds bulgaria pics 343\" src=\"http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2844/9984534043_1af08da43d_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\nMy dAd loved it and we came back with an armful of beer that we paid next to nothing for. Oh the pleasures of a large cheap beer.\r\n\r\nOh and just so that you know, even at 32 it\'s <em>totally embarrassing</em> to have your dAd taking tons of photos of you in your neighborhood snack shop. Luckily everybody was laughing at me so nobody really seemed to care.','We ate that, in Sofia','','publish','open','open','','we-ate-that-in-sofia','','','2013-09-28 19:40:22','2013-09-28 17:40:22','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=7634',0,'post','',2),(7635,1,'2013-09-28 19:35:42','2013-09-28 17:35:42','This is a post where we eat things. By we, I really mean my dAd, my sister and me, and all of you who read the blog get to read about and look at some of the things that we ate in Sofia.\r\n\r\n<a title=\"Beer at Pizza Fritzi by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9984398254/\"><img alt=\"Beer at Pizza Fritzi\" src=\"http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7399/9984398254_eaa181ae91_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n\r\n<a title=\"dAd\'s dark beer by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9984443516/\"><img alt=\"dAd\'s dark beer\" src=\"http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5527/9984443516_e0bd52effd_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\nThe first night my family arrived they were pretty loopy and totally jet lagged. The thing is neither my dAd or sister wanted to admit it so dinner was super funny. We went to a pizza place in Mladost. One down the street from me and it\'s a good thing we didn\'t go any further because a large beer later my dAd and sister were even funnier and weirder than normal. The tell for me was the weirder than normal part. You see my dAd and sister are inherently funny people; it\'s basically impossible not to laugh when you\'re around them but they aren\'t normally as weird and off the wall as they were that first night.\r\n<a title=\"Me and a salad by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9984522983/\"><img alt=\"Me and a salad\" src=\"http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5530/9984522983_99137cd902_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\nDinner was a slow introduction to Bulgarian food. My dAd had a Shopska salad and my sister a Greek salad.  I had a mixed salad of some sort. We then shared a large pizza.\r\n\r\nThe Shopska salad and Greek salad were both a hit and interestingly neither salad was hugely foreign or strange to either my dAd or sister. I think that the surprising thing is the presentation of the salads. My dAd\'s was in a bowl while the Greek salad came out on a platter and was basically deconstructed. A 500 gram deconstructed Greek  salad is kind of intimidating.\r\n<a title=\"Char and dinner in Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9984381735/\"><img alt=\"Char and dinner in Sofia\" src=\"http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3749/9984381735_4d89952b76_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n\r\nI am a huge believer in the importance of eating plenty of veggies and drinking tons of water after any long flight not to mention a transatlantic flight. I think that both of these things are an excellent way to combat jet lag.\r\n\r\nThe next day we moved on to snacks and beer.\r\n<a title=\"dAds bulgaria Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9984438934/\"><img alt=\"dAds bulgaria Sofia\" src=\"http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3830/9984438934_ea4d49b9e3_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\nI wish that I could also recommend snacks and beer as an approved method of combating jet lag but alas I cannot. Nevertheless, when in a foreign country it is important to sample the local beer and eat local snacks. It\'s basically like conducing your own social anthropological study. (How\'s that for justifying my general beer and snack consumption?!)\r\n<a title=\"dAds bulgaria pics Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9984425095/\"><img alt=\"dAds bulgaria pics Sofia\" src=\"http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2852/9984425095_0a67fd30e7_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\n<a title=\"dAds bulgaria pics Sofia by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9984493716/\"><img alt=\"dAds bulgaria pics Sofia\" src=\"http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7406/9984493716_1a99071a97_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\nThere\'s a little snack shop in the first floor of my building and I mean little. I think that in terms of the lay of the shop there is more floor space committed to food and beverages than to customers. This is both wonderful, overwhelming and a little bit claustrophobic.\r\n<a title=\"dAds bulgaria pics 343 by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/9984534043/\"><img alt=\"dAds bulgaria pics 343\" src=\"http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2844/9984534043_1af08da43d_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" /></a>\r\nMy dAd loved it and we came back with an armful of beer that we paid next to nothing for. Oh the pleasures of a large cheap beer.\r\n\r\nOh and just so that you know, even at 32 it\'s <em>totally embarrassing</em> to have your dAd taking tons of photos of you in your neighborhood snack shop. Luckily everybody was laughing at me so nobody really seemed to care.','We ate that, in Sofia','','inherit','open','open','','7634-revision-v1','','','2013-09-28 19:35:42','2013-09-28 17:35:42','',7634,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2013/09/28/7634-revision-v1/',0,'revision','',0),