Hi Bulgaria,

It's me, Carolyn. I am back but I am afraid that you're going to start feeling neglected soon. I've been writing an awful lot on my blog about how much I loved Morocco--the food, the camels, the shopping and even the succulent gardens (oh, wait that's coming tomorrow). Here's the thing, I want you to know that while I had a great time on vacation in Morocco, it's nice to be back.

It was great to land at the airport and be able to hop in an OK taxi and not worry too much about being a foreigner. It was wonderful to give directions to my apartment in Bulgarian and to be understood--okay at one point I said left when I should have said right but heck, I even caught that before it was a problem.

But man oh man, you're not making it easy for me to get over Morocco.<!--more-->

Take the weather for example, is cold, gray and rainy really the best that you can do? I know that it's spring and that's part of the season but does it need to be cold as well? Why not rain and then clear the clouds out so that I can enjoy some sunshine? I mean the sky was gray the whole day.  That's not very interesting.

Speaking of gray. When the sky is gray the whole city seems to be dominated by a palate of grays and graphites.  I was surprised this afternoon by how gray the block buildings were, how gray the sidewalks were and how gray all of the cars seemed as well. It was a gray, gray city at dusk and in the drizzle. Don't get me wrong, I like gray but when buses and taxis start to look good and standout among the shades of blacks, grays and whites it might be too much.

But at the same time, I've never seen anything like it. It's nothing if not eye catching. However it's kind of depressing.

Then I started really looking around. The teenage boys sitting on pieces of newspaper on a set of stairs smoking cigarettes in the rain was also kind of depressing. As was the bus ride on the 76, old women with wet hair, dripping umbrellas, dirty floors and the smell of wet coats didn't help the mood much. Nor did the wet, shaggy stray dogs--the dogs were especially heart breaking today. To top it all off, everyone was hurrying around head down trying to block out the rain sans umbrella or bustling around with umbrellas trying to poke each others eyes out. Luckily I made it home with my both of my eyes and only sort of damp feet.

But really, enough is enough.

I guess it's a good thing that I have memories of last May floating through my head and I can dream of sitting in an outdoor cafe drinking beer in the afternoon sunshine.  That does make this whole thing much more palatable.  The other thing that helps stave off the rain on my windows? The glass of Bulgarian red wine that I am enjoying and the fresh salad I just ate topped with lentils, red peppers, olives, avocado and orange slices are a pretty decent too.

So, now all I am looking for is the promise of a little sunshine. Okay? That's sort of how this works right? A little give and take.  Because really, how else am I supposed to commit to this?

With Love, Carolyn