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.

I 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.

This 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.

Two other blogs that I've found interesting these days are written by Americans in Sofia.

One 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.

The 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.

What blogs are you reading and loving these days?