Gluttony

Very often I am asked what I miss most about America. The obvious, and true, answer is my friends and family. But this is a somewhat deceptive response. While I do miss my friends and family they are not what I miss most often about America. For that the answer is food. This may sound like a horrible answer but that is not the case. When I lived in America I did not see my friends and family everyday. I could always call or email them whenever I wanted. Now it is more difficult to call and write my friends and family but it can still be done. Getting a proper burrito in Bulgaria however, is a physical impossibility. They simply do not exist in any way shape or form. Furthermore the components of a burrito do not exist, so if I wished to make one I cannot. I suppose that I could make everything from scratch but I am not a good enough cook to do that, I am also far too lazy. Plus I am a firm believer that food tastes better when someone else makes it.
It was with great joy then that me and my friend Brian went to a pub in the nearby town of Bansko this past Sunday. The pub is called the Lion's Pub and it is a British style pub. The pub has real American style cheeseburgers, spare ribs, bangers and mash, Guiness, and Strongbow beer. When Brian and I went there we ordered nachos and onion rings for an appetizer. The onion rings came with an onion sour cream dip and the nachos with guacamole. I do not posses the vocabulary to describe how good the food was so I shall make up a word: Superfantasmicfull. It was all that and infinitely more. Needless to say we will be going back again, and again, and again....

Arsenal

As much as I would like to write something profound and insightful right now, I can't think of a single thing that would come close to qualifying (not that I ever write anything profound and insightful but you know what I mean). Ohh Arsenal beat Real Madrid last night in the Champions League YES!!!!

First Hike

Well this weekend the weather was finally nice enough for me to go out and go for my first hikes of the year. It was great to be able to spend some time outside again, feel the warmth of the sun and breath some fresh air. I have had a bad cough for over six weeks now and going outside really helped.

Hearts and Needles

Yesterday, as everyone is aware, was Valentine's day. Valentines day is one of the many holidays that Bulgaria has imported from the west. For the most part it is exactly the same here as it is in the States. Couples exchange gifts, red and pink candies abound, and single people are ostracized as freaks and lepers. There were some small things done at my school to celebrate the holiday, many posters with hearts that people would write messages on. Also when people entered the school they had a paper heart pinned on their chest, a girl from one of my eighth grade classes pinned one on me. It was interesting that not all of the teachers had hearts pinned on them, and neither did the director or assistant director. Anyway it was very nice and sweet way to celebrate the holiday I felt.
I did have a problem with one of my classes however. As I said the hearts were pinned onto the clothes... pinned. Anyone see a potential for a problem here? My second period class immediately saw this potential and began sticking each other the entire time I was trying to teach. If you have ever tried teaching English to a bunch of 14 year olds who are sticking each other with pins it is impossible. It is enough to make you want to stick them with pins... of course if I did that I would get in trouble. Damn civilization....

Open spaces...

This past week I traveled to the town of Stara Zagora for a training session. The bus that I took from my town went through the Rhodope mountains to the city of Plovdiv. From there I took another bus to Stara Zagora. As I left Plovdiv on the bus I had a very strange feeling. The terrain from Plovdiv to Stara Zagora is for the most part pretty flat with gently rolling hills, very similar to Wisconsin and Minnesota. As I looked out at the flat hills I had this feeling in my head like the world was slowly pushing in on me. It was very subtle and didn't bother me but I could not figure out what was causing it. After a few minutes I realized it was because of the flatness of the land. For the past 9 months I have lived very near, or in, mountains. This was really the first time that I had been in an open plane for some time. It was very weird. The feeling disapeared when I was in Stara Zagora surrounded by buildings and didn't return until I left to go to Plovdiv. The area of Bulgaria that I live in is very beautiful and mountainous; I guess it is having a greater effect on me then I thought, although not necessarily for the better....

Dobrinishte

Yesterday I went skiing in the town of Dobrinishte with some friends. It was allot of fun and the skiing was pretty good, and much cheaper then skiing in Bansko.

The one bad thing was that it snowed quite a bit all day so it was often very difficult to see. On what turned out to be my last run for the day I came out of a narrow trail lined by trees (pictured) and picked up speed as I went down the mountain. Because of the snow I was having a difficult time seeing more then fifteen feet in front of me. As I was turning I hit a bump which I did not see and was not prepared for. I immediately fell and both of my skis went flying off my boots. Fortunately I was not hurt that much; I do think I banged up my thumb pretty good as it is very stiff and sore as I write this, but nothing serious.

This picture is of two friends that I went skiing with. The one falling down is Matt and the one behind him is Scott. The trail that we went down is not very steep but was very narrow. It was allot of fun going down the trail the second and third time when I knew what to expect and could go much faster.
The skiing was fairly difficult that day so Maegen and I decided to take a break in the chalet halfway up the mountain and have a cup of white hot chocolate. A perfect drink for a cold snowy ski day.

Yesterday was also the first time that my Friend Lucia went skiing. Lucia is not a big fan of the outdoors, and especially not a big fan of the outdoors when it is cold and snowy. Despite this however she managed to succumb to peer pressure, give skiing a try, and have a pretty good time doing it (at least I believe she did). She did a fantastic job for her first time, much better then I did my first time skiing in fact.

Who are these people?

These are some pictures of friends that I went skiing with. The guy who isn't me is Andy, the girl is Maegen, and the other girl is Maegen's counterpart. It was Maegen's first time skiing and she did amazingly well, especially since she had to put up with me teaching her, never a good thing (just ask any of my English students). Andy is a very good snowboarder who was able to get down the mountain in about one tenth the time I did.

The Summit

These are some pictures from the top of the ski mountain in Bansko. They do not do the view justice. The sky was crystal clear that day and you could see for many miles. The towns of Bansko and Razlog were both visible from the top of the mountain.

Just more skiing pics