A Chronicle of my Changing Times.

To Sofia and back...

Sofia is not my favorite city on earth.  This much is for sure.  But it is what Bulgaria has to offer for a large city.  Mind you, I haven’t really taken the opportunity to get out and really know it.  Every time I visit I manage to discover something else about it.  But still, it’s just not a great city.  It’s dirty, disorganized, randomly expensive (by BG standards) and people there tend to be rude.  I mean, Bulgarians are not the type of people who will say hi in passing generally unless you either say hi to them or you are close friends.  Maybe this is why I’m considered friendly and outgoing – the Midwesterner in me just can’t help saying “hi, how are you” to every person I know.  This type of friendliness just doesn’t fly in Sofia. (Pictured: Flags of the world and the Lady Statue - I'm sure it has a real name)

The city is a bit of a Mecca however for volunteers.  Usually this revolves around food or some movie/concert.  You want Indian food in Bulgaria?  The best is in the capital.  A real American style hamburger, that is not McDonald’s, with Heinz 57 ketchup instead of the uber sweet Bulgarian brands?  There’s a restaurant in Sofia for you.  The best movie theaters with the latest greatest releases are there as well.  Sitting in one with your Coke and popcorn or ice cream you could almost forget you’re not in .

This past weekend I had a meeting for a Play Writing Project that I’m part of so I made the three hour trek from Haskovo on Friday.  After the obligatory visit to PC offices I headed out to a wonderfully greasy lunch at Pizza Hut with a few other PCV’s.  Yup, enough pan pizza perfection to clog my arteries and give me indigestion for a month.  Sure did taste good going down though.  After hitting a few regular haunts (book bazaar & a pub where once hearing The Last of the Mohicans soundtrack forever endeared it to me) we did another usual thing and took in a movie. (Pictured: The Russian Church across the street from where we had our Playwriting meeting)

This is where my nice, normally scheduled visit took a bit of an unexpected turn.  One of my friends, Jen, had met one of the Marine guards at the US Embassy a few weeks back.  He called and invited us to stop by the Embassy to hang out.  I’m not quite sure if the idea of Marines or a kitchen stocked full with American food appealed to my three female friends more.  Personally, I’d like to think it was the tried and true offer that’ll get any warm blooded PCV’s heart pumping – free alcohol.  Regardless, after about 20 minutes and a checkpoint that reminded me of airport security on crack, I found myself once again on American soil.  I have to say we treat our servicemen right after seeing the pad that Marines live in here.  Besides the single slate pool table, surround sound system, big screen TV with countless movies – the aforementioned kitchen and pantry which happened to be larger than my apartment was enough to take my breath away.  To wrap up the evening I was treated to a ride back in an American standby – a SUV.  The only difference is that this one had diplomatic plates which did increase the coolness factor a bit. (Pictured: Jen, myself and Rachel)

Saturday turned out to be a beautiful pre-spring day.  After oversleeping as I’m wont to do, I scarfed down Dunkin Donuts with Olivia before heading to my surprisingly productive Playwriting meeting at a Starbucks wannabe coffeehouse.  I snapped a few of the photos shown here before heading off to catch an early bus back to Haskovo.  One really does need to limit time in Sofia lest you somehow lose your sense of what’s real in PC. (Pictured: Another shot of the Russian Church since it was such a beautiful day)

This upcoming weekend I’m off once again – this time to celebrate a truly American tradition, St. Patrick’s Day.  A few kindly PCV’s up in a city called Shumen are throwing a bash.  Heck, I might have some green beer (if we can find some food dye) in honor of my dad and a legendary tale about him.  Rumor has it that we may be able to go horseback riding as well, which is something I truly enjoy.  Looks to be another fun weekend…

Posted by: mjmarble at March 17, 2006 10:05 | link | comments (3)

Comments:

#1  20 March 2006 - 23:01

 

I felt the same way about Sofia when I lived in Pazardjik: stay away from it as much as possible. I'm glad I lived close so I rarely had to stay the night there.

The statue is called--get ready for this--"Sofia." It was new in late 2001 or early 2002. The flags weren't there when I lived in BG.

Have you seen a stork yet? I miss the martenitsi!

Anonymous

#2  21 March 2006 - 13:41

 

I still haven't seen a stork, although I have a friend or two who have. Some people tell me not to bother with the stork, just wait until I see the first tree blossom.

mjmarble

#3  18 April 2006 - 02:31

 

Hey dude you got old, I turned 18 a week ago.

-Andrew Raczka

Anonymous

Comments: