I am so, so (In honor of Steve Reich's birthday yesterday: so, so, so, so, so, so, so...) sorry that this post is coming so far in arrears. Last week threw me a few too many curveballs, and as a consequence, I spent too much time having experiences and not enough time writing about them. (Wait...) But here we are, and all I can do is to give you an enjoyable and informative retrospective. So:
Last weekend started off with another Folk Festival, При шопите в Казичене ("Of the Shopi of Kazichene"). I got up bright and early to go meet Xristo, who agreed to come with me. We got to the center of town and found all manner of people, every one dressed to the nines - dancers, singers, instrumentalists, spectators. Particularly abundant were the баби (Literally, "grandmothers," these are the older women of the villages who still sing in the old style) and some (incredibly good) junior dance ensembles. We stayed and observed for a few hours, giving me my first live taste of what I came here to study. Have a few pictures:
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| 3 баби |
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| Super good U-14 dance troupe |
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| In action |
We headed back to Sofia where I ran some errands and hurriedly packed, because I had a flight to catch to Germany. I got to the airport with less than an hour to go before takeoff, sailed through, and made it to Vienna without incident (whew!). After a protracted layover in Vienna due to a missing crew, we finally boarded and made it to Munich 90 minutes late. And, dear Lord, was it good to see my girlfriend after nearly two months? It was.
The next day, we went on a tour of the city for a few hours. Noteworthy were the Englischer Garten, the surfers therein who were surfing in the river (!), the historic architecture in the Marienplatz, and other items of Historic Value, of which there were many. After an obscenely pleasant afternoon seeing all these things (and eating what was perhaps the most delicious pretzel of my life), we went home and changed to go to Oktoberfest.
This rowdy, alcoholic mainstay of German culture (Wait...) was everything I had imagined (i.e. a 50,000-person frat party) and more. We started off by checking out a few of the beer tents, ended up at the Armbrustschützenzelt (I dare you to pronounce and/or translate that), had a €9 (!) liter of beer each, made friends with a group of Australians, then went in search of more fun. At our second tent, we made friends with a very nice couple from Düsseldorf who led us to a Biergarten after the tents shut down. At 10 PM. What? No matter; we managed to extend the night for quite a while after that. We somehow got lost in the woods (along with hundreds of other revelers), took two cabs and a bus, and missed our last bus home by 30 seconds. Luckily, the night buses run every hour, so we waited out in the blistering cold for 59 minutes and 30 seconds before finally getting home at 3:45 AM. Of course.
The next day was, to unabashedly plagiarize the author of a certain Text from Last Night, a beautiful one for a hangover, and Laura and I spent part of it on the lovely chore of childcare. Luckily, the kids she's taking care of are adorable, and I had a nice chance to practice my German, my command of which is similar to that of a young child. After a most welcome nap, we went out to a nice dinner at a cool little Italian restaurant somewhere in Munich (Don't ask me where anything is. I couldn't tell you).
The next day we saw a little more of Munich (including, most notably, the Frauenkirche, the Pope's old stomping grounds) and then it was time for me to fly. Though I pulled the same routine as I had on the way there (arriving at the airport in less time than was probably advisable), I made my flight, and, after another delay in Vienna, made my way back to Sofia where--surprise!--it had gotten cold in my absence.
Wednesday night was Erev Rosh HaShanah, and I spent most of the day cleaning and getting ready. Before sundown, I headed over to the synagogue with Greg, and we sat through the most disorderly High Holiday service I had ever attended. Not that it was that bad, but there was a lot of (very audible) confusion coming from the masses. But for all that, it was a cool experience, as it was my first time in an Orthodox service (other than Shabbat services once or twice), and one in the Balkans, at that. It was over in an hour, everyone wished each other L'Shana Tovah, and we went home. The next morning I showed up ready for anything, and found a rather small group for Rosh HaShanah morning. The service was a marked departure from the Conservative/Reform blend I've gotten used to in the States, but it was cool. I took the rest of the day off, as I was starting to get sick and it was an important holiday besides.
That night, I met up with a few Fulbrighters who were in town for a second round of orientation, and we went out to dinner. It was delicious Moroccan food, and I met a couple cool new people. The next day was Official Day 1 of orientation, so we spent the day in seminars, presentations, and such. That night we had a swanky reception, and we finished it off by heading to a pretentious little bar for a few drinks afterwards.
But, sick as I was, I called it an early night, and a good thing, because early on Saturday, we took a day trip to Plovdiv. Now, I had never been there, and it's a cool city. At least, the parts we saw were. We were limited to the Old City, but there was lots to see, including old Roman ruins. We had a semi-swanky lunch at a semi-swanky restaurant, walked around a little more, saw the city's mosque, and headed home. Why not some pictures?
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| Roman-era fortifications |
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| One of the hills upon which Plovdiv is built |
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| The house of Nacho Kulturata, the Culture Tsar of Plovdiv |
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| Roman amphitheatre |
That night we headed out to dinner again, got drinks afterward, and I was home in time to listen to Roy Halladay's first pitch in Game 1 of the NLDS.
Sunday was my typical lazy-productive day, with the exception of a delicious lunch of Lebanese food with Melissa, Irena, and Laura (one of the newly Sofia'd Fulbrighters, not that Laura). Taking the day mostly off set me up to get back to work this week, and thank the Lord I did, as I was starting to feel useless, having taken the whole week off. Combined with the fact that I was sick and tired, I had had a pretty Down couple of days. But, over the course of the last two days, I have successfully remounted the Productivity Horse. And now off into the hinterland I ride. I hope you've enjoyed this rambling account of a random string of days that happened to be adjacent. I will see y'all later this week.
Bonus Paragraph: WFC.
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