Bulgarian Transportation of the Week: The Thumb!
Friday, April 11, 2008

The Thumb! (палецът!) Better known as hitchhiking (пътуване на автостоп)

It’s a great way to see the country, meet new people and add adventure to your adventure. Personally, I’d never hitchhiked before and was a little weary of doing it in a foreign country with a language I have a minimal grasp of. However, my fears were assuaged and I struck up conversations with some awesome people. Other PCVs have had similar experiences like former vafla aficionado and all round bad ass, Thomas Lodwick.And yes, I did steal that sweet pic from the linked entry. I have no qualms or apologies. For the lackadaisical PCV (like Mr. Lodwick and myself), hitchhiking is merely a mode of transportation in our arsenal. It's not a necessity, but spices up our trip and eases our wallet. However, other PCVs living remote areas (especially the illustrious ones in the Rhodopi mountains) find hitch-hiking indispensable and often times, inevitable. Villagers in the Rhodopis, where I first learned how to hitchhike, are very friendly and understanding of the circumstances for hitch-hiking (namely, the lack of a frequent bus schedule). Hitchhiking here is a way of life. However, The Word From Upon High That Bans All Things Fun (also known as the Peace Corps Policy Manuel), states in Section 23, subsection 1.2.5 "Hitchhiking is strictly forbidden". On the other hand, Lonely Planet, the premiere tour guide book, declares:

Lonely Planet makes a habit of warning against hitchhiking in its standard text section in the back of guidebooks; ignore that here. Bulgaria practically begs you to do it - or at least pick people up. It's an everyday means of getting around for people who often lack their own transport. Grandmas pile bags into cars on the side of the highways, lone children hold out hand to stop strangers' cars to get to school - the only fear is whether or not the driver will be playing chalga -nauseatingly joyful, relentless, bouncing disco music ('truck driver music,' one Sofian hipster scoffed).
I couldn't say it better myself. A few tips to successfully hitchhike:
  1. If you're in a large group, split up into groups of 2 or 3
  2. Be sure to keep that thumb up when you see a car coming
  3. Tourists don't tend to pick up hitchhikers
  4. Always be gracious when you get picked up
  5. Swap awesome stories

However, the absolute MUST after a successful hitch is to brag about it to your suburban friends. You'll quickly been the envy of everyone (or least get a "Dude, we know you're doing awesome things. Stop making us feel bad about it").

Sometimes the driver may ask for money. This may not alway be a bad thing as the driver can be more hospitable. For instance, I and a few other PCVs, caught a ride with a guy going to Plovdiv. He only asked us for 8lv (the bus ticket was 9lv) and he would be faster. We took him up on his offer. About an hour and a half later, he wanted to know we want to take a side trip to a monastery. How could we refuse? He was an excellent tour guide.

All that said, hitchhiking, although strictly against PC policy, can be an interesting and rewarding experience that lets you reap the fruits of your integration skills. I for one, will plan on including hitchhiking into my next Bulgarian adventure!

J-Dub "The Duke" Paperstax

Posted byJimmy at 11:41 AM 1 comments  

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Smell of the week: British Airways Terminal 5
Thursday, April 10, 2008

Stacie and I had to travel back to the States on the 31st, and were there until the 6th for reasons soon to be described in our blog. As many of you know, traveling certainly has its ups and downs. The trip home consisted of our usual midnight bus ride down to Istanbul, a flight to London, Los Angeles, and finally Reno (for a grand total of 39 hours from Sliven to Reno). We booked with three different carriers in order to get the best deal and the best connection times because we had to book so last minute. Our journey home went completely without incident and we made all our connections.

But the way back was a different story. We had a 3pm flight out of Los Angeles to London but did not depart until 9:30pm because of a freak snow storm in London and all of the problems they have been having there. Of course, we missed our connection flight on WizzAir as a result. But lucky for us, if we had not been delayed by that much we would not have met Elijah Wood waiting for our baggage. These candid photos are the only pics I have, as we were in a hurry to try and make our connection (in vain). I wanted to give blogstar readers the exclusive, you won't find this stuff anywhere else.

The conversation went like this: I walked up to him and said “are you Elijah Wood”, and he said “yeah, I am” then I said “wow, nice to meet you”. That was pretty much it. I do regret not asking for a picture of us together for further proof, or some kind of autograph, but unfortunately I did not have a copy of Lord of the Rings handy. I have seen all three movies at least two times a piece and do consider myself a fan. So thanks British Air.

Unfortunately, that WizzAir flight to Sofia was the last one for the day, so we had to spend the night in London. Because we did not book that last leg through British Air, they said they could not help us with anything from that point on. “We are only responsible for getting you here” the customer service guy said. How kind. We soon discovered how much we hated a weak dollar when we got a room for the night and booked our flight out the next day. But we arrived in Sofia yesterday morning at 2am and were happy to be back only two and a half days after leaving.

Terminal 5 in London smells quite new actually and is very pleasing to the eye, but I just don’t like the idea of flying on British Air anymore.

Posted byUnknown at 11:38 PM 0 comments  

Bulgarian Graffiti / Architecture of the week
Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Normally I would be posting on crazy pictures and phrases sprayed on the side of buildings and local monuments or communist architecture............but today I will have to step away from my duties because I am in a sling. My typing is a bit bavno. I hope to be back to full health by next week. Take care!

Posted byCindy Lou at 10:46 PM 0 comments  

Renegade Post #2!! Bulgarian Word/Phrase of the Day:

Welcome to another disrupt in the "flow" of Blogstars. We will not have a post today on either Valfa or Blok Art, in its place we will have me, "Vasil Aprilov", feeding you the Bulgarian Word or Phrase of the Week. Here goes:

This weeks word is, "Bреме". While it looks like you non-Bulgarian speakers can read it, I assure you that it is harder than it seems. This word is pronounced like, "Vreme".

This word has two meanings and they are extremely confusing as both of these are very commonly used words.

Meaning number one; "Weather"...
(Picture of a Burgas, Bulgaria sunset)

Meaning number two; "Time"..."How confusing!??!" You might say. Well I agree.

Whenever I want to say, "The weather is great", I feel that I am saying that "The time is great", or the other way around, "It took a long weather" instead of "time" and that my speech will be even less understood than it already is. This makes me very apprehensive to use this common word and there is no way around it.

So I ask you dear Bulgarian readers to invent and begun using another word for one or the other, if only for my sake. This will also help me to read signs like these:
Well, the second one make sense, "Work time", however the first one... is it "New time" or "New weather"? I don't know.

In closing, I propose a new word be added to the Bulgarian language. Please feel free to submit ideas in the "Comments" section located at the bottom of this blog. Thank you.

-Vasil Aprilov

(PS- In 1835 Vasil Aprilov founded the first school to teach entirely in Bulgarian and he helped with the creation of the Bulgarian publishing industry.)

Posted byPavel at 9:52 PM 1 comments  

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Dear America: Volume I; Intro, Renegade Tactics, Freedom and Rubber Boots
Monday, April 7, 2008

Dear America,

Due to the recent retirement of certain blogstars, I, from-hither-to known as Snake Plissken, have taken it upon myself to due renegade inconsistent blog posts on a fairly consistent theme. The theme will be, more or less:

To write about exports from the United States of America to Bulgaria which need to be de-exported or un-exported and, contrarily to write about things present in Bulgaria that need to be imported into the USA. These will not all be tangible things; some will be ideas, attitudes, soulja boy, etc...
Like any great blogger, I will post as inspired, which is contrary to the usual (or at least ideal) of the blogstars - to have one person post on the same theme on the same day every week. If this confuses you, send comments to me personally at my friend Kellen's website. My main inspiration for these tactics comes from the ending of the epic film, "Escape from L.A."

So, to begin, again. Today we will start on a positive note, with something America needs to import from Bulgaria. Ahem.

Dear America,

You know what gets me down?

Walking through the rain, snow, hurricanes, giant mud puddles, piles of sludge, swamps and rivers. At least, back in America I thought these things got me down. Coming to Bulgaria, however, I realized that what really got me down my inability to tackle these obstacles without soaking my pants, having a shoe slip off, getting covered in mud, losing all hope, etc... In America, it seemed there was no viable solution to this problem. At least, if there was a viable solution, it wasn't available for 12 leva every Thursday at the local market.

I give you, knee-high rubber boots:

Bulgaria, knowing what's going on, has made the solution to all your wet-walking woes readily available. These boots, beyond being completely waterproof, are green and magically reach the knee on whoever wears them. Sure, you could buy Gore-Tex or other similar lofty waterproof and breathable boots, but what good are those going to do you when you have to walk through knee-high mud? Not a whole lot, that's for sure.

Let's have a closer look:

Look at those soles! My guess is that if dinosaurs had existed, even they wouldn't be able to penetrate these boots. As I said, these boots are available at least every week at the local market, and upon inquiring to each vendor on the cost, they all told me 12 leva, which in a couple months will be about 12 dollars.

After inquiring, I discovered that it is not a state policy to ensure that all such rubber boots cost 12 leva, it is however, required by the unwritten, unspoken and unheard of moral code of the rubber boot salespeople.

What about the inside?

The white you see is not an illusion or a lining associated with the production of the boots. Oh no, it is the reflection of a secret coating that, once it senses the boot is on a foot, it gives you all the knowledge necessary to be a shepherd in the hills of the Balkans.

I contacted a local Peace Corps volunteer to try on the boots. As soon as he put them on, he struck into this pose and told me there was a wolf 13 kilometers away threating our goats.

After taking off the boots, he forgot all about it, like when they flash that memory eraser in that movie the Men in Black. Regardless, the evidence speaks for itself.

Fear not, however, America, the coating does not have to be on the boots you import. So, in conclusion, America, Bulgaria knows what's going on so, import these rubber boots and you will never have to worry about getting the area from your knee down wet again.

Importly and Exportly Yours,

Snake Plissken.

PS On a related note, recently, in Bulgaria, I saw the music video by Will Smith for "Men in Black" -- this needs to be un-exported. Immediately. It makes everyone think all we do in America is bust a groove with aliens that at first are scary but then turn out to just want to dance -- a complete misrepresentation of the status of human/alien/dancing relationships in the lower 48 (Snake Plissken does not count Hawaii and Alaska as states).

Posted byb22blogstars at 10:00 AM 0 comments  

B22 Interview of the Week - Hello Wil
Sunday, April 6, 2008

Hello Wil!

How does it feel to be a new addition to the blogstars?
HONESTLY, I'M HONORED. THE B22 BLOGSTAR SITE HAS LONG BEEN A PLACE I GO IN SEARCH OF COMFORT AND COMEDY DURING THOSE LONG TEDIOUS HOURS SEARCHING FOR INFO ONLINE.

What sort of info online?
OH, YOU KNOW. FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES, THE NAMES OF BIRDS, STORIES ABOUT BIRDS, ECO-PROJECTS, AND LATELY, CAN I CONFESS SOMETHING HERE? ('razbeerasay,' I say) LATELY, I'VE BECOME SOMETHING OF A POLITICAL NEWS JUNKIE. GROWING UP, I NEVER UNDERSTOOD WHAT MY FRIENDS FOUND SO FASCINATING IN THE SPORTS SECTION OF THE PAPER. NOW I THINK I KNOW. DAILY I NEED ANALYSIS OF THE STATE OF THE PRIMARY RACE IN THE STATES.

Wil, that's no way to live.
I KNOW. I AGREE. AND THIS ADMISSION BRINGS US BACK TO THE FIRST QUESTION YOU ASKED ME ABOUT BLOGSTARRING. I'M THE SORT OF MAN WHO NEEDS TO SMELL THE FOOD BURNING IN THE OVEN TO REMEMBER TO PULL IT OUT. I LIKE MY LIFE TO HAVE SOME STRUCTURE. I WAS EXCITED TO JOIN BLOGSTARS BECAUSE I HOPED BEING A PART OF THIS GROUP WOULD HELP ME QUIT THE DESTRUCTIVE HABITS I HAVE FALLEN INTO AND FULFILL ALL THE OTHER DREAMS I HAVE EVER HAD IN MY LIFE. FOR EXAMPLE, STARTING MY OWN BLOG, WRITING A NOVEL, OR AT LEAST A FEW SHORT STORIES, SINGING A SONG, LEARNING HOW TO MAKE PASTA, ETC.

You are a man with high expectations.
I'VE NOTICED IN MY LIFE THAT I AM MOST PRODUCTIVE WHEN I AM WORKING ON MANY THINGS AT THE SAME TIME. WHEN I DON'T HAVE MUCH GOING ON, I DON'T SEEM TO DO ANYTHING.

I'm not sure if that's wisdom I just heard or a parallelism poem. Well, certainly it seems that there is a lot going on in your head about what being a blogstar means to you. Can we talk about what it means to be a peace corps volunteer in Bulgaria?
OF COURSE! I WORK WITH AN ENVIRONMENTAL NGO CALLED THE BULGARIAN SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS. MOST OF MY WORK SO FAR HAS BEEN TYPICAL OFFICE HELP AND OCCASIONALLY I HAVE ACCOMPANIED THEM ON THEIR WINTER BIRD COUNTS. WE COUNT THE BIRDS IN THE SURROUNDING LAKES AND SEND THE INFORMATION TO BIRDLIFE INTERNATIONAL, WHO KEEP A GIANT GLOBAL DATABASE. THIS INFORMATION CAN BE USED TO DETERMINE THE HEALTH OF A PARTICULAR SPECIES, LARGER ENVIRONMENTS, AND ULTIMATELY, THE ENTIRE GLOBE. THE IDEA IS IF THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE WHO LOVES BIRDS ALREADY, WHY NOT USE THEIR LOVE AND HOBBY TO GATHER QUANTIFIABLE HARD DATA, WHICH CAN BE USED FOR A MULTITUDE OF PURPOSES, ONE IN PARTICULAR IN BULGARIA WAS DETERMINING WHAT PARTS OF LANDS HAD HIGH CONCENTRATIONS OF BIO-DIVERSITY, AND THEREFORE, WHAT PARTS OF LANDS SHOULD BE INCLUDED IN THE NATURA 2000 LEGISLATIONS.

Who knew that bird watching could be so powerful?
WELL, THOUSANDS UPON THOUSANDS ACTUALLY. BIRD WATCHING IS A VERY POPULAR HOBBY. THE NATURE CENTER I WILL WORK AT IN THE SUMMER WILL BE VISITED BY MANY BRITISH, GERMAN, AND OTHER INTERNATIONAL VISITORS. IN FACT, I HAVE BEEN TOLD I WILL BE VERY BUSY VERY SOON AND AM CURRENTLY PRACTICING THE BIRD HABITAT BIO-DIVERSITY TOUR LECTURE I WILL BE GIVING WHEN THESE ENGLISH SPEAKING TOURISTS ARRIVE.

Sounds like you are doing great work. You must get hungry often. What is your favorite Bulgarian food?
I CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF MY WIFE'S SHOPSKA. IT'S A RECIPE SHE GOT FROM HER HOST MOM (AND PERFECTED!)

What food do you miss the most?
I CONTINUALLY FANTASIZE ABOUT EATING AN ASIAGO-CHEESE BAGEL AND STARBUCKS VENTI MOCHA FRAPPACHINO.

What do you do in your spare time?
LATELY, I HAVE BEEN WATCHING AN AMERICAN TV SHOW CALLED SUPERNATURAL ABOUT TWO BROTHERS, WHO REMIND ME OF THE HARDY BOYS WITH SALT SHOTGUNS, ON A CROSS COUNTRY ROAD TRIP HUNTING DEMONS AND OTHER SPOOKY CREATURES. MY COUNTERPARTS INTRODUCED ME TO IT AND I CAN'T WATCH IT WITHOUT THINKING ABOUT HOW IT IS INFLUENCING THEIR PERCEPTION OF AMERICA. AND SOMETIMES I READ.

What do you read?
SPIDER-MAN COMICS MOSTLY. THAT, AND I'M A FAN OF CLASSIC LITERATURE; I WAS AN ENGLISH MAJOR IN COLLEGE, SO I CAN BE PRETTY ELITIST WHEN IT COMES TO WHAT I WANT TO READ.

I once heard that regarding criticism, the best test of the quality of a book is if it is one you would want to re-read or not.
HMM. I WOULD AGREE WITH THAT.

Have you traveled much in Bulgaria?
WE JUST GOT OUT OF WINTER, SO NO, NOT A LOT. BUT A LITTLE. AND I HOPE TO TRAVEL A LOT MORE. JESS AND I WENT SKIING AT PAMPOROVO AND REALLY ENJOYED SEEING THE KUKERI FESTIVAL IN SHIROKA LUKA. AND I LIKED THE ANCIENT ROMAN RUINS IN HISSAR; I LIKE TO PUT MY HAND ON THE RUINS AND THINK - DID AN ANCIENT ROMAN PERHAPS LEAN AGAINST THIS WALL, DID HE SPIT, PEE, OR DIE AGAINST IT? WAS THIS ONCE THE SITE OF REBELLIOUS GRAFFITI OR SHADOW PUPPET SHOWS? I MEAN, ONE OF THE THINGS I REALLY LIKE ABOUT BULGARIA IS THE IMMENSE AMOUNT OF HISTORY. IT'S SORT OF TAKEN FOR GRANTED, I THINK; BUT IT'S VERY INTERESTING TO ME TO SEE THE REMAINS OF THESE ANCIENT EMPIRES AND TO PARTICIPATE IN ALL THE OLD HOLIDAY TRADITIONS.

Well, thank you good sir, any closing thoughts? Share your greatest strengths or weaknesses? Tell us your favorite bird? Your favorite season?
IT'S DIFFICULT TO BE THANKFUL SOMETIMES. IMAGINATION IS ONE OF THOSE THINGS, I THINK, THAT CAN BE A REAL BLESSING IN SOME SITUATIONS AND A REAL CURSE IN SOME SITUATIONS. I THINK MY BIGGEST STRUGGLE, AND PROBABLY MOST PCVS STRUGGLE IS TO NOT NEGLECT THE LIFE THEY ARE LIVING FOR THE ONE THEY CAN IMAGINE. I FIND MYSELF, YOU KNOW, A STRANGER BECAUSE OF THE LIMITATIONS TO WHAT CAN BE DONE, THE LANGUAGE BARRIER, THE UNCERTAINTY, THE NEWNESS OF EVERYTHING... AND IT'S EASY TO PREFER OBSERVING OVER PARTICIPATING. AND THAT CAN LEAD TO REFLECTING ABOUT WHAT I'M NOT DOING THAN WHAT I AM. SO THAT'S MY STRUGGLE. TO BE THANKFUL ALL THE TIME.

Well, thank you for your time. I hope you have a marvelous week and a fantastic two years.
MERCI, PODOVNO.

Posted byWil Dalton at 12:59 PM 1 comments  

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