In Seattle for the Holidays...

Greetings from Seattle! After a long plane ride (made all the more pleasant by my travel buddy L.) and two nearly-missed connections in Amsterdam and Minneapolis I finally met my dad and brother at the airport. The first thing we did was meet my stepmom at the Greenlake Grill where I ordered my first real cheeseburger in over 6 months. It was glorious! I told my mom the other day that while I'm happy to see everyone back home, one of the most exciting reasons for me to visit was the food. I'm half-joking, maybe. So far I haven't seen too many of my friends but I have been catching up a lot with my mom and brother, which is good. Yesterday my mom and I drove two hours north to see her sister in Bellingham, a familiar road trip that brought back a lot of memories. Sometimes coming home can be hard because of how people and places change in ways that are beyond our control, but I'm staying positive and just enjoying the time I have here as much as I can. It's weird to think that tomorrow night is Christmas Eve already. So many people to see! I hope that everyone reading has a fun, safe holiday spent with loved ones. Merry Christmas! 

Лешникотрошачката

Last night I went with some friends to see The Nutcracker at the Sofia Opera House. We got the idea to go a couple of weeks ago but I didn't actually buy the tickets until Thursday, when they were nearly sold out. Luckily I was able to find three seats together (last row to the left on the first balcony) and the tickets were only 12 leva, or about 8 dollars each. It was raining pretty hard outside and we were running late because I can never seem to go anywhere on time, but we found our seats in time for the opening scene. I hadn't seen The Nutcracker since I was a little girl when my grandma used to take me every year at the Pacific Northwest Ballet. My favorite part about that production was always the visual aspect. Their costumes and sets are designed by Maurice Sendak, one of my favorite authors as a child. So in my memory of the ballet, there was a specific artistic direction and style because of how unique that production was. It was interesting to compare the two. I think that the one in Sofia was more traditional in the sense that the costumes were simpler and the focus was more on the dancing and orchestra (both of which were excellent). I really enjoyed hearing the songs that remind me so much of my childhood and seeing the beautiful interior of the Opera House.

After the ballet we went for a pizza at my new favorite restaurant, Leo's. It's authentic Rome-style pizza, cooked in a wood fire oven, and the prices are reasonable. I've already been there at least three times. Later on we went out for drinks and dancing at a club in the center. I don't usually go out to clubs in Sofia but it was a lot of fun. They played all "retro hits," mostly from the early 90's, and a bunch of other friends came out to say goodbye before Laura and I head back to the States for a couple of weeks. I'll miss my Sofia friends but I'm definitely excited see the family and just take some time to relax in Seattle. I'm going to try to meet up with as many friends as I can, too. It's hard to say when we'll see each other next because everyone is doing so many different things and we're never all in the same place. Right now I've got less than twelve hours before my flight leaves and I'm only halfway packed, so I'd better go finish that...

Happy First Day of Snow!

Well, almost the first day of snow. If you recall, it did snow for about an hour way back in October, but this afternoon it started snowing in earnest, enough to actually cover the ground, so I am declaring this the official first day of snow in Sofia.

Today brings back sometimes funny but mostly embarrassing memories from last year when I fell down on my butt not once, not twice, but three times in the snow. This year I feel more prepared: I've got my ugly snow boots for very cold days, nice sturdy knee-high leather boots and a new pair of "authentic Bulgarian leather" booties with a warm fuzzy lining. I also picked up a long winter coat from a charity second-hand shop (for five dollars!) and a puffy marshmallow coat with a fake fur collar. Although I can't say I really enjoy trudging slowly across wet pavements in winter for fear that I'll injure myself, I do like dressing up in winter clothes (hats, mittens, scarves, thick socks... I even bought a pair of leg-warmers!). I also like staying in bed with the radiator on, drinking lots and lots of tea and watching the snow fall outside my window.

Another reason to look forward to winter: I'm going back to Seattle for the holidays in about ten days. I am very, very excited to see my family and friends for a little while. After missing out last year, I am feeling a lot of nostalgia for the Christmases of my childhood. I'm even listening to Christmas music voluntarily! When I worked at Starbucks I used to start hating it after the first week or two of non-stop Christmas tunes. But today in my classes I did a lesson on holiday songs that ended in the whole class enthusiastically singing the chorus to "Jingle Bells." So I am definitely getting into the holiday spirit. I hope that you are, too! 

Azis: a cultural icon?

If you've been to Bulgaria or I have ever subjected you to the Youtube videos, you know who Azis is. For those of you who don't, he is probably the most controversial celebrity in Bulgaria today. Why? It might have something to do with his background- he is Roma and identifies as either gay or bisexual, something which seems to change depending on his mood. In Bulgaria, as in all European countries with a Roma minority, there is a heavy amount of institutionalized prejudice against Roma for reasons I won't get into here. Because of this, Azis experiences double (or even triple) prejudice as a result of his identity as Roma, queer and a leading figure in Bulgarian pop-folk music, commonly referred to as chalga. 

Pop-folk, as its fans prefer to call it, is a fascinating combination of folk music, techno, pop and oriental tunes represented in every Balkan country. A lot of the most popular Bulgarian pop-folk songs are, apparently, translations of Greek, Serbian or Romanian hits. Pop-folk originated in the early transitional years, after the so-called collapse of socialism, and has its own subculture characterized by grandiose displays of wealth, scantily-clad female dancers and lewd, bawdy lyrics. For example: "Oh little millionaire, you've got money, you walk on women... give out your money, give it to everyone, little millionaire." Recently I went to one of the famous chalga clubs in Sofia to see Azis perform live, and my expectations were pretty high. If you've seen one of his videos, you'll understand. As you can see in the photo above, his entrance was impressive: dressed in full-length white angel wings, high heels and a tight, revealing bathing suit (?). But his performance went downhill from there. Most of the time he was sitting on a couch onstage, occasionally belting out a few lines with another singer. The best part of the experience was definitely the crowd-watching, but I was pretty disappointed overall. Maybe my standards were set too high (I was expecting the Bulgarian version of Cher or Lady Gaga) or Azis has just gotten lazy lately. And you can hardly blame him.

Soon after this under-whelming show, Azis announced publicly that he will be leaving Bulgaria for good, off to an unspecified location. He cited the lack of respect for his talent and the growing level of homophobia as reasons for his departure. Read more here. I'm not sure how much of this is a publicity stunt, and despite his international following I can hardly imagine him gaining enough popularity abroad to support himself. Although Perez Hilton is a big fan, he doesn't seem to be up-to-date on these recent developments, or Azis' newest video, which may be the most provocative one yet. You really have to just watch it, but it includes a naked sauna scene (the tub he's sitting in has "Russia" written across the front) in which his genitalia are "censored" by a small hammer and sickle symbol. What this has to do with the lyrics, I'm not sure... but I think this is part of his enigmatic public persona. Most Bulgarians either love or hate him (and I think we can safely assume there are more haters at this point) and my friends here are usually shocked to learn that I like him, or listen to his music.

For the record, I'm not a big chalga fan. I think that the rhythm is too fast-paced and gives me a headache. But Azis is always a good conversation-starter, because of his attitude towards traditional gender roles and social norms in Bulgaria. And I think that this is as good an argument as any for his status as a "cultural icon."