Winterish

Phew! I've been back in Sofia for two weeks and the time that's already passed seems like a blur. After the first week spent adjusting to the time difference and feeling pretty homesick, I started to get used to my normal life again. I met up with friends, had some nice chats with colleagues over coffee, and even went ice skating with two of my students. I've been ice skating twice this week, in fact, and I have to say that it is one of the only redeeming qualities about Sofia in the winter. While I love looking outside at a perfect white blanket of snow over everything, mostly I think crap, I don't want to go out in this! Outdoor ice skating, however, makes it just about bearable. It's a fun way to warm up in this weather, no matter how terrible a skater I am.

Another fun activity I enjoyed last weekend was horseback riding with my friend K. We drove out to a place on the other side of Mount Vitosha and spent a couple of hours with the horses, taking pictures and enjoying the scenery. Everything was so much more beautiful with the snowy backdrop. The riding instructors were very knowledgeable and made sure we were comfortable riding before letting us go fast or do anything remotely dangerous. The riding center is called "Adgor" and you can find directions and more information here.

More than anything I think that time is passing by so quickly because I'm happy here. I feel lucky to have so many fantastic people around me and I'm trying to appreciate this experience as much as I can!

David Bowie Nostalgia Rush

I love David Bowie. So does my family. I bought his Greatest Hits album years and years ago and we still listen to it on repeat in the car. Listening to it now reminds me of growing up in Seattle, singing in the car with my mom or riding the bus in high school with my walk-man at full volume (I'm still pretty much a late adopter to technology, though I have upgraded to an Ipod since then). I've been collecting his earlier albums, too, and I love some of the tracks you don't normally hear on the radio, like "Kooks" from Hunky Dory. One of my favorite directors- Wes Anderson- used a lot of his music on the soundtrack to The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004) as well as some cover versions of his songs by a Brazilian singer, Seu Jorge, who sang them in Portuguese. His cover of "Life on Mars" is incredibly beautiful. I've seen Bowie live in concert once. He came to Seattle for his (probably) final performance when I was 16 . He definitely hasn't gone on tour again since. My mom surprised me with tickets and him being my favorite singer EVER, I was very excited to go. It's still my favorite memory with my mother. She would always do cool stuff like that with me and my brother, and made a lot of our dreams a reality. That's how I was able to travel abroad for the first time when I went to El Salvador. While I was in Seattle over the holidays somehow this music and the memories it stirs up, combined with the familiar cityscapes we passed while driving around, really made me nostalgic and miss that place in a way I rarely feel. While I don't really identify with it anymore, there are so many parts of my life that are intertwined with my hometown and I know that wherever I go in the world, there is a place I can always go back to that pulls me in like gravity. It's a very comfortable feeling. 

Decentralized Dance Party

Okay, so in my previous post I mentioned going to a flash-mob style dance party in Seattle. I'd like to elaborate, because I think the concept is pretty awesome. Basically, these guys from Canada came up with the idea to have a "decentralized" event where they provide the music on an Ipod which they use to broadcast to a specific radio frequency that can be transmitted to up to 300 music players at once. So the idea is to get enough people to show up (in costumes) to the event with boomboxes that there are moving speakers everywhere and the sound follows the people at the dance party. These parties have traveled all over the United States and I had the pleasure to attend the first one held in Seattle. I first found out about Decentralized Dance Party (DDP) through my very hip and tech-trendy friend L, through whom I have discovered much of my new favorite music throughout the years. The costume theme was "business casual," and a lot of people showed up, despite the misty weather typical for December nights. The music was mostly retro hits, with some Daft Punk and other electronic dance-pop mixed in. Apparently they're on a big tour, so keep an eye out and if you have the chance to go, it's a lot of (mostly) good, clean fun.

Back in Bulgaria... and post-holiday blues

My three weeks in Seattle ended up being a whirlwind of social activities, which is actually how most of my trips back home tend to go. I visited three other cities (Bellingham, Portland and Tacoma) to see family and friends, went to an awesome flash-mob style dance party, spent New Year's Eve with some of the best people I know, met one of my stepbrothers for the first time ever and spent lots of quality time with my (large) extended family. The 8th of January definitely sneaked up on me, and I was exhausted by the end of the trip just trying to fit everything in. I never manage to accomplish everything I want to in such a short period but I did cover most of my bases, catching up with old friends and visiting far-away relatives. Now that I'm back in Sofia it's sort of a bittersweet mixture of being excited about the new school term (and seeing my students) and getting together with friends here, but also feeling homesick and pretty sad that I won't get a chance to see my family again for a long time. And the weather outside doesn't help much. Yesterday I was feeling this way more than usual, probably because I stayed at home by myself most of the day. Meeting friends in the evening made a huge difference. So I'm still getting used to the time difference, going to bed earlier and picking up my routine again... Tough life, right? Here are some photos from home that are making me smile.