Strumica, Macedonia

A couple of weeks ago, BH was invited to a Deaf festival in Eastern Macedonia. Our savings are running a little low, but we figured we could go for the weekend. I finished Bulgarian language classes on Friday, and we left at 3:30 to catch the bus that leaves daily from Sofia to Strumica. Our friends picked us up at the airport, and we had a ‘Macedonian’ dinner. Last time our Macedonian friends brought us out for Macedonian food they gave us pizza. This time it was pizza and pasta. We still haven’t had a traditional Macedonian meal! 

BH was brave and decided to just point at something random on the money, but he ended up with liver. Sad. 

Who doesn't want worms?

Dinner was followed by some quick sight-seeing. Strumica is a really ugly city. I would not recommend going to Strumica for the sake of Strumica. Luckily, this was just the first stop on our trip.

Pedestrian Area

Goltse Delchev

Ugly Tree

We ended up at a café downtown in a mall that apparently never closes. We got there at around 11, and it was pumping. In a kind of gross way. Music from all the different restaurants and bars were mixing together in an awful way. Pop-folk and techno do not mix. I was sort of a tuckered out guy, and eventually we left. We headed an hour south to the city of Bogdancia to spend the night with our Deaf friends from Macedonia.

Final Exam and Presentation

I finished up my Bulgarian class on Friday. It went by pretty quickly. Three weeks, five days a week, five hours a day. 60 course hours.
I started the class really unsure and awkward. I'm still unsure and awkward. But hopefully less so. And I definitely met some nice people. Like me, they want to learn Bulgarian, so outside of class we mostly spoke Bulgarian. I still have a LOT of vocabulary to learn if I want to be able to have decent conversations. It will be weird to finish this class. March was the first time I was actually busy this year. It was a nice change.
I also had to give a presentation in Bulgarian. I decided to talk about the political party I'm studying in Sofia, and what research I plan on doing in the future. This may sound difficult, but, luckily, a lot of the political words are very similar to their English counterparts. I showed the survey that I am working on as well, and they gave me some much needed feedback. April, here I come!

WTF

I was on the bus yesterday and sat down next to this kind of shady guy. He kept trying to make eye contact, but I didn't really feel like talking to anyone, so I just tried to ignore him. He eventually said something, and, not understanding, I said 'what?' and he showed me this.

He slowly pulled out this creepy saw bladed knife out of its scabbard. And stared at me the whole time. I didn't know what to do. If I was in the states, I would probably start screaming and call the cops or something. But I'm in Bulgaria. I moved to the front of the bus, but for the rest of the time I was super paranoid. This knife couldn't have been legal. It was probably around a foot long. And evil.
Of course, we ended up getting off at the same stop. He walked in the opposite direction, but I kept thinking that I got myself mixed up in this crazy mafia gang war or something. I expected to get stabbed at any moment. Luckily, I made it home safely. WTF!

Bulgarian Class

I've started language class this month. It is good, but intense. Monday through Friday, from 9:30 - 12:30. That is a lot of language lesson. I somehow tested into the high intermediate level, and I am struggling. I am definitely the worst student in the class of three. My vocabulary is so limited! The class has been focusing on grammar, but I really need to practice listening and speaking. We'll see how it turns out.
Following our class on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, we have a Bulgarian history lesson. It is conducted in Bulgarian, so I have been attending to practice my listening skills. I had a Bulgarian history class in English a couple years ago in Veliko Turnovo, and the teacher's lecture was so full of nationalism and anti-Turkism that I stopped attending. This time, the teacher has been pretty balanced, but I'll keep my ears open to make sure she keeps this balance.
The first lesson was just about ancient Bulgaria. The original inhabitants were the Thracians. In the sixth century, the Slavs spread out from central Europe and some of them settled in the Danubian plain. There was also a tribe (the Bulgars) that came from Asia, either the Altaic Plain or the Hindu Kush, and settled in the Caucasus and around the Volga in the 2nd century. These three peoples are the ancestors of modern day Bulgarians. The one thing that I found a little suspect was her mentioning that the Thracians may have had an influence on Egyptian hieroglyphics. I had previously learned that the Thracians had no written language, but apparently some runes or scraps have been found that bear resemblance to Egyptian hieroglyphics. A Bulgarian American scholar has proposed that the Thracians language was adopted by the Egyptians. I've tried to find some more information, but for now, no luck.

I'm an uncle!

My older sister just had her first child. His name is Miles. Born on March 9, 7 lb 15 oz. Way too cute.
This means my step-dad has his birthday on the 3rd, mine is on the 6th, and now Miles is on the ninth. Wonderful.

Bulgarian Birthday

I celebrated my birthday on Saturday, March 5th, by having a little get together at my place. We had just gotten back from Ukraine, and apparently a lot of the Fulbrighters were currently in another town for weaving. While we had a great party for BH, mine turned out to be somewhat of a bust. A handful of people showed up. One of my presents, however, made me feel much better. A homemade bottle of rakia (Bulgarian whiskey). A couple of shots of rakia, and although there weren't many people at my party, I didn't really care. However, I did make a resolution that for my future birthdays, I will try to do something I have never done before. Like skydive or scuba dive, or some other sort of diving.
BH got me a gym membership for my birthday (ouch!) so this means going to the gym and getting fit. Dieting, working out, and living more frugally. It's like New Year's all over again!

Exploring Amsterdam

The next morning, well early afternoon, we got up and set off to explore the city. I wanted to see some museums, but BH isn't the biggest fan of art museums, so instead we walked around the canals, saw the red light district, and the homomonument. My favorite area was the Asia Town. So much delicious looking food! Plus, there was an Irish gay bar. In Chinatown. Fantastic.

 

 We ended up at a cafe with the best espresso I've had in a long while (MJ might have influenced me). Chilling out in a cafe, wandering around canals, and eating delicious food. Amsterdam is a hard city not to like. 

The homomonument was intersting. Built in 1987 (my birth year!) it commemorates gay men and women who have been subject to discrimination and persecution. The three corners of the triangle point to the Anne Frank house, the National War Memorial, and the oldest continuous gay rights group in the world. 

One corner of the homomonument

Before I knew it, it was time to get back to Brussels for the EU conference. 24 hours in Amsterdam. I guess it was better than a layover.