Today...

Today, something unexpected happened. I met a classmate of mine I hadn't seen in 9 years. It was a little strange. But the strangest thing of all was that it felt like that time hadn't passed; like we were meeting only a month or so after our high school graduation. She hadn't changed that much; she said, I looked exactly the same... (Well, I guess there was one sign that 9 years had passed, since one of the first things she did was check out my hands for a wedding band) :). Anyhow, it's amazing how in such moments, it's almost like time stands still... just for a few seconds, and then it's back to the rollercoaster ride.

How to Feel Young?

Answer: Come to Bulgaria.

The above may seem a little absurd to some, but I can guarantee that it is true. If you have spent at least a few years abroad (in a let's say more developed country, where things run in an organized way, there is less stress about every day things etc.), you are bound to look younger than most people your age in Bulgaria. Case in point:
#1. I take a cab home one night; once we get to the area where I live and I direct the driver to my apartment building, he started telling me how my apartment building used to serve as a landmark as soon as it was built (it's the tallest one in that area), which was in 1987. At that point the cab driver turned to me and said "You probably don't remember because that was before you were born."
So, according to him. I was born in or after 1987... a good eight years after my actual birth year :)

#2. I had joined a friend at the shooting of a commercial. One of the extras was an old man (probably in his 70s). At one point, he asked me, "So, where do you go to school?" (meaning high school). He was quite in shock when I told him that I had graduated from UNIVERSITY five years ago.

So, as I said. If you ever feel too old, pay a visit. :)

Football and Minorities

What do the above two things have in common?

Two Sundays ago I joined a couple of friends at a football (soccer to the America-phones among you) game of the Bulgarian league. Sofia's 2 biggest teams were playing. It was my first time watching a football game live in Bulgaria. Of course, I expected lots of offensive cheers and cursing against the opposing team (and the referee :-)). What caught me a little bit by surprise (probably just due to the sheer fact that I haven't lived here for 9 years) was the chanting that the fans of the team I support (Levski) started singing against the other team (CSKA): "All of CSKA back to Turkey; CSKA are Turks." From the other side I was later informed, our team were called gypsies.
So, I guess we offend on the basis of minorities. Given Bulgaria's history, I guess that's not surprising, and I know it is so in other parts of the world as well. What is sad is that I am probably one of very few people that actually notices something wrong with this. What will be sadder is if after a while even I stopped caring...

Back in Bulgaria

So, from here I start the series of posts from my home country. After two weeks in Sofia, I am slowly starting to feel less like a visitor and more like a citizen of my hometown. As suspected, my list of observations to post here is growing, and I will try to keep up.

Costa Rica here I come

Excited for my pending trip to costa rica

Only in the gay part of town...

OK, I can't resist posting this, because I could barely hold back my laughter when it happened. I was going to yoga (Monday night), passing through the Dupont Circle area & 17th St (otherwise knows, as the "gay district"). At one point, I see a clearly gay guy walking a tiny long-haired dog (picture the size of a chihuahua). Actually, "walking" is an exaggeration, because the dog was pulling back and refused to walk in the right direction. Its owner--following another attempt by the dog to walk back to where they had come from--exclaimed "No, that's pee-pee there!" and tugged the tiny thing in his direction. Sure enough, there was a puddle as I walked by. I laughed to myself... but that was not the end of it. One block further down, another man was walking 2 dogs (white, poodle-like; bolonki for all the Bulgarians out there). He was talking affectionately to them. As I neared, I started catching his monolog... and it went like this: "No-one is pooping yet tonight. [3 secs silence] Aren't you going to poop, Ziggie? It's time to poop."


I just couldn't handle it. Who talks to his/her dogs in that way (in public anyway)? I've seen tons of people walking their dogs, but this is the first time, I had heard talk of "pooping" and "peeing" in public. I think it must have something to do with the given part of town... I don't know. I'll leave it up to your interpretation. But thought it deserved a laugh.