Finally going somewhere

I'm finally going out to see some of the country! It's 12:39am and I have to stay up until 4am because we're taking a train at 4:45 to the old capital of Bulgaria. Hopefully I can stay awake, I'm just going to sleep when I get on the train, i think it's a 10hr trip. After that, we're going to Bucharest, Romania. I hope the weather is nice, because it's been raining on and off here for a few days now. I just bought 2 tickets to go see Tiesto in Bucharest on october 20th, so hopefully I might be able to pick up my tickets and find out how to get to Bucharest and back this weekend. The downside of of going on the trip is that we have classes on fri and sat because we had a day off last week. I only have one class on both days, but I talked to the professor, just to make sure that I wasn't going to miss anything essential.
The biggest club in the city opened tonight. It's called Extreme, and we also get in free with our school ID's. It's huge and really loud. I didn't really like it because it's not really a place you can stay and have fun. Also it's mostly locals there, so it's weird walking around and not seeing anyone that I recognize. We left after a little while because the section we were in somehow became a gay dance floor, and there were guys dancing with each other. I really did not want to drink tonight because i needed to stay up to catch the train. It was one of the RA's birthday, so we went out. I thought it we were going to eat, but it was only drinking. I told them i wasn't drinking, but they don't know the meaning of the word in Bulgaria. I only had a vodka, so I made it out sober and happy. I think I'll make it to 4am, I just need some coffee. Hope all is well back home, I'm starting to change into a bulgarian, so the fact that i'm starting to shake my head for yes makes me miss home a little more. I'm going to be so weird when i come back in december.

Busy Monday

Today was satisfyingly hectic.
I had my first class at 11:30, so I had to wake up at 10:30. I slept really well, so I actually woke up 30 min before my alarm went off. We had another pop quiz which i'm pretty sure i got right. After class i ate at the canteen, and then came back to work out. I started working out at 3, so i had to hurry up to make sure i had enough time to shower and get to class. I finished working out at 3:50, ran upstairs and showered, got dressed and ran out the door. I had to hustle to get to class on time because i had a short little news presentation at the beginning of class. I made it with 2 min to spare, besides being slightly sweaty and still going crazy from lifting. After german i came gack and did my homework, so i don't have to do anything for the next 2 days except read. I made it through the day only spending 0.80 leva, which spent on breakfast. The reason i don't have money is because my local bank account opens tomorrow and i'd rather wait than draw some money and get charged the $3.50 fee. Hopefully it will go smoothly tomorrow, even though i seriously doubt that's going to happen. I'm going to enjoy a good's night sleep after some reading seeing that my only class is at 4:15 tom.

Sunday...

And so it is the end of the weekend, time to stop drinking and get down to business. I just completed my german homework, which consisted of writing poems, telling stories, and writing a news report. The only thing I have left to do is just sit and read that book of mine.
I woke up this morning surprisingly not hungover, and after Trent called, we went to the old town to this nice restaurant that has really good, cheap food. The whole menu was in bulgarian, so I pretty much just asked what random things were until I found something that sounded good. Our waitress had an attitude, but then again, all the waitresses do seeing that there's no 15% tipping here. They're lucky if they get a few leva. Anyway, I had some chicken steak, which was actually really good. Afterwards I felt off, I couldn't pinpoint how or why, but i just felt weird. I thought maybe it was emotional, seeing that Carolyn and i are trying to figure out how to handle the situation we're in. It's not a bad thing, we're just trying to figure out what's going on. So i thought maybe it was that, but i think now it's a physical thing and that i'm not getting all my vitamins because i was shaking more than usual, and you can imagine how much that is. I feel much better now, even though for some reason i'm really hungry. I might go out and get some supplemental tablets or something.
There's a drink here called cloud. It's a mixture of mystika (bulgarian ouzo) and menta (mint liqueur). I really like it, but the issue (besides it being 2 strong alcohols mixed together) is that it wears away at your throat. I think it's the mystika, but when you wake up in the morning, it feels like someone rubbed the inside of your throat with sand paper, not so pleasant. I prefer drinking liquor because it's cheaper and being drunk off beer is "messy." I also don't get hangovers when i drink liquor, so it's easy for me to choose which one. The shot glasses that they have here in the bars are so small compared to the ones in the states. I don't know why, but they're almost half the size. Trent ordered some shots of tequila for some girls and himself, and he almost threw up because the tequila was so awful. Even though it's still cheap to drink in the clubs, we've decided to drink before because most of the time you don't get what you want, unless it's beer. Trent was saying that he asked for Grey Goose at a bar in Sofia, and they gave him juice, haha.
I'm getting good at reading bulgarian, but some things still throw me off, the biggest thing is that some letter's lower case are different than the upper case. For example, T is the same as in latin, but the lower case T is an m. So if you see a rounded, lower case m, it's a t. But if the m is pointed (M), but smaller, then it's an m sound. I don't know if i'm doing a good job of explaining this, but if you're thoroughly confused, you get the idea.

Crazy night

Last night was really fun. I wasn't going to do anything because I had to wake up early for a trip to Sofia. Nesho invited me to someone's b day party (where i met a guy from macedonia who's a dj, his name is DJ Monumental, he's really good), so i went to that, and one thing led to another and I got home really late after taking something like 95 pictures. I set my phone alarm and my clock alarm so that i would wake up. my clock alarm went off, and after a while it stopped ringing, so I assumed that went to sleep and would wake me up in 15 min. Apparantly not, I woke up at 9:02, ran out the door, got a taxi, and made it to the main building at 9:13, but the bus had already left. I was pissed, and on the glum walk back to the dorms, i found out that i had one hell of a hangover. I ate something and got some water to help my head, and then went back to sleep to see if i could feel human again. Eventually i woke up and felt much better. I had an "irish breakfast" at the irish restaurant at 2pm, it was pretty good. Now i'm gonna lie down and read my book, and get the rest of my hw done.

Working Out

I'm starting to work out, and it seems to be working. Hopefully I can keep doing it and actually get somewhere as opposed to the other times when i just gave up. I found out the other day that i have $150 for food on my card, so I'm trying to eat at the canteen as much as I can. The food there is hit or miss, and sometimes if you grab the wrong thing, it can end up being really expensive. I have to wake up around 8am tomorrow because the bus to go to Sofia leaves from the main building at 9 and it won't wait for ppl who are late. this pretty much means that i'm not going out tonight, so i'm going to keep reading this book so that i can get it done early. I have yet to go out to the clubs that opened last friday. Either someone doesn't feel like going (because they only play house music), or we end up doing something else. I would like to go sometime this weekend, along w/ the monastery. We have decided to go to Greece for fall break because it's closer and easier, and there's plenty to do there. If we have the time, we might go to the islands and Athens, but it's supposed to be expensive to take the ferry to the islands, but we'll see. I spent barely any money yesterday, seeing that I ate at the canteen and Trent payed me back for covering his dinner two nights ago. Poor kiro's body is being abused with being sick and go out and all his homework, he just needs some R&R. He's going home this weekend, for the third week in a row, he's still getting adjusted to living on his own. Kiro's dad was in Dubai last week, so he wants to see him this weekend. Some of the american students are going to the beach this weekend, but they're leaving tonight, and I can't really skip out on this Sofia trip tomorrow because it's mandatory. I would like to go, but I would either have to go from Sofia at the end of the trip on friday, or leave on saturday. I also don't know if I would be allowed to stay at this girl's house, and she's a little strange. Hopefully the weather holds out and i can go next week or something. I really need to start exploring Bulgaria more, there's so much to see around here.

Busy day

I had 3 classes today, so I was up nice and early and just finished a while ago. Not really an eventful day. I got my 1 question pop quiz right. the funny thing was that people who got the answer wrong, they got 80's and 85's. How in the world can you get that kind of a score on one multiple choice question? Hopefully this means that we will be getting a lot of partial credit on everything, that would be nice. I also had another quiz in Marketing, 10 questions, this one was a little easier than the one last week (we have one each week). I didn't do too well on the first one, so hopefully this one will even things out. Everything seems to be going well school wise so far. The only thing left for me to do is to get that bank account open. I finally found out that i have to finish reading this book (the lie that wouldn't die) in the next two weeks, so i'm going to try and finish it before we have the test/quiz on it. Don't know what i'm up to tonight, but i'm sure i'll find out.

Sofia

Sofia
Originally uploaded by fullfly87.

What a nice view of the city, yuck

Almost done

I finally got my ID card yesterday. I found out that it was ready after I went to the computing office to unlock my account because I didn't turn in a form. They went me emails over the weekend, but I was in Sofia. So I came back and y web email didn't work and neither did my account downstairs. So I finally sorted that out, and ran down to the police station to pick up the card. I also "opened" my debit account after running in circles for a few weeks. I had to bring my passport, so I left for class early so that I could get it done. I went to the bank fully expecting it to take forever. I signed a piece of paper, showed them my passport, and then they told me it would be ready in one week. Nothing is easy or simple here when it comes to money.
I still have no idea what I'm doing for fall break. Trent called me last night with the idea of renting a Winnebago and driving up to Amsterdam. Not quite sure how that would work, but it sounds like fun.
I've been reading this book for class non-stop because I have no idea how far we are supposed to be. She just keeps telling us to keep reading, hopefully I will get some sort of an answer out of her today.

Back to Normal

Well, back to normal again. Yesterday it rained for the first time since I arrived in the country. the nice thing was that there was a big rainbow right outside the dorms after it finished raining. I am going to attempt to open a second bank account today so that I can draw the money I have in the bank from an ATM. Don't ask me why I need two bank account in the same bank, but for some reason that's the way they do it here. Trent's dad was telling me that it's very confusing to most people, but for the people who know what they're doing, they can move money around very easily. It probably has something to do with the Mutra (the Mafia in bulgaria), but I don't know. I had a one question pop quiz in science today, it was really random, but pretty easy. The first part of that sentence sounds like something a third grader would say, I guess that demonstrates how hard this course is. I realized that besides getting me ahead in college, taking all those high level math and science courses did was make me feel worse about forgetting how to do even the most simple formula's, etc. I'm going back to Sofia for a day on friday for my Falsifications course. We're going to the museum to see the "Golden Treasure" and some other things I'm sure. We have "off" on friday because of another bulgarian holiday, but we have to make it up by going to class next saturday, it's so stupid. I will try to start sticking to a budget, as my parents have lectured me to do. I'm going to try and stick to 10 leva a day, or at least around that. I have been keeping all my receipts, so I should be able to figure out what cost what later on. I'm going to work out w/ Kiro today, even though I'm quite sore still, hopefully we will stick to the plan and actually get somewhere.

Weekend in Sofia

Just got back from my weekend in Sofia, lots of fun. Trent's dad is about as passionate about his meat as a south african. I ate like a king there, even having authentic, home made mexican food (Mr. Houston's "girlfriend" is from mexico). They moved to their new house while I was with them so I got do put together the sound system and help them unpack, etc. We went to a big club called Exit, everything was expensive, but still not as bad as the States. I even got to catch some college football because they get several american channels via satellite. The funny thing was that it was the army network, so all the commercials were pretty much army propoganda. I will be posting some pictures online in a few minutes, so you can see what it's like.

Off to Sofia

Well, I'm off to Sofia with in about an hour. I should be fun seeing that a lot of our freinds are from Sofia and they are going home this weekend. Not sure what I will be getting up to, but I'm sure there's plenty to do. I'm actually going back to Sofia for a day next friday for a class, and then hopefully going to the coast, if the weather is still good. Finally got to work out today, it feels good to be doing something physical again. I might not be able to get to a computer while I'm in Sofia, so I'll tell all when I get back.

Better

The internet has been getting progressively better as the week goes on. I think it might be because they were still creating the connections for the other computers. I called Carolyn on skype, and the quality was great, the only thing was that there was a 5 second delay between me saying something and her hearing it. So in order for me to say something, she would have to wait to hear it, and whenever I reacted to something she said (laughing, etc.), it would happen a few seconds later. I was amusing, but at least we got to talk on skype, hopefully the delay gets smaller with time.I slept really well last night, I didn't even stir until the morning when my roommate started moving around. My class is only at 4:15 and it's my only class, so this is a good day for me to catch up and get things done. The weather still is amazing, but it's starting to get pretty cold at night time.

Frustrating

I came to find out yesterday that this wonderful interent can be quite a pain in the ass. It is irritatingly slow, dropping skype calls, taking forever to load, etc. Trying to talk to Carolyn yesterday was pointless, we would get a few sentences if we were lucky, and then the connection would be lost. It was a little better later in the night, but it still dropped the call every now and again. It is supposed to get faster eventually, but who knows. Today is my busiest day, 3 classes starting at 10am. I hope to get to the gym today and find it open. I also need to do my laundry, or give it to the lady in the laundry room. I think I am going to Sofia this weekend with Trent, that should be fun. The weather continues to be impecable. I am hoping that I can make it to the shore before it starts getting cold, so hopefully I can go next weekend, or something.

A little better

Today was a little improvement after the second half of yesterday. When I came back from classes, i had no internet, the gym was closed, and i managed to hurt my back in some way, so that was fun. All in all the ending of yesterday was a bit of a downer. Today was better though. I had a class at 4:15 so i got a lot of sleep. Nesho (serbian friend) knocked on our door at 11:30 'cause he needed to send something in the mail and needed Kiro to come w/ him and translate. i woke up eventually and went down to do email only to have martin call and ask if i wanted to eat at the canteen. so i walked all the way over there in my glasses w/ barely any money. i came back to find that i had an internet connection, but it was messed up, so i couldn't use it. this frustrated me severely, so i tried to go to the office, but it was obviously closed, as well as the gym, seemed like a repeat of yesterday. I sat frustrated in my room, and then at 2:45, there it was. My internet arrived. i was so happy that i furiously updated definitions and posted all the pics i had taken. then i had to go to class. after that we had food, and i was going to go to some journalism thing w/ free pizza and wine, but it looked too serious, so i came back here. I am quickly learning that this connection is not so wonderful, so i can't do a lot of different things at once. I will have to deal w/ it, it's all i have, but it's not so bad.

Good Day Monday, Sept. 11, 2006

Today is a lazy one. I had my science class at 11:30 so I woke up around 10:30, but had to wait a little for the shower to “open.” Class was interesting, I learned that the zodiac signs are actually off by a whole month because the earth wobbles and the sun has moved in relation to the constellations. I got a locker at the main building, I’m not sure how much I’m going to use it, but I figured I would get one before they ran out, should make things easier. I have german at 4:15, so I’m going to leave in about half an hour. There is an artist’s work on display in the main building today in honor of the 5th anniversary of 9-11. It looks interesting, very colorful. Hopefully I will be getting an internet connection in my room today. I have been waiting so long for it and I am sick and tired of using the fucking computer lab. It is always busy and you can’t do anything in there anyway. I’m supposed to get it sometime after 5pm, so I’m going to try and keep busy until later so that I’m not staring at the computer praying for it to come. The gym is supposed to open today too, so I think me and some of my friends are going to go down and workout. Kiro (my roommate) is the one in most need of the weight room. He make me look fat, lol. We are going to try and keep each other motivated and avoid the usual scenario where you eventually stop going because you’re too lazy. I had to send an email to my german teacher for homework. I had to write it in german, but I think it was mainly just so that she could have our email addresses. I wasn’t quite sure what to write, so hopefully I did what I was supposed to. German seems like it is going to be tough, but I would rather put my nose to the grindstone and do it so that I can finish it when I get back to pitt. I’m reading the first required book for falsifications, “The lie that wouldn’t die,” it is about this document called the protocols of the leaders of Zion, which is pretty much a fake record of the Jews, secret plan to take over the world. It is the most ridiculous thing I have ever read (the document) but it has been spread worldwide and many people believed it to be true. The book is mostly about finding out about it and how it spread, etc. All the books and material for this course seem very interesting and the professor is wonderful. She is more interested in human history than empirical history. Human history is shit like the history of salt, garbage, and cooking, just everyday things that one wouldn’t think to have much of a history at all. I’m really enjoying my time here. I really have to try to sit down and do work because everyone here is so friendly and wanting to do something w/ me or anyone else. Kiro came back today, he went home for the weekend. He brought some speakers from his old stereo that only plays cassettes, but the speakers work great and it sounds a hell of a lot better than the fucking laptop speakers do. I really like my room. It’s spacious and has a great view of the courtyard so that I can see where everyone is and check out if anything is going on w/o ever leaving my room. It’s on the second floor so it’s not a far walk (up the steps) and just out of reach so that people can’t get in through my window. The room is pretty much shaded all day, so it stays nice and cool. I have no idea why I have decided to start writing a journal, maybe because I had nothing to for a little, or Trent just mentioned that he (or anyone) should start writing a journal to remember all this. It is quite difficult to remember all that is going on here, especially seeing that everyone here is a fucking alcoholic. In the two weeks that I have been here, pretty much everyone has been drinking almost everyday. Not heavily, but just in general. Now it’s to the point where everyone is trying to make an active effort not to drink during the week, or the next few days, I know I have. I really would like to go to the winery soon, but it’s difficult to find someone who appreciates wine for something other than its alcohol in college. I sure I will find someone eventually. I hopefully will be going to Sofia w/ Trent this weekend, which would be great. He has a nice house, his dad is in charge of some part of the U.S. embassy here, so he is in ‘power,’ one would say. There seems like a lot to do everywhere, whether it’s in the town, city, country, or outside the country. Trent and some others would like to go to Amsterdam and Oktoberfest for the fall break. I would love to do that, but I don’t want to impose on Lily-Anne’s colleague. She was so nice to us last time and the last thing I want to do is get really fucked up and have a bunch of friends at her apartment. I don’t know what I’ll do. I’ll ask mom or dad what they think and I’ll go from there. My Serbian friends invited me to come visit them at their homes. I would also love to do that seeing that I would never get the same opportunity for a while. I don’t know though because I seem to be drifting from them, so I’ll have to see what happens in the next month or however long it is. The cleaning lady finally came and cleaned the mould out of our fridge, I’m sure we could’ve done it ourselves, but I guess we were hoping to get a new one seeing that this one is so crappy. The other room in our suite had a fridge so new that it still has tape and cardboard on the inside. Oh well, ours gets the job done. Well, I should be off to class because there are many people in the class, so you have to go early if you want a good seat.
Ttyl
Max