Angry People Get So Sanctimonious

Well, I said I'd have pictures by the end of the weekend, so by Bob, you're going to get them. Enjoy.

First up, the view from my back porches (I have one attached to my living room, and one attached to my bedroom:











I was going to take pictures out of the front balcony, but I just have the top of a powerline pole there. Once I take pictures of the streets, you'll get a better view, anyway. In any event, we now come to the interior.

Front/central hallway:



Leading to the dining room:





The ALF poster that inspired this place's name:



Also, my minifridge thing is covered with Sonic the Hedgehog stickers:



The kitchen is attached to the dining room, and it is tiny:





That second picture, I was as far into the far left corner as I could get. Like I said. Tiny, but it's sufficient for one person.

Going back a ways (the hallway has 2 left turns, one immediately as you get in), we get to the living room:





Down the hall to the right, there's the shower room (the toilet's in a seperate little cubby hole). I feel lucky to have a tub as opposed to a lipped platform. Also, there's a shower curtain. The downside is that the water heater for my apartment is also in the shower space:



There's a storage room type thing to the left:



And my bedroom to the right:





Not terribly exciting, I know, but it's cozy, and it's home (for the next two years, at least). Next time, I'll have photos of the city.

In the meantime, I've been enjoying a slackful weekend, alternately watching Avatar, Freakazoid, and various movies, hanging out with folks (my friend Kevin who lives in Samokov, and Dermot, the Irishman I met on Monday), listening to music, and cooking. Life is good.

As always, if you can't see the pictures in the full window, right-click/view image is your friend.

Later, flipsiders.

You Say That You've Seen Seven Wonders

Well, that's it. Finally done for the summer. I now have 4 glorious weeks of not having to teach (though I do have to start showing up for staff meetings on the 3rd of September). This means I can do pretty much whatever the hell I want (which will largely be determined by the weather). Well, as long as it doesn't conflict with some Peace Corps training with which I've agreed to help.

I'd love for things to cool off a little so that I could go wandering around the hills and mountains of the surrounding countryside for an afternoon, but hiking in 35C+ == not fun, in my book.

In other news, I'm starting to look at grad schools again, since I'll want to be applying around this time next year. Man... Life just has a funny way of running wild, if you let it.

Carpe diem, flipsiders.

And The Clock Hands Move So Fast It Makes The Wind Blow

Man... I'm sore. Specifically, my lower legs are sore. This, I think is the sign of a good sparring session. In this case, a pair of them, back to back.

The first one was interesting, in that I had two partners at once. They were less-experienced, and didn't make good use of the fact that they could flank me. Still, they certainly forced me to keep aware of everything that was going on. They both tended to try to dance away and avoid me, rather than one of them engaging and letting the other one get behind. I'd like to think it was because I was able to attack their base/out-range them if they got too close, but it had at least as much to do with their inexperience as it did with me taking advantage of my leg length.

The second session was with a much more experienced guy, and it was one-on-one. I'd forgotten how tiring a back-to-back session can be. This kinda forcibly reminded me. At first, we were evenly matched, I might have even had the advantage. I did manage to sweep him when he went up on one leg to try to kick me at one point, though he quickly became much more wary after that. Also, my handwork is not nearly as good as my footwork. I'm much more adept at kicking than I am at punching. This came back to bite me once or twice when I took shots to the face (we were wearing gloves, so no damage, but I still got the point). As the fight wore on, it became harder and harder to kick terribly high. I went from having a kick deflected from his arm to brush his face to having to work to kick much above his waist (with a martelo/side snap kick/whatever you want to call it. Ultimately, this resulted in a mis-aimed kick which he ended up blocking with his knee, rather than his shin. That shit hurts, lemme tell you.

Anyway, it was a lot of fun (regardless of the soreness), and good practice. I've got another Volunteer coming to crash with me on Thursday - he's the guy who's done Muay Thai for 6 years, and I'm excited to finally get to train with him.

In other news, I got dragged to a concert last night with a few other Volunteers who were passing through Dupnitsa. I say "dragged along" because it was a chalga concert. For those of you who have never heard of this particular form of music, chalga is apparently pretty popular through much of the Balkans. It's traditional Balkan folk music, run through a pop idol filter and given a heavy dance beat. It sounds about like what you'd expect. The music aside, it was an interesting time, though it was a bit weird to see kids that I'd peg as maybe 10-11 chainsmoking.

Also, immediately prior to the concert, we went to a restaurant about 5 minutes from my place, where we met some Irish gentlemen, who apparently live in Dupnitsa as well. Contact info was exchanged, so it should be interesting hanging out with them at some point in the future.

Speaking of The Future™, it should also include pictures, in a rather immediate sense (i.e., before the end of the weekend), as I've cleared off my camera and have a computer with which to upload them.

Later, flipsiders.

The Check's In The Mail

Well. July's been a busy month. I moved in, spent a couple of weeks having to run around to get my work permit/resident alien registration paperwork (plus some Peace Corps paperwork) taken care of, got cable/internet in the apartment, had my laptop die on me and my freezer reclaimed by my landlord, started teaching a summer course, headed up to the mountains for a day trip, and visited my host parents for dinner. I also spent probably more time than is healthy being enraged by US politics.

This isn't, of course, all in one week, or anything. I've had plenty of time to relax and explore. Since most of July was at least as hot as Ga., if not hotter, I spent a lot of time taking cold showers and not going outside.

In other news, I was interviewed by the local TV station. They asked about what I'm going to be doing with teaching English, but afterwards, they started asking about Capoeira (that actually took up most of the interview). To my credit, I was able to give an overview of the art almost entirely in Bulgarian. Hopefully, it will help generate some interest in the club I want to start.

For whatever reason, August decided to be a lot cooler (I suspect October decided to pay a visit). It was in the high teens (Centigrade) and raining last Monday (the 6th). I can honestly say I never expected to have to wear a jacket in August. It's warmed up since then, but it's nowhere near what it was in July. It's pretty damn enjoyable, actually.

Now that I have a new computer (and therefore internet in my apartment again), I should be updating a bit more frequently.

Later, flipsiders.