Friday, December 17, 2004
Internet cafes friggen suck
so currently i am choking on about 80 bulgarian's secondhand smoke....oh how tastey. i just got out of a movie...yup you guessed it! By myself...still being the loner american down here in strumyani. it's hard to make friends when people just stare at you and when you wave and say hello they turn away.
so i got a package from my wonderful baba full of watercolors and art supplies. who knew i would come to bulgaria to become an artist? but yes i have found my creative spark and i nurturing it and taking very good care of it. i guess tv really does suck up a lot of time because living without one i have been suprisingly productive. and you all just thought i was lazy! it's the tvs fault! its so hypnotizing!
ive also been wearing new clothes which is really exciting! my mom let me pick out some warm winter clothes from lands end so im cute and cuddley now.
oh and if anyone wants to transfer some funds into my account because christmas has sapped me dry and im not sure if i can ship the gifts i have home...feel free to throw some money my way...*hint hint to Daddy and Genie :) dont know if youve seen my balance lately....
well, i think my hour is just about up...and i dont know how much more smoke i can take...i think i just lost 5 days of my life writing this blog and im getting a pain in my chest as i type...achk...lotsa love...shaina rose oh and MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
so i got a package from my wonderful baba full of watercolors and art supplies. who knew i would come to bulgaria to become an artist? but yes i have found my creative spark and i nurturing it and taking very good care of it. i guess tv really does suck up a lot of time because living without one i have been suprisingly productive. and you all just thought i was lazy! it's the tvs fault! its so hypnotizing!
ive also been wearing new clothes which is really exciting! my mom let me pick out some warm winter clothes from lands end so im cute and cuddley now.
oh and if anyone wants to transfer some funds into my account because christmas has sapped me dry and im not sure if i can ship the gifts i have home...feel free to throw some money my way...*hint hint to Daddy and Genie :) dont know if youve seen my balance lately....
well, i think my hour is just about up...and i dont know how much more smoke i can take...i think i just lost 5 days of my life writing this blog and im getting a pain in my chest as i type...achk...lotsa love...shaina rose oh and MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Thursday, December 16, 2004
Holy Crap its Been a Long Time since I Posted!!
Okay, wow this week has really flow by. So i heard that my best friends shannon and roxanne hung out with my family in sacto!!! What is going on??? Sometimes i feel like im living in some warped alternate universe but now i am sure of it! A universe where dara does sake bombs and owen runs around with dirty underwear on his head! Argh! and im stuck in the universe with bulgarian lionel richies playing on the radio and spending my days in freezing museums! How did i get the short end of the stick?Doh! Just kidding, my universe is okay...trying not to be negative here!
Okay so my weekend was awesome. I took a little trip to sofia and ran into some other volunteers there. unfortunately Grant-Nasty was spending his last night in sofia and going home. I cant help but feel a little jealous for him but his presence will be missed. we partied it up one last time and found a little gothic/metal head bar in a basement lit only with candles...it was quite interesting. we were trying our hardest to avoid chowga clubs. well, grant and sara whent home and chris and i ended up at a chowga club around 2am but luckily by then we had had enough to drink that the chowga didnt sound so bad.
On Saturday I went to (quick note...the bulgarian lionel richie has been replaced with abba...oh there is a god!) the MACHINE HEAD councert with other bands caliban and god forbid. It was scary as hell and i realized i am much too old for mosh pits and the novelty of being elbowed in the face has been replaced with absolute horror...i even escaped into the bleachers. But it was good to be at a concert even though it was cold as hell, it was indoors mind you, and it was good to hang out with my host cousin Ivan and a friend from strelcha.
And on sunday i met up (god finally this fat bulgarian left and i can type in peace without her blabberin off to me! ive been preiodically looking up and nodding and smiling and saying "oh? dobre" ) So yeah sunday, left sofia and went back to strumiyani and then it was back to the grind on monday...
this week has flown by! wow!
so last night i heard a ghost in my hall. It was stomping up and down the stairs outside my apartment. my heart was racign and i was scared to death. i msgd my friend kate who always makes me feel better when im freaking out and she told me to put music on and make friends with it. honestly, im so lonely that that doesnt sound like such a bad idea. well i put music on to drown out the footsteps and then passed out. it was very very scary though. i told my counterpart today and she doesnt believe me. but i swear to god they stopped right outside my door. freaky. well that's about all for now. as of yet i have no plans for the weekend. (the bulgarian fatty is back and now she's dancing to abba) well anyways...love to all my lovelies...Shaina Rose
Okay so my weekend was awesome. I took a little trip to sofia and ran into some other volunteers there. unfortunately Grant-Nasty was spending his last night in sofia and going home. I cant help but feel a little jealous for him but his presence will be missed. we partied it up one last time and found a little gothic/metal head bar in a basement lit only with candles...it was quite interesting. we were trying our hardest to avoid chowga clubs. well, grant and sara whent home and chris and i ended up at a chowga club around 2am but luckily by then we had had enough to drink that the chowga didnt sound so bad.
On Saturday I went to (quick note...the bulgarian lionel richie has been replaced with abba...oh there is a god!) the MACHINE HEAD councert with other bands caliban and god forbid. It was scary as hell and i realized i am much too old for mosh pits and the novelty of being elbowed in the face has been replaced with absolute horror...i even escaped into the bleachers. But it was good to be at a concert even though it was cold as hell, it was indoors mind you, and it was good to hang out with my host cousin Ivan and a friend from strelcha.
And on sunday i met up (god finally this fat bulgarian left and i can type in peace without her blabberin off to me! ive been preiodically looking up and nodding and smiling and saying "oh? dobre" ) So yeah sunday, left sofia and went back to strumiyani and then it was back to the grind on monday...
this week has flown by! wow!
so last night i heard a ghost in my hall. It was stomping up and down the stairs outside my apartment. my heart was racign and i was scared to death. i msgd my friend kate who always makes me feel better when im freaking out and she told me to put music on and make friends with it. honestly, im so lonely that that doesnt sound like such a bad idea. well i put music on to drown out the footsteps and then passed out. it was very very scary though. i told my counterpart today and she doesnt believe me. but i swear to god they stopped right outside my door. freaky. well that's about all for now. as of yet i have no plans for the weekend. (the bulgarian fatty is back and now she's dancing to abba) well anyways...love to all my lovelies...Shaina Rose
Saturday, December 04, 2004
I better be good and i better be nice...
So, during a conversation i had with my mommy poo the other night...i was informed that my blog is full of negatvity and that i need to talk about some of hte good stuff...unfortunatley my blog has turned into somewhat a of a rant page...and without meaning to ive painted a fairly bleak picture of life in bulgaria... so here are some nice things about bg and things i like about living here...
1. the people...the are friendly and interesting and totally crack me up!
2. The nature- it is incredibly beautiful here...breathtaking views and when im up in the northern part of the country i get to see snow!
3. The cheap alcohol- yes...50cents for a beer of 40 cents for a shot of vodka leads to some memorable...well sometimes...nights! ;) Jk...mama!!!
4. Bulgarians taste in music- Who would ever think you could go to a nightclub and dance to the friends tv show theme? classic...
So in fact i am pretty happy here except for some things that totally agrevate me but hey, i was agrivated in the states too.
I also like that all the christmas decorations are being put up...it makes me feel a little more at home and less like im in a foreign country.
and some of the food is okay...like mekitsa! YUMMY!!!
oh and im getting a bunch of rolls of film developed today...which is why im wasting time talking to you people on the blog...JUST KIDDING!!!! it's a one hour photo lab...and since there's no movies in english playing...dammit...except for THE DREAMERS...and Jamie, do i really want to see that movie again?????
hey...remember the townhouse...rip...
well thats about it for now...all my love, shaina rose
1. the people...the are friendly and interesting and totally crack me up!
2. The nature- it is incredibly beautiful here...breathtaking views and when im up in the northern part of the country i get to see snow!
3. The cheap alcohol- yes...50cents for a beer of 40 cents for a shot of vodka leads to some memorable...well sometimes...nights! ;) Jk...mama!!!
4. Bulgarians taste in music- Who would ever think you could go to a nightclub and dance to the friends tv show theme? classic...
So in fact i am pretty happy here except for some things that totally agrevate me but hey, i was agrivated in the states too.
I also like that all the christmas decorations are being put up...it makes me feel a little more at home and less like im in a foreign country.
and some of the food is okay...like mekitsa! YUMMY!!!
oh and im getting a bunch of rolls of film developed today...which is why im wasting time talking to you people on the blog...JUST KIDDING!!!! it's a one hour photo lab...and since there's no movies in english playing...dammit...except for THE DREAMERS...and Jamie, do i really want to see that movie again?????
hey...remember the townhouse...rip...
well thats about it for now...all my love, shaina rose
Thursday, December 02, 2004
so today i have a lot of time on my hands
Why are there sooooo many flies??? Arent they supposed to go away during the winter? jeez...
I just ate lunch and now im all tired and grogy...maybe i should get some coffee...oh wait i forgot i already thought of that but i dont know where elli (whos computer im using) is and i cant leave her office open...and im all done researching for my project...hmm
why it is hard to get up early in the morning? am i ever going to get used to getting for a 9-5 job or even god forbid an 8-430/5? argh the horror! or am i going to hit snooze every morning wishing time would stop for like just a few more hours...
last night i cooked macaroni and cerrene (a feta like cheese) with peppers and garlic. it was good. but when i was chopping the peppers (the are pickeled by the way...in an oil by my family in strelcha) i decided to eat a piece of the garlic the peppers are pickled with and i dropped it on my white shirt. so now there's a big fat red oil stain on my shirt. so sad.
hmm..some guy just came in and told me to be at my apt around 3pm because my garderope is here...i think that's wardrobe...hmm sounds interesting...oh crap my apts kinda messy though! i left all my blankets and clothes on the couch this morning...and dirty dishes from dinner last night on the coffee table! eek...i should probably go and clean up before they get there...make sure there's no underwear lying around either...
there's a bulgarian song playing and it sounds a lot like pink floyd...weird
oh so in my apt, paint is starting to flake off the walss and in one spot there's this strange crystaly stuff...at first i thought it was ice crystals...but i touched them and they were kinda powder...i blew on them and the just sorta evaporated...they are very delicate...i swept them off the wall with my broom..i have no idea what it is..could it be asbestos??? If anyone has an idea as to what these mysterious crystal formations on my wall could be...let me now...guess are welcome also...should i be worried?
I just ate lunch and now im all tired and grogy...maybe i should get some coffee...oh wait i forgot i already thought of that but i dont know where elli (whos computer im using) is and i cant leave her office open...and im all done researching for my project...hmm
why it is hard to get up early in the morning? am i ever going to get used to getting for a 9-5 job or even god forbid an 8-430/5? argh the horror! or am i going to hit snooze every morning wishing time would stop for like just a few more hours...
last night i cooked macaroni and cerrene (a feta like cheese) with peppers and garlic. it was good. but when i was chopping the peppers (the are pickeled by the way...in an oil by my family in strelcha) i decided to eat a piece of the garlic the peppers are pickled with and i dropped it on my white shirt. so now there's a big fat red oil stain on my shirt. so sad.
hmm..some guy just came in and told me to be at my apt around 3pm because my garderope is here...i think that's wardrobe...hmm sounds interesting...oh crap my apts kinda messy though! i left all my blankets and clothes on the couch this morning...and dirty dishes from dinner last night on the coffee table! eek...i should probably go and clean up before they get there...make sure there's no underwear lying around either...
there's a bulgarian song playing and it sounds a lot like pink floyd...weird
oh so in my apt, paint is starting to flake off the walss and in one spot there's this strange crystaly stuff...at first i thought it was ice crystals...but i touched them and they were kinda powder...i blew on them and the just sorta evaporated...they are very delicate...i swept them off the wall with my broom..i have no idea what it is..could it be asbestos??? If anyone has an idea as to what these mysterious crystal formations on my wall could be...let me now...guess are welcome also...should i be worried?
A Day in the Life....of PCV Shaina San
Okay, in case you were all wondering what i do M-Friday in my crappy little town..here's a quick rundown...
I wake up at about 8am sometimes 730am and lay on my couch listening to music eating bisquits (crunchy, kinda sweet, animal crakerish things)...then about 840 i get dressed and walk across the train tracks to the museum....where my counterpart is usually sitting at her desk typing on the computer. I sit down on the couch across from her and either study bulgaria, read the new newsweek peace corps sent me, draw in my noteboook, play snake on my cell phone (which by the way i got a high score of 1151...beat that SHANNOONY!!), or sleep. Then at noon my counterpart and i go to the cafe and eat lunch. there's something different for lunch everyday which is nice. if i dont like whats for lunch i eat a zakusky...just a bread roll thing with cheese in it. Then we go back to the museum...sometimes i go get coffee for my counterpart and i...and i resume my place back on the couch...and i study bulgarian until 5pm whence i leave and go back to my apt. on tuesdays and thursdays i have language training when my tutor comes over for an hour...actually an hour an half because he insists on staying longer even though im hungry and want him to leave so i can make food! on days i dont have tutoring, i clean up a little, make din din, watch a dvd, play tony hawk, or read...hopefully ill have internet soon so i can do that too.
Hopefully this boring schedule is about to change cuz i just got some projects to work on....ill tell you about them later. my fingers hurt from typing...lotsa love! and hope you all havent forgotten about me already!
love always, Shaina San Rose
I wake up at about 8am sometimes 730am and lay on my couch listening to music eating bisquits (crunchy, kinda sweet, animal crakerish things)...then about 840 i get dressed and walk across the train tracks to the museum....where my counterpart is usually sitting at her desk typing on the computer. I sit down on the couch across from her and either study bulgaria, read the new newsweek peace corps sent me, draw in my noteboook, play snake on my cell phone (which by the way i got a high score of 1151...beat that SHANNOONY!!), or sleep. Then at noon my counterpart and i go to the cafe and eat lunch. there's something different for lunch everyday which is nice. if i dont like whats for lunch i eat a zakusky...just a bread roll thing with cheese in it. Then we go back to the museum...sometimes i go get coffee for my counterpart and i...and i resume my place back on the couch...and i study bulgarian until 5pm whence i leave and go back to my apt. on tuesdays and thursdays i have language training when my tutor comes over for an hour...actually an hour an half because he insists on staying longer even though im hungry and want him to leave so i can make food! on days i dont have tutoring, i clean up a little, make din din, watch a dvd, play tony hawk, or read...hopefully ill have internet soon so i can do that too.
Hopefully this boring schedule is about to change cuz i just got some projects to work on....ill tell you about them later. my fingers hurt from typing...lotsa love! and hope you all havent forgotten about me already!
love always, Shaina San Rose
What will be for Shaina under the christmas tree...
It's that time of year again! And im far far far away in an ex-soviet bloc country...There was no Thanksgiving for me but at least they have CHRISTMAS!! Complete with scary robot santa's scattered throughout sofia. And, i think they are putting lights on the tree in front of the obshtina as i type. Well, i did a little christmas shopping already but now i am faced with the dilemma on how to get the presents to america...i will keep updated as to whether you have to wait for my sis to return with them and pass them out or the PCV in the next town is going back to the states for xmas so i may give him a package of goodies to mail when he gets to the states...if he'll be so kind.
Okay, which leads me the next topic of this post...What I want for Christmas...in case you guys are totally clueless as to what to get a cold, lost, little girl in a stange foreign land....here are a few ideas!
1. Warm clothes...dont worry about hats...i have about 10 now, or scarves...i am in the land of knitting baba's (grandmas) im talking sweaters...go to ross and fill up a box of sweaters and sweatshirts...im not a coffee drinkin, cigarette smokin, skele-whore like the chicks here...so im having trouble finding clothes that fit...I wonder where the fat people who live here get there clothes? i should ask them
2. Some of those indian tapestrie things...actually Dara, why dont you go through my crap at dad's and find mine, including that mexican blanket and bring it to me when you come! Or box it up and send it to me!
3. CD'S!!! Just burn a bunch of your cd's and send them to me! Not to hard...i just want some good new music!
4. DVDs!! I have nothing else to do when i want to veg out since i have no tv...#1 on the list...Tommy Boy! and Rocky Horror Picture Show would be cool...otherwise, anything would be fun...Mayb Bridgette Jones Diaries
5. Kraft Macaroni and Cheese
6. An External Hard Drive
7. iPod
8. DVD Burner
9. Magazines---Bizarre!!(Dara, come one...what's up with the bizarre hookup???You know what Shainy likes!) Cosmo, Jane, Rollingstone, Natl. Geo...
10. Some new graphic novels...(Dara, youre the one who knows about these too!)
11. Blank cd's
12. Art Supplies!!- Some charcoal, paper, water colors, water color paper, pencils, and anything else cool! This one especially important...with free time on my hands and especially a lot of alone time...i would like to harness my creative spirit...(mommy, you could tell baba about this christmas wish!)
hmmm...that's all i can think of now...but ill keep updating this list...
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, and TO ALL A GOOD CHRISTMAS IN AMERICA!!! ooooh im jealous...
Okay, which leads me the next topic of this post...What I want for Christmas...in case you guys are totally clueless as to what to get a cold, lost, little girl in a stange foreign land....here are a few ideas!
1. Warm clothes...dont worry about hats...i have about 10 now, or scarves...i am in the land of knitting baba's (grandmas) im talking sweaters...go to ross and fill up a box of sweaters and sweatshirts...im not a coffee drinkin, cigarette smokin, skele-whore like the chicks here...so im having trouble finding clothes that fit...I wonder where the fat people who live here get there clothes? i should ask them
2. Some of those indian tapestrie things...actually Dara, why dont you go through my crap at dad's and find mine, including that mexican blanket and bring it to me when you come! Or box it up and send it to me!
3. CD'S!!! Just burn a bunch of your cd's and send them to me! Not to hard...i just want some good new music!
4. DVDs!! I have nothing else to do when i want to veg out since i have no tv...#1 on the list...Tommy Boy! and Rocky Horror Picture Show would be cool...otherwise, anything would be fun...Mayb Bridgette Jones Diaries
5. Kraft Macaroni and Cheese
6. An External Hard Drive
7. iPod
8. DVD Burner
9. Magazines---Bizarre!!(Dara, come one...what's up with the bizarre hookup???You know what Shainy likes!) Cosmo, Jane, Rollingstone, Natl. Geo...
10. Some new graphic novels...(Dara, youre the one who knows about these too!)
11. Blank cd's
12. Art Supplies!!- Some charcoal, paper, water colors, water color paper, pencils, and anything else cool! This one especially important...with free time on my hands and especially a lot of alone time...i would like to harness my creative spirit...(mommy, you could tell baba about this christmas wish!)
hmmm...that's all i can think of now...but ill keep updating this list...
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, and TO ALL A GOOD CHRISTMAS IN AMERICA!!! ooooh im jealous...
