Shaina's Travel Blog

What You Really Think Of Your Friends

Dara is your soulmate.

You truly love Jenn.

You consider Roxanne your true friend.

You know that Shannon is always thinking of you.

You'll remember Santiago for the rest of your life.

You secretly think Kira is creative, charming, and a bit too dramatic at times.

You secretly think that Jamie is colorful, impulsive, and a total risk taker.

You secretly think that Rebecka is loyal and trustworthy to you. And that Rebecka changes lovers faster than underwear.

You secretly think Dara is shy and nonconfrontational. And that Dara has a hidden internet romance.

You Are 55% Normal (Somewhat Normal)

While some of your behavior is quite normal... Other things you do are downright strange You've got a little of your freak going on But you mostly keep your weirdness to yourself

So, I had to work on saturday...to make up for that wonderful 6 day weekend i had, and as i said in the title...one day off just is not enough...

I did leave a little early on Sat though, and headed to blagoevgrad with Chrissy from petrich, and met up with another PCV who came down for the night, and an american student i know who studies at the American University in town. Well, pretty much we did the same ol same ol, hung out and talked and then later on went to a heavy metal club with long haired bulgarians growling and headbanging which was pretty cool...and fun to watch...especcially when noelle started to join in, however no matter how hard she tried, the tribe just wouldn't accept her.

later on we moved to the underground which was just way to packed and hot and loud and so after awhile we left and went to a 24hour denny's like place (but nowhere like denny's) and ate french fries and chicken nuggets...yum yum....and then noelle and i crashed at my american friend's apt...

the next morning i did some shopping and bought some new tenni shoes. then i went to the pazar and got some fresh veggies because my town is so fricken small there's no pazar...

after that we all met up again and watched the new star wars movie...which was waaaaaaaay better than the last two! way more action, deciet, and the dark side!

except i totally cried throughout the whole end of the moving...after stupid anikan killed the younglings i was basically in tears until the end...and everyone made fun of me when the lights came on but i just cant handle little kids being killed! i dont know im a wuss...

so know im back in strumyani, i have a stomach ache and dont feel very well...plus i just found out that it gets really humid here in the southwest region of bulgaria during the summer...and i hate humidity...yuck! oh well, i guess i'll just have to get used to it.

But i have a ton of work to do to get ready for the human trafficking thing, and that will keep me occupied...hopefully everything works out okay...and tummy ache goes away...

okay gotta go! love always, shaina rose

Well i really have to hand it to the bulgarians...they know how to celebrate their holidays! Sat was the day of celebration for the birth of the Cyrillic alphabet! There was a huge festival held in the center of town with greek & bulgarian dance & music troupes! And the greek dancers were awesome...some ended up with bloody knees afterwards...yup it was just that hardcore! the greeks take their dancing seriously! so, then we all migrated to the school yard, a few hundred meters nearby, and this dude raked out hot coals and performed a pagan bulgarian tradition of coal walking! It was totally awesome...and probably the most intense cultural practice i've experienced in bulgaria...absolutely amazing! So afterwards while the entire town danced the horo around the town center, i observed from the sidelines and relaxed with a brewski...when a bulgarin dude i work with introduced me to his friend from sofia, Ani. She spoke perfect english and had even lived in Santa Cruz for 6mos and traveled around america! She was super cool and we hung out all night and went to the discoteka in strumyani that i didnt even know exisited! Now let me tell you what my definition of cool is, when a chick is down to let me pour vodka from a bottle down her throat i know she's the shiz-nizzle...oh and a ton of the greeks from the festival came and partied with us, actually they bought the bottle of vodka...so it turned into an international world wide par-lay in Strumyani of all places!

So after 6am rolled around i figured it was time for sleepy poo and i headed back to my apt...of course escorted by this bulgarian dude who i said id teach him english on mon (silly me! mondays another holiday and i already had plans...OOPS) Well, he leans in for a goodnight kiss as im munching away and on a bag of potatoe chips and i'm all "hey! what do you think youre doing" and then he wants to rub noses and says "you do that in america!" and i say "NO WE DONT! I'm from america we dont do that!" and then i laughed at him and went up stairs to eat my potato chips and pass out...all in all it was a lovely evening.

So sunday i wake up and eat some mac & cheese (the last box mommy!!!) and then passed out, when around 3pm Ani called me for some coffee and we chatted and made plans to meet in blatgoevgrad on monday.

I headed for petrich after the coffee...which happened to turn into a little mini adventure in itself...
So i have no idea when a bus for petrich is going by so i decided to head out the stop and wait for it because usually there's one every hour or so...so im waiting waiting waiting an hour and a 1/2 passes and finally i see the petrich bus comin down the road...so i wave my arms frantically to get it to stop and WOOSH it drives right by...bad thing is, that was the last bus to petrich...so i call my pcv friend and tell her "so the bus came, didnt stop, and that's the last bus" and i really wanted to get to petrich so i could tell her about my awesome night in strumyani! THen i think "hey there's a train station here, ill go check that out" so ive been in this town what, 6 mos? and i had no idea where the train station is, i ask a ton of people and finally i find it...and im in luck, there's a train in 10min for petrich...so i buy my ticket and talk with some old bulgarian dudes and stun them with my mad bulgarski skills...then the train comes and i jump on board....

"YEE HA" i love bulgarian trains because you can pull the windows down...so ive got my headphones on, shades, and my head sticking out the window...and it was a lovely day...

so i get to petrich and hangout with chrissy, and on monday we head for blagoevgrad. When we get there we meet up with another volunteer and then my friend Ani and her friends and have a few brews. Then we head over to the pool hall and shoot some stick.

After that Chrissy and head over to a neat little cafe called "Rock House" and have a few more beers. Well, this old man comes by with his button up shirt all hangin open and his sexy white chest hair stickin out, and hands all the ladies in the cafe a bunch of pansies, that we're pretty sure he picked from a planter box in the center...then he just stands there and im all "oh that was nice, i think he wants some stotinki (change), I'll give him some" so i hand him him like 20 bulgarian cents which i guess turned into an invitaiton to sit with us, and he's talking and talking and Chrissy and i just pretend we dont understand bulgarian...we he gets up and leaves and comes back with a bunch of leaves from a tree and hands them to me, then he gets up and leaves again, and this time comes back with a bunch of roses from somebodies yard!!! he even cut all the thorns off for me! Im like great, does he want more stotinki...? So we get up to leave and get some food, and the dude kisses chrisy's hand and then tries to like make out with my shoulder! and i freak out and start running...and end up with a bunch of roses, pansies, and leaves...

then we went for some pasta and met an amereica proffessor and he came over to our table and chatted with us. Then we went to karaoke and he came along too...it's always fun to meet non-peace corps americans...

So chrissy and i sang "welcome to the jungle" "me and bobby mcgee' "tainted love" "american woman" and man i know we sang a ton more, i just cant remember! it was super fun though!

after karaoke we went to the underground, and danced and i met the owner and tried to talk im into letting me DJ and electro-clash/80s night...and he said "well, make me a cd and bring it on sat" but now i realize, i dont think bulgarians will dig the elektro clash as much as i do...

so we get back to my place again around 6am and sleep sleep sleep some more...i woke up and made us some breakfast and then chrissy went home back to petrich... (so by now it's tuesday)

tuesday, i pretty much lie on my couch all day and watch movies and eat candy...
wednesday, i actually get up off my but and clean my apt...which was absolutely neccessary
thursday, i go to work and tell them ill be working from home and then nap and clean some more and play tony hawk, later have coffee with a bulgarian friend, pesho, write some things for a new project at work (yes i did do some 'work') and then paint and watch more movies and then pass out
Friday, Finally back at work!

So that has been my week, we finally got paid after having to scrounge for practically the whole month...so tomorrow i will come into work for awhile and then head to blagoevgrad and buy some cheap new clothes...woo hoo! and maybe go to the underground too! :)

Well, hope you enjoyed reading about my life here...love you all! Shaina Rose

Man, if only it were Shaina pay day! ive been making 100 leva last 3 weeks, and still got one more week to go...current status...80 leva..

well, the on gypsy pay day all the gypsy's gather around the bankomat (atm) and watch as the gypsy king (head gypsy of the tribe) inserts the atm card, and listen to the wrrrrrrr of the wheels pushing out the leva. it's very exciting, i know i get excited when i hear that sound! well, the gypsy king is the only one allowed to do it for the whole tribe (not quite sure why but i think it may be because he's the only one who knows how to work the machine) but he takes everybodys card and gets their leva out for them...

it's a good thing i hit the bankomat up yesterday because otherwise id be waiting all day to use it.

well, it's friday! ill be heading off to petrich, the town notirous for mobsters and hitmen (just read that in my rough guide for bulgaria) and hanging out with another pcv.

i made some peanut butter cookies last night but they taste like crap...too much flour...but ill try again...

last night....HUGE storm...tons of lightning and thunder and hurricane force winds...i was very scared! especially when the electricity when out for awhile!

that's all for now!

love always, shaina rose

Well, it's the beginning of a new week, and so far the weather is awesome and sunny and beautiful and warm! it's hard to want to stay in the office all day with weather like this. But summer is coming soon, and with it i forsee many trips to the white sea, and the black sea...not really sure what the white sea is but i just heard im a half an hour bus ride from it and it's in greece. i plan on looking it up right now on handy dandy google...

my weekend was lots of fun...i met up with some other volunteers and had the obligatory beer or two or three...and headed over to the new bowling alley that just opened up wich 8 new pool tables too. Chrissy (the volunteer in Petrich, a town nearby) and shot some stick while everyone bowled. we are both on the same crappy level so it was fun! Then we went to the local club and had some drinks and then split a cab home.

So, i just got news that the new volunteer that is being placed in Sandanski, a city 15min away from me, is a young girl and i have it on good authority that she is laid back and is already wondering if there are fun things to do around here. i cant wait to meet her!

That's really all that is new right now. Im thinking about purchasing a televeision and getting cable...if i can find the dough..and um...my spirits are high and waiting for mommy's package! hopefully tomorrow!

Love always, shaina rose

Well, i dont really have any new stuff to post about. I went to a bulgarian wedding and danced the horo, at tainted kufte and kebapche and barfed til 1am. it was a fun wedding though, interesting to see how bulgarians do it.

right now im in blagoevgrad and will be meeting up with some other volunteers to celebrate the end of another week.

So yesterday was Friday the 13th, the only thing bad that happend was that i had to clean the wedding room because the gypsies didnt come and clean it and there's a wedding tomorrow. otherwise, i pretty much just laid on the couch in the office, and talked to my counter part about project ideas.

i want to direct a projection of oedipus rex, and she wants to have a dance folk and music festival. but there's this really awesome marble open air ancient-style theatre on a cliff that would be awesome to have people in togas performing an ancient greek play!! and i was trying to convince her of my vision.

well, i really must be getting little butt out of here and off to the cafe to meet up with my peeps.

Love always, shaina rose

now where did i leave off, oh yes berlin...and the shite talkin punk rockers on the s-bahn. well, we ignored them and went to a few clubs. We emerged from the last club around 8am, when the sun had risen, and the birds were singing. We had met some mexicans who were renting and apartment in berlin and we went to their place and on the way some how picked up a wandering irishmen...well, when we got to the apartment, immediately fell asleep in a corner..but awoke to the wandering irisman talking very loudly to dara aka deirdra...and if it's family reading this...you all know how cranky i can be when im woken from my slumber...well, hit the irishman in the head and yelled at him to leave because he was being incredibly loud. He finally left...and we were able to get some rest for about an hour...when i decided i would head back with dara to the hostel...because we had to meet my friend peter at 1230pm to bring our stuff to his dormroom. so we got about an hour of sleep, packed up...and went to the dorm where peter got a room for us. we site see'd all day...reichstag, berlin wall, checkpoint charlie, big park, all kinds of things...and then had an early night. I think in all we spent about 3 nights in berlin and were ready to head out to praha...THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CITY IN THE WORLD!!!
We got to Praha and checked into a cool hostel, "THe Clown and Bard" where there was a wonderful little bar downstairs. THe first night we played fingers in the middle, play with your diddle with a group of english bloakes we met in the bar...jamie drank christmas wine that peter had given me and went to bed. Dara and i went to the largest club in eastern europe and i danced all night. The next day we went to the mucha museum and wensislaus square. And the next day we went on a walking tour of praha and saw the palace, oldest synagogue in europe, the jewish cemetary, kafka's house, the theatre where mozart premiered don giovani, and the old square. it was a lot of fun. later that evening we went to the national opera and saw tiaokovsky's "The Queen of Spades". we stayed an extra day to try and see the Chaple of All Saints...but we got on the wrong train...and missed it! well, there's always next time! because i definately plan on going back! it is really just amazing, the vibe, energy, people, architecture whic is just so ART NOUVEU!!! (inside joke for Dara and Jamie)
Well, Dara and Jamie headed back to western europe, and i proceeded further east back under the iron curtain. I went to budapest and at a western bacon cheeseburger at TGI Friday's and spent the day in the park and explored the palace. Budapest is also a beautiful city that i would like to spend more time in. Then i was off to Bucharest where i met to english bloaks and we explored the city together and had some great conversations. I have to say, one of the best reasons to travel is all the interesting people you meet. And from all over the world, its a lot of fun.
In Bucharest, we went to the People's Palace which is the 3rd largest building in the world, built in the 1980s and basically caused a famine in romania because Caesscau must've had a really small penis because obvisouly the People's Palace is one of the biggest examples of compensation ever! It's pretty horendous actually. Every single person in Romania was required to contribute to the construction of it. But i also saw the balcony Caeccesscau gave his last speech before the people had their revenge and hung him and his wife....
Well, now im back in bulgaria...and that was my trip in a nutshell...i will post again soon

I know everyone probably gave up...but im back...god i guess i got so drug into the mundane...you know...gypsys sweeping the center....watching the donkeys till the field from my window...just everday stuff....i felt like there really wasnt anything new to talk about.
but i did go on a trip across western europe which was absolutely heavenly...i knew i was outside the iron curtain when i asked dara and jamie if it was okay to flush the toilet paper in amsterdam! oh wow! it was such a treat to be in countries with some real infastructure! im sure dara's told everyone how the trip was...theres just so much that it'll will take forever for me to relay right now.
But basically I met dara and jamie at the amsterdam airport (after a slight snafu where i flew in a day early but it gave me the chance to get the know the city and get dara and jamie to the hotel quickly from the airport) we spent a few hazy days there smoking, eating, smoking, going to the heineken brewery, the anne frank house, dodging bikes, smoking and eating 4 euro flaffels some more. It really is a beautiful city though. After feeling the monetary crunch in amsterdam, we headed for hamburg and stayed at a crappy family hostel with tons of childern and crap...i did not like it at all..we walked around the rieperbahn and i ate another flaffel and we had a few beers at a cool bar...but since we were headed for berlin the next day jamie and dara convinced me we should not party our brains out there but save the euros for berlin.
we arrived in berlin and stayed at a cool hostel with 2 bars and lots of interesting people. we met up with my ex-peace corps buddy peter and he took us to east berlin which was populated mostly by anarchists and punks...who hate americans which we learned while taking the u-bahn and this punks felt the need to voice their opinions in english about how stupid amereicans are and how they could tell that we were americans from our accent. we thought it best to ignore them even though i totally couldve taken that bitch who was talking the trash!

i will continue more later, im almost of money on the internet! love always, shaina rose