The post card I sent from Sofia on July 19th arrived yesterday, August 11th, in Virginia! The ZIP code was torn, so maybe that’s why it took so long. But it came!
Now, to see if the letter she sent me will get here! A neighbour delivered Max’s post yesterday, so I’m optimistic!
Holy smokes, today was hot and sticky with an relentless sun! I’m lucky the house stays cool and that there is a good breeze through the windows.
I powered through work and a volunteer project before taking the dogs out this afternoon. They were really eager to go, but not even halfway down our normal afternoon route, they flopped down and gave me a, “You know, we’re good, thanks. Can we go home?!” kind of look. I brought them home, gave them their treats, and they had a half of a huge bowl of water each!
As for me, I faced a dilemma. My only option for dinner was yet more pasta. A) I’m sick of pasta and B) it’s too dang hot to cook! I could have had a PB and J, but that would have used up the bread I wanted to save for tomorrow. Would it be worth facing The Hill in order to see if the village store had bread and salami? What cinched it for me is that I knew they’d have beer and ice cream. 😀
I lugged all my beer empties with me and the look the storeowner gave me when she saw them was comical. She must think I’m a real lush! With a bit of pantomime, she made me understand that some of my bottles cannot be recycled and should be thrown out.
The meat and dairy cooler was full, thankfully, and so I found a salami that I hope will be good (haven’t had a bad one yet!). I also found a chocolate ice cream cone, they were full up of my favourite beer, AND they had a loaf of fresh bread. That was my best trip there yet!
One the way up, the sweet old lady at the end of my street came out to say hi. We had an honest to goodness conversation!
Her: Hello!
Me: Hello! How are you?
Her (taken aback that I’ve learned “How are you?”): Very good! How are you?
Me: Very good, thank you!
(She then said something and pointed to my bag. I took that as her asking where I’d been.)
Me: Store.
Her: Ah, store! Bread?
Me: And salami and beer and ice cream.
Her (laughing): Good, good!
Me: Goodbye!
Her: Goodbye!
I know how little progress that is for about six weeks in the country, but it’s not like I’ve really been in an immersion setting or interacting with Bulgarians daily. Sad, I know, but it’s what I expected and it’s not like I’m likely to use Bulgarian again. So, really, I’m pleased that I’ve made any progress at all!
It’s nice to be done early (very early today, in fact) two days in a row! It’ll be an evening for a couple of movies because it’s too hot to move!
It’s been a really good couple of days work-wise. I’m in the middle of another large project for a production company, but this time the deadline is reasonable enough that I can set a steady pace and still accommodate other clients within reason. These are the kind of days I dreamt of when I started freelancing, when I can quit at a reasonable hour feeling that I put in a good day of work and with the security that I have many such days ahead of me.
No, the money isn’t great, but my expenses are low in Bulgaria and should continue to be low-ish even with travel later this month, having to pay for accommodation starting late next month, and my property tax bill being forthcoming. Things are just… fine.
I am looking forward to slacking a bit starting next week to go exploring! Bulgaria is so small that I will be able to cram in a lot in the two weeks or so that I will be free from my petsitting duties. Max is supposed to be here tomorrow, so I hope we can finalise some scheduling details. For example, I’m hoping that he’s not thinking that I will be gone for two full weeks, as, really, that’s not in the budget. I’d like to go away for a week — a few days in Plovdiv and a few by the coast — and then take day trips from here. Whatever I save on accommodation will go towards hiring a car. I’ll still need to carry a light workload during that time as I’ve taken a lot of time off this year and my clients have told me they are feeling the pinch. Not good!
It’s just past 6PM now. The dogs have been walked and fed and I’m about a third of the way through my beer. I’m thinking of dinner, and then I’ll watch a movie or a few episodes of a TV show. You know, like “conventional” people do. Funny how much I fight against having a conventional life, but there are bits of it that I miss. I guess that’s what a life by design is all about, picking and choosing the best all possible options!
My new credit card made it! I was told four days so I thought maybe Friday, but was really expecting it today, if it was to make it at all. I am impressed!
It’s a bit of scorcher today! I got up “early” (7:30) to walk the dogs before going to town and it was already hot and sticky. Sausage took off like a mad man, but soon flopped down on the trail panting before resuming at a more sedate pace. We walked a good 20 minutes roundtrip and I made sure they had lots of fresh water when we got in.
By the time I’d had coffee and toast as well as checked my email, dressed, and packed, it was getting close to nine. I grabbed my bag and headed out. There was a nice breeze out in the open and the sun wasn’t pounding down yet, so I decided I’d be quite happy to walk all the way to town, but would make an effort to get a lift home.
I was in Yablanitsa by ten and started with produce. There didn’t seem to be much choice today, especially in the fruit department. I’m tired of melons and stone fruit (peaches, apricots), so I just got tomatoes, zucchini, and onions since I still have heaps of carrots and potatoes at home as well as a couple of grapefruit.
My toast already felt quite far away by the time I was done with my produce shopping, so I grabbed a kebapche. This seems to be the go-to fast food in Yablanitsa and I’m so glad that I’ve figured it out. Market days just don’t feel right if you don’t indulge in some street food. I’d seen the kebapche every time I was in town and recognised it was what it roughly is (sausagey thing in a bun), but had no idea how to order it and hadn’t managed to time things to get in line behind someone and point to their order. I really felt like a local today as I put down my 1BGN coin and said, “One kebapche, please.” The lady gave me a huge smile that was even warmer than the sun.
After I ate, I went to the ATM to take out money for the month and I’ll admit to being relieved that there was no problem with my debit card!
Next, I wanted ibuprofen as I’m almost out. I thought the pharmacy (apteka/аптека) would be a good place to go for that. I did some research first and learned the Bulgarian name for Advil (nurofen/нурофен). The lady at the counter apologetically said, “No.” I tried again with ibuprofen (ибупрофен) and she said, “No,” again. Hmm. Well, can’t say I didn’t make a valiant effort! I’m sort of kind of thinking of going to Sofia on Monday, so I’ll try there.
I then popped into the grocery store for a bit of a top up (still have tons of stuff left from my unexpected trip to Botevgrad) and was surprised that I could not find baking soda. Google translate put it as “soda for bread” so I tried that and got an apologetic “no.” Oh well… I didn’t have any more stops after (I thought at that point), so I rummaged through the ice cream case and got a chocolate orange cone!
Needless to say, I tore into my treat the second I got outside and it did not disappoint, a super dense dark chocolate ice cream with orange liqueur and candied bits of zest scattered through it. It was a bit bitter and not too sweet, rather like eating a creamy grapefruit. I hope I can find one of these again!
I was done with my ice cream by the time I passed the other food store, so I went in to see what kind of produce they have. It’s a tiny bit more varied than what the supermarket has and I picked up two apples that looked good. I also asked them about baking soda and got a no. Another thing to add to my Sofia list!
It was then time to head home. I climbed the long hill out of town and when I got to the top, a car roared to a stop beside me. It was full, but the man in the passenger seat got out and the driver called to me, pointing down the road. I said Malak Izvor and a lady in the back said something that I assumed meant, “Would the turnoff be okay?” and I replied in the affirmative. She motioned for me to get in.
They tried to engage me in conversation, but I was pretty useless, of course. Then, they started to say things in English, like good day and thank you, to test my Bulgarian vocabulary (it would seem). When we got to the corner, I said, “Thank you.” Then I realised that wasn’t quite right. They had just saved me walking 4KM under a scorching sun in tropical heat. So I amended that to “Thank you so much/Mnogo blagodarya.” The driver did a double take and said, “Brava”! It’s lovely to have my meagre efforts rewarded. 🙂
I’d no sooner walked about ten steps toward the village that another car roared to a stop beside me. It was… the handyman who has been working on the house all week and was headed to my place!!!
Well, it’s been a lovely relaxed morning, but I need to get to work. I’ve already got as much as I can handle for the next week and a bit!