You know you LOVE Bulgaria when…

1.     you will miss Skappy’s ham and cheese toast.

2.     Blago knows you are leaving so he gives you a going away gift of spotty internet. I think he's really trying to get me outside to spend time with my people. 

3.     you will not miss seeing men coming out of the woodwork in track suits when the weather turns nice.  

4.     you go somewhere else and you say da for yes, despite being fully aware that that isn’t the way they say yes.

5.     you read signs in English and you start to see Cyrillic instead. H=N. P=R. Oh now I’m confused.

6.     you miss seeing stray dogs. Where did Horny go?! I can't find Jumper! I miss them!

7.     you go out to dinner and you don’t get your food at scattered times. What do you mean I don’t have to wait an hour after my companions are done eating to get my food? And, you can hear the person you are talking to. Hold on, I don’t have to shout anymore?

8.     you will miss getting banitsa at 3:30 am after a long night of partying at Underground or Piano Bar.

9.     you can actually watch tv without it being dubbed.

10.  the first thing you mention about missing the Bulgs is how cheap it was. A 2L Shumesko for 2,69 leva, yep, that’s real.

11. you can sit outside for 8 hours on a blanket with friends, having nap time and a picnic, only for it to become a party with cake and alcohol. It’s the good life.

I will miss you Blago, your beautifully luscious, green trees, your sunny afternoons, the sound of the rushing river as I walk back to the Skaptos, your Raffy’s ice cream stands, chocolate soufflé, kebabs and banitsa, Macarios futbol matches, Shumensko and Zagorka, Lollita, Underground, Piano Bar. I will miss you Blago, for you were the perfect place to spend four months getting to know crazy amazing people (I mean we all had to be a little crazy to come to Bulgaria in the first place), for teaching me about myself and my strengths and weaknesses, for showing me what the world is really like (at least some of it anyway) and for getting me out of my American bubble. Thank you Blago, for being nicknamed Blago. Thank you for being awesome.

Bulgaria, you captured my heart and gave me the semester of my life. You are a beautiful treasure the world holds and it is a pity more people don’t see the real you. Thank you for your lovely mountains and your cheapness and your nightlife and for AUBG and for bringing me new and fantastic friends that have forever touched my heart and made it light. To all who I spent the semester with, thank you for the good times, the great memories, and love I felt when I was with you. I wish you all the best of luck on your next adventures and remember, ADVENTURE IS OUT THERE! Remember the times we had and smile because they couldn’t have gotten any better! Nasdrave, my friends to one hell of a semester. We did it right.

(Not so) Finally Finals

It's finals week. The week we all dread yet all love because it's the means to the end. After 15 weeks of classes, it all comes down to the last test, paper, or project to be completed before you are free for the glories of summer.  The weather is a siren, tempting you away from books and laptops to blankets on the grass and ice cream strolls. Instead though, you look out the window, hating yourself for studying instead of enjoying the goodness that Mother Nature has finally graced you with.  But this finals week is a little different, more bittersweet than the ones I've experienced in the past. It's my last week as an exchange student. And it's my last week with these people.

It makes me sad and if my friends knew I was writing this they would not be happy with me. We all live in denial at the moment, ignoring the fact that by the end of the week we will have to say see-you-laters (goodbyes have such a finality to them) and give last hugs before departing our separate ways. It looms above us, threatening to rain on our parade and yet, we have pulled out our umbrellas and wait for the downpour that will eventually, or very shortly, ensue. But I like rain. And I like playing in the rain and watching its beauty as the drops hit and make everything sparkly. There's a refreshing sense to the feeling of rain. 

So this is how I choose to look on this last week here in Blago (I decided this as I was writing this sentence).  We are going to give these last three days hell as we celebrate and enjoy our last days together. And as we part ways on Saturday I will look back, probably with glassy eyes and tear streaked cheeks, at all the things I learned and experienced and saw. But most of all, I will remember the fantastic times I spent with some really amazing friends (who I will love forever) and I will smile, because I am better for knowing them and blessed to have had them as companions through this journey here in Bulgaria. 

And the countdown continues... 

(more sap to come later)

(1) You know you're in Bulgaria when...

 ...you don't seem to know how to open a door correctly. Push or pull, that is the question. 

 ...you go anywhere and order a coffee thinking you'll get a grande size and instead, receive a shot of espresso. 

...it snows 6-7 inches and the next day you still see girls wearing five inch high heels climbing through the mountains of snow or hobbling on sheets of ice. 

 ...you walk on the sidewalk only to be stopped by a car parked there. 

 
...banitsa is craved and tastes delicious any time of the day, especially after a really wild night of partying/ drinking (this is similar to the taco bell/Mexican runs made back in the States). 

 ...there is no Mexican or Chinese/Thai food to be found. Devastating I tell you, devastating! 

 ...food and hot drinks are served lukewarm. This is EVERYWHERE. Could be considered nice because then you can just dig in, but occasionally you just want that searing cup of coffee that burns your tongue, you know? 

 
 ...Tuesday nights are one of the big going out nights of the week (piano bar =drunk karaoke; awesomeness to its fullest.). Thirsty Thursday, I think not my friends. 

 ...you can go to a dinner with the US Consul from Sofia and it be completely "normal", especially when it's held in the cafe in the dormitory. 

 ...you walk to class and see the mountains or think about last night or what you plan to do for the next three remaining months of being here and think, "Dude, I'm in Bulgaria."