Sweet but short Plovdiv

Waking up from my wonderful slumber, it feels to me as if the previous night was just a dream.  I wake up inspired, ready to take on the world, and the cold doesn't bother me.  I feel reborn and fresh.

Nasko knocks, pops his head into the room, and tells me that the family is going to Plovdiv.

I pack my laptop, camera, water, and also my toiletries - today I'm supposed to meet Gergana for dinner and possibly spend the night over at her place; good to be prepared.  We drive...and drive, it feels like the old days where our family would seldomly drive to Chicago - except the scenery is much more vibrant.  I read for the majority of the time, while Nasko sings outloud from time to time, focusing attention on the road and administering affectionate kisses to his children.  If I may, the country side of Bulgaria is amazing, and I must come back.

Along the way, Nasko informs me that his bungee jump instructor may be able to get an appointment in today, but he must first wait for confirmation.  It would later turn out that Illian took a wrong turn and ended up in a city in the oppositie direction of Plovdiv...and that the appointment must be moved to Thursday.

We pick some oranges up, which by the way, in Bulgaria growth hormones and genetically engineered anything is outlawed, thus possibly degrading the "perfect" appearance, but making the overall quality of the fruits and foods better.  Having no breakfast, the oranges taste like cold heaven.  We reach the destination, a store that would be comparable to Home-Depot, and the family goes in to look for a sink...until I spot a bird in the corner of my eye.

Why...is that a...

in Plovdiv? Yes.


Honestly I have no clue why these cool peacocks were in Plovdiv - Bulgaria in general.  But I want to buy one.  Those vibrant plumes could make the coolest broom ever.

I go inside to see the family eying a sink - good thing I brought my toiletries!

Someone had the brilliant idea to put real toiletries around the displays.

So after checking myself out in every mirror, sitting on the toilet displays, and touching every facet, they bought the green sink pictured above.  Then off to more stores for about two hours.  I took this time to read more of The Zahir.

We ended up at Naska's dad's apartment, where he had prepared a copious amount of Sarmi (blend of vegetables and rice - meat optional - wrapped in either boiled cabbage or wine leaves.  Delicious.  Nasko broke bread and I asked him,

"soo...what do you usually do when at the dinner table?"
"I'm feeding myself, we talk later."

A few minutes later I went to use the restroom, which in Bulgaria, some of the older apartments have a toilet separate from everything else - I find it peculiar.  I was almost done until I hear a voice through the keyhole saying "poo poo poo."  I look through and there's the rascal, Boyan, grinning.  I tell him to "go away."

Having heard from Naska, that her father can speak German, I go with anticipation to communicate with him - otherwise we're stuck with non-verbal communication and my minute amount of Bulgarian.  It turns out that he had learned German back in the 60's and hadn't used it since.  Just my luck!  But we could communicate and I was oh so happy.  It made me realize the importance of learning languages.

Now that everything was finished - supplies and food - we started heading back to Ivan Vasovo, until I indicated that I wanted to see a friend of mine in Plovdiv.  Nasko pulled over, directed me towards the town center, and I told him that I'll be looking forward to the mineral spring/bath tonight.  Off to the center.

Bagpipes

Central Plovdiv is beautiful.  I enjoyed it so much better than Sofia to be honest...

I go to the post-office to send away from postcards that I have been meaning to send off since the dawn of time, and to send off a card and a Martenitsa (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martenitsa).  After much hassle through the non-English speaking workers and my lack of a stable memory, I fail to do either.  Only then do I realize that it's inching past 16:40, so I attempt to contact Gergana but to no avail.  I go to the tourist information and the lady informs me of what I need to do - success.  Turns out I was in the wrong center of the city.

We finally meet up and she tells me about Plovdiv's history and traditions, and a lot about Bulgaria as a whole.  Plovdiv's center was actually built on top of Roman ruins - cool stuff.

The most comfortable chair I've ever sat on

Amphitheater - Roman

Old building vs renovated

Musician who was executed for taking a stand against Communism

Cobblestones will destroy your heals ladies!

View of Plovdiv from castle ruins

I won't say much about the actual dinner, but I will say a few things

-I love Gergana's parents despite our inability to verbally communicate
-Givetchy is delicious
-Bulgarian wine is delicious

To my dismay, it's past the time which the last bus drives to Ivan Vasovo, so we call up Nasko and discuss our plans for tonight and tomorrow.  It turns out the Illian, the bungee instructor, will meet me tomorrow at 7 A.M. in the morning - great (I love waking up early).  Nasko then tells me that he and his friend were waiting for me to get back so they could celebrate his friend's birthday; they had prepared food and were going to play music.  I felt crushed inside, and even more after they started playing music on the telephone.  But I knew they would have a good time without me - Nasko even told me.

After a few glasses of wine (VERY few for me) and a few conversations, we hit the hay and prepare to wake up at 6 - great.  The morning arrives and we meet Illian - my transfer of transportation is complete.  Illian starts packing a bunch of equipment, a thing that looks like a meat grinder, and sacks of rope.  And we drive...

Car conversation reveals that he is an insulation installer and a demolitionist - awesome.

"There's powder in the car."

Then to Ivan Vasovo to pick up Nasko and my own belongings.

Then to Klisura, the jump destination.

"Is it okay to jump when there's snow and fog?"

"Yes"

Then the jump - W-W-WAIT WAIT WHAT?  I couldn't believe...

Illian tells me that he will give me a call when the equipment is ready - and hands me a flourescent green vest.  I sit in the car and try to take in what's going to happen.  I make this video and then yes - you've guessed it - read more of The Zahir.  Taking my mind off of the jump, I eagerly press into Paulo Coelho's own journey, reading about a man with visions - then my battery dies.  Then the phone rings.

On my way

So that's the thing that looks like a meat grinder...

"When you go down and bounce, put your arms around your head"

I felt like The Joker on The Dark Knight

It had occurred to me that the fog was gone.

Small waterfall

The feeling itself is unique.  It's a rush.  You jump, you become weightless, and the only thing you can hear is the wind blowing into your ears.  And then the bounce - turning into a human yo-yo.  Then while you're hanging, you may panic just a tad bit while spinning.  I felt a little pressure around my ankle constraints, but I knew there was a harness around me too.  Hanging upsidedown and seeing the scenery, experiencing the bloodrush, was phenomenal.  You feel incredible afterwards and all your troubles seem like nothing.

The jump where you are released, that's another story.  It's very scary and you have no control over it.  Nor can you see where you are...you just drop.

I enter the car while Nasko and Illian are preparing to leave and scream to myself that, "I can't believe I just..."

We drive off to a diner and eat some damn good food...Then to Ivan Vasovo to drop off Nasko.  He and I exchange goodbyes and I tell him, "I'll be back."

Then to Plovdiv to catch a bus - which Illian was so kind to drive me to the different stations despite his own schedule.  "Maybe in Canada...", I told him, as he was going to be in Canada during the summer(s).

Check out this arcade machine.

Totally rocking, bling bling everywhere, but the actual contents are less... flashy.

I received so many stares inside the bus station - to the point of minor discomfort.  I was on the hunt for an...outlet.  My battery had gone out from the previous day and I absolutely needed to finish reading The Zahir.  Unfortunately that wouldn't occur till Veliko Tarnovo.

I started talking to these two guys in Bulgarian - you can imagine how that conversation went - they seemed friendly and I asked where a Cafe was, cause man, this place and all the stares was just too awkward.  One of the guys ended up following me to direct me further, and I non-verbally communicate that I wanted to go to a cafe with housing - I still needed an outlet.  So we go to one and I pull out my vocabulary list and we communicate - try to.

I order "Lesht", after asking the waitress what "Lesht" is, and she just looks at us and starts laughing.  To bowls.

I tell my newly found accomplice that "I am a foreigner" in Bulgarian as a bad joke, and he looks at me and says "Raz-beer-a-say" - "Of course."  You had to be there moment ;)

We go back to the station and he goes to his bus, I sit down and start talking to this little boy.  I show him my recent bungee videos and we exchange any possible conversation.  Time to depart and I head towards my bus, I ask somebody that looks like Don Vito if it's the bus "za Veliko Turnovo" and he just looks at me and starts yelling.  I think it was a yes.

I get in and the boy from the station comes back to tell me his name and wishes me a good trip.  I totally forgot his name.  We start driving and I need something to do for...four hours.  So I start writing in a notebook and hand it to this girl sitting across from me.  She was boring so we stopped and I decided to sleep.  The actual bus ride was hectic, the roads are snowy and the roads are winding, and the half the time the driver is on his cell phone.  I was waiting for that moment to occur, that we miss a turn and we go plunging off the side of the mountain.

We arrive in Veliko Tarnovo and I take a taxi to Hristo's place - who was actually in Kazlanak. . .