The day following our flight was spent in bed, so that cured any indication of jet lag. Yesterday, though, was so much fun! We went on a walk in the snow to the new mall in Sofia. It was very modern and had shops such as French Connection and Puma, but some shops were weird knock-offs of our famous shops. Example: Women's Secret. Haha! Dylan bought me the cutest black snow boots because I brought 3 pairs of heels and 3 pairs of tennis shoes, all of which don't fare very well in the snow here. Go figure! We walked around the mall for a few hours, shopping and people watching. I don't know about you, but I totally pictured Bulgarian women as huge and gruff, with lots of body hair and deep voices. I could not be more wrong! The women here are stunningly beautiful and all very thin.
Bulgaria is just now repairing itself from the strict Communist regime it was under. For a long time, plentiful food and other basic needs were not available to everyone, so over-eating was never an option to most. Mom says she thinks a lot of people still do not allow themselves to over-indulge due to fear and habit. Either way, the women are gorgeous. The men? Not so much. No offense to any Bulgarian people...just not my type.
The one thing I cannot get over are the stray dogs. They are everywhere and it completely breaks my heart to see them roaming around in the snow. You aren't supposed to touch or feed them because they are wild, but I can't comprehend how they run around unaccounted for. I could never imagine Lola, the love of my life, running around town hungry and cold. Everyone here just looks past these poor dogs, but this is something I will never get used to. So sad.
After the mall, we all took a short nap and got ready to go to Mom's Christmas party. My mom teaches math, social studies and science at an exclusive school that has very few students, grades K-10. Most of the children are those of the people who work at the Embassy, but some are local children who have qualified to attend on scholarship. Many of her colleagues are American, who also left the states to come teach out here, but many of them are Bulgarian as well. We met them all last night and they were great!
Everyone got pretty toasted last night, and we had a blast dancing and singing along to Western music. (When I say Western, I mean American. Everything American is generally referred to as Western.) There is nothing better than seeing adult educators doing the twist in a foreign country, totally blitzed!
After the party, a group of us got in cabs and went to this club called the Swingin' Hall. It is in the basement of what used to be a university building and it is freakin awesome. It's underground and it would be the raddest punk rock bar. There were two live bands playing in different alcoves of the bar. One was all dudes and they sang songs by the Beatles, Bon Jovi and other classic rock bands with a punk twist. It was so funny to hear all these Bulgarians stumble on English words, kind of how Molle tries to sing along to songs! :) I will never forget dancing alongside my mom to "Pretty Woman" with one hand on our drinks, the other in the air jumping around in an underground club. Priceless. It reminded me of Linda and Mac McMillian, hanging out with their kids at a bar, letting go of all inhibitions and not caring that they are amongst people 20 years their junior. So cool. The other band was all girls, and they sang wretched versions of Bob Marley songs. If they can acquire an audience, Jordi and I could make a killing starting our own band! Yikes! The one downfall is the cigarette smoke. Even the gnarliest chain-smoker in the states would scoff at the haze in this club. My breathing is still labored this morning.
It was so great getting to know my mom's coworkers, even if it was under drunken circumstances. I look forward to going to her school this coming week and seeing them all in their element. Today we are going to Sofia's City Centre, which is supposed to be more traditional and old-school as opposed to the up-to-date mall we visited yesterday. The snow today is thick and beautiful...like nothing I have ever seen. Mammoth ain't got shit on this Euro-snow!
Miss and love you all! Until next time...
