Walk this way

I was having a conversation with this Nigerian guy. We have been having these debates more frequently as my time here is concluding and I don’t want to leave; and he can’t wait to leave but has another year.  Every day, I find it more tolerable and think about how to get my cat over here and live forever.  Anyway, we were walking and having this discussion and then at a cross street, we were given the Don’t Walk sign. Maybe 3-4 people out of 7-9 crossed the street, ignoring the suggestion of the sign.  Here this is why I hate it. They are walking! I was shocked. What an odd criterion to have, to judge the goodness of a people or of a place.  But people do that everywhere.  They do it New York. I do it. If I weren’t in a conversation with you, maybe I would have done it.  It depends on how lazy I feel.   

But he said that if one waited for the sign to change it showed they had respect for themselves and for the laws of the nation. What a strange way to think.  But I don’t want to be unfair; Nicholas has many valid reasons for not liking Bulgaria. I think if I were a man and not American, my experiences here would be very different. Most of my complaints really came from people wanting too much of my time, treating me too familiarly.  And if my Bulgarian was as good as his, maybe I would be aware of more insulting behavior. 

And yet, I still think it’s weird. When people stand there when there is no traffic just because the light is red, I think in my head What a boob. Just walk you idiot! But when I am exhausted and welcome the red and I see people racing across the street, I think Value your life. Where’s the fire moron! I am sure this says much more about me then it does about anyone else.     

Best laid schemes...

I had a list of things I wanted to do today.  It was not going to rain. And with the upcoming Toronto trip, I wanted to pack up some more things, settle some other things.  My folks are meeting me in Toronto and I think I can get rid of an entire suitcase, not just the contents but I think I won't need the bag itself.  This is thrilling for me.  Originally, I had only come with one suitcase. True it was oversize, but still it was just the one.

My intended itinerary

a. Go to Vitosha and take some pictures, 6am
b. Give clothes to Church across the street
c. Buy a camera cable for the computer and a mouse
d. Get the CD from Alexander Nevski Church- last gift
e. Go to doctor to get a prescription
f. Read the submitted article for the Archaeology & Theory Seminar tomorrow

What happened
a. I woke up with the 5am alarm but I didn't sleep at all the night before. My mind was just racing and I was uncomfortable. It was a nightmare. So I stayed in bed until 10am

b.  This was the second load of clothes and the Church didn't want them.  I don't know why.  They, like the first batch, were clean and good.  But charity is weird here and actually Bulgarians were surprised that the Church took the first bunch.  So I ended up giving them to an old Gypsy woman selling flowers right outside the Church. She has to live across the street from me.  They are old sweaters that I am over and a pair of sneakers that I never wear. I feel fine giving them up but I hate being told "ney". People shake their head when they say it and screw up their nose.  It feels worse than no. Ney sounds like never, fuck off.  The Russian "neyt" is harsh but you have to pronounce the t, so it seems less lazy disdain.  I appreciate it more.  I hate to start my day with a ney. It upsets me.

c. I went to the Mall up the street.  I hate all computer stores.  I never know what is going on even in the States. The real camera I brought, came with a cable.  But maybe it's packed in a friend's basement or in my car trunk.  But it is not crazy to get one. It is not an "American Only" USB! And I worked on saying I need a cable for this camera to connect to my computer in Bulgarian.  I practiced the night before and a bit in the morning.  And I start to speak and this woman is so rude and she says Yes, yes I speak a little English, what do you want. A little English! Just let me get through this sentence and you would need no English. What do I want! Ugh! So she of course said no, we don't have.  I'm incredulous.  She said that I should  just use the memory card in the camera and insert that into my computer. (This is of course brilliant and I didn't even know I had such a possibility. 

This is why there are pictures below- but at the time I was still pretty angry) I also have a rule that if people are mean (I get to judge what is mean) then I can't spend money at the shop. I can't even eat at a restaurant here if the waitstaff is mean.  I pay for the little I ordered and leave- hungry. So... I did not get the mouse and I need a mouse. The finger-thing hurts too much and my huge palm causes the cursor to jump every now and again. I dropped mine on the floor and now it doesn't work well.

d. Today is a holiday. The day after Easter Sunday and the shops' signs read "No Work Day Today". The only place I could have bought that mouse was in the Mall.  Alexander Nevski may have been open, but by then I was bummed and worried about the Hospital hours.

e. I ended up going to Tokuda- a Japanese run hospital at the bottom of the mountain. The bus took an hour.  Tokuda is super fancy and "International" so I figured there would be some English speakers.  It is like the future!  Everything needs a computer and there is a televised welcome computer who tells you what floor to go to. The toilets in the bathroom are just like David Sedaris described in When You Are Engulfed in Flames. At any moment there was going to be a surge of police coming in to stop someone's pre-crime from occurring because the pre-Cogs had already foretold it.  It was pretty awesome.  Then... it was very much the present and slow and confused as ever.  The internet was down and so my doctor needed my iPad and then the other doctor was smoking some fake cigaret that had the smell and feel of real tobacco but no smoke. It took me a moment to figure out what it was.  For a moment I thought I was in a Columbo episode. Who smokes in a hospital! In the end, I have to come back tomorrow. This is very upsetting because... it is 9pm. I am exhausted and might not get to f.  

Some pictures with the real camera. Ok, so  I hated today; I hated the past days of rain and working on the conference paper. I hate that everything at a pharmacy is behind glass and I can't get nail polish remover without knowing it in Bulgarian and asking someone for it. I miss my car and want some Thai food or Indian food or other food. But I love Sofia and I love taking pictures of this place.

Martenitzas on a tree- I kept mine

Martenitzas are coming off.  People have seen a tree bud

Romulus and Remus and Wolf

We went to the Central Cemetery of Sofia.  These are from there

Same guy- front tombstone

I know it's not funny... but it is kinda. That's the Blue Label of JW and a Red Bull. That's a little funny

I'm obsessed with my neighbors across the street. I will miss them the most.

   

Clue

Maybe it's just because I am studying Russian and seeing Bulgarian signs all the time, but knowing the Cyrillic alphabet features too heavily in Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot stories.  Some criminal is always leaving behind a monogrammed memento with a C, B, or H.  Inevitably someone is named Charles, Bill, or Harriet looking suspicious, having been overheard in a heated argument with the victim.  And yet no one else but the two private sleuths know that could be Sergei, Victor, or Natasha's stuff.  Now that I know the alphabet, can I have a new career in crime solving? I have been listening to a lot of Librivox.

I finally finished my Toronto paper!  I give a practice talk this coming Friday at ARCS.  I am so bored. This paper has been such a pain.  I am talking about emporia that are not in my dissertation, I am making arguments that I don't believe in and this past week in particular I am missing Blegen. I can never find the books that I need. Books that I would happily purchase electronically for portable use are not available and Google books abbreviated viewing always burns me: dozens of pages that I don't need and then... wham pages necessary- essential not available.  

I need to get out of the city.  It's raining all the time; yesterday it hailed.  Last night was orthodox Easter mass.  I went to the services.  It was long and lots of things to do but I was glad I went.  I love that little Church across the street for me. As it is Easter Sunday proper here, there are more services to be had, but I am still pretty exhausted. Plus, I kind of want to somehow celebrate the conclusion of this paper.

I have been using my real camera lately and realized that I don't have the chord that connects to the computer.  I will need to get one soon and then I will have more images.