Selena Gomez?!

UGH! 1am, Thursday: Another Aftershock and now, I can't go back to sleep. I am so done with earthquakes and weather and Bulgaria.  Then after the shaking again, I go online to see what it was and read the article below. Who is this girl! 

Selena Gomez has been scared by the 5.9-magnitude earthquake in Bulgaria's capital Sofia, she admitted in a tweet, in which she also apparently mistook Bulgaria for Italy.

The earthquake in Western Bulgaria had a magnitude of about 5.9-6.0 on the Richter scale, up from the initial reports of 5.8 and struck at 2:58 am Tuesday morning. Its epicenter is located about 6 km from Pernik and is at a shallow depth, making the shocks felt even stronger.
In the aftermath of the earthquake, fans from around the world became alarmed about the fate of their idol, Selena Gomez, who is in Bulgaria to shoot a new movie.

Initially, one of the most popular topics on Twitter was #PrayForSelena, after the fans quickly connected Bulgaria with her name. They later added the hash-tag #PrayForBulgaria which also gained huge popularity.
Selena Gomez assuaged the fears of her fans in a tweet that came Tuesday afternoon.
"Thank you for all of your concerns!! Earthquake was scary but thankfully everyone is ok. Praying for Italy," Gomez wrote on her Twitter profile.

In her post, the Hollywood starlet seems to be mistaking Bulgaria for Italy, which also saw major earthquake several days ago. Alternatively, she might be using her experience in Bulgaria in order to call for empathy with the victims of the Italian earthquake but the first scenario seems more plausible as Selena Gomez is already known to have been unable to identify Bulgaria's name correctly.
Selena Gomez and Ethan Hawke are in Bulgaria to shoot "The Getaway", a remake of the classic 1972 flick of the same name, which starred Steve McQueen and Ali MacGraw.

Selena is believed to be playing Fran, the young wife of a veterinarian who is seduced by a bank robber and then forced to go on the run with him.

With the intensification of the work of the Nu Boyana film studios near Sofia, formerly the state-owned Bulgaria's National Film Center, Bulgaria has seen a steady stream of Hollywood celebrities shooting scenes there over the past few years.

Lord of Thunder

There is no work to be done today by me.  I am still very tired. Having gone to bed at midnight and then woken up at 3, there was little sleep.  But now it rains like a curse with hail and wind, so I can hardly here the radio and barely leave my window.  It’s a shame because I am revising my introductory chapter this week and was on a pretty good role. I read Peer Polity Interactions by John Cherry and now really know the trajectory of my overall thesis. I have to give the two chapters to my adviser by the end of the month and hate to waste the day but it’s all too amazing.  I put my laundry out this morning.  That’s how nice it was outside just an hour or so ago.  I caught most of the things before they got completely soaked all over again. It’s the hail that really stings. I wouldn’t mind getting wet, but getting hit seems cruel, as if getting taunted by a bully. 

-I just want to get my clothes, please! 

-No! And take that you nerd! Ha, get your clothes, get some pain.          

ЗЕМЕТРЕСЕНИЕ!

There was an earthquake here Tuesday morning at 3am.  It measured 5.8 on the Richter.  My apartment shook me awake and held me terrified for nearly 20 seconds, Mississippi seconds.  Then it hailed and then rain. I have never been in an earthquake; I never learned what one should do when in an earthquake.  There aren’t a lot of closets in Bulgaria, just wardrobes. But I wasn’t sure if it was proper to step into a closet and it seemed quite unsafe to step into a wardrobe.  I only saw the first few minutes of The Road. So I thought maybe I should fill my bathtub with water but again that didn’t seem right. Plus, my bathtub is downstairs and I couldn’t risk the spiral staircase aftershocks were intermittent for two hours afterward.  I don’t think I am strong enough to live even an hour after an apocalypse, zombie or otherwise.  

The shacks across the street were slightly damaged.  The Gypsies were up and out on the street before the sun.  There were some people from my building in the lobby with their children.  I had to wait until someone who spoke English came down.  Everyone was so ok with the circumstances and only wished to calm their kids.  It happens. Earthquakes happen.  After I spoke with my parents, I went out and walked around my neighborhood and saw it slowly come to life.  Some of the vendors in the outdoor market sleep on top of their stalls; some sleep in their cars. 

I wish I could speak Bulgarian. I feel that everyone should only be speaking about this earthquake.  Like in the movie Being John Malkovich, when Malkovich goes through his own porthole and sees not only all kinds of Malkovoi but also when these persons speak all they say is Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich.  Or maybe it should be like the Smurf world, using earthquake in all kinds of scenarios. Go earthquake yourself, That was fanearthquaketastic, Would you like an extra serving of earthquake stew. And so on.  But, instead everyone was so cool.   

The place where I buy my banitzas in the morning, however, did not disappoint.  There is a young guy there, who speaks English pretty well.  And all we did was talk about the earthquake.  Maybe he is 24 or 29 and he said this was his first as well.  They are rare in the city.  I told him how frightened I was and exactly what happened to me and listened to him tell his ordeal.  I have been online and no one has been really hurt.  We weren’t hurt at all but I could have this conversation every hour today and tomorrow, the next.  

Now I understand why the ancients created a pantheon. I know some science and I understand the way weather works. I know how large Sofia and Bulgaria and the world is.  I acknowledge that people all over are suffering real catastrophes.  And yet, when the earth makes the city move and my room and apartment actually move MOVE, really MOVE all I could think about was what had I done to make a god so angry and what I could do to be forgiven. 

        

Toronto

I am not a good traveler. I hate it and never do it effortlessly. I think flying for any distance and especially for more than 3 hours is only for the very rich.  Obama should hurry up with those super trains promised during the first election campaign.  If there were more transportation possibilities, the airlines would do more to make the flight more comfortable. 

I did priceline and thought that my flight from London to Toronto was after a 7 hour layover and the flight would take off at 12am on the 26th but it was 20 hours and I was forced to leave the airport. Of course a place to stay was not budgeted or planned so it took some real networking. First, wi-fi should be free in all airports.  Boingo should not exist.  Flights are so expensive; there is rarely time to revel in free internet. Make it free.  If water cost 4 dollars, then internet should be free.  My Nivea soft cream was confiscated.  It would have been ok but some airports let it slide and others didn't.  That cream is really expensive.

Through Skype on my ipad, I ended up in contact with a friend 3 times removed in order to stay in London for the night.  I write ipad only because my Bulgarian phone was supposed to work in London and in Toronto.  I would have had to pay roaming but it should have worked.  It did not, so I needed the internet to make the phone calls on the computer. I contacted everyone I knew who may have had a friend/relative in London.  I had time to call everyone because I was in a 2 and 1/2 hour line to go through customs after my flight.  It was insane! I cannot see London getting it together in time for the Olympics.  2 hour + cue! They were passing out water and nuts. What was odd however was no one was belligerent. Either we were tired or we were afraid that outburst are no longer tolerated in international airports.  Sure the staff could kick your ass but it is just as likely that some citizen wanting to be a hero could punch you in the face and claim he was rescuing someone from verbal confrontation.  So we silently seethed and drank our free warm water. 

I like London. I missed diversity and I didn't even know that until I was at the airport and in underground and saw all kinds of people. It was so nice! No one even looked at me. I was not special and it felt good. But that city is super expensive and also only for the very rich.

Toronto was good.  My parents came and I got rid of two suitcases.  They brought me makeup ( I spent 2 days looking all over Sofia for makeup for my complexion in vain). It's a capital European city. They have Clinique and MAC stores but they don't order all the shades.  And the 2 shirts I ordered from Doug Love Movies! I am wearing the shirts all the time now.  If there is someone in Sofia or at the excavation sites this summer who knows/likes the shirt and the show, I am never going back to the States.   

All-in-all it was an ok trip.  But all I thought about was coming back home.