A Beautiful Day In Bulgaria

Ahhhh ... Bulgaria. What a wonderful place. Splat and I arrived in Sofia, the capital, after a long night train from Istanbul. We stepped outside, took one look at the city, and decided to push on to a smaller town called Veliko Tarnovo. It was at this juncture in the trip that I experienced my first major culture shock. In Bulgaria, people shake their head side to side to indicate yes and up and down to signal no. Of course I am use to seeing the head go side to side and hearing the word "no," but this was not the case. It has been minorly confusing.

We have been doing the usual sight seeing, and a few days ago we saw a huge fortress that over looks the entire city. I really had to use the restroom, and my Bulgarian is rather shaky so I was not sure exactly which direction to turn. While I was snooping around I noticed a rather cute dog chained to a dog house in the middle of this fortress. The dog was tiny and didn't seem to pose any initial threat. I tried to tip-toe my way around it, and the bastard sprung at me and bit my leg! In retrospect, I guess I could have drop kicked the dog, but I am not a huge fan of animal abuse, so I took it like a man. Thank god that I had to get a tetanus shot before going to Africa.

In the meantime, Splat and I have decided to try out this website called couchsurfing.com, which places travelers with people who have open couches in a specific area. So far no one has worn our skin as a suit, so that is a huge positive. In fact, we have met some really friendly and interesting people. The travels continue as we head to Romania tomorrow, I will keep you posted. As they say in Bulgaria ... Daaaaa!

One For The Road

As Sarah and I were walking to the train station to board our train to Bulgaria, I was asked a question by a waiter which I had never been asked before. Let me preface this story by mentioning that it is not out of the ordinary for any of the people working in a restaurant to come outside and talk to passer byers. Normally the conversations range from local soccer teams to American politics. However, this waiter completely caught me off guard. After looking at Splat, he asked in his most curious voice, "How many camels did you have to give her family in order to obtain her?" My first reaction was a simple, "WHAT!" He then repeated the question slowly, "How many camels did it cost you for her?" The only response I could think of was telling the man, "You would not believe how many camels I had to part with ... and elephants too!" He seemed rather impressed by this answer and let us continue on our way.

Later that night, on the train, we were approached by the Bulgarian border patrol. They get on the trains that are traveling at night and check everyone's passport to make sure there are no stowaways. Of course, we had the only room on the train that didn't have a working light. This caused the security guys to come into our room to examine our passports. The first guy shines his light on Splat's passport and then on her face. He then says in English (with a heavy Bulgarian accent), "I believe this car is heaven and you are an angel!" After that, I don't even think it mattered that I was in the room. I could have been smuggling nuclear warheads, but it wouldn't have been a problem because the security guard liked my girlfriend.

I just wanted to get a few of these stories off my chest, before new and exciting ones come along. Hope everyone is doing well. Drop a message if you get a chance.

Turkish Delight ... Don't Mind If I Do

We arrived in İstanbul two days ago, and after three wonderful days here I am sorry that I have to say goodbye. The city, both old and new, is absolutely beautiful. The people have been extremely helpful and friendly (but not too friendly). We spent the first day mellowing out, although we dıd manage to go to the Giant Bazaar, a huge market where the prices start out astronomically high but always find a way to drop within reason (mainly after you have already decided you do not want the item).

We stayed right in the heart of old Istanbul, which is called Sultanahmet. All around us were beautiful mosques and huge palaces. I had the chance to see two or three extremely large mosques as well as the Topkapi Palace (the home of the Sultans of Swing). Imagine buildings that take up numerous city blocks, and seem to rise up into the heavens (the nondenominational heavens) and you have yourselves the mosques. We also took a tram into the newer more westernized part of Istanbul. There were shops everywhere selling everything from Nike gear to traditional Turkish fezzes. Perhaps the whole highlight of this new Istanbul excursion was the catfight I witnessed right in the middle of the street. Of course tepeeman does not condone fighting nor does he wish to see it happen, but these two twenty somethings had each other by the scalps and were yelling what I only believe could be the worst Turkish expletives at each other. A huge crowd gathered and it was a lot like the street fight in Rocky VI when Tommy Gunn thinks he can beat Rocky in a street fight. Anywho, it was exciting.

Today I spent around an hour in a Turkısh bath. It was quite an experience. I was handed a towel and told to follow this man that was speaking his slowısh Turkish (I didn't have the heart to tell him that no matter how slowly he spoke, I was never going to be able to understand Turkish). He takes me into this large sauna, and right away my glasses fog up. So now I can't see what is going on and the only directions I am receiving are being given to me in Turkish. Anyway, the guy leaves and I am now left with a bar of soap and a plastic bucket. I am trying to look at what the other guys in the room are doing, but my glasses are so fogged that I really have to squint to see anything. I think this really freaked out a lot of the older Turkish men who might have begun questioning my intentions for coming into the bath. I tried my best to make use of the soap and water, but I am still a little skeptical of my bathing ability. Hopefully my trip to the bathhouse won't end up as a segment on Turkey's Funniest Home Videos.

Next stop Bulgaria. Really looking forward to pushing on through Eastern Europe. I hope to post soon. Much love.

My Big Fat Greek Experience

Splat and I have not had much luck since arriving in Greece. While the city of Athens was beautiful and the island of Santorini has been wonderful, I am starting to doubt our chances of ever leaving here. We arrived in Athens on the 11th of February, and had planned on spending only a day or two exploring the sights. As it turned out, there was a transportation strike scheduled for the 13th. This meant that no trains, buses, or ferries, would be running on that day. Since we had planned on leaving Athens on the 13th to head to the islands, we were literally stuck. However, we realized that a few more days in Athens would allow us to map out the remainder of our journey and relax and unwind from the Africa trip. So on the 14th, we boarded an overnight ferry from Athens to the Greek island of Santorini. The ferry put us on the island at 4:30 in the morning on the 15th. We spent that day sleeping and enjoying the nice weather we had expected from an island getaway. As luck would have it, the 16th and 17th were not so nice. In fact, it is currently snowing in Athens and on the island (which it has historical done only twice in the minds of many of Santorini's residents). This of course may prolong our leaving the island since the ferries do not operate during bad weather. As of two o'clock this afternoon (the 17th) it is still undecided whether or not we will be leaving today. I guess this is all part of the experience of traveling on the other side of the world.

I have had plenty of time to reflect on the culture and the people of Greece, and although it may be a little premature, I am not thrilled with the hospitality or general attitudes of many of the Greek people we have encountered. I am not sure whether it is their attitudes towards Americans (a general give away when decked out in North Face attire), or whether passivity and politeness are traits that are frowned upon by a majority of European countries. Also, everyone (this is not an exaggeration) in Greece is a smoker. I believe it is customary for every child to receive a pack of cigarettes on their 2nd birthday. Right now I am sitting in an internet cafe and am forced to breathe the disgusting smoke infested air. This is not to say that I have not been forced to breathe the smoke infested air in every restaurant we have eaten in, the ferry we traveled to the island on, the bookstores, clothing stores, travel agencies, and generally every other public place we have walked into.

I am also in the process of checking into whether the words "excuse me," exist in Greek culture. Once I find out, I will be sure to let you all know. On a positive note, we have met a few nice people. Yesterday, Splat and I attempted to walk about 18 km to the town of Oia (ee-ah). This is a town in Santorini that offers the best view of the island. About an hour into our walk the sky darkened and the rain began to fall. We were forced to turn around and head back towards the place we were staying. It was a far walk, and my numerous attempts to hitch a ride had been unsuccessful. Just when I was about to give up, a nice lady and her mother picked us up off the side of the road. They were more than willing to drop us off in the middle of the town where we were staying. It felt good to know that there were some hospitable people here on the island.

I hope to figure out soon where and when I will be heading to my next destination. As soon as I figure it out I will be sure to let you all know. Hope all is well. Take care.

The Purpose of a Blog

Looking back on the past two weeks, I have come to understand the purpose of keeping a blog. In the techno-savvy world in which we live, a blog is a great way to keep family, friends, and the occasional internet predator, informed of my whereabouts and adventures. With that said, I apologize for the delay in my blogging activity.

As of this morning, I have begun the European leg of my trip. Instead of paying for food in lion's teeth and mosquito repellent, I now must buy food in the absurdly expensive euro. Despite such cultural setbacks, I am finding Greece quite enjoyable.

I will now attempt to summarize the past two weeks in Africa...

When I last wrote, I was in a rather nice town in the center of Namibia. The town, Swapkamound, is on the outskirts of the Namib desert. Splat and I were able to ride quads/4 wheelers/ATVs through the sand dunes of the desert. It was an awesome experience, and one that I would definitely do again.

Once we left the Namib desert we headed north to Etosha national park. It is the Africa's largest national park at almost 24,000 square km. It was this trip through Etosha that helped me compose "My top 10 reasons for Lasik eye surgery." These are as follows:

10. I could not see the giraffe
9. I could not see the oryx
8. I could not see the aardwolf
7. I could not see the kudu
6. I could not see the zebra
5. I could not see the blue wildebeest
4. I could not see the damara dik-dik
3. I could not see the warthogs
2. I could not see the European bee-eater
1. I could not see the lion

Although the prescription of my eyeglasses may help those people with good eyesight to see the moon from earth, I have had a hard time spotting some of the more mystical pieces of Africa.

After the national park, we crossed the border into Botswana. Our first night in Botswana was spent at a campground where local bushmen danced traditional dances for us. I was so inspired by the singing and dancing that I joined in. I will try to paint a picture of this experience in words, but I am sure I will not be able to do it justice. It is me and three men (who are wearing nothing but fig leafs over their crotches) dancing around a small fire. They have these shells wrapped around their legs which make shaker noises each time their feet hit the ground. The whole time I am trying to keep pace with them, and I am guessing that the guy behind me felt bad for me because no matter how hard I stomped my legs they were not making any noise, so to compensate he hands me a huge ostrich feather. All of a sudden this 60 year old bushwomen hops into our circle dance. Either she was so overwhelmed by the music or the fact that a white guy like me has such rhythm, she begins to shake uncontrollably. The three guys start taking the hot ambers and the ash from the fire and start rubbing it on her. I have no idea what is going on at this point, and believed that I was taking part in exorcism, so I start to fan the woman as hard as I can with the ostrich feather. By the time the dance was over, the lady was covered in soot and I had soiled myself. It was an awesome experience.

After Botswana we headed to Zimbabwe. Sarah and I threw ourselves off a three hundred foot bridge, which was a rush. We then drove 16 hours straight from Zimbabwe to South Africa. That is the much much abridged version of my time in Africa, and I am sure once the pictures get developed or uploaded, I can fill in the numerous pieces of the story that are missing.

Hope everyone is doing well. I miss and love you all, and will keep this blog thing going strong.