Where in the world is....

So as I child I had a computer with hightech games like Oregan Trail, Pacman and Math Blaster.  But my favorite was Carmen Sandiego with her red hat.  Anyhow, what I remember from that game, other than the red hat, was that Carmen was often to be found in Istanbul (pronounced more like Is-tan-bul with each syllable clearly separated by computer voice).  And now I am here in Is-tan-bul...I am Carmen Sandiego.

The other thing from later in my life was the period where I only bought Mavi Jeans circa grade 10.  I loved my molly style mavi jeans.  And I remember reading the tag Made In Turkey and thinking if I went to Turkey I bet I could get these jeans pretty cheap.  And so how pleased was I to walk down the main shopping street last night and see not one, but two Mavi stores.  I have not checked the prices, but when I do, you will be the first to know.

Only in Eastern Europe

My favorite Sofia experience:
Last night some people from the hostel and I decided to go out for the evening to a bar/club with live music. Apparently "Signal" one of the great Bulgarian local bands was playing. So we get to this bar and the band comes up to begin their set. The drummer is wearing a coral coloured tank top and jean shorts. The bassist is bald and about 40 years old. The guitarist looks like an extra from "Amost Famous", long brown hair and horrible mustache. My personal favorite was the lead singer, who kind of looked like a cross between Geoff's uncle Rob and Jimmy Buffet - about 45 years old, hawaiin shirt, white linen pants and a lot of Celine Dion type hand motions while singing.
So they play a couple of Bulgarian songs, and then the bassist steps up to sing a special song. They begin this special song and I think to myself "no, this can't be happening", then one of the Danish guys with us says "Is this the song I think this is?" and as the lyrics begin it is apparent that that our worst fears have been confirmed....Billy Ray's hit "achey breaky heart" is still going strong in Bulgaria! It was hilarious, Danes, Americans, one Canadian and a bunch of Bulgarians all singing along...don't break my heart, my achey, breaky heart...a fine Eastern European moment.

Sofia...

I love being a tourist in Eastern Europe, where tourists are few and far between. The West of Europe is wonderful, but in the East everything is just a bit more fun. Barely anyone here speaks English and the language uses the cyrillic alphabet making reading or guessing words impossible. I went into a shop today and tried on a skirt, I step out of the changing room and the one lady working there start talking and shifting the skirt around while I am wearing it. Out of now where another lady appears to help. Apparently there is more than one way to wear the skirt. Then the ladies begin nodding their heads and saying something that sounds like "very good" or "very nice". I bought the skirt because I liked it, but also because of the cute ladies at the shop.
Sofia is smoggy and hot, but beautiful in its own way. Most everything is in disrepair and 40 year old trolly skreech around town on barely staying on their tracks (kind of like the wild mouse ride at Playland). Also, when they are about to leave a stop the trollies ring a bell like the beginning of a ride at Playland.
We are staying at a wonderful little hostel near the centre of the city. For 10 Euros a night (about $15 Canadian) we have a bed in a 8 bed dorm, breakfast, and a dinner of pasta and tomato sauce with a glass of beer...it is a pretty sweet deal.
Yesterday we went to an orthodox monastery up in the hills. We took a taxi and it was a crazy road trip today about two hours out of the city to see this famous monestry up in the hills (nearly mountains) up a winding road with a driver that did not speak Engish and just drove like a crazy man. We almost died a couple of times, driving around corners in the middle of the road to see a truck coming straight for us. Same as in Africa, the uphill blind pass is fairly common proceedure. The monesty was very interesting, been there since the 900's. The mountains in Bulgaria are beautiful, similar to BC, just in Bulgaria.
We are off to Istanbul tomorrow for new adventures.

What to do?

What do you do when your friend leaves you after 10 fantastic days together and you are alone and sad in a foreign city? Create a "home moment".
So Geoff left today and I went to Starbucks. The starbucks moment, the moment you are waiting for your drink after you order it, it is the same world 'round and it was a "home moment". My carmel mac was a bit different from how Sharelle, Sarah, or Cheryl (or the the many other starbucks employees (bless them all) make it at home for me, but still wonderful. I enjoyed my carmel mac and my girly book (thank you Laura for the book) and felt much better.
Anyhow, Geoff and I had some awesome adventures together in the last few days. We flew to Venice from Rome, only to find our hostel after wandering through multiple tiny little allies that one would never think of walking down. Then were led to our room, which was in the roof of a 4 story 200 year of building and was sufferingly hot. We were then to find that "air conditioning" in Venice means a fan (ha!). Venice is exactly as you would imagine, terribly wondrous and romantic, small bridges, winding canals, orchestras competing for the crowd in the main square, no cars, a pile of tourists, and the guys selling fake purses on the street. We visited most of the sites and spent a lot time trying to find our way around and eating gelato. Geoff insisted on putting his foot in the canal, so if in the next few weeks his foot mysteriously falls off please note that I told him so. Then on Thursday we took the bus to the airport to get to Paris, only to find out that "air conditioning" can also mean "when we are stuck in a traffic jam and not really moving at all the bus driver will open the doors in order to get some airflow in the bus, however when we start moving again the bus driver will close the doors in order to suffocate all passengers" (haha!)
My first visit too Paris was much too short. only 2 days, but we managed to cover a lot of area, and most of the main sites. I love Paris, it has certain, how do you say, "je ne sais quoi". The grandeur is something to be amazed at. Paris is so indescribable. I love cities at night, all the rough edges are hidden, and Paris is no exception. The tower all lit up, as well as the the beautiful buildings. The Eiffel tower has a certain appeal, for some reason you can't really take your eyes off it, it is mesmerizing. We tried to rent a scooter on Friday, but to no avail. Next time I go back I will definitely risk my life and rent a scooter for a day and see the city that fashion.
After Paris we were lucky enough to stay in London with Hazel and Chris. After many weeks of travel, it has been nice to be at a home with friends, to just relax. Hazel and Chris took us to Camden market yesterday (definitely think I will go back there with Sharelle and Brenda), and we had a lovely Sunday pub lunch of roast beef and yorkshire pudding (my favorite) and then wandered about the vintage shops in the market.
As mentioned Geoff has left today, and tomorrow a new lag of my journey begins. I will pick up my mom at the airport and then the following day we fly out to Bulgaria. I checked the weather report for Sofia today, this week a day low of 32 degrees and a high of 42 degrees. So if I end up just a puddle of sweat on a Sofia street corner don't be surprised.
So tonight I am watching Cornation Street and East Enders while drinking tea with Hazel and her flat mate....I am basically English!
Miss you all, hope all is well with you.

Older and/or Wiser

Today is my birthday. Now you all know and can now send me an email and feel pretty good about yourselves because you are good at being a friend. Lucky for you I am 8 hours ahead, and I will consider all emails received up to 12 midnight Vancouver time ontime. Shaun Gaynor and my Mom get extra points this year because I have already recieved their emails, unless Shaun realized it was my birthday via facebook...only half points for that. Geoff also gets extra points for coming to Europe to hang out with me.

It has been a great day. I am older, probably not a whole lot wiser, but who cares? because I am in Rome walking through history and eating gelato with Geoff. Yesterday we ate gelato for lunch, and it was awesome. Today we visited the Colloseum, the Roman forum, Trevi fountain, the grocery store, an internet cafe, the Pantheon, and some Baroque style Catholic churches. It has been wonderful to get lost around thousand year old buildings then turn a corner to suddenly find ourselves in a beautiful piazza or in front of the Pantheon.

Lavonne

Geoff: This is Geoff and I am just conifrming much of what you have already been told, Lavonne is well, she is tanned, happy and a little sweaty but I am too, its 40 degrees celcius and Aircon is not as popular as one would hope. We are having fun, lots of walking and getting lost, enjoying pizza and ice cold Coca-Cola light. Have a good week and I promise to take good care of Lavonne.

Geoff

Sunburnt

Well the day on the black sand beach was awesome, however I am a bit crispy. Crista and Cheryl convinced me to go snorkling, despite my intense misgivings towards the water and fish. Turned out to be very enjoyable as we saw many species of marine life.
We found a wonderful American chain restaurant for dinner, and made humorous comments about the passersby while attempting to sip our frozen beverages, which were pure alcohol. They don´t make margaritas here like they do at home!
Yesterday we drove through the mountains and small villages. Crista, our steadfast driver, honked before each hairpin turn (which came up every few minutes) to be sure that all tour buses, safari vehicals, and other compact cars knew we were coming.
The canary Islands are beautiful, which make up for the fact that customer service does not exist and the people drive like maniacs.
Happy 25th Birthday Laura. Miss you family and friends.
The sunburn will turn into a tan....that is what Crista and Cheryl told me.

Resting.

It is 9 pm and I am ready for bed - when did I become so pathetic?!?

Sorry all for the long time with the no post. It has been an amazing adventure so far and I am only three weeks in.

Mom - I am in good health. I had a slight reaction to the malaria drugs I was on and also managed to get a fairly unhappy burn on my leg from the exhaust pipe of a motorcycle, but other than that all is well. Don´t worry I am taking care of myself!

Africa was different than I imagined it to be, and the things I learned were different than what I thought I might learn. It was a most enlightening and wonderful time, but difficult at the same time. I am still processing everything. My favorite memories were spending time with the kids - playing football, teaching fractions, reading stories.

I made it to Wales, after a bittersweet goodbye to the team at Heathrow, overtired to be greeted by Cheryl, Camilla and Crista with smiles, treats from home, letters from friends and shopping at H&M. Wales was a bit of a blur, however we did visit some nice castles and of course enjoyed an evening in the local pub. Unfortunately we got a bit lost on our walk to the pub, but a nice English man drove all four of us squished in the back seat of his civic hatchback to the pub.

Then there was the unhappy flight to Tenerife, Canary Islands. We spent the night trying to sleep in the airport in Barcelona unsuccessfully. I have said that I am not one to sleep in train station, well now and am saying that I am also not one to sleep in airports (definitely one of the most unhappy nights I have spent in a long time). But we have arrive safely at our resort in Tenerife today to spend the day relaxing in the sun.

Love and miss you all. Thanks to my blog administrator for updating when I couldn´t. Picture to follow as soon as internet is not so expensive!