So enough "odd" things have happened to me lately that I felt compelled to share it with everyone who may be reading my blog. For those who do not live this sometimes awkward life style, daily events and happenings may leaving you looking with a confused and maybe nervous face. I've encountered the weird, the funny and the "are you serious, is this really happening?" You can't plan for each day, because 90% of the time it never happens the way you plan or something off the wall happens instead which really just makes your day that much more interesting........Just be prepared to go to the moon at a moments notice and you will be fine. I always keep my passport, a toothbrush and a change of underwear on me at all times....you never know whats going to happen.
Seriously though.......things seem to happen to me here that would leave some with a huge ? over their head like in the Sunday morning cartoons.
Back in January I was going to Sofia by bus. It was 6:30 in the morning and a man was sitting across from me making the most horrible sounds. Everyone seemed to think he was sleeping but I could tell it was not so simple. He was foaming at the mouth and his breaths were getting shorter and shorter. At the time the bus driver decided to go back and see what all the commotion was about the man had stopped breathing. The driver was yelling at him to wake up. Rather then calling for an ambulance right away when the man did not wake up, instead he went back to his seat and turned on the bus. I was in horrified. Were we going to leave this man on the bus with us for the next 3 hrs ? Finally one of the passengers said that he would call for an ambulance. After waiting 20 minutes for this the man had ceased to make any sounds and was completely still. It was so odd because his phone was ringing every five minutes, as if someone in Sofia was trying to contact him and he was not really in the position to tell them he wasn't going to be making the trip. The man passed away. He needed 5 men to carry him off the bus onto a stretcher and be put into a car used as an ambulance but really was an old communist car or truck reassembled into an ambulance. Needless to say it was a quiet trip all the way to Sofia.
I'm friends with the woman who runs the local Radio station. Once she heard that I had joined a local Bulgarian dance group she wanted to see my skills............outside in the center of town! Every morning she would find me somehow, I would be on my way to work and she would want to dance the horo, rain or shine this woman was ready. With some music and the right outfits we could have been quite the entertainment.
One day I was waiting on my boss to come to the office and open the door when I man talking to himself was kicking rocks around where I was sitting. He seemed harmless until he picked up one of the larger rocks and made the motion that he would throw the rock toward one of the nearby shop owners. I was a bit nervous and thought about leaving. He came over to me and started to tell me something in Bulgarian. This man was missing all of his teeth making his words that much more difficult to understand. I told him I wasn't able to understand him, so he thought for a second and just said to have a nice day. About five minutes later he came back with a red tulip for me as a present and then walked away. I decided to go home and work from there until I heard more from my boss. I hadn't been walking more then 3 minutes when I heard the sound of someone running behind me......it was the same guy. I kept walking only to hope that he wasn't running to me. Well he was.....he threw everything in his arms in front of me so I couldn't walk anymore. He stops for a breath, looks up at me and says USA? I replied yes and he handed me a cookie and then ran back in the other direction.
Just yesterday I was walking home from work to change my clothes for the opening of an art auction that was associated with one of my recent projects. Please keep in mind I live in Bulgaria......not anywhere near a desert. I'm walking by and just enjoying the weather when I see a camel sitting next to my apartment building.......Yes a camel. This animal was just chilling out in the grass with 5 miniature horses. I found out later that the circus is in town. This wasn't as shocking as what I found on the steps of my apartment building this morning. What looked like a 3 or 4 year old little girl and an infant were sitting on a blanket alone, dirty and very sad looking. I kept looking around for parents or someone keeping a watch on them.....no one! One would think that would be enough to talk about for one day......not in my town. The woman in my office asked me to take a notebook to the tourist hostel and mentioned that I had mail waiting for me at the information center. I went for a walk, grabbed some pastry and ran my errands. On my way back to work I saw a man who comes into my office to speak with my boss on a weekly basis. He was in his car and I went over to say hello. I could see tears in his eyes but rather then saying something about what was wrong he proceeded to ask me if I would teach his grandchildren English.....well of course but not what I was expecting him to talk to me about. He wanted to know where I was going so I explained I was headed to work.......I could see it from where I was standing. He insisted for me to get in his car so that he could take me to work......all 30 seconds of the trip.
This didn't include the constant stares because I must have AMERICAN tattooed to my head, crazy questions about America (You mean its not like on the movie...?) and little things like mothers leaving their children in baby carriages outside or 5 year old children buying cigarettes at the local store....but you get the idea. Well that's just a taste of the odd ball things that go on here in Bulgaria.......Can you handle it?
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