Happy Thanksgiving!

To all of our American friends, Happy Turkey Day!  Funny story - do you know what they call Thanksgiving in Bulgaria?  Thursday.

Yes, it is true, Anne and Mark will be going to work today.  But fear not, as they will be meeting up with other ex-pats and having a fairly traditional Thanksgiving dinner around 6:30 local time.  Which means, of course, that Anne and Mark must think of some things for which they are thankful.  The obvious ones - family, health, etc. - of course, but more specifically, Anne and Mark are thankful for...

Views in Blago.

We spend a lot of time posting about places we visit, but there are some cool things to see right here in town.  One of the photos above in of the statue in the town square.  That guy in the statue is... well, to be totally honest, we have no idea.  The second photo is ... some type of homage to the Bulgarian Blair Witch Project?   But we like the fog in the trees and the mountains.

We are also thankful for...

Grocery stores that pre-package beers with sandwiches.  You might not believe it, but this truly saves precious seconds.  Not having to walk all the way to the next aisle to grab a beer is an efficiency found here that can hardly be overstated.  Also, there is no drinking age here, so kids on their lunch break from school can run into the store and grab a "lunch to go" and still make it back to class on time (this might explain some of the "class participation" in Mark's afternoon classes).

We are also thankful for local products (poorly) marketed in English.  Just because it makes sense and sells well as that word in your language, does not mean it's going to work in English.  Case in point is this product found in a local pharmacy:

I don't care how sick I may be, I am not taking "Urinal Drink"

We are thankful for all of the work the local merchants put into mannequins.  Anne and Mark have not purchased a great deal of clothing since they have arrived in Blago.  Every time they start to look for a shirt or jeans, they suddenly feel a strong urge to leave (actually to run out of the store screaming).  At first, it was a mystery, but now...

we think we have the issue pinpointed.  If Mark buys one of these coats, is his hair going to change into this?  How do they do that by the way?  Is it all just connected on top and then combed straight down?  And what's wrong with just using a wig?  Is the shag carpeting hair that much cheaper?

Why so serious?

Also - Ahh!  What the...?

So, maybe we're not actually thankful for the mannequins.

But we are thankful for little reminders of home.  Sometimes it's hot corn flavored Doritos.  Sometimes it's nasty McDonald's double cheeseburgers.  Sometimes it's a sweet, sweet mullet:

Business in the front, party in the back.

In any case, it's nice to be reminded of home, and that's what we're thankful for today.

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!