Well, Now, That's Much Worse

Every once in a while, Mark tempts fate by saying something like "Well, at least it couldn't get any worse."  Without fail, immediately thereafter things get worse.  For example, Blagoevgrad is currently going through a bit of a drought.  After seeing the low level of the river and the dry reservoir, Mark said, "Well, it couldn't get any worse."  Then he saw this:

Leave something to the imagination my friend.

Yep... that's worse.

Even things that should not be able to get any worse, can get worse.  For example, a visit to the dentist's office is one of the most feared experiences for many people.  There's a guy with rubber gloves reaching into your mouth, everything hurts, there are sharp objects flying around - bleech (not to mention that all of dentistry is a scam perpetrated by "Big Dental" - but that's a topic for another day).  How could that experience possibly get any worse?  I know, let's make into a public spectacle:

Yep, that's worse.

Mark walked past this dentist office on the way to work today.  The examination chair is right in the store front window.  So, you know, if you're minding your own business and happen to be walking by, you can go ahead and check in on someone else's discomfort/torture.  Does that make going to the dentist a little bit worse?  Yeah, I think so.

Ok, so let's get to why we are discussing this topic.  As has been discussed in this blog previously here, here (briefly), here and here, the parking situation in Bulgaria is a train wreck.  And, apparently, that's all cool.  Parking on the sidewalk - Cool.  Propping up the tire of your car after you have parked on the sidewalk - Awesome.

The writers of the blog have expressed the opinion that this type of parking is not necessary, but is probably done just to drive us crazy.  So what could possibly make that worse?  This:

You have got to be kidding me.

Seriously, after all of that crazy parking, THIS car gets a boot?  And who was the driver of this car?  You guessed it - Mark (he had borrowed the car to run errands).  Apparently, the car was not parked properly - which would men on the sidewalk - so it gets immediately booted (actually, in Blagoevgrad, if you want to park on the street you have to pay, but rather than having a meter there is an actual person walking around that you have to pay, even if you don't see that person when you park).  Eventually, Mark figured out what was going on and managed to get the boot removed after paying a penalty fee of 10 leva (about 7 bucks).  But the whole episode finally convinces Mark that this entire country is trying to drive him insane using nothing but the tools of parking and parking enforcement.... at least it can't get any worse.

Vote for Vlado!

Anne's and Mark's friend is running for mayor of Blagoevgrad.  For those of you who are still undecided about this election (coming up this October), please consider Vlado for Mayor.

"Vladimir Elezov" for those of you who don't roll with the Cyrillic alphabet.

Let's Get Started

This week marks the beginning of the Fall 2011 semester at AUBG and the school celebrated the arrival of students on campus with an all-campus picnic, topped off with a fireworks display just after nightfall.  Actually, many of the students have not yet arrived on campus, thanks to Hurricane Irene (many students work in, study in or travel to the U.S. each summer and many were stranded there when the hurricane dumped a bunch of rain, apparently mainly on Vermont and all the airports on the east coast), but the University decided to celebrate regardless.

First, there was a picnic with all the fixins.  Chicken fillets, some type of sausages and cole slaw.  There may also have been some beers and hard cider floating around the picnic site (although that's not a big deal here as the drinking age is 18 16 12 undetermined).

Eagle-eyed viewers of that photo might recognize that the area where the picnic is being held is actually a baseball diamond.  On the left of the photo in the background, you may be able to make out the top of the first-base side dugout.  The Bulgarian National Baseball Team (seriously) trains in Blagoevgrad and they share this diamond with AUBG.  So American sports have a strong presence in Blagoevgrad.  And not just baseball.

 After a few minutes of milling about, a real football game broke out.  And no, I don't mean "futball," I mean football.  As to the quality of the play... well, as you can see in the photo above, several of the defensive players have their head turned in the general direction of the ballcarrier (not a majority, but several).  Also, everyone appeared to affix their flags properly, so that's pretty solid.

Later, after the sports had been played, a local band played covers of some pop songs from the last few decades (think "wedding reception band") and the party was on.

Yes, all those kids are wearing the same t-shirt.  This is not a coincidence, but a planned part of the extravaganza.  The message on the t-shirt celebrates the 20th anniversary of the opening of AUBG, shortly after the communists left Bulgaria.  T-shirts were distributed to all faculty and students and they were all requested to wear the shirts to the picnic for a group photo (although if everyone has the same shirt on, the group photo is probably going to look like a bunch of heads floating on a sea of purple).  Mark was issued one of these t-shirts and it was a size "XL."  Unfortunately, this was a European XL, not a real XL (Americans might recognize it as a "M").  But Mark is a team player and wore the shirt to the picnic for the photo anyway (even though he looked like a guy who bought the biggest shirt he could find when he went shopping at Baby Gap).  Shortly after changing shirts, circulation did return to his extremities.

Appropriate Response?

One of the things that Anne and Mark occasionally struggle with while visiting countries throughout the world is finding the appropriate responses to various things without knowing local culture.

For example, when a person sees a sign like the one below, we cannot fault him or her rushing up to inspect it and/ or take advantage of the photo opportunity it presents.... or both.

Go Hawks!!!

If in Madrid (Spain) and see a sign for the "Iowa Cafe," any self-respecting Hawkeye alum is required to check it out.  This is clearly the most appropriate response.

But what happens when the appropriate response is not at all clear?

Chaos. That's what....

Case in point - what is this?  Is that guy climbing through the window with a pick axe?  At what point in human history - seriously - has the human race profited because a guy grabbed a pick axe or hammer and ripped something up?  And, further, when I see this sign, does that mean I should grab a hammer and start busting stuff up?  Would that be appropriate?

Another example.  If you find yourself at the airport and see the jetway pictured above, you know that it is going to be repaired and probably poses no real danger.  But... you still don't want to see mechanical problems immediately before boarding a plane.  So what is the appropriate response?  A prudent person might take this as a sign and maybe decide to not board a plane at an airport with this sort of thing.  (Anne and Mark boarded a plane that day anyway.)  Appropriate?

Example #3:

So, umm.  What... um...

It kind of looks like ... well...  ok, nevermind.  If anyone can tell me the appropriate response for this one, let me know.

Anne and Mark's Summer Vacation

Life is a Highway

By popular demand, Anne and Mark are back and ready for more exciting blog posts.  Ok, maybe not actual "popular demand," but there have definitely been more than three inquiries as to whether more posts would be forthcoming.  That's something.  And maybe "Anne and Mark" is inaccurate.  Anne is still fighting visa issues in the states.  So, to re-state, due to lukewarm interest, Mark is going to post some more.

After leaving Berlin and returning to Blago, Anne and Mark relaxed for a bit and then crossed the pond for some time in the U.S.A.  While there, they decided to get out and see a few things.  Here's how it went.

Anne and Mark arrived in Dubuque in time for the celebration of Independence Day.  For any readers out there who are not familiar with the 4th of July traditions in the U.S., basically, Americans celebrate the anniversary of their Declaration of Independence from Great Britain in 1776 by eating copious amount of BBQ, blowing up stuff and lighting sticks on fire and handing them to small children.  Why?  Well... the founding fathers would have wanted it that way?

Give me liberty or give me sparklers

On to Minneapolis.  There Anne and Mark completed their search for the two blondest people in the world, shown below.

This photo actually contains 3 people, but one is so blonde,  she cannot be seen by the naked eye.

Then, it was back to southeastern Minnesota, which is where Mark spent time when he was a lad.  The photo below is of Winona, Minnesota.

In the foreground you can see 'Lake' Winona.  In the distance is the Mississippi River.  Lots and lots of water.  As you can imagine, people in Winona are interested in outdoor activities, like fishing.  That makes sense.  Lakes and rivers and what not.... and then there's this guy.

Fishing in a sewer outside of a Taco John's?  I know that there are a lot of bad outcomes, that we can imagine.  That seems obvious.  But what's the best case scenario there?  Seriously, how good can this turn out for this guy?  What's the reward that justifies the risk of fishing in a sewer?

But that's a thought exercise for another day.  After Winona, it was back to Dubuque (Anne's old stomping grounds).

Naztrave!

After a little time spent with friends and family, it was time to introduce them to the joys of Rakia (compliments of Krassi and Zlatina).  Anne's father had nearly a full shot and the last we heard, he is still passed out on the couch.

In mid-July, Anne and Mark went to Colorado for a wedding or something.  The entire episode is a little hazy, probably due to an extended brewery tour

Probably taken at either a wedding or brewery tour.  Or possibly, a wedding tour.

The only definitive proof that Anne and Mark were in Colorado is the background of this photo.

Later, Anne and Mark left Colorado and headed to the great state of Utah.  The drive through Utah was absolutely beautiful, with a surprisingly large number of natural attractions.

104 miles until the next gas station

After visiting Arches Park, Bryce Canyon and Zion Park in Utah, Anne and Mark headed down to Arizona to visit the Grand Canyon.

It is difficult to capture the grandeur of the canyon in a photo.  It is called the "Grand" canyon, after all.  It's like 1000 miles long and 10000 feet deep (or something like that, I did not read the entire brochure).  There are a multitude of hiking trails and Anne and Mark hiked a couple of them (seriously).  In addition to encountering mules carrying riders and gear, Mark also encountered a few of the local residents.

What?

Just your standard rainbow at sunset in the Grand Canyon, no big deal.

After spending a few days taking awesome pictures of the Grand Canyon, Anne and Mark headed south.  For those of you who ever have the chance to drive around Arizona in August - go ahead and pass on that.  Believe it or not, it gets pretty hot there at that particular time.

In order to avoid being baked alive while driving, Anne and Mark stopped off in Sedona, Arizona.  Sedona is famous for two things.  One of them is the red rocks, which are very pretty.

The other thing is the presence of a series of Vortexes Vortexeses Vortai ... it has more than one Vortex. What is a Vortex?  Good question.  Anne and Mark went to the local tourist information center and asked.  The 80 year old cowboy behind the counter told us that they are places with unique centers of energy and power.  The hippie lady arranging the crystals on the display counter added that they have been studied by NASA.  Anne and Mark decided that the lady at the tourist information center should be studied by NASA.  Anne and Mark visited a site of a vortex, but are disappointed to report that their respective energy levels were not significantly affected.

But Anne and Mark are not the types to let that get them down.  They left the disappointment of the vortex and continued on to visit friends in Phoenix and then later in Albuquerque.

Checking in on the madness.

Daddy is the favorite?

Later in the summer, Mark ventured into Ohio with his brother, nephew and father for a guys road trip.  The official highlight of this trip was either meeting former Bronco and Redskin lineman "Stink" at the Pro Football Hall of Fame or taking this picture of "Prime Time" Deion Sanders heading to a porta-potty.  Either way, awesome.

Not ready for prime time peers.

 Finally, Anne and Mark ventured to Atlanta to visit friends and family, relax, and see the sights.  

Waiting for the fountain water show.

Touring the CNN Headquarters.

And that's pretty much everything that Anne and Mark wanted to do while in the U.S.  Really, what is there to see?  Having completed that to do list, they decided that it was time to head back to the BG.