Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes, er, Temperatures

View from El Yunque Rain Forest.  Could do worse...

Ever had that feeling where you wake up one day and know that you should stay right where you are, but you get out of bed anyway and go on with the plans you had made previously?  If you do not know this feeling, go to Puerto Rico in winter time, stay for a few days and enjoy the 82 degree temperatures every day, and then buy a plane ticket to return to Bulgaria.  Then you will know the feeling.

View from beach on northeast side of the island at sunset.  It ain't all bad...

This is not to say that Bulgaria is a bad place, but rather to say that in the course of a day you trade in landscapes like the two above for landscapes like the one pictured below:

View from Anne's and Mark's balcony.  Ugh.

Any takers on that trade?

While in Puerto Rico, Anne and Mark were blissfully unaware of the weather conditions in Eastern Europe or of those to come in late January.  Keep in mind that Bulgaria has basically a Mediterranean climate - there are palm trees in the town square, for crying out loud.  Last year on St. Trifon's Day (Feb. 14), Anne and Mark were invited to an outdoor celebration, basically a BBQ in mid-February.  Winter weather is not supposed to be frigid here.

However, this winter has been colder than most, according to locals with long memories.  I have heard reports that the temperature in Blagoevgrad was around -10 Celsius.  Many of us are unfamiliar with the Celsius scale, so to make this figure a bit more "real" Mark can report that '-10 Celsius' is what folks in Minnesota refer to "a bit nippy."  Still not cold per se ("It's only cold if your spit shatters when it hits the ground), but one can sense a definite chill in the air.

Normally, for a Minnesotan, especially one with Mark's level of ... "insulation," this would not be anything to write home about.  However, seeing this waterfall:

.... so soon after frolicking in this waterfall

makes it a much more difficult adjustment.  (yes, big men can "frolic")

All of these pictures of Puerto Rico leads Mark to daydream one last time about the warm adventures there while hiding from the cold here in Blagoevgrad.  Once such memory is of the weekend of January 12.  On that weekend, the city of San Juan celebrated the festival de la Calle de San Sebastian.

As suggested by the name of the festival, the party was centered around Calle de San Sebastian.  When Anne and Mark were at the car rental place getting helpful advice from the customer service staff ("You have to be tough to drive in Puerto Rico" and "Ever driven in New York?" were the ways that the guy described local drivers), the guy at the desk tried to explain the festival.  From what they could gather, Anne and Mark have concluded that the festival celebrates a saint who may have done something in Puerto Rico or somewhere else, and, much more importantly to the guy explaining to us, this festival was featured in the 1992 Martin Short-Kurt Russell comedy/docudrama tear-jerker Captain Ron.

In any event, Anne and Mark still do not know much about Saint Sebastian, but if they had to guess based on this festival, he is probably the patron saint of stilt-dancers, regular dancers, people walking in parades even though they are not "in" the parade, the queen of the festival and her creepy, Johnny Cash-wannabe uncle, odd over-sized head costumes, and super awesome dance troupes (ok, maybe there was only one, but it was sufficiently awesome to made the video twice).  And.... roll clip!