vionet8: November 2005

Saturday, November 12, 2005

This is the map of the wine-cellars in Bulgaria. It shows that our country is a country of wine.

On Nov 11, 2005 we had lunch with Radha Blackman. She was a Fulbright scholar in Bulgaria in 2003-2204 and she came to my classroom every week for one school year. She worked on the issues of education for democracy. She came for the weekend to meet her friends and we all enjoyed talking to her. We value our friendship with Radha. Radha is a big friend of our country. She had Shopska Salad, rice wrapped in vine leaves, sheep yoghurt and some patatnik.

I had papatnik. It is made from baked potatoes and cheese. This dish is from Rodopi Mountain region.

"Pri Yaffata" is one of the best restaurants in downtown Sofia. We had a table for 8 in a room furnished in Bulgarian folklore style. A female costume made in 1941 was hanging above my head.

Randall spoke about the future of NBU and he claimed that it could be great if its faculty and Board consider in time Bulgaria's upcoming membership in the EU.

On Nov 9, 2005, Prof. Randall Baker took Boyan and me out to dinner. We had dilicious food and a nice talk at the Dobro Restaurant on Gotse Delchev Blvd, Sofia.

A result from my almost round-the-clock use of a computer, and spending hours every day on reading students' writing is my deteriorated eyesight. For a year my diopter has increased by one! In May 2004 it was +1.5. now it is +2.5.

One of the pleasant surprises for us this summer was ADSL - the new service provided by The Bulgarian Telecommunications Company for connection to the Internet. The service is infallible. This is the monument of John Atanassov in front of the building of BTC in Sofia on Gurko Street. There is one window at the Smithsonian Museum of American History dedicated to John Atanassof and his contribution to computer science. He had a Bulgarian background.

At a cocktail party on Sep 28, 2005 I met some Fulbright alumni from Bulgaria and both new Fulbright exchange teachers in Bulgaria in 2005-2006 school year.

Elka Todorova, a sociologist, a Fulbright alumnus and a friend of mine talked about the Auld Lang Syne at school and college.

Phyllis Miller, a Fulbright scholar in Sofia, Dimitar Andreychin, a Fulbright alumnus, Boyan and I had a nice conversation at the Fulbright cocktail party at The Crystal Palace, Sofia.

On Sep 28, 2005 I met Kathryn, a Fulbright exchange teacher from Boston in Vratsa, Bulgaria. We met at a cocktail party given by the Bulgarian Fulbright Commission.

Sunday, November 06, 2005

A trip to paradise in Indian Summer of 2005.

On September 22, Independence Day, we left for a trip to Croatia. We had announced, "We are going to Split, but we are not going to split." It was a gloomy and cloudy day, and at the Border Check Point Kalotina we waited for a couple of minutes for passport and customs control. The good surprise for me was the new restroom at the border. There was running water, toilet paper and soap in it. When I traveled by bus through Kalotina in 2000, I remember there was an open-air toilet.

The distance between Sofia and Belgrade is 380 km. We exchanged Euro for Dinnars: 80 DIN=1 EUR. In the evening we walked down TERAZIJE and stopped at Robna Kucha. There we did some shopping and I added a mug from Belgrade to my mug collection. The Moskva Hotel was near our hotel.

We stayed at The Bristol Hotel - a two-star hotel near the bus station in downtown Belgrade.

In the evening we walked in downtown Belgrade with Jovan, a Serbian linguist. He took us to Kalemegdan, to Knez Mihailova Street known as the local Arbat Street. The streets were crowded with young people.

We had dinner at Sheshir Moj at 21, Skadarska St. in the Bohemian Quarter of Belgrade.

I had Serbian grill; my dish was called pleskavitsa.

We drove 363 km from Belgrade to Zagreb and along the high way we saw corn fields and from time to time small one-room cabins, grey and black, whose signs read Radioaparati or Televizori.

There are lots or Odmorishte (rest areas) and gas stations in Croatia. There are gas stations from different chains: INA, OMV, TIFON, CROBENZ, etc. One Euro is exchanged for 7.25 Kuna, and a cup of coffee is 3 Kn.

Most of the high ways are pay toll roads. All tunnels in Croatia were well-lit and marked with road signs.

We could not figure out what this sign said. Later, in Split, two young people explained to us that it meant For vehicles in emergency.

In Split we saw vineyards, walnuts, apple trees, fig trees, pomegranate trees and lots of olive trees. This is an olive tree.

Split is at the Adriatic Sea. Sunrise and sunset there are magnificent. I wish I could spend my third age period of life in a Dom za stare osobe in Split. I long for beauty and warmth.

: Name: violeta; Location: Chandler, Arizona, United States

I am a Fulbright exchange teacher in 2004/2005. I work in Chandler, Arizona, USA. You may learn more about me from my Web sites: Teaching and Learning English with Violeta in VioNet at http://vionet.blogspot.com http://vionet2.blogspot.com http://vionet3.blogspot.com http://vionet4.blogspot.com http://vionet5.blogspot.com http://vionet6.blogspot.com http://vionet7.blogspot.com http://vionet8.hit.bg http://vionet9.blogspot.com http://vionet10.blogspot.com http://vionet11.blogspot.com http://vionet.hit.bg http://vionet2.hit.bg http://vionet3.hit.bg http://vionet4.hit.bg http://vionet5.hit.bg Post your comments and questions, please.

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vionet8

Saturday, November 12, 2005

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