tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11380255698961480802024-02-18T20:08:21.702-08:00The Rowes in BulgariaMarna Rowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16321353101146084672noreply@blogger.comBlogger61125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1138025569896148080.post-72584471446680338022012-04-21T21:39:00.001-07:002012-04-21T21:39:35.854-07:00Riding elephants in Thailand<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRf4noLYOgElTFN1CNyN_zMXLVMk_5lVdBW0f3FhxhWz5nZ0_tgUlNQEpM74KhBjYEIaemsN2DkgNLLPbedinRvDA-1b5D4m7zlb7gdxJvqKTZ_4076wobEhOxy-k8sIr30mJjBoFTEQ/s500/Photo%252520Apr%2525208%25252C%2525202012%2525201%25253A04.jpg" target="_blank" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRf4noLYOgElTFN1CNyN_zMXLVMk_5lVdBW0f3FhxhWz5nZ0_tgUlNQEpM74KhBjYEIaemsN2DkgNLLPbedinRvDA-1b5D4m7zlb7gdxJvqKTZ_4076wobEhOxy-k8sIr30mJjBoFTEQ/s500/Photo%252520Apr%2525208%25252C%2525202012%2525201%25253A04.jpg" id="blogsy-1335069456990.9758" class="alignleft" alt="" width="342" height="512"></a></div><p>I realized yesterday that I never posted any pictures of our elephant ride in Thailand. We promised the girls before we left Bulgaria that we would ride elephants. I have to admit this was not my kind of thing. I felt bad for the elephants and felt like a stupid tourist but, the kids loved it. We rode for about hour or so then the girls were able to feed them pineapple after we were finished. We watched them bathe in the creek the the girls went swimming ( up stream )<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijqjX4MlzkJIvGPSb5mxRAtGRyBs6G68xEBWeKcnbXOSD09n_XJKOHHNgHYngC3pvrVjsGVSwTqIfyOT08NoXMhXZkemxOX5MEAr8kEZ7hHQ1xwPu4iCGNahjhbPi5Asf-2dc3ZH5HPw/s500/Photo%252520Apr%2525208%25252C%2525202012%2525201%25253A09.jpg" target="_blank" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijqjX4MlzkJIvGPSb5mxRAtGRyBs6G68xEBWeKcnbXOSD09n_XJKOHHNgHYngC3pvrVjsGVSwTqIfyOT08NoXMhXZkemxOX5MEAr8kEZ7hHQ1xwPu4iCGNahjhbPi5Asf-2dc3ZH5HPw/s500/Photo%252520Apr%2525208%25252C%2525202012%2525201%25253A09.jpg" id="blogsy-1335069456976.0408" class="alignright" alt="" width="500" height="334"></a></p><p>It was a nice morning adventure then we were back to the beach for sun, fun and more smoothies. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvWazEexoXSZ69bg0ZiFSqUVzywmlS1Be_ce0BC-2mviRGtbQgnkEEBnFjGbf3g5XRa-wob5Kg6u0DVSrHvKKVcrHyaMmUFIAO5fvD6UfCUdLpAoUskre1Hdf4KOAA39tTynY40kIqbg/s500/Photo%252520Apr%2525208%25252C%2525202012%2525201%25253A12.jpg" target="_blank" style=""><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvWazEexoXSZ69bg0ZiFSqUVzywmlS1Be_ce0BC-2mviRGtbQgnkEEBnFjGbf3g5XRa-wob5Kg6u0DVSrHvKKVcrHyaMmUFIAO5fvD6UfCUdLpAoUskre1Hdf4KOAA39tTynY40kIqbg/s500/Photo%252520Apr%2525208%25252C%2525202012%2525201%25253A12.jpg" id="blogsy-1335069456993.5093" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="334"></a></div><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgowJgTBGr1WSngkkVS5wVDY2r1MSh2lxiouoDEdKv9jRvw_jd3IwvSEqORJ_BAMxSZrdpf4Fp4_xRLxTenHn5oDCyLg9okFB1X2C2yrrJqTBZjwabaDVy5VcSzDVSbg_o-ppiy0zWx_A/s500/Photo%252520Apr%2525208%25252C%2525202012%2525200%25253A49.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgowJgTBGr1WSngkkVS5wVDY2r1MSh2lxiouoDEdKv9jRvw_jd3IwvSEqORJ_BAMxSZrdpf4Fp4_xRLxTenHn5oDCyLg9okFB1X2C2yrrJqTBZjwabaDVy5VcSzDVSbg_o-ppiy0zWx_A/s500/Photo%252520Apr%2525208%25252C%2525202012%2525200%25253A49.jpg" id="blogsy-1335069457020.1917" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="500" height="334"></a></div><p> </p>Marna Rowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16321353101146084672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1138025569896148080.post-91776454020061582242012-04-21T07:50:00.000-07:002012-04-21T07:50:25.732-07:00Vietnam cont....<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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In the last week of our great Asian adventure I did not have access to internet, so I could not complete our story on Vietnam. Let me continure, after our night train excursion we arrived in a town called Sapa. We were dropped off at our hotel, Sapa Rooms, for rest, breakfast and relaxation for a few hours before hopping back on the van headed for our Sapa Retreat 8 kilometers outside of the town of Sapa. </div>
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The Sapa Retreat is an eco friendly hostel built in local fashion with no power tools, only local hand tools. They have straw roofs and all wood interior. Each bungalow is built on a different rice patty. It is a bit like luxury camping. There is a common area for eating, visiting, showers and bathrooms. You can sit on your porch and look out over the mountains and rice fields. It is spectacular. That first day Zadie and I took a cooking class in the common area. We learned how to cook Papaya salad, spring rolls and Lemon grass chicken with chilis. </div>
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While making the salad Zadie rubbed her arm over her eyes and accidentally got some chili in her eye....oh boy. We ran to the bathroom and I took the sprayer and aimed it right for her eyeball to wash it out, quite the drama for sure. After class there was time for rest and play. </div>
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They had a large homemade swing in the common area that Mya and Zadie played on for hours. We ate dinner at the retreat with a young American girl travelling on her own and a group of four Aussies travelling Vietnam. The great thing about staying in quaint little boutique/hostel type hotels is the people you meet from all over the world. These small establishments cultivate a sense of community for travellers looking for a similar experience while travelling: less tourists, more local experience. We all discussed over dinner the changing culture of travel. It feels that we have in some ways missed the boat on true adventure travel. All cities and great places have turned into a huge tourist trap consisting of the consumption of crap. So, we all search for experiences that take us out of our comfort zone and off the beaten path of consumerism. I tell you, Andy found it for us. Don't get me wrong, there are still tourists in this area but we definitely had more local experience. </div>
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After a night of getting the bugs out from under my mosquito net we packed up and left for our day trek with a local guide and homestay. We met up with our local guide Tomay who then walked with us on a 10 kilometer hike through different villages and farmlands. Tomay is of the Red Zhou clan in Northern Vietnam. There are several different clans in that region, the largest being Hmong. Tomay's clan is known for their bright and intricately stitched costumes. We hiked for several hours, stopping periodically to rest and take pictures. She fixed us lunch at one of her friends homes that they had turned into a small shop. The shop was open aired and when we went in to wash our hands the dad was asleep in a bed right there in the main living area. We woke him up I guess, I said hello and walked on. Their cooking area was the size of a closet and the toilet, hole in the ground, was just off of that. In the afternoon we arrived at the home where we would be spending the night. </div>
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The concept of the homestay is for local people to open their homes for visitors to experience their life and culture. The hosts are paid, provided a hot meal for the evening and their home is physically expanded. It is a good deal for them overall. Our host family was young and had a lot of amenities added onto their home. Their main living area was expanded and they added 2 extra rooms and an outside toilet. The project was not quite complete because they are going to add an outdoor patio with flowers and they had not quite finished the windows in our bedroom. Our family had 2 children of their own, a mother in law, and grandmother and one extra child living with them. While sitting around after dinner we learned that the extra child was a boy(8 years old) from a nearby village who had lost his father and his sister was kidnapped. His mom could not afford to take care of him so he kept this families buffalo for them. He worked the fields until evening, came in, ate dinner and went to bed. There was a bed in the main area where we all were and he got up from the table washed his feet and went to sleep. He was up and gone before we got up in the morning. <br /><br />The next day was spent hiking further up the mountain to Tomay's house. </div>
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She and her husband built their own home a few years back. It is simply boards and a dirt floor with a loft inside for keeping their rice. We spent most of the day hiking and visiting. She and her son fixed us lunch while Mya and Zadie ran around chasing baby chics and baby pigs. I was surprised at how much the girls enjoyed themselves. One interesting thing was how each home and our Retreat had a hose coming into the kitchen area with constant water flow from the mountains. It was like having a waterfall in your house, it never stopped. So, everything was done from that source: bathing, washing dishes, washing food, washing hands. They just had a big plastic bucket that held the water and everybody worked from there. It was pretty cool until you realized that your cabbage was being washed in the same water you just washed your dirty hands in. Its all good, everything was cooked. In the afternoon we walked back down into town and took a van back to Sapa. We cleaned up a little at the main hotel (Zadie's feet smelled like chicken poop) I have to say we were all pretty dirty. I had been wearing the same clothes for a couple of days now. We did a little shopping in Sapa then got back on a bus to the train station. We took another overnight train to Hanoi, arriving at 6am in the morning then had a driver pick us up to take us to Halong Bay.</div>
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Halong Bay was a 3 hours drive east. We were on the boat by noon and set sail by 1pm. We were seated immediately and fed lunch than were able to relax for 21 hours. It was lovely. Sunday afternoon we drove back to Hanoi, went to the Hilton prison, shopped, watched a puppet show than back to the airport for an 11pm flight out of Vietnam. What a ride. There is so much more to tell but there is only so much my fingers can take. Enjoy.</div>
</div>Marna Rowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16321353101146084672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1138025569896148080.post-38427121966693604542012-04-10T19:10:00.000-07:002012-04-21T00:58:35.369-07:00Vietnam<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY4uzLKEHZXKqq9ynNqwgWqtaGjaD0lk8yP7TmdDRF_NnciFMfOQSMGl5VEEOboxpicRAkYEMxW93LXPa85Dd1U2FAj6NROd7Ja5iep9pbmxH_mYu6ROb_4at94xoljiGZpDfVQyvUJg/s500/Photo%252520Apr%25252010%25252C%2525202012%2525208%25253A36.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY4uzLKEHZXKqq9ynNqwgWqtaGjaD0lk8yP7TmdDRF_NnciFMfOQSMGl5VEEOboxpicRAkYEMxW93LXPa85Dd1U2FAj6NROd7Ja5iep9pbmxH_mYu6ROb_4at94xoljiGZpDfVQyvUJg/s500/Photo%252520Apr%25252010%25252C%2525202012%2525208%25253A36.jpg" id="blogsy-1334995103391.3645" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="500" height="334"></a></div>We have arrived in Vietnam after a long and tenuous overnight train ride. We left Thailand yesterday morning by boat, took a van to the airport,then flew to Bangkok,transferred planes and landed in Hanoi around 3pm. The plan is to land in Hanoi and take an overnight plane north to the Sapa region which is right near the Border of china. We had a driver pick us up and take us to a hotel where we dropped off most of our bags. When we arrived at the hotel mya looks at me and says, "I am going to be sick". She ran to the bathroom and threw up several times. She felt better after that so we walked around town and did some shopping. Halfway through our walk mya looks at me and says, "I am going to be sick" so we find her an alley and out it comes. After that she was fine just exhausted.<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo5wmH5XiXDnhMFi1SDWpF3kuob2wGfLwMe0u0rvx6GKb_hjQGqbRh-w4DAsCZrnEZsH2d1Z-zv9GrjgR2SC-NN8DeH4myHjwgHCtCcY_AeIt92b66u_ENVAe0sRIT8YYx4f5Qnj24gQ/s500/Photo%252520Apr%25252010%25252C%2525202012%2525209%25253A04.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo5wmH5XiXDnhMFi1SDWpF3kuob2wGfLwMe0u0rvx6GKb_hjQGqbRh-w4DAsCZrnEZsH2d1Z-zv9GrjgR2SC-NN8DeH4myHjwgHCtCcY_AeIt92b66u_ENVAe0sRIT8YYx4f5Qnj24gQ/s500/Photo%252520Apr%25252010%25252C%2525202012%2525209%25253A04.jpg" id="blogsy-1334995103402.5532" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="500" height="334"></a></div><p><br>A driver picked us up at 1900 for the train station. We get to our room in the train and settle in for the night. Our room was the size of a closet and just as stuffy. We gave mya some medicine and she konks out. It takes me quite awhile to fall asleep but I finally go into a restless sleep. The train is an old train where you feel every bump and sway. We can here people talking and laughing all night long. At 440 this morning the train attendant walks by banging on everyones door to wake us up....brutal. The girls decided they did not like the train which is too bad since we have to take it back to hanoi on friday night. I have to admit it wasnt pleasant. We are picked up by a driver in a van with about 10 other people and driven up a curvy mountain road. We arrive at the hotel by 630 and it is now 850 in the morning. They had breakfast and coffee for us when we arrived. Zadie and I will take a cooking class today then go to our mountain retreat and just relax. We will go on a hike tomorrow to a village, stay there for the night then hike back the next morning. Should be interesting. I will let you know.<br><br>This region is known for its bright, colorful materials and clothes. They wear the baskets on their backs carying goods to sell. They are beautiful people. I will get pictures posted as soon as i can. Well, i need head out so Zadie and I can learn to cook.</p><p> </p><p> </p>Marna Rowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16321353101146084672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1138025569896148080.post-13758970127531474092012-04-07T17:15:00.001-07:002012-04-07T17:17:28.819-07:00Rock Climbing<h1>Look at these rock climbers!! This was our Saturday morning activity. Both girls jumped right in and climbed without hesitation.</h1><h1>Zadie went first and realized it was not wall climbing. She panicked for a few minutes and then up she went. I went up last And still can't believe my girls went up that cliff.....it is scary. we ride elephants today...will post pictures later.<br> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0VQ9mP07b0U5cECiuH_wEKuacxQUEPKRzmlqt_foQxAa5ngKNPPRA-Zp_BRlzXPcPvtpYvhEXISsZQxdPE88PpcrCr1WfnXFU7aWGJFfkjqhKcNXEFl93O7BA4l_pFwzzsiOt_qis4Q/s500/Photo%252520Apr%2525207%25252C%2525202012%2525205%25253A01.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title=""><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0VQ9mP07b0U5cECiuH_wEKuacxQUEPKRzmlqt_foQxAa5ngKNPPRA-Zp_BRlzXPcPvtpYvhEXISsZQxdPE88PpcrCr1WfnXFU7aWGJFfkjqhKcNXEFl93O7BA4l_pFwzzsiOt_qis4Q/s500/Photo%252520Apr%2525207%25252C%2525202012%2525205%25253A01.jpg" id="blogsy-1333844233216.487" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="500" height="334"></a></h1><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ4DcFh1VwhwUaB_MCheLDGbI6BkGGOqQiaBTvkRcmK7o-kq0DC4gJkA0AldEbPwUBvTFyUyaaug8SKKP4o4SLUtfzDBYJ2wTDtcwk-cwqRWNxS0EYLokX1-jKoffrbnwXLGPnEZL4mQ/s500/Photo%252520Apr%2525207%25252C%2525202012%2525205%25253A04.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="Rock climbing"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ4DcFh1VwhwUaB_MCheLDGbI6BkGGOqQiaBTvkRcmK7o-kq0DC4gJkA0AldEbPwUBvTFyUyaaug8SKKP4o4SLUtfzDBYJ2wTDtcwk-cwqRWNxS0EYLokX1-jKoffrbnwXLGPnEZL4mQ/s500/Photo%252520Apr%2525207%25252C%2525202012%2525205%25253A04.jpg" id="blogsy-1333844233171.533" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="500" height="334"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghH1mV5wQ2UsccnFfdZVuskqYtcuHmHDVacjhOg5_MwWmpDjdR9Ln5PLmBmzZ8FywThF0096Ez1SIR4XQjjtYPmhHZRJSl2AxRGYPi6t0cWF1H3IuGywfYB8ioBeQyBgA-KAzyDLcUvQ/s500/Photo%252520Apr%2525207%25252C%2525202012%2525205%25253A12.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title=""><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghH1mV5wQ2UsccnFfdZVuskqYtcuHmHDVacjhOg5_MwWmpDjdR9Ln5PLmBmzZ8FywThF0096Ez1SIR4XQjjtYPmhHZRJSl2AxRGYPi6t0cWF1H3IuGywfYB8ioBeQyBgA-KAzyDLcUvQ/s500/Photo%252520Apr%2525207%25252C%2525202012%2525205%25253A12.jpg" id="blogsy-1333844233172.6936" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="342" height="512"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDOCc96yD2NQX20VlZS9dICH2urbtv_CyCJg0TYR_CcocjN4L7s0N-60kIZ1XykTSxkik8fpumJgM0J9EjdN1I88o4LV37RzYzsX5-yXXUe_1jiSlWLJPtMoctZ4HKD6Io7sy1vl87pg/s500/Photo%252520Apr%2525207%25252C%2525202012%2525205%25253A15.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDOCc96yD2NQX20VlZS9dICH2urbtv_CyCJg0TYR_CcocjN4L7s0N-60kIZ1XykTSxkik8fpumJgM0J9EjdN1I88o4LV37RzYzsX5-yXXUe_1jiSlWLJPtMoctZ4HKD6Io7sy1vl87pg/s500/Photo%252520Apr%2525207%25252C%2525202012%2525205%25253A15.jpg" id="blogsy-1333844233210.9685" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="342" height="512"></a></div><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJiTLyZ7qREbgcwCJ9kk18o-rayTiLJAHqQJ0zJ0lBryOUy4U5_MCFYQIPHk66e-ZoQNvKUBCkCjPB-j5-HmSQuNHkpL6nRPBYJRLmL9Petmz3OSNQuM8dmw_XVXPa92A0CX1KbW_Fyg/s500/Photo%252520Apr%2525207%25252C%2525202012%2525206%25253A16.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title=""><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJiTLyZ7qREbgcwCJ9kk18o-rayTiLJAHqQJ0zJ0lBryOUy4U5_MCFYQIPHk66e-ZoQNvKUBCkCjPB-j5-HmSQuNHkpL6nRPBYJRLmL9Petmz3OSNQuM8dmw_XVXPa92A0CX1KbW_Fyg/s500/Photo%252520Apr%2525207%25252C%2525202012%2525206%25253A16.jpg" id="blogsy-1333844233227.2136" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="342" height="512"></a></div><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>Marna Rowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16321353101146084672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1138025569896148080.post-48817818988596444592012-04-02T03:34:00.001-07:002012-04-02T04:06:33.549-07:00Tuk Tuk Ride<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnfcNWWUmvw9V0mDbx93xYwEmv3wH8er34V5jL0MHJohx2Ocr84dD3mNSvqe979KLhwoRYd2CFOF-YSy5BllGxZzZ4_0lTpZUIfYP-RCzuZJaZN-abZUHU18g6-95kKxyhg3A5LCyRdw/s500/Photo%252520Apr%2525202%25252C%2525202012%25252011%25253A31.jpg" target="_blank" style=""><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnfcNWWUmvw9V0mDbx93xYwEmv3wH8er34V5jL0MHJohx2Ocr84dD3mNSvqe979KLhwoRYd2CFOF-YSy5BllGxZzZ4_0lTpZUIfYP-RCzuZJaZN-abZUHU18g6-95kKxyhg3A5LCyRdw/s500/Photo%252520Apr%2525202%25252C%2525202012%25252011%25253A31.jpg" id="blogsy-1333364758753.3376" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="334"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHZbvh3z2EDOR-WcpWBZ49-qR1e3_xKvHbOxtNzpGqP2ouoz_msxyCiH3CGYSm50k0QRXAv9z8J34xaPnFmCglZEiXsBlo-5XUTVwwSe6s4Zm9V7jcbXrG7y2koKvWWE2IaTvNOdsvAA/s500/Photo%252520Apr%2525202%25252C%2525202012%25252011%25253A37.jpg" target="_blank" style=""><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHZbvh3z2EDOR-WcpWBZ49-qR1e3_xKvHbOxtNzpGqP2ouoz_msxyCiH3CGYSm50k0QRXAv9z8J34xaPnFmCglZEiXsBlo-5XUTVwwSe6s4Zm9V7jcbXrG7y2koKvWWE2IaTvNOdsvAA/s500/Photo%252520Apr%2525202%25252C%2525202012%25252011%25253A37.jpg" id="blogsy-1333364758755.6526" class="alignnone" alt="" width="500" height="334"></a></div><p> </p><p> Check us out!!!! Our first Tuk Tuk ride.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>Marna Rowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16321353101146084672noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1138025569896148080.post-45098402019738892672012-04-01T03:40:00.000-07:002012-04-01T19:52:12.125-07:00Trip to ThailandOk, we are on our biggest adventure yet, Asia. The RoeJoes Are in Thailand this week,than fly to Vietnam for the last week of our trip. I thought the best way for me to record this memory and also share the trip with family and friends would be to blog. So, here I go! wish me luck. You all know my history in blogging.....not so successful.Well, our trip started Friday march 30th. We left Bulgaria late Friday evening for Vienna. We landed in vienna around 10pm and was expected to leave for Bangkok by 11pm. As we are showing our boarding passes, the flight attendant asked us if we would be willing to give up our seats for 600 euros per family member. Andy and I looked at each and said "sure, why not, that pays for our trip". The entire plane loaded, by this time it is 11:30 and we are exhausted. The flight attendants lead us to the service desks so they can rebook our flight for the next day and give us our money. Yes, they gave us 2400 euros in cash (debit cards) that is $3200. Now, granted, we have suffered for this decision, i will explain in a minute, but it's worth it. So while they issued us our new tickets the girls skyped grandma and grandpa to keep them occupied. The airline paid for our 2 hotel rooms for the evening, well morning. We fell into bed about 1am and our alarms woke us up at 4:30am to catch our new flight to Milan. Now, if you are paying attention you will note that flying to Milan takes us in the wrong direction,we literally flew away from Bangkok. We then sat in the Milan airport for 6 hours. We boarded our flight to Bangkok at 2pm in the afternoon and flew for 10 hours and 30 min. We arrived in Bangkok Sunday morning at 5:30. This is where you start to notice the suffering part...We were picked up at the airport by a van Andy hired and they drove us straight to our hotel. Now as you know we dont like to do the traditional "travel" scenario. We like to go with somewhat offbeat hotels and restaurants etc. so our hotel is this local affair that hires local neighborhood people to staff it. It has a rugged, hippy feel to it with homemade soaps and things.<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRT3SXtwDCmoh0WMCD5O6NM-V1hN2zSywzjA7OBYYGpsIjNBxSW-D43dWTe0s3MCXu4Bu1vcp3VJm2KuHo0WxkF5u8YsWQqjfFMAlHXFgTcGPihBbg2_pqMA5i6UWwfDAOpnsSOLw9ZQ/s500/Photo%252520Apr%2525201%25252C%2525202012%25252011%25253A53.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRT3SXtwDCmoh0WMCD5O6NM-V1hN2zSywzjA7OBYYGpsIjNBxSW-D43dWTe0s3MCXu4Bu1vcp3VJm2KuHo0WxkF5u8YsWQqjfFMAlHXFgTcGPihBbg2_pqMA5i6UWwfDAOpnsSOLw9ZQ/s650/Photo%252520Apr%2525201%25252C%2525202012%25252011%25253A53.jpg" id="blogsy-1333335114621.677" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="650" height="434"></a> </div><p> </p><p>I get Zadie and Mya in the shower and realize that we are not going to get a hot shower. So picture this..exhausted children and Marna taking a cold shower that is literally a spicket in the bathroom. I tell you, what is up with this combining shower and toilet all in one. All they do is put a drain in the bathroom and call it a day. Anyway, i digress. I sense you are getting the picture. After breakfast we decided to brave the huge city market for awhile..did I mention it is 100 degrees? On the taxi ride to the market Zadie falls fast asleep. On the taxi ride back to the hotel we all fell asleep. I thought something had hit me in the back of the head when I realized I had fallen asleep and hit the back of the seat. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAg1-imfQEAb5oJikkptJSpxbKFpPpDtH7FY3hCj78kgGH6KoePPtEcjwkjIt2_f00QiZNH7fmVQyUlM1_GKjaasXdpe18jXUDwVFcoZi7SoetVCFzgJP4BdYDTz7ua_WQBDxS7rYqJQ/s500/Photo%252520Apr%2525201%25252C%2525202012%2525207%25253A32.jpg" target="_blank" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAg1-imfQEAb5oJikkptJSpxbKFpPpDtH7FY3hCj78kgGH6KoePPtEcjwkjIt2_f00QiZNH7fmVQyUlM1_GKjaasXdpe18jXUDwVFcoZi7SoetVCFzgJP4BdYDTz7ua_WQBDxS7rYqJQ/s408/Photo%252520Apr%2525201%25252C%2525202012%2525207%25253A32.jpg" id="blogsy-1333335114621.831" class="alignright" alt="" width="408" height="273"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuSe8C_D4oG6kCjJ7dKKCmx8FnxgFiZl6L2CvHJPJVlBOwGeygJ08xHOBov_EwaUpkcBkLU1619u84-RG9zUfuYl5fTLEO6IDZEReq5R9bZtbdvnsECZ4vV2eaoYNwr9nHgPApx_5zKA/s500/Photo%252520Apr%2525201%25252C%2525202012%2525207%25253A31.jpg" target="_blank" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuSe8C_D4oG6kCjJ7dKKCmx8FnxgFiZl6L2CvHJPJVlBOwGeygJ08xHOBov_EwaUpkcBkLU1619u84-RG9zUfuYl5fTLEO6IDZEReq5R9bZtbdvnsECZ4vV2eaoYNwr9nHgPApx_5zKA/s331/Photo%252520Apr%2525201%25252C%2525202012%2525207%25253A31.jpg" id="blogsy-1333335114669.6843" class="alignleft" alt="" width="331" height="221"></a></div><p> I will now change my tense to present we are simply spending the afternoon trying to stay awake. We are to tired to take on any more sights. We are now at 56 hours with roughly 8 hours of interrupted sleep. We are rockin this vacation.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVAq_oEfcqYTaNATW1VWBLJYa_QgI7ld4LiH4dUeshwktsslXPb7FPiRaH8Ohm0jjSmI8MxT4aKzBm8LVRgmHY1qKF6sb30TEe15s-vqwfvVE2hSz-LRBzEJkeDTe9a1tTiYaZL0xT3Q/s500/Photo%252520Apr%2525201%25252C%2525202012%25252012%25253A03.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title=""><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVAq_oEfcqYTaNATW1VWBLJYa_QgI7ld4LiH4dUeshwktsslXPb7FPiRaH8Ohm0jjSmI8MxT4aKzBm8LVRgmHY1qKF6sb30TEe15s-vqwfvVE2hSz-LRBzEJkeDTe9a1tTiYaZL0xT3Q/s501/Photo%252520Apr%2525201%25252C%2525202012%25252012%25253A03.jpg" id="blogsy-1333335114705.8987" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="501" height="334"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWHbY3OePo3FTFY0IOtQe-AQUjQAGjtHrYdDAPolhkrnsitb-aGDf0arHHgg7xPgaC5TTk6ObdTWlYWao0gHQCvfd8T-OyTXWsBUu3tZxAnnYjfbGcEnxVJ-cMvJTyzPyRa8IxecMICQ/s500/Photo%252520Apr%2525201%25252C%2525202012%25252012%25253A08.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWHbY3OePo3FTFY0IOtQe-AQUjQAGjtHrYdDAPolhkrnsitb-aGDf0arHHgg7xPgaC5TTk6ObdTWlYWao0gHQCvfd8T-OyTXWsBUu3tZxAnnYjfbGcEnxVJ-cMvJTyzPyRa8IxecMICQ/s503/Photo%252520Apr%2525201%25252C%2525202012%25252012%25253A08.jpg" id="blogsy-1333335114700.5557" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="503" height="335"></a></div><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjYn4lI-wt9-Ok0Liw77nNC9d0hpXBx6diWRyuapyWhMWaAoTaKrED59tQobulMWIu9_GeUat_41t-qDas-zYtVbMhknzVc70kQm6EFV5Z7HOTMlwf3zDNJTKCkWmDAh6ssfMEw-hmJA/s500/Photo%252520Apr%2525201%25252C%2525202012%25252012%25253A22.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjYn4lI-wt9-Ok0Liw77nNC9d0hpXBx6diWRyuapyWhMWaAoTaKrED59tQobulMWIu9_GeUat_41t-qDas-zYtVbMhknzVc70kQm6EFV5Z7HOTMlwf3zDNJTKCkWmDAh6ssfMEw-hmJA/s500/Photo%252520Apr%2525201%25252C%2525202012%25252012%25253A22.jpg" id="blogsy-1333335114670.988" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="500" height="334"></a></div><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNUe-4qFy5KBa_H58sU773V4ksk5BgpB8yTZVG_LcBjKKHWB-daBLOSN-RkBkfjwPUnfB-qm_-orWVXADXavlXXRpGdIhnf0xqpyHA3fsgV-Izx05dW775zb2muUX5xV8d9zMey309lw/s500/Photo%252520Apr%2525201%25252C%2525202012%25252012%25253A24.jpg" target="_blank" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNUe-4qFy5KBa_H58sU773V4ksk5BgpB8yTZVG_LcBjKKHWB-daBLOSN-RkBkfjwPUnfB-qm_-orWVXADXavlXXRpGdIhnf0xqpyHA3fsgV-Izx05dW775zb2muUX5xV8d9zMey309lw/s500/Photo%252520Apr%2525201%25252C%2525202012%25252012%25253A24.jpg" id="blogsy-1333335114648.1724" class="aligncenter" alt="" width="500" height="334"></a></div><p> </p>Marna Rowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16321353101146084672noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1138025569896148080.post-18469002917983195852011-09-19T23:18:00.000-07:002011-09-19T23:18:19.552-07:00First Trip to Takuda<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">At first glance you might think Takuda is a sweet little village nestled in the Rodopa Mountains of Bulgaria. Well, it isn't. Yesterday Andy came down with a nasty stomach virus that spiralled into a trip to Takuda hospital. I left him yesterday morning feeling kind of yucky and nauseous, returning 4 hours later to find a ball of human suffering. He was ill. Oh, did I mention that Andy and I were caring for 2 extra children at the time? Well, our new neighbor had a business trip to Vienna and needed someone to keep her kids while she was gone. So, Andy and I offered to keep them for a couple of days. The girls our great and exactly the same age as Mya and Zadie. So, yesterday afternoon the four girls got off the school bus and I started the process of snack, homework, kumon and dinner. During the midst of this I keep getting the screams from upstairs. I am running back and forth beginning to feel slightly overwhelmed. I feel that I need to do something because I have never seen my husband in so much pain. It was terrible. Finally, at 5:00pm Andy says he cannot take it anymore. I called the Embassy clinic and they told us to meet our Embassy doctor at Takuda ER. I call a friend and ask if I can drop all four children off at her house along with her 2 kids. NICE. She graciously accepts them. I drive Andy to the hospital in rush hour traffic with him writhing in pain, spitting out the window (yeah, I don't know) etc. Bulgarian hospitals are interesting. This hospital is very new and nice but the bedside manner is.....what should I say here, different. First and foremost there are few if any lawsuits here in Bulgaria so there is no true incentive for protecting their rights as doctors or a hospital. Our Embassy doctor was there waiting for Andy, when Dr. Spassov saw him walking down the hall his face just dropped. Andy could hardly walk, yes no one helped my husband walk down the long corridor when he was obviously extremely ill, bent over double and he was crying by then. It was terrible. Spassov (doctor) got a wheelchair and took him into a private area so we would not have to be in the common examining room. None of the doctors or nurses spoke English, so they just stood around and stared at us. They acted like they were afraid to touch the foreigner. They gave him an IV with fluids and anti nausea medicine, then took some blood samples. Spassov examined him and then left us to our own devices(he had other patients, he was excellent). We stay in this room alone with Andy writhing in pain for at least an hour. No one comes to check on us, no monitors just one IV drip. I call the nurse at one point and ask for a blanket. Once the drip was finished they needed a urine sample then an ultrasound. The nurse comes in and walks us to the bathroom. Andy gives her a small sample of urine, she turns to me and hands me the cup of urine and then pushes Andy to the ultrasound room. I follow down the hall with my husbands urine in my hand, on the top of the lid it says "Andy" in permanent marker. As people stand around staring at the white woman carrying her husbands pee, I desperately try not to laugh. I know, leave it to me to somehow find humor in this terrible situation (coping mechanism) Once we get to the ultrasound area she takes the sample and leaves. The man takes andy in and does the ultrasound to find that there was absolutely no fluid in andy's bladder. EMPTY. He was severely dehydrated. Once the ultrasound was finished the man handed me the folder with all results and went back into his office. I put andy in the wheelchair (still writing in pain) then push him down the hall. I ask andy to hold his own papers. People watch as I try to push doors open with my butt and hold and get andy through. One employee was talking on his cell phone and watched us trying to manage a door and finally got up and held the door for me. I get him back in bed and call the nurse again and tell her he is in a lot of pain. She comes back with a shot to go in his butt. Andy rolls over and she slams that thing in his butt and I thought Andy was going to go through the roof. He said that was the most painful shot he had ever had. He says "That is a way to help me forget about my pain" The shot eventually worked and Andy calmed down. We stayed in there by ourselves (except for the occasional employee that used our area as a changing room) for over an hour. So, come to find out. Andy had lost 7 lbs in one day and 3 liters of fluid. They put 1 liter back in him and he still didn't have to pee. It was bad. Spassov came back to make sure we were ok to go home and tell us what we need to do, which was have andy drink gatorade. (we had to borrow some from Carri because they don't sell that here.) Spassov left, and the nurse came in to take the IV out. She walks out of the room and I say "excuse me, can we leave?" She says yes and walks out. So, we get up and walk out the door on our own. No one looks at us or acknowledges us at all. Not America. We got home after 9pm and got everyone settled. I slept in Zadie's bed with the stupid cat that kept me up all night. Needless to say we are all a little tired. Woke up this morning and got 4 girls to school on time and now I will crash. Oh, by the way. I was offered and accepted a full time job at the Embassy yesterday. So, big day.</div>Marna Rowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16321353101146084672noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1138025569896148080.post-16310327290625407402011-06-10T11:29:00.000-07:002011-06-10T11:29:29.262-07:00I am Back<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">So, we all knew this would happen. Marna does a blog then before you know it it has not been updated in 4 months. Anyhoo, I am back and a lot has happened in the past 3 months. I have been working at the Embassy, traveled to Greece, Albania, and Prague, Czech. So, needless to say we have been busy. I will pick some of my favorite pictures to post here. A few things I have notice lately:<br />
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Sofia is better in the spring and summer for sure. (leafy greens cover up a lot of discrepancies)<br />
After living here for 10 months I don't notice the stray dogs as much (amazing what you get accustomed to)<br />
Albania is a beautiful country (who knew?)<br />
I think Athens, Greece is disgusting (again, who knew?)<br />
There is a lot of drug use in Greece, we know, we saw it firsthand.<br />
Having a diplomatic passport does not make travel easier for an american<br />
Cows do like eating out of dumps and stray dogs are afraid of them.<br />
We all have 2 personalities, everyday personality and one when we drive (who knew that either?)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SYTAsEF7ujE/Td9HUDHLVsI/AAAAAAAALbs/VGUYhacdE2Q/s1600/IMG_2890.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SYTAsEF7ujE/Td9HUDHLVsI/AAAAAAAALbs/VGUYhacdE2Q/s320/IMG_2890.JPG" t8="true" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Andy in the Blue Eyed Spring in Albania</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yUOg7zvObDU/Td9H35qXWPI/AAAAAAAALeE/T1ga4rl8-YU/s1600/IMG_2945.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yUOg7zvObDU/Td9H35qXWPI/AAAAAAAALeE/T1ga4rl8-YU/s320/IMG_2945.JPG" t8="true" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Albanian travel</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div>So, a lot has happened in the last few months and there is no way to recap all of it so I must just start over. I will try to be more diligent about blogging. This is the only way I will remember all the crazy stories. One funny one that I won't forget:<br />
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Our family went out to our favorite little bulgarian restaurant one Friday evening for dinner. The restaurant is situated right in the middle of a group of communist High Rise apartment buildings so you cannot park near the restaurant. We have to park in the back in a dirt parking lot. When we pull up Mya notices something moving underneath the dump. Andy immediately says "Don't look and don't think about it" We have to say that because most of the time when something is moving in a dump around here it is abandoned puppies. So we ignore it and go on in a have a nice meal. On the way out Andy goes home in a separate car and reminds us not to look under the dump. Well, we all know that is impossible so I back the car up and shine the lights on the dump and what did I see but 5 little rats running under the dump. Well, at least we know it isn't a puppy right? <br />
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I will write again soon, ciao<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-rKhfmXfJmVQ/TXJVNBRtlLI/AAAAAAAAHxs/DkZbE7k7tac/s1600/IMG_0771.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" l6="true" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-rKhfmXfJmVQ/TXJVNBRtlLI/AAAAAAAAHxs/DkZbE7k7tac/s320/IMG_0771.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>We get off our plane in "Tuscany" and it is pouring the rain. We rent our car and head to the mountains towards Florence. Andy decided to take the country backroads so we could see the true countryside and not the Hwy. Maybe that is a good idea in August, but the first week in March?????? The higher we climbed the colder it got until we ended up in the above mentioned. We were cracking up and slightly nervous. As you can see our car was not exactly a 4wd and it was sticking to the roads. The snow didn't last but the clouds and rain did. By the time we got to Florence the rain had stopped but it was cold. We had a small hotel in the center of Florence just a block from the Duomo Cathedral. We walked around Tuesday evening and found a nice restaurant with hot open faced paninis. We tried to stay out and walk but it was just too cold so we headed to the hotel for an early bed. The next day we started bright and early. We could have been the first up the Duomo Dome but four Chinese tourists beat us to the punch. We climbed 436 steps to the top of the Dome and looked over the entire city; it was incredible. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-G-loznf1Yr4/TXJXQTUIMcI/AAAAAAAAIHM/Q8ugUQe0aTo/s1600/IMG_0936.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" l6="true" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-G-loznf1Yr4/TXJXQTUIMcI/AAAAAAAAIHM/Q8ugUQe0aTo/s320/IMG_0936.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>After the Dome we headed to the museum to see the David statue by Michael Angelo. It is huge and impressive to say the least. The only thing Mya had to say was "Why do they have to show their private parts?" Good question and I had no answer. We went on to the Uffizi museum which held art by Di Vinci and Rembrandt. Well, there were only 2 Rembrandts and one Di Vinci that we couldn't see due to chinese tourists. So, we left. The kids were good sports but they were pretty bored. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>The next day we woke up early and headed to Pisa. Before we left the states Andy asked the girls what they wanted to see in Europe. The only thing Mya wanted to see was the leaning tower of Pisa so that was on our agenda. It was not a disappointment. It is larger than expected and also quite crooked. We all thought it was leaning a lot more than we expected. We climbed to the top in the rain, 346 stairs. As we climbed the enclosed stairs we would lean to one side then shift to the other stairs. It was like climbing stairs when you are dizzy. The marble stairs were worn on the left side for several stairs then they would be worn on the right side for while. It was wild. When we got to the top it was wet and slippery.<br />
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After Pisa we headed back east to the village San Gigminano. We stayed in a monestary that night with real nuns and everything. The nun that answered the door did not speak English. She had enough phrases to get by but that was it. She had enough english to let us know that Americans, Brits, and Austrailians don't speak anything but English and she did not approve. She turned the heat on in the room but let us know it would be cold. She was extremely grateful we were staying there and asked if we found out about it through Lonely Planet book. We said yes and she put her hands together in prayer and said "graci" It makes a huge difference for them to have that money coming in. Well, she was right. It was freakin cold. We each had four blankets on us and I was still cold. The floor felt like ice. It was worth it to have the experience. We woke up to a breakfast of cold bread, coffee from a vending machine and rotten bananas. Hey, we only paid 3 euro for the breakfast, can't complain. We drove on to Siena. The sun came out for several hours in Siena. We climbed yet another tower in the city center, 400 steps this time. After that we walked around the village, helped an old Italian woman who fell on her face right beside us. She cut her nose and forehead up pretty bad. We were standing there looking in our "book" and she came out of a store, tripped on the stone street and landed on her face. It was horrible. We were the only ones there so we picked her up and tried to stop the bleeding. She was embarrassed but very grateful. We had a delicious lunch of spaghetti, bruchetta(with anchovies), vegetable soup with bread(like a stuffing) It was wonderful. Right over our table was this:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-fcaH2LSMVr8/TXJeSJVFxbI/AAAAAAAAIyU/XQahlvryXo8/s1600/IMG_1498.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" l6="true" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-fcaH2LSMVr8/TXJeSJVFxbI/AAAAAAAAIyU/XQahlvryXo8/s320/IMG_1498.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>They didn't know who they were dealing with.<br />
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We left Siena and drove to our last small Inn in a small village. It was absolutely our favorite. The Bed and Breakfast is run by a family. There are only 4 rooms upstairs then a resataurant in the lobby. They didn't start serving dinner until 7:30pm. We were all exhausted but we stuck it out and it was well worth it. We had homemade ravioli, pork, tortellini soup, homemade bread, salad. I had squash ravioli and it was Unbelievable. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-8-NdHlnFS2E/TXJfkD80NEI/AAAAAAAAI3g/2v23WsO_Nx0/s1600/IMG_1586.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" l6="true" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-8-NdHlnFS2E/TXJfkD80NEI/AAAAAAAAI3g/2v23WsO_Nx0/s320/IMG_1586.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>This was the restaurant. We were the only tourist there and the locals came in around 8pm. They were all visiting with each other. They stayed long after we had gone to bed. We woke up to an incredible breakfast the next morning. We had a wonderful trip and can't wait for our next adventure. If you want to see the rest of our pics follow the link below. <br />
<a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/andymarna/TuscanyTrip2011">https://picasaweb.google.com/andymarna/TuscanyTrip2011</a>#Marna Rowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16321353101146084672noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1138025569896148080.post-53692057314530126412011-02-10T22:42:00.000-08:002011-02-10T22:42:31.228-08:00Is spring here yet?It has been way too long since I have written. Winters are tough in Eastern Europe. I suppose I have heard that fact or seen that in movies but to live in Eastern Europe in winter is a whole different experience. Therefore, it has been difficult on me emotionally. I also thought I would be working by now and that has not happened. I was hired on as a temporary worker in the Embassy. It would be equivalent to a Temp job in the states. They call you when they need help. Well, most of the positions end up being fultime jobs, but of course, they are full right now. I just have to wait. There will be some turnover in the next few months so I have to be patient. I am not embracing my siuation, therefore I am struggling. I want to be working, so basically I am pouting. Nice eh? We have been skiing several times, but there is no snow so not good skiing. We were going to Bansko(big ski resort) next weekend but cancelled because there is just no snow. Last weekend there was the Mummer's Festival in a town about 20 minutes from here. They dress up in scary costumes and dace around to scare away evil spirits that would destroy crops. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9jQ3eALpAko/TVGNn2qXitI/AAAAAAAAHPo/Wp3DfWSMPps/s1600/IMG_0561.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9jQ3eALpAko/TVGNn2qXitI/AAAAAAAAHPo/Wp3DfWSMPps/s320/IMG_0561.JPG" width="213" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-neOu_s5GCos/TVGN9FV3PvI/AAAAAAAAHQo/4EfhbGWU7lM/s1600/IMG_0592.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-neOu_s5GCos/TVGN9FV3PvI/AAAAAAAAHQo/4EfhbGWU7lM/s320/IMG_0592.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GH570oUBDtI/TVGOVISYB5I/AAAAAAAAHRk/jy7APuFBqwU/s1600/IMG_0624.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GH570oUBDtI/TVGOVISYB5I/AAAAAAAAHRk/jy7APuFBqwU/s320/IMG_0624.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Here are a few pictures of the costumes. I enjoyed walking around trying to get pictures of faces. I got a few good ones but it is difficult to put a camera in someones face so I had to be careful. It is a lot easier to get pictures of dogs. Anyway, It was interesting but too crowded and smelly. When you are in big crowds like that you just go home smelling like old smoke and dirt. It is all in our hair and clothes. We take our next big trip the first week in March. We are hitting Florence. I am excited to experience Tuscany. We will see the leaning Tower of Pisa and spend a couple of days in Florence then go to Bologne. I don't know anything about Bologne so we will have to do some reading. I am excited. I will try to take some more pictures today and post them on the blog so everyone can see Sofia in the sunshine. ciao.Marna Rowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16321353101146084672noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1138025569896148080.post-6338977499287599222011-01-23T22:24:00.000-08:002011-01-23T22:24:28.781-08:00First Ski weekend<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1r0R7JObnWH2IiUaoLLkDnyF8eynmBuRAajALeO-6QojpDk9y_yGVsy0sFF6ZH8RIEQq4zwylnoowj2Lm9aX3YoHEptRcKQvou1rRimuf4D01xTqLKMKxgQrzZ3M9a3AcjmAJ-HDlKw/s1600/IMG_0512.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1r0R7JObnWH2IiUaoLLkDnyF8eynmBuRAajALeO-6QojpDk9y_yGVsy0sFF6ZH8RIEQq4zwylnoowj2Lm9aX3YoHEptRcKQvou1rRimuf4D01xTqLKMKxgQrzZ3M9a3AcjmAJ-HDlKw/s320/IMG_0512.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">View from our Room</div>We decided to dive in and try a ski weekend even though we haven't had any snow. It was ok. The expectations were low so there wasn't great disappointment. We went to a ski resort in Borevets about 45 minutes from Sofia. The drive is easy and quick. Friday night was spent eating and swimming in the hotel pool then off to bed. We got up and headed to the complimentary breakfast Saturday morning which consisted of breads, pastries, cheeses, tomatoes, cucumbers, eggs, some sort of bacon type meat, crepes, fruit, yogurts and coffee. I loved it. That kind of breakfast is right up my alley. I ate until I was stuffed. So, after we ate Andy decided to get the girls signed up for ski school. They took lessons for 2 hours in the morning while we skied. While Andy and I were skiing we ran into an instructor that had taught several Americans so I signed up and took my own lesson for an hour. It was very helpful. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNU1HFtuZ3ILgkWaU1f3Zb6y2ZKG9FaQqaAmXN4tyeZWZeKRrAAniQeIhFahtNu9vaC0y1heya2DDYLWfHbuHZfxwRbCMcMnvy5jApxlkt_NBvsXzdNsDsKJaxGa2uMXhArnq2FX0klQ/s1600/IMG_0401.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNU1HFtuZ3ILgkWaU1f3Zb6y2ZKG9FaQqaAmXN4tyeZWZeKRrAAniQeIhFahtNu9vaC0y1heya2DDYLWfHbuHZfxwRbCMcMnvy5jApxlkt_NBvsXzdNsDsKJaxGa2uMXhArnq2FX0klQ/s320/IMG_0401.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDZ8XPU6abR46s6KvDgO5CB4NtlBY1wa-uKErZ6bWvxvlfi0cpFpOgbofm7pqEPbluAOZjUnZHSjv60SucXp08Y7OV_QfXkuwanOUxKI82PAq47J5X756Hhcifb3SJj0iN5liGpu6Vsg/s1600/IMG_0440.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDZ8XPU6abR46s6KvDgO5CB4NtlBY1wa-uKErZ6bWvxvlfi0cpFpOgbofm7pqEPbluAOZjUnZHSjv60SucXp08Y7OV_QfXkuwanOUxKI82PAq47J5X756Hhcifb3SJj0iN5liGpu6Vsg/s320/IMG_0440.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">As you can tell it was still foggy</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We picked up the girls for lunch and ate a donar (delicious sandwich made with shaved meat, a garlic sause, pickles, cabbage, tomatoes, onions and french fries wrapped in a pita like bread) After lunch the girls went back for more lessons while Andy and I skied some more. The slopes were too icy after lunch so we called it a day around 3pm. and then did some bunny slope skiing with the kids than called it a day. Around 4:30pm some of our friends came in and the kids started sledding.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1uzotYTW77hbuOpTSgwkULMj-DYsK-vHq-JFBIUFlfunh8y6IvdaTpXtuERhCr-IkPJSzmb9hWr1n__5X90JwNhT8K0Nu-eU78mMv0FRcLPrmhyphenhyphenattSR7QPiBTX1c3g_XqpmCMymClg/s1600/IMG_0497.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1uzotYTW77hbuOpTSgwkULMj-DYsK-vHq-JFBIUFlfunh8y6IvdaTpXtuERhCr-IkPJSzmb9hWr1n__5X90JwNhT8K0Nu-eU78mMv0FRcLPrmhyphenhyphenattSR7QPiBTX1c3g_XqpmCMymClg/s320/IMG_0497.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
They had a blast flying down the slopes on a sled. We then went to eat dinner and let the kids swim before bed. The girls were asleep in less than five minutes. The next day the girls went back to a lesson and so was I. While on my lesson I saw a woman flying down the slopes completely out of control. She had to have been going 35 mph. It was frightening. Her arms were flailing all over the place and she just whizzed by us: horrible. The other exciting mishap was my run in with a snowboarder, literally. I was working with my instructor sking across the slope when a snowboarder came out of nowhere and slammed into the side of my legs. Thank goodness he slammed into my skiis and not my legs. He knocked my legs right out from under me and i fell flat on my shoulder. My instructor was so mad he started screaming at him in Bulgarian. The snowboarder got up and kept snowboarding without even checking to see if i was ok. I was shocked, he could have really hurt me. Anyway, we all had a great time and the girls have really improved their skills. We go back to Borovets in 2 weeks. Should be fun. <br />
<div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Marna Rowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16321353101146084672noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1138025569896148080.post-22098750119950647112011-01-12T22:53:00.000-08:002011-01-12T22:53:12.476-08:00FOGI have decided that is the best description for Bulgaria in January. I can't see past my neighbor's house half the time. We wake up to fog and go to bed with fog.......nice. I left the house the other morning at 10am and couldn't see 100yards ahead of me. It is absolutely horrible. The other word to describe Bulgaria this January is mud. There is mud everywhere. I have decided I live in a brown and white world, or maybe a brown cloud? I don't know. Our clothes are muddy from getting in and out of the muddy, filthy car, which is muddy from the construction on Ring road, which is just plain muddy. Mud splatters up on our windshield when we drive, it gets on our shoes from walking the sidewalks, and we have a permanent brown stain on the backs of our calves from the muddy runner on our car; it is everywhere. I need to walk around in waders all the time. We lost what snow we had this week. The girls had been sledding at school during recess but now they are just mudding. Sometimes it feels a bit unbearable. When I am driving around I keep thinking of those old "Cold War" movies we used to watch as a kid. All you would see are sad faces of people from the Eastern block drinking vodka all the time. Who can blame them???? Four months out of the year they are looking at mud, fog and cold. There is no color! I find myself dreaming of the mediteanean sea with blue sky and blue water. I need a little color. Everyone wears black and brown, the streets are brown, the buildings are brown and dilapidated, the city sits in a brown smog fog cloud everyday, the dogs are brown and the cars are brown because of the mud. Here is some color for you.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiFTLg12r0HFAfeFGnaRVkdmO7anQ7xfpGARuTzjJYl6rYqCNcH1XR3qFzvc8LOwjYWqOvRwQoRtPw4RDvaLNr0YXvsG0LbC0m9EfKgw9qFBFOc9pwlbvr9S9frWp8f3lsJxRANnwVJQ/s1600/IMG_0122.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiFTLg12r0HFAfeFGnaRVkdmO7anQ7xfpGARuTzjJYl6rYqCNcH1XR3qFzvc8LOwjYWqOvRwQoRtPw4RDvaLNr0YXvsG0LbC0m9EfKgw9qFBFOc9pwlbvr9S9frWp8f3lsJxRANnwVJQ/s320/IMG_0122.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkfr59R9u_icvmBhrRyWAWYE1lxVSY09q_EWJ04UbLqlZiMZNEfr4HGxI0l_frcZsh2zKxygGq7gSvLikNnfwgPG0QFk_G611-W9wjROxDtZq1xX18qL4JFRFMU86LLA-siYws8gxCrA/s1600/IMG_0126.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkfr59R9u_icvmBhrRyWAWYE1lxVSY09q_EWJ04UbLqlZiMZNEfr4HGxI0l_frcZsh2zKxygGq7gSvLikNnfwgPG0QFk_G611-W9wjROxDtZq1xX18qL4JFRFMU86LLA-siYws8gxCrA/s320/IMG_0126.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I think our family is the only color in the city</div><br />
Supposedly this is a bit unusual. They are supposed to have more snow. If this were all snow I would not have a problem. I love the snow, but this?????? I keep believing it will get better. So far no snow in sight. Which could be bad since we have a ski trip planned next weekend, mudding I guess. <br />
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Did I mention that the neighborhood closed our pool for the winter? Yes, the whole reason bought in this neighborhood was because of the pool in the dreary winter. Well, I guess it is too expensive to maintain during these months so we don't have it. Last negative story........ We keep seeing cars with license plates from the US. We have seen one from Illinois and 2 from Florida.......NUFF SAID. I will at least post a picture of some of the beauties of Bulgaria so it won't feel so negative. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOaU59tBHP_IuOKNLMYJUsrEiTX3hvhkyvJ3bCDNgjZhBpDx8JtpgUZNUX8eEcVQIlZdofo_06C02maXG31oLg27T9wzFIPcFyfpjqupoSmSOoTS3lJaLHZxlNUiwENdSET77cBI3kYg/s1600/IMG_0121.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOaU59tBHP_IuOKNLMYJUsrEiTX3hvhkyvJ3bCDNgjZhBpDx8JtpgUZNUX8eEcVQIlZdofo_06C02maXG31oLg27T9wzFIPcFyfpjqupoSmSOoTS3lJaLHZxlNUiwENdSET77cBI3kYg/s320/IMG_0121.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Orthodox church (blue sky behind</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNzbkfW7A9DneEXdbhCQjW3u1JHbqTmwrXy73TeYR_idpj86rhU2n_2BDcTyyKDG83C21_BVJC_kaKu78cuC7ZcFUZ1_zskqGZQtfmTVnEvr-Tcqv7GS8KwYfO_PNdDSfL2x0IedpTYw/s1600/IMG_0160.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNzbkfW7A9DneEXdbhCQjW3u1JHbqTmwrXy73TeYR_idpj86rhU2n_2BDcTyyKDG83C21_BVJC_kaKu78cuC7ZcFUZ1_zskqGZQtfmTVnEvr-Tcqv7GS8KwYfO_PNdDSfL2x0IedpTYw/s320/IMG_0160.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Alexander Nevski at night</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPTSd0OWmnz2IsL2LPIK7h6LFDv1sCF4Bjym3uMs8kpsVxwZ0nP5V4wqtLTuw-2dUqDW7RmYdWZGRGrkfVdHpwDAkUJ0bDLk4ij5IlB5-0_EOoOjRm4x2ChDfeWFcPeWZAGKpOLkRmbg/s1600/IMG_0167.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPTSd0OWmnz2IsL2LPIK7h6LFDv1sCF4Bjym3uMs8kpsVxwZ0nP5V4wqtLTuw-2dUqDW7RmYdWZGRGrkfVdHpwDAkUJ0bDLk4ij5IlB5-0_EOoOjRm4x2ChDfeWFcPeWZAGKpOLkRmbg/s320/IMG_0167.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Marna Rowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16321353101146084672noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1138025569896148080.post-26389471347668524262011-01-02T10:22:00.000-08:002011-01-02T10:22:13.995-08:00The HolidaysWe had a great Christmas Holiday but now it is time to get back to the routine. We started our holiday with a Bulgarian Christmas celebration. We went to a dinner with Andy's Bulgarian colleagues. We got lost on the way to the restaurant and I thought Andy was going to just go home. They reserved several tables at this traditional Bulgarian restaurant. WOW was it crazy. They were smoking and dancing all night long. We felt like we had smoked a pack of cigarettes by the end of the night. We sat in front of a Bulgarian that spoke perfect English. We asked him where he learned it and he said from TV. I feel ashamed. Anyway, the next night our family went to the Nutcracer downtown. It was in the old Opera House. I was impressed. They did a very nice job. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaF4Gh8XmNdJuAebknasvS-XhsCgks2cWHA9uXO9O9nDTMo41WdGEBzccdJHJ9wuUqCjs1O6qmd1VhxevVFQJWuVJFZ8N7qrb7MhyphenhyphenkL6P9xBgj4ax8LCZ8ZMKa284Q0TuA59kOIUT4kg/s1600/DSCN2086.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaF4Gh8XmNdJuAebknasvS-XhsCgks2cWHA9uXO9O9nDTMo41WdGEBzccdJHJ9wuUqCjs1O6qmd1VhxevVFQJWuVJFZ8N7qrb7MhyphenhyphenkL6P9xBgj4ax8LCZ8ZMKa284Q0TuA59kOIUT4kg/s320/DSCN2086.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>The girls got all dressed up and we went out to dinner after the show. We had a really nice time. The next night we had game night with friends and then had a party on Christmas Eve. Christmas Day we had a great time opening up the gifts that actually arrived. We still have packages that didn't make it in. We have decided we will have an Orthodox Christmas on January 7 and open up the rest of our gifts. On Christmas day we had some friends over for Christmas dinner. Then the day after Christmas we had a St. Stephans party at another Embassy family's house. On the 27th of December the girls had a sleepover with friends and Andy and I were able to go to the movies and dinner. While waiting for our movie to open I had to go to the bathroom. I went into the bathroom and it was empty. I finished wasing my hands and was drying them under the hot dryer when a janitor walked in and startled me. I looked up at her and laughed and she started talking to me in Bulgarian. I just stared at her and tried to get out but she wouldn't let me. She said something else then spit in her shirt 3 times. I looked at her and she looked at me, then she said something again. She wouldjn't let me out of the bathroom. She finally pointed at me, jumped then spit 3 times in her shirt. She was telling me that because I was startled I had to spit 3 times into my shirt, so I did and she let me out of the bathroom. It was histerical. So the next day we picked up the girls from their sleepover and then picked up another little boy to come over and play with Zadie then that night we had 14 people over for a chili supper and they all stayed until 12:30am. The next day the girls went to another sleepover and Andy and I had a work party until the wee hours of the morning so by the time New Year's Eve rolled around we were exhausted. During the day we went into downtown and went ice skating with the kids.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAKYvlrJnRaUby10rIDnz-0j7gNOsrDbyTIwZvdbwdgAuTzLjVhbFw33psGNtZ4hy9DSFHCOhXL4t3n2ZNxUCwDdYgzRtWFIahk7XCtVLYBxeIM4__vwRPUMU30cHXvVteUZVyDiP0XQ/s1600/DSCN2202.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAKYvlrJnRaUby10rIDnz-0j7gNOsrDbyTIwZvdbwdgAuTzLjVhbFw33psGNtZ4hy9DSFHCOhXL4t3n2ZNxUCwDdYgzRtWFIahk7XCtVLYBxeIM4__vwRPUMU30cHXvVteUZVyDiP0XQ/s320/DSCN2202.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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New Year's Eve night we had a couple kids over to spend the night and we took it easy. The rest of the weekend was spent relaxing and watching football. Mya has a little cold so she has been laying around a good bit this weekend. Today she went to her very own bookclub and had a really nice time. On the way home we had to stop and wait for the sheep herder to herd his cattle and sheep through our roads. All part of Bulgaria. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiSLFNs757LXPaxxh8lUVvcdn9bxrg0pgigfY2kb_IcBTT-2cHgNQrptH7qzdlwAgwu_tWYKZSZobt2V__4eOQQ-IxqvIj3oHk3i8igR_mnYo4Yj2w-Bj50E60_wu3eGVvlsttK_y-6g/s1600/DSCN2214.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiSLFNs757LXPaxxh8lUVvcdn9bxrg0pgigfY2kb_IcBTT-2cHgNQrptH7qzdlwAgwu_tWYKZSZobt2V__4eOQQ-IxqvIj3oHk3i8igR_mnYo4Yj2w-Bj50E60_wu3eGVvlsttK_y-6g/s320/DSCN2214.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Efb5t4H6G6Q5eswYrBcGWFSSQYtDp2GZArog1m2-LJkemsw5wgzRxx1sNeUgEhvCJWxp3a7CqSj_m3QNQCWNYVmxKvOEByQMOj2rA1tQC3Nm-0tlVC6PuyrYBDLWqPMEI8tNBXKYiQ/s1600/DSCN2215.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Efb5t4H6G6Q5eswYrBcGWFSSQYtDp2GZArog1m2-LJkemsw5wgzRxx1sNeUgEhvCJWxp3a7CqSj_m3QNQCWNYVmxKvOEByQMOj2rA1tQC3Nm-0tlVC6PuyrYBDLWqPMEI8tNBXKYiQ/s320/DSCN2215.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Marna Rowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16321353101146084672noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1138025569896148080.post-88744509534848949452010-12-20T05:21:00.000-08:002010-12-20T05:21:35.944-08:00Christmas Tree Selection<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Here are our optoins</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4t7taHH4zmuy0DpXMTCgOWmgmMmXOpHSDwq1rrI7vEq-db7PRKkGyknY7FcHl07UN_l4Byfmm0JC5fFqcQqBZqFJPevtNvHEpgWBjTzRFUZWoYuTUtpSPa7F3LZPCavhHrvuvSuc10Q/s1600/DSCN2057.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4t7taHH4zmuy0DpXMTCgOWmgmMmXOpHSDwq1rrI7vEq-db7PRKkGyknY7FcHl07UN_l4Byfmm0JC5fFqcQqBZqFJPevtNvHEpgWBjTzRFUZWoYuTUtpSPa7F3LZPCavhHrvuvSuc10Q/s320/DSCN2057.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Today we went into the City Center in search of a tree. We decided to go to the "women's market". I am not completely sure why it was called "Women's" there were plenty of men selling stuff as well. Anyway, we looked around the market and then decided to settle on a tree and you see what we were up against. Now, it is not our only tree. We brought a cheap fake tree from Target but i wanted a real one from Bulgaria.....well this is what we found. Isn't it the cutest thing you have ever seen? it is our very own Charlie Brown tree. <br />
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We paid 10 leva for our tree and then picked up some extra branched for decoration. We dragged the tree and branches through the city streets back to our car and headed home to decorate. <br />
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I did the best I could but this is it. I can't seem to get it to look any better than this. I love it but the kids are not so sure. it seems to leaning a bit to the right but it is the best i got. Hope you all have a Merry Christmas and enjoy your big ole trees.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaxgO7w7b2PFusc9-ZkUMgho5Iej35DvB7jRYIaLQe6Ii7MD7wMvOaFEf_6d7YsbQFiFoMESfunB06I7lT5VkR8NvcJCKRYHgKgqaacRQPBcvKJps0T0SITLTmftQV2ySNMktogUsi8Q/s1600/DSCN2068.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaxgO7w7b2PFusc9-ZkUMgho5Iej35DvB7jRYIaLQe6Ii7MD7wMvOaFEf_6d7YsbQFiFoMESfunB06I7lT5VkR8NvcJCKRYHgKgqaacRQPBcvKJps0T0SITLTmftQV2ySNMktogUsi8Q/s320/DSCN2068.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>Marna Rowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16321353101146084672noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1138025569896148080.post-20760227209944645172010-12-08T05:48:00.000-08:002010-12-08T05:48:26.249-08:00Downside of Bulgaria<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhht-pwWlR1snIK0wVOxCIuR9e3t0Sy6uj86wEnOzsMhAEI4fwbKZ2kSGm95CYCqZwhpcZ_IP4MEHPx47FB5vihB9xHToI6p3FFCYqaTRz8B4E0pC8w50UO-Bez_16saKpDXOz6kf490g/s1600/DSCN2006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhht-pwWlR1snIK0wVOxCIuR9e3t0Sy6uj86wEnOzsMhAEI4fwbKZ2kSGm95CYCqZwhpcZ_IP4MEHPx47FB5vihB9xHToI6p3FFCYqaTRz8B4E0pC8w50UO-Bez_16saKpDXOz6kf490g/s320/DSCN2006.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Today was one of those days. It started off with me feeding the stray dogs outside our complex. Any time we have leftover meat I take it outside our complex and dump it out for the dogs to eat. Winter is here so they are getting more hungry if that is possible. So above are the dogs that sleep outside our complex at night. You can only see four but there are at least 7 out there and more by the dumps. So today I go to the dumpster with my bag and dump the food on the ground. Below is a picture of our dumps. Two dogs immediately come at me for the food (not violently) I jumped and they jumped even more. As I start to walk away I hear a cacophony of barking coming from the surrounding fields. I look around and see dogs coming out of nowhere and everywhere barking. They were not barking at me but to each other about the food. It was really sad. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3ncjbPXvu-iFymcpD92BcFX2aARY9jaQrefD8R3Jks47XPtpA0UxrCZ5jK3d0gvolcQyvibMbmsZeo8YKT2zcKP8YHxBRljezO1QwPUjMgdLcNAjCecj37mB_YQSTEL4TkcTNHEtGsQ/s1600/12112010111.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3ncjbPXvu-iFymcpD92BcFX2aARY9jaQrefD8R3Jks47XPtpA0UxrCZ5jK3d0gvolcQyvibMbmsZeo8YKT2zcKP8YHxBRljezO1QwPUjMgdLcNAjCecj37mB_YQSTEL4TkcTNHEtGsQ/s320/12112010111.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I hop back into my car and head out quickly. I think I will leave the feeding of the dogs to Andy. As I am driving down the road towards town there are big fields on the right side of the road. There are Roma horses and villages out there and more dogs of course. Well, today I saw a dead dog lying in the field with another dog eating him. I am sorry to be so gross but it is my reality here. I was so disturbed and upset. Last week Mya and I saw a dead Roma horse in the middle of the city streets. The Roma were trying to get their cart back up and loaded and the horse was just laying in the street. I decided a car had hit the horse and killed it. I do not know how they got that horse out of Sofia and I don't want to know. Anyway, I made it to the Embassy and went with some people to feed some people at a soup kitchen. It was so rewarding but exhausting all at the same time. The Embassy had filled 170 bags full of food for the people that come to this shelter, mostly elderly and children. I talked with one of the Peace Corps volunteers and found out that this shelter is given 700 leva a month by the Government to feed the elderly soup and bread once a day.( That is about $400) They also have 20 children they feed and clothe. They are losing their funding for the children in January. It is so sad. One old woman came in and sat and cried becuase she was so happy to have the food. She is 84 years old, lives alone, and has cancer. She needed a new pair of shoes and her hands were cold. We got her address and information so that we can find shoes and gloves for her. I am going to meet on Monday with some other wives to try and come up with a plan to feed these people through the winter. Food is so cheap for us here it is horrible to think that people are hungry. I would be so easy to come up with food a couple times a month.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This is a view of my drive to the Embassy everyday. Can be quite frustrating especially when this weekend they had flooding all over the roads and closed half of the highway. There is still water pouring down the mountain onto the highway. Today was a tough Bulgaria day. </div><div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div align="left"></div>Marna Rowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16321353101146084672noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1138025569896148080.post-73896544047138015642010-11-29T03:01:00.000-08:002010-11-29T03:01:08.764-08:00IstanbulI have published our pictures from Istanbul. After the pictures is my post on the trip. Enjoy. Marna Rowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16321353101146084672noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1138025569896148080.post-68184768819416607992010-11-29T03:00:00.000-08:002010-11-29T03:00:08.832-08:00Istanbul 2 - Andy - Picasa Web Albums<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/andymarna/Istanbul2#">Istanbul 2 - Andy - Picasa Web Albums</a>Marna Rowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16321353101146084672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1138025569896148080.post-79127033944606343562010-11-29T02:58:00.000-08:002010-11-29T02:58:04.843-08:00thanksgiving 2010 - Andy - Picasa Web Albums<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/andymarna/Thanksgiving2010#">thanksgiving 2010 - Andy - Picasa Web Albums</a>Marna Rowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16321353101146084672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1138025569896148080.post-78951541225976806332010-11-29T02:48:00.000-08:002010-11-29T02:48:52.375-08:00Istanbul - Andy - Picasa Web Albums<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/andymarna/Istanbul#">Istanbul - Andy - Picasa Web Albums</a>Marna Rowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16321353101146084672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1138025569896148080.post-51280117218625574192010-11-28T23:26:00.000-08:002010-11-29T02:35:18.824-08:00Tales from TukeyWhat a weekend! Turkey is an interesting country to say the least. Love the people! They are pushy, but friendly, welcoming, boistrous, vivacious and tenacious. You definitely have to be on your toes because they are tricky. They know how to work a tourist. We had a really great time. The girls were overwhelmed at first, as was I, but you have to dig in and roll with it. I had to go with it first, then encourage the girls to do the same. They take their cues from me, so if I am unnerved they will be as well. After the first day we just flowed along with the chaos. It is difficult to capture the essence of Istanbul in a picture because so much of the city is sounds and smells. We were constantly hearing the car horns, people yelling, call to prayer every few hours then smelling the corn and nuts being roasted on the side of the street. You also smell the spices wafting from side street cafes, the smell of curry, cumin, saffron etc. along with the periodical essence of sewer, exhaust and body odor. The most extraordinary part of the weekend is walking amongst the history. We were walking around in an underground cistern dating back to the 6th century, not something we get to experience in the States. All in all, we loved it. I will post a few colorful pics in between tales. Now for a few tales......<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvn1Ut0Z1ReQRvFHLZxAmI5FYBtJnlFdTv7JGFDo2Ny5AGFOeOg0wG31cfLBp9sDT7S5RkyECqOugACBybv7P-gRaqIjrqVDxU17aDGA0aabZZdlYs4v0NkL-KoBVAcMph07ZOizT_6w/s1600/DSCN1754.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvn1Ut0Z1ReQRvFHLZxAmI5FYBtJnlFdTv7JGFDo2Ny5AGFOeOg0wG31cfLBp9sDT7S5RkyECqOugACBybv7P-gRaqIjrqVDxU17aDGA0aabZZdlYs4v0NkL-KoBVAcMph07ZOizT_6w/s320/DSCN1754.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSv0RkiULFhDTd5jzF9fFCpQ-Dyd08AHM1y9vkRNkjNAb4fpiuFk1ePC76xvC3ju__Ewzcl-_zO3CcxCNiAgkJN-z1B55w_bP1kM9QIFkqnDg3by-nZ4pbLsDjmmQRkEMkKYFBAcm-IQ/s1600/DSCN1590.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSv0RkiULFhDTd5jzF9fFCpQ-Dyd08AHM1y9vkRNkjNAb4fpiuFk1ePC76xvC3ju__Ewzcl-_zO3CcxCNiAgkJN-z1B55w_bP1kM9QIFkqnDg3by-nZ4pbLsDjmmQRkEMkKYFBAcm-IQ/s320/DSCN1590.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>The first good one was on our way on Thursday. We left bright and early Thanksgiving day and stopped at an OMV (gas station/food stop) Bulgaria doesn't have the American stopping points on their interstates yet, they are getting there. We passed one McDonalds connected to the Shell station and a Happy restaurant connected to another gas station. Those were the only eating places in the 200 kilometer drive to Turkey. But they have the periodical gas station with food. The OMV has the best banitsa around and they warm it for you. Anyway, we stopped for our banitsa and coffee Thursday morning. I tell the guy I want "edno cafe, molya, ces cmetena ho neh hora" The guy just stood there and stared at me. He got the coffee and cream part but then just looked at me. I said "neh hora" that means "no sugar". He still just looks at me with a blank stare. So, I say in english "sugar" than say "hora", Finally he laughs and says "neh zara". I laugh and say oh, yeah. Well, it didn't dawn on me until I got back in the car that I had ask the guy to give me a "cup of coffee with cream and no people." So we all had a big laugh that momma kept telling the guy at the gas station "no people in my coffee please" "coffee with no people" Hey, hora and zara are very similar and tend to confuse me. Pretty funny. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYnIxXTMXuBgfkT2ehl3mBAPfoVYnbQisx1hjpe2yqBmDCjhTT2Go_G4NDQmn6qBql0y9yCYt1_7ndercCLI4o5VZ4iYm6_ExjEsj6W0djl1wlaavJ8KWNwappKDyh7Rk00-iaH_phjw/s1600/DSCN1611.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYnIxXTMXuBgfkT2ehl3mBAPfoVYnbQisx1hjpe2yqBmDCjhTT2Go_G4NDQmn6qBql0y9yCYt1_7ndercCLI4o5VZ4iYm6_ExjEsj6W0djl1wlaavJ8KWNwappKDyh7Rk00-iaH_phjw/s320/DSCN1611.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>The next good story is our hotel guy, the same one that said "3 dogs and 2 children?" put us in the wrong room. We had reserved a room online with 2 small rooms "the family room". When we got to the hotel they put us in a small room with a queen bed and one small extra bed. Andy said we ordered the family room and he said no family room. Andy took his computer down to the front desk and showed him the picture and name of the room, so they moved us. Come to find out we took the room the owners were living in. We found some clothes hanging in our closet. The next day we went down to breakfast early and found him asleep on the couch in the lobby. They had the room advertised on the website, with a picture. We about fell out laughing. I am telling you, they are tricky. <br />
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Also, I warned the girls about the toilets in Istanbul. I had been told that many of them are just a hole in the ground with foot supports, so you hover. Well, I thought it would be good to warn them so as not to be thrown off when they walk into a hole. It backfired because they freaked out about it all weekend. Every toilet was a regular toilet until the last night. We stopped at a small cafe for Turkish style pizzas and both girls had to go to the bathroom. We went upstairs to their WC and found the hole. Mya and Zadie just looked at me, I looked at them and shrugged. Mya goes in first and comes out successful, I don't want to know what went on in there because she said she did some sort of crab crawl style?????? Just roll with it. Zadie goes in and it was not so successful. Let me just say she did not use the crab crawl style and she exits the toilet with extremely wet pants. Good thing she had on a long shirt that covered her blue jeans and it was the end of the day. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkqs1dAFO-UY14-MlcrwT7DvY8W0-EoG9FCCHwJ69I1HHDFI9dW429NLFN7ksRV7pbX8OdaSa7dti0ogQwgfE7zU38M3evU8j2YnviUnCyNc6d96LXAemZUJhBrM8Srw9Ib78khI7vSA/s1600/DSCN1806.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkqs1dAFO-UY14-MlcrwT7DvY8W0-EoG9FCCHwJ69I1HHDFI9dW429NLFN7ksRV7pbX8OdaSa7dti0ogQwgfE7zU38M3evU8j2YnviUnCyNc6d96LXAemZUJhBrM8Srw9Ib78khI7vSA/s320/DSCN1806.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Looking onto the Bosporous Straight</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>We had to have a lot of discussion on Islamic beliefs this weekend. Between the covered women and the call to prayer blasting throughout the ciry every 3 hours Mya was blown away. Most of the women wore head coverings and some wore full body covering with only the eyes showing. So, as you can imagine Mya needed to fully understand what was going on. We tried our best to explain the coverings but she wanted to know details. Do they wash with it on, do they ever take it off, when do they take it off, can they take it off at home, why do they cover everything? It was constant...Why do they sing the prayer like that, do they stop and pray every time it goes off? Then we had to explain the difference between a devout muslim and a not so devout muslim. Istanbul was full of both, so you had some people stopping to kneel and pray, not praying at all, just stopping and saying a small prayer, women covered completely, some with just head coverings than others with nothing. There was a lot of learning going on this weekend. Zadie, of course, could care less but Mya had to know it all. It was funny. <br />
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The 70 year old Japanese woman tourist and Andy......nuff said<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWstUstOFim0knsTCUYdUjuoSqzPPZMjwK1HaxxsO7OWCs4MDrJZtxfAjK2SHAdRsAEj6Wn7Ga3SB7WEPqW8Bn9pBwCXs6ozVyJF6cwJxHr_JYUiN5aby1pS4Ikb3_pngVK10GtvX-IQ/s1600/DSCN1958.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWstUstOFim0knsTCUYdUjuoSqzPPZMjwK1HaxxsO7OWCs4MDrJZtxfAjK2SHAdRsAEj6Wn7Ga3SB7WEPqW8Bn9pBwCXs6ozVyJF6cwJxHr_JYUiN5aby1pS4Ikb3_pngVK10GtvX-IQ/s320/DSCN1958.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Me in a sea of Japanese tourists</div><br />
Last tale for today...The people loved our girls. They pinched their cheeks, took their pictures, stopped them and rubbed their hair, stopped and talked to them, told them they were beautiful. I am not kidding. Between the Japanese tourists and Turkish men I thought we were going to have to walk around in a plastic bubble. They had their picture taken twice, once by a Muslim woman. She stopped Zadie, put her camera in her face and took her picture. A Japanese tourist took Mya's picture while petting a cat. Than both girls were petting a cat and people came up and took their picture. It was crazy, we could hardly get places without people stopping our girls trying to touch them. People would be walking and stop to watch my girls go by, touch their hair and pinch their cheeks, it was wild.<br />
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We took a ferry ride up the Bosporous straight all the way up to the Black sea then stopped off in Asia for a few hours then ferried back. It was beautiful. Well, I had better stop for now and get some work done. I will try to post more tales later....ciaoMarna Rowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16321353101146084672noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1138025569896148080.post-77684522724654857162010-11-23T23:01:00.000-08:002010-11-23T23:05:02.032-08:00EpiphanyFor the past couple of weeks I have been trying to figure out how to say "I need" in Bulgarian. I could never get a straight answer. It seemed so obvious to me that there would be a verb "to need" in every language. I would ask my language teacher how do you say I need? She would think and then come up with this long drawn out statement usually using a verb that i knew like "I want" or "I have". I would then say "no, no" I am looking for "I need". So last week we were talking and the subject came up again. She finally said to me "Marna, we don't have a word for "Need". We use 'i have the desire for' or 'I want'. " She said that there is a lot of confusion between "I need" and "I want". That blew me away. You don't have "i need" in your vocabulary? How in the world does a country survive without the phrase I need? It is critical, right? Or is it? I have been mullling this over for the past few days. Our country is obsessed with the phrase "i need". It has been driving me crazy the last couple of weeks because I couldn't figure out how to say it, then to find out this country doesn't even use it? What an eye-opener. America doesn't have the concept of NEED, our WANT has turned into our NEED. When I use the term NEED it makes me feel better about having to get stuff all the time and having access to stuff all t he time. If we say we need it then we feel better about ourselves..."i don't want it I need it" Let me just throw a few phrases at you...."We need a new sofa" "We need a new refrigerator" "I need some new clothes" "The kids need new bikes" "I need to go to Target" "I need to take a nap" " need a break" Even here in Bulgaria the Americans make such ab exaggerated effort to get all the things that we "need" from America. We are the only Embassy that goes to such lengths to have all of our own stuff, because we need it right? They don't have the things we need here. RIGHT!! They just don't have the things we want. So the first definition of the verb need is "to be necessary" or "to be in need of " means "required." I did not realize how dependent I had become on that phrase until I kept trying to find its meaning in a different language. I will never forget many years ago when I was young and had my first real boyfriend and he said to me one time "you confuse NEED with WANT" and I thought he was crazy. Well, now that I am older and wiser...ok, I am older, I see the point. If I spent the day using "I want" instead of "I need" it might begin to change my thought process a bit. Every time I go to say "I need something" I should change it to "I want something". Don't you think it is ironic that a country that actually has NEEDS doesn't really have that verb in their vocabulary; yet our country that has everything it could possibly want and more is obsessed with the phrase "I need"? I don't know, just some food for thought this holiday season from a country mired in political corruption and full of so many "needs". Happy Thanksgiving!!!! ciaoMarna Rowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16321353101146084672noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1138025569896148080.post-62187725367787709832010-11-17T07:58:00.000-08:002010-11-17T07:58:42.148-08:00Pictures from Marine Ball<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCahx6ZgrlGfhUvONEVuP1HF-9va4VZZt864NeBOuQOzv18vvL5gbysL1r1zfbbTe6zz1zKwiSisG-VUon-Zae1EvvgLFuHDM9gg7szCCwjzZd6HaVbxmmBV5KceTfrzSXVWlcU8RdLA/s1600/Picture_090.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCahx6ZgrlGfhUvONEVuP1HF-9va4VZZt864NeBOuQOzv18vvL5gbysL1r1zfbbTe6zz1zKwiSisG-VUon-Zae1EvvgLFuHDM9gg7szCCwjzZd6HaVbxmmBV5KceTfrzSXVWlcU8RdLA/s320/Picture_090.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn_MFz_JuA2qP_jKiQz1QQ8N9he2AwQPCfeStpPdUpGHYA77sYErcsKnP2hS45-MOYzH-l3mwLwc4Cm9VBTHM32eTMA41_AOfD7ibQBc1qt9cSJqow8R8p2sKThsKWDDRX-yMRaVxvug/s1600/Picture_094.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn_MFz_JuA2qP_jKiQz1QQ8N9he2AwQPCfeStpPdUpGHYA77sYErcsKnP2hS45-MOYzH-l3mwLwc4Cm9VBTHM32eTMA41_AOfD7ibQBc1qt9cSJqow8R8p2sKThsKWDDRX-yMRaVxvug/s320/Picture_094.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn52o9Bc5THYck2HngGehP52t8zvmgtqzf9BEp4CsM9blNrdbVflDI1mahceiT2gZpkOh8BYxGnIGErqNGCU8VCkcnw5q-nE0tro5_0fsAljCLad4PwhAqNpUaO78oakhAOjpgsv1UGg/s1600/Picture_103.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn52o9Bc5THYck2HngGehP52t8zvmgtqzf9BEp4CsM9blNrdbVflDI1mahceiT2gZpkOh8BYxGnIGErqNGCU8VCkcnw5q-nE0tro5_0fsAljCLad4PwhAqNpUaO78oakhAOjpgsv1UGg/s320/Picture_103.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUsUkm8QzA72d6g3QmzW9RG5BIVtcoFpTCdzv1-xl5v9v5T1KOKLeqLGvEnv7iOfnte7GV4Oc_RojQ5QgohZr_ePk8Pa-BvaCaRQSH2319kfr2G0THgZwpiOFI_8pGUWWgDDkkTcfuyg/s1600/Picture_091.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUsUkm8QzA72d6g3QmzW9RG5BIVtcoFpTCdzv1-xl5v9v5T1KOKLeqLGvEnv7iOfnte7GV4Oc_RojQ5QgohZr_ePk8Pa-BvaCaRQSH2319kfr2G0THgZwpiOFI_8pGUWWgDDkkTcfuyg/s320/Picture_091.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Marna Rowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16321353101146084672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1138025569896148080.post-62213263715591552572010-11-16T23:36:00.000-08:002010-11-16T23:36:47.739-08:00Marine BallSaturday night was the Marine Ball. Every year the Marine Corp celebrates their Birthday by hosting a big Ball. The Embassy here in Bulgaria only has 7 Marines I think. They are all young men that stand guard at Post One inside the Embassy. There is a large gate and entryway outside the Embassy that you can only enter if you have your ID badge or are signed in somehow as a guest. Then you enter the main lobby of the Embassy and have to be let in by a Marine to actually go into the working part of the Embassy. Once you are in the working part of the Embassy there are floors that you can only enter if you have a certain security clearance code. So all that to say, it is not easy to get into any American Embassy and the Marines are in charge of keeping you out. All of the Embassy was invited to the Ball and then each Department invited certain Bulgarian guests. Andy's Dept invited 2 Bulgarian Colonels that Andy works with on a regular basis. We decided to have the Embassy bus pick us up that evening so as not to fight traffc downtown. Putin was in Bulgaria this weekend so half the city streets were shut down. First, Andy knew about this Ball since August. But on Thursday night he decided he should figure out where his Mess Dress (tux) was. He looked in the basement, nothing. Decided it was still in a friends garage. We had a couple of boxes left there. So, Saturday morning he decided to run over there to pick up the boxes, wasn't there. I went to the basement and found his tux in the bottom of a box. It looked great. So we had to run over to a friend's house to steam it out. Luckily she had a steamer. anyway, crazy. The bus picks us up at 5:20pm and at 6:45 we arrive at the Princess Hotel. Yes, riding in the back of the bus through Sofia traffic, Bulgarian driver, and potholes. I was hanging on for dear life. We arrive and Andy immediately takes me over to meet the Bulgarian guests. So I think perfect opportunity to practice my Bulgarian. I walk up to the Colonel put out my hand and tell him "Goodbye" in "Bulgarski ezeek" Yes, the first thing that came out of my mouth was "doovyshdenay", that is goodbye in bulgarian. What a moron. So, as you can see the lessons are paying off. Put me in a tight spot and i come out with flying colors. He did not react so I was ok. I sat beside them at dinner and explained myself. I told them I was learning Bulgarian so I practiced with his wife most of the evening. She did not have strong english skills so we practiced our languages together. It was an interesting evening. When the dancing began we all got out on the floor and danced the night away. The Colonel, his wife, Andy everyone. It was so much fun. We had a really nice evening. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtLnRMskLV5IUu9JGCu6ORfalVFdVsVeMYcj2a8TYQxyQigjogxEJhEdPXL8psyiqU6EpfvLS29TdrkDbMPp8SE5iZos36DInV3C7baDCycgdwN8R4TNbC22yOzcIp0fJxnemgg70HKw/s1600/DSCN1548.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtLnRMskLV5IUu9JGCu6ORfalVFdVsVeMYcj2a8TYQxyQigjogxEJhEdPXL8psyiqU6EpfvLS29TdrkDbMPp8SE5iZos36DInV3C7baDCycgdwN8R4TNbC22yOzcIp0fJxnemgg70HKw/s320/DSCN1548.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwKWpOU5Mv96uaawIDlaefXo8agUmTvyr1mW_le0Mb_cS-PuBV68uklPeW8jYgxdGJxigdOOemEn8c9CdN6yuFh9dm7wc_nthvsGC7-PoVnjxMuYmiByPFe4JUzWxwLXXoDQTtOsZqDQ/s1600/DSCN1551.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwKWpOU5Mv96uaawIDlaefXo8agUmTvyr1mW_le0Mb_cS-PuBV68uklPeW8jYgxdGJxigdOOemEn8c9CdN6yuFh9dm7wc_nthvsGC7-PoVnjxMuYmiByPFe4JUzWxwLXXoDQTtOsZqDQ/s320/DSCN1551.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Our bus ride to the party</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I should get some more pictures from Andy's colleagues soon and will post those as well. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Another funny story. Last night Andy and I were trying to make reservations at a Hotel in Turkey. Andy skyped the hotel (no Picture) to see if they had parking. The guy answers in enlish so we ask about the parking space which he didn't quite understand then andy asked about a room. Here is the conversation.."Do you have a room available" He says "Yes, how many people" Andy "2 adults and 2 children" Man "3 adults and 3 children?" Andy "No, 2 adults and 2 children" Man "3 dogs and 2 children" Andy REALLY SLOWLY "2 adults and 2 children 4 people all together" The man finally understood, we hope. I thought I was going to fall off the couch laughing. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There is never a dull moment around this place. ciao </div><div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Marna Rowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16321353101146084672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1138025569896148080.post-11458632345169267252010-11-14T03:31:00.000-08:002010-11-14T09:58:48.080-08:00Maggie's ReturnMaggie returned this morning at 5am smelling of fire and covered in black ash. Somebody had a good time this weekend! When the girls woke up and discovered she was home they were thrilled. They decided she needed to be cleaned. They worked on her awhile with just an old towel. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbs7n58qiPNUIZtC4-2unJRdfr8pRbtB_6hhF5eCEzh9cyTgcbNYjGZErqPL-oQEusMrkhJPav5Dp5sCLeWF2hyphenhyphenX_w4GGnah5RysHS2ScLAXLRj4NMC9g96zdn83RrJ06WI2x6AtGnvg/s1600/DSCN1552.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbs7n58qiPNUIZtC4-2unJRdfr8pRbtB_6hhF5eCEzh9cyTgcbNYjGZErqPL-oQEusMrkhJPav5Dp5sCLeWF2hyphenhyphenX_w4GGnah5RysHS2ScLAXLRj4NMC9g96zdn83RrJ06WI2x6AtGnvg/s320/DSCN1552.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
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Then they decided Maggie needed a bath, which she did. Andy and I were downstairs enjoying a quiet morning while the girls bathed the cat. We did not hear any loud cries or any screaming. They put her in the bathtub then took cups of water and soap and rubbed her down, giving her a nice cat bath. mya said she did fine. Once they had her clean they put Mya's Bulgarian Rose perfume. Below is what we saw when they brought her back downstairs<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So we spent some time drying her off with a towel then let her be for awhile. She is still asleep upstairs. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I wonder if Maggie will ever runaway again. just sayin......ciao</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div>Marna Rowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16321353101146084672noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1138025569896148080.post-66580902461139199622010-11-13T00:35:00.000-08:002010-11-13T00:35:19.625-08:00Week in ReviewLet us review our week shall we? Our children tried to ask the front gate security for a key to the tennis courts and they told them to go home then called the "mayor" which we didn't know we had. Then the mayor of our compound called the Embassy to tell us it is not safe for the children to leave the complex. We set off the alarm system, on purpose, and set the whole security force in motion. Zadie lost her second tooth and the tooth fairy forgot her tooth 2 nights in a row, yes, not one night but two. All is well, she finally took the tooth last night. Mya got a red card in school for running in the halls, she was totally fast walking, not running. (she told me I could tell that) Yesterday I ran into an acquaintence from the Embassy that I thought was pregnant and come to find out she is not (which she informed me ever so kindly), slight misunderstanding. Don't worry I totally smooth talked my way out of it. By the way, Andy popped in to the room right as she was saying, "Who is having a baby?" and do you think he had my back? Did he jump in and say "Oh, I thought you were pregnant and I told Marna, sorry about that." no, he turned on his heel and ran like a girl. No, worries I totally talked myself out of it. We have a formal ball tonight and Andy can't find his Mess Dress/Tuxedo. He is digging through boxes as we speak. Yes, he has known about this ball since August. Last, but not least, Andy and I let Maggie, the cat out last night and she is not back yet. She has officially been gone for over 12 hours. We have called and called, walked around the neighborhood calling for her, nothing. All is good here. No Worries!Marna Rowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16321353101146084672noreply@blogger.com1