A lot and not so much has changed in the 96 hours since my last post from the EVS front. Vicente and then Zanda arrived and joined the party and my first impressions of them are quite positive. For our first night together, which was two nights ago, I made some risotto with mushrooms but it wasn’t very good because I threw in too much rosemary. The Greek salad wasn’t very good either because the tomatoes I bought were (obviously) out of season and for that reason they were pretty bland. Maria made some pancakes for dessert and those came out great – turns out you can even eat them right out of the fridge just fine!
Tonight Zanda made some absolutely delicious cheese soup with mushrooms and vegetables.
Soon I’ll take a proper video for presenting the guys and the flat. This is just a… taste.
But enough with the food. Yesterday the fog finally crept away and the sun at long last flooded the sky and land.
We met some other EVSers in the library from a different project and went for tea together in a very cozy place somewhere in Sofia (I suppose saying “in the centre” won’t help you find it…) Tomorrow we’re having our first Bulgarian class all in the same group and I’m super-excited: another new language and more new people!
It was also a few days ago that Vicente, Maria and I tried riding the tram to the library for the first time just for a change. We thought that the metro ticket, which is valid for one hour, would also be valid for the entire mass transit network of Sofia as is the case e.g. in Athens. Well, the conductors who appeared out of nowhere didn’t think so. We failed to present the yellow paper we suddenly noticed that everybody else around us was holding, and the conductors took us off the tram where we were welcomed by a fine of 20 leva (10€) for each one of us. Honestly, I was pleasantly surprised; older encounters with conductors out to kill in Athens had proved much more painful to my wallet than this. Of course, I wasn’t happy we were stopped like that but eh, lesson learned, no pain no gain! And, at any rate, later that day we went with Boryana to have our cards issued. Take that, conductors!
The very same day I used my freshly printed card to go to Zapaden Park for a run, the closest piece of open land to our apartment – about 15-20 minutes by metro or tram. It’s one of the biggest parks I’ve ever been to; in fact it’s more like a forest! Unfortunately, the winter browns and grays don’t allow it to be as beautiful as I imagine it to be in the warmer seasons but still the sight of the winter forest and Sofians of all ages out to enjoy it makes my heart a little brighter and keeps me company while I’m out for my run. Can’t wait to see the park turn blinding white, which will hopefully happen sooner rather than later.
Our last tidbit for today: yesterday we went to the cinema; we live very close to the Mall of Sofia, which includes a multiplex. Even for a Saturday it was super cheap, only 9 leva (4,5€), and on Thursdays it’s down to 6! The movie we watched was The Wolf of Wall St; three-hour film and I didn’t want it to end, so entertaining and well-made was it. It had, most probably, the best depiction of an overdose I’ve ever seen on film (okay now I have to watch Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas just to check). Leonardo Di Caprio has come a long way… Needless to say, this will most definitely not be the last time we go to the cinema while we’re living here in Sofia!
Gotta go to bed now or I’ll be like a Greek zombie (ζόμπι; νεκροζωντανός;) at the lesson tomorrow. Leka nosht!
