Tonight...

Too much sex yet too little erotica...
So sad :(

Happy Holi :)

Yesterday we celebrated Holi or Festival of Colours.
It is a holiday all across North India that marks the beginning of spring and it is among the most colourful and amusing of all holidays in the country.
On Holi everyone here plays with the colours of the rainbow. Coloured powder is available for 10 rupees everywhere, so are water-guns that people fill with coloured water :)
To be prepared for the colourful war that was about to burst during the day, we put some old clothes and put some coconut oil on our bodies so the paint didn't stick ;) Unfortunately our landlord and his brother took us by surprise and ...you can see what we were like before we even left for the real party :)
The real party was in a farmhouse near Delhi...with a nice lawn and pool. We had drinks and food included in the entrance free and a DJ...so it was the party anyone could dream of. Of course it went mad at some point, after we had "bang" (lasie with marijuana) served. The pool was full of people dancing and the water had the incredible colour of...something indescribable :) (i don't dare to think what the chemical elements in the water were :) )
Well...I don't believe I am going to play with colours again...it is a bit too messy. Yet it was a life-time experience I would recommend to everyone :)

India...the beginning

It has been I long time since I haven't updated this blog. The reason is one – no time for blogging, as I am in India already.
I arrived in Gurgaon (some 20 minutes by car from Delhi) early on Thursday morning. My first adventure was getting to my place, as there was noone to pick me up at the airport. It was a bit scary to travel in a taxi in the dark, deserted streets of a completely unknown town. But – all's well that ends well and I reached safely and was met by Andre (I felt a bit guilty on waking him up), my collegue that will be working for Alcatel-Lucent in Bangalore. Honestly, he is really precious – helped me a lot in my first days...Just now it is that I fully realise how important it is to help someone integrate when on a traineeship. And this is, undoubtedly done best by other trainees, who have experienced that before.
I already had some taste of Delhi nightlife, as Friday night we went to a very nice club – Urban Pind. AIESEC interns seem to hang out there a lot...and there is always a bunsch of colourful expatriates I was told.
During the weekend we explored Delhi and went to a craft-festival in a nearby city – Faridhabad. It was so awesome – colourful, crowded and beautiful. And it was really huge – we were going around the place for 4 hours!
I am slowly starting to arrange things for my stay here and getting into daily work routine. It is really interesting – i already attended some of the meeting in the Corporate communications department. I still need to do so much reading, but I guess I will handle it fast. And the people at work are really positive and friendly, which makes learning easier :)
Well, this is about the end of my update. Actually, a strange melancholic mood is overcoming me the last two days – maybe because I am starting to miss home. Yet, I will get over it – a huge adventure lies ahead :)

Long time no see

Well, I admit I am guilty for not writing here, but well...I got so addicted to my Bulgarian blog that it is hard to switch :)Besides, Being on Facebook, Twitter and everywhere else is quite tiring sometimes.One has to keep addictions in a certain limit :) I don't want to end up blogging all day, instead of doing something more meaningful.
Hm...I have some stories to tell. Lets see where I can start and K.I.S.S. (meaning I will try to keep at short and simple as possible)

Been to the beautiful Budapest in the middle of October.
Wonderful Central European city. Magnificent autumn. I would love to go again, along with my collegue Assya, who lived there for a year. She will be the best guide to some nice unexplored places:)Oh, and it is really unnecessarily expensive!
Some pictures:



Started Yoga classes.
It is fun. I can feel my back again. I realize that I have muscles:) The exercises are simple, but effective. I feel relaxed after. Megan says that there are also some side effects ( Hope she is joking actually;) )


Been two AIESEC conferences

I guess you realize when you are going old when you start going only to the parties of the AIESEC conferences. Well, I went for two - at the Local Introductory seminar of Technical University and at ACT. Actually I was one of the organizers of the alumni party at ACT. Surprisingly so many people came - around 50 alumni! Good try for a first time, I should say ;)

Applied for my first AIESEC internship
It is the position of Communications executive with Alcatel-Lucent in India. Passed the first intervew and I am getting more and more excited :) Is my life going to change so drastically? I want it, but in the same time I am a bit scared. It is surely a challenge!

That's all for now...I hope I will find why blogger wouldn't upload my pictures :(

Oh, what a night!

This is just to give you a tiny hint of the crazy party I went to yesterday night. It was a double birthday party:) I think that maybe 30 or 40 people came and we were dancing like crazy :) Just great!

Folklore festival in the Sofia centre

Today was a really wonderful day :)
After the Trabi show, I finally found time to read some papers (yes, I am working at a newspaper, but rarely have time to red one ;)).
Then, with my collegue Assya (a very talented designer by the way)we went to a folklore festival organized in the city centre.
It was rather cool, there were groups from Bulgaria, Cyprus, Romania, Serbia, Hungary, Italy, Venezuela, China, Korea, Armenia.
The guys from Venezuela really made me go crazy. I just feel I need to learn Spanish and all kinds of latin dances.
I love salsa ( although in the last month I haven't been to serious with my salsa lessons).
Then, after Chambao and Belen Maya I got so inspired to start with flamenco.
And with Gotan project - tango :)

Anyways - the stupid thing about the festival was again the organization. First - mineral water was sold at a double price. Second - nobody thought that someone from the 500 people gathered around the park might need a toilet. Or a bench to sit.
I wonder when we will learn to do things in the proper way in Bulgaria...

Placebo - a dream come true

I was at the concert yesterday:)I am so happy I managed to go.
One thing - these guys really rocked the house!
Amazing work!

Concert summer

This summer proves to be quite full of concerts.
As if all popular bands, singers and dancers just decided at once to come to Bulgaria (I do not see what took them so long. Maybe, after the EU accession they thought it is safe enough :) )
Names like Iron Maiden, Marlyn Manson, Placebo (for the second time), Chambao etc etc. Well - for most of the people in western countries it is normal to see them, but they just used to avoid Bulgaria, cause the market is to little and the prices of the tickets-too low.
Anyway - I am going to take advantage of this cool concert-packed summer.
I already went to see Belen Maya, the incredible Flamenco dancer that has inspired Carlos Saura to make "Flamenco". She was really unbelievable!
Then, I went to an INXS concert, but I didn't like it, cause the new lead singer looks more like the lead singer of a boy band than anything else.
Plans for the future include:

On the 18th of June - Placebo - I want that so much, as I missed the first concert! Problem is, I am travelling back from Poland...who knows if I will reach on time...Keeping my fingers crossed!

On the 23rd June - Yamato - the drummers of Japan. Promises to be really great. I already reserved some tickets and going to buy them tomorrow :)

On the 11th June - Chambao in Plovdiv - I love that music, I hope I get a chance for a day off :)

Hm, I guess that is not all...who knows :)

My recent "party" song

First heard it at one OSTAVA after-party and have been in love ever since :)

Petia's Birthday

Yesterday I was invited to the birthday celebration of one of the people I appreciate most in AIESEC - my first "boss" Petia.
When I first met her, I wondered how it was possible for such a tiny fragile girl to be so firm and straightforward!
I have been wondering ever since.
She is such a nice person and I hope she is lucky in life:)
Just a short note how we spend her birthday...
First we went to "Krivoto" ...ah, it was so tough to resist all these delicious things.And...well, finally we didn't resist.
We were only women with just one guy - Johnny. It was Petia, Megan, Sevi, Liana (the sweet Armenian trainee), Maya and Stassy.
Stassy gave Petia a very well packed present:)
Here is Petya trying to unwrap it...
Step 1: "Let's see what is in here"

Step 2: "C'mon, open up!"

Step 3: "Finally:)What a nice surprise!"


After that, we went to "Bar at the end of the world" to dance at some retro music. It was rather nice, especially as John behaved as a real gentleman, and ordered champaigne for everyone. I will be waiting for some pictures...
When we were saying goodbye something Petia said something that warmed my heart.
"Thank you. My friends are my happiness".
What else do I need to be happy than making some other person happy!

BLDS 2007

I just came back from BLDS 2007. It was really a wonderful experience I will surely remember for a while.
First of all, it was wonderful, because I was invited to speak in a panel with some of the people I admire most in AIESEC - former MCPs that shaped this organisation in Bulgaria and also great personalities. I felt so honoured to be there among them.
Another reason I was happy was that I saw friends - old and new ones being there, smiling and having fun.

I always get so excited when I see so many great people at one place! I just wanted to hug and kiss everybody, to talk to
everybody...Unfortunately time is never enough at AIESEC conferences to do that!
I wish I could keep the spirit longer.
And I should say that...
Thank GOD that I enetered AIESEC and met all these amazing people!
:)

One amazing week in one post

Well, I have been a bit lazy this week in blogging.But I will try to sum it up in one post.
It has been quite a strange week for me - without a proper desire to work- i guess there are times like that that you can heardly concentrate. Yet, seems it was good in terms of my job - as I understood from my boss my salary is rising (just a bit:P) and this - in a way - means they are satisfied with my work. I also understood that in future I will have to write extensively in the i-net isssue and keep a real estate blog. Seems like a great challenge to me, so I am gonna give it a try. I was a bit disappointed with some stuff happening in the office, but, as I talked to friends they all told me that it is like that everywhere...
But, my word was not for work though.

Social life:) This week seems to be quite full, compared to previous one. And really nice.

On tuesday, I went to a very pleasant Cuban night in one new place - Tea house. It was like a dream come true - Cuban music (not only salsa),Cuban food ( i ate ham with caramel and pineapple:) ) and ...of course RUM! No pics of course, I was too busy to enjoy!Just one, made by my collegue - to give u an idea of what the place feels like.
Then, to skip the working week ...friday night was an experience - we went with a friends to eat Chineese. I once again thought how much I love the Chineese people for that wonderful food:)After, we moved to a place that I cannot call exactly a bar, as it is a bit too underground. It is called "Hambara" (something like a "Barn)and it lit only by candles. I met some people I haven't seen for a long time.And we had a few nice drinks and talks.


Later, we moved to a disco - "Alcohol". It was cool, though crowded and the music was strange - too much techno.However - we really had a good time there as well.
Saturday was tres legere - again walking around, shopping, eating sweet stuf ...mmm:)
And today - a wonderful ending of the week. I went to drink coffee at one of my favourate places - ONDA. Met a friend there,whom I thought gone abroad.
The evening was full of beauty, as we went to watch the Bulgarian ice-skating champions - Albena Denkova and Maxim Stavisky. They were marvelous!So much beauty and grace...it was as if I was in another world. Besides them there were some other couples - an Italian one (these guys, I can bet, were born on ice!), a Russsian one (he was swinging the girl in such a dangerous way...I couldn't watch), an Ukrainian one ( they did amazing acrobatics, I have never imagined that someone can balance on ice like that). There were also some other Bulgarian skater - they were also pretty talented. And two funny French guys. One of them danced pretending to be a 3-year old girl.He had this pink ballet skirt - so funny:)
Of course, my camer was not good enough to make proper pictures, but soon I hope to receive some from friends I was with. But just if you have some time...and to give you a very little idea of the experience I had - see Albena and Maxim perform their free dance at the 2006 olympics. Enjoy!
And have an inspired week, full of beauty:)

New Year's Eve Party

This New Year's eve celebration proved once more the fact that the best parties come when you do not plan them:) I had no idea exactly with whom I am going to spend the night between 31 December 2006 and the 1 January 2007. A very memorable night for the Bulgarians indeed, as the country is entering the EU.

At the end, I found myself in a very nice apartment in an old apartment building in the very centre of Sofia. The place reminded me of some 60-ies club, or as a friend said "a party from the old bulgarian movies". It was rather hippie-like and cool. I didn't know the hosts,yet we met and the wine easily broke the ice between (if there was any ice). The music was what I can summarize as "alternative", which brought me at least 6 years back to a place in Veliko Turnovo - Spider club - where we used to go and listen to our favourite music ( it's a pity it does not exist any more).

At around 11 p.m. we went to the Batemberg square to watch the lights show that was to celebrate Bulgaria's entry to the Eu.There were around 100 000 at the square - everyone cheerful, drinking wine or champaigne and expecting the final countdown of the last minutes of the year.

Beautiful firewors and lazer lights beamed in the sky - I bet it was the biggest show of its kind ever to be done in Bulgaria.

You might try and have a look at some videos of it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyOQ_9XFqaI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IliWkak1tXY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7JeKE2bikE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEtnBdsIGmU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ht2_AZu5RXI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hi2B_Nm6-jc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yYa5y6FqTo

It is a pity that the sounds were not as good as the lights and we could not hear almost anything

:(

On our way back we went to a friend and drank a bottle of wine, just "by the way"...

Actually the pictures speak for themselves:)

Happy birthday:)

Today is my first birthday:)
Yep, you are not mistaken. I know that you know that my birthday is actually in July (though you may have forgotten to call me, you are excused).
Butyesterday the paper I am working for has a birthday. My first birthday here.
The editor in chief made a very nice joke to us, telling us that we have to attend a "very important presentation by our guest Marta that is auditing us and giving advice how to improve our performance".
So, we went to a nice restaurant near the office, expecting to attend a long, and maybe a bit boring event.Then Galia (the editor) came in front and said - well, guys, you see that we have to make some changes, to cut of around 70%, we have to do this and that...and, besides, we will be moving to a new office (here she showed a picture of a terrain near the Kremikovtzi factory, one of the durtiest places in Sofia. At this point I couldn't stand it and - as you can see I was laughing like hell:).

At the end, it all turned to be a joke and we had a very nice cake and cocktail.
It is the 13th birthday for Capital.
First for me.
How many more? Who knows...when I was applying, I couldn't tell my boss that I will dedicate my life for the cause. I really like it, it is challenging, yet, I also like to feel free in a way. As I shared with one of my collegues yesterday - when I feel I have no more to give and get I will move forward. It happens naturally...

My Saturday experience

Saturday was quite a nice experience.
At first I woke up with a bit of an anxiety, as I had to meet with Cveti for the financial documents of the previous MC term. Financial stuff always makes me feel uneasy, as everything I do not understand very well...I guess it's normal, anyway:)
It turned out to be a nice meeting (at least for me) - Cveti calmed me down and I felt that at least someone knows what is going on more profoundly than me.
After that I went to see Sevi and we had lunch together:)
Then, I went with Peca to the National Gallery to see the Exhibition of Ivan Murkvichka paintings (150 years since he was born).
It was really marvelous!
I saw pictures I have seen as a child in my history books and I never imagined I would see them for real.
Some of them were so good that tears started coming to my eyes - so great was the gift of the master, that the portraits I saw were like real, living people!
And, as I was walking through the Gallery halls (it has once been King's residence) I was wondering how was it arranged, what was the furniture when people were living there in the beginning of 20th sentury...
After this wonderful experience we went to drink a cocktail in Toba:co ( which is just behind the gallery) and then - for a little walk in my favourite streets in the central part.
...then - coffee at Onda...
Peca had bought me a birthday present - a purple scarf:)
In the evening - we went out for a beer with Drago, Stassy and some Canadian guy that Drago met in Croatia. Some more people came and we went to a nice underground place, called "Hambara".
Then - Sevi kidnapped me to some very strange "private party" which took place in a wonderful patio at "Tzar Samuil" street.
It was lit only by candles...And the stars...
Some AIESEC alumni were gathered there, drinking Russian vodka with caviar and discussing "low-profile" and "high-profile" societies...
Then, we decided to go to the birthday party of some girl I have never met - she had been in AIESEC as well (mafia:))...
We went to EXIT disco. I felt so bored by discos...but we had a little bit of dancing...
At the end Luzmita had a bit of a "polite conversation" with the guards ( every second word was "mutra" - meaning a very dumb, criminal guy)and we left.
So that was it...my nice Saturday:)

11th Balkan Youth Festival

A little more than a month left to the start of the 11th Balkan Youth Festival.
I have taken part in the 9th one (which was the last to be held in Gabrovo) as a facilitator and I have very sweet memories from there:
...using my creativity to make a group of 45-year-old ladies and 18-year-old teenagers reach one conclusion on the role of young people in the media
...preparing a presentation on Johnny's laptop that didn't have Bulgarian phonetic and I had to learn BDS overnight:)
...being a roommate with Mimka and having great fun (while discussing the guys from the Italian metal band), building a friendship that is going to last
...meeting about a hundred crazy volunteers, scouts and hanging around with them
...having great parties at "Hot Spot"
...meeting (completely by chance) Emo from PIF - oh, these beautiful eyes:)
...getting to know "KariZma" and seeing Miro dance on a bar and waiting with a crazy teenager girl for him to be announced a scout in 7.30 in the morn:P
And the trip to Sokolovo monastery and "Etara" ethnographic museum of course...
And then, previous year - 2005, the first festival in Sandanski.
...the first business meeting with Emi that lasted...i don't know how many hours but at the end I was wondering how this thing is going to happen when this woman is so chaotic
...the dilema - to go or not to go to Sandanski. I had to prepare a national seminar, one week before it we didn't have a chair, and a huge conflict was growing within my team.AI visit was ahead. Maybe some people considered my decision irresponsible, yet I do not regret it.
...getting to Sandanski and Vladi meeting me in front of the office - we haven't seen each other after India and he asked me so many questions.
...the office, the frustrated Plami and Stassy, that had expected to come on a holiday and were really stressed that they have to really facilitate
...the night walks and the rope-bridges.Not knowing if this is a reality or a dream.It was so wonderful
...the "Nekerman" (this is how we jokingly called it) hotel and the mineral fountain in front, good that I managed to prevent Vladi to get inside, yet I remember me,Manola and Maya getting in to one other fountain to cool our feet:)
...sprankling my ankle just before the trip to Melnik and Rojen monastery.Manola giving me first aid:)
...climing the hills to reach "Shestaka's cellar" where we drank the best red wine I have ever tasted and sang Bulgarian traditional songs
...the picnic at Rojen monastery.The incredible beauty and atmosphere of the place.The silence in the coridoors and me sitting in what used to be the monastery kitchen, crying over my broken heart and wishing I could capsulate the moments of happines forever.
...the nights with the fire-jugglers "Youth in Fire", the smell of gasoline at the stage and the crazy party at the night before I left with them singing, drinking, drumming.
...Doni and his wonderful voice and how he chased Stassy, how desperate he was and how in love she was with another guy...
...Ece getting a bit drunk and us all going to bed together along with Emo - one of the volonteers as it was too late for him to go back to where he was staying.
And so much more...
This year - me translating the festival invitation at my birthday:)
Wish I knew what is awaiting me at the 11th festival:)