Come again, did you say 14?!?!

I had to get some medical stuff done on friday at the PC office. I got my female parts checked out and check-up done. While I was there, the doctor weighed me. And to my surprise and chagrin, I weighed in at 145. I thought that was a bit low, seeing as how I could sweat up and down that I was in the 150s area. I asked her if she knew how much I weighed when I first came to BG and she said she would check.
Uumm homegirl came back and told me that I weighed 159 (I wish I could caps that 159 for emphasis). So for all of the slow folks out there who cant keep up with simple math, 159-145 is 14 pounds. I dont feel any lighter, nor do I feel like I lost all that weight. But the proof is in the numbers, or the damn scale I should say!
Now Im sure some people think that I dont eat. But thats just not the truth. I EAT a lot. I have always labored under the motto, If you cook it, I will come! I never turn down a meal, and there are sometimes when I eat even if Im not hungry cuz I just cant resist the taste of certain things (esp. sweets). So I cant for the life of me imagine how I lost this much weight. But after I thought about it, Im pretty sure it has to do with 2 things: stress and not eating meat. (oh wait, when times of hard and Ive spent my money on clothes I tend to eat less cuz I have no food, but who cares about that.....)
Ive been really stressed lately about a number of things, and at one point I didnt eat much of anything at all. I was upset and sad and so that honestly did affect the way I was eating. But sometimes when I am upset I overeat also. Secondly, I dont really trust the meat here. I used to buy meat all the time, chicken, and pork chops. But they would spoil so quickly after I bought them that I would have to throw the meat away. And Ive been to the supermarket and the small corner store-ish places they have out here, and the meat kinda looks real suspect! So for these reasons I just stopeed buying meat altogether. When I visit people's houses (rarely) I eat meat, and if I go to a decent restaurant Ill get a meat dish. But for the most part, I make salads at home cuz they're quick and easy to make.
Who the hell knows how this weight thing works. When I got back from Japan I could fit into a size 2 and I looked kinda good, but also kinda anorexic cuz I had lost so much weight. But Im sure when I get back to the states next year Ill gain some weight back going crazy eating Burger King and fat juicy steaks!

Biking Pics

Yeah, I was real professional lookin with those gloves on...
We saw some cows and Asya tried to convince me to get close enough to take a pic with one of them....uumm thats as close as I go!

The darker one was much cuter

Doesnt he look like the donkey from winnie the pooh?

I was the only one amazed at the size of these donkeys

Asya, her friend and I taking a much needed break

We saw a horse on the bike to the friends house. From the pic you can tell that I was scared to death!
Some faulty damn we passed. I got a few steps in and decided I didnt want to fall and die

Words of Encouragement

Hey Maxie
thanks for the pics! didnt we take some together?I just want you to know that I will stand by you whatever decision you make.
I just want you to make sound decisions. You have to keep in mind adversity builds character. I often think about what you said that I am the strongest person you know?? well I think that is because all the things I have been through that have made me this way.
I want you to be safe and have peace of mind. But I also want you to keep in mind that you made a commitmentif youdon't keep your word no one is going to keep there word with you. Learn to find solutions to problems not escape from problems.
know that I am here for you and stand by you like a tree and dare anybody to try and move me.Make your life extraordinary
Ferg
And this is one of the reasons that I think that Im gonna try to stay and work it out....

T.I and JT Dead And Gone SPOOF

Good Look Poppa....

In a Perfect World....

These shoes would be in my closet. The new Louis Vuitton Spicy Sandal. Left: Spicy Sandal in Burgandy suede and Goat Leather $1785

Right: Spicy Sandal in Patent Calf Leather $1540

I cant even post the other pairs which retail for over $2000, its just hurts my heart and my pride......

You should Get like ME!

Id just like to say before this post begins, that my former saying was "I got to blog about this" Its what people could always hear me say after everything stupid or funny that happened. I love to blog, and I love sharing my experiences here with the people on the other side of the world. BUT my new saying, which Im sure I will run into the ground is "...then maybe that/you could be in a magazine too" and Ill explain this in a second.....

But before I do, Id just like to share with you all that I was in a magazine! YEah bitches Im im my way to the top! This lady whom I met a while back asked if she could interview me. I didnt know how to take it, but I agreed and before long she asked if I could meet with her to talk. I went eagerly and was very surprised at the questions she asked me. She was very sweet tho and I was excited to see how the piece would come out. Well low and behold she brought the magazine to my school one day and I was so damn happy to read the article. I was surprised at how much I actually understood and when I got someone to translate the rest, I was VERY HAPPY and thought the piece was VERY WELL written. It is entitled "One New Yorker in Pernik" Check the pic.....

There is a pic of me, of Time Square, my fam (which most people thought we looked so alike, they couldnt even tell who my mom was, or who was older out of my sisters and I), and a pic of my students and I at Christmas. The interview talked a lot about how I feel here in Pernik and she quoted me as sayin I feel like a fish in a vacuum (actually I said fish bowl). Pernik is so small is there is nothin to do here and I am soooooooo bored. She also talked about my fam in NY, what I graduated school with, how much I liek my colleagues at work, and my thoughts on school activities not being so interesting for the students. She also talked about how some people have been rude to me and said bad things to me and threw something at me.

So back to my saying....Tiff kept tryna play me when she was here. One time she said she was smarter than me, and I answered with, yeah right, if you were so much smarter than me then maybe you would be in a magazine too! LOL I tell you boy, thats my new shit for 2009.

*and THAT's why you should get like me!*

The good folks

So Ill just take a sec to recognize the Bulgarians who are just so wonderful. They joke with me, they invite me places, and they are just so nice and caring.
Vanya-works in my school. She is so adorable. She is an older woman and I go and talk to her often about all sorts of things. During the spring break, I came to the school to see her. She walked to the stored to help me buy the yellow ribbon for my apt, and bought me some ice-cream cuz it was nice that day. I've been over to her house once and she made a ovely dinner for me. She is the epitome of a loving grandma I would say, and she makes me feel extra welcome. She squeezes or smacks by booty from time to time and it would be awkward if it were anyone else, but she is extra cool.
Im not gonna go person by person, but I would just like to put in the atmosphere that there are really NICE and DECENT people who live in Pernik and they treat me like a very dear friend or a family member.

Happy Easter....(A week and some change late)

So Happy Easter folks. And I know all of you are thinkin what the hell am I on, cuz Waster was a week and some change ago. But Since the Bulgarians go by the Orthodox Catholic calendar, Waster is a week after we celebrate it in the States. And one of the things that I actually like about BG is that it is still so rich in culture and tradition. On Easter EVERYONE young and old paints eggs. But eggs are only painted on Thursdays or Staurdays (damned if I know why). The first egg painted MUST be red, symbolic of Christ's blood. A really nice bread called Kozunak (which I am not particularly keen on) is made and lamb is eaten on Sunday. Also, when the clock strikes 12 AM on saturday, most Bulgarians go to church, light candles, and walk around the church 3 times. They also walk down the street holding the candles too. Its kinda cool.
I dont know what anyone else does for Easter, but when I was younger I went to church and dressed up all pretty and died egss. But as I got older, I stopped dying eggs, and going to Easter Egg hunts, and basically stopped going to church. I cant remember my mom cooking anything special for Easter, but I remember there being a nice dinner.
I was invited on Saturday over to my program director's house for lunch. I brought a nice bottle of wine, and we ate salad, and some other Bulgarian food including lamb. After, her son, daughter and I went for a bike ride. We left about 2 and I didnt get home til about 7:45 NO LIE. We biked in the rain to a nearby (well not THAT nearby) town and met up with a friend of their's. She was nice. We stopped at her house for a bit then biked a lil bit further before we decided we were all dead tired and should turn around. It was a great workout. Honestly I really had to check myself a few times. I kept gettin caught up in that city girl mentality.
First off, to go biking I wore my Airmax sneakers. I thought we were gonna bike ride around the town, you know along the street or in the park. But we were on the grass and had to go through dirt and stuff. Then the rain didnt help matters at all. We came to this one place where the grown my split, like a hurricane ran through it and created a rift. To get from one side to the other we had to get off the bikes and walk over a whole bunch of dirt and mud. You know I almost caught a heart attack. I didnt want my kicks to get messed up, and I damn sure didnt want to slip and fall and get all dirty. I made it over tho! *whew, wipes hand across forehead*
Before we got to the friends house we had to bike almost 10 Kilometers (dont know the conversion, but look it up if your so interested) and I thought I would die. IT was fun goin down the hills and feeling the wind in my face and feeling carefree. But then after a while I just got tired and going up the hills was no walk in the park. But I made it!
Overall we stopped often enough for me to catch my breath and get my energy back to keep on biking. I would do it again, altho I was worried what the daughter and son thought of me after hearing me complain about the bugs, rain, gettin dirty, being tired, near death, etc.

Paris and Milan Pics

The church where the Last Supper is painted.

One of the main shoppin areas in the center of Milan

We stopped at McDonalds and got these lil things. Its fried spinach, and altho they looked nasty in the pic, them joints were sooooooooooo good!

Really nice church around the shopping area

Parisian burger

A busy street in Paris

We got our drink on in Paris

The train station in Paris was probably bigger than Grand Central Station

Champs de Le blah blah blah (I dont know how to spell it)

Eiffel Tower