Another Year

Well, if this past year wasn't eventfull, I don't know what it was. Kari and I celebrated our first New Year as a couple, and I celebrated my first New Year in a relationship, since... well, a while. It was nice.

I never got around to publish the pictures Kari took in our trip yesterday around Sofia, and ain't like I've the time or the spirit to go around writing about it. For the first time in ages, for this year I've started flirting with the idea of gatting an "agenda". Yes, me, the PDA-lady, I'll get an agenda, a small, simple one that doesn't work on batteries and doesn't keep running low and erasing every appointment I've so carefully entered into it. However, were I to find a decent PDA, I would probably move to it. Decent machine, decent price, mind you.

Kari and I are more seriously thinking about our future together and making more sound plans for it. There's no more castles in the sky for us, but an actual, real future together in the horizont. This year will probably be my last year in Costa Rica. Naturally, there are still a lot of things to do, to consider, things that do not depend from us, but from third parties, which heavily influence our chance to be living together by the end of this year, but God willing it shall happen. The thesis is the biggest question for 2010, and my hope is high for it to be finally over, the University Degree finally in my hands and my financial record finally clean from debt. I hope and pray for the promotion at the office, which was frozen last year due to the "recession", which I hope passes this year and eases up my burdens, helps me pay my debts faster.

This year will be a frugal year for me, concentrating on paying my dues and buying nothing, or next to nothing so I don't have to carry so many more things on my way home.

My promises and hopes are as follow:

1. Finish my thesis

2. Pay all my debts

3. Excersize more, so that my health improves, mostly lungs and blood pressure

4. Eat healthier, eating every day at least two portions of fruit and always eat a salad to start the lunch. (These mainly to improve my digestive system and my circulation, as I've been experiencing a few blood pressure disorders in the last days. Nothing serious and nothing a good, fresh meal can't fix.)

Won't be easy, but keeping promises never is. If they are easy to keep, they ain't real purposes or promises.

Regarding the salad, here in Bulgaria I learned of a very simple and delicious salad. It's made out of cucumber, tomato, pepper bell, zuccini, black olives and feta cheese. It's amazing! It's their traditional salad. We had it yesterdays as part of the New Year's Eve diner (for which there was a 6€ reservation fee, and the final amount is still unclear). The diner had four courses:

1. A salad - the traditional one (I ate half of it)

2. A hot apperitizer, made or a fish filet with some sauce. It was stinky but I ate 3/4 of it.

3. Main Course, composed by two pieces of meat, one some sort of pork and another chicken, bathed in their special sauce, different for each piece of meat, some garnish salad and mini carrots. I ate two bites of the pork, for I was stuffed to capacity.

4. Cheesecake. I ate half of it.

Yes, I'm a very, very bad eater. I have very little apetite. I don't mean to be rude, but please, don't kill me with food! A lot of people, my dear mother in law included, seem to believe that if you don't eat everything on the plate you are being mean to them and telling them the food is bad. The food can be bad, but people should realize that not everybody eats the same amount of food, and that some of us can get full with a few bites. The waitress did look at me funny, but you know what? I'm the guest, so you can frot it very much. I'm not putting my health in risk for anyone's sake.

This New Year there was dancing from a dance group and then some "everybody dance together like the locals" thing, which I just looked at and didn't really felt like joining the party. There was champaigne at midnight and the Bulgarian Anthem. Then we went back to our room and had our very private New Year's and First Anniversary celebration.

I loved our stay here, and even though there was a mildly sad point yesterday during our conversation (I questioned Kari rhetorically about what's so good about being together and why shall anyoen choose being in a relationship rather than living in sweet freedom and independence. He took it to heart), it was filled to the brim with "I love you"-s and "I'm so happy to be with you"-s. Kari is a good guy.

Now, for finishing, because I still have to pack and be down and paying in 40 minutes, here are some of the pictures of yesterday's trip.

Some pretty building we saw. Should know more, but we don't.

Banya Basha Minaret, from the Ottoman occupacy. It's still working.

Mineral Bath - A public bath

St. Nicholai "The Miracle Worker"'s Church. Built in time with the Alexander Nevski Church

Alexander Nevski Church and Square.

The Church was built in the Memory of the 200 000 Russian soldiers

that died in the war to free Bulgaria from the Turks.

Close to the Alexander Nevski Church.

We should know, but we don't.

Kari at the ONDA Cafe heating up his hands a little.

Me at the ONDA Cafe

Guard of the Presidency being changed.

They do this change every hour.