Easter Break = Relaxation

Hmmm...so what's been happening since my last blog post? Well...

We had a shortened week of school (Monday-Thursday) due to Easter. Which meant two things:

A. The week flew by.

B. Four day weekend!

Yes, I also have tomorrow off of school due to Easter being today (which is part of the reason I am still awake and posting so late). The long weekend meant I took up the opportunity to travel to Sofia to spend some time with other volunteers. I left early Friday morning and got back to Sliven this evening. The trip to Sofia was great, what started out as a knitting weekend with the opportunity to learn some new skills turned into much more. Friday I got into Sofia around noon and went out for lunch with a group of volunteers at a delicious vegetarian restaurant. We then did a little shopping, had coffee, and went back to the hostel to have a little break before going out again for dinner. 

On our walk we noticed many vendors selling flowers for people to bring to church or bring home to celebrate Easter. 

Before heading to dinner we stopped by the "Buddy Bears" art exhibit that is currently in Sofia. This is a traveling art exhibit and you can find more information here. A few of my favorite bears were:

 

The American Bear, definitely iconic.

 Then we went to a fabulous Russian restaurant to celebrate another volunteer's birthday, you know who you are and happy birthday once again! I had never been to a Russian restaurant and greatly enjoyed it. There was also live music which was a bit loud yet enjoyable. I even got to enjoy a dance. After the restaurant we went to a bar before heading back to the hostel (of which the vodka was not nearly as delicious as the Russian restaurant).

Saturday morning started with breakfast at the hostel followed by some knitting and then it was off to lunch at another delicious vegetarian restaurant / tea house. We sat upstairs in the restaurant which meant shoes were off and we were on beanbags or pillows which was a nice change of pace. Plus, the place smelled deliciously of tea and incense. After lunch we went back to the hostel where I learned how to cable stitch thanks to another amazing volunteer, Huelo! If you don't know what that means because you don't knit, don't worry, just know it's a very exciting thing to know. I also got to dye an egg for Easter as the staff brought in everything necessary. Here in Bulgaria, after the eggs are dyed the tradition is to hit eggs with another person and whoever's egg doesn't break is said to have health and happiness throughout the year. We knitted for the afternoon and then ate dinner at the hostel.

After dinner, we went out for ice cream/gelato followed by beer and Bulgarian dancing. They even brought us Easter eggs when we got the check. 

Then we headed to the huge cathedral in Sofia for what was thought to be a candlelit midnight mass. However after it was turning out to be a huge media frenzy with not a lot going on, we headed back to the hostel. 

Then today we had breakfast at the hostel and since I didn't have to leave until about 4:00 pm I was able to enjoy a nice walk, coffee, a little shopping, and some Subway. 

Through my sunglasses:

"Even mother nature loves maroon and gold."

Plus, we ran into the sweetest street cat and her kitten. They are obviously given food and water from the local business owners or residents of the apartment building and are doing well.

The train ride was pretty uneventful with me listening to my ipod and knitting the whole way back to Sliven (it's about 4 1/2 hours on the fast train). Basically, it was great to be with some volunteers I rarely get to see and have a nice break away from Sliven. I enjoyed being at the hostel and it truly felt like a mini-vacation. Time away to relax was AMAZING. This is how much we enjoyed ourselves:

Peace, love, literacy, and reckless curiosity.