Highlights (no, not the magazine from the dentists' offices of childhood)

So....yeah. Been a long time. Sorry about that. Life went and got crazy there at the end of the semester, in ways I never, ever, want to experience again. Ever. Not that I have any control over it, but I'm just saying. And then....right, a couple of days after I finished my last exam I left for the summer gallivant. (I don't think that's a noun, but I'm making it one.) Said gallivant began with a few days vising the brother and his affianced in NYC, highlights of which include a trip to the Met, a shopping trip with the aforementioned affianced (I'm not that big on shopping, but it was actually a good time), a trip to visit a childhood chum who's now at Princeton being brilliant, and a night at the pool hall with the aforementioned brother. If I remember correctly, I kicked his ass. I also attempted a couple of shots made while lying on top of the table...they didn't go well. Those tables were just too big. Or "regulation size"...anyway...

From the big apple I went to Bulgaria where I spent two weeks on a dig in the southwestern town of Sandanski. Highlights from the dig: digging in the dirt; unexpectedly working on my German, as it was the only common language for me and the director of the dig; a tiny blue glass handle I found; a day trip to Philippi; a night trip to the disco in Sandanski, where it is the Cool Thing to Do to buy a platter full of napkins (for about $7), which you then throw into the air (yes this is in fact exactly as silly as it sounds); the farewell drink...at 10 in the morning....

So that was a good time. At the end of the two weeks, we drove back up to Sofia (the capital) where I met up with my dear mother and my dear cousin. We three rented a car for the weekend and took a road trip through the southwestern part of the country. There were too many moments of awesomeness to enumerate here, but the main thing is the yoghurt. I later learned that the dear cousin didn't enjoy it, but I blame this on her being unaccustomed to the taste of plain yoghurt. This yoghurt will change your life. In the little town of Melnik (where we spied on wedding celebrations, visited a museum and wine-tasting place, and saw a donkey tied up in the dried up river bed that runs through the middle of town) we went to a little shop on what I assume is the main square, and had plain sheep's milk yoghurt, which came served in those cups they use for sundaes. It was thick but not chunky, soft and velvety and delicious and I will never think of yoghurt the same way again. I had previously believed that Greek yoghurt was the best ever hands down. And there is much to be said for Greek yoghurt with Greek honey eaten in Greece, which is just one of those things that can't be matched. But this yoghurt, all by itself, in this tiny village, was utterly blissful.

So there's the yoghurt. And the 12th c. church in the village of Dobarsko where Jesus looks like he's ascending in a rocket ship, where we met a group of women (a mother, her two daughters, their two cousins) who translated the description of the frescoes for us, and invited us to go on a walk to a waterfall, and to stay with them when we come back.

And then the time when we almost drove to Macedonia because we missed a sign for Sofia and were so distracted by the beautiful sunset that we didn't realize that it should have been on the other side of the world, according to the direction we thought we were going. That was fun.

Oh, and the 'doughnuts' and bread made by the monks at the Rila monastery, nestled in the mountains with its beautiful frescoes and interesting architecture (and a set of horns from some animal that greet you as you walk through the entrance). And the pan-fried trout at the restaurant by the river on the way back down the mountains from Rila.

And the village of Kovachevitsa, a world heritage site, I believe, which is teeny-tiny, at the end of the most beautiful drive through the mountains I think I've ever been on, home to the only restaurant in Bulgaria with good service, I'm pretty sure. The food was great too, especially the homemade elderberry juice, and the baklava...yum.

And, well, everything else was great too...but this is getting a bit long, and my memory is a bit fuzzy, and it was only a two day trip, so those are the main things. Basically, if you ever have the slightest chance to go to Bulgaria, do it. It's beautiful, and full of beautiful things. And good yoghurt.

After a few days traveling on my own to Plovdiv and back to Sofia, I went to Munich to visit family, where I really didn't do much but visit family, read a bit of Greek, and read Harry Potter 7 auf Deutsch, which was big fun. We had a grand old time going on bike rides and to lakes and eating white-sausage and celebrating birthdays and so forth.

Munich was followed by a couple of weeks in Donauwoerth with a dear friend, where I read a bit more Greek, a lot more Harry Potter, ate delicious cakes, and hung out. We went to Italy over the weekend. It was beautiful.

After a few more days in Munich, I went back to NYC, went to the Met again, and came home to Mpls, fixed the car (in part) and drove down to Tulsa Town to visit the fam down there, which was good. It was in the middle of a heat wave, so...y'know, that was hot. Back to Spfd, where the car got fixed for real, I wrote the paper that had been hanging over my head all summer after the hellish end o' semester, and I worked in the real world at the bookstore for a couple of weeks.

Back in MN, the cultural discovery of the summer has been topped off with the lumberjack sports and food on a stick at the State Fair. Good times were had by all.

And school starts next week. I'll be auditing Akkadian. I'm pretty excited.

So there's the summer in a nutshell. It's been a bit hectic, but quite a good one, as summers go. Here are some pics from the road trip, with a couple other things thrown in there.