Let me look back and see when we did our last blog post… hmm, about time, right? To our dear family and friends who religiously read our blog, and by that I am specifically writing to my mom, Christiana Martin and Peggy Doulos; our grave apologies for not keeping up with the times. We have gotten caught up in the spiral of everyday happenings, and we haven’t put the necessary time aside for documentation. Even more necessary than documentation, we haven’t put aside the necessary time to reflect on what is happening, where we have been, and where we are going.

Since the end of the winter break in January, we have been at school for 12 weeks and had 2 weeks off for March break. How can we simplify one week? Can we put it into verbs and nouns in order to paint a picture of what it is? 

A week is like: legs sore on monday morning from too much trail running on the weekend, coffee, a student asking why this happens in their respiratory system, meal prep, get that protein, rice is growing, rain then hot, exhaustion, swimming in the pool next to school, meeting at work, petting bagel the dog, going out for date night at greek restaurant, green grass, jump in water to cool down, hoka speedgoats, scooter to run, get some pho, work on lesson for next day, sleep, coffee, red wine, coffee, playdough, drama at school, coffee, scooter, canggu, tacos, bagel, sleep, airconditioning, coffee 

Seems like a lot of coffee, doesn’t it?… It is. For the school side, things have been great. So busy. So interesting. So fruitful. Our secondary students are curious, hardworking, thoughtful, and balanced. We are trying to be the best educators we can be; some days, this is tough and tear-provoking, other days, it is a privilege. Some highlights from these 12 weeks at school include:

> Grant wanted to make his Industrial Revolution lessons more engaging; thus he found an interesting idea to do this. He downloaded some discussion-provoking 3-D images, and bought a set of 3-D glasses for his students. It made the school Instagram page and newsletter 🙂

> I am finishing up with both Year 13 and Year 11 students soon. They will take high-stakes external exams soon (IB for Year 13 and IGCSE and Year 11) so they will be on study leave from their normal school timetable. Finishing up with Year 13 has been challenging; not only because we were at the last topic of study in their last week, but because it’s tough for me to think about them leaving the school. They are such a great class of students, and I will miss them dearly after they graduate in a month 🙁

> Cross Country Day at school was this past week. This was a morning for all students in Year 2-13 to participate in a distance run. As you might imagine, I am ALL about the sports and kids participating kinesthetically at school. In fact, I would propose that we do cross country each morning as an entire school before being in the classroom. 

While school has been great, please be assured that weekends and March break have been equally of interest. I have signed up for Ironman 70.3 in Pennsylvania on July 2nd 🙂 Ironically, this will be my first Ironman event in the USA and I can’t wait! We are also revving up for several other running events scattered throughout May, June, and August. It is safe to say that training is in full swing for the both of us. For Grant, it’s 15k in May and 25k in June; both trail runs! This means that sleep and nutrition have become as equally important as the training itself; fun fact, muscles only physically grow when you are sleeping. Grant has been the recent champion of protein-packed meal prep; it is a part-time job to make sure we are getting the necessary (and proper) calories. I have started taking proper swim lessons as well with a local squad team. Following the first two lessons, I found myself crying on the walk home afterwards. It is so hard! These 15 and 16 year old squad swimming girls are mega tough; I need to build a backbone and better swim technique. I am getting there… or at least not crying after lessons anymore. 

Now that the rainy season is behind us, we are getting out and cycling routinely on the weekends. This island is magical! It is helpful for us when we set a destination to get to that fits into the training plan; then we have the motivation to get to the cool place of interest. In the past couple months, we have biked to the UNESCO world heritage site of rice terraces in Jatiluwih, the Insta-famous Teggalalang rice fields, the Kayu Putih sacred Giant Tree (700 years old+) and Love beach in Tabanan. We are getting the training in, but also enjoying the sites! Outside of Canggu, the roads are less cramped and, surprisingly, well-paved! The leaving Canggu is easy, and then coming back to Canggu requires us to always “stay frosty” because too-many people drive like maniacs on too-small roads!

During one long weekend in February, we went to Singapore. It was our first time there, and it was love at first sight! After scootering around Bali for the past six months, we were excited to ride the metro again. Singapore is SO walkable; we walked, ate, saw the sights, and enjoyed every moment. At Universal Studios Singapore, we acted like kids and rode the coasters until we couldn’t stomach it anymore. We also caught up with some friends, Kah Mun, Anna, and Grace, that I had met many years ago during my teacher’s inservice course in Costa Rica! They are excellent hosts, and brought us to a traditional breakfast, on a nature walk, and on a mini-city tour. We are hoping to return the favor when they come to Bali! Wink wink nudge nudge!

For the first week of March break, we went diving in Amed and enjoyed Ogoh-Ogoh/Nyepi in Canggu. When we did the liveaboard with Inga and Thomas during October break in Komodo, one of our divemasters, Wayan, was from Amed. He told us to reach out to him if we wanted to come diving in Amed. Amed is three hours by car from Canggu; we went for a few days and did six dives while there. All we can say is WOW! Proper coral, amazing creatures to find, and so much life. Typically, we like the bigger critters like sharks, barracuda, and humpback parrot fish; but we can’t deny when we see something cool/unique. We would always debate “big stuff versus small stuff” while diving with Eileen Councill. Now we can see what the hype is all about with the small stuff. Measuring as large as a thumbnail, the pygmy seahorse stole my heart. 

For the second week of March break, Elise came for a visit! Elise came to visit us in China as well, and it was great to spend time with her again abroad! When we think back to the ten days when she was here, it is crazy how much we packed into that short-time! The highlights included:

> “Escaping” the Area 51-themed Escape Room in Denpasar

> A huge monkey jumping up on me at Uluwatu Temple and jacking my favorite sunglasses from my head then proceeding to tear them to shreds (“I have been violated.”)

> Ketut cracking jokes during the Bali Cooking Class outside Ubud (“Ketut, have you been drinking today?”)

> Celebrating Elise’s “birthday” at Sa’Mesa

> Eating an unhealthy (…healthy?) amount of gelato in Ubud (“There is literally a gelato shop every 50 meters. Don’t worry, we will just go to the next one.”)

As you can imagine, the past 14 weeks have been eventful and busy, packed to the brim with cycling adventures, travels around, school work, and spending time with loved ones. 

Today marks the birthday, as well as the passing, of my grandmother, Gertrude Hodge. Today, on April 20th, a solar eclipse happened here, and we were able to feel/see it partially. While we didn’t have the special sunglasses so we couldn’t fully enjoy it (NEVER look directly at an eclipse!), I was able to appreciate a few moments outside. My phone was able to capture the partially-covered sun. I looked at the image and wondered, “Grammy, are you here? Are you watching down from the eclipse?” Here, in Bali, people leave offerings at their workplace, on the road, on their car, and at the family temple in their home. By leaving out the offerings, they acknowledge that there is just as much that we can’t see as what we can. In this sense, those who have passed away are still here among us; living with us. The offerings give them food so that they are not hungry. The offerings also remind us that they are here; with us. Instead of looking up to the eclipse and wondering if Grammy is looking down on me, I would like to think, instead, that she is here with me. She is right here next to me. Just as there are many things I can see with my eyes, there are also many things that I can’t see. She is here in Bali with me; just invisible. If I leave the offering, then she won’t go hungry. 

When we looked at the calendar for the Christmas/New Year’s break and saw that we had a month off, we could hardly believe it. This was a longer break than what we had this past summer! However, the four weeks flew by very quickly. For the first two weeks, we traveled around Indonesia to some new islands we hadn’t been to yet and got in such much-needed diving. For the second half of the break, mom/Cindy came to visit Bali. 

To show you where we went for the first two weeks, here is a map to get your bearings:

From Canggu, we got a ride to the port town of Padang Bai. It would have been ideal to travel light, but we wanted to bring our own SCUBA gear for the 10-dives package we each got (let’s call it our Christmas gifts to ourselves) on Gili Air. From Padang Bai, we took a ferry to Gili Air. It was affordable and had very little hassle. Being on Gili Air was a great oasis from the busyness of Canggu. No motorized vehicles are allowed on the Gilis. Every now and then, you hear the soft purring of an electric scooter, but no cars/trucks/petrol scooters at all. People get around on foot, horse carriage, or bicycle. 

On Gili Air, we dove twice a day at 3W Dive Center. While diving, we were told that this is one of the worst times of year to come diving due to the rainy season; which kicks up a lot of sediment and turbidity in the water. However, despite a rocky day on the ocean when no one could dive due to the waves, we didn’t find any issues. Over the five days of diving, we saw a turtle on each dive and were amazed by the coral and manmade (with coral growing on it) underground structures. There is an (accidental) sunken ship near an old pier that is full of life and color. Our favorite site was called Turtle Point… yes, there were many gigantic turtles including one hawksbill that rivaled Grant’s height. On Christmas, we dove and then did a walking tour about the island, playing cards/darts along the way while snacking.

When we weren’t diving on Gili Air, we explored around the island. One day, we rented bikes and circumnavigated the 5km island. With the sand, the bike touring was slow going. On another afternoon, we did an Indonesian cooking class. We made some local specialties like chicken yellow curry and mie goreng (fried noodles).  We always say that the sunsets at our quiet beach in Canggu are the best, but the west coast of Gili Air takes the top prize in this category.

Images from Gili Air:

After our dives were completed, we packed up and said goodbye to Gili Air (for now). We got a ferry to the next island over, Gili Meno. Gili Meno was an (even) quieter version of Gili Air. Known for its turtle sanctuaries (both on the island and in the water), many people will snorkel around this island but never stay on it. Although it was tough (more for Alison than Grant) to find a good coffee in the morning due to the lack of espresso machines, we found its calm charming. For the two days here, we walked around the island each day, snorkeled, and read. At this time in the vacation, the rainy season blues started to kick in. We planned snorkeling for the next day, but woke up to unsafe waves and turbulent winds. Little did we know that the rainy season blues would upset plans for the next few weeks. At the end of our stay on Gili Meno, we got a ferry to Lombok. 

Images from Gili Meno:

To tell you the truth, coming back to Lombok was a mini culture shock. We had gotten used to walking around without trucks, cars, or (honk! honk!) scooters. Coming back to Lombok was a reminder that we “weren’t in Kansas anymore”. On Lombok, we stayed near Senggigi Beach. This is where we had come back in October for the Ironman 70.3 I attempted. It is a great place to stay and enjoy; the beaches are all very clean and accessible. We did a one-day tour with a local company to visit some waterfalls closeby. Initially, we had thought about renting a scooter while on the island and exploring the waterfalls ourselves, but at this time in the trip, the rain was consistent and daily. We didn’t want to get stuck out somewhere in the pouring rain. The tour ended up being really interesting and we got a better sense of the cultural and religious aspects of Lombok. Different from Bali, the people of Lombok are primarily Muslim except for small pockets here and there. On the tour, we visited a traditional market, two waterfalls/nature reserve, traditional village, and the oldest mosque in Lombok. The last item wasn’t on the initial program, but the tour guide asked if we would be interested in seeing it. It was an interesting structure to see and hear about; it was deeply embedded into the traditional cultural habitats of the Northern Lombok people.

For New Year’s, we went out to dinner in Senggigi and watched the fireworks on the beach. The various resorts put out the fireworks, so all we had to do was get ourselves to the beach to watch the show. For dinner on New Year’s Eve, and a few other evenings, we went to a restaurant along the main drag called Molly’s. It is run by a Balinese family and each evening the entire family was in the restaurant helping out (or just playing, as was the case for the newborn and toddler). The food was unreal and the environment was cool; so we ended up going back several times while we stayed in Senggigi.

To get back to Bali from Lombok, we had planned on the same way that we arrived – via the ferry through Padang Bai. However, with the rainy season in general, and a typhoon coming up from Australia, all fast ferries were canceled for several days. We showed up in the morning to take the fast ferry, and were given the alternative option for that day – to take the slow ferry back to Bali. The company apologized profusely and told us that many people from the Gilis were trying to get back to Bali, and had to choose this same option. Gilis to Lombok is a very short distance, and they were able to get onto Lombok but not back west. We accepted the only option presented to us and loaded onto a bus with a group of people in the same situation. We arrived at the fast ferry dock and could see that many people were in the same “boat” as us – many were upset and unsure if they would make their plane flight from Bali that evening. We waited a while in the dock, and then boarded the large ferry boat along with piles of cars and buses. On the boat, we waited another hour before we took off. We were told the slow ferry is normally four hours, so we had bought some snacks and food from the vendors selling them in the dock. We were happy we had bought those snacks because the ride ended up taking more than five hours. The ferry couldn’t go as fast as its normal speed due to the large waves. There were many moments of turbulence on the boat and luggage/water bottles flying from one side to another as we went over a wave. I can’t imagine what a small ferry boat would have been like if a large ferry was even having trouble staying steady. There were a couple of panicked moments on my part (“Grant, we should get on our BCDS, right?”), but Grant calmed me down and said everything would be ok. We had taken two dramamine when we boarded, but many people were sea sick over the side due to the waves. We finally arrived in Padang Bai and got a car back home. We were thankful it all worked out safely!

My mom arrived a couple days later in Bali. I wanted to show mom the real Bali so I got myself food poisoning on the first day she arrived. Jokes! But seriously…the latte was bad news. Food poisoning is a crazy physical phenomenon – as soon as it’s over, you feel right as rain. However, during, all you can do is curl yourself on the stone floor, shiver, and pray for it to pass. At one point, while throwing up multiple times in a row, I prayed to God. To all the Gods. Into the bottom of the toilet. Praying for it to pass. Let’s just say, I get very religious after a bad latte.

We had many exciting plans for when mom was here. We hadn’t been to Uluwatu since arriving in Bali in August so we were excited to bring her there. We took a car down and stayed a couple nights in order to see the beaches and temple. By the time we arrived in Uluwatu, unfortunately, Grant had now fallen ill with something. Rainy season blues, eh? Mom and I walked around some of the beaches and explored the beautiful wonders of Uluwatu. I want to live there…seriously. The crystal blue waters, beautiful sand, and cool vibes from the surfers make this an amazing place. For Christmas, I had given my mom the “temple tour” while she came here to visit. On the agenda were the following temples: Uluwatu, Ubud, and Tanah Lot. We walked over to Uluwatu Temple (not far from our Airbnb) and bought tickets to see the Kecak Dance performance. This was a truly unique experience. I hadn’t seen it before, and had only heard about how spectacular it was. The performance acted out a famous Balinese myth through costumes, dancing, and the vocals of a group of multi-aged men. I would love to go back again at some point!

On the way back from Uluwatu, we stopped at the GWK statue. One reason Grant and I love having people visit is it gives us the excuse to go and see items that we wouldn’t normally visit. This statue was super impressive and a huge feat for Indonesia – it’s the fourth tallest statue in the world!!

After Uluwatu, mom and I went to Ubud. Grant had intended to come as well but still wasn’t feeling 100%. Mom and I had a great time in Ubud. We went to the monkey forest, did a bird watching tour (highly recommended), and went to the water temple. This temple is one of the few places where tourists are allowed to visit. I was a bit hesitant at first because I didn’t want to feel like a poser/fake person for visiting the temple. However, our tour guide was super helpful and explained every step and why each step is necessary (the ritual behind it). At the water temple, there are three large areas where the ritual occurs. Each area has a focus – the body, the soul, and the dream/forgiveness. In each spot, you do the ritual in a different way and with a different perspective in your mind. This is where our tour guide was helpful in explaining the parts. To my surprise, there were fish swimming around in the area with us. The water all comes from a holy spring that is found underground. After the rituals, our tour guide brought us to see the spring. It is magical where the water is coming up because there is sand on top, and it moves the sand in a circular pattern. It was mesmerizing and beautiful how the sand spins upon itself. We went to the water temple with an old friend from Bulgaria named Petar. He had been living and working in Ubud and following some of the local customs and practices. Thus, he was able to go into the actual temple where the activities of the priest are happening while my mom and I walked around the outskirts. Overall, it was an interesting experience and I would like to revisit the temple.

After Ubud, it was time for me and Grant to head back to school. Mom kept herself busy while we were at school. One afternoon after school, we went to the third and final temple along the “temple tour” – Tanah Lot. We had the great fortune of attending the temple on the same evening as its “birthday”. Twice a year, people attend their village temple to celebrate its creation. There were many people there at Tanah Lot, giving offerings/blessings, playing music, and having family picnics along the green areas. It was very special and nice to see how people actually celebrate. Of course, we couldn’t go into the actual Pura (Temple) because we aren’t Hindu and don’t know the practices, but we could see the gist of what people wear, what they bring, and how they act at these types of ceremonies. 

On the last weekend that mom was in Bali, we took her to a (bonus) temple in Bedugul. We stayed overnight in the calm and cool town of Bedugul. We went to the Botanical Gardens and famous temple there while eating some great local food!

Despite the rainy season, overall, mom got very lucky while she was here. We got wet a few times while we were out and about, but it didn’t dampen the plans terribly. With a heavy heart, mom headed back to the airport while we were at school one afternoon. See you in June when we are home this summer!

We were very excited to have a week off, do some great diving, and see our friends Thomas and Inga again. When we announced that we’d be moving to Bali, they were both very happy for us and almost immediately called us on the phone, first saying congratulations, then asking when would be a good time to visit (they are always down for a meetup!). We originally met Thomas and Inga on our very first liveaboard trip in Thailand. Becoming fast friends over our mutual love of travel, diving, and bacon, we have gotten to see them quite a bit in our wonderings. After brainstorming some ideas, we made the decision to meet up for another liveaboard trip in Komodo National Park. 

Diving in Komodo was an amazing experience! Not only were the various dive sites we visited teeming with life of all kinds, but we all got to dive together as a small 4 person group and share the daily adventures of looking for yellow box fish, avoiding trigger fish attacks, and working on our buoyancy through challenging currents. 

Unfortunately, there is no underwater photos or videos from this trip. On the second dive of the first day, our trusty GoPro broke off its housing stick and sank into the deep. None of us saw it happen but the evidence was clear. Back on the boat, clipped to my BCD was the stick, but no GoPro. “An offering to the ocean gods” I remember saying. We were a bit gutted but this unfortunate incident forced us to be more in the moment and stay present to everything happening around us. Well, those ocean gods clearly loved our wonderful gift because the entire trip was full of incredible sights and creatures! We saw turtles, sharks, all kinds of mantas and rays, eels, and tons more. Some of the dive site highlights included: “The Shotgun” (a small channel between two island where the ocean rushes through and carries you along for a rollercoaster-like ride!), “Shark Alley” (an intense current dive where you hook into the reef and sit back and watch all the sharks come in and out of the current) and “Manta Alley” (an amazing reef site where, you guessed it, the mantas love to hang out at the cleaning station). We all got to see some of our favorites, except for Thomas. Sorry dude, no whale sharks on this trip; sign us up for the next one! 

Aside from the fantastic diving, our liveaboard also arranged for us to see some of the other amazing natural highlights the Komodo islands have to offer. We stopped off one afternoon on a very small, secluded beach. “Pink Beach” got its name for the mixture of white and red corals which, over time, get ground down into sand which has an awesome pink color to it. Another morning we got up early to take a small boat to Padar Island to catch the sunrise. At the top of a short hike, the incredible landscape of the Komodo islands showed off all its greatness. A variety of mountains and valleys scraped along the horizon of the sea. It’s as though someone took a strip of paper from a heartbeat monitor and laid it across the ocean. 

Our trip would not have been complete without seeing the infamous komodo dragons! We stopped off on the main Komodo island and were greeted by the park rangers, all of whom are walking around carrying large, robust sticks with a “Y” shape at the end. No guns, boots, or tactical gear. They only protection we had was a couple of dudes in flip flops and a big ass stick. There are a few established trails that the rangers take tourists on in hopes of spotting some dragons. It didn’t take long before we encountered our first one! We weren’t sure if we’d even see any (no guarantees with mother nature) but we ended up seeing quite a few. One even followed us for a little while as we were heading back down the trail towards our boat. We’ve seen a few creatures that we might compare to living dinosaurs, these magnificent beasts are one of them! Very cool!

Upon our return to Bali, Thomas and Inga used our place as a home base to tour around and explore the island, while Alison and I…went back to work! Fortunately for us the week we returned was also Halloween!! A little context: during the weeks leading up to Halloween, I put together a few classes after school teaching special f/x makeup application and design. It was a lot of fun and the students I had in this mini-course were amazing. They really got into the ideas and loved getting messy. They left each session looking like zombies or car crash victims in all their horrible, macabre, gory glory. Needless to say, they scared the shit out of the security guards as they exited campus. It was awesome. On that Friday, the school hosted their annual Halloween party for the school community. They hadn’t been able to throw the party for the past few years, for obvious reasons, but this year the school was determined to bring it back full throttle. I got asked to apply makeup for some of the teachers who were running stalls and participating in the event, and Alison was a huge help as we had so many kids and teachers wanting makeup. It was a few tough hours of balancing and juggling all the makeups but it was a ton of fun to walk around afterwards and get caught up in the spirit of the Halloween festivities. Kids and parents all got dressed up in costumes to enjoy the festivities and activities that the school put together. It was amazing to be around that much Halloween energy. It definitely brought us back to the amazing Halloweens we had growing up in New England. 

That weekend was also our last weekend with Thomas and Inga before they flew back to Germany. We had some really fun times with them while they were here and it was wonderful to see them again and create more memories! Thanks you guys! We’ve already decided another reunion meetup will take place sometime in 2023. Stay tuned. 

Alison and I both love to adventure and have new experiences. But during the “normal” week, we also both love our routines. Settling into Term 2 at school had its challenges. For one, the amount of time we spend in the classroom each week took a little getting used to (not to mention the planning/grading that comes with it). The first year at a new school is always a challenge as you’re constantly learning (and attempting) to keep your own self afloat in all the new chaos. But in Term 2, we found our mojo. Alison stayed consistent with her increasing extreme athletics. During a weekend in November, Alison ran one of the wildest races of her athletic career! It was a 55k trail run where competitors run up one of the volcanoes here in Bali (Mount Batur), then around the lake at its base, up another mountain on the other side, then complete the loop of the lake only to run up Mount Batur again before finishing! Seriously, my girl’s insane. But she’s also an absolute animal and was the second place female finisher!! We’re very proud! It’s worth noting that out of the 54 total competitors for this event, only 23 met all the various cut-off times and finished. Wow! You’re a rock star Li’l Bug! It’s been a busy season for Alison as she’s also completed a few other events as well including a 100k L’Etape (Tour de France) cycling event and trail run up Mount Agung (Bali’s highest peak). She’s also been an avid member of a local running group. No one knows where she finds all her energy. It’s a mystery that rivals the Shroud of Turin or the Bermuda Triangle.

Not to be outdone, I’ve also been doing my share of cycling and running (though I can never make myself quite enjoy running; audiobooks certainly help but only so much). Many of you may know that for most of my life I’ve practiced martial arts. I started when I was a kid right up through my mid-twenties; even owning a school of my own for 4 years before getting into teaching. But I’ve been on a bit of a hiatus. I had a great instructor while we lived in China and tried to find my place in Bulgaria but things/COVID didn’t really work out. Here in Bali, there is no shortage of things to do and try. I recently started Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and have really enjoyed it. It’s terribly difficult and mentally taxing but I suppose I like it that way. More progress to come.

In early December, Alison and I celebrated our anniversary at a very chilled out, off the beaten path kind of place not too far from our home in Canggu. It was quiet, comfy, and even a bit swanky. We had a lovely time and thought it could be a place to keep in mind if we ever need to just get away for a day or two. The food was incredible, the beach was practically empty, and the sound of cars and scooters was nowhere to be found. It was idyllic. We might have to make it a tradition while we’re here! 

Term 2 wrapped up and we found ourselves preparing for our much needed holiday break. A scuba diving trip to the nearby Gili Islands. More on that later. 

We wish you all well and hope you are all happy, healthy, and doing the things you love. 

Peace and Love,

Grant & Alison

Here’s our Christmas Card 😉

We moved to Bali in late July… it is now mid-October (the first day of Term 1 break). The fact that this is our first blog post in Bali attests to how busy life has been here in Term 1. Wait…. I thought we were moving to a calm and exotic paradise… nope, this is paradise in the fast lane.

After three jam-packed weeks in North America, we transitioned to Bali. When we moved to China 4 years ago, we checked 9 bags. When we moved to Bulgaria 2 years ago, we checked 7 bags. When we moved to Bali, we checked… 5 bags. We hope that we have honed “our load” each time and have gotten better at this whole international moving thing. Getting below 5 bags in the future would be a big trick; considering the bike and dive gear takes up 3 bags alone. Our hobbies = life… but they sure take up a lot of kilos.

Thankfully, Dad and Robyn drove us down to Boston for the first leg of the transition. Our flights were Boston to Dubai, Dubai to Jakarta (stayed overnight) then Jakarta to Denpasar, Bali. Originally, the Jakarta layover wasn’t part of the transition, but the visa requirements recently changed in Indonesia, so we could only get our work visa in Jakarta. The overnight in Jakarta ended up being a blessing, we were able to get over the jet lag prior to arriving on Bali. We arrived in Bali on Wednesday evening, and started at school for orientation the next day.

Here is what we have been up to, for school and life, since Term 1 began:

> Settling into our home – We live in a beautiful and calm oasis that was built by the founders of the school. It is our relaxing happy place, complete with a garden, pool, and countless critters to keep us fascinated for hours. We have seen our first snake just outside our main door… and the critter had the audacity to leave snake skin behind to prove that he had been visiting multiple times. The tokay geckos can be spotted when entering our compound in the evenings; their golden eyes are humanlike despite their best efforts to avoid us. In the past two weeks, as the rains have increased, we have come home to crabs in the pool. Grant has gotten very good at fishing them out with a plastic pitcher. The snails of various colors and sizes eat our compost right outside the door, and the house geckos are always welcome inside to eat the insects.

> Transportation – For the first two months, we rented a scooter. I am still too shy to get “behind the wheel” but Grant has been doing a great job getting us around. It takes an amount of boldness to be successful on a scooter here; going up over the curbs and passing cars on the opposing lane of traffic is common practice. We had read about the traffic in Canggu/Berawa (the area where we live) prior to moving here; but nothing could have prepared us for the 5pm on a Friday rush hour. The issue with Canggu is that you have scooters competing alongside very large vehicles and dumpster trucks; it is clear that the roads weren’t built for this level of traffic. One of the first times out on my bicycle in Canggu, I was hit by a scooter traveling in the wrong lane of traffic. I walked away with some bruises and scrapes, but my bicycle needed serious repairs. It is common to see tourists with stitches and scrapes caused by scooter accidents, and, at school, many teachers and students alike show up with bruises and injuries. Living in Canggu, it appears that scooter/vehicle accidents are par for the course. In the last month, we became the proud owners of our own 2010 Vario scooter. She needs some new tires but has a good heart… I mean engine!

> School – Grant and I are doing our best to balance work and life, but this is a growth area for the future. With many classes to prep for and some new curriculum to learn, taking work home in the evenings and on the weekends has become commonplace. We enjoy our colleagues and the work environment at the school; if we ever have a question, we don’t have to look far for assistance. Something we both enjoyed thus far at the school was Camps Week. This is one week of school in Term 1 that is completely dedicated to students learning outside the classroom and experiencing various places in Bali/Indonesia. Grant chaperoned the Year 9 trip, and for me, the Year 7 trip with my advisory group. Grant traveled to Nusa Penida where his students learned about traditional Balinese illustrations, went snorkeling, and volunteered at both a dog shelter and a local elementary school. For my group, we traveled to Sangeh and Lovina, which are two very unique cultural places in Bali. Although it was weird to be apart from each other for nearly a week (we realized we hadn’t been apart for this length of time since Costa Rica in 2017), we had a great time with our students and enjoyed seeing them in a different light outside the classroom! Something else interesting at school has been Grant’s Special Effects Makeup class. He proposed the idea to the school administration in preparation for Halloween in a few weeks, and they went all in for it! Grant has run three out of four sessions thus far, and this has been a great way for Grant to share his unique skills with eager students!

> Diving – The initial reason we were drawn to Bali to teach and live was SCUBA diving… and it has not disappointed thus far. We have gone out several times on the weekends with OCA Divers in Sanur. The marine life is unreal, the water is warm, but the currents are no joke. Our favorite underwater critters thus far here are the larger-than-life Manta Rays! For Grant’s birthday, we got a group of friends together from school and did a day-long dive trip to Nusa Penida (a 45-minute boat ride away from Bali)!

> Cycling – Another hobby that we have been doing together in Bali is cycling. After my bicycle accident, I realized that I can’t take my very expensive carbon bike around on the roads. Thus, Grant and I took the plunge and got matching aluminum frame bikes – watch out now scooters! Our maiden voyage on the bikes was out to Tanah Lot, which is a famous temple on the water. Bike rides before school are the best because it puts us in a good mood for the rest of the day! One weekend, we cycled up to Ubud on Saturday morning and stayed overnight, before heading back to Canggu on Sunday morning. Ubud is TOO cool! It is nestled into the mountains and very nature-focused. The food, views, hike, and monkey forest there did not disappoint! We hope to make bike touring weekends a routine in the next term!

> Triathlon training – It brings sadness to write about this element of Term 1 now. A couple months ago, I signed up for a half Ironman 70.3 in Lombok. I knew that my residual fitness from Bulgaria would mean that, with only some effort, I would be prepared for this event in a couple months of time. Regardless, I trained intensely during the first term to prepare myself for this event. This meant very long bicycle rides on the weekends into the hills, long pool swims at school, and extended beach run sessions on the evenings and weekends. It also meant that I needed to pay for new carbon tires for my bike because mine didn’t work following the scooter crash. I got new tubeless tires and felt very prepared for the event last Saturday, October 7th. Grant and I took Friday off from school and flew over to Lombok; an island thirty minutes by plane from Bali. This was the third half Ironman and I was so excited but also anxious. At my last IM full event in Tallinn in August 2021, I had bike issues that almost cost me the event completion. On the morning of the event, I went over to check my bike and prepare my running items in the transition area. The back tire was completely flat. I brought it over to the bike mechanic on site who fixed it, but I should have suspected that something was wrong. The event started and the swim went so well! 1900 m in about 43 minutes, this is a new personal best! I ran to my bike, but the back tire was flat again. I went to the mechanic and he did a quick change to put in a new inner tube. The spectators and kids along the bike course were absolutely brilliant; cheering and waving each time a cyclist passed. Over halfway through the bike, I was feeling amazing and was on track to complete the bike section in under three hours. All of a sudden, at 52km, my front tire (that had sealant inside and no inner tube) flew off its rim. I lost all control and tried to brake and unclip my foot at the same time. I skidded across the road as I landed, but was otherwise ok. Thank God there was no one around including spectators. I got to the side of the road and flipped my bike to take off the front tire. Because there was sealant in it, the glue went everywhere and it was a sticky mess. It was tough to put in a new inner tube but after around an hour, I got it. While I was waiting, many volunteers drove by and radioed the bike mechanic for help. No one came. I pumped the tire up so that it was rideable and continued down the road with a volunteer close behind me. He has worried about me because he had seen the blood all over and was concerned about my bike. After ten km, I got off the bike and blew up the front tire again. The inner tube was losing air, most likely there was some small piece of gravel inside or the pressure from my handheld pump hadn’t been enough. I continued on until 70km; at this point, I only had 20km more to go to finish the bike. However, without the bike mechanic to bring another inner tube, this one wasn’t holding air. I was anxious as well because the last segment of road had many hills and all I imagined was another crash on a hill. Without a bike mechanic for support and with some of the volunteers’ words of anxiety, I chose to DNF. This means I was out of the race and not able to continue. The bike was put in the back of a truck and I joined a van of others who also had issues during the race; “What are you in for?” they asked as I entered the van. We talked the whole way back, which was for the best, because I was terribly upset. When I got back and saw Grant, a wave of relief flooded him. He didn’t know what had happened and didn’t even know if I was ok. I am super bummed and have my own personal thoughts related to the people who installed my tires, but the most important thing is that I am ok and no one else was injured in the process. After the grief has ended, I will sign up for another event. But never again IM with tubeless wheels.

> Roy – Another teacher at school reached out to the staff that a foster home was needed for one week for a dog in transition named Roy. Roy was part of an adoption agency here in Bali that looks for forever homes for dogs in need. Roy had been adopted into the agency around two years ago from an owner that ill-treated him. Our goal was to crate-train Roy and then he would leave for Canada after one week. It was nice having Roy in our home, but it was a big reminder about how much work goes into taking care of an animal. Roy was skittish with us for the first day, but then opened up slowly over time. By his time to leave, he was sitting with us on the couch and playing with us. We wish Roy all the happiness in his forever home in Canada and miss the little sweetie!

> Batu Belig – This is a beach located three minutes by scooter from our house. It has become one of our favorite places to go in the evenings or on the weekends when we need some beach time. Many people in Canggu like Echo or Berawa Beaches for the vibes, but Batu Belig matches our personality. It is calm and with a couple restaurants that we have grown to love. We find ourselves going back to Il Lido on a weekly basis. There is nothing like a coconut and sunset at the beach after a long day of work at school. Another beach that we went to once for some ocean swim training was Jambaran. It is a 45 minute scooter ride away and near the airport. It is magical and such a nice spot for beaching and swimming! We will be back there soon!

As I write this, we are on our way to Flores/Komodo for a dive trip with Inga and Thomas; dear friends visiting from Berlin. We are in serious need of some rest, relaxation, and…. mantas. We will do a Liveaboard to get our dive fix and explore Flores/Komodo national park before coming back to Canggu for Term 2 🙂

I think I can safely say we’ve never had a summer quite like this past one. Wow…What a ride! Our school year ended on 30 June in Bulgaria and we knew that we needed to be in Bali by 27 July. We also knew that we needed to go home to visit family. While there, we also wanted to consolidate some of our important possessions from various family members’ attics and basements into one central place. It was also time for doctors appointments and check-ups. On top of that, my dear friend Franky was getting married in Mexico and we wanted to make sure we could be there to support him and his (now) wife Kris in this next chapter of their lives. Quite a tall order for only having about 3 weeks off! Here’s how we broke it down…

After many heartfelt “see you later’s” we left Sofia the day after school ended. Two quick, un-interrupted flights found us landing in Boston to be picked up by Laura and Glenn. Those of you following along might remember that Alison and Laura met in college and are BFFs to this day. The older I get, the more I realize the only constant thing in life is change. Things change, people change, and the times change. (God, I miss the 90s). As our lives are changing in a very big way by moving to Indonesia, so are the lives of our friends and families. Laura and Glenn are expecting to have a baby in August and while we were home this summer it was important to pay them a visit before their lives get VERY busy. Gracious hosts as always, it was great to hang out and catch up with them for a couple of days before we made our way to Vermont. They took us to Start Line Brewery in Hopkinton, MA for some drinks and great food. Hopkinton is the official starting place for the Boston Marathon so naturally we had to stop and see the actual ‘starting line’. It was too short a visit but we had wonderful walks and chats with them during our few days there. We miss them greatly but wish them the absolute best in the coming weeks as they prepare for the arrival of their little one.

Our next stop was spending a few days with Alison’s dad Dave and his partner Robyn. Their home became the staging area for our big move to Bali. So we emptied all our suitcases and started playing the game of “what’s coming with and what’s being left behind.” One of our traditions with Dave is to do some kind of fishing excursion. We never know what we’re in for but we always find the fish and eat well afterwards; those are Dave’s guarantees! We had a great day walking up a secluded stream in the middle of the Vermont wilderness in search of native brook trout. There’s something zen about alone in the wilds, hearing nothing but the babble of the brook, and feeling a soft wind blowing through the trees. Afterwards, we had quite a fest!

The next few days we had scheduled all our appointments for general doctors check-ups, routine blood work, and a visit to the eye doctor for me. (I’m sure Alison would like me to take a moment to remind all of our readers that she has perfect vision.) After all that fun stuff we had a lovely get together with Alison’s mom’s side of the family just over the border in New Hampshire. One of the hardest parts of living abroad is not seeing everyone you want to and needing to rely on technology. Sitting on a porch in the New England sun, sharing stories and laughs is something you can’t easily replicate over a computer. It was lovely to see everyone and catch up after such a long time!

Before we left to teach internationally both Alison and I had put some of our important items and possessions in various places; at my parents’ place in Georgia, Alison’s mom’s in Montpelier, her dad’s in Williamstown, or at my brother and sister’s place in Grand Isle. Over the next few days, we began and completed our big consolidation project; moving all of these items into one central place in my sister’s basement in Grand Isle. It required a lot of running around, picking up and dropping off, and having little visits with people in between. It can be rather difficult to decide what things you’d like to keep and what things you’ve been hauling around that you really don’t need to carry anymore. It took a bit of time and a few tears along the way, but we managed to complete our goal and consolidate our lives into one place. Honestly, it feels really good to have that finished so we can start this next chapter fresh.

During all this running around, we were also dropping off our dive gear to get cleaned and checked, getting new batteries put into our aging laptops, and picking up a few odds and ends that we knew we would be needing down the road. We stopped and had lunch with our dear friends Zach and Christiana, both former colleagues from our U-32 days. They’re wonderful humans and great friends! We also had a nice little BBQ at my parents’ house in Georgia, joined by Zach, Megan, and neighbors. It was nice to spend some quality time with them after so long apart.

On Saturday (we’d been back in the USA for 7 days at this point) we flew to Mexico for Franky and Kris’ wedding in Tulum. It was awesome to be able to hang out with Franky and Kris again after so long. Both their families are wonderful and funny; we had a nice time with all of them. Our lodgings, as well as the actual wedding, were at a resort in Tulum. Alison and I used this homebase to plan a few excursions of our own. We knew that this area of the world is home to thousands of cenotes which are incredible for diving. We went out for one day with a Tulum-based dive shop. A cenote is a hardened sinkhole, complete with stalactites and stalagmites, which over time fills with fresh water. These are incredibly unique formations and they make for magical diving experiences. Both our dives were unique and as close to cave diving as either of us have experienced. The second dive involved a line (literally a small yellow string attached to the floor) that we followed through an underground passageway of tunnels and underground caverns. At one point on this dive, the guide instructed us all to turn off our flashlights. It was completely black. The darkness was consuming, but also comforting at the same time; like a heavy blanket. Both dives were amazing, but we both agreed that we wouldn’t want to do more cave diving than this! 

The next day we organized a day trip to one of the seven wonders of the world, Chichen Itza. When people think of this wonder in their minds, they think of the large temple in Mexico. However, the wonder is actually an entire ancient city! Chichen Itza is a large pre-Columbian city built by the Maya people around 600 AD. We had such a great time learning the history and unique features of this ancient city as we walked around and examined the many structures and carvings that tell the story of this incredible place. We learned much about the Maya religion and calendar, the game of Ulama, and the purpose of human sacrifice while our guide answered all of our many questions. If you’re in the Yucatan, it’s a must see!

As part of the Chichen Itza tour, we also swam in the Hubiku cenote run by local Maya people, and walked around the colonial city of Valladolid. It was a long day after we arrived back at the resort, but well worth it! 

In the following days, we celebrated Franky and Kris’ wedding. It was nice to be part of such a special event and we couldn’t be happier for those two. Franky has been a dear friend of mine for a long time and to see him so happy in a place that he loves makes my heart feel full. It’s wild to think back now at how much we crammed into this past summer but I’m so thankful we were able to make the Mexico trip work within our schedule. 

Upon our return to Vermont, we stayed a couple of days with my mom and dad at their place in Georgia. They bought the place about 10 years ago and looking at it now, you wouldn’t believe the difference! Their backyard has gone from an overgrown, unkempt plot, to now looking like something out of Better Homes and Gardens. It’s a paradise of greenery, birds, and the most entertaining set of dogs you could imagine. It’s always lovely to hang out there and spend time with them. We were also able to get a tour of my father’s newly built veterinary clinic in St. Albans. It’s a remarkable change from the clinic he had while I was growing up there. Freshly built with all the modern bells and whistles you can think of, it’s really nice and we’re very happy for him. 

The following days saw me recovering from a minor (planned) surgery. In an effort to de-stigmatize the issue, I’ll tell you all now; I got a vasectomy. It’s a personal choice that Alison and I have talked about at great length. Anyone who wants to know what that’s like can reach out as I’m happy to share my experience regarding the process. While in recovery, we spent a few days at my brother and sister’s place in Grand Isle. I never get to see them enough and it was really nice to share any time I could with them. We ate well and had a bunch of laughs but ultimately it ended far too quickly. They’ll just have to come to Bali, I suppose. 

Alison’s mom, Cindy, wanted to throw us a little “Welcome Home/Goodbye Again” party at her place in Montpelier. A bunch of our Vermont people like Yasser, Emmanuel, Brooke (and boyfriend Jordyn), and my parents came out to see us as well as friends/former colleagues from U-32 like Geoff, Janine, Randy, and Brian (and lovely wife Claire). Great food, good vibes, and beautiful people. Thanks Cindy for throwing us a great shindig! We’ll see you all again soon! 

Our last few hours in Vermont saw us back at Alison’s dad’s place for a final packing session before we left for the airport. Sarah, Brooke, and Jordyn came over for Dave’s famous venison phillies. It’s always so nice to catch up with our former students (turned friend in this case) and see them living their *best lives*. Not long after, we were packing up the truck and heading to Boston to catch our flight. 

It’s always nice to see our loved ones in Vermont. Unfortunately, this was a very quick trip home. A little too quick. But we’re thankful for the days we did get and people who made it so special. We love you all and wish you nothing but the best in the days to come. “Long days and pleasant nights” as one of my favorite authors writes. We’ll be seeing you.

Peace & Love,

Grant & Alison

The last few months in Bulgaria went by in a flash. The weekend following our return from visiting Sam in the UK, Grant, Josh and I went to Istanbul, Turkey. Istanbul is TOO COOL! We weren’t ready for the culture shock that hit us. Istanbul is not like a light breeze flowing by. If given a personality, the city of Istanbul would be a slap in the face! Istanbul (and its people) are social, fun, and sometimes a bit too boisterous. We realized within moments walking from the airport shuttle to our Airbnb that we needed to have our wits about us. It was fun how vibrant the people were; loud and full of life. For example, when we went out to get a shawarma recommended by our Airbnb host, there were five competing shawarma joints all next to each other. In front of each joint, young men were *hustling* to get you into their spot to place an order. Once you had made your selection at a certain spot, the others left you alone. However, while choosing, a strong poker face was required.    

We would like to say that we ate and drank our way through the city; the diverse flavors and unique dishes did not disappoint! Our Airbnb was right off of Taksim Square so we were close to a main street that offered an assortment of cuisines. Not far from Taksim was Galata Tower, where we went one morning. Istanbul is a cool city in the sense that it covers two continents; Europe on the west and Asia on the east. We had heard from a couple friends who traveled there years prior that it was possible to walk from the Europe side (where we were staying) to the Asia side. That was a hot and long walk as we trekked northwards along the sea that separates the two sides. We headed towards the bridge to walk over to the Asia side, but realized when we were directly under the bridge (literally) that it wasn’t possible to walk across. Not dismayed, we found a port nearby and took a ferry across to Asia. Other highlights of our weekend in Istanbul included Hagia Sofia and the hip neighborhood called Karaköy. 

The rest of May kept us continually busy. In the evenings and on the weekends, we found ourselves surrounded by friends; either in downtown Sofia or while participating in athletics together. On a special day out of Sofia, Grant and I drove ~2 hours to Veliko Tarnovo and Arbanasi. We enjoyed each other’s company as we walked around the castles and ruins under a bluebird sky. On the drive back to Sofia, we stopped at Prohodna Cave and saw the moon shining through the two “eyes” overhead. On another occasion in May, Grant and some friends went rock climbing at the Chimneys of Vitosha Mountain. 

At the end of May, I did the overnight trip again to Koprivshtitsa. This was my second time participating in this group bike ride and was, again, a huge source of enjoyment. Last year, I wasn’t able to complete the two-day road biking tour because the powerful winds and rain had frozen me to the bone. This year, I was determined to complete the full two days. It was indescribable. The landscape and mountains of Bulgaria are not to be trifled with on a road bike, but the view is always worth it at the top. The town of Koprivshtitsa has remarkable charm, and I was happy to spend time at dinner with some friends that I routinely cycle with.

We made it to Koprivshtitsa 🙂

We had anticipated that the end of May would bring us some relief from intense school work because our seniors graduated at this time. However, despite our best hopes, the work didn’t decrease. The school year completed for all other grades 8-11 at the end of June, so there were still loose-ends to tie and items to complete before we could call it a break.

The last weekend in May brought another unique road cycling event called the Northwest Bike Tour. This event was initially started as a tour to show and share the beauty of this unique region in Bulgaria called Montana (no, not the state in the US). The event was organized by the running group that I am a member of, Begach. While it began as a tour, it had since turned into a competition. I am proud of my performance on the largest track (138km and mucho elevation in 5:12); I took women’s second place. It was not easy, particularly as the heat built under the bright sun; but I pushed on until the end and continued through the cramps in my thighs. At the end, I knew that I had pushed all that was possible for me! The next morning, in honor of the tour, I went to the Belogradchik Fortress (a place Grant and I had traveled to together the Christmas vacation prior). During the tour, there wasn’t time to “stop and smell the roses”, if you will, so I was happy to take this extra individualized tour at the iconic rocks I adore so much!

Before we knew it, it was June, and Cindy/mom was here! My mom had just walked the Camino de Santiago in Spain, and came to visit for a couple of weeks before heading back to Vermont. It was great to have her in Bulgaria for the best time of the year! Late May and early June in Bulgaria is hands-down picturesque and full of life; the sunflowers, roses and lavender start to bloom concurrently and every farming village passed along the road gives a beautiful scent of the flowers, herbs, and other crops. Upon mom arriving in Bulgaria, we went to Kazanlak for the famous annual Rose festival and parade. During our first year in Bulgaria, we had missed both the Begach Northwest Bike Tour (see paragraph above) and iconic, very Bulgarian, rose festival.

The weekend in Kazanlak did not disappoint. Our friend from school, Kenzie, joined us. A friend of mine from a Sofia biking group invited us to pick roses with him and his two daughters on Saturday morning and we couldn’t pass up this experience to properly see how the rose oil is made from beginning to end. Rose oil is one of Bulgaria’s most prized exports; while lavender oil is also famous in Bulgaria, rose oil has a much higher value per ml. The four of us went with my friend to visit the refinery and see the large vats where rose petals are placed for oil extraction. When we were there seeing the vats, the first round of rose petals arrived from the morning’s harvest. It takes SO many kilos of petals to just make 1 liter of oil! We drove out in a couple of cars to the fields and picked all Saturday morning. We weren’t anticipating it to be a unique cultural experience, but it turned out to be one. My friend and his children and us four were the only non-Roma people picking the roses. The heat soon hit us and there was sweat and fatigue combined with the cuts and scrapes on our hands. As Grant said afterwards, “It looks like I put my hand into a basket full of kittens.” It was a cool experience that led us to discuss privilege, business, culture, and why more people don’t come to pick the petals.  

After picking roses, we continued up the road to see two iconic Bulgarian structures; Shipka Monument and Buzludja. Shipka Monument is a symbol of Bulgarian freedom following the 1877-1878 war between the Turks and Russians (allied with Bulgarians). A couple rolling hills away from Shipka, Buzludja is a monument honoring the communist party. It is bizarre and amazing at the same time. Grant and I had traveled to these two monuments the previous April when we spent time in Stara Zagora; it was nice to enjoy them again with Kenzie and my mom. On Sunday, we went to the Rose parade in downtown Kazanlak. My favorite aspect of the parade were the traditional dresses and dances performed by the proud members of Kazanlak. At one point, different groups walking along the road wore the traditional dress as it evolved over time. This was interesting to see the evolution of authentic attire. 

The next weekend, my Mom, Mary and I traveled to Sandanski for a girls’ spa weekend. This resort was beautiful, calming and rejuvenating. Although I’m not able to relax/sit in the same spot for extended periods of time, I tried my best. While driving back to Sofia on Sunday, we went to Rila Monastery. This UNESCO World Heritage Site surpassed all my expectations. Nestled in the mountains, this was a large church and bell tower INSIDE a castle-type fortress. What added to the beauty and mystery of this place was the climate when we visited. It was a rainy/foggy day, and the monastery is so high that it touches the clouds. The clouds drifted by, enveloping the monastery in a beautiful mist. We grabbed some fried dough (a local speciality) before completing the road trip back.

With a heavy heart, we brought Mom back to the airport to travel back to Vermont in mid-June. The next/third weekend in June was an athletically-heavy one. Grant was the number 1 supporter and fan while I completed the Vitosha 100km Duathlon. This was a 100km/60mi mountain bike ride starting at 8am on Saturday followed by the same distance on foot (same route) starting at midnight on Saturday/Sunday. This event is iconic for Sofia and huge among the athletic community. Many people do it without any training at all because they want to join in this interesting experience. Interesting is putting it lightly. It was unbelievable, hard, exhausting, painful, exhilarating, and everything in between. It was, in my opinion, on par with Ironman from the previous August in terms of mental toughness and pain. My friend, Vicky, from my Sofia triathlon team, lent me her mountain bike to train and use for the event. I had never ridden a mountain bike before when I signed up for the event, but the learning curve was steep. Another cycling friend, Oleg, helped me by doing some practices on the actual route so that I could see what it was like and build my confidence. Thank goodness for that! On the uphills, I could pass most people on the mountain bike, but the downhill is definitely still a growth area. People would fly by me on the bike; at times, it felt very unsafe. At one point, I fell over on the bike as I went through a mud puddle and drenched the entire right side of the body. When I got to the finish line, I joked with Grant, “Hey! Do you think I fell in some mud?” I finished successfully on the bike. I wasn’t willing to take any risks or go for a time, so I was proud of finishing safely. 

As soon as I finished with the bike, Grant brought me home, ordered us some food, and then I slept from 4:30pm-10:30pm. Grant stayed awake and woke me at 10:30pm so I could prepare for the run. The run was unreal. There is nothing like running at midnight along the dark and eerie trails; it was magical to see all the headlamps jumping in the distance from people ahead of me. I stayed with a good pack for a while so that we would have more light, and eventually had to continue on my own. I think back to those 14 hours now and wonder how I was able to do it; I just kept telling myself to take one step at a time. I listened to Harry Potter on the pavement (there were two sections of asphalt along the 60 mile route) between 40-50km and focusing on the story was helpful. Grant was waiting for me at the 60km mark and this was huge to motivate me and keep my spirits up because I knew that I would see him. 80-100km was by far the most challenging as the bottoms of my feet started to break down in pain and my toes felt like someone was jamming something in between the nails and the skin. It took me over 3 hours to complete these last 20km, but I was so proud at the end to have completed it. Overall, I took 4th place for women in the Duathlon competition.   

The Vitosha Duathlon after-effects stayed with me for the next ten days or so. The bottoms of my feet, as I had anticipated around 80km, were all blisters. Within two days, per Grant’s advice and support, I popped them because I wasn’t able to walk at work. The jamming I felt in between my toenail and skin on my foot? Very real. By four days after, my left big toe was completely infected. I tried all sorts of homeopathic remedies, but eventually had to start a round of antibiotics because the pain and appearance were continuing to worsen. However, despite the pain and troubles during and following the event, I wouldn’t take it back for anything. No time in the week following Vitosha did I regret it. I would do it again in a heartbeat. Just to see the headlamps travel across the dark forest like floating roman candles…

The rest of June was a blur. We had final exams at school and tied up more loose-ends than we thought were possible. At one point, Grant said to me, “Can we stop adulting now?”. Unfortunately, with such a large move/transition on the horizon, it wasn’t possible to slow down. Grant and I enjoyed our last few days in Sofia surrounded by dear friends and colleagues from school. Similar to the end of our time in China, I surprised Grant one day after school with a fun scavenger hunt around Sofia. When we started the scavenger hunt, I gave Grant a small bag with some items in it; some to be used and some not in order to solve the clues. In the bag was a handheld mirror, map of Sofia, compass, cryptex, and pen. The scavenger hunt brought us to a craft beer spot, Alexander-Nevsky cathedral, an escape room themed Al Capone speak-easy, and dinner with friends. Along the hunt, I tried out some new tricks and clues and some will be repeaters in the future for sure! 

At the end of June, we said goodbye to people we had built an amazing life with for two years; dear friends such as Mary, Svetla, Douwe, Yana, Stan, Tanya, Katie, Jared, and Ventsi. It felt like my heart was breaking each time we had to…finally… say goodbye. However, we have high hopes for the future. The world is funny and time has a way of sorting itself out. When we visited Sam in the UK this past spring, we went out to dinner with some of our former students from China. You just never know; so it is never goodbye. We never know when our paths will cross again in the future… but they will… and until then friends…. we will miss you dearly and think of you often. 

Photo order: Svetla and Alison; With Ivo and Business Office women; Tanya Pavo and Alison; With Tobias, Yana and Douwe; Douwe goofing around during a bike ride

At the going-away gathering that the school held for departing teachers, I read out a poem that I wrote about what life was like for us in Bulgaria these two years. Here is the poem that I wrote; a poem about identity, perspective, and our specific experiences from living in Bulgaria. Until next time, sweet Bulgaria!

I am from Malinova dolina (means raspberry fields in Bulgarian, this is the neighborhood where we lived)

I see clouds slide along Vitosha, my student raise his hand during an Ecology lesson, and the rooftops of Melnik as I stand on the sand pillars above

I am from Didi’s thoughtful advice, stray cats who know my voice when I say ‘kittens’, and Begach

I hear dogs barking as I cycle by in Dragoman, Tanya at the passport office, Grant yelling “You’ve got this!” at the Stara Zagora half marathon, and my student saying, “Miss, if I may, Darwin’s logic here is flawed”

I smell Dalboka mussels cooked in butter and garlic, fragrant oil on my fingers after picking roses all morning with Kenzie, and whiteboard markers as my students draw a punnett square

I am from kind smiles of the Business office women, cafe smlako, and the hardest-working seniors I have ever met

I feel Tess’ high five at the Wizz Air Sofia Marathon, pride when my student makes the connection between DNA and chromosome, and pain as I run across the finish line at Vitosha 100

I am from shopska salata, a flat tire in Arbanasi, reply-all emails, and Belogradchik rocks

I am from Malinova dolina

As sum ot malinova dolina

One of the best things about international teaching is the people. You tend to meet a whole lot of interesting people with interesting stories from many different places. Sam has been a great friend of ours since we met him teaching in China.  Good heart. Solid dude. Great friend. Always down to meet up. He came and visited us in Feb when he had a break from school; we recently just happened to have a nice long weekend and decided to pop over for a visit. We can’t thank Sam enough for giving us a proper English tour; we hit some killer spots in a few short days. We gave him a few ideas of things that could be cool to do together but he really put together an awesome itinerary! 

Sam said, “Since you’ve only got a few days, I said to myself ‘What are a few things everyone should do when they visit England?’ Well, you’ve got to visit a pub, eat fish and chips, and see a castle, at least!” (Great dude, like I said.)

Within an hour after landing we found ourselves walking through the beautiful Epping Forest. We were staying under the wonderful hospitality of Bill and Gina (Sam’s dad and his partner) and they live just across the road from this lovely forest that many people cycle and/or walk their dogs through. Beautiful forest paths and a couple of dogs who happen to need a walk were a welcome sight for us!

A short while later we were heading to one of the most magical places on Earth; The Making of Harry Potter Studio Tour! Those of you reading this who don’t know me as well should know that I’m a huge Harry Potter nerd. Much of the Potter movies were filmed outside London and the studio space that was used during the filming was turned into a “making of” tour after the final movie completed production. Many of the sets, props, and costumes are on display while friendly (and just as nerdy) staff chat you up about your favorite films, give out some trade secrets and tell you stuff to watch out for during your next HP movie marathon. Walking down Diagon Alley was absolute magic! So was standing in Dumbledore’s office, walking through the Forbidden Forest, and seeing many of the special f/x and animatronics were just some of the many highlights. As the day turned into night, I remember standing by the Knight Bus, looking at No. 4 Privet Drive, sipping a butterbeer thinking, “This is so fucking cool.”

The next day following a wonderful English breakfast made by Bill and Gina, we hopped on the short train ride to downtown London. London is a really cool city; it has a flow and energy all of its own. It’s big, busy, and a touch mad at times, but along the way you hear so many different languages and see people of all sorts taking in the wonders of this place. Our first stop was the amazing Natural History Museum. Not only was it an impressive building, but it housed so many incredible artifacts like a first edition copy of Darwin’s Origin of Species and not one but two archaeopteryx fossils (only twelve have ever been found). Like almost every Natural History Museum we’ve ever been to, you simply can’t see it all in one day. A return trip is needed;)

After a few pints at a proper English pub, we found ourselves near the Camden Market for lunch. The market is this huge series of outdoor alleys and corridors full of food stalls and little indie shops. It’s a great place for a meal since it has a huge variety of cuisine and everyone in your group can get whatever they want! We ended up meeting friends of Alison and her family from back home in Vermont. Always great to catch-up with some fine folks from the 802. 

Feeling the need to walk off our big lunch and earn some hunger points towards our upcoming dinner, we walked from Camden Market to Buckingham Palace. This was an awesome 3 (ish) mile walk that us through both Regent’s Park and Green Park. We also were able to see the upscale Mayfair district in all its bougie glory! Buckingham Palace was quite a sight; a must see while you’re in the city!

Alison had been in contact with some of our former Chinese students who are now in various universities around the UK. Many of them were eager to meet up and have a meal with us and they knew just the place! They picked out an amazing Chinese food restaurant which transported us all back to our time together in Qingdao. As a teacher it’s always nice to see your former students growing up, living their lives, and doing their thing. (We’d like to take a moment to wish all our former students the best in their future endeavors! Love you guys!!) 

The next day we hopped back in the car and made our way to Wales. Just over the border is Chepstow Castle, the oldest surviving post-Roman stone fortification in Britain. The castle stretches out along a limestone cliff above the Wye river in a beautiful location. Not only does the remains of the castle give visitors a good understanding of castle design and purpose, it was also really quaint, charming, and peaceful. Definitely worth a stop!

Later that afternoon we found ourselves in the  lovely little village of Cheddar, England (yes, that Cheddar!) We sampled some cheese before walking up the famous Cheddar Gorge. Beautiful cliffs tower over both sides of the road as cyclists, hikers, and other outdoor enthusiasts take in the remarkable and bucolic landscape. The top of our hike offered beautiful views of rolling country hills, charming little farms and villages, as well as the English seaside.

For our last evening in England, Sam brought us to the OG fish and chips shop of Weston-super Mare, Papa’s. Outstanding fish and chips! We also got it to-go so we could sit on the beach and watch the sunset over the water; what an amazing bonus! 

The next morning we were flying back to Sofia but not until Sam showed us his last surprise of our weekend trip; Stonehenge! This was always something both Alison and I really wanted to see! Learning the history and significance of this prehistoric monument was so incredible! These stones are absolutely massive! The whole site and exhibit was really well done! I remembered learning about the henge on some Discovery Channel show when I was a kid and it was incredible to be to be seeing for myself!

We can’t thank Sam enough for organizing such a steller trip! (And for driving us around!) So good to see him again and share some really cool experiences! The UK has so much to offer. We’ll definitely need to take another pass through sometime in the near future. For now, Sam’s off to teach in the Bahamas, we’re off to do the same in Bali. Until next time, dear friend!

Peace & Love,

Grant & Alison

Some ships are sail ships, some ships are steam ships, but the best ships are friendships. The true friendships. The pick-up-where-you-left-off kind. The travel-three-hours-in-one-direction-because-someone-said-there-is-a-thermal-spring kind. The ask-a-stranger-in-a-foreign-language-if-you-can-pet-the-baby-goat kind. The awkward-sunburn kind. The hike-with-an-unhired-tour-guide-german-sheperd kind. This is the Goth & Griff kind of friendship. Hilary Alison Doulos (maiden name Griffin = Griff) aka Sugar Muffin aka Salmon Muffin aka Gyros Muffin, came to visit me, Alison Heidi Gauthier (Gauthier = Goth) aka Sugar Muffin aka Coffee Muffin aka Mussels Muffin, during April school break. Like all great friendships often yield, shenanigans ensued. Don’t worry to our dear sweethearts at home, we stayed safe and paid for accommodations… the majority of the time.

Hilary arrived at the Sofia Airport in the middle of a tornado gray sky. This apocalyptic overhanging had been in Sofia for two days when Hil flew in, and we weren’t sure what would happen. Thunderous rain, monstrous snow, or tornadoes; all options were on the table. We dropped off Grant at home for his staycation and hit the open road south towards Greece for the girls’ road trip. An hour south of Sofia and the skies opened up with thumbnail-sized hail. Zeus was truly calling us down to Greece. Traffic came to a standstill along the highways as I yelled out, “Dupnitsa! Of all the places; Dupnitsa for the hail storm!” I had some prior interesting interactions in this town on a bike ride. 

We made it to the border around 10:00, and crossed near 10:30pm. Not bad considering the past record for me and Grant crossing the Bulgarian-Greek border was 45 minutes. At the Greek half of the border crossing, the tired and jaded control man asked me where we were staying. I pleasantly told him, “Litochoro.” He looked at me, confused at first, but then annoyed at my sheer presence on Planet Earth. “LitoHHHHoro, you mean?” The H sound came from the depths of his soul and was a solid two seconds too long. “Yes,” I nodded politely. He slammed the stamps down on our passports and shooed us along. After the border, we looked up a couple of places to stay for the evening in LitoHoro, and called up a Greek woman on the phone. Words were exchanged, but neither party knew their meanings. We considered this as a positive sign and typed in her hotel to Google Maps. Near 1am, we arrived at the woman’s hotel. All lights were off and the place was locked up for the evening. We called the number again and, praise Jesus, we heard the phone ringing inside. She came down to let us in and show us to the room. The place looked pretty deserted when we woke up in the morning; she was thankful for the business after all.

Off the bat, we drove to one of the starting points of Mt. Olympus National Park for a morning hike. Prior to Hil’s arrival, I had done a supermarket run to pick up the essentials – carrots, peanut butter, organic Nutella, raspberry jelly, wheat bread, bananas, apples, and, of course, Cheetos. During the hike, we walked and chatted along while eating a banana and sandwich. Once, many April breaks ago, Hil and I drove from Elmira, NY to the Floridian panhandle in one shift (20+ hours straight) to go camping for a week. We drained Hil’s campus meal card in order to buy the non-perishable essentials for the week. One of my favorite memories of that trip was sitting on the beach reading trashy novels while making PB&J sandwiches. They truly became “sand”wiches when the winds picked up at the exact moment to land sand in the bread-making process. A crunchy condiment, we agreed.

After the picturesque Mt. Olympus hike, Hil and I drove into the village center of Litohoro for a delicious spanakopita. On our way out of the town, we found a side road to take us directly to the sea. Litohoro is an awe-inspiring place in the sense that it truly has the sea to mountain views. We dipped our toes in the freezing water (“You didn’t want to go for a dip, Muffin?”), and looked for unique pebbles along the coast. I allowed myself to take only two tiny pebbles; I am trying to cut back. We continued driving southbound to the Pelion Peninsula. 

On one of our epic past road trips, Hillary and I found ourselves in Yellowstone driving, hiking, and geysering along. We had arrived very late at night (wait, this seems to be a theme) to our campsite and set up the tent in the dark via flashlight-in-mouth maneuvers. In the morning, we drove through the National Park in search of elk, bison, and bears (oh my!). At one point, the miles of RV and car traffic was at a standstill due to a large bison herd passing. The forest rangers were directing the traffic along. Apparently, we stopped a few seconds too long to get a video, because, all of a sudden, the ranger’s voice came on the megaphone, “SOUTHBOUND TRAFFIC CONTINUE!” We thought this was a bit rude; don’t shout at everyone due to only our tardiness. This story came to mind as we traveled, southbound again, through Greece.

For the Pelion Peninsula, I had never been here, but knew some friends from Sofia had moved down the previous school year. They remarked on its beauty, and I couldn’t agree more. Set against countless olive trees, jagged mountains, and blue seas, Pelion Peninsula is a Greek oasis. We arrived at a campground we found on Google Maps during the drive. With olive tree branches strewn each way and construction at some of the tent sites, the place didn’t look open. And the reality was… it wasn’t. We arrived on April 1st, but its opening day was April 20th. We talked to two people whose family owns the place and begged them to let us stay. They said, “The bathrooms are filthy. They might not even be working.” We looked at each other, shrugged, and said, “Doesn’t bother us. Not a problem.” When they saw the desperation in our eyes, they agreed to one campsite that we pointed towards. They raked the tree branches a bit, and must have thought us absurd for setting up camp on this dirty plot. “Thank you; we will write you an outstanding review on TripAdvisor”, we told them. 

We drove the car to the other side of the Peninsula (the Aegean side) for a cool hike along the coast. Here, we were greeted by countless more olive trees, flowers, and beautiful scenery as the waves crashed against the rocks below the trail. We came up to a cute town and ordered a couple strong coffees at a local very-Greek restaurant. Hmm, how can I describe a proper very-Greek restaurant? Here are the criteria:

1. Very loud traditional music playing (We needed to yell to order a couple cafes)
2. Large photo of grandfather restaurant in corner with judging eyes
3. Shells collected from the sea… and glued to the fireplace… all along the fireplace
4. Strong smell of fish… and oregano

With coffees in hand, we walked to the village pier because we saw some people were fishing. I should actually say, they had been fishing. Now, they were sitting around a grill, laughing and chatting while passing around some hooch in a clear glass bottle. Hilary walked up to them and asked, “Did you guys catch anything?” Again, words that don’t mean anything, so we hastily mimed a fishing pole and excitement. They said something to us, then took the lid off a pot to show us some fried anchovies inside. They ushered the pot towards us, and we each grabbed one morsel. We thanked them and headed back along the pier. 

At the car, we drove back over the mountain to our campsite. We parked and walked downtown to meet Wendy and Jonathan Thompson (friends who lived in Sofia last year) for dinner at a local spot. Per the great counsel of Wendy and Jonathan, we ordered the house specials featuring local vegetables and seafood. It was indeed a treat. The Thompsons gave us some recommendations for hiking the next day as well. We slept soundly that evening with bellies full of calamari, fava beans, and red wine.

The next morning, we did a wee jog by the coast on the gulf side. Then we took down the tent and gave the kind girl 10 euros for the site. She said it was too much honestly for what we used, but we insisted. We continued south to Trikeri and parked at the head of a great seaside hike. We hiked in the heat while chatting and observing the wildlife in the area.

Again, many olive trees lined this trail all around. In one small bay by the sea, we saw countless translucent items. At first, I was ashamed of the humans of the world because I thought they were plastic bags. Upon closer inspection, we saw them slightly pulsing. There were thousands of jellyfish, of all various sizes, stuck in this small bay. We didn’t know if it was a good (mating, taking a rest) or bad (dying, stuck here) sign to find them here. 

Another aspect of hiking in the peninsula were the goat and sheep herds. We were in awe of the playful yet obedient dogs bringing their herds for grazing. The sound of a herd is like nothing else – the farmers attach bells to the necks of each animal. The chimes of a herd moving along is a chaotic yet charming cacophony. Muffin and I got back in the car following the hike and drove to a local farm stand that the Thompsons had also recommended for local honey, etc.. Sadly, no one was home when we passed by. However, we stopped for a coffee (first for the day) in a mountainous town before heading back north. Hil and I debated which we couldn’t live without; coffee or beer. She chose beer and, I, coffee. 

We drove back North and inward into the heart of Greece to arrive at Meteora that evening. Meteora was a favorite for Grant and me from this past summer. Hil was also in awe of these unique rock formations. We found a spot that had open tent sites, and grabbed some Greek dinner at a local restaurant up the road. However, with bellies full of chicken, tzatziki and olives, we did not sleep well this evening. The Meteora dogs were out in droves. All night long, there was a cacophony of barking and… rooster crowing. Stray dogs and pets alike; the noise continued all night. We woke up a bit worse for wear… and headed right for a cafe with strong espresso in mind.

In the morning and early afternoon, we walked along the “loop” of Meteora up a hiking path and then along all the monasteries. When Grant and I had visited this iconic location back in July, it was almost too hot to handle. Due to the heat, we couldn’t bring ourselves to be inside at all, so we hadn’t seen any of the monasteries. With Hilary, the weather was ideal, and we toured inside Holy Trinity and Varlaam Monasteries. We made it back to our campsite, took everything down, and drove through downtown Meteora in search of a proper Gyro. We found a good spot, devoured a chicken Gyro, and headed to the Meteora Mushroom Museum. Hil is a huge fan of mushrooms and knew many of the common fungi at hand, but it was all new information to me. It was a very unique and thought-provoking museum. 

While ending the Meteora walkabout and getting a Gyro, Hil and I had been debating about where to go next. We both had some ideas, but none seemed to stick. For example, we thought about driving through Macedonia on the way back to Bulgaria, but I wasn’t confident that the car was allowed to go through that non-EU country. So, at the Mushroom Museum, we asked the gift shop manager about any cool places around, and he told us about Pozar. To Pozar we went!

Pozar Thermal Springs are in Northern Greece; almost to the Macedonian border. We arrived there around 8:30 at night, figured out how to buy the tickets, and then soaked in the mineral hot baths. The town is situated along the hot springs river. They have a few pools to soak in and we enjoyed the small (authentic) one as well as the large (pool) spring. We looked at Google Maps and saw that the area had some cool hiking, so we decided to stay there for the night. However, we didn’t have a campsite for that evening and it was after 10pm. Soooooo, we did what any normal Goth & Griff girls would do; we drove the car out behind one of the municipal buildings, brushed our teeth, pulled the sleeping bags from the trunk, fed a stray dog some leftover fava beans and bread, and reclined the front car two seats. We set the alarm for 8am to get in a good hike before crossing back over the border in the morning. 

However… we awoke at 2:30am to a HONK HONK! A man had driven a motorcycle up beside the car window and was honking at us. Hilary rolled down the window, and again, HONK HONK “something something Taxi!”. We didn’t know what he said but the message was clearly received. We drove out of the Pozar hot springs area and back towards the nearest town. Clearly, the area shuts down between 2:30am and morning. We got to the nearest town, weighed our options, and realized we wouldn’t be able to fall asleep again any time soon. “The worst part, Al, is that I was having such good sleep” said Hil. “So good”, I replied, “…so good.” After the dogs of Meteora symphony the evening before, the sleep had been much needed and was actually warm/comfortable.

In conclusion, we decided to head for the border. We drove northeast and arrived at the Bulgarian-Greek border at 5:30am. We crossed in a record time of 8 minutes. Beyond epic silver lining!

Once in Bulgaria, we set Google Maps to Melnik. I told Hilary the timing might be perfect. We might get to Melnik just in time for a sunrise hike. We arrived in the quiet and sleepy Melnik around 7am, grabbed some peanut butter, bread, and water from the backseat, and headed for a hike up the side of the sand pillars. As soon as we exited the car, this giant of a German Shepherd came bounding over to us. He had a chain collar on and was dragging about 3 feet of additional chain behind him wherever he went. Clearly he had just escaped and had energy to spare! We headed for the trail head, and he ran up ahead of us. This particular trail is steep at first with stairs going up to a plateau and then leveling off from there. He followed us the whole way up, ran ahead of us, ran behind us, and then ran in circles around us. The sound was awful with the chain dragging behind him and kicking up mud and sand everywhere. I managed to grab him and unhook the chain. Untethered, he was faster than ever and stayed right with us. We thought at any moment he would go on his merry way, but he stayed with us the entire hike. Even when we wanted to lose him (at one point we played hide and go seek), we couldn’t. We paid him for his (unasked) tour guide services with peanut butter on bread; he was a huge fan!

Unfortunately, the fog clouded out the sunrise. However, the hike was beautiful and the views looking down onto sleepy Melnik were . We came back to the car and drove towards downtown. The dog followed along beside the car and waited outside our breakfast spot. We filled up on omelet, coffee, fried bread, and cheese before searching around for a wine shop that was open. I bought some wine to bring back to friends in Sofia and we headed north again towards Sofia. Our plan was to stay at Rila for a night, but we greatly underestimated how much snow was still present in the National Park. The winter this year had been unusually long; this was apparent as the car climbed up the switchbacks. We turned the car around when there was too much snow to continue. We found a waterfall hike in a town at the bottom of the hill that ended up being an unexpected gem. We drove back home to Sofia via Relyovo so Hil could meet Katie. 

Back in Sofia, Grant made us a delicious dinner. The next morning, we went for Hil’s antigen test to fly (negative thank goodness) then went for a trail run at Pancharevo. I showed Hil our favorite cafe near the lake and, naturally, we got some Banitsa. At the Childrens’ Bells Park, Muffin rang the USA bell (“It’s not too flashy, I like it!”), and then we headed downtown.

For lunch, we met up with another Elmira College Alumnae, Tanya. She is from Sofia and was a Resident Assistant on Hilary’s floor during her first year at EC. It was great to catch up and remember old times from EC and its sweet traditions. It’s a small world, isn’t it? 

Hil and I walked around downtown; of course careful to dodge the pro-Russian protests on the way to the famous Sofian landmarks. Protest, anyone? Protests? We met up with Grant by Alexander-Nevsky Cathedral (he had just gotten a tattoo) and headed for the Museum of Illusions.

We met up with Svetla at the Museum of Illusions. Grant had seen the advertisements for this Museum since we arrived, but we had never been. It was really interactive, interesting and thought-provoking. I still don’t know how a couple of the illusions work! Then we met up with Mary and all went out to dinner together at a traditional Bulgarian restaurant. The Mavrud red wine, shopska, and sach was a great way to celebrate Hil’s last evening in Bulgaria. 

We sent Hil off on her early morning flight with a heavy heart. To the next time, Anchovy Muffin! Let’s make it a Vietnam moped road trip?

Seeing the year “2022” was a little surreal. Honesty time; I still think the 90’s was like 10 years ago. I know right, “But don’t you teach history?!” Yes, I do, but feeling time and reading it in a textbook are two very different things. When someone mentions that the 90s was 30ish years ago, in my heart, it feels closer. It’s funny how time is more of an emotion than a tangible thing.

I’ve always found the New Year serves as a good benchmark for reflection. What went well in the past year, what didn’t, and what you’re working on in the new one. For us, we wanted to reclaim a bit of what COVID had removed in the past year. With travel restrictions loosening, exploring a bit further and potentially visiting with some friends was back on the table.

Unlike last year’s rather mild winter, this January was long, dark, and snowy, but we filled it with household projects, puzzles, and cooking up some great food. There was much paperwork and planning in preparation for our upcoming move to Bali. At the same time, I needed to submit all my paperwork and materials to renew my teaching license back in Vermont. Needless to say, loads of “adulting” needed to happen; far too much in my opinion. There are always challenges and difficulties doing things in a foreign country that you wouldn’t think twice about back at home. Like mailing documents or getting fingerprinted for a background check. Many thanks to our Bulgarian friends who helped us navigate the red tape.

February saw our dear friend Sam visiting us from the UK. We like playing the roles of hosts and tour guides. Being able to show Sam some of our favorite spots was a fun time! We walked around downtown Sofia to take in some of the sights and food, walked at Pancharevo for some fresh air and great views, and stayed over one night in the nearby city of Plovdiv (the cultural capital of Bulgaria). Sam also saw our high school firsthand when he came for a visit one day when both Alison and I were working. 

The first of March signifies the quaint Bulgarian tradition of Baba Marta. On the 1st, people hand out little red ‘n white bracelets to their friends and family. When someone gives you one, you give them one in return. By the end of the day, teachers and students leave school with their arms full of the colorful bracelets. You’re supposed to wear the bracelets until you see some sign of spring such as tree buds or storks returning from the south. At that point, you take your bracelets off and put them on a nearby tree branch. This is such a cool tradition that we love! However, we weren’t able to take our bracelets off so quickly this year because winter continued to drag on with snowstorms continuing in this month. 

Naturally, there were a few sporting events/trail runs that we attended this spring as well. There is a great sporting community here that puts on many local running events, one of the organizations is called trailseriesbg. Alison and our friend, Douwe, have taken part in some of their weekend runs and I’ve tagged along to a couple of them. Alison’s not one to brag about her accomplishments, so I’ll do it for her! During the Baba Marta 6k run, Alison beat out the other female competitors to take first place! Trailseriesbg gives out one-of-a-kind homemade clay medals for the top three men and women in each distance. A few weeks later came the 7 Hills 18k race. This trail run was in a beautiful little village outside Sofia which contained, yep, 7 different hills for competitors to run up and down. Again, Alison *rose* to the challenge (literally up through the clouds and back down again) to take first place! So proud of this little race fiend! 

Winter hikes with our good friends Douwe, Yana, Tobias, and Tonks are shown here. Hikes happened on Vitosha Chimneys, Bistritsa, and Bankya.

We’d heard about the skiing in Bulgaria and knew it was a destination for skiing and snowboarding enthusiasts all over Europe. Just head to the airport during the winter and you’ll see bus loads of people shuffling off planes from various places all wanting to hit the slopes. We didn’t manage to go last winter, but this year we were determined to get out there and give it a try! Alison grew up skiing and myself snowboarding, but neither of us had really done much in the past 10-15 years. It was truly like riding a bike. We handled ourselves very well and had the most excellent day at Borovets skiing village. We were saying it’s almost too bad we’re not staying somewhere cold for our next teaching gig so we could make this more of a routine hobby! Maybe someday 😉

During one of our weekend getaways, Ali’s friend, Ventsi, from a local biking group invited us to travel to a village in the southern part of the country to do some cycling around and sightseeing. The main attraction for cycling was the town of Suhovo in the Rhodope Mountains. In this area, there is a river that winds through the mountains; forming a horseshoe at one unique spot. It was a great chance to visit a part of the country we hadn’t seen before and explore other unique sights of Bulgaria like the Arda River and the Devil’s Bridge. 

With only a short time left here in Bulgaria, we’re attempting to capitalize on these next few weeks and try to check-out some other places and activities we’ve always wanted to. We’ve got some ideas but who knows what will happen! Check back soon!

Peace & Love,

Grant & Alison