ACS Basketball 2010

Our basketball season here at the American College is getting into full swing. We held try-outs in December, right before the winter break, and ended up keeping 26 kids from 8th -12th grades. They all worked hard and deserved a place on the team. We played two games thus far, and both were over pretty early. The main rotation, a group of about 8 kids, primarily seniors, pretty much dominated on both sides of the ball and built up big leads. This gave me a chance to play a lot of the younger guys, which is always nice.

Here are our new uniforms:



Although definitely on the baggy side of size, these uniforms will prevent further matches where our kids are wearing five or six different tops, shorts that don't match, and pretty much looking like a rag-tag bunch of homeless basketball players.

We have a big trip to Bucharest in two weeks for our second year of participation in the Vampire Classic. We will be playing a series of games with the American International School of Bucharest and the American School of Brussels.

After that, at the end of February, the Anglo-American School of Sofia will be hosting a 6-team tournament, with two visiting international schools - Belgrade and Skopje - playing with us, and a couple of other schools. I think Vlade Divac's kid plays on the Belgrade team.

We will finish our season in March with the ACS Open. The field is yet to be determined, but we will have two teams participating in this tournament. Hopefully we can go all the way, something that has not been done in many, many years.

Check back here for more updates.

Sunset Time Lapse Series from Mexico

Las Mujeres y Los Muertos

I have always liked photographing cemeteries. This cemetery located on Isla de las Mujeres, with its vibrant colors and densely packed monuments, crypts, and crosses, was one of the most beautiful I have ever seen. Here are some of my favorite shots:

Birds of Paradise

Kate and I walked about 90 minutes along the beach, then waded through some of this crystal clear water for another 10 minutes, to reach these wild pink flamingos.

They are sleek and pink - on our approach they took to the air and flew to a safer distance about 40 meters from where we stood.

Holbox Island included the flamingos, plus so many other birds. It was a real treat.

I love the way the two birds in the center of the photograph came out here.

Every morning the birds waited for the local fishermen to arrive and then swarmed on any dead fish or scraps from the morning's catch.

These pelicans loved to dry sun themselves on these posts protruding out of the water.

Another pelican perched atop one of the lights located on the pier.

Like a number of people enjoying the sunset from the pier, this pelican was also a part of the spectacle.

Some other birds join the pelican on the posts.

This crane(?) enjoying the tide on his bare feet.

A Christmas in Mexico

Leaving behind about seven inches of fresh snow and 30 degree temperatures in Sofia on December 20th, Kate and I embarked on an uber- belated, but well-deserved honeymoon to the 85 degree, soft white sand of Mexico. On a journey that took us from Sofia to Frankfurt to Atlanta (one night in the ATL) to Cancun, we started our trip by spending five nights on the wonderful islands of Holbox, located about two hours north of Cancun.

This was our primary pre-Christmas activity while staying in Holbox. There are no cars, no paved roads, and only a few golf carts. We started each morning with a run or some yoga, spent the afternoon reading on the beach, went for lunch and dinner in the town square sampling each of the restaurants during our time there. Guacamole and corn tortillas for every meal, and washing it all down with a Margarita.

Our hotel, Casa de las Tortugas, had an okay location.

Every morning from the 22nd until the 26th was spent drinking coffee here. The family that runs the hotel also held a Christmas Eve champagne toast here for all of the guests.

Kate and I were both worried as the numerous weather websites we checked called for clouds and rain almost every day. We were lucky, except for Christmas Day, we had almost perfect weather.

The sun sets were phenomenal each and every night.

Another day, another beautiful thirty minutes of beauty.

This is sunrise as we are about to catch the boat to the mainland. On the 26th we took the fifteen minute boat ride, caught a $3 bus to Cancun, and another $1.50 bus to Puerto Morelos, a small fishing village located mid way between Cancun and Playa del Carmen on the Riviera Maya coast.

The color of the water off the Mayan Riviera coast is pretty ugly.

Our hotel in Puerto Morelos, Rancho Sak O, featured beds suspended from the ceiling by ropes. It was a bit challenging to fall asleep because it always felt like you had too much to drink, your head spinning, even if you had only one margarita or cerveza.

Hammock-time!

The beach in front of the hotel was yours - not a soul in sight. Also, a major reef is found just off the coast of Puerto Morelos. One day we took the chance to explore this reef and went out for early morning snorkeling. I saw thousands of beautiful fish, one massive turtle, a smaller turtle, a ray, and some scary barracuda. Kate thought she saw a shark, so she spent most of the time on the boat catching rays (the sunny kind, not the fishy ones).

After spending three nights in Puerto Morelos, we ended our trip on another island - Isla de las Mujeres is located right across from Cancun. The color of the water here was the most amazing blue I have ever seen. We also found a lancheria run by this charming old woman where for three days straight we ate a lunch consisting of a plateful of guacamole, a cheese quesadilla, and chile rellenos stuffed with more cheese. It was divine. (note - the picture above is not the lancheria, but of a lavandaria located right near our hotel - I loved this sign).

More Signage

Well the family has gone a little crazy with the holiday missing persons signs. Here is some evidence from Christmas:


And again--making me "eat meat"...lots of laughs going on at this holiday feast...


And if this isn't a "you better come home for Christmas next year" plea, then I don't know what is...


So here's to the holiday season next year where we hopefully won't have to endure more cut-outs.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving- or as my friend Andy likes to say: "Chestito Turkey-den" (You have to hear it in his non-Bulgarian accent to really enjoy it!) I hope you had a great holiday. I was more than excited to receive this fun picture from my family--thanks guys! It is nice to be missed.

Branch and I went to Budapest and enjoyed a few Thanksgiving staples such as: Mexican Food, Christmas Markets, and long walks across the Chain Bridge. Okay, these aren't really Thanksgiving or Hungarian traditions at all, but I guess in our world of newlywed bliss anything can be a new tradition!



Over the weekend, I read a book by my favorite author, Jonathan Safran Foer, and I have been thinking about it all week. It is called "Eating Animals," and I HIGHLY recommend that you put it on your Christmas list. It made me extremely proud to be a vegetarian-- which I have been now for almost 6 years! It also made me realize how much the environment is going to depend on people really evaluating their food in the next few years. We simply cannot continue being so irresponsible. The book also argues that all animals deserve a good life--why would I cruelly slaughter a chicken or kill a fish when I would never want Gringo to endure such a fate?

Finally, the book made Branch and me re-evaluate our pescetarian stance (which Branch had been reconsidering over the last few months anyway.) After thinking morally about the fish, the environment, and the nasty lice that infests fishery farms, we have decided to be strictly vegetarian. (There are other reasons, but Branch doesn't want me to preach...) In addition, I am posing a challenge that after the New Year we try being Vegan for one month. I really don't think that we could do it full time (I do love cheese!!), but I wonder what it would be like. This reminds me of my friend Erin, who is not vegan, but loves a good challenge. To date, she is still looking for someone who will enter the "5 foods contest" with her (you pick five foods and see how long you can go)...and as much as I love competition, I have decided that I would hate to be in one with her.

So to sum up, I hope you had a great thanksgiving--but next year, consider making a pumpkin the staple (and symbolic) dish at your table rather than the poor turkey!

You can get your copy of Eating Animals here:

Or learn more about this book at the official website.