Summer '12

30th of July

Varna Cathedral

After another unsuccessful push towards graduation in my 4th year of Economics at Erasmus University, it was time to go home and lick my wounds. I was obviously the only one to blame and that made the pill even more bitter to swallow.
On a good note, I managed to pass some exams and the only two left now are in January, which gave me some more breathing space and time to clear my head. The plan was to go back to my hometown Varna and spend as much time as possible with my family and friends because me and two other friends of mine booked a trip to Costa Rica from September the 7th until December the 17th. For these three and a half months we wanted to look for some answers. The main idea behind the trip was to take our poker game to the next level.

Before most of you jump all over me saying that I am stupid to get involved into a gambling game, I'd like to throw in some facts; In some quarters, poker is championed as a sport. In others, it is classified as a skill game or mind game. However, amongst many members of the older generation, it equates to a sordid form of gambling. The latter is not a coincidence since most of the people think of casino games such as roulette, blackjack etc. when they hear about poker. Here is the catch; all of these casino games are being played against the casino which of course is on the winning side in the long-run because people play against the odds. Whereas with poker you are always playing against other players and for the house it does not really matter who wins in the end. The casino makes money of course but that is from the so-called rake which basically represents a small fee which every player pays in order to participate in the game.
 The fact that for the last couple of years in The Netherlands I had been able to live on my own without asking mom and dad for cash (with some exemptions) made me think that I could maybe live off the game that I always enjoyed playing. So why not give it a chance? In the end everyone should do whatever makes them feel alive. And if there is a chance that you could enjoy yourself while making money I say it is worth the shot.

My neighborhood

I came back to Bulgaria in the end of July so I only had a month left to enjoy myself before leaving for Rica.  I was happy to finally spend some quality time with my family and especially my mom, who has been supporting me in every decision I took. I would also like to add that she is a workaholic and she has been in the fashion industry for over 20 years now. I also managed to take some photos of her amazing boutique in Varna.
I am so proud of you mom!!!

http://www.lasposa-bg.com/

Holiday Sona

The next person I would like to introduce you to is my brother Kristian - the chef! He is now 21 and studying tourism in Stenden University, Leeuwarden, The Netherlands. He is the better version of me in terms of cooking and playing football (not talking about football knowledge since he supports JUVENTUS for god's sake!) Regarding his skills in the kitchen though...














Words are useless, nothing more to add. Gordon Ramsey stuff.
Furthermore, I feel very happy for him as he is very excited about what he is studying at the moment and is truly dedicated to his education and eventual further development. Good stuff! One would always succeed when is motivated and following his dream.
I know one day you will become a top chef, bro. Even better than Mr. Ramsey!

Me & Kris

As time was passing by, there was still this one thing that always kept bothering me - I couldn't take my dog with me. I have a 1-year-old beagle named Rooney (yes, the football player). Back in days of the Rotterdam life me and my roommates decided to surprise one of the tenants with a beagle puppy for his birthday. However, after couple of weeks he couldn't care less as the dog was not a puppy anymore and since Rooney was attached to me the most, me and my roomies decided that I should take him.
No problemo! He is like a brother to me; we go jogging together almost every morning. I take him along every time I go out with friends as I really tried to make him a social dog. Here's a funny photo of us:

Unfortunately though, I couldn't take him with me since all of the owners and property managers kept saying that taking a pet is forbidden. I was devastated as this dog meant everything to me; every morning I would wake up with him and every night I would go to bed with him. For the past one year he was non-stop with me. I was put into a tough spot as I had to make a quick decision what to do with my lil Rooney for the next three-and-a-half months. For that reason, I would like to thank my cousins (Hacho & Ani), my aunt Valia and my uncle Vaho for all the help and for taking care of him for the time-being.

MILLION THANKS

uncle Vaho, grandpa Hacho, me, Hacho Jr., Kris & mom

I would also like to thank another close person to me who also contributed a lot for the Rooney cause - my ex-roommate Big V.
 Valery is a cool guy that I met a year ago in Rotterdam. He moved in my house and to be honest with you I have never met someone as  honest and as humble as him. Difficult to meet such people nowadays..
Oh yeah.. and I forgot to add; always down for getting drunk and party hard ;-)

Rooney, Valery & me

@my brothers 21'st with Big V & Hacho

Nicole

Last but not least I would like to give credit to my dear friend Nicole Anna Maria for all the pictures.
In August, she visited me from London and we spent great 2 weeks together. We went traveling and exploring the South part of  the Bulgarian seaside; Nesebar, Sunny Beach, Sozopol, Sinemorets and the stunning Silistar beach.
There was no better way to finish off my last month in Bulgaria.

Rumi & Zachy

In Varavara, I got to know Nicole's family and also met her awesome brothers - Zachy(10) & Rumi(12).

Zachy, by the way, is highly tipped to become a future football star in the Premier League!

 Good luck Zach!

me & Nicole at the Greek's

Thank you all for the great Summer '12

Miss you all!

Costa Rica

Having arrived a week ago in Costa Rica with my poker squad consisting of Don Emilio and Stanis a.k.a Crazy Sham, I can now proudly say I have had the best month of my life!

Me & Sham arrived at the airport in San Jose on the 7th of September and spent the night at one of the most amazing hostels (Hostel 1110) I have ever been at. I was just having my delicious pizza at the hostel restaurant and suddenly I realized was speaking Dutch with the owner of the place, a native Costa Rican.
A Bulgarian and a Costa Rican communicating in Dutch in San Jose. Who would have thought?
Crazy Sham suggested we extend our stay with a day more since Costa Rica was playing Mexico in a World Cup qualifier at the Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica the very next day.

Racoon at Irazu volcano

I met three Slovenians, also staying in the hostel, who were planning a to the Irazu volcano early in the morning and luckily for us they gave us a ride and thus we got to see a volcano for the first time in our lives!
Oh, and I almost forgot my hungry friend, the racoon, too!


 When we got back to the hostel we met Carlos and his girlfriend Najira, two mexicanos who were just checking in the hostel and were obviously also planning on going to tonight's big game at the Estadio. We all went to get tickets with their car and grabbed some snacks before we stormed to the stadium. Carlos, wearing a Mexican shirt was feeling a little uncomfortable since we were seated with the Ticos (that's how the Costa Ricans call themselves) In the end he put a jacket on top of his Mexican shirt, even though it was 30 freaking degrees!

Mexico won the game 2-0 by the way.

Crazy Sham, me & Carlito

Najira

The next morning we had to catch the bus from San Jose to Playa del Coco which took us 5;30 hrs. Me & Crazy Sham were tired as hell by the time we arrived but on the good side the condo was freaking shweet. 

The view from our terrasse

Don Emilio, having arrived already, greeted us at the bus station, riding his bike, chillin' in the nowhere. 

Next morning was business as usual for us since very important series of online poker tournaments had already started. Myself and Don E have been grinding from 6 am until 5 pm over the last week. We both broke our own record of online play as we had never played more than 2-3 days in a row. This time it was 7 days, 12-13 hrs a day.
That's what people call dedication.

However, I was lucky enough to score my biggest online result by getting 2nd in one of the tourneys.
These poker series, however, were too good to be missed, were the main reason we could not enjoy this fascinating city called Playa Del Coco to the fullest. The only time we could sneak out of the complex we were staying at was during the afternoon and by night. Cannot really complain about the night life experience as we have already visited the best Italian and Fish restaurants (both places were amazing) and went out couple of times.Now after a full week of grind, it is time to relax with my buddies and look around for some more action downtown. 


PURA VIDA*

brunch with Don E

*Pura Vida literally means Pura = pure and vida = life, but "Pure life" in Spanish would be "Vida pura" instead, so the real meaning is closer to "plenty of life", "full of life", "this is living!", "going great", "real living", "Awesome!" or "cool!". It can be used both as a greeting or a farewell, universally known in Costa Rica and it has been used by many Costa Ricans since 1956.