Mehmet and Softi (and Aigun) go to the mall

I wanted to do a little post on a trip to the mall that I took with two of our baseball players, Mehmet and Softi. They're cousins and it isn't a rare moment when one has wrapped his arm around the other's shoulders, bringing him close to talk about baseball or school. They are Roma and got the rare treat of a visit to the Varna mall, two hours away.

 

Mehmet and Softi.

The bus ride itself was exciting. The boys left their flat town to see the hills and cliffs of the Bulgarian countryside. Softi sat on the edge of his seat the entire time, his eyes catching everything passing by.

It was a day of firsts for the boys:
-first time in Varna
-first time in a mall
-first time on an escalator
-first time going to a movie theater
-first time having McDonald's and Burger King
-first time having a milk shake
-first time playing in an arcade

The boys took a lot of pictures of themselves: in the mall, in front of a store, on the escalator, eating American burgers. They were so excited about having 'McDonald's!'. When we got to the food court they ran ahead of us. Mehmet ran up to the counter and nervously asked the server for "some McDonald's please." The server looked at him quizzically. By the time we reached them they were too nervous to go up and order and begged us to do it for them. They ended up eating three burgers each.

When Mehmet saw the large movie screen he was impressed and exclaimed, "It's as long as home plate to first base!"

 

 

Softi posing in front of the escalator. It was funny watching Mehmet ride up the escalator throwing up his hands in an "I'm so cool and gangsta" pose while Softi took pictures.

 

 

 

We watched 'Wolverine' with Mehmet and Softi. Our other captain, Aigun, was so excited about going that he stayed awake until 3am, afraid that he would sleep through his alarm. He did just that. This time he didn't and we went to see 'Star Trek'. While drinking his shake too quickly he experienced his first brain freeze and after the movie he played his first game of bowling. Bulgarians don't bowl as much as Americans so they aren't very good. Basically, we feel like the bowling gods whenever we play. Halfway through our game they took a picture of us for their website and gave us a coupon. Yeah, we're that good. Our high score? 118.

 

Aigun and Joe competing in the arcade.