Last year, at about this time, maybe a little eariler, I helped run a boy's summer camp in a small seaside town called Obzor. It was a nice enough place, cheaper than the surrounding resorts and quiet. This past weekend I went back with a group of friends because it would be a nice place to spend a weekend.
It's still a nice town, but the resorts are creeping in. A new, massive hotel has recently opened and is charging 240 leva a night. Cheap if you're a package tourist looking for a nice 4-star hotel, but horribly expensive if you're a Bulgarian or a Peace Corps vounteer and know that there are people a block up from the beach renting rooms for as little as 8 leva a night. So the bit of the beach we spent most of our time on last summer has been completely overtaken by tourists from Germany, Russia, and Sweden, and as nice as it is to hang out with people who aren't American or Bulgarian, a crowded beach is still no fun. This summer we were "forced" to set up shop under the relatively quiet Helios Hotel, which I praised last summer for its hospitality. There were still Swedes (More than I remember from last year), and Germans, and Russians. But the beach wsa much quieter, and the water almost eerily empty.
It was a great weekend to be at the beach. And although my saying such a thing is about the equal of "It was a great night to be taking heroin" (Various health issues related to the sun, for those not in the know), I took care of myself, used sunscreen, and had fun. The problem is that the sun, while a lifelong enemy, also supports most of the things I have fun doing, like having fun at the beach. I'm not the kind who lays on the beach or reads, there are better places for that. But swimming, throwing things around in the water (frisbees, volleyballs, etc.), and all of a sudden, for me, beach volleyball are things that I have a great amount of fun doing and are pretty hard to do anywhere else.
So I just buck up, feel guilty, wear a shirt as much as possible, and slather myself in sunscreen every other hour or so. And occasionally I reminded myself I was in the Peace Corps and tried to make a good impression on the other beachgoers. That's important, too. In a completely modest way, of course.
Posted by Rob at July 26, 2005 05:16 PM