worst assistant EVER

deep into our first day of shooting already, in bulgaria, and i am throwing my hands in the air and readily admitting that i am the worst photo assistant, ever. what! could have brought this on? well, perhaps it would be mid shoot, david turning around, handing me the camera, and saying, "hey, there is no film in this!!" well DUH!

but i am jumping the gun.

we caught a flight out of newark to charles de (do?)(duh?) gaule. whatever. making it through security was a breeze. "i would like request a handcheck of these 300 some rolls of film" "no problem sir" replied the TSA dude who looked like he just stepped out of a jay z video, even though he had on all the same clothing as everyone else. not sure how he did it. must have been the hair.

everything was fine until he confiscated my toothpaste. he must have caught me giving him some good old new york city attitude or something. i swear i was all smiles anytime he looked at me. i was also wearing all black with a t shirt that clearly states "sultanate of oman".

let me tell you, trying to find toothpaste in newark airport is harder than finding a parking spot in the EV. in the end, i got the last tube of aquafresh after having to take the air tram 3 times. i fucking hate aquafresh.

anyways.

the flight was good, i slept, and i needed it after attending a wild wedding on sunday night, of my friends michael and deborah! nona and i rode our bikes there (and back, barely). pimp.

so yeh, david and i arrived in bulgaria safe and sound, some 8 hours after the toothpaste incident. on the way from the airport (mid afternoon) the photoshoot was already in full swing with david screaming at the driver to "stop the car STOP THE CAR!!!!" as he saw a scene he wanted to photograph. something about nice light. my broke tired grumpy ass could not even get the right batteries in the camera, let alone, film. nothing like stepping off the plane and starting to shoot, immediately!

eventually after some bonafied bulgarian clouds cut david's light short, we were back in the car and on our way to corporate central. i was still a mess, but then i discovered the espresso machine in the kitchen, and promptly drained it, for all it was worth. i then started feeling better.

the shoot was going fine, but a bit boring. i thought to myself, well i guesss bulgaria wont be anything like the bulgarian bar down on canal and broadway. THAT place was a party. so we finished up the corporate shoot, and headed to downtown sofia, and things started to look up.

favorite thing i have had said to me in the 10 hours i have been here
"amadeo, dont walk in the middle of the road, this is bulgaria!"

this was said to me by our fearless and energetic client, anni. she was fairly adimant about it. she has also referred to herself as my bulgarian mother, on more than one occasion. strange.

but of course, silly amadeo didnt listen. well, i wasnt exactly in the middle of the road when i got hit, rather softly, by a car. where was i? oh, i was on the sidewalk. THE FUCKING SIDEWALK, PEOPLE. its where people park their cars in bulgaria. this driver and i made eye contact. i swear in no way, did i intonate, "hey, hit me with your car, you fuck." so here i am ON THE SIDEWALK carrying no less than 50 pounds of camera gear, and this car car just lurches at me, hitting the camera bag first, and then me, a little. i am not even sure the driver hit the brakes, i think I actually stopped the car with my leg. a swift hood denting slap and a little special amadeo-nyc girlesque screaming put an end to the dispute, but raised the terror level to yellow, or orange, in the eyes of my client. thats when she starting referring to herself as my bulgarian mother.

its all good.

the rest of the day was fantastic. sofia is a truly amazing city to walk around. we leave here tomorrow morning, so, i will have to come back and visit. at about 8 tomorrow, we start our circumnavigation of bulgaria, leaving no small village untouched. we have several huts , hostels and hotels and thousands of km's in front of us, but stragnely enough, i am looking forward to it. i am sure there will be lots of great stories.

tonight, we went with our client, her husband and a bunch of their friends, to this local pub. i guzzled down several beers and had a nice fried trout. the bulgarians are a friendly open bunch (for vegetarians that smoke and drink). especially when they start drinking rakia, which i can only guess is the bulgie version of sozhu. i refused to touch the stuff.






well, i am gonna go finish up some work and get up in the morning for a run. i would upload some pics from today, but i forgot my cable. i will pick one up tomorrow.

-be good
amadeo