Manpri's and Man Bags

6/7/09
I keep starting to write an entry but wind up getting distracted and not doing it. I’m currently sitting in Sofia at Gabi and Yavor’s apartment. They live in “Old Sofia” downtown. Last night we went walking around the city and saw the huge church that are in all the tourist photos. Even got some of the same pics myself! I love it here… quite a change from my village life. Last night the family and I went to a restaurant in the center and sat on the patio (I love patios) and did had the 2.5 hour dinner. It was so nice outside and the food was good but dang I was about to fall asleep. What was awesome though is that Bulgaria and Ireland were playing the World Cup qualifier match in Sofia last night. People everywhere had flags draped over them. My favorite part was that every time something good happened the roar echoed through the city! Sources tell me that around 40,000 people were at the match. (They tied 1-1.)

The actual reason I’m here with my host fam is that my host ‘dad’ is flying back to Bulgaria today. I can only imagine how the greeting will go when he gets through security. I’m probably going to stand there doing my best “I have no idea what any of you are saying” look with a big smile on my face! But hey, I love roommates! Gabi and her 21 yr old son, Kalin, had been staying in Kravoder with us for about a week so I was able to speak English at home. But it’s about to be just me, Emi, and Kiril and no English.

Everything is still going well. Still loving the village and my group. I’m pretty much convinced that I got one of the best satellite groups. Shoutout to Megan’s family! She told me she directed people over here since she still hasn’t started a blog. If you’re reading this, she’s doing great and I think she’s awesome!!!

That’s all I got. I’m sure there was more but since I didn’t write myself any reminders I can’t think of them. Peace.

….. Many hours later….

Back in the village with my new dad. Big day in my life! But to keep with the order of the day…

Emi, Gabi and I left the apartment around 10 and the day began. We got in the car and headed to Sky City which is like an indoor shopping mall including grocery store, North Face store, and all sorts of other things. We left, parked the car and started walking! They took me all around Sofia pointing out monuments and various other things I don’t remember. The main thing was walking to St. Alexander Nevski church and going inside. It. Is. BEAUTIFUL! Its building began in 1882 and was completed in 1912. We walked around some more. I think my favorite part of walking around was whenever we crossed a street one of them would grab my arm and hold on to me. Some might find this slightly annoying but I think it’s cute. Makes me feel safe and reassuring to know that if I go down, someone else is going with me! Then to Kalin’s apartment to pick him up and headed to the airport. After waiting at the airport for awhile, Kiril arrived and it was the sweetest thing watching Emi when he walked through the gate. She hadn’t seen him for 3 months and was SO excited to be with him again… all this after 43 years of marriage. Presh. We went to a café for a little while with the group then Emi, Kiril and I came back and I fell asleep in the car.

And that’s the overview of my adventure. Back to trainee life tomorrow but that’s okay because I love it. Look back for pictures soon.