Another Update

Hello loyal blog readers,

We are finally in our selo, safe and sound. We didn't get here without much stress, though. It wouldn't be our Bulgaria trip if it went smoothly! :) Just kidding. We really enjoyed our time in Sofia, but I think both Tony and I were ready to get out of the big city atmosphere. Neither of us are really into that scene.

We left Sofia on Sunday morning. We took a taxi to the local bus station (with our four suitcases in hand) and loaded on to a big, charter bus with plenty of room for us and all of our junk. The ride to Kotel was a fairly smooth one, and I even slept some of the way! We were pleasantly surprised and began to think that this trip would be smooth sailin', contrary to our beliefs before boarding the bus in Sofia.

We arrived at Sliven, one of the stops on our route, and I heard the "bus attendant" announce that the bus to Kotel would be in Sector 3 (go me for understanding!). I turned to Tony and asked him if I had heard her correctly but he hadn't been listening. He figured we were to be on the nice big bus for the entire trip, which made sense. Come to find out, we were supposed to board a different bus....a micro bus. Now remember, we're toting around 4 suitcases. Obviously, our things didn't fit in the "trunk" of the bus, so we had to load up our stuff in the middle aisles. We were the stupid Americans who had to bring our whole house and home with us on vacation, haha. I made Tony quickly explain to them that we were actually MOVING to Bulgaria, not just visiting. The people on the bus were very helpful and didn't mind our luggage, but we still felt a little dumb.

The ride on the smaller bus was so beautiful. As I looked out the window all I could see was vineyards of grapes for miles and miles! I've never seen so many grapes! We were traveling up in the mountains, and so of course that was lovely. These mountains are more like Virginia mountains than Utah mountains, and I love them. So pretty!

We arrived early to our stop in Kotel, and it was FREEZING outside! We sat on a bench and waited for our ride to come and take us to Medven. We waited......and waited......and looked at our watch to see that it was almost 6pm. Our ride was to pick us up at 5:26. Tony had our new, Bulgarian cell phone on him, and so he whipped it out to call our good friend Nickolai. As you all know, with new cell phones you are supposed to let the batteries run out completely the first time you use it. We had been trying to run the batteries out all week and you know the moment we really need the phone, it dies. We had no batteries in our cell phone, and no place to plug in our charger. We finally asked the worker at the bus station and she let us plug in our phone behind her desk. She was a really friendly lady and was planning on calling us a taxi to take us to the nearest hotel in Kotel if our ride didn't show.

Long story short -- the people had been waiting there since 4:50pm but "didn't see us". Tony and I still have yet to figure out how you don't spot two fair skinned, light-haired Americans with their four suitcases scattered about the bus station sidewalk. But it didn't matter much, we were happy to be out of the cold.

We reached our home in selo Medven and put our suitcases away. This place we are staying in is quite...rustic. I was joking to Tony that we are living in Laura Engell's Bulgaria home (that won't be funny unless you know who she is.....the Little House on the Prairie girl). Our room is really nice, with it's own [small] bathroom. The kitchen is a cellar where the homeowners make Rakia, a homemade brandy. Chicho Kolio tells us that his Rakia is like Fire water. (He even says fire in English, it's funny).

At first I was quite distraught by the looks of our new home, but now I think it's pretty darn cute. I love Maria and Kolio, they are so nice to us and have provided us with everything we need! The people in this selo are some of the nicest people I've ever met in my life. They're all so willing to help out and they all say hello as we pass on the street despite our American ways.

The Orphanage!
We began in the orphanage on Monday. We arrived at around 9am and had an orientation of sorts, then after a pochifka (little break) we began working with the children at 2pm. The atmosphere actually reminded me a lot of my old job at the House of Hope.

Most of the kids are mentally handicapped and the majority of them cannot speak and are bedridden. There is a "normal" group but there are only two children who are normal enough to attend the public schools here. Man, these kids are precious. I have learned so much from them! Even the ones that can't speak. One of the little girls named Nadia (she's one of the ones that goes to school) has taught me so much Bulgarian it isn't funny. The kids call me Kako (big sister) and Tony Batko (big brother)...CUTE! They've been singing us this song about зеленчуци (zelenchutsi = vegetables) and I can't get it out of my head. I'm going to tape them doing it and post it here for you all to see. It's great.

I've already grown to love these kids and I'm expecting some great experiences. It will be really sad when we have to leave them, I can already tell.