Album 08\07\2011, by Kristin Lindstrom

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Family/Friends

Last night we had dinner with Valya and her family. They have taken very good care of Megan while she has been here. I am grateful that Megan has them! It was nice that Valya speaks English so well. I didn't feel as out of place as I did with Mariana and her family, they spoke no English. Their curiosity of the United States and our traditions, foods we eat, and just people in general was interesting. I guess until you see both countries you really have no idea. Minnesota is so similar to Bulgaria in many ways. I think it would be easy to live here, except for the language thing. :) I have been surprised at the number of people that do speak some English. It's a treat when you find one of those people!

Lunch on Friday with the family Megan lived with for her first 3 months here. It was in the village of Popitsa. A 5 hour train/bus ride from where Megan lives now. This was the first time she had been back to visit with them in almost a year. She did see them at the B27 swearing in ceremony. What can I say? So MUCH food! I couldn't eat it all. We had cake, peanuts, icecream, watermelon and junkies before this was served! I was already stuffed! There was also bread and cantaloupe. They have 2 huge gardens! There was a storm a couple of days before we got there and they were still cleaning up from it. The gardens were still beautiful! So many vegatables and flowers.

In a couple of hours we will head to Sofia. The last of the train rides for me. We are planning on seeing the military museum this afternoon and the zoo and some of the churches tomorrow. It's hard to believe that my 2 weeks are up. They went by way to fast! It's been a bittersweet trip!

Pictures of Vratsa

The view from our motel.

Giant chess game in the center.

The horse statue I never thought we would get to!

A beautiful view.

I made it to the top of what felt like 4,000 stairs!!!!

Taking a break.

More stairs!

I'm not so sure I want to attempt this.

Vratsa

We toured Vratsa yesterday. The mountains are beautiful! I have had my picture taken with more statues in the last 10 days than I have in my lifetime. Some of them are so huge, you just can't imagine until you stand next to them. I can't put pictures on until we get back to Megan's house.

My legs and feet are tired today. We hiked up, what felt like 4,000 steps, to see the statue of the "guy on the horse". The view was amazing! I think if I wanted to see it again I would pay someone to drive me there! I'm sure they don't allow people to drive on the road that does go up there but it would be fun to try to find someone to do it.

Today, we are off to Popitsa to visit with Megan's host family. Hopefully, it will be a short visit and we will head back to Megan's. I feel like I have the deer in headlights look a lot. I have picked up on a few Bulgarian words but not much. It's always nice when they speak a little English, her host family does not.

The other day I was waiting outside of Megan's building for her to come down. A lady started talking to me in Bulgarian. I said the word English, she kept on talking and pointed to the other building. Luckily, I had met Lexi, another Peace Corps volunteer and knew that she lived in that building. I said Megan, and this lady got more excited, kept on talking away. Then I said the word mama and she really exploded! Come to find out it was the crazy cleaning lady I've heard so much about. Megan said she was probably telling me all about her grandson.

Another Train

Today we are off to Vratsa!  We are hoping for a little cooler weather there!  It did rain last night and cool things down a little. 
 
We didn't do much of anything yesterday.  Megan had to go to the police to get her identification card renewed.  It was nice to just hang out at her place for a day. 

A day at the park/zoo.

These pictures speak for themselves. TOURIST!!!

Birthday Dinner!

We went to an Italian restaurant for Megan's birthday. Eating out here is an experience. Megan ordered spaghetti with garlic bread and I ordered a pizza. My pizza was on the table in about 10 minutes the spaghetti came about 20 minutes later. The garlc bread never showed up any where but on the bill. Happy Birthday Megan!