Continuing on with the friends...

Well, I think I have talked about the main highlights of my friends visit. But let me just wrap things up. We spent the next couple of days in Stara going to class and relaxing in between. My students prepared some original plays and performed them for my friends. Although I must say, I was a bit disappointed as many of the groups were not ready. Afterwards we had an open panel discussion where many questions were answered and topics discussed. In other classes, my students taught my friends how to Horo, the traditional Bulgarian dance.


From Stara we took a quick trip to Plovdiv, a bigger city that is still able to keep the charm of an old town with its traditional style buildings and homes. After taking my friends to 7 or 8 different cities, I hoped their impressions wouldn't get monotonous thinking Plovdiv was just another medium-sized city where everything is in Cyrillic. But in fact I think they loved it and thought it was unlike any other city we previously explored. It's a green city with quite a few historical sites that we poked our heads around. Along the main boulevard there are some Roman ruins, including part of a small amphitheater that was apparently uncovered in the 1970s by a freak landslide... (Not sure if that is true.) There are also an awful lot of nice antique shops as you climb up the hill toward the really historic part of the city. My friends purchased more pottery and souvenirs but alas, ran out of room in their bags for anything more.


Then it was to off to the big capital city. Sofia! Sofia is usually the first impression people get of Bulgaria. But in fact, I find Sofia to be very unrepresentative of the rest of the country. But I guess most capital cities are like this. Sofia was not the fist impression of Bulgaria for my friends but their last. For me, in the beginning, I was never really a fan of Sofia. I thought it was big, dusty, and hard to get around. I always managed to get lost and never knew where anything was. But after so many trips to the capital for Peace Corps stuff or travels abroad, I slowly found my way around and discovered many things I have come to love about Sofia. I have my favorite hostel, my favorite restaurants I always hit up when I am in town, and then there is the night life - with many places to go out (but I will get to that in a minute).

Of course there are also the sights. That is not quite as fun after the 10th time you have been there playing tour guide to guests. But like a good tour guide, I had yet to fail my friends and was not going to start. We walked around the center briefly checking out the sites. Alexander Nevski Church. The National Palace of Culture and the adjacent monument voted ugliest site in Sofia. Vistosha Street, the Rodeo Drive of Bulgaria. The 4th century Church of St. George hidden behind the Sheraton Hotel. The former Royal Palace now housing the National Art Gallery. The yellow brick road. And others.

Lately, I’ve spent a lot of time in Sofia, always discovering something new. And I have come to find Sofia to be a very eclectic city. There is a variety of things one can do here. It’s actually not a dull city at all, you just have to know where to go. And most PCVs pass along their favorite spots making the list very long of cool places . Some of those places include...the Lebanese restaurant where one can never be disappointed with the hummus and delicious salads...the beer hall where service lacks but the beers are always free flowing...Maskata, the like rock club out in the Students District...the basement of the National Library that acts as a Karaoke club at night...and the list goes on and on.

After 10 days, 3 nights of Karaoke, a few nights on the floor, 2 days of class, countless Shopska salads, many carafes of wine, one run in with a cop, a broken down car, 8 or 9 cities, many more sites, one lightening storm, some broken pottery, lots of souvenirs, a few more tan lines, a couple extra suitcases than started with, many new friends, and unforgettable stories, I think my friends had a blast in Bulgaria. I am so happy I was able to share with them what my life has been like for the past 2 years. Now when I talk about it at home, they will know exactly what I mean because they have been there too!

Dare I say it, but I think my friends came to love Bulgaria and have found it just as charming and lively as I have, even when they felt a bit lost with the backwards head nods and the ever confusing Cyrillic signs, an alphabet they cant begin to understand.