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Vratsa. Why was she making this offer? he wondered. Was it because she felt sorry for him, a
visiting retired professor who was beginning to show his age and display a
growing number of physical ailments? Did she take pity on him for coming to a
foreign country with little hope of finding a missing loved one? Or was it
possibly because she felt a need to compensate for her own embarrassment that
he had fainted in her home?
    He couldn’t figure out why Sophia from
Sofia was being so friendly to him. He smiled at her and sipped his coffee.

 
 

Chapter
13

 
 
    Hi
Grandpa,
    I
made it to Bulgaria! Who would have believed it?!? I’m sitting here on the far
side of the world, somewhere in Eastern Europe. I bet you can’t find Bulgaria
on a map. I certainly couldn’t until the Peace Corps accepted me and informed
me that this is where I would be volunteering.
    I
made it all right, but my bags didn’t. I had to run to catch the plane in
Munich, but I guess my suitcases didn’t run fast enough. It looks like I’ll
need to wait another day until they get delivered. Good thing that I was
carrying my laptop in my hand luggage.
    One
of the trainers in the program met me at the airport, and we traveled together
by bus to Vratsa, a town in northern Bulgaria where I’ll be doing my initial
training. Everything is an adventure for me—even riding the bus. We bought
tickets at the central bus station in Sofia and were assigned our seats. We
waited quite some time for the bus to arrive, but finally it pulled in. From
the outside, it looked like something real ancient, but when we got on, I was
surprised to see that the seats actually were quite comfortable. We weren’t the
first ones to board, but when we did, we discovered that two older women were
sitting in our places. We had a huge argument with them, showed them our
tickets, we even had to get the driver involved (which was a story in itself
because no one spoke any English). Finally, the two women agreed to move to
their own seats, which were at the very back of the bus. They kept mumbling the
whole time—maybe even cursing us—and we finally sat down for the two-hour trip.
Hmm, I guess that could happen anywhere, and it’s not necessarily a Bulgarian
thing.
    We
got to Vratsa, and, for some reason, the trainer insisted that I immediately
see where our course would take place. It’s in one of the local schools, quite
a run-down building. They don’t have much money for renovations, and the budget
for repairs is practically non-existent. In any case, the only memorable thing
to say about the school is that the view through the windows is of some high,
beautiful mountains in the near distance. It's absolutely gorgeous! I can’t
wait to go hiking in the countryside. I think I’ll like the mountains!
    I
was shocked to learn that one of the first things I have to do here is learn
Bulgarian. Ok, they may have mentioned something about this when I was given
details of the Peace Corps program. We’re going to start intensive studies
right away. Each of us will be assigned a local host family—one that doesn’t
know any English at all. We’ll be spending a lot of time with our families, and
I guess it will be a sink-or-swim situation. Either we learn Bulgarian quickly,
or we starve.
    I
guess that’s all for now.
    Scott
    P.S.
The Bulgarians are very interested in my Magen David. One of the people I met
commented by saying that the Jews are truly respected in Bulgaria. Not exactly
sure what that means, but I guess I’ll be finding out a lot about this country
in the coming months.

 
 

Chapter
14

 
 
    “The first Peace Corps volunteers came
to Bulgaria in 1991, shortly after the change in the Bulgarian political
system. We currently have some 130 volunteers, but over the course of the
years, more than 1,100 young Americans have served with the Peace Corps in
Bulgaria. We have two groups of volunteers coming a year, although that may
change. All of our