September 24, 2000

Today is Sunday and Kate and I just returned from our first weekend excursion to Varna, the biggest city on the Black Sea. On the way home on the bus this evening, the weather was turning into fall before my eyes. The sky was a million shades of gray and hanging low like a blanket coming down upon a newly made bed. The air was brisk and, at a rest stop, I saw that if I blew air from the back of my throat I could make steam come out of my mouth. After being here in Bulgaria for nearly four months and only seeing summer, it is comforting and exciting to see the seasons change. I kept thinking about our traditions in America when it comes to fall: Halloween, hunting for a pumpkin, football, raking leaves. I thought about my roommate’s brother when I was a freshman at OSU. I remember sitting in his car, driving through campus, and he said this is an exciting time of the year. Things were starting up, namely school, and it was a time for new beginnings. The sun is setting much earlier and as we turned on a bend in the road I saw the road behind us wiggle off into the horizon. A few cars were driving in the dusk, their lights penetrating the evening – some red, some white. They blinked rapidly through the trees and the farms covered the land much here in northeastern Bulgaria much like it does in rural Ohio. But there is a different feeling here and it’s more than just knowing that I’m thousands of miles away from with what I am more familiar. I don’t know exactly what the different feeling amounts to and I don’t know exactly how to put it into words. It’s still bouncing around inside of me and it will probably take a few more experiences like this to help me put some words to it.

As far as our trip to Varna, the city was absolutely beautiful. I didn’t expect the city to be so rich in architecture and relatively clean. All around the center of pedestrian Varna were 19^th C. buildings, built, I assume, in a type of Victorian style that has been fairly well preserved. We visited the beach and were disappointed because of the millions of cigarette butts that outlined the arches the waves leave upon the sand, but it was wonderful to see the horizon meet the sea. It was cold and windy but worth it. We managed to catch our first glimpse of the Olympics and saw Marion Jones win the 100-meter race. What a look on her face! We spent our time lazily walking the streets, checking out some museums, and splurging on some good food.

There is one other story that I need to tell from last week. On Wednesday, Kate and I went to a pre-school to pick up some chairs that were supposed to be in our apartment. (Don’t ask me why there were there, I have no idea!) We arrived there and managed to get our point across and then we were invited to have a seat in the teacher’s lounge. While the students were taking their nap, nearly all the teaching and cleaning staff came in and began talking with us. Soon the director came in and started talking to us a mile a minute while we were catching maybe one or two words per sentence while she spoke. They were patient with our language and began laughing and enjoying our company. They were all smoking up a storm and then soon after we were offered coffee. I drank some and we began talking with these perfect strangers like we were all instant friends. They asked us lots of questions and we attempted to ask questions also. It was just another afternoon in Bulgaria – where company comes first and people have priority over tasks. I felt so welcomed in their presence as they worked to use language that we could understand. It is such a Bulgarian thing to pass by people on the street and feel a coldness at times, but if you were invited into that person’s living room for coffee you would be introduced to the most welcoming and genuine person you have ever met.

-Josh