01-11-02

Ok, now that I called Mom and broke the news to her, I guess I can tell everyone else. Christmas was pretty cool. We spent Christmas Eve in Bucharest playing cards in the hotel lobby all night long. It was really a great time. Since renting a car in Romania and taking it into Bulgaria is something that isn't really allowed, we decided to try for the train. That's a whole other story, which, when I have the energy, I will finally get around to telling! We took the train on Christmas day from Bucharest to Rousse (which is right across the Danube river from Romania). The total distance is less that 100 km but this trip took several hours. I'm not sure exactly why. We also had to bribe the conductor because apparently we had too many bags, looked like we had money, or just looked like foreigners. Maybe it was all of the above. Once in Rousse, we walked around and had a great dinner. I called Mom and got to talk for a couple of minutes before my phone card ran out. It was really nice. We spent the night in Rousse before renting a car and heading off into the deep unknown! Actually, we knew what we were doung, finally back in a country where we could speak the language, understand the money, and just basically attempt to function! We drove to Omertag and spent the night there. With all the snow and no chains on the tires, getting up the monstrous hill was funny, but we finally made it. After that we headed off to Varna. It was a craps shot really-nobody cared if we went to Varna or Bourgas, and it was decided with 2 objects hidden behind my back. Little did we know we chose the wrong hand.

Once we got to Varna we headed to the hotel. We checked in, but instead of bringing in the luggage right away, we decided to have a drink in the hotel bar. It was a hairy ride to Varna, lots of snow and slush that wasn't plowed, and a ton of fog. About an hour later, we headed out to get the bags, but the car was not where it had been left. To make a long story short (mainly because it has taken me weeks to finish writing this dumb journal) the car was stolen, and we got out of Varna that night on the night train to Sofia. While in Sofia we met with the country director, and the RSO (regional security officer) from the Embassy. They were all wonderful in helping with the logistics. We replaced the clothes and things that were replacable, and tried to continue having a normal vacation.

We went to Pana-G for New Year's Eve and had a great time, although it was the coldest I've ever been in my life!! We stayed with Tsanko and Petia, Jake's host parents, and they told us all about the Bulgarian traditions on New Years. What an event. All the families stay at home until about 12:30pm and then head to the center, where there was music and many, many fireworks. If you read my journal from the 4th of July, you remember me saying that there is a fireworks factory in Pana-G. Well, the town outdid itself. Despite the cold it was wonderful to just look at the fireworks and enjoy the many good things here.

We also went to the Rila Monastery, which is the treasure of Bulgaria, and rightfully so. It was beautiful. It's the oldest and largest monastery in Bulgaria, and I'm so glad to have explored it. We decided it was a great place to go hiking, and are already planning a trip this summer to hike and camp around that area. It should be fun.

Well, in my attempt to finally get this journal actually online, I'm going to stop here. I may add things from time to time, but you get the jist of it. I hope everyone had a great holiday season, and that you are all warmer than I am!!

Love, Sarah