72 hours in Bulgaria

(Dear reader,

Others are in far-flung areas of the world posting pictures but we are in an Internet vortex where pictures refuse to load. Photos to come - narrative to follow)

  

The airport in Frankfurt held little drama other than the momentary  loss of Chelsea's backpack and sitting at the wrong gate for an hour.  However, we arrived safely and exhausted, but excited to see and experience Bulgaria.

 

Finally the Bulgarian contingency arrived in the city of Sophia. Tired but smiling we walked to the open market where we met people very interested in talking with us. A woman selling fruit posed for a photo and gave a banana. Some men were just playing chess in the market and stopped to talk with us for a while. (They thought we were French!)

 Our first evening in Bulgaria was celebrated at a dinner club with folk music & dancing with and traditional Bulgarian food.  Everyone danced and celebrated our arrival.

We took a tour of the Sophia, the capital of Bulgaria  and we saw every important church, school and government building. 

We also saw democracy in action as there was a large, organized protest with flags and whistles, bull horns and music that sound like slow, dark marching music. There were police watching everywhere; the protest was peaceful but it was LOUD 

And now we dance! Ava taught us several different Bulgarian folk dances. Don't laugh! We gave our best feet forward.

We left Sophia this morning for Samokov (our wonderful Mari's home town) where we visited Mari's elementary school and the local hospital. Both were very eye opening experiences. 

We visited an elementary school.  This was the elementary school where Mari went to school as a young girl.  We met her 1st grade teacher!  During our time in the school, we visited with the teachers and the young students.  The children were very receptive to our visit.  In one class, we played volleyball.  During another class, Chelsea sang, "How Could Ever I Know".  The children loved hearing her sing.  Eli found a piano and played for the teachers, and we enjoyed our time in the school.  The highlight was hearing how the children learn two languages before they leave elementary school!  

We had the opportunity to visit one a hospital in Samokov, Bulgaria. It  was a truly unique experience.  We were able to visit various departments in the hospital including radiology, neurology, pediatrics, and even an ICU setting.  We saw conditions that gave us  a greater appreciation of our medical care in the United States. We welcomed twins to the newborn nursery and  met with the Medical and Nursing Director of the Hospital.  

Dinner tonight is including "Calf's Head in Tripe",  "Tongue with  Butter" "Chicken Leg Stake". Mari's mother kindly sent us homemade desserts of stuffed pasties and crepes. We are stuffed.

(Insert food photos)