Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Back from Sofia!


This is a picture of Daniele and Mattia when we went to the mountains on the Albanian border last weekend. I like the cross over the door to this building. I believe the cross has something to do with service to the community, but I am not exactly sure.

At any rate, Sofia was great. It is a 5 hour bus ride from Skopje and the countryside between the cities is beautiful. The mountains in eastern Macedonia reminded me of Colorado - very brown/gold with shrubs but no real trees except for by the rivers. When you cross the Macedonian/Bulgarian border, you have to go through 2 separate border guards. I was singled out at the Macedonian border because they wanted to see my police registration. All foreigners living in Macedonia have to register themselves with the police. I am surprised the guard was that vigilant, but I think it is because I don't have visa. He tried to keep my police registration, but I asked for it back and he gave it to me, smiling. I think he likes his job a little too much. There were no problems getting through the Bulgarian border. Once in Bulgaria, we took a 20 minute rest but since I had no Bulgarian money, I couldn't buy anything.

When we were about 50 km outside of Sofia, I saw what appeared to be a huge nuclear power plant. This power plant was enormous and very extensive in the valley. It also looked like it burned coal. It was a cement industrial giant in the middle of this valley. Upon arrival in Sofia, I quickly determined that the bus/train station is where a lot of weirdos hang out. Petya arrived shortly after I did and we went back to her place to meet Kyle and Cristi. For dinner, we ate veggie burgers near the Bulgarian version of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. I know veggie burgers do not sound very Bulgarian, but it was a welcome change. These veggie burgers were delicious, not dry and cakey. The rest of my time in Sofia was spent walking around the city, strolling into shops and meeting Petya and Kyle's friends. It was wonderful to be with people I have known for years (Petya and Cristi). The Bulgarians loved it when I spoke Macedonian because it sounds really funny to them. It is like having thick Southern or Bostonian accent in the US - just different. I introduced myself in Macedonian to Petya's Bulgarian friends and one thought I was Serbian! That was until I admited that, at this point, I know about 10 phrases in Macedonian :) I will put pictures up soon.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Emily,
Did you know that Golden and Veliko Turnovo, Bulgiara are like Sister Cities? Our staff has spent alot of time helping that community with their Infrastructure, etc. Here is a link to a story about it. Small world, huh? http://www.ci.golden.co.us/News.asp?NewsID=211

Denise