Made It!

I finally made it to Bulgaria, but it has been a long trip, and if it wasn’t for a couple of people I wouldn’t have made it at all. I kind of set out later than expected, and when I was almost to the bus stop, I realized that I had forgotten my passport in the luggage I was leaving in storage. Luckily, Kevin had given me all of his change. If he would not have, I would not have been able to afford calling Jerome House and getting through to Stephanie. Stephanie was able to relay my message to Liza, and Liza and Max ran to the bus station with my passport. I was five minutes away from being left behind, which would have been horrible. Thanks to these people, I made it to Bulgaria. The bus ride, though 27 hours, was somewhat pleasant, and I had a great discussion with my neighbor about Czech politics, in English, which helped the time fly by. Of course, I had horrible cramps from trying to sleep while sitting up, but it was worth the money.
One thing that bugged me about the bus ride was the movies played. Although they were entertaining, all four films were gruesome and it seems plausible that Czechs would look at these films and believe it reflected the culture of the United States. Petr, the man sitting next to me, said that in Islamic states, films from the US are the only form of our culture that they see. It seems a poor way to represent what we believe.
After I was dropped off in Sofia, I had to find a train to Veliko Turnivo. During this time, I though I had lost my luggage, but it was luckily not lost and I made it to this small Bulgarian city with all my limbs. It is weird being out of Prague. I’m not used to the life here, and people already have made friends since the program started on Tuesday. I’m sure I will find people, but right now I feel quite alone. I thought I would have friends from BC, but they have left for the coast for the weekend. I might try to meet them there, but it could be difficult…