LG's Excellent PC Adventure

Our time in Saedinenie is drawing to a close. We'll be tested on language on Tuesday and wrap up training on Wednesday, then we'll be taken to Pazardjik on Thursday morning for our last Hub meeting as Trainees. We'll overnight in Pazardjik and be bussed up to Sofia on Friday to be sworn in as full fledged Volunteers by the US Ambassador to Bulgaria. Then the PC will cut us loose and we'll make our own way to our various permanent homes. Some of the group have commented on the fact that the PC has coddled us and shepherded us around like children since we got here and then, Bang!, they just cut us loose when we need assistance the most. Some people will have to move to their permanent sites on public transport from Sophia with all their worldly goods and chattel. I will hightail it back to Veneta's house for homemade chicken soup, stuffed peppers, clean laundry and a good night's sleep in my room. Then on Saturday, Stoil will drive me to Stara Zagora. Allow me to say, "Yippee!!"

We went to a truly pointless meeting in Sophia earlier this week and it was quite an experience. I had to get up at 5:30am to catch a 6:40am bus to Plovdiv. It was raining. There are no streetlights on my side of town. There are streetlights on the other side of town but they rarely work. There are no sewers or drainage culverts. The streets are nothing but potholes knitted together with strips of blacktop. You know that you've found a deep pothole when the water comes right up over the top of your boot. It was cold. But, we all made the bus and we caught the 9:00am express bus to Sophia after racing across Plovdiv to the South Bus Terminal. In Sophia we sat through a meeting in which a woman with a heavy accent read the slides to a Powerpoint presentation for one and one half hours. The slides were loaded with tons of economic data past, present and to come. It was the answer to an insomniac's prayer. After they woke us all up, we went to visit the PC office and were suitably impressed with how the 'other half' lives. We keep being reminded that "we're Volunteers and they're not". Finally, we went to lunch at a vegetarian restaurant that Maria knew about. It might have been the best meal I've had in Bulgaria. I will definitely take any of you who choose to visit to this place. The fried ice cream for dessert is worth the trip to Sophia.

Today I decided to go into Plovdiv to shop at the MegaMarina. That's the closest thing to a US grocery store we've got here. It's really nice and very well stocked and I wanted to buy Veneta and Stoil a couple of bags of miscellaneous treats to thank them for taking such good care of me. Up and down the aisles I went and without any further ado, I filled a shopping cart right up. They rang up my total and it was about what I expected. The only problem was that I didn't have enough money on me. I'm not sure why I didn't, but that didn't matter right then. See, in Bulgaria there is no such thing as a credit card or a personal check. Everything is paid for in cash. Everything. You want to buy a car, bring a large plastic bag filled with money. So there I stood with a line of grumbling Bulgarians threatening to get nasty held up behind me. Wait, there's an ATM right in front of the store and I've been issued a card so I can collect my allowances. Oh, unfortunately the ATM at the MegaMarina isn't actually working right now. Well, if everyone will just be patient, there's another ATM across the highway at the bus station. Okay, I shake a leg and run over to the bus station where I discover that my ATM card has been deactivated for some administrative purpose that I will learn about on Monday. Now I have to go back to MegaMarina without the wherewithal to pay for everything I've loaded on the counter. They begin pulling items back and when we hit the amount in my wallet I pay for the stuff and leave. I believe I'm permanently banned from MegaMarina, but it might only be for six months. My language skills still aren't up to dealing with banishment.

Veneta and Stoil were very pleased with the stuff I brought back. It's raining and tomorrow we have the farewell dinner for our Host Families. We've arranged an evening at the local restaurant and everyone is excited about it. People we don't even know stop us on the street to congratulate us on having such a wonderful party. We're celebrities here and the fame has gone to some of our heads. I've been known to offer autographs to any gathering of more than three people.

Well, it's time for me to head back to the house. Dinner will be served promptly at 8:00. Boy, will I miss the level of pampering I've experienced during the past two months.