I arrived in Tryavna last night.  We were scheduled to meet everyone in a hotel in Sofia outside of the city center and when I asked the Fulbright coordinator how I should get there she told me to take the bus.  I was nervous about this but figured I would leave early and if I got lost or had a problem I would have plenty of time to figure out what I'd done wrong.  Well, I told my landlord and his family this and they said, no, no, no. We'll take you. So on Sunday afternoon at 4pm my landlord and his wife showed up for me.

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I had two bags this time and a small bag of groceries that I hadn't eaten but I needed to turn my refrigerator off for the two weeks I would be gone.  I had written a thank-you note for the lunch th day before part in Bulgarian and part in English and in the bag of groceries I had written on a slip of paper that the eggs were hard-boiled.  I can't even describe the response I got from this small act.  But it included a lot of bravos and smiles and hugs.  The funny thing was that I more or less looked things up in a small handbook but I wanted them to know how  thankful I was for having me to lunch the day before and taking me to the hotel.

When we got to the hotel, I was glad that my landlord had offered to drive me.  I think it would have been difficult for me to find on my own.  I would have found it but I don't think it would have been easy.  My landlord is so nice and helped me carry my things over and it felt like he was dropping me off for summer camp or a field trip.  He spoke for a little bit to the Fulbright program coordinator who was there and when he was satisfied with the answers he kissed me on both cheeks and went back to his car.  There is something nice in knowing that someone is looking out for you.  I feel very lucky to have a landlord who is much more than just a landlord.

The bus ride to Tryavna was three hours long and pretty painless as far as bus rides go.  I met a number of interesting people from all over and Europe and Eastern-Europe.  One of the things that amazes me (but probably shouldn't) is how good everyone's English is.  Sure there are some great accents and I've played a couple of games of "guess which word I am reaching for-or have momentarily forgotten" but wow.  It embarrasses me that I don't know more languages.  I would also like to prove that I am not a stupid American who doesn't know another language but I haven't had the opportunity to show off my German.  Not that I could actually show off in German but I can put together complete sentences which is much more than I can say for my Bulgarian right now.  This said, it just makes me more and more determined to learn Bulgarian.  I can't wait to get back to Sofia and start taking classes.

One of the best parts is that I've been here for less than 24 hours and already I've had some great discussions with people... about Europe, about politics, about travel, about family and even about relationships.  I walked into town this morning with two girls from my program. I went mostly to see the town and they wen to change money, get some cold medicine and to have coffee.  I tagged along.

We walked through the town which is admittedly not very big.  One of the girls saw a Christian Orthodox church and wanted to go in; she wasn't Orthodox but wanted to see it.  The other woman was Christian Orthodox and walked through the church kissing saints.  What was interesting was that after she went through this ritual she told me that she can't remember the last time she went to church.  She explained to me that in the Christian Orthodox church only the elderly get to sit on the edges of the church and that men and women stand on separate sides during the service.  Wow, I am learning a lot and getting to see a lot!

We then paid to see the church museum--a number of old Icons.  These were beautiful.  The colors were still vibrant, well, for the most part.  I was struck by the way the icons seem so simple and flat in terms of craft upon first looking at one but then the detail emerges.  Not the kind of details like facial features or folds in a robe but the small details that explain who this saint was and what made him or her a saint--animals, children or the like.  On the second floor the museum, the floor was rickety and the steps uneven.  In the US, people wouldn't have been allowed up there but there were more icons and you could get a sense of how really old the building was.  The floor planks were 8 or 10 inches wide and on the way down the stairs you could see where others had worn down the stairs by walking there time after time.  It was such an unsuspecting church and the museum was well worth the 1 lev that it cost to see.

After this, we had coffee at a local cafe and as the girls put it the coffees were nearly free.  Our bill for the three of us was less than 3 leva--which is much less than a cup of coffee at Starbucks for anyone who is counting. We talked about places to travel in Europe and now I am very excited to travel and to see Europe.  So I have plans to make serious travel arraignments when I get back to Sofia.

More on all of this later, I've got to run to dinner.