I won <a href="http://us.fulbrightonline.org/home.html" target="_blank">a Fulbright</a> four years ago to Bulgaria. Guess what? I am still here.

Four years ago, I couldn't read Cyrillic. I didn't know a word of Bulgarian. I nodded my head up and down to say "yes" and side to side to say "no." I'd never been to Eastern Europe. I'd never traveled alone. Hell, I'd never even lived alone.

I've come a long way in the last three and half years.

One of the first things I had the opportunity to do in Bulgaria was to attend a two week program hosted by the <a href="http://www.fulbright.bg/en/p-About-Fulbright-Bulgarian-American-Commission-for-Educational-Exchange-1/" target="_blank">Bulgarian-America Fulbright Commission</a> called the <a href="http://www.fisi-bg.info/" target="_blank">Fulbright International Summer Institute or FISI for short</a>. Even today, I am very thankful for that experience. It gave me a chance to meet a lot of really interesting, passionate twenty-somethings from all over Europe and especially Bulgaria. I number a lot of these people among my friends even today.
<a title="Dinner in Sofia with Friends by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/6917447483/"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7059/6917447483_974a4ea7e0_z.jpg" alt="Dinner in Sofia with Friends" width="576" height="432" /></a>
I met up with two of my FISI friends I. and I. recently.  One of the I.s is Croatian and studying at the <a href="http://www.sais-jhu.edu/about-bologna/index.htm" target="_blank">SAIS campus in Bologna </a>currently and the other I. is Bulgarian and working in Sofia.  I. came with a group of friends from SAIS Bologna to explore Sofia for a weekend.  We all met up for dinner and had a grand time.

It never ceases to amaze me how quickly some friendships can be renewed and how lucky I am to have friends from all over Europe. <em>Thanks, Fulbright!</em>

All in all it was a great night--I ate a little too much. I drank a little too much. I stayed out a little too late.

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