Ride Home from Macedonia

So the last few days I've been in Strumica, Macedonia, at the Southeastern Europe Field Conference. There were people from Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Kosovo, and Macedonia. There were several language spoken all of the time, but so many people spoke English quite well. In regards to interpreters and such, the services and seminars were always interesting as the speaker's words would be translated into several other languages. I was impressed on several occasions with the interpreters.

In regards to myself, I was quite awkward most of the time. It wasn't my finest hour of communication. I allowed my shy, introvert-tended self to prevent me from talking to many people. I met a few people, but most of the time, I hung around with the Bulgarian ladies although only two of them really speak English. I tried listening most of the time to work on my Bulgarian comprehension. I picked a few, and only a few, words. I'm not sure why social fear gripped me so this weekend. I supposed it had something to do with the fact I was in a completely new place with a lot of new people. The group of us on the bus also arrived last. This might not seem like a big deal, or maybe just an excuse, but I've noticed that if I'm last to arrive to a new place, I never really settle. I feel like I'm catching up to see/get to know people, and thus, I remain awkward. Lessons for next time... get over myself.

Anyway, I got back today (Wednesday). We left the hotel at 2:30 AM, and then we left the bus station at 3 AM. It was a disgusting hour to experience. I slept for an hour and a half before leaving, and I got a few more after we had departed. The bus was nicer than the one that brought us to Macedonia, and I was appreciative of that. When we finally got to Sofia, Simone, a girl here to interview and tape different ministries here in Bulgaria, and I decided to take a taxi instead of a public bus to my apartment. We had our belongings plus the bag of Simone's friend who is riding back with the Sunbergs later. We got in one with no problem, and I even was able to tell him where to go although I showed him the address just in case he didn't understand my combo of English and Bulgarian. On the way, we were caught in some traffic. Our taxi driver only spoke Bulgarian, and he asked where we were from. Yeah for my little Bulgarian knowledge! I could tell him "I was from the States, but now, I am in Sofia." Later, I told him I was here teaching English, and I'm also studying Bulgarian although I only know a little. We struggled a bit to figure out what age I teach, but it all came across fairly clearly. I pointed the last bit of turns to my apartment because for some reason my buiding number is not on the map. This is how he taught me to say left and right. It was a good taxi ride because he wasn't a scary driver and I practiced my Bulgarian. It was a simple but lovely conversation.