Returns

I returned to the states last month in order to secure a Visa, which I failed to get before I left.  I knew I would be returning when I left but I tried my best to ignore it and think of Sofia as the only option. I think it helped in working really hard to make it all work out the months I was here. Of course once I came back I loaded up on aspirin and v-neck tee shirts and the final Columbo DVD set 1994-2003. I bought books so that I wouldn't have to learn Russian through Bulgarian and mark up a book on Ionians and Miletus, the source nation for my emporia on the Euxine.

I took the time off from the blog because I thought without being in Sofia, my entries would come off as confessional and super personal. But this is not to say that the States doesn't have it's own set of wacky adventurous family and friends. It is also very discomforting to not live anywhere. I slept in people's beds alone and with company, in guest rooms, on sofas and futons. I never saw my cat but I drove my car, although I often got lost and felt uneasy about driving in a city that really I never had for any significant amount of time.

The Bulgarian consulate was just like Bulgaria, difficult. I was told that it would take 7 weeks to get my Visa. I was of course devastated. So I made phone calls to embassies and ambassadors. It was just how I used to be, brave and a bit of an egoist. I assumed that everyone who had come to ARCS and met me was charmed and if they were in a position to help, they would. They did and I had my Visa in 10 days.  Getting my books from Amazon took longer than the Visa.

And so this past Friday, I arrived in Sofia. I am in new apartment, living alone. I knew I would be living somewhere else when I left here as well, but I tried to ignore too. My realtor, Metodi, was just great and he found a place for me and helped me get my things from the old place and settle them here.  By 9pm my time Friday, I was in this new apartment.  I wasn't sure if I would mention the change , but the neighborhood is so different and I think it will really shape the rest of my experience here, and so I figured I should. 

I will have pictures but... I was anxious about the trip. I was being picked up by a car service that I didn't know how reliable it was and I wasn't positive that Metodi would come through; all our communication had been via email, and I had lots of books so I was again afraid about the weight of my bag. I had never been to Philadelphia's airport, etc, etc. And so I left my computer with the books in a great new bag in the States. It's the same nerves when I left my iPad at Walmart. It's this impending dread that makes me completely forget everything. As soon as I left that bag, I recognized that same feeling. I can think of dozens of times this kind of thing has happened. But it's coming and now all I have to deal with is that ridiculous customs office to get my laptop back.  At least Anton won't say that this particular package is wasteful. 

And therefore, I am writing the blog on my iPad and I can't upload pictures from it to it, if that makes sense.  So I will wait to describe my new place or the neighborhood until I show pictures.  Well, I am super glad to be back, working, listening to podcasts, wrestling with Russian, writing a dissertation, and keeping an account of it all.