This is perfect. I was romantizing this place too much. I was caught up in cheap beer, the view from
my balcony, and my very simple life here. It became impossible to extend my
stay another year, although I thought maybe I could. I am so tired of being a
student. So recently, the rain has stopped and now there is just heat. My bedroom is upstairs and the once beloved
sky windows have not just created a hotbox where I cannot get to sleep. And then I went Globul..
When I bought my micro sim card for iPad internet, I paid it
all upfront: 14 Leva a month for 10months. Then because I am foreigner I was
told to pay 200 Leva which I could get back, when I cancelled my account. OK.
When I went there to cancel and get it back they said that I would have to wait
until the end of September and I would be paying the 2 months that I did not
pay from out of my 200. Then I have to
cancel in person and receive the remaining cash in person. This is
not possible. So can I cancel now and
you take the money 28 Leva and give me the balance. No, because the fee for early cancellation,
even if I pay the two months is all my deposit no matter what. What
happens if I don’t cancel and just say forget it? I am automatically enrolled in another year and
they start taking that from my deposit.
But my sim doesn’t work in any other country. I won’t be getting a service.
What am I being charged for? You are charged for not cancelling and even if
the service is stopped by us, you still have our sim. This can be very bad
because you will have debt in Bulgaria forever tied to your passport. Can I
cancel on-line? No. Can I cancel by
phone? No. So…? You need to have a
proxy who has a document that reads, Whitney
Snead is letting this guy cancel for me.
I go to Julij and he says sure, he will be around in
September but we need to go to notary for the official document. We first go to Globul and he speaks in
Bulgarian to the manager for some time.
They are arguing. She was the same woman who “helped” me but this is
better. So now it is September 5 when he
must come and cancel my account and it turns out I can pay now the two months. And
so if he presents this document then the money will now go onto my debit
card. Not cash in hand. Can I
give you my card info now and you put it in under my account? No. Can you give me something that says I am
paid in full and am owed 200 Lev on September 5? No. Can I have something that says that we saw each other on this date
and had a conversation? No.
We go to a notary. And because I don’t know Bulgarian it is
illegal to have the one who translates to me be the interested party. I have to have one more bilingual person with
me in order for Julij to cancel this account.
We go to 3 notaries and it is the same. Alex is ill but maybe on Friday
he can do it. I can’t even go to Globul
and say is this document ok? If he comes back with it will there be a
problem?
I leave Sofia in 7 days and this may have been the snap out of it slap I needed. I hate being taken. I hate when people say
one thing and do another. I hate when it is made absolutely clear to me that I
have no power. I was so pissed off this
morning about being a student, jumping through hoops for my stipend. Begging like a child. And now it is evening
and I begged like a consumer. Had Globul asked me for some chapters on Greek
settlements on the Black Sea, I would have had it to give. But they ask for my
time and commitment, my trust and patience.
This I don’t have.
A few years back I was trying to find some inner peace. I was/am too affected by exterior forces. I
don’t know how to forgive. And so I sent
for some books to be delivered to Blegen from other UC libraries. And David,
the librarian, asked what I was working on to get these crazy Zen meditation
books. I said I am working on some serenity! Yeah but you know what Lloyd Braun
said, serenity now, insanity later.
