Latvia and Bulgaria

Bulgaria and Latvia are two similar countries, even though at first it seems that they don’t have anything in common. Both countries have people who want to live much better than the corrupted government allows, however in Latvia there are much more people who want to escape by going to England, Ireland and Germany. In Bulgaria people’s national conciseness is much higher and as a conclusion more people want to stay in their country even if it’s not perfect (does anyone know a perfect country? Even Norway was attacked by a terrorist, and the fact that he was Norwegian only made it worse). Another expression of national belief is the protests that I witnessed less than one month ago. Protests in Latvia also happen, but firstly they are attended only by few people and secondly they don’t have any effect on anything. I wish my country to wake up and to look at all the problems not from the position “I want to escape”, but from the position “I want to change it and I will”, however even for me while writing this post is difficult to imagine that something like that can be done.

Living in Bulgaria for me was great, as I felt the connection with the culture, language and people, the politics and economy doesn’t differ much from what I am used to and the climate was normally much better than in Latvia, however the 2 rainy weeks in October made me reconsider my opinion about the great Bulgarian climate.

It was really sad to leave, especially considering that the last couple of weeks everything was becoming better every day of my life, but life goes on and this page of my life finished. May be I will come back one day and I would really loved to, but life’s unpredictable and I cannot plan anything like that so far. So, keep in touch and thank everyone for everything! 

Managing the time

Hey guys,

I know you're all probably mad at me for not writing a lot, (I mean 1071 preview of 35 entries, it's like 30 previews per entry in average, no kidding), but it's only because I really don't have time to write in my blog these days. After we came back from Turkey, we only had 4 working days break and went for another trip, this time around Bulgaria. Finally visited the capital - Sofia and the old capital - Veliko Tarnovo. Well, in Veliko we have only seen the foretress and the place where we had lunch, but I must say the city is very beautiful and the view from the hill where the foretress is - is just amazing.
Sofia was better than I expected since for three months that I spent in Bulgaria I only met 1 person who likes the city and I thought it will be terrible, but actually it was kinda cool. I mean I wouldn't lie to live there, but it reminded me Riga a bit, just surrounded by mountains, bigger and with IKEA. However the bad part about Sofia was that we met thousands of people protesting against gypsies, and for me it was quite an unusual experience. I mean we don't usually have protests in Latvia and especially the rasist ones. Oh well, not my business.
Later on we went to an increadible place not far from Sofia, 1000 m above the sea level with population of 2,500 people, named Koprivshtica. The really generic Bulgarian village, however with an important role in history, since this is where the uprise against Ottomans started. (as I was told).
We spent 3 days in the car practically moving all the time and seeing something curious, thanks to Ivelina and Chris who planned this trip for Des and me and patiently were driving and telling us about the places. I will miss travelling with you, guys!
After that I finally had to start writing a huge paper for my university with the deadline of November 7, however I don't know where I have less time for that - here when I'm practically leaving or in Latvia - where I haven't been for a while...
Trying to write my paper I had to manage combining it with meeting with Pris who was with Des and me in Sweden in first semester, Zhuo, who was also with us in Sweden, but I never met her before and she only stayed in Bulgaria for 2 weeks and is forced to leave tomorrow, trying to spend some more time with all the other people and sleep somewhere inbetween.
Last weekend was a disaster since Autumn came too suddenly. On Saturday I went for a walk in my t-shirt and on Sunday I woke up in the middle of Autumn. from +24 to +8 in one night is too shoking for me, so the very first thing I wanted to do was make a lot of hot tea and never leave my bed. However need to get used to this weather as in Latvia it won't be better and it's less than two weeks left till I will meet with my home country after this long trip.
Lots of plans, no time and lots of work to do. That's the life I like.

Some updates

- Hey, how are you?
- Great.

Really, there are always some negative sides in life, but in general everything is going great. Last weekend we went to Istanbul and I just cannot describe this trip, because my emotions are so huge, that there are no words to include all of them. Firstly, it was great to meet erasmus people with whom we spent half a year of our lives in Sweden. Secon, the city itself is the most amazing and increadible city that I have ever seen and could ever imagine. And now if you mix this, add +27 degrees weather, amazing food, increadible culture, lots and lots of fun and multiply by 100 maybe you will understand how I feel about the trip to Istanbul.
And tomorrow another trip is waiting for us, but this time around Bulgaria.
And I have only 3 weeks left here in Varna, after that I am going back to Latvia to continue my studies.

Today I understood one thing, that was missing. There was something missing in the air, in the environment, in things around, and it was yellow leaves. I mean, it's quite strange for me, from the one hand, it's still warm weather, so the trees are green and everyone is still wearing flip flops, but from the other hand I know that it's been already one month of autumn, and for me autumn is scarf, coat, and long walks in the park, full of golden leaves. II'm not sure how is it going to be here the following three weeks, but I know that when I come back to Latvia, there will already be no leaves on the trees, so if trees will not start becoming gold urgently I'm gonna miss my autumn this year. Even though it's not my favourite season, it still feels strange.
However, life still goes on the way it wants. Neighbours are still being assholes, work is still being a bit stressfull, free time is still being too short to do everything. And in this context I already need to start thinking about studies and meanwhile planning meeting with my friends in Latvia after I come back. First weekend is already fully-planned and I am even already planning a small trip to Lithuania after coming back, since I promised my friend in Vilnius to visit her in November. Actually, usually autumn is quite a melancholic season, but it seems to me that this year there's no time to be melancholic.

Latvia, not Lithuania. (almost "Istanbul, not Constantinople", if you know what I mean)

I personally think, that confusing some things might be even worse, than just not knowing, because when you confuse them it means that you don't know a ship neither about one, nor about another. this is why i wasn't really good with dictations at school, as in my opinion writing the other word instead of requested one shows that you are twice as stupid.
I got used to the fact, that when people ask me where i am from and i say Latvia, they usually don't really know, what the hell is the country named like that and where is it. but when the following conversation happens, it is just pissing me off;

- where are you from?
- Latvia
- Aaah, Lithuania, cool. 


if i know something about people, they tend to confuse Austria with Australia, Syria with Serbia, Sweden with Switzerland and things like that. and from all these countries Latvia and Lithuania are probably the most similar, I mean Latvian and Lithuanian are the only two languages in the Baltic group, the countries are at least neighbourts and the economies are similar, however still, they are different. and even though I have 2 really close friends in Lithuania and I like this country, when people ask me to say something in Lithuanian, well... i say some words i know in Lithuanian, but then i want to punch them in their faces. sorry guys, but those are kinda basics, at least to know the names of the countries in Europe... and our flags are completely different. well, actually our flag is confused with the Austrian one sometimes, but that's another story...