Struggling my way home

I should have stayed in Varna and I got thousand proofs for that during my trip home. Starting with my night train experience described in another post, I had really the worst trip in my life. I had to reorganise my bags in the airport because my baggage was 21,7 kg and they wanted me to pay 40 Euros for that. Then they probably thought I am a terrorist because it took them about 10-15 minutes to check my passport in the airport. First a girl was looking at my passport as it was a lettuce, then she called some guy who took my passport, told me to wait and left for 10 minutes and only after that they finally gave it back to me and let me go. With my luck, I don’t know how did they let me to keep my toothpaste, but I had to try my bag with ryanair bag-size-check-box.

When I thought that finally I am in the plane and it will be ok, I noticed that the guy who was sitting next to me was terrified of flying. And of course there was no single free place in the plane. As a result I was able to sleep for only around 1 hour from 3,5 because he was pushing me all the time (not on purpose but because he was all shaking and breathing loud and I don’t know who is this cruel person that convinced him to take this plane, but he should definitely travel by bus or train). When I arrived to London at first everything seemed great (even though I received my bag with a label that it was checked by the security in Plovdiv... still thinking I am a terrorist?), I didn’t have to wait at the security check since they have a separate line for people with electronic passports, and since there are just few, it was really fast to scan my passport with a special device, show my face to the camera and go without any interaction with people.

I left my bag at the storage room and took a bus to Stratford, where I was supposed to meet with a friend of my classmate to get the keys from the apartment I was staying at. On the way my friend told me there is a landlord inspection and I had to wait till 8 pm to go there, well, ok, I went to meet with my cousin, whom I haven’t seen for more than 2 years and actually it was the second time in my life we met.

I got an illusion that things got back to normal when we went to Giraffe and the guy first told us we have to wait for the table 40 minutes, but then there was a free table for us in 1 minute. Well, probably the fact that I walked the main street of the area where my friend lives 3 times back and forward before I found the right turn doesn’t count, but next morning my adventures continued.

In the airport they checked me as I was a terrorist again, touching all my body and scanning my legs with a special device (do I need to mention I was the only person to walk through the scanner in my socks?) No wonder they gave me hot coffee instead of the cold one, I had to pay double for the storage of my bag because I came couple of minutes later than the 24 hours finished, and of course they wanted me to check my bag for fitting in the box again or make me pay 40 pounds. Trying to hold my feelings and strong desire to send them all to hell I just told them I’m not gonna pay a penny, put all my clothes on and jumped on my bag a bit.

During my trip 3 belts for my bags broke (having 2 bags and 3 belts there usually shouldn’t be any problem), I got a strong feeling some power wanted me to stay in Varna. You could get an impression I am really unlucky with travelling, which is totally wrong; this is why I am so impressed with the last 2 days of my life. I'm just amazed my bags weren't lost and I'm finally home safe and sound!

Marketing campaign for Bulgarian trains - travel with Bulgarian trains!

Having one of the worst trips ever I learned that one of the scariest things in your life could be being alone in a Bulgarian train at night. First of all, you don’t know who you will sit with. My great neighbour was drinking beer all night long and talking to me even after I told him 15 times that I want to sleep and because of the fact that he was so great, I was afraid to fall asleep, so I had to listen. Next is the complete lack of information. There are no announcements of stations, no “tabels” with the station names, no info about any arrival time (and if you bear in mind that Bulgarian trains are ALWAYS late, it’s even worse), you don’t know whether your station is the last one or if you can wake up in a different part of the country next morning.

In addition to everything mentioned above, I had an experience with Bulgarian train toilet. NEVER go to the toilet in Bulgaria train, especially if you are travelling alone. Being a naive girl who thinks that Bulgarian trains are similar to the old Russian trains I closed the door and next minute realised that I am trapped in a 1 sqm large smelly, loud and cold room, in the middle of the night, alone, with no phone. Trying not to panic too much and thinking what will I do if I have to stay there all night long and miss my flight; I was beating the door with my fists hoping someone will hear me. 10 minutes later I was rescued, but the impressions and emotions I got are priceless and unforgettable. If you feel like you are bored and nothing thrills you in your life any more, forget about extreme sports, travel with Bulgarian trains! A whole marketing campaign could be based on just my impressions J

Varna. Conclusion.

Rommies :)

It wasn’t always perfect, there were ups and downs, lefts and rights, mistakes and successes, it was different even though we spent all summer between Cubo and Piratite and all autumn between Bolla and Sea Wolf... This is how it should be and I didn’t regret a day I spent in Varna even though sometimes I wanted to be home really much. This is the life paradox – the more you travel and the more you live in different countries – the more pieces your heart is broken into. But these pieces don’t go into trash; they are safely kept in the hearts of those who gave you a piece of their own heart. This exchange is painful, but it brings a lot of happiness once the pieces are together again, even for a short period of time.

I’m trying to make a conclusion of what life in Varna gave me, but it’s difficult, since these 4 months were like a separate world, even though they finished very fast. It seems like last week I came to Varna airport not knowing anything that is going to happen next, being frustrated after Sweden, happy that I am going to see my Ivelina again and expecting new experiences.

16 weeks later I am going home with completely different feelings. I know exactly what I am going to do at least next 8 months, my mind is more structured and organised, I am happy that I will see all my friends and family in Latvia, but sad, that I don’t know when I will meet again the people that I didn’t know 4 months ago and that became my family, and at the same time I am also happy about what these 4 months gave me.

Life, packed in two bags of 30 kg in total is complicated from time to time, but also exciting and I would never trade it for anything else. 

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! 

Last weekend in Varna

What can I say, my last weekend in Varna is oficially over. In one week from now I will be sitting at home in Riga, having home-made dinner from my grandma and sharing my impressions. It was a great weekend though, starting with Friday night at a nice place I haven't been at before - Underground club, where Clay was performing with some other guys (one was from Cuba, one from Bulgaria?). I tried playing darts for the first time in my life, met some nice people and eventually we went to Bolla (how come? we always end up in Bolla even if we say "no Bolla tonight", this is a magnetic place).

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.

Varna in September

So far, I love Varna in September. I must say it's much better than any of the Latvian cities in September. And there is number of reasons for me to say that.

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...

Bucharest trip

Few words about our trip to Romania – it was amazing, day and night comparing to what I was expecting. The image of this country that we have is really bad and completely wrong. All the people I know think about Romania as an a bit creepy developing country (how did they even get to EU?), with 99% of population being gypsies, creepy buildings everywhere, rubbish and graffiti on the streets, dogs that attack people and people that are not educated at all. In reality it is totally wrong. Like totally. If I didn’t know that I am in Romania (ok, not really possible to wake up somewhere not knowing where, but let’s imagine that), I could assume that it is Belgium or any other European country. 

Long week - longer weekend

Trying to pack my backpack, but it's hard, even though I have quite an experince in packing... Why I am packing? Well...

The day September 6 is a very important one in the history of Bulgaria. It is the Unification Day of Bulgaria with Eastern Rumelia (Southern part of Bulgaria) in 1885, separated in 1878 by Berlin treaty and given to Ottoman Empire with partial autonomy. However 7 years later brave Bulgarians finally got their territories back and are celebrating this day since then. For us as foreigners here this means two things - we are happy for our friends and we have one more day free. This is why this week we are working Monday to Saturday, however Sunday to Tuesday having 3 days holidays.

Loud birds vs partying neighbours

What do you do, when you start hating your neighbours? It's fine to be sleepy in the morning because of the party that you attended the night before, but is it ok to be sleepy because of the neighbours partying every night 2 floors below? Don't think so, however, I really don't know what is the best solution in this kind of situations. In my opinion, calling the police is the last thing to do, as no matter how much you want to sleep, it cannot compare to the problems the other people might have. However, when we had not even a party, just a bit more people than usual having some beers and talking even without any music, our neighbours called the police at 1 am. Now there is a party second night in a row and no one seems to care.
If I would be Bulgarian, probably, I would go downstairs and asked politely to be more quite, however being a foreigner makes is a bit more difficult. Yes, I am sure they speak English, or even may be Russian, however talking to drunk people at 1 am in English might be not the best solution.
Tomorrow I am going to write them a letter... But so far even my earplugs aren't helpful... Wish me luck.

Office things (good and bad)

Everything cannot be totally perfect. Even in our office there are drawbacks, even though I wouldn't want to say anything bad about it. It just seems rediculously stupid how people are fighting for the chairs. The fact is that there are couple of "better" chairs and the rest are just regular ones. And people are stealing the "better" chairs from each other. And this is not the whole story yet, they are putting the numbers on the chairs to recognise "their" chairs. When I came to the office, I had a "better" chair by defaul, but then someone put a number on it and it doesn't belong to me anymore. The problem is that at 16.30 the two shifts are changing, but for us it is about the time of making follow up calls to the clients. Do you think it's possible to hear anything oer the phone when there are twice as much people as there should be, all of them are talking and the chairs are rolling back and forward? I really don't want it to sound that way, but it's true, even our office is not always perfect.

Societies

Society is what makes people. Literally. First, outside of society people become animals. Second, because of the society people become what they are, because they want to be the same or completely different, depends on their value system.
In marketing this is known as "reference groups" -which is a person or a group of people that significantly influences the individual’s behaviour by providing standards or norms by which consumers judge their attitudes and behaviour. In real life it is know as opinion of the others and it's not a secret, that in different groups we behave differently in order to show that we belong there. Sadly, it will never change. Luckily for them, there are people who feel comfortable in almost every society. Me, I don't feel comfortable when I meet crazy people, because I never know what to expect, but luckily this doesn't happen too often.

1 year and 8 days

It's been 1 year and 8 days since I left home and went to Sweden for 5 months, then decided to stay in Sweden 4 more months, than went home for a bit and finally I am here in Bulgaria. 1 year and 8 days. But my home is where I am, so I can't say that I miss home, I miss my family and friends, it's true. 

Today I saw pictures of new arrivals in Kristianstad. It feels very strange now, especially after I've seen the picture of the house that I lived in and the window of "my" room was open... I'm wondering who lives in this room now and how are they dealing with the broken window... At least there's no more knoking sounds in the heater and ventilation, that took me 4 months and a lot of nerves to get rid of. (thanks wonderful organization "Krebo", we will NEVER forget you). 

Movies

Being addicted to the cinema, in Latvia I used to go to the movies at least once a week. Not talking about visiting 2-3 movies per day once a month when our great cinema (where one guy was shot dead earlier this year) had promotions and you could get to a regular movie for 1,5 euro. We had 4 cinemas in Riga when I was leaving one year ago, I think now it is 5 or may be 6, need to check it.
Being addicted to the cinema I was writing a business plan for a new one in Riga as my course work in university on my first year of studies. I even have my favorite one - called Cinamon and it's situated quite far from the centre, which makes it less attractive for the others and more - for me. Other advantages it includes are the unbelievably comfortable chairs. I have never seen such chairs anywhere else in my life. Last summer I used to come there after work, taking a seat at around 5th row (so that the 5-6 other people in the room are behind me, so I don't see them and I feel like we're alone - just movie and me).
And then... it all changed. I went to Sweden, where the regular ticket was around 10-12 euros, the cinema smalland far away and the website of it totally useless. So for the last year I've been to the cinema 4 times ("Black Swan", "Burlesque", "X-man" and "Hangover II") and I really miss it, that's why the mission I set for myself for the next free day is to go to the cinema and to see everything that they will show me there. (but not more than 3 movies, or it willbe overdose)

Two-day-holiday

Mission for the weekend:

-          To spend time with parents

-          To spend weekend outside of Varna

-          To get tanned

-          To eat pancakes that remind of childhood

-          To find something in the Golden Sands that is exactly like 10 years ago

-          To learn some new Bulgarian words

Mission completed!

Identification?

Let's start this with a quick question to my Latvian friends - how many of you have your personal identification documents with you EVERY TIME you walk out of your home? I think, if we really ask everyone, the percentage will not be high and it will mostly be people who have driving licences and people who smoke and need to show documents to buy cigarettes. I say "personal identification documents" and I mean driving licence or passport, because ... wait ... in Latvia we DON'T have ID. And I think we're the only country if not in the world, than in Europe for sure.

Life mixture

When you work with computer 9-18 five days a week, you don't really want to spend more time with it at home. It's better to spend this time on something much more interesting - especially if it's your summer time in another country. That's why I didn't write in my blog for such a long time, even my parents are already a bit mad at me for not communicating with them, but who can be mad at me for long? :)
Life in Varna is going pretty well, we finally went for sushi with Despina, I finally bought myself a paper notebook (thanks Peter Vassilev for showing me the book stores :) ) and don't have to write my thoughts and poems on random pieces of paper that I loose afterwards. I was sick for 2 days at the end of last week and spend my Friday night with theraflu and hot tea with honey and lemon - works every time. And on Saturday my lovely Despina made a dinner for me. It is soooo nice when someone is taking care of you, thank you darling! :)

Sea

Because the sea is changing constantly - 
every next wave is different from the previous.

My days are dedicated to my work, my evenings are dedicated to the sea. I love living in Varna and one of the reasons is that the city center is situated on the sea coast. Riga is also sea-city, however I need to spend 1 hour in the bus to get to the beach from my place and 40 minutes from centre. Here I can go to the beach just to read a book, as I did it on Sunday, listening to some music in my headphones. But when I came there, the waves were so huge and it was so amazing, that I just needed to share my feelings with someone and called my mom despite the price for international calls.