Holy crap, I'm here. Well after not having internet for four days, of course them being when I first arrive, I have a book to write; so strap in because this is going to be a long ride for the both of us. Welcome to part one: the flight.
I left on Sunday around 11am and didn't get into Sofia until 130pm on Monday. The flights went really well; no glitches and they were on time with the exception of the hour wait on the Munich runway, but I was on the last flight so I didn't care at that point. And over the course of the travelling, I did 23 sudoku puzzles. A wonderful use of my time I think. But yeah, I got to the airport, had a surprisingly non-tearful goodbye with my parents (weird) and boarded the smallest plane I've ever been on. For real people, three seats with an overhead bin the size of a peanut. Come on. The flight was good and we got into Newark with no problems. I had some time to kill so I walked around in hopes of tiring myself out but I think I just looked crazy walking in circles, but whatever. There was another girl, Mary, from the program who was also flying to Munich so we met before the flight and it was nice to not be alone and there was of course that awkward meeting so I'm glad we got that over before actually getting to Sofia.
The transatlantic flight went well, considering it was my first. I had the pleasure of sitting by a Norwegian on a business trip who lived in New Jersey. He was really nice and gave me some tips for flying, such as I needed the two-pronged ear jack to hear the tv movie or to buckle your seat belt on the outside of the blanket when you sleep so if an attendant comes while you are actually sleeping they don't wake you. Stuff like that. It was pleasant and the food wasn't terrible either. Chicken and wild rice for dinner and a croissant for breakfast...not too shabby. I drank a lot of water which was good and bad and the bathrooms are about as big as a shoebox which was wonderful. And the need to pee came in waves for the plane in general because at certain times there would be a line and at others no one would be waiting. It's funny how our bodies sync like that.
I got to hang with Mary for a little bit in Munich and it was really great to have someone to talk to. She is pretty awesome and it was nice to know someone who was going to be there with me. The last flight, besides the wait, was short and sweet. They served this raisin bread which was tasty and strange because we always get pretzels; it was a nice change of pace. We landed, I got my suitcase and met the van driver from the university. We rode back with three dutch girls- Esra, Sabine, and Tessa- and two Americans like myself- Stephanie and Celeste. We actually had to turn around after 20 minutes of driving out of Sofia to return to the airport to pick up Celeste. During that ride we got to know the girls from Holland and they seemed really nice (which they are!) and it immediately raised my spirits about being here. The ride from Sofia to Blagoevgrad was beautiful. There was snow and gorgeous trees and mountains and it was just really nice, although the lulling of the ride didn't do anything for my fatigue and jetlag.
We arrived at the university, finally (!!), and checked in at Skaptopara II, Skapto for short. I'm going to be honest here, I was a little taken aback by the fact that the room was dirty. The floor was disgusting and I vacuumed the next morning, but it was not the greatest experience of my life. I explored my new home for the next four months. It was weird though because the room was basically empty so I kind of felt out of place because my roommates had reserved certain pieces of furniture. It was a little jolting but hey, this is what I signed up for so I can't really complain, but I just did, so...
I went to dinner, took a shower to wash away the traveling grime and then sat on the bottom bunk and stared at a picture Anna had given me and then I lost it. I cried. I don't know but it was just hard and at that point you just start questioning why you are even here. Which is what I did. And I just prayed really hard and journaled and it felt relieving to cry since I hadn't done it since finals week. After that there was only one thing to make me feel better: She's Out of My League. A piece of home and hilarity to help put me to bed on the first night on my Bulgarian excursion. What a two days. And that was just the first night. More to come....
I left on Sunday around 11am and didn't get into Sofia until 130pm on Monday. The flights went really well; no glitches and they were on time with the exception of the hour wait on the Munich runway, but I was on the last flight so I didn't care at that point. And over the course of the travelling, I did 23 sudoku puzzles. A wonderful use of my time I think. But yeah, I got to the airport, had a surprisingly non-tearful goodbye with my parents (weird) and boarded the smallest plane I've ever been on. For real people, three seats with an overhead bin the size of a peanut. Come on. The flight was good and we got into Newark with no problems. I had some time to kill so I walked around in hopes of tiring myself out but I think I just looked crazy walking in circles, but whatever. There was another girl, Mary, from the program who was also flying to Munich so we met before the flight and it was nice to not be alone and there was of course that awkward meeting so I'm glad we got that over before actually getting to Sofia.
The transatlantic flight went well, considering it was my first. I had the pleasure of sitting by a Norwegian on a business trip who lived in New Jersey. He was really nice and gave me some tips for flying, such as I needed the two-pronged ear jack to hear the tv movie or to buckle your seat belt on the outside of the blanket when you sleep so if an attendant comes while you are actually sleeping they don't wake you. Stuff like that. It was pleasant and the food wasn't terrible either. Chicken and wild rice for dinner and a croissant for breakfast...not too shabby. I drank a lot of water which was good and bad and the bathrooms are about as big as a shoebox which was wonderful. And the need to pee came in waves for the plane in general because at certain times there would be a line and at others no one would be waiting. It's funny how our bodies sync like that.
I got to hang with Mary for a little bit in Munich and it was really great to have someone to talk to. She is pretty awesome and it was nice to know someone who was going to be there with me. The last flight, besides the wait, was short and sweet. They served this raisin bread which was tasty and strange because we always get pretzels; it was a nice change of pace. We landed, I got my suitcase and met the van driver from the university. We rode back with three dutch girls- Esra, Sabine, and Tessa- and two Americans like myself- Stephanie and Celeste. We actually had to turn around after 20 minutes of driving out of Sofia to return to the airport to pick up Celeste. During that ride we got to know the girls from Holland and they seemed really nice (which they are!) and it immediately raised my spirits about being here. The ride from Sofia to Blagoevgrad was beautiful. There was snow and gorgeous trees and mountains and it was just really nice, although the lulling of the ride didn't do anything for my fatigue and jetlag.
We arrived at the university, finally (!!), and checked in at Skaptopara II, Skapto for short. I'm going to be honest here, I was a little taken aback by the fact that the room was dirty. The floor was disgusting and I vacuumed the next morning, but it was not the greatest experience of my life. I explored my new home for the next four months. It was weird though because the room was basically empty so I kind of felt out of place because my roommates had reserved certain pieces of furniture. It was a little jolting but hey, this is what I signed up for so I can't really complain, but I just did, so...
I went to dinner, took a shower to wash away the traveling grime and then sat on the bottom bunk and stared at a picture Anna had given me and then I lost it. I cried. I don't know but it was just hard and at that point you just start questioning why you are even here. Which is what I did. And I just prayed really hard and journaled and it felt relieving to cry since I hadn't done it since finals week. After that there was only one thing to make me feel better: She's Out of My League. A piece of home and hilarity to help put me to bed on the first night on my Bulgarian excursion. What a two days. And that was just the first night. More to come....
Not weird, SUPPORTIVE:) xo
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