We’ve made it to Bulgaria! Bulging with emotions, big packs, and big hearts ready to do the Lord’s bidding.
It has been two days that my team and I have been in Bulgaria and every hour of the waking day has felt like I am on alert ALL the time. It’s tiring not understanding another language; and at times exhausting interpreting the language, culture and local customs on our own without an English guide or a local host.
I’ll let you in on a glimpse of our day 🙂
Picture this…
This morning our team woke up with one mission. To arrive to Lovech, Bulgaria. All together, and safely.
We wake up at 5:00am to prepare for the day’s journey, and are packed and ready to head out by 5:50am. With Moe – the trusty box of books we have been travelling with to impart with others over the course of the next few months.
The train we planned on taking left at 6:50 from Sofia, Bulgaria’s capital, and to get there we needed to take a Metro subway and switch lines once before arriving to the railway station. We made it to the station and arrived in the ticket line 10 minutes before the train was to leave. No big deal, we had time.
I am now in line to get these train tickets when a fellow approaches me and questions where I am going, he “helps” me get to another line where he proceeds to speak on my behalf to the lady behind the counter. I am thinking to myself, Thank Jesus for people who can interpret for us…now what will this service cost me? This gentlemen tells me to gather my people and we hasten, and I mean hasten because we now have less than 5 minutes to get on our train. We head down a long corridor and up a lengthy set of stairs (mind you we all have our near 50lb packs on) and finally we are standing at the door of the train and all 5 girls get on ahead of me. I shake my new friend’s hand that he has stretched out to me and ask him his name. He responds, “Angel” and I thought to myself how suiting, he must be sent from above. Right after this exchange he holds out his hand again, and I realize he probably didn’t want to shake my hand in the first place but rather wanted payment for his service. After resolving this confusion, and sitting down on the train, I realize how wound up and overwhelmed I am and it’s only 7am.
….
This experience to date has been exciting, wonderful and amazing just to see how the world spins in Bulgaria and to see God working in the lives of my teammates and myself as we adjust to the World Race and leaving behind many comforts of life back home.
Although we may feel zonked and overwhelmed in some moments, these past few days of adjustments have been stretching and educational in many ways.
My team and I are currently staying in Lovech, Bulgaria looking to partner with new ministries in search of potential future hosts for future World Race teams. Pray that we find local ministries to reach out to, and that we can come across housing for the month as well.
Heads up – At the rate of my Bulgarian Language acquisition abilities, I am predicting my next blog will be entirely in Bulgarian 😉
Dobar Vecher Friends (: (Good Evening!)
