For the last week, we’ve been north of Sofia in the small village of Borovtsi, near the Serbian border. We’re staying at a home that provides job training and education for young men who have come out of the orphanage system. Usually, when they leave the orphanages, people lack the training and skills they need to actually have success, so it’s a great thing that this place is around.
The guys here are awesome, and it’s been a wonderful week. There are only five living here now because many just graduated. We all hang out, play Monopoly, paint walls, and play basketball together, and I wish we were here longer than a week. I mean, come on: I wish we were in Bulgaria longer than a month.
Borovtsi is in the area of Montana, which is the poorest region in the European Union. There is a large Gypsy population here, and today we visited a nearby school to say hello to the kids and the town.
Easter and Passover are upon us! On Good Friday, our team is going to have the opportunity to lead a Taize worship service (Taize is an ecumenical worshipping community in France that’s famous for its simple, meditative, multi-lingual songs. In college, I was involved in our very own service, and the songs have a special place in my heart.) And this Saturday night, right before midnight, we’re going to the main cathedral in Sofia to celebrate the beginning of Easter, Orthodox style… I am very, very excited and I’ll let you know what that entails soon! I know there will be candles and singing!
Another cool thing that happened this week in the country was this video, which is about the contents of our fridge. It’s a little weird, but hey, when you have a fridge on the World Race, you use it. Even if you don’t have much to put in it…
WR Refrigerator from Nicole Bouza on Vimeo.
