Photo: Plamen Mironov
April 5, 1993 I arrived on time at Sofia airport with no problems, just very tired. There were a number of people to greet me, including Plamen Dimitrov from the Citizens Democracy Corps (CDC), Plamen Mirinov - president of BG PLAN, and my interpreter Albena, a woman who speaks English very well. I was very tired from not being able to sleep on the flight & the time change of 9 hours. It is going to take me a while to get used to the difference in time.
Photo: My apartment, top floor, windows on right
They take me to the apartment located near downtown Sofia. It has a living room, bedroom, kitchen with modern appliances, bathroom. It also has a stereo system with tape deck and CD deck, a color television, an espresso maker, a microwave, dish washer etc. I am told it belongs to Bulgarian ambassador to England. In the apartment is a photo of the owner with the Queen.
Because of my bad knee, I am disappointed to see that the apartment is 5 flights of stairs up. I had injured my left knee a few weeks earlier in a soccer game. Now both my ACL's were non-functioning and I walked like an invalid since it was soon after the injury.
The company, BG Plan, also arranged for a woman (Luba, an electrical engineer senior) to come to clean, wash clothes, and help with shopping. It is all a little overwhelming. The people at the CDC office say this is much more than is usually provided to volunteers. I guess I'm lucky it's an insurance company. I am ready to defect and live in these decadent post-communist days.
Photo: Downtown Sofia
April 6, 1993 On Tuesday I spent the day with CDC people, and with Plamen D. visited a company that makes fragrances, toothpaste, and related items. I was there to observe. They wanted help from the CDC for marketing purposes. Most of their sales had been to the old USSR, and now Russia can't afford to buy much of anything. This need for a new market is a big problem for many Bulgarian companies, and a reason why most are still controlled by the state. I found that Plamen D could not drive because he hit a car and requested the other driver not to contact the police. The man was a policeman and had him arrested.
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Bulgarian Facts
Language - Bulgarian (similar to Russian) Alphabet - Cyrillic Population 8.5 million Capital - Sofia (1 million population) Religion - primarily Eastern Orthodox |