People We Have Met

Our first wonderful Bulgarian friend is our landlady Lili, whom I have already referred to in a blog because she greeted us upon arrival in Plovdiv. The second is a colleague named Milena, whom I have emailed with for over a year now. We finally met last week. She is still finishing the first semester at the University, so she is busy grading and giving exams. Nevertheless, she met us last week in front of the post office. She has a big smile and a head of bright red hair with glasses. I immediately liked her and felt comfortable. She took us around the corner to a new, kinda avant gardey tea shop, where the barrista recommended their cocoa tea. We said, "Sure." We have said this repeatedly since arriving to any suggestions from wait people, because -what do we know?

We noticed a camera crew inside that was filming and wondered if this was some new style urban film making that you read about. Milena knew the owner who said that it was a tv crew from a national tv station in Sofia. The owner was a tall woman with very fair skin and contrasting black hair in a page boy with bangs. She had on a pleated skirt and a loose sweater over a collared blouse with a long silk tie. She had a very attractive distinct style as did her tea shop. Milena told us that she owned the art gallery right next door where talks are held and introduced us.  Evidently the camera crew was doing a piece on Plovdiv because it was being considered as the number one tourist destination in Europe. 

After Tom and I sat down with our tea, Milena told us that the tv crew wondered if they could interview us. We were incredulous, but said sure (once again). They asked us what we thought of Plovdiv and if we thought it deserved this honor. Having arrived 48 hours ago, we emphatically confirmed that yes, we did. Later, Milena sent us the tv newsfeed, and the pictures of Plovdiv are great. Check it out.

http://vbox7.com/emb/external.php?vid=66de5f1d9d


Our next friend named Rachel is a student Fulbrighter, who has lived in Plovdiv since October.  She is studying different kinds of folk flutes and is taking flute music lessons. I was put in touch with her before we left because she had an apartment vacancy. We had emailed a couple of times, and after we arrived, we met for coffee. A graduate of Barnard, she is impressively smart, full of useful knowledge, and a kind soul. She told us about this folk festival in Pernik that she was going to over the weekend. We knew nothing about it, but it sounded reminiscent of a fun festival we went to in a village in Hungary at this same time of year.  Tom and I decided to go, and it ended up that we were able to give Rachel a ride because Lili offered us the use of her car. A very generous offer. More later about our escapades!