A Weekend Out of Thin Air

On Thursday this weekend was going to be a boring one at home. I had some studying to do, some cleaning to do (the Inspector General from some branch of the US Government, not sure which, will grace me with his presence tomorrow for god knows what reason), and indefinite plans to meet Eric Brooke, my closest other volunteer in the town of Elhovo and hour away, for a hiking trip in the Starra Palnina near Sliven due west of Straldja. It had been a slow week, the highlight being a package sent from home I picked up Wednesday.
But on Friday I took the train I take so much (the one that goes through Plovdiv and on to Sofia) to Pazardjik for a Minority Committee meeting. I am not sure why, maybe because of the damage from the flood, I had to change trains in Plovdiv and board a Pontechevsky train (local, stops at all the villages and fields) from Plovdiv to Pazardjik. But I made it in one piece and quite early, so I managed to find Ivan at the hub office. He is now working as the Youth Development programs as a head trainer (a promotion) for the group of B18s to arrive tomorrow (Monday). I helped him and his assistant write scenerios for the new trainees, which was fun because I was writing the things that I have been answering for the last few months.
After a while we had the meeting (not many people showed due to travel problems no doubt). Afterwards I took the bus back to Plovdiv with Ivan, who was going home for the weekend, and one other volunteer from my area who was staying with his friend in Plovdiv.
I was going to take a late train home to Straldja, but Ivan discouraged it because of the unpredictability of train service right now and it would not be good for me to get stranded in some no-name town at 2 a.m. So he opened his apartment to me and we had a fun night in Plovdiv. We walked his weiner dog, Hannah, who is one of my favorite "people" in Bulgaria, and ate some salad in a beautiful cafe in the park near his apartment. Then we headed over to the Old City and found this Bulgarian-style beer garden that played jazz and other good American music. It was nice to hear something other than chalga (the Bulgarian pop music that is basically half-clothed women singing Bulgarian lyrics over Turkish melodies) which permeates the reast of the country.
After coffee in the morning I headed to the train station and waited half of forever for my train home. I got there after 4:30, thus destroying my plans with Eric, and relaxed in the apartment.
Then this morning I woke up to my telephone ringing. It was Jay, the volunteer who will be leaving Straldja soon, inviting me to a picnic with him, my counterpart, and her husband. The "picnic" turned out to be a day-long schlep around the Starra Planina just north of Straldja. They took me to an historic town called Jeravna and then we hiked to some waterfalls nearby. We found a very nice spot near the river to eat the food (a 4-hour process) and then found a little mountain hotel to eat ice cream at. Eventually we wandered home, and now I am relegated to cleaning my dirty apartment for this government official who will come tomorrow. I'll let you know what he wants when I find out...