Today was quite an adventure! Not only did I have the most terrifying taxi ride ever...but we all went to a concert that was especially for us Fulbrighters and it was delightful!
Mr. Taxi Driver thought it was funny that I screamed though, so he started whirling the wheel...and it turned out to be quite fun (probably because I didn't die!). The taxi driver was funny because he kept turning around and waving at us with both hands -- he completely took his hands off the wheel! He also was playing loud rap / hip-hop music and dancing and singing. The music was in English and it was hilarious to watch! Since us three girls were in the back we did a little bit of dancing as well!
On a quieter, more peaceful note: we went to a concert tonight. It began with a quartet of men singing a cappella. (I ended up buying their CD -- so if anyone knows how to upload a small section of music onto a blog, let me know and then you all can hear some of it). After the quartet, an older gentleman played the violin and made me remember how much I want to learn how to play the violin. I wish there had been an orchestra at my high school! The third performer was a pianist...who played beautiful. She played some Claude Debussy which was fantastic. I HAVE to start taking piano lessons again.
The concert ended with four women in traditional Bulgarian dress singing National Folksongs for us. The picture to the left shows a little bit of the costumes of these four women. They had wonderful voices and were also a cappella (and in tune the whole time)! Amazing! Everything was beautiful. I thought I might get bored sitting and listening for 2 hours, but I could have listened for another 2 it was so good!
We started the day with three lectures where I learned a ton about the Roma (gypsy) population here in Bulgaria. It is very sad because only about how 23% of the Roma are completely illiterate and 48% only have a Basic Education (they stopped going to school by age 8). While driving around in the taxi yesterday we saw a horse and wagon. The wagon was filled with hay and here were Roma sleeping while going down the main street of Sofia. 29% of the Roma are below the poverty line and at the moment Bulgaria's poverty line is the same as a third world country (they were taken off the European line because of the low salaries and high unemployment rate). The poverty rate is earning less than $1 a day!
Bulgaria is a very interesting country though...similar, in a way, to the U.S. Because there is no "real" Bulgarian. Everyone has mixed ethnicities because of the wars and changing of country borders throughout the last 1500 years.
Anyway, after our lectures we went to lunch and when coming back, Ralph, Amy, Kristen, and I got in the crazy taxi driver's car. When we got in the car, I was sitting in the back middle spot -- so I could see right out in front of us (which may have been bad since I saw a good 10 times that we could have easily been in an accident!). I knew we were in trouble when we hadn't even gone one block and were speeding fast through the narrow street. (See the attached video at the top to get a "wave" from our taxi driver). A truck was pulling out of an alley and did not see us. I screamed and grabbed Kristen (where she now claims she will have a bruise...whoops!). The taxi driver continued driving and finally honked at the truck when we were already passed him.
Mr. Taxi Driver thought it was funny that I screamed though, so he started whirling the wheel...and it turned out to be quite fun (probably because I didn't die!). The taxi driver was funny because he kept turning around and waving at us with both hands -- he completely took his hands off the wheel! He also was playing loud rap / hip-hop music and dancing and singing. The music was in English and it was hilarious to watch! Since us three girls were in the back we did a little bit of dancing as well! I did think back to one of our lectures though where one of the professors was telling us how Bulgaria's population was decreasing because people were dying of high blood pressure AND car accidents! I'm glad I'm safe.
On a quieter, more peaceful note: we went to a concert tonight. It began with a quartet of men singing a cappella. (I ended up buying their CD -- so if anyone knows how to upload a small section of music onto a blog, let me know and then you all can hear some of it). After the quartet, an older gentleman played the violin and made me remember how much I want to learn how to play the violin. I wish there had been an orchestra at my high school! The third performer was a pianist...who played beautiful. She played some Claude Debussy which was fantastic. I HAVE to start taking piano lessons again. 
The concert ended with four women in traditional Bulgarian dress singing National Folksongs for us. The picture to the left shows a little bit of the costumes of these four women. They had wonderful voices and were also a cappella (and in tune the whole time)! Amazing! Everything was beautiful. I thought I might get bored sitting and listening for 2 hours, but I could have listened for another 2 it was so good!I'm enjoying Bulgaria quite a bit...although I'm glad that I am coming home to Chicago in a week and a half. I highly recommend you all to consider coming to Bulgaria for a vacation at some point!
Cheers!
2 comments:
Jana your blog is amazing! It gets me so excited to leave on my own Fulbright tomorrow morning. I hope our group blog can be as cool and informative as yours. Thanks for sharing your experience.
Amber
Thanks Amber! I can't wait to read your group blog and know what other Fulbrights are like!
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