Saturday, July 3, 2021

We are continuing to have a great time here in Sofia, but Sonya and I starting to get really homesick. We really miss the kids and cannot wait for our reunion, and their meeting Meagan.

Today was a fun day! Our mission was to see the Sofia Zoo! It was about 11:00 or so when we headed out by taxi.

The Zoo overall was a lot of fun. It wasn’t like a zoo that we would have expected to see in the US. The animals were a little bit different. For example, in addition to animals you would expect to see like, tigers, elephants, rhinos, there were also deer, raccoons, and even a skunk (complete with its glands, I might add).

After a couple or so hours of being there we had lunch. Popcorn for Megi, a pizza/grilled cheese and ham kinda thing for Sonya, and an authentic Bulgarian hot dog for me.

The afternoon’s animals were a bit more interesting to me. There was one bear in particular who kept us entertained for quite a while. Tony the Bear. He started off kinda quiet, but seemed to want to put on a show once we arrived. He climbed down from his perch into his swimming pool and up to where we were standing to get a closet look at us. Then he had this stick/log toy that he started playing with. It was probably the most I’d ever been entertained by a zoo animal. See the video at the bottom of the post for his performance.

In addition to being entertained by the animals, we had a great day entertaining each other as well. Meagan’s personality is so wonderful and she is so much fun to make laugh. I’m sure in time she’ll grow used to my antics, but making her laugh has been one of my favorite parts to this trip.

A little customary rest at the apartment and it was off to dinner. We decided on returning to Einstein where we ended up earlier in the week, probably for the last time, because $$$! But it was even better than the time before!

There was a moment at dinner that had us in stitches! Meagan has been trying her best to keep up with her friends, but needs a WiFi hotspot to do so. Where we were sitting didn’t have one. In jest, we’d all been referring to her as “Princess” in those times when she makes unreasonable demands or sulks when she doesn’t get her way. So when she couldn’t find a hotspot she just simply says “My princess no internet!” Sonya and I lost it!

We made our routine walk down Vitosha Blvd. toward the Cultural Center that night. When we reached the center, Megi was approached by a group of people (tourists?), speaking Bulgarian, asking her to take their picture. Little did they know what they were in for – a teenage girl who had been practicing for this moment all week. They were quickly into a full-blown photo shoot, including tutorials on iPhone camera settings for the best shots. It was probably a bit more than what they bargained for, but it sounded like they were happy with the results.

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Sunday, July 4, 2021

Today started with our worship to God. It was so SO good to see the church members again. They have all been so supportive of our adoption and praying for our stay and return home. I asked to preach to the congregation earlier in the week and they gave me the chance to do so. I’d never preached in a foreign country with a translator and didn’t know that I would have the opportunity to again. It was a great experience. Christo and Vania’s daughter Nataliia translated and did a good job! I spoke about the spiritual lessons we can learn from adoption, “God’s Big Family”.

Christo then treated us to lunch. We were joined by a lady named Pani (?) who was originally from Thailand and had just moved to Bulgaria within the past year. We were also joined by Nataliia’s niece Veronica who is 10 years old. She seemed to really be interested in Meagan. I’ll really miss these people. They were so warm and compassionate to us. They are truly putting God’s word into action in their lives.

The afternoon was a lazy one. Perhaps a bit too lazy. The plan was to go and see the Sofia History Museum which is literally a 5-minute walk from the apartment. But we couldn’t get motivated in time. We got there just after 5:00, knowing that they closed at 6:00, and finding out that they only took cash for the entrance fee (of which we were out). Another day perhaps.

Also on the agenda was riding some of the electric scooters. This was a lot of fun! Although, with Megi’s inexperience with operating motor vehicles, navigating traffic, and new-found love for speed, she had my heart stopping a few times as she raced off into the distance. We rode for about a half hour or so and no one was hurt so all in all a good time.

Dinner on Vitosha. At this point we are running a little low on cash and I’m trying to avoid putting a lot on our credit card so we’re having to throttle back on our spending. We’d really expected to have received our tax return which was largely going to fund this trip, but it hasn’t come yet even though I filed our taxes back in late March. The excuse the IRS is giving is….COVID. Give me a break. More like collecting interest on my tax return to pay for $6T in new spending. Okay, I’ll stop…

So we split a pizza and had drinks at this cute little restaurant. The international football soccer games are still going on so TVs were set up all up and down Vitosha for people to watch.

Meagan’s mood seemed to shift a bit after the fun scooter rides we had and sitting down at dinner. Sonya and I weren’t really that sure why. Trying to empathize with her, we guessed that it was because her time in Bulgaria was coming to an end. It can’t at all be easy for her at this point, thinking about all of her friends who she has been keeping in touch with so closely all week, and knowing that the likelihood of seeing them again are slim.

Sonya had the idea of playing a little Uno, the universal card game, when we got back to the apartment. The fun mood was back! Lots of smiles and laughs. Good day today!

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