Bulgarian Trip: The Backstory

took a 2 week vacation in Bulgaria in October 2006. Here are my impressions of specific aspects of my trip.

Entry status: not proof read

Before I continue my (belated) descriptions of my trip to Bulgaria, I guess I should give some reasons for my trip to Sofia in the first place: Liliana.


1999
In or around September of 1999, I was working for a software company in north west Austin, Texas. As was fashionable at the time, I had ICQ running on my computer while I worked. ICQ was one of the first successful international computer chat programs where you could, if you choose to, provide some additional information (basic personal data) and allow it to be searched by other potentially interested chatters. I "met" many interesting people this way.

Sometime during my early afternoon, I received a message from a young woman in Sofia Bulgaria. Her name was Liliana, or Lili, who was either working late at the office or just getting home. I wager she was working late in the office because of the following years, I could see that Lili worked far longer and harder and a higher frequency than I did. She was not long out of the university in Sofia where she studied accounting and finance. Lili had recently started her second professional job with a Norwegian satellite broadcast company called Telenor Bulgaria, run of her home town of Sofia Bulgaria.

Lili had apparently just finished talking to some of her university friends that had come to study at our University of Texas at Austin and was looking for someone else to talk to. After the introductions, I felt comfortable to chat with her.

We started chatting from that on. Occasionally we'd drift apart, especially during the end of quarter and end of year accounting sessions - Lili just didn't have time for chat. And I too had my personal diversions.

Even though this, we kept in contact. We'd chat for a few weeks non-stop and then one or both us would be gone for weeks or months at a time. We always managed to keep in touch several times during the year.


2004
In early 2004, Lili told me she would be taking some professional courses in Copenhagen Denmark for several weeks. This sounded intriguing to me and I asked if Lili would like some company during her studies. We determined that I could take a week's worth vacation near the end of her study term where we'd meet in person for the first time.

In late July of 2004, I flew to Copenhagen. I was nervous booking the tickets. Not to met Lili but just the scale and scope of my endeavor: arrange international flights to a country I had never been to, keep track of my luggage, not create an "international incident" with my general ignorance, get to Denmark, find (recognize?) Lili in the crowds and find a place to rest.

OK. So, first there was the flight out. Somewhere over the central US as we started the international flight to the connection flights in Amsterdam, my plane caught fire.

Technically, one of the key components for displaying altitude had burned out in the cockpit, leaving a burnt smell in the cabin, a return to the airport, complete with firetrucks and firemen with axes on the plane and a plane load of worried passengers who, not knowing it was only a burned out monitor, began to panic when one of the mid-plane air coolers began bellowing "smoke" into the cabin. As if on cue, one of the embarking firemen spotted the source of immediate excite and pronounced it to be "mist" from and over worked air cooler.

Two hours later we were back in the air. I knew I was going to miss my connection in Amsterdam. I intended to call Lili from the plane and let her know my delay. After getting on board and off the ground, I discovered there weren't any phones.

Two hours after Lili was supposed to pick me up in Copenhagen, Denmark, she got a call from me from Amsterdam telling her I was going to be another two hours before I got there.

I spent another hour in secured area of the Copenhagen airport, searching for my missing luggage and filling out the paper work. Five hours after Lili had arrived in that airport in Copenhagen to fetch me, we met in person for the first time. My luggage met me two days later.

Lili was slim, bright of personality (though somewhat tired of waiting for the slow American to arrive), easy on the eyes and knowledgeable. This was important as I don't have experiences reading train or bus routes.

Lili would go to her courses during the day and I walked the city. After Lili finished her scholarly duties, we'd meet some place (or occasional close to where we agreed to met) and explored the city. Lili had already taken the city tours which I benefited from. By the third day, I realized I had bruised my flat feet from 12 to 18 hours of walking. I remember going to watch an open air presentation of "The Italian Job" where I walked on the edges of my feet to keep off the bruises. Lili didn't say anything but I'm pretty sure she was thinking I had brought the wrong kind of shoes.

We had a lovely time under the bright blue skies and misty clouds in Copenhagen and even popped over to Sweden briefly. I confessed to Lili during last few days that I was inexplicably desire to kiss her. After confessing to the desire, the subject didn't arise for conversation again. I flew home, unkissed, but glad I spoke up.

After returning to Texas from my weeks vacation and Lili to Sofia from her completed course work, we continued chatting with more personal interest. The subject of the kiss occurred a few times during the course of our chats in a positive light.


2005
In 2005, Lili and I discussed vacationing together again during the summer. We were just started discussions of where (looking at the Canary Islands) when "corporate mismanagement" stepped into my employment picture and I was laid off. Vacation plans were put on hold while I procured new employment.


2006- July
After some foot work with immigration, formal letters of invitation and various international red tape, Lili was able to come and visit me in Austin, Texas for two weeks. This trip had a different, more personal feel than the last face to face meeting in Copenhagen. Quite possibly because of the kiss that didn't happen in 2004 but it's subsequent discussion.

Lili and I spent two weeks together, free of work entanglements. We saw large parts of Texas including the beach during an early morning rain storm, playing "hide and seek" with a long horn steer (it won - never did find it), and enjoyed each other's company around Austin, beer and wine.


2006 - October
Though most of my employment during 2006, I wasn't as happy I felt I could have been. The time I spend with Lili in July reinforced my feelings. Without dwelling into this unimportant history, things came down to a choice: continue with a job I was not being properly utilized at OR quit and take a two weeks in Sofia at Lili's invitation.

And that brings up the back story up to date with the "Bulgarian Trip" blog entries.

P.S. 2006 - December
Lili will be joining me for the Holidays and to celebrate my 40th birthday! Can't wait!