Sofia 1

Well, our first day in Sofia we had lectures in the morning and a trip to the history museum in the afternoon. The first lecture was actually a briefing from the U.S. Embassy about safety, etc. Basically, they told us what you would need to know in any big city, beware of strangers and watch out for pick pockets. Then we had a very interesting lecture on ancient Thracian civilization here in Bulgaria. It is interesting to see things from a different perspective than what our Greek friends had.

In the afternoon, we went to a history museum here in Sofia. It is located in the former communist leader’s palace which was huge! You had to pay to take photographs here like we did in the salt mine in Krakow so we paid for one of us to take them and then we will get some later. Most things I would not have taken a picture of anyway because of the glare, etc. There was one part of the museum where I had to walk away. It was about how the Bulgarians saved almost their entire Jewish population during WWII. Those of you who were in Poland in March can certainly understand that this was very emotional for me. I wondered why other nations could not have done the same. Anyway, I commend the Bulgarians for this action even though they were technically on the German side in the war. I think that makes it even more incredible that they were able to save this population.

In the evening, we attended a dinner and reception with some other Fulbright participants who are about to go to the US to teach for a year on a teacher exchange program. It was wonderful! We met high school teachers from all over Europe who are about to embark on this exciting year of teaching abroad. They will exchange classes with a US teacher who will go to their country and teach their class. What a great experience for all concerned.
A US music student entertained us with some traditional Bulgarian folk songs. She was incredible and the Bulgarians in the room went on and on about what a great job she did on such hard music. As you can see, she was also in traditional dress.

I sat at a table with a professor of architecture who told a lot of stories. We talked a bit about Frank Lloyd Wright and I told him about the Sterling Kinney house in Amarillo. He did not know about it so I sent him an Internet link with pictures and a video.

It was a wonderful evening.