trolley busses and escalators

We began today with a wonderful breakfast at our lovely hotel in Sofia.  It was set up like a buffet and had many things from eggs, hot dogs, many types of cheeses, croissants, peach juice, cereal, yogurt and parfait fixings to name a few.  My personal favorite was the very strong coffee :).  There were many Germans having breakfast and some scottish men in town for a wedding (we could tell by their kilts!)  I wish I would have gotten a picture for you.

While I have enjoyed hearing different languages it has been hard for me to not be able to talk to people.  I ordered a phrase book and meant to have it along but it didn't come before I left.  I think I would feel more comfortable around her if I could say a few things in Bulgaria.  I think people might warm up to me more if I could.  I don't think that Bulgarians see dreadlocks much.  I am getting a lot of weird stare-downs.  I wouldn't mind it really if after I met their glance and smiled they would smile back.  Oh well, I guess we can't all be midwesterners. :)

Other more positive cultural differences to note. Below is a picture of a "Trolley Bus".  I read about them before we came.  The Trolley bus system in Bulgaria was said to be one of the greenest systems around.  I think it runs on mostly electricity but has a light gas also like a huge hybrid.

 Both of our hotels also make you put your key into a holder in the wall in order to turn the lights on in the room.  That way you can't leave your lights on when you go out....how smart is that?  Our current hotel in Pleven also has motion sensor lights in the hallways so they can stay off until they are needed.  We went through a mall today to try some ice cream and found escalators that only run when people are on them...again what a smart idea.  My not so smart highlight of the day was when I began asking the guy at the ice cream shop for samples of the ice cream.  Since I couldn't read the names of any I wanted to try a few before I bought one.  He seemed slightly weirded out but he took a small spoon and gave me a sample.  Then when I asked for a sample of a different kind he asked for my spoon back from me and used the same one again!!!!  That might be reducing and reusing but it is NOT a good idea :)
Now something else I found that I didn't quite understand was this:

It is a panic button.  And where did I find this button?  In the shower at our last hotel.  I guess they have had trouble in the past with people freaking out in the bath tub???  I was SO tempted to pull it just to see what would happen but I refrained :)

We had a very enjoyable drive to Pleven, we got to see a few roadside monuments, some sheep and lots of cars.  I snapped a shot of one of my favorites below.  I can't quite put my finger on what it reminds me of exactly, is it austin powers maybe??  I just thought it was pretty cute and it was jam packed full of some guys.

So tomorrow is our day to go meet Samantha.  We are very excited but also don't know what to expect.  I find that fact a little nerve racking being a planner and all.  But I know that you all have been praying and I will expect some good things.  I am hopeful that we will have a great time playing with her and I hope we will be able to look at the positive and trust the Lord for the negatives.

Please pray for our health.  Grace is fighting a cold or something and I am having stomach issues.  We are both downing my hippie immune booster pills so I am hopeful we won't get any worse.  Thanks for the prayers on my shoulder and neck it is feeling much better!  Praise the Lord I hope he will continue to heal it so that I can fully recover.   also pray our morning goes well.  This hotel isn't quite as nice as the one we stayed at in Sofia and they told us they might not be feeding us breakfast??? So we will need to find something ourselves before we go and that is a little hard for us to do well, being unable to read or communicate with people who don't speak english.

Well I will be signing off now.  I hope everyone is doing well at home.  I miss you all very much.  I can't wait to share tomorrow's adventures with you!  We get to MEET SAM!!!!