home

Home is a fluid concept sometimes... however this most recent journey to Stockholm did feel more like coming home than any other. Now I get to embark on the week of jet lag that I so love, all I want to do is sleep but I have to try to wait until the sun goes down otherwise I'll have the 3am stares. You know, lying in bed, staring at the roof - wondering why your eyelids seem incapable of closing.

So, I had 9 days in Bulgaria - obviously the reason I got into teaching was to jet all over Europe! I was accompanying 6 students from 4 schools who represented Sweden at a Model European Parliament. This involved the kids spending lots of time in committee meetings (each had a different topic), and the teachers went sightseeing! I did check my emails a couple of times and did the proof-reading of the committee resolutions before they were published for the final 2 days spent in the Bulgarian Parliament House. It was a great experience for students and teacher - they learnt lots, but more importantly they got to know others from all over Europe (some better than others, but what happens on the trip stays on the trip!). I got to experience Sofia (Bulgaria's capital) and some of the villages in the region - the stuffed us all in a buses a couple of times and carted us off to some little place that is valiantly trying to overcome Communist induced apathy or neglect and become European. We were introduced to 3 different Mayors - who varied from Mafioso, to business-liberal greenie, to farmer - quite an experience! And shown a cure for insomnia - a DVD about the region we were about to visit... 45 minutes complete with commentary... in Bulgarian, with music from Borat. I had to try very hard not to burst out laughing watching another one of our group try to conceal his sleepy head nods... you know the ones... where you fall asleep, your head drops and you wake up 1 second after you drifted off... I found it very funny at the time!

There were many highlights... the candle-lit bar at the back of a building that used to house the Communist propaganda printing press... the orthodox church in the middle of Sofia... arguments over dodgy taxi fares, until we realised we were arguing over 50 cents... the very cheap beer... the great company of teachers from all over Europe... and me being able to introduce myself as "Richard, from Sweden" and nobody questioning it!

It all went very quickly, especially the last night's sleep which was rudely interrupted by the alarm at 4.45am! Bulgaria, as is probably the case for many ex-communist countries, is somewhere between East and West, in some ways European and in some ways so far away from much or the EU. It will be an amazing journey for the people involved where change can be measured in months and weeks rather than years.

I'm sure this hasn't done it justice, but for now it will have to do... I'm hungry and tired - not a good combination for rich...

jet lagged,
rich.