Night under the stars
The last night came. My last day was not a working day, but I had to stay because the bus was leaving the next day. Iveto had left and I brought my suitcases back to Venera and company. Dora was genuinely worried about where I would sleep, they tried to remove the mattress from one of the beds to the floor, but there was no way anyone could sleep on just a box spring. We left that for later. At some point I hear them talking about wine and shopping. I turned around, they saw me and Venera asked me if I wanted to join in on the wine, they would buy it together, as an escort. I thought about refusing, but I agreed. What a time, I'm on top of things.
FIRST CONTACT WITH ITALY – part 1 – I'm going abroad
FIRST CONTACT WITH ITALY – part 2 – I got lost
Dora and Venus went out shopping. They came back and started setting the table, while Ani and I checked our luggage for the last time. At one point we lined up at the table and I realized that they had also bought food together. But they hadn't planned for me. That is, there was a glass of wine for me, but there was no portion of the shared food. Venera started to get upset and overreact, and Ani was shocked, but didn't say anything. I took my wine in the most demonstrative way, I had paid for it after all, and went out into the yard. Apparently they felt very uncomfortable, because Venera Miloska herself came to beg me to come in with them and share the food. I basically had something to eat.
This time I couldn't stand it. I also pulled a national one, and used some not-so-decent epithets. Without shouting. Quietly. I stated that the weather was warm and I would sleep in the yard on the chair, because if I went inside for even a minute I would suffocate from their hypocrisy and filth. Then I told her straight out to get out of my sight, but before that I took my bottle of wine. Whoever drank, drank.
FIRST CONTACT WITH ITALY – part 3 – The Pursuit
FIRST CONTACT WITH ITALY – part 4 – Moroccan Honor
The weather was pleasantly warm. I settled into two plastic chairs, white and yellow. That night I slept like a baby. Peaceful, under the stars. Even the Chinese didn't make a noise.
Three days of camel travel
The bus was leaving at 10 o'clock somewhere in the middle of nowhere. We were walking, everyone came to see us off. Naturally, no one reached out to help me with my suitcases, I didn't expect that, especially after last night's fiasco. Venera made some attempts to apologize, but I didn't pay attention to her and she didn't insist. Let's not be hypocritical, at least in the last minutes. We had a hard time finding the place. We walked for a long time, before that by some bus. It wasn't a bus station or a stop, but some road in an industrial area outside the city. We got seriously worried when ten o'clock passed and there was no bus. Had we gotten the place wrong... I called the company and they confirmed that we were at the right location.
After an hour and a half in the heat, the bus arrived. It had traveled from Florence through Bologna and had a flat tire there. What luck! We set off. The journey was hard. 48 hours of heat, despite the air conditioning. We rarely rested and for a short time. We stopped in Trieste for coffee and a toilet and entered Slovenia. It was monotonous. I fell asleep and woke up. During the breaks, I managed to practice some personal hygiene. There was a checkpoint on the border with Croatia, the check went smoothly. I was traveling with an ID card. When we entered Serbia, it was immediately noticeable. Roads with potholes, dirty gas stations… we were approaching our country. It was daytime when we reached the Kalotina checkpoint and the Serbs stopped us. They made us get off the bus. They opened luggage, rummaged around, and argued.
FIRST CONTACT WITH ITALY – part 5 – I'm going to Padua
A woman started crying. I tried to calm her down, and I said that they didn't deserve to see our humiliation and weakness. One man tried to argue, he got angry because they turned his suitcase inside out, but another stopped him. The man was right, but the border guard has a machine gun. They searched, searched, and sniffed. After a few minutes we were on Bulgarian soil.
We arrived in Sofia and Ani and I immediately ran for tickets. And as luck would have it, I found out that I had spent my last 20 euros on a gift for my husband – Italian wine. And for some sandwiches on the way. And I thought I had more money. What can I say – math has never been my strong suit. Yes, but it's almost 500 km to Varna, I don't have a penny, I don't have a map… I started laughing. I needed at least 35 leva for a ticket. Ani wanted to lend me some, but then where was I going to find her to pay her back? In 2012, 35 leva was a lot of money. I told her to rush to the first flight to Varna, towards Dobrich and not wait for me. After all, this is Sofia – I have friends, relatives.
FIRST CONTACT WITH ITALY – part 6 – The Sabotage
I called Borko, but he was busy, he promised that if I didn't find another way, he would come. I called Dido. First he laughed and mocked me for 5 minutes, then he asked me where I was coming from and what I had gotten myself into... again... and said that there was no problem for him to come, but if I waited for him for at least an hour. Well, I'll wait, where will I go. At home I had already informed them about the situation, everything was fine. I even found some Bulgarian coins in my pockets, which were enough for a coffee machine. That was real luck.
FIRST CONTACT WITH ITALY – part 7 – Expelled
FIRST CONTACT WITH ITALY – part 9 – Subsequent revelations
Dido, a good friend, came grinning from ear to ear, gave me 40 leva and when I tried to agree on how and when to return the money, he said that he would soon be coming to Varna on a business trip, so we could meet up. I agreed. I bought a ticket for 3:30 p.m. with Biomet.
© 2025 Iliana Dechkova