Field School: Good Morning, Bulgaria

     Today, I woke up sweating, in the pitch-dark room, not knowing where I was and had a brief panic attack. It took me a moment to remember that I was in Bulgaria, my cats weren't here, and Folklore Fiancé was back home and not next to me. It was not a good way to wake up, and it was thirty minutes before my first alarm was set. I looked at the A.C. on the wall, and at some point in the night, it must have turned off (spoiler alert: it seems that it doesn't stay on at all, so I have to keep turning it on...) Since I was all sweaty, I decided to get up and get ready for the day. I showered off again to get the sweat off me and then got dressed in something that would keep me cool for the day; just a white v-neck men's shirt and red basketball shorts.
     Last night, when I checked in, I was very frazzled from the non-stop traveling I had to do, so I wasn't really comprehending everything that was said to me and forgot to ask some things. So, I went back downstairs after showering and getting dressed in the same thing I'm wearing now because I put my pajamas on at first, but I don't know the Eastern European rule of being in a hotel lobby in your PJ's, so I put on the real clothes instead. Anyway, I told him that I needed the shuttle back to the airport after all, and he pushed my check-out until 1 p.m. instead of noon, which was nice of him (I had to be at the airport by 3:30 p.m.), and then I asked if my breakfast was included because I know it was included on one of my reservations. He told me no, so I said okay and went back upstairs to go back to sleep.
     This morning, I got up and went to check my e-mail confirmations of my reservation. It looked like I did have my breakfast included for this stay. I took my whole computer down to the front desk, and it was the same person who I had interacted with last night, and I turned it around to show him. I said, "You told me yesterday that I didn't have breakfast included with my reservation, but I pulled it up, and it looks like I do." He agreed and told me that the breakfast would be ready in about fifteen to twenty minutes, even though it was already 6:30 a.m. and that is when they advertise that breakfast will start. I thanked him, went back to my room, watched the new Steven Universe and talked to Folklore Fiancé before I headed down to breakfast.
     They didn't have any of the food labeled, but luckily it's pretty easy to tell if something is fish or coconut, which isn't usually served during breakfast anyway, so I didn't have to worry too much. I took a slice of what looked like ham, a couple of pieces of what looked like some sort of spicy sausage that was sliced, a couple of what I think were Vienna sausages, some black olives (which I never thought to have with breakfast and I haven't had olives in a while, so why not), a croissant, and some bread with butter. They had a cappuccino machine with buttons for hot water, hot milk, coffee, cappuccino, and hot chocolate. I hate coffee when I don't get it from either Folklore Fiancé because they used to be a barista and spoil me, so I never like how other people make it, or if I get it from Starbucks with very specific instructions. It took me three trips to the machine to make it taste right. Eventually, I just mixed a double cappuccino with hot milk and hot chocolate before it tasted okay to me. Not great, but drinkable. But, you know, I had to overflow the coffee cup first and get it all over the machine and the counter before I did that. (Don't worry, I cleaned it up.)
     While eating breakfast, I heard the news playing. I am a person who does not like hearing anything in the morning, let alone news, especially with American politics going into a swirling vortex of fuckery, I tend to avoid it because it stresses me out. It would have been fine if it was just the Bulgarian news. But, it wasn't. It was American news, in English. You know what I would have liked to not hear after I got all the way to Eastern Europe? About Drumpf's latest nonsense. But that was the accompaniment I had during breakfast. That, and the dead bee on the windowsill next to my table. (I think it was a bee? It was yellow and black with a stinger but didn't quite look like a bee but didn't look like any other stinging bug I'm familiar with.) Anyway.
     I had accidentally taken too much bread for me to be able to finish it all, so I wrapped two bits of bread in napkins and put them in my pocket with some butter for later.  That's what my lunch is going to be, I suppose. I'm not sure of the etiquette here because I know most European countries don't really do things like "doggy bags" or leftovers, but I had already taken the bread, so it's not like I could put it back. Also, the habits of squirreling away food when you're a student die hard. Once I had finished my breakfast, I didn't know where to put my tray, so I went back to the front desk to ask. The girl there told me to just leave it on the table and asked for my room number to check me off for breakfast.
     After returning to my room, I had some time to chill. I put the bread from my pocket on the desk and luckily I had a disposable knife from my flight, so I'll be able to use that for the bread and butter later. I'm going to chill for a little longer, then I'm going to read some of the articles I still need to read, maybe read some of one of the books I brought with me, and then I'm going to eat and pack up and get ready to check out. The field school is picking us up from the airport, so luckily, there's an airport shuttle here that's free from the hotel to the airport. I'll be sitting at the airport for a decent amount of time while I'm waiting for them since I have to check out two and a half hours before I'm supposed to be there.
     It's almost the beginning of field school! I'm so excited and nervous.
     T-minus six hours until I'm on my way!               

Field School: Sofia

     Well, I finally made it to Bulgaria! It's almost 9 p.m. Sofia time, and I'm in my pajamas relaxing in bed, so let me fill you in on what happened between my last post and now.
     We started boarding, so of course, the line was down to the designated smoking area, where I kept coughing because I cannot handle the smoke, ever. My throat is still tingling from it, and that was hours ago. When we finally got away from the smoke, I saw my carry-on bag that had to be checked as I passed, so at least I saw where it had gone. What frustrated me the most was that when we were boarded, I saw plenty of spaces where I could have stowed my luggage. I know that it was probably as a precaution because they couldn't know for sure whose would fit, etc. etc., but I was finally near the front of the plane this time around!! I had the seat 3F, which I was surprised about. It was at the front of the plane and a window seat. I have a love-hate relationship with window seats; this is because I want to be able to get up and move around without disturbing too many people, but I like watching the take-offs and the descents. Two young dudes were next to me this time, which was fine. I accidentally sat in the wrong seat at first, but the person in the middle seat was fine moving when I told him I was actually on the other side of him.
     The plane was taking forever to take off, and I had no idea why there was so much of a hold up (spoiler alert: we got to Sofia at 6 p.m. instead of 4:45 p.m.) Once we did take off, I was trying to read one of my books on Sofia, but I didn't get too into it because I was passing out. I didn't really sleep on the plane, but I did conk out a few times for a catnap.
     One thing I did wake up for was the food, which was fish.
     I'm allergic to fish. And seafood.
     Once I told him this, he looked distraught and said it was the only thing they had (which is weird because I thought I had told the airline about my allergies, but I'm going to double check before I go back home. I gave it back to him and said I was fine with the rest of the stuff and he didn't have to bring me anything else. Despite that, he brought me fruit, cheese, a quinoa and bean salad (which I also couldn't eat, but I didn't want to tell him that again, so I took it with me and threw it away later), which was really nice of him. I ate most of it and was full by then anyway. The smell of the fish was really overpowering and nauseating for me, so it made it hard for me to get anything else down with that scent pervading the air.
     We landed over an hour late from the originally scheduled time, and I had to figure out my way through the Sofia Airport so I could find my luggage. Also, I needed a bathroom because every time I'd try to get up and go, the "keep your buckles fastened" light came on. After a winding journey that made me wish I had brought some enchanted string along, I finally came to the passport check and got my passport checked for Bulgaria. They used to stamp you into whatever country you were in and then the next stamp wouldn't happen, but I guess that's changing now, too, huh?
     The hotel I'm staying at has a free shuttle, but there was nothing that indicated which one was their shuttle. Either I was supposed to schedule it, or I just didn't know where to go, and ended up taking a taxi instead. It was €5. I checked into the hotel and went to my room and showered. It felt so good to get the three flights and 20+ hours of travel off of me. I scheduled my checkout and my shuttle for tomorrow, and breakfast is only €7, so I think I'm going to get breakfast from them tomorrow morning. Then I'll study a bit, get all my stuff together, and check out.
     But, right now, I definitely need to sleep.

Field School: Paris

     Time to wait once again! I'm in Paris, in the Paris Aéroport Charles de Gaulle, where I have been twice before now in 2008. I can't believe it's been ten years since I've been to France. I just heard that our take-off has been delayed because of the preparation of the cabin. But, I want to back up and recount the Detroit flight while I was waiting to board for Paris. I walked for ages because I didn't realize that the Detroit airport ALSO had trams. Is it because I haven't been abroad for ten years I've not noticed this? Either way, I walked almost the full 40-something gates to get to mine. Once I got there, of course, I had to go the furthest way to find an outlet for my phone. Not too long after I had sat down, they started calling for boarding. Once I heard my zone called, I got up and got in line, and I was given a new seat, which is fine. What is NOT fine is that the attendant felt the need to fold my boarding passes and shove them back into my passport.
     Now, I'm going to be real with everyone: I have diagnosed obsessive-compulsive tendencies. A type of OCD that isn't as overbearing as it could be, but still affects me. One of those things that set me off is keeping official documents straight and pristine. When I had to send away my birth certificate to get my passport, I nearly cried because not only did they fold it but they stapled it, too. That's unacceptable to my brain, so now all I'm thinking is the conservation I know and will have to flatten out my boarding passes when I get home to properly display them in a memory book (or a frame, which drives the Folklore Fiancé bonkers; I frame everything, and they don't understand why. This is part of why.)
     So, after that upset, I put my luggage in the overhead, and it looks like it won't fit. Luckily, a fellow sitting across from me helped me adjust it so it would fit. I was trying to get an agent to help me, but she seemed upset that I was asking her for help - which I get, she has other stuff to do. I was just anxious that it wasn't going to fit. The flight attendants rearranged the overhead stuff so it would fit before we took off, though, so I didn't have to worry about that anymore. I was relieved to see that I had an aisle seat because I avoided using the bathroom on my first flight because I was stuck between two skinny fellows and didn't want to disturb them. I was less relieved to see that the cupholder on my dinner tray was broken (these were the ones that fold out on the bottom of the tray so you can have a cup there without the whole tray being down) so I couldn't use that. And, I forgot my headphones, but luckily, the flight provided me with headphones for this flight!
     Except those were broken too. One side was hanging literally by the cords and wires. I tried it, and it ended up working out in the one ear, so I just dealt with that. I decided that I was just going to watch movies. Since the flight I was on previously had certain movies with subtitles, I was able to watch Love, Simon in its entirety (I had seen it with Folklore Fiancé in theatres when it came out, and we both cried...a lot) and then I watched half of Thor: Ragnarok.  On the Paris flight, I was able to finish the Thor movie and watched Hot Pursuit and the 2016 Jumanji movie before I found Thor: Ragnarok as an option. By that point, it was over half the flight out of the way, and I just decided to watch The Big Bang Theory - I do enjoy the show but I am very critical of the problematic aspects but I relate a lot to Sheldon, so I like watching it.
     The Paris flight had a dinner that was a pretty nice spread! I couldn't eat the dessert, though, because it was coconut cake and I'm allergic to coconut. I was able to eat the extra bread, though! I got bread, butter, cheese, green applesauce, a quinoa black bean salad I couldn't eat, and the main part was chicken in a sauce I surprisingly liked, and it came with kale mashed potatoes. I love potatoes, but I hate kale, so I was shocked that I liked it at all let alone finished it. The light breakfast they had was a muffin, plain yogurt (which was disgusting, so I dumped two sugar packets into it), and orange juice. I was able to get tea, water, and soda at different points of the flight and had hot chocolate with breakfast, which was nice.
     Once I got to CDG, I was hella confused. I realized then it was the first time I'd ever gone into this airport without a large group. I'm almost thirty, but traveling on my own still makes me a little anxious. Either way, I found my way to the gate I needed and got on another tram, where I missed my gate and had to ride it back after I got off and realized the opposite track was closed completely, so I should have just stayed on the tram in the first place. I went back and followed the long, winding hallways, and had to go through security.
     Again.
     Which I forgot about.
     And, as an American, my first instinct was to take off my shoes. Well, I looked up with one boot in my hand and went "oh, no one else is doing this," and put back on an untied boot and I stumbled through enough French to the attendants that they replied in very rapid French and I was not prepared because the last time I spoke French, remember, regularly, was ten years ago, when I was last in France. I am very rusty. Which is better than I can say about my Bulgarian, because, despite my best efforts, is still non-existent.
     Once I found my gate, I sat down and immediately started coughing and realized there was a strange smell that was making me choke. I realized then that it was cigarette smoke, which is another thing I am allergic to, and upon investigation, CDG does indeed have designated smoking areas past security. Which is where I must have been sitting. So, I got up to walk around to clear out my lungs. I couldn't find food that I liked for lunch, so my lunch is a Coca-Cola that is lukewarm (gross - another OCD thing: I need certain liquids super cold, but I needed the caffeine more this time), cookies, and Bueno bars (some of my favorite foreign chocolates).
     The attendant just informed me that because the flight to Sofia is full so that our carry-on bags (the large ones) have to be checked. I need to make sure that I've brought a lock for both bags just in case this happens again because now I'm going to be extra anxious until I get there. At least the flight is only a couple of hours! It's the shortest flight of my trip.
     We should be boarding by 1:30 p.m. Paris time and I should be in Sofia a little past 5 p.m. Sofia time!
     I haven't slept a wink, I'm really anxious, and really hungry.
     Cross your fingers I stay sane for the final stretch!

Field School: The Domestic Flight

     Here I am, sitting at the D gate, waiting for my flight. It boards around 11:30 and we are scheduled to leave at 12:18. So, I thought, another blog post before I get on my flight to Detroit! One of the downsides of going so far to Europe in the summer is the airlines are all very expensive if you don't have a bunch of connecting flights. I'm waiting for my flight to Detroit, and then in Detroit, I will be waiting about two hours to go to Paris. Once I'm in Paris, it's another two-hour wait until I get to Sofia. So, lots of waiting.
     My intention was to sleep in this morning until at least 7 a.m., but my fiancé's cat had other plans and woke me up at 4:30. I had to get up to go to the bathroom, and he and my fiancé's other cat ran out of the bedroom when I opened the door. My cat, Athena, usually sleeps in the closet and doesn't get along with other cats, so she usually stays in there. My fiancé's cats have the advantage of having lived in that house before, so they warmed up to it much quicker. I did manage to fall back asleep and was woken up by my alarm clock at 7 a.m. My fiancé got up and did their morning thing and I got dressed right away because I was anxious. I made sure I had my watch on and everything together. I frantically packed last night and forgot to put some of my snacks in my carry on (oops).
     I ate breakfast and had a chai that my fiancé so graciously made me (honestly without them, I would struggle to feed myself half the time) and grabbed the leftover Euro I had in my car from when I studied abroad in 2008 and 2009 to France and Italy and put it in my new wallet. One of the 2 cent Euro coins I separated for an offering to Hermes. I used my car key to dig a shallow hole next to the mailbox where I currently lived and buried the coin there. I poured a small libation of my morning chai to Hermes and said a small prayer. The contemporary Hellenic Pagan delighted in doing such a simple ritual that made me feel much better about traveling.
     My aunt-in-law drove me and my fiancé to the airport and we managed to go the wrong way a couple times! McCarran International Airport is HUGE and it was so intimidating. I had only flown out of Chicago, Philadelphia, and Newark (NJ) up until this point, so this was definitely an experience. I got through the baggage check pretty easily and the longest wait was while I was in line for security. As I waited in line for security, a heavy feeling washed over me because it was a feeling I hadn't felt in a while: it was how at home I felt at the airport. Hermes is my patron god, after all, so it makes sense that I would find comfort in an airport where travelers from all over the world are bustling by, a plethora of languages flying from their tongues. It gave me a sense of calm and belonging I haven't felt in a long time.
     Everything went by with no issue whatsoever, but I did take off my shoes and gather things together rather quickly so I could dump it all in the buckets and scurry over to the scanner. Once I had gathered all my belongings back up, I got my shoes on and repacked what needed to be repacked, and headed to towards the D Gate. However, I didn't see the gate, but a tram pulling towards us. It seemed that were were to take a tram to the D gates! I've never taken a tram inside an airport before. I've taken the L / El (I use both interchangeably; sorry if it's wrong, Chicago!) into the Chicago O'Hare International Airport but walked everywhere once I was checked in. So, that was an experience!
     Once I got off the tram, I headed straight to the D gate and sat down. I was having trouble finding an outlet and I was worried about my phone having enough charge (it was already at 59% even though it was at 100% at 7 a.m., but I had been using it until 10 a.m., so it was a little drained by then). The first outlet I found didn't work so I moved to another spot. Eventually, an outlet became available and I'm letting my phone charge while I write this blog post! My flight should be boarding in about forty minutes, so I'm debating on whether to read or write once I'm done with this blog post.
     But, knowing me, I might just bounce around on social media until it's time to board.
     Detroit, here I come!