Day: July 16, 2016

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I’m in Sofia!

Getting to Sofia was an adventure unto itself, but I made it! I have neither my computer nor hotel wifi, so you’ll just have to wait for Monday night for all the details!

Bulgarian firsts today:

-correctly deciphering a bus schedule;

-giving an address to a taxi driver;

-requesting the cheque at a restaurant.

Checking into the hotel and ordering dinner were done in English. 😉

My hotel is lovely and the bed is soft, so I’m hoping to get some good sleep while I’m here. The dogs kept me up the last couple of nights, so I’m due for a good snooze.

Even in expensive Sofia, money goes a loooong way. Should be a fun weekend!

 

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The Military Coup in Turkey — and News Bias

When something major goes on in the world, I like to check multiple news sources from different countries. There was a military coup overnight (local time) to overthrow the current regime. The news coverage has varied from disinterested (CBC in Canada), sensationalist (all US sources I’ve seen and ABC in Spain), informational (BBC in the UK and Le monde in France), and rather blasĂ© (English news source in Bulgaria). It just goes to show that you need to get your news from multiple sources to get an idea of the real situation.

From what I can piece together, order has been restored in Turkey (ie. the coup failed), border controls into Bulgaria have been tightened, and Bulgarians have been advised not to go to Turkey.

For me, personally, this just goes to show why I have not made any firm plans beyond mid-September. I had really hoped to go to Turkey for a month and, while I still believe that, statistically, I’m safer in Turkey than I am in the US right now, I may not be able to. I am very happy to have found an English source for local(ish) news and keeping myself informed so I can make educated decisions.